Considering getting into the hobby and getting a metal detector

[BobTexas]

I have been considering getting a metal detector for quite awhile. I live in central Texas (near Austin) and there is alot of history here. I do envy the folks that live in areas that have colonial and civil war relics! I am intrigued by the chance to find things that haven't been seen by human eyes, or touched by human hands since the item was dropped by the original owner.

I am really not sure where to start as far as a detector goes, and how much to spend on a detector, I am sure you can spend whatever you want on one . I am interested in coins, gold and relics.

So my questions are:

1) What is a satisfactory detector for a newbie? I do own a house, so I can practice locating sprinkler heads in the lawn, and whatever else is there- perhaps the "Lost Ark"?

2) Is there really all that much to find? My concern is that all the good areas have been "fished out" already.

3) Many of the state parks in Texas (LRCA Authority) and the Army Corps of Engineers (in most places it seems) have a ban on metal detecting in their parks.

4) So with the places in question 3 probably being out of the question, where do most folks go? I feel a bit weird about asking a landowner for permission to do some metal detecting on their lot- and I would not consider doing this without permission. Perhaps that is something I need to get over


Any ideas would really be appreciated.

 

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[tabdog]

Hay Bob in Texas,

Welcome from Tabdog in Arkie Land.

1) Most people recomend tha Garrett 250. It's a great starter machine,
and a lot of experienced detectorist use it also. Cost around $240.

But for small gold jewelry, a Whites MXT would be recomended. It is
too heavy for me, and kind of expensive. It just kills my arm. I'm 60
and get sore quick. If I can't hunt because of a sore sholder, that sucks.
But tha MXT is a grand machine.

I find lots of small gold jewelry with Tesoro metal detectors. I have 5
Tesoro'es. They are tha lightest and my fravorite. But, they have no
meter. That deters a lot of folks. But they are tha real deal. They are
less costly than most machines. They have the only life time warranty,
and back it up. They are great for relics and good coin finders.

2) No, there's not much to find until you learn what you are doing. A
lot of people are disscuraged and quit. Others complain about not any
finding silver coins after months of trying.

But, if it bights you, you can not stop. You may put money and effort
into it like an addiction. And just be a happy camper.

I don't know if you will like it. I just know it dominates my life, after my
family and friends of coarse.

3) Yes a lot of places are banned. Bad hunters and bad opinions about
detectorist causes that. Be responsible and proud. People will respect
you as a hobbyest.

4) I spend a lot of time researching places to hunt. After a while, there
are just too many places, and just not enough time to get to them.

So we must pick out best places. Location is most important.

But, it may be frustrating for a while. These forums are a great help in
that area.

And, who knows, maybe tha lost ark is in your back yard. Just one
way ta find out.

Best of luck to ya,

Tabdog

 

[Dirty WhiteBoy]

Hello Bob, I would like to help if I can.....Don't spend a bunch of money upfront on a detector, instead buy a used machine or may I recommend the Whites Prizm series detector. They are a great starter detector starting at about $250.00 and you don't have to have the best one in order to find some nice things. There are things to be found out there. This hobby more than anything I think requires patience and the willingness to learn even though you may not find anything for awhile when you are first starting out. Alot of people try this hobby, they go out and buy a new machine, they go out hunting and find nothing but pennies and pulltabs and that is the last time they ever pick one up! I think this is a hobby that you either love forever or hate right off the bat.....I haven't really seen anybody fall in between! I think you have to be totally willing to stick with it and then you will find your first valuable item! At that point is when the "gold fever" sets in and you get a thirst to find something more or better if you have the natural burning desire to search until you find more! You'll pretty much be able to find places to search...you can find treasure anywhere humans have been on soil. It doesn't have to be a 100 year old fairground for there to be something nice there! Jewelery is dropped everyday in this country anywhere someone walks, runs, swims, plays games, sunbathes, drinks, etc., etc. Many dealerships will rent detectors and that is a great way to get a taste of this hobby without buying one! That may be the best way to go for the first day or two! If you like this hobby at all after a week of hunting, then it is probably time to step up and buy yourself one! I can tell you that I love this hobby more than anyone in the world...I am addicted to it. I search for gold and I get it with persistance, persistance, persistance! My father got me into this when I was 12 years old and I have been playing with the hobby ever since! I hope this has been helpful to you! I welcome new people to the hobby! The biggest thing anyone on here will tell you is to COVER ALL HOLES COMPLETELY AND REMOVE ALL JUNK TRASH FROM ANY AREA THAT YOU SEARCH! That keeps the peace with everyone! Responsible hunters and others get very upset when they see holes left uncovered and junk all over the ground! Some people can't get over the fact that you are doing something a little different than them, so be ready to handle busybody type people! The ignorant general public thinks we are out there to find loose change. That's not what we are looking for, it just happens to be there so we pick it up and over time it all adds up to one of the only Hobbies in the world you can do that will actually pay you something back and it could be BIG if you get LUCKY! Let us know here on the forum as to weather or not you got into it based on my advice or not! GOOD LUCK!

 

[Dirty WhiteBoy]

Good luck! Tot-lots are great!

Boy now wasn't that some hard driven advice! That one got ya your 5000th! Congrats...That was only 950 posts in one day! You must be getting tired...Now got to bed and see if there is "Life after 5000" If you are lucky you will wake up tomarrow!

 

[deepskyal]

Hi Bob and welcome to the forum,

Well, if you want to know if people are finding old stuff, go down to the detecting by states, see who's posting there, then look at todays finds and check what's being found in your state.

Most of us subscribe to the theory, "A place is NEVER hunted out." Everybody has a different method to detecting, we swing our detectors different, faster, slower...we walk fast or slow, some don't overlap swings...and with the newer machines, we all have different settings. And you can detect one direction and miss something you'll find going the other direction. All sorts of natural and human activities also impact a coins position in the ground, or any object for that matter.

This is what drives me. I like going to heavily hunted areas and proving out that theory.

This hobby isn't for everybody. If you don't like strangers comming up to you asking silly questions, or even flipping out on you for digging holes, you may want to reconsider it. Those people flipping out are a rarity but look through the posts...it does happen to some. If you don't like asking strangers to detect their property, you can try an ad on Craig's List. Some folks do that with success. But from what I read lately, private property is the place your most likely to find stuff.

You need to find your niche in the hobby. I've evolved into a relic hunter. I head off to the woods in search of old foundations, but not randomly. I scour old maps, study local history and go from there.

What ever you decide, use common sense. Fill your holes back. You want a place to look like you were never there. Be polite and courteous to inquiring strangers and don't trespass without permission on private property.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Al

 

[BobTexas]

I apoligize for the delayed response to my original post here.

There are some really good posts on what I should start out with. The MXT sounds really good. I see that people use headphones alot- that even make things harder for me. Ear surgery when I was five, field artillery starting at age 17, and being a machinist for many years after. Well, you get the idea! So I suppose I would have to go with something that had an accurate visual display to rule out hot rocks or whatever, and tell me what I am looking at. (is that possible?). And that means differentiating from a pull tab, from a coin, gold or relic. I will have to see how much money I have after my wife's birthday today!. I appreciate all of the input and help!

 

[extractor]

ACE 250 Look up Crack Badger on youtube and see why.

 

[George (MN)]

There are so many detector choices out there, & many have larger & smaller coils available, too. The small coils are for very trashy places & the big coils for going deep, where the targets are few & far between. One consideration besides if you like the hobby would be how much time do you have available? To make an expensive detector pay for itself can take hundreds of hours.

Of course we just find it fun & get exercise. But probably best to buy a cheap average detector if buying new. A slightly better detector may be much more new, but available for $200-300 off the new price when purchased used. Many people will recommend what they use, but really most detectors will find new coins & older coins within several inches of the surface.

There seems to be more difference in depths of detection between different detectorists using the same detector than between the same experienced detectorist using a wide variety of models. Part of this is a willingness (or not) to dig iffy signals, & depth varying due to ground minerals.

One must learn their detector well, probably dig some iffy signals that could be trash, use more than 1 coil, choose good sites by research or figure out how to get deeper & through trash better than other detectorists, in the obvious places like Zilker Park (but there may be a few square inches that were missed in the thousands of times it's been detected). I know Austin has some smal parks in & near downtown that go back to 1800s, but suppose they've been detected 30-40 years, too.

Another problem with old sites not yielding old coins is they may have moved around from renovations, or flooding/erosion. If you can see large roots going out from a large tree, could be a good area. If you see no roots going out from tree, they are likely buried in fill dirt & any old coins may be very deep.

Some prefer water detecting, especially for gold jewelry & not having to dig so many pulltabs.

Sometimes you can find out from parks dept exactly how old the parks are. If you wanted to just find silver coins like 1940s to 1964, sometimes the best parks are those made in the '60s or late '50s. Often public schools have a date on the building.

I also have trouble asking people if they mind if I dig in their lawn to find a few coins. That's not the best way to phrase it but really what we're asking. While many will say OK, it's easy to fear rejection or even feel guilty for asking. Also, this probably works better if you live in a small town & ask your neighbors. I remember in a detecting magazine a man saying he had detected nearly every yard in his town of several thousand people, so we can't assume private yards are virgin sites.

More new coins are always being dropped. Jewelry, too, but many gold items ID as foil or pulltab as they have the same conductivity.

I had an MXT, got $300 in one year just detecting public schoolyards & city parks in nearby new areas. I currently use a Minelab X-Terra 70 & Fisher F70. Any of these would usually be $400+ used. I'm sure there are many other good choices. Hope I haven't made things too confusing or discouraging. I hope you will be posting some good finds soon! HH, George (MN)

 

[oldgold]

I have been involved in this hobby on and off since 1970. I would recommend the ace 250. It's light and a good all around detector. You can buy a new one on ebay pretty reasonable. I worked in the electronics industry for years and I just like Charles Garrett's designs. I don't have good hearing either but the ear phones help. The Garrett also has a bell tone that helps if you are coin shooting. The 250 also has a good visual display.

 

[trish76642]

Hi Bob...good to see another fellow central texan!

Have you ever medal detected before? Its so much fun! You never know what your gonna dig up! There are buried treasures every where, and once you start getting into, every place you look you'll think to yourself "Hmmm, wonder whats buried there?!" LOL trust me on that one...

as far as where to go, and has it been hunted out? I have to agree with deepskyal..

"A place is NEVER hunted out."

Cant wait to see what you find! Maybe you'll make the Banner!

 

[BobTexas]

Hi Bob...good to see another fellow central texan!

Have you ever medal detected before? Its so much fun! You never know what your gonna dig up! There are buried treasures every where, and once you start getting into, every place you look you'll think to yourself "Hmmm, wonder whats buried there?!" LOL trust me on that one...

as far as where to go, and has it been hunted out? I have to agree with deepskyal..

"A place is NEVER hunted out."

Cant wait to see what you find! Maybe you'll make the Banner!

I have never had the chance to try it, but the "pirate, treasure seeking" part of me really wants to look for and hopefully find stuff - it just sounds so interesting and cool to perhaps find what has been lost for a long time

I am not sure what the rules are in my local parks and school yards though, I would hate for the Round Rock police to take me down and beat me over the head with a metal detector

 

[baylorhall]

I love my ACE 250 and bought it on eBay for about $185 used, though it had only been used a few times. It looked like it was brand new. I would recommend joining a local metal detecting club as that is a great way to learn and meet others who enjoy the hobby. The group hunts will give you both encouragement and more information. Also recommend reading this site as I have learned a ton and seeing what others find moves me to get out there and keep trying. Although I have only found 1 old coin, I have found both gold and silver jewelry and almost $80 since January. Good luck!

 

[BobTexas]

So it sounds like my first detector will be either an ACE 250 or a Whites Prizm and it looks like I my first treasure hunt will be getting the best price, with the most accessories if that is at all possible. Not being cheap, but with anything, its worth shopping around If anyone knows of any on line companies they prefer please let me know! In worst case at least I could find the sprinkler heads that one of the previous owners of my home put in!

Funny enough, my mother in law owns a home that was once a "one room schoolhouse" in Wisconsin. BUT I think she would be suprised in my eagerness to go visit

I am not interested, or considering this hobby to get rich or anything, or even sell my finds , but I am curious, what do most of you do with your finds?

 

[trish76642]

In worst case at least I could find the sprinkler heads that one of the previous owners of my home put in!

thats funny....its the same thing i did! Before i got mine, i had to borrow my brothers detector to find our sprinkler heads...worked like a charm! lol

what do most of you do with your finds?

put em in a keep box....if its worth keeping.

 

[lakillian]

Bob,

You may also want to check the forum classifieds. There are some really good detectors for sale on there for pretty cheap. Everyone suggests Ebay but again you have fellow T-Net'ers selling detectors on this site. You could help them out as well as get a detector for yourself

Happy Hunting and welcome to the hobby!!!

 

[Goodyguy]

So it sounds like my first detector will be either an ACE 250 or a Whites Prizm and it looks like I my first treasure hunt will be getting the best price, with the most accessories if that is at all possible. Not being cheap, but with anything, its worth shopping around If anyone knows of any on line companies they prefer please let me know! In worst case at least I could find the sprinkler heads that one of the previous owners of my home put in!

Bob you cant go wrong buying from Kellyco one of T-nets sponsors you will get a lot of extras for a good price and lots of support. Here is their link to the Ace 250 and it comes with everything you need to get started and FREE shipping: http://www.kellycodetectors.com/garrett/garrett-ace250.htm My opinion most bang for your buck.

GG~

 

[BobTexas]

OK, so I committed myself on a purchase from Kelly co on the ACE 250 . Thanks for the link GG! I took their standard free shipping so I do not know when it will arrive.

I do want to thank everyone for their helpful and kind advice on how to get started with this hobby. Now I just need to look for other folks and or clubs in my area to go out there with. 8)

 

[trish76642]

I cant wait to see what you find Bob....your gonna have so much fun!

FYI...you might wanna think about purchasing a pinpointer, i couldnt do it without mine....they sure save alot of trouble digging around the dirt for small objects.

 

[BobTexas]

Actually I was going to ask about the pinpointer, but they had the Automax V4 Pinpointer as a $20 option on Kellyco, so I decided to go ahead and get that as well

 

[sniffer]

Bob, if you want good advice about your area, talk to French Connection