First day MDing with the Garret 250 - some questions!

[Supermoney]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and I have been reading a ton of threads these past 2-3 days gathering info and such and think I have finally found a fun hobby to pursue!

Anyways my Garret 250 arrived 2 days ago, I read the manual and watched the instructional DVD and then watched some more videos on youtube and then went out hunting!

I first started at a school at the swing set where the ground was wood chips, after searching around a little bit I am having a very hard time pinpointing and actually finding my loot, I see people on Youtube finding their item with a 2 inch diamater hole, I feel like I was digging a huge hole and not finding anything. I did however find what looks to be a fake friendship ring, but it does have stamps, only one I can read was .375 so I'm guessing its not really worth anything...but still happy I found it.

Here is a link to a bigger image: http://i44.tinypic.com/yj6fs.jpg

After that I searched in the dirt around the picnic tables for a while and while I heard lots of beeps and noises, I could never actually pinpoint it well enough to find it, I felt like I was digging massive craters and not finding anything.

I headed to the beach and found 3 fishing hooks, a can that was like 10 inches down and a 1990 P Dime.

I have a really hard time pinpointing things, I was using a big shovel instead of a trowel, I would dig a massive scoop then dump it to the side and scan that, problem is my beach feels like it was made out of metal so I would get 100 beeps going on the pile I just tossed and the hole....so I was getting frustrated and wanted to give up.

I also noticed that on the shoreline where the water was coming in, when I was scanning it in jewelery mode, the thing would not stop beeping. Got to a point where me and a friend dug up a ton of it where it was beeping non-stop, put it in a big sifter and went through it all, nothing at all, all rocks. Scan the huge crater again, beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep, like really?!?

I guess I have to listen to the tones better and only dig where its a 100% solid hit, does anybody have any newbie tips for me, I am probably making lots of beginner mistakes, also what kind of holes should I be digging? Big or small? Put the pile to the side and scan that pile? Thanks!!

Edit: Also what do I do when the thing is going crazy? Like back and forth between 6-8 inches and changing modes super fast? I don't know if I should dig or not.

 

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[kayden]

Get a large piece of cardboard fold in halves to get some depth then tape some coins on bottom of cardboard & turn it over so coins are hid practice pinpointing & then poke knife through your spot you think the coin is at to see how close you are....also bury some coins in yard then use golf tees on your spot that you pinpointed to see how close you are....remember this you have a good little detecter...You just got spend some time with it & you will be the next guy helping out a new ace250 user! As far as digging crazy signals you will learn with time what to dig ...However I dig em all as I have found coins jewelery & many more relics that were not what they said they were ...remember the visual is only 25% accurate...Now as far as rescanning the hole because you misssed the target you will find out buying a pinpointer is huge time saver in finding targets!GL sir!

 

[Beans]

Edit: Also what do I do when the thing is going crazy? Like back and forth between 6-8 inches and changing modes super fast? I don't know if I should dig or not.

When my Ace 250 does that it tells me it is old beer can or bottle cap. As far as pinpoint, I still have not mastered that yet, getting better but still have to dig around. It takes awhile to learn so don't give up. One thing that you do not want to do is turn your hobby in a job, just have fun.

HH

 

[lostcauses]

That ring is silver and should say 925. It is a Irish Claddagh ring.
Congrats on that.
Good advice has been given on learning to pin point.
Also a pin pointer might be advisable.

 

[Supermoney]

That ring is silver and should say 925. It is a Irish Claddagh ring.
Congrats on that.
Good advice has been given on learning to pin point.
Also a pin pointer might be advisable.

Thanks, it has HH stamped on the left and then 375 to the right along with some other symbols I can't read. I'm guessing its not worth anything? Found it under a swing set at a elementary school, haha.

Thanks for the info about the ring!

 

[mick56]

How high are you running the sensetivity? I only run 3 bars, it cuts down on the beeping.

 

[bartholomewroberts]

If the ring does indeed say 375, it is a 9 Karat gold ring... So it is worth something indeed.

.375 = 9k
.417 = 10k

and so on. I have seen that European gold often has the numbers rather than the K

Well done

 

[Supermoney]

If the ring does indeed say 375, it is a 9 Karat gold ring... So it is worth something indeed.

.375 = 9k
.417 = 10k

and so on. I have seen that European gold often has the numbers rather than the K

Well done

That is awesome!! I never would have that I'd find a gold ring on my first day of MDing ever. I wish I could get a better pic of the stamps but my camera won't focus well enough on them to get a clear picture.

Thanks for the info!