Billieg, I think anytime you read a post, there is a nugget of good information. I've read Ron's posts and he has lent his secrets to the members here, I think almost everyone here does try to help. I can't speak for him, perhaps he will give some much valued advice but from what I've read he speaks most highly of slowing down your pace and listening to your machine. All of these detectors can be tuned and that is a big factor, if you can master the machine, you will find more than the next guy who just keeps it set to one setting and never learned different. I play with the settings, like I play the guitar, like its my first time every time, lol. But I keep trying, lol.
I think he has a knack for knowing his machine and has it set well, has a good ear and goes at a speed that has rewarded him generously. Of course age may have helped him with that pace, I know it has with my pace but I still don't find what I am wanting to. I haven't mastered my machine, So I know I'm missing finds. I also will skip past signals because I am foolish and want to believe that I have the faintest idea that I know what is below the ground, from one signal to the next, when I really don't. People have said to dig every signal and I guess I have to really get over just how trashy our beaches are, lol.
I've been on again, off again metal detecting for 40 years, never too serious, an occasional recreational hobby. A few years ago I bought a couple of live stock food scoops, in one I put a smaller sized group of holes, the other scoop a bigger sized group of holes and have been using them. Before the livestock scoops I just used a small garden spade and my hands. The difference is like night and day, lol.
I never had a good long handled scoop, but just last year I stepped up and picked up two, I bought my first handheld pinpointer and upgraded to an excalibur II. I just DIY'd a straight shaft for it and a DIY hip mount to lighten the load on my arm. I'm trying to do it smarter and not harder, lol.
After everything, your detector has to be in the right spot too, directly over the buried metal thing. A couple of inches away and it will remain buried and lost... Some areas will produce more than others, depends on the the people who lose things, the better off they are financially the higher the probability of finding more valuable targets, how heavily it is detected by others, especially if by Mr. Ron Lord, lol.
I'm sure I will never find a 4 ounce necklace and pendant at Green Key that is local to me, its just a quaint little place for locals to cool down in the water and nothing that tourists would flock to when they think of Florida, but I might, you just never know, lol. Mel Fisher used to wake up everyday and tell his family, "Today's the day!", My new motto on days I am detecting, lol.. My wife enjoys telling me "Oh boy! Its a penny!" but I get to rub it in her face, when I pull out a whole quarter, lol... Funny thing is my front yard pulls up about the same finds as Green Key beach does, lol...
But I'm sure you don't need my expertise. I get carried away and my fingers take over on the keyboard sometimes, lol.
