help a newb! test garden pointers

[tad0matic]

Hello, I'm as green as grass when it comes to metal detecting, but I got fired up on it after reading this forum lately. I bought me an old whites coinmaster classic I from a guy on craigslist for 30 bucks. In the morning I'm going to set up a test garden. What do I want to accomplish in this? I know I should bury coins at different depths to see how deep I can get a tone, but what else can I learn before I go swinging? any tips for the newb?
thkns in advance for any help you may offer

 

[mlayers]

What you should do is go out and when you find a good target and you dig out your plug. Try to cut out a chuck where the coin is and keep the coin in the dirt. As this coins has the halo effect already. get 4 or 5 different ones and then bury these at different depth. I would bury a penny 5, 7, and 9 inches. and the same with a nickel, Dime and a Quarter go up to 11 or 12 t see if you can get the depth. Bury a pull tab, nail, foil and even if you want a small gold ring.. This will give you a wide range of items that you would find out in the field nd you an study the tones and get used to them. Hope this helps......Matt

 

[andy from de]

Hello, welcome to treasure net. Just start looking in your yard. Clear a spot till theres no signals, then mark it with something non metallic. Lay a couple of coins on the surface and trash also. Learn the tones for the different metals.Then pick those up and try not to disturb the ground much and put the coins and trash at different depths, making a map. that Will show how depth affects the signal. Learn to dig target without leaving a divot. By the time you get your yard clean you'll be good to go. Hope this helps. AA

 

[tad0matic]

thanks guys, thats the type stuff I need to know. I'm sure I'll dig EVERY tone for a while anyway but I can get a jump on IDing this way I guess. I went and got some batteries and found out the speaker doesn't work, so i'll have to secure some headphones before i can start playing now!

 

[Coin Digger]

Clear out a spot for your test garden by digging out as much iron as you can.

Make a map because you will forget where things are. I would bury the target's 3-4 inches deep. They'll sink over time.

Make the targets something you want to find and reject so you can learn there sounds.

Most important - learn to cut plugs so as to cover your tracks so that no one knows you where there.

 

[Iron Patch]

You don't need a test garden. Just do some airtests, pay attention to the sounds, then go dig. You'll learn so little fooling around with a test garden it's not worth the effort to do it. The true lessons come from real digging so you might as well get to it!

 

[boogeyman]

Another quick way to pick it up on what your detector is telling you is to work the sand tot lots in the parks. Grab something you can sift coins out of the sand with. This allows you to concentrate more on your machine & what it's telling you than recovering in the grass. When you feel pretty comfortable with your machine then move on to the grass. Really only reason for a test bed is to test one machine against amother. The most important thing is DON'T get frustrated it takes time. the second most important thing is PATIENCE. A little practice and you'll have a hobby that has way more plusses than negatives.

 

[U.K. Brian]

I would suggest that you do a bed with the same target type of coin at varying depths. It won't be of maximum use for some time though you can help things along by thumping the ground back down as hard as possible and wetting the site.

You then get your new detector (or new to you at least) and make a note of its performance. If it has pre sets or you just select the number from the discrimination knob where say small iron is knocked out make a note of the setting and the results achieved.
Keep the results and recheck every few months. It will indicate if the coil is going off tune or a componant failing. You have to allow for the state of the ground ie try and check when its in an average condition ie not during a drought or flood.

Apart from helping to spot developing faults you can see the effect of different sweep speeds, different coil types and sizes, increased discrimination, off setting the ground balance with a groundbalancing detector etc.

I switched to this type of test bed when I realised that though I was finding roughly the same number of copper/brass and silver coins the response to cupro nickel had dropped right off. Air test figures (which I also do) hadn't changed but in ground there was a marked difference.

 

[tad0matic]

You don't need a test garden. Just do some airtests, pay attention to the sounds, then go dig. You'll learn so little fooling around with a test garden it's not worth the effort to do it. The true lessons come from real digging so you might as well get to it!

since I'm eager to do some digging I took this advise and started walking through my own yard. little did I know that I live on top of a dump! lots of tin foil too, but I did find a 1965 quarter for my first coin! first year clad booyah pretty exciting seeing it pop out of the dirt like that. I'll head over to the tot lot across the street to play in the sand this afternoon and see what else I can learn. I found that the dirt here is so dry and hard that a test bed isn't really worth the effort. I'll play in the sand tonight. thanks guys!

 

[andy from de]

Way to go! pratice , pratice, pratice The best way to learn is by doing it.

 

[dogpound]

do a bench(air) test with several different coins, rings, and also junk and hear what the different tones and signals are, then hit the park! until ya feel confident about the different signals just dig all targets. once ya get a few hours on the machine then you'll know the difference between keepers and trash. its all about having fun

 

[U.K. Brian]

Air tests are O.K. until you work some mineralised ground which really skews the results which is why metered machines are not the be all when detecting in Europe. A coin that indicates as good in air and provides a plus (non ferrous) number can on bad ground indicate down into the minus (ferrous) figures.

People walk over gold coins everyday and ignore them because the detector has indicated they are rubbish.

The same occurs over the whole I.D. display with all targets dropping a percentage. There's a few exceptions where the detector has been designed to accomodate this to some degree such as the Treasure Baron. Or get a detector with those old fashioned knobs. Set the ground balance on mild soil and make a mark on the control box use as the norm position. The degrees away from that point indicate the amount of mineralisation and indicate how much inaccuracy is being introduced in the meter. You can also allow for the amount of error that the depth indicator has made.