HELP! SOMETHING JUST ISNT RIGHT!

[deepbeep]

HELP! SOMETHING JUST ISN'T RIGHT!

Ok, get a cup of coffee and sit while you read, this will be a long post. lol
In 1988 or 89 I bought my first detector, a Garrett GTA1000. I hunted very heavily for about 6 years and found over 1000 silver coins, a gun, a million hot wheels, and lots of other interesting but "of no values cool stuff".

It wasn't at all unusual for me to find a couple of wheats, maybe an indian and a merc or two on a good Saturday.

Due to moving and having a house to renovate, I got out of detecting for a few years. Now I am back. I got the Garrett out about a month ago and hit a few VERY good looking spots. I found only a couple of memorial pennys and a silver spoon, but nothing else. That didn't make sense, so I tossed down a quarter and some other coins and found my detector wasn't picking them up at all.

Well, I went to e-bay and found a Garrett GTAX550 for a really good price. I have had it out 4 times now. Last evening I went to an elderly ladies house I was invited to check. She is 98 years young and has lived in the house which was built in 1889 for over 70 years. She said the yard has never been checked. All of the old out buildings remain in the yard, including the chicken coup by the garden and the old outhouse....still well maintained though not used.

I was there about 4 hours. In those 4 hours I found 6 square head "cut nails" and 3 memorial penies. What the heck is going on here? Is the GTAX550 that poor of a detector? Is there something wrong with the one I got? Or is it something I am doing wrong?

Something just doesn't seem right to me about this.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, suggestions, comments, etc.

Tim

 

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[deepskyal]

Re: HELP! SOMETHING JUST ISN'T RIGHT!

Hate to see a post sinking without a reply...lol

Could be either problem....you or the detector. Did you do the same thing with the GTAX550 as you did with the other...toss some coins down and detect them?
Do you have an owners manual for it?

I'm not familiar with either machine but am under the impression that you should be able to at least detect coins dropped right on the ground ...unless you somehow got some some really screwed up adjustments....or the machine is junk.....

How's the batteries?....check the leads, make sure you got good connections....is the coil wires good?...so many things can be wrong with a used detector.....just too hard to say.

Maybe search out a local dealer and have em look at it...or a club where someone might have one so you can switch coils and see if yours is okay....and if you don't have a manual...get one and double check your own personel settings.

As far as the old womans house is concerned....maybe there just isn't anything there to find

Al

 

[lastleg]

Re: HELP! SOMETHING JUST ISN'T RIGHT!

It is really no mystery why you might not find precious oldies
in a yard where one family occupied it. Maybe the people didn't
carry coins around with them outside or there were no or few
children to lose coins. It is unusual that you wouldn't find old
brass or lead. I guess they kept their pockets mended.

lastleg

 

[mlayers]

Re: HELP! SOMETHING JUST ISN'T RIGHT!

I agree with deepskyal check coil, lead, batteries an see if that makes a different......Matt

 

[deepbeep]

Re: HELP! SOMETHING JUST ISN'T RIGHT!

deepskyal,
Well, my new detector is a NEW detector. It was still new in the box and had no marks at all on the bottom of the coil.

Lastleg, my collection of over 1000 silver coins mostly all came out of yards just like this one at old houses with my old detector. But, I suppose you could be right....they just didn't carry them. Usually the clotheslines will produce SOMETHING though.

I will say things have been looking up tremendously lately though. I think part of it was just learning the machine......the patterns of junk beeps and how it acts. I have been finding some coins now with it.

Thanks for all the tips and advise.

Tim