It aint the machine!

[treasurejack]

It ain't the machine!

I just wanted to pass this along to those who are new to our hobby, "learn how to use your machine!" Case in point:

Today was a nice day so I decided to grab a detector and hop on over to the local park for a little bit just to get out of the house. Now I have some high dollar detectors but for this little trip I simply grabbed "my guest" detector, (a Radio Shack Discovery 2200 model), and I went on my merry way. After about an hour of swinging the MD I had a handful of clad coins and a few pieces of trash, pull tabs and the like. Anyway, as I was moving around the old basketball court I got a pretty good signal in the Pull Tab & Nickel range and guess what, it ended up being a gold class ring that was about 6 inches deep in the wet dirt & grass. So my point is this, just about modern metal detectors on the market today will find gold & silver, and at reasonably good depths, but not if you don't take the time to learn how to use them! This forum gets a lot of questions about this detector VS that detector, but the real key to metal detecting success rest in your abilities to use these machines. When I left the house today I was 100% confident that the machine in my hand was fully capable of doing the job, it's a confidence that only comes after spending several hours in the field "with any machine" just learning how to use it. I just felt the need to post this last experience for those of you who are still thinking that a high dollar machine is going to improve your odds right of the gate......"cause it just ain't gonna happen" until you take the time to learn the basics first. Period! Confidence in your machine and your ability to use it is "by far" the most important factor in your metal detecting success. So keep this in mind the next time you see one of those, "best detector on the market adds." The machine, any machine, is only as good as the person using it. I hate to see new hobbyist spending their hard earned money on features that simply just aren't necessary in the beginning, and in fact, might actually serve to complicate the basic pleasures of this hobby. Learn the basics first, only then will you get the most out of the added features of that high dollar machine you're considering.

 

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[Dimeman]

Re: It ain't the machine!

A great post. So true!!
I have seen experianced guys with a 30 dollar toy detector pull out coins, a inexperianced guy just passed over with a high dollar unit.

Three words of wisdom, every detectorist should follow.... LEARN YOUR MACHINE !!!

 

[Ant]

Re: It ain't the machine!

With all things being equal the higher end detectors will substantially raise ones odds at finding treasure at a constant rate.

Just my .000000001¢.

 

[treasurejack]

Re: It ain't the machine!

With all things being equal the higher end detectors will substantially raise ones odds at finding treasure at a constant rate.

Just my .000000001¢.

Sure, "once you understand the basic principles of how they work and you learn how to use them, which can take quite a while."

 

[Ant]

Re: It ain't the machine!

Very true, some detectors have longer learning curves than others. Great find of a ring you have there too.

HH

 

[treasurejack]

Re: It ain't the machine!

Very true, some detectors have longer learning curves than others. Great find of a ring you have there too.

HH

Just a 1974, 10k high school class ring, no ID markings, never even heard of the school and I've lived around here all my life? But it was a nice way to start the season! lol

 

[Tykit]

Re: It ain't the machine!

Learn the machine is an excellent tip for all of us. Thanx.

 

[Gypsy Heart]

Re: It ain't the machine!

I totally agree. I started out with a Bounty Hunter and found so much stuff over the years with it.....just from totally learning that machine...its so much more than reading a manual ....you have to listen to whats its telling you....you should get to the point that just the sound of the tone can tell you what you are digging.
I have watched my 11 yr old daughter outhunt guys with their fancy machines with her Prizm II ....Because you learn the machine you have . We have a park that was hunted by a club heavily and even seeded for the competition hunts....and we have gone in and rehunted, finding Indians and Silver...

 

[erikk]

Re: It ain't the machine!

AGREE 100%

 

[BIG61AL]

Re: It ain't the machine!

I disagree. I had terrible results after trying to learn a $200 bounty hunter for almost ten years. It would not pin point accurately. I was digging holes the size of dinner plates. I finally upgraded to a whites prizm V and have been very successful with 1200 coins, 1 gold ring and about 9 silver pieces. I chose the prizm exactly because it had features I needed and others I like. There is no doubt that a better machine was much better for me.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Re: It ain't the machine!

I was digging holes the size of dinner plates.

Well there's your trouble. You gotta dig deeper than a dinner plate is thick.

The detector is only part of the pursuit. Knowing where to detect, patience and perseverance make up for a lack in equipment. The feller willing to dig every hit will find piles of junk and trash, but goodies, too. Fancier machines will help you skip the trash and concentrate on treasures . . . but I suspect some treasures are filtered out at the same time. A detector with no bells and whistles will peobably be better at the hunt than a fancy one that is set wrong. Know your tools.

There a parallel in deer hunting: you can have the best rifle money can buy and the nicest camo available, but if the deer ain't where you is it won't matter.

Watch a good pinpointer some time (technique, not electric function that is). He'll dig a hole the width of the trowel and have the coin out and the plug back in in a few seconds. By "X"ing the hit and lifting the coil to judge depth while visually/mentally marking the spot it's possible to narrow the dig spot without ever switching out of the search mode.

 

[treasurejack]

Re: It ain't the machine!

Good point/advice Charlie.

 

[treasurejack]

Re: It ain't the machine!

I disagree. I had terrible results after trying to learn a $200 bounty hunter for almost ten years. It would not pin point accurately. I was digging holes the size of dinner plates. I finally upgraded to a whites prizm V and have been very successful with 1200 coins, 1 gold ring and about 9 silver pieces. I chose the prizm exactly because it had features I needed and others I like. There is no doubt that a better machine was much better for me.

I have several detectors, some have pinpoint features while others do not, and I could care less because I can't remember the last time I used the feature? My very first detector was a Discovery 2000 and because it had no pinpoint feature I had to learn the same techniques Charlie just mentioned above, and then some. Now they come natural to me without ever thinking about it. When you hear a guy say that he hunts with very little or no discrimination and usually in the all metal mode then that is the guy you want to watch and learn from. Watch his coil movements closely, especially when he's getting a better fix on a target, see if you notice any quick, very rapid up and down motions? (more like vibrations.) It's just one of the little tricks he'll use to help determine if the target is worth digging or not, and if he walks away from the target he'll do it with an unmistakable, and a very direct sense of, "self confidence." Relics present a different issue because many of them were made out of less desireable metals, but with coins and silver & gold jewelry....these items should be fairly easy to pinpoint and to judge as "probable good" targets. I dug the gold ring I posted with thread because of these techniques, because when I imparted the vibration I was telling you about the signal/tone (pull tab) remained very solid and centered under the coil.