MD settings who does what??

[joerc2002]

who discrimiates with there MD and coin shoots, and who lets it run wild and digs everything . my teknetics delta 4k is a fair coin plinker on dime/ quarter /50.. if i drop it down to nickel i find many pop tabs but rings register at that range and i hate pt,s but sure dont wanna pass up rings. and i dont understand all metals at ALL it wont shut up lol , but i know what is working for me now on change finding, but i got access to a very old state park and i am pretty sure ther are goodies in the old sites and picnic areas.. to day my MD did not find one coin on dime / quarter/ 50/ i had to set it to foil and nickel then i started poping pre 1970 pennys and one 1953 dime and many PT's guess i will learn my machine some day but just wanted some older MD'ers thoughts on how they would pproach a older unhunted area, tks
JOE

 

[BC1969]

older unhunted area ? no such place, unless detecting is not allowed, and even then guys have been sneaking into places at night as long as I can remember, and I am talking the last 30+ years, sure digging tabs blows, but you will be amazed at what all can and does fall into the tab range, heck even the foil range, gold rings will be there, or earrings, it all depends on the machine being used, I have zero knowledge of your machine, so I cannot give specifics.
All metal mode is just that, if its metal, be it a tiny piece of rust, a clad quarter, a tiny lead sinker, atleast any machine I have ever used that has a all metal mode...get ready for Beep-o-Matic lol.
Personally if you have a truly unhunted location, where people congregated..and thats the kicker, I dont care if you have a virgin 1700's homesite, if people never gathered there, you wont find much of anything, old does not mean lotsa goodies.
but if its a good location, I would run with as little disc as possible, for one it kills depth, and then there is the dreaded masking effects, if you are discriminating out nails or tabs, and there is say a merc under it you may or may not find it, in the old days odds are you would miss that merc, the more modern detectors, such as the multiple frequency detectors, can go right thru the masking effect as I myself am learning on my new minelab.

Not sure what state park that you got access to, but if its normally off-limits to others, you better get it in writing that you have permission to excavate there, just from personal experiance, what one DNR guy says, may be totally opposite of the next DNR guy that just happens along...
Well if you ever have a question about metal detecting in any fashion, just shoot me a message, been swinging a coil for more than 30 years now, so I have alot of tricks and tips in my little black book of secrets lol

Mike

 

[gerryk]

I run mine pretty much wide open throttle. I sett he ground balance and then turn the sensativity all the way up and slowly come back down till it calms down. If i find to much junk i back it down a little.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I set high gain, low discrimination; just over iron. No notch, no mask. I listen to all and watch the display but only dig the solid targets that read similar results when "X"ing over them . . . unless I decide to dig anyway. Jewelry commonly gives odd readings.

I don't want some programmed parameter trying to decide for me what a target might be.

But, if I'm in a high trash area I will notch for coins and dig only the smooth signals. Usually even then I prefer making he decision myself rather than allowing the detector to decide.

 

[joerc2002]

tks for the thoughts,, bc1969 im sure someone has snuck in and had a look.. but it was state park for lots of years and they allowed no MD's untill 2012 and then by permit only. but the state gave park back to city this summer, so i went and ask the mayor and he wrote me a pass to dig in it, im sure its been md'd at some point but they gots to be goodies there all my pennys today were 1960's era and one dime 1953..(Park was built in 1950) found no change newer than 1973. no one uses it except college kids who run cross country as practice track but i will look and post my finds if any tks

 

[luvsdux]

I generally run with low discrimination, just under nickel most of the time with sensitivity towards the high side. If there's little to no chance of jewelry or older coins and lots of junk, I sometimes run the disc up and cherry pick.
luvdux

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

tks for the thoughts,, bc1969 im sure someone has snuck in and had a look.. but it was state park for lots of years and they allowed no MD's untill 2012 and then by permit only. but the state gave park back to city this summer, so i went and ask the mayor and he wrote me a pass to dig in it, im sure its been md'd at some point but they gots to be goodies there all my pennys today were 1960's era and one dime 1953..(Park was built in 1950) found no change newer than 1973. no one uses it except college kids who run cross country as practice track but i will look and post my finds if any tks

If there is that many pulltabs there, here's what I would do: I would cease trying to be a "hero" to angle for gold rings. I'd knock out tabs, and go just for the silver coins, copper, etc... (although to be honest with you, 1950 origin is not particularly old).

And if I ever felt like I wanted to find gold rings (or nickels), I'd simply hit swimming beaches.... NOT junky parks filled with tabs. Does that park of yours have any lakes or pools where people swam? If so, THAT's where to lower your disc, and angle for gold rings. JMHO.

Oh, and if there's enough md'rs in your area, I'm sure the park's been hit. You might think md'ing was "not allowed till 2012" or whatever, but ...., even back then (1970s, 80s, 90s, etc...) it would have depended on who you asked, and how rules were interpretted, etc... Because if you think that simply a state law with something about "cultural heritage" precluded md'ing, then no, .... not always. Would have depended on who you asked, or who you ran into. If you ran into a purist archie? SURE they would say it exactly applies. But for others, perhaps others could care less, or didn't give the matter thought.