MoonTzu
Jr. Member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2018
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 58
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Sunny San Diego, California
- Detector(s) used
- Bounty Hunter Elite 2200 (bought used), GP pinpointer
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Yesterday I bought my very first metal detector, a Bounty Hunter Elite 2200, from a guy who said he'd used it "a few times" at the beach but turned up nothing but pull tabs, bottle caps, and scrap foil. I spent some time yesterday practicing with it and scouring the forums and YouTube for tips and techniques.
Today, I had about 40 minutes before rounding up the kids, so I took it out to a local park. Mostly, I wanted to practice my swing and listen to tones from stuff in the dirt instead of stuff I'd put in envelopes. I kept it on its default all-metal and relied on discriminating by ear. There was a lot of stuff down there, but I dug nothing until I got what I thought was a good hit. Went around it a few times to make sure, and also to locate the thing. Then, dug a horseshoe-shaped plug, carefully opened it, and scanned around. Nothing in the plug, but tone in the hole. So I got out my rag and carefully transferred dirt from the hole. I missed it at first, but when I detected over the plug, the hole, and the soil on the rag, it was clearly in the dirt I scooped out. So I went through it more carefully, and pulled out my very first find from my very first hole: a 2005 dime!
After checking everything again and closing the hole back up nice and tight, I moved on. I went on to find another dime (1995), a penny (1975), and - my last find of the day - a hefty dog tag! The dog tag was maybe an inch down in the soil, but despite its size rang up as dime at 4-5". Everything else rang up pretty much as they were. Four holes dug, three coins and a dog tag found. The other stuff in the photo - a piece of coax cable and an old washer, were lying on the surface so I picked them up to dispose of properly. I'll be mailing the dog tag back to the owner.
A park maintenance guy was out doing some cleanup while I was detecting, but other than exchanging polite nods, he got on with his stuff and I got on with mine.
A great first time!
Today, I had about 40 minutes before rounding up the kids, so I took it out to a local park. Mostly, I wanted to practice my swing and listen to tones from stuff in the dirt instead of stuff I'd put in envelopes. I kept it on its default all-metal and relied on discriminating by ear. There was a lot of stuff down there, but I dug nothing until I got what I thought was a good hit. Went around it a few times to make sure, and also to locate the thing. Then, dug a horseshoe-shaped plug, carefully opened it, and scanned around. Nothing in the plug, but tone in the hole. So I got out my rag and carefully transferred dirt from the hole. I missed it at first, but when I detected over the plug, the hole, and the soil on the rag, it was clearly in the dirt I scooped out. So I went through it more carefully, and pulled out my very first find from my very first hole: a 2005 dime!
After checking everything again and closing the hole back up nice and tight, I moved on. I went on to find another dime (1995), a penny (1975), and - my last find of the day - a hefty dog tag! The dog tag was maybe an inch down in the soil, but despite its size rang up as dime at 4-5". Everything else rang up pretty much as they were. Four holes dug, three coins and a dog tag found. The other stuff in the photo - a piece of coax cable and an old washer, were lying on the surface so I picked them up to dispose of properly. I'll be mailing the dog tag back to the owner.
A park maintenance guy was out doing some cleanup while I was detecting, but other than exchanging polite nods, he got on with his stuff and I got on with mine.
A great first time!
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