New guy - need suggestions

[bcurrey]

I've had my garrett 350 for about 6 weeks now. Ive detected about 10 hour on the beach while on vacation and probably another 3-4 in my yard. I probably find "something" in about 50% of the holes I dig. My two most valuable finds - a quarter (2008!) and a rusty pair of nail clippers.

I know I need to keep practicing and keep at it and ill find something worthwhile. It's been fun. My frustration is finding something 50% of the time. A couple times at the beach I'm sure I was only a foot or two from china and walked away with nothing even though I kept getting a beep. Do I need to go ahead and get the garrett pro pointer? How much will that help? The pinpointer on the 350 is ok, but it's still hard to tell if the object is in the wall of the plug I dug.

What do you think? Is $127 the going price right now for the Garrett PP?

Thanks!!

 

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[dieselram94]

Get the Pro Pointer and that price is about the going rate. But call and check first. Keep practicing and your pinpointing will get better. The beach is going to make your detector false a lot so turn your sensitivity down and that should help. The Ace 350 is not the best choice for the beach as it can not be ground balanced. Also stay out of the wet sand.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

A person should not need a pinpointer for the beach . A simple x-marks the spot should suffice for the beach . Seems like you're doing something wrong. Hook up with a proficient user, & trade off flagged signals to compare.

 

[christo000]

i agree with tom a beach can be a tough pace to detect in itself if u dont have a full blown water machine alls i would say is land ya look into getting a pinpointer all though its not needed to detect it will help in the frustration dept alot and read ur manual over and over last watch as many vids as u can from the garrett site and even youtube all can be very helpfull in learnig ur machine more u learn better the finds less getting mad HH

 

[LifeNRA]

All I can say is the Pro Pointer is a MUST! When I went out with my 350 and spending 15-30 minutes digging in one hole. I was thinking MD is not going to be with me much longer. Once I had that pointer, all things changed! I cant wait to get back out now!

 

[cudamark]

At the beach, about the only time you need a pin pointer is with a tiny target that falls through the scoop. Otherwise, just keep scooping until you find it! The more you use your machine, the better you'll get at centering the target under your coil. In a park, school, private propery, etc, a pin pointer is a must so you do as little excavating as possible.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

cudamark, I agree. Whenever we see someone on the beach detecting with a pinpointer, we know right-off-the-batt that they're a rogue beginner. You do NOT need a pinpointer on the beach. Just criss-cross to get the visual center of the target location. Scoop out. Scan your tailings. If not there, scan back over your hole. Repeat as necessary till the target it out and in the tailings pile. Scoop where the detector indicates the target is in the pile. Before you shake out your scoop, scan the tailings pile again. If it's not there, then it's in your scoop.

 

[sonnar28]

I would get the pinpointer ASAP, it will greatly improve your efficiency and your enjoyment of detecting.
By the way, I remember using a pinpointer with I was using a single frequency machine in wet beach sand; it was nice to have a second opinion as to the presence/location of a target. I still use a pinpointer when I am at the beach with a PI machine and a large coil, it is quicker to use the pinpointer than to keep grabbing handfuls of sand and waving them by the coil when trying to locate a small target such as a BB (and you do want to locate it so you will not have to dig it again!).

 

[bcurrey]

Thanks for all the replies. I ordered one today!