Testing out my Christmas gift soon. Any helpful tips?

[philinchio]

I received a White's CoinPro for Christmas and am looking to try it out and get myself acustomed to properly using a metal detector. Unfortunately, because I live in Alaska there is a lot of snow on the ground and it won't melt off until around mid-April. In the meantime I'm planning on checking some local parking lots for dropped coinage beneath the thinly plowed layer of snow. Although I probably won't find any silver or gold, It will give me some early detecting experience that will help me once the spring comes. Before I do head out, I thought it'd be good to see if any of the veteran MD'ers on the boards have some helpful hints and/or recommendations to help this eager newbie on his treasure-hunting journey.

 

[dogpound]

welcome to the site and hobby. the best thing to do while waitin for the snow ta melt would be to get used to the different tones the detector is tellin ya, set the detector on a table away from any metal objects and pass different coins, rings and also junk targets past the coil to get familiar with your detector(bench or air test) if ya really can't wait for spring just toss some coins out in the snow and practice pinpointing
good luck and HH

 

[gambler13]

Get a piece of cardboard, tape different targets to the underside, practice learning the tones and numerical readings as well as pinpointing by sticking an ice pic thru the cardboard after you think you have the target pinpointed to see how close you are.

 

[Iron Patch]

Read and read and read. I could probably talk detecting in my first two weeks of owning one as well as someone who had hunted for years because of the amount of info. I had taken in. On top of that, figure out where you are going to go. That will determine your success more than messing around with the detector over the Winter.

 

[CWnut]

welcome...tnet is the place to get your questions answered..since your snowed in here's a site for some good reading.....by the way, i hear those coin pros are one hot detector




http://metaldetectingworld.com/index.shtml

 

[traverdog]

Go to a library and look for the oldest establishments in your area and then try to locate them. Test your detector and see how it picks up gold. Then just wait on the warmer weather. Good luck!!

 

[boogeyman]

Alaskas library has some really good resources. Research research research. By spring you'll probably have more places to hunt than you have time. If the bug really hits you hard, even if you can't recover what you find, you can use a GPS or other system to remember where you found things but the ground is too hard to recover it. Go back after the thaw and recover then.

 

[philinchio]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I went out earlier today for an hour or so to a few parking lots to do some test runs. Got some surface coins as well as a buried nickel in the ice, all clad. I did get one signal that appeared solid, but eventually disappeared with occasional random hits. Using P/P mode I got a general digging location (and some spotty hits nearby), but found nothing in the ice. I figure it must've been a very tiny fragment of something metal, otherwise it would've registered a hit every time I swept the coil over like with the nickel. Plus, I don't think a few inches of ice is going to throw off the detector either.

Then again, this is what practice is all about. :P

 

[Libralabsoldier]

My recommendation as a relative n00b myself is that you start out in playgrounds, or as they are known here, tot lots.

It is easy to get under woodchips, and you can cut your teeth on coins and such. I have found silver rings, bracelets, tons of clad coinage, and even an iPod!

Just keep at it.