tips for grid system searching

[Thorne]

New to swinging and digging. Any tips. For a noobie

 

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[hunter_46356]

Guessing you are speaking of hunting dirt and not sand. Many more may jump in but I have found gridding a very useful addition to my detecting due to the simple fact it should force you to slow down and cover every inch so to speak of the ground you are hunting. I have actually used a length of string and stretched it out in two strait lines over the area I'm working. The width is as wide as a comfortable swing. It also should be said your swings should overlap each other depending on the type of coil you are using. Concentric coils project a cone beneath the coil forming a point at the very bottom. The DD coils form a wider or longer form of this projection down the center of the coil thus making it easier to overlap your coverage. Follow the lane you have laid out, then move one line over the width of your swing and do it all again. I have even gone back in the opposite direction in the first pass and found targets I missed the first time. To increase your coverage you can complete the whole process 90 deg. the all the first passes and then even set the whole thing up at a 45 deg. angle over the same area and cover it again. If you remove the trash targets each time you complete one whole direction you may be uncovering masked targets you may be able to pick up on subsequent passes in the other directions. It takes a lot of time and concentration to not loose focus. (especially when your not finding good targets) But when your done my guess is you've done the best you can with the detector your using. The variable being the depth restraints of you detector. Your asking the right questions Now get out there and find some treasure. Hunter

 

[Thorne]

Yea this will be my first time out. Borrowed a very very low end detector to try it out

 

[hunter_46356]

What ever equipment doesn't matter this is a way to cover the ground the best you can. The string is optional but helps. In grass turf you can also use lines left by the mowers, farm fields use the furrows or just your own mark in the dirt. I've even used a far off reference point to keep me in a relative straight line. Many ways to accomplish the same results.

 

[Frankn]

I can't say I haven't gridded an area, but to me that is a last resort. I usually go for the most logical drop or hiding place. In the park that is by the seats and where the kids play. I watch where people sit near diamonds during games, or where they engage in activities. A lot of area in a park is dead space for detecting. In yards I use a fast primary scan trying to locate what was a hot spot in the past. They could be far different from today's activities. I like parks where they have festivals. I note where the stands are placed and hit it after they close.
At the beach, I hit the entrances and the high tide mark. If the beach draws crowds, add the beach blanket area also.
Now cache hunting is a whole different game. Once I narrow it down to a defined area, I look for things that could be used to mark a cache location like a large stone, large tree or stump that remains. I also check out from said objects in a compass direction or from thing to thing. Old gardens were favorite places to cache jars of coins that were added to or removed from on a regular basis because digging marks look natural. I will be out there in two days checking out this last paragraph. Frank...

 

[hunter_46356]

Frankn made a good point and your grid can be as large or a small as your research has proven where the best spot to grid. Another thing you might want to experiment with is when your detector indicates a good but faint tone and VDI (if your detector has a screen) and sometimes but not always both (tone but no VDI) on one side of your swing. I've experienced getting a faint tone with and sometimes without a VDI # but it only comes on one side of the swing. I've dug good targets but not always. It's usually an indication of deep target.

 

[Jimmi]

It's going to be a bit overwhelming at first. Don't go out expecting to find a really old coin or gold ring . It could happen , but not likely. A grid is a great idea if you have patience , but probably not till you have a minimum of 50 hours under your belt, cause at this point your just learning. Methodical can come Into play down the road. If that's your thing. Your going to need to learn the difference between junk signals and good signals, and your still going to dig junk even once you do learn.. Lol.
Here's my tips for first time out
1. Leave the setting on all metal...if you have the option to discriminate
2. Without a pinpointer it is hard to locate the object , a coin can hide amazingly well in a pile of clumpy dirt. So thoroughly go through your dirt as you dig a d keep checking and rechecking with the detector if the signal is still in the hole, or in your dirt pile.
3. Take a big plastic bucket and put your plug and dirt in that as you dig. This way you can see if your object is still in the ground or in the dirt you dug( but before putting the bucket on the ground check to make sure you set it on a spot that is signal free, or you'll be detecting the thing under the bucket)
4 . Have fun with it, don't get discouraged.
5. There are rocks that can make tbe detector signal.. So check rocks as you dig.
Oh and iron can be a great learning tool, because it leaks an orange color into the soil and helps you to locate

 

[team sidewinder]

Tall ( at least an inch high ) grass is your friend in the high activity park areas and woodchip/sawdust filled ( so the little ones won't get hurt if they fall ) playground areas in parks or schools are also your friend as once a coin/treasure drops in those areas it is out of sight to others till you come along with your MD. When I haven't found anything for awhile I always head back to the above mentioned area to boost my MD confidence with some finds again. You are never going to find any old coins there but any coin found with my MD is a fun thing.
Best IMHO to stay away from those areas if kids are using the playground equipment. I usually go on weekends as most kids stay as far away from school as possible after all week being stuck there and when school is out for the summer is also good.

 

[cudamark]

New to swinging and digging. Any tips. For a noobie

#1 Review a bunch of videos on how to recover a target without making a mess. #2 keep your coil parallel to the ground and as close to the ground as you can easily swing. #3 I wouldn't bother gridding a place right off the bat. As Frankn said, try the most likely areas first and then if you find good targets, set up a grid for just that area. You can expand that grid as needed based on what you find. Naturally, if you're trying to find a specific item for somebody, you'll want to grid the area in which the item was lost. String, plastic cones, wooden stakes, will all work in a grassy area. At the beach, I just drag the scoop in the wet sand and shuffle my feet in the dry to mark the areas I've hunted.

 

[Thorne]

Got tips about sensitivity knob setting?

 

[SusanMN]

When I water hunt, I go from shore to as deep as I can go, then pivot, take one step sideways and then back from deep to shore. Very tight gridding, big overlap and very slow, but I have had great success with this method. If fact the ring in my avatar was found this way.

 

[RobRieman]

Got tips about sensitivity knob setting?

Turn it up until it gets too chatty and back it off a little. If you can stand a little chatter you will get better depth.

 

[Iron Patch]

The best tip for grid searching a site is to eventually abandon it.

 

[Frankn]

Frankn made a good point and your grid can be as large or a small as your research has proven where the best spot to grid. Another thing you might want to experiment with is when your detector indicates a good but faint tone and VDI (if your detector has a screen) and sometimes but not always both (tone but no VDI) on one side of your swing. I've experienced getting a faint tone with and sometimes without a VDI # but it only comes on one side of the swing. I've dug good targets but not always. It's usually an indication of deep target.

This post brought back some memories. My Surmaster PI does this a lot, that is only picks up hard to detect items on the right to left swing only. I can't explain why, but it does. This happened on the beach last summer with a fine gold chain. Might be something to keep in mine. Frank...