1st trip to the beach with My Bandido II

[ccclontz]

My daughter & grandkids & I went to Ocean Isle Beach Saturday morning & came home this afternoon.

I really don't know what I am doing yet with the Bandido II Umax . I didn't really want to hold the manual instructions in my hand while I was on the beach & couldn't remember all the instructions! I know I have got to learn it to get the most benefit. Anyhow here is my story. Not much to tell about the beach hunting. It was the cleanest beach I think I have ever seen. I walked 1/2 mile down the beach. Tried dry sand near dunes & above where sunbathers were sitting. I liked the mesh sand sifter in the dry sand. Found nothing in 2 hours except 4 nails near the steps from my motel & a few bottlecaps. After going to the flea market 3 miles from my house & it beeping continuously from all the trash it was weird walking & walking & hearing hardly any beeps. then I went down to the area between the ocean & the dunes at low tide. Found nothing. Then this morning at low tide I went to the waters edge. I got a good tone near where the water was hitting the sand.I started trying to dig with the sand sifter. It isn't as easy in wet sand because then I have to shake real hard & throw it up on the beach above the hole or rinse it it the water. So I dug & dug for 15 minutes.My 7 year old grandson finally came out & helped me dig for a few minutes. The tide came up a couple of times & filled my hole up with water. The good thing was it was like a 3 ft diameter hole with ocean water in it & I could rinse my sifter but I kept digging & sand kept filling back in.I finally got tired of digging & the detector kept toning good every time I checked. Maybe I needed to take a 5 gallon bucket to scoop up the target. The Garrett pinpointer went off when I stuck it in hole before the ocean water filled up the hole. I don't see how you ever get to the target in wet sand unless you have a tractor with a big scoop! I will never know what it was & will always wonder if I may have left a ring in the sand. But it was the only tone I heard near the water. Does the Garrett pinpointer pick up metal in the sand deeper than 2-4 inches. I stuck it down as far as it could go to the button & it kept beeping. I don't thing it was a mineralization kind of beep. It was something different. The only tone I heard near the water. Now it may have just been a bottle cap but it sure aroused my curiousity. It was kind of depressing finding nothing but nails. So then I walked back to the motel. Before I went in I looked across the street & there was an overflow parking lot .It was empty so I walked across the street. Every 5-10 feet it beeped. The 1st thing I found was a 1969 quarter. Now I was getting excited because I have only found 2 quarters since Feb 1st. I walked around for 3 hours finding 3 quarters, at least 5 dimes , several nickels which was all a surprise because the vacant house lot & flea market with my Silver Umax I had only found approx 3 nickels in a month & a half. I found 2 pocket spillls where there were several coins of different denominations. One pocket spill there was a quarter, dime nickel & pennies within 6 inches of each other. Now I only found $1.54 but it kept me happy for 3 hours. I have varicose veins & didnt not wish to wear my compression hose at the beach so I paid for it last night when my legs were aching from walking all day. I was also sleep deprived because I was so excited that I was finally getting to go to the beach to try out treasure hunting. I only slept 4 hours, just kept laying there thinking about treasure hunting the beach. We stopped at the pier picnic area after supper & I found a few coins 1 inch under the surface. The 1st of which was a corroded 1965 quarter. Also found a nickel & a few pennies. A policeman stopped & asked if we had seen a loose dog. I think he was just seeing what we were up to. I later did see the rules of the beach & they have a leash law but I still think he was just saying that. I asked him what kind of dog was it & he ignored me & drove off. I thought someone lost their dog & was willing to assist the officer. I met a man at the N Myrtle Beach flea market today who shares this addiction & he told me to carry a stick behind me to mark where I have been on the beach. I had not heard that tip but it makes sense! That way I would be able to follow beside where I have been. Anyhow, I found approximately $ 2.00.

I have spent I guess about $600.00 so far on the tools, detectors, pinpointer , sand sifter , US Army folding shovel, off brand digging tools etc. I have only found about $ 6.00 in 6 weeks! I do have the one pendant which may be real gold, have not checked it yet. I am not giving up. I have added something to my quality of life to get excited about. I did not go to even one of the thrift stores at the beach. There are lots of thrift stores & I always go to them at the beach. I only went in a pawn shop looking for metal detector equipment-thats all that is on my brain right now. I still want a 5.75 coil & know I need to but I just can't spend another $80.00 until I start finding more treasures like jewelry to support my habit. I also want to add a detector to my collection with a screen, maybe a Garrett 250 but then I would be up to $ 900.00 spent if I buy the coil & the Garrett detector. I already decided if I am ready to buy a 5.75 coil I might as well cough up the money to buy a Tesro Compadre at $ 160.00 instead of $80.00 for just a coil. I may need this at the parks & flea market. If you had told me 6 weeks ago I would have spent $600.00 by now I would have never believed you. It appears NOBODY sells the Compadre used so I guess I will be forced to buy a new one unless the pawn shop happens to get one where I bought the Bandido II.

I quit my job in July so I kind of felt guilty starting this hobby. I did at least start a new part time job working at home on March 7th. If it works out that I can learn it & can meet their sales objective selling satellite TV I will have more money & not feel as guilty spending money. However, daylight savings came just as I started working 4:00 to !0:30 pm & I had been looking forward to going to the schools after they leave at 6 since it would be daylight longer! I really felt I had to get a job again as much money as I was charging on Mastercard.

My plans are to now make myself learn how to use the Bandido II. Even though I was happing finding the coins, who knows what I missed out of ignorance on how to ground balance etc. My daughter threw her silver & gold rings on the beach & I was surprised the gold diamond ring made kind of a crackling broken sound like trash. i thought gold would always sound loud & clear. I guess it was because it was not set correct. The silver ring had a loud clear tone.

My next trip may be back to the old school house land after I learn more about using the Bandido II.

I didn't mean to write such a long post but just had alot to share. I have really enjoyed everyones stories & tips & the help I have been given. I still have so much to learn & ya'll were right telling us it could take a hundred hours to learn the detector since I still don't know much! Bye for now, Cathy

 

[BarberBill]

[size=medium]I see you lucked out finding a Bandito II umax. It's considered one of, if not the best model Tesoro has produced. Take the time to learn it well and you'll do very well with it. Your Silver makes a good extra or backup detector, but the Bandito with the manual ground balance is perfect for areas where the ground may be more mineralized. With a bit of practice you'll be able to ground balance it in short order and be hunting quickly. If the gold ring was "crackly" as you mention, the discrimination was probably at the point where gold drops out. If you want to pick up gold jewelry, you must use little discrimination and put up with digging lots of trash. An unfortunate fact in the detecting world.[/size]

 

[ccclontz]

Thanks Bill, that explains that! I see you are in Idaho. My instructor at my new work at home job at Convergys is in Idaho. She was telling me her father In Law is a treasure hunter & does ghost towns. I had no clue that Idaho had deserts until she told me she lived at a desert. Right now because of my being uncomfortable with it I was alot more comfortable with the Silver Umax but it has to do more since it has all those dials! I wish it had a screen too. I have heard several people say the screens lie to you but they sure sound interesting to me. I hope someday to be so in tune with my Tesoros to know what I have when I hear it! Thanks, Cathy

 

[BarberBill]

South Idaho has desert, North Idaho is a mix of forested mountains, streams and rolling hills farm land. Displays are useful, but in my opinion it's definitely best to learn on a beep and dig detector. The nuances in sound, you will pick up with time, will also be there when using a detector with a display and will aid in deciding whether a target is likely to be a goody or trash. An example - some time back, I was detecting around some swings in a park. I got a (probably trash) display along with an odd sound that didn't really fit trash, good target or anything I normally would have a feeling for. I started to walk on, thought about it for a second, went back and dug. Turned out to be a very small, silver, scotty dog charm from a bracelet. Bottom line is - we really don't know for sure what made the detector beep until we actually see it. For this reason those that detect with little or no discrimination usually find the most jewelry, but they also dig the most trash. Hang in there, this is really a great hobby.
BB

 

[joe dirt_1]

Cathy, You have two detectors that are very capable coin and jewelry hunters, and will be much more productive than an ace 250. Hunting by sound with the beep and dig detectors will make you a much better hunter than relying on a meter that is not accurate. Invest in the 5.75" coil, you won't regret it.
It does an awesome job in the trash finding good targets masked by trash. Research is the key to being successful in finding old coins. Look for old picnic groves, country churches, fairgrounds, and other places that may not still be in use. Lots of these places are untouched with a metal detector and can be very productive. I wish you great success in your treasure hunting. Keep learning your detectors and shortly you will be posting all the nice old coins and jewelry you are finding........HH

Roger

 

[dixiedigger57]

Salt water beach is the problem! none of my Tesoros do well there and none are the water models. i have read where some people can do the wet salt which is conductive, but honestly i never could do much. My all manual older eldorado supposed too, i am told, but was not worth the hassle. i dont get to salt much so just forego it. i now have access to a machine to use if i go, a friends old salt beach machine, and he has a tiger shark by tesoro he offered, but i could not afford to replace it. research on the forum(s) the effect of salt water and metal detectors. my eldorado will false if it touches wet salt sand. i have been told to re-ground balance it to offset it, but honestly i think a machine specifically set to do this is better. if at a flea market or yard sale, one of the older TR/vlf machines might be OK, but older is the key good or bad--repairs more than its worth. Downeaster on the forums used a bandito on Maine beaches for yrs, and says my eldorado should do so in Georgia. there are machines that will work, albiet not the best for the salt. then there are salt water machines, not the best for inland. the tiger shark will do both, is essentially a silver sabre with a different set of stuff for the salt.

will send private e-mail.

 

[tvr]

Cathy,
Big somewhat heavy scoop is about what it takes to get most targets out of wet sand. If the Garret pinpointer was hitting it, it was either really big or within about 4 to 5 inches or less of you getting to it. Sand filling in the hole can take effort with a big scoop to overcome.

A little bit of discrimination helps reduce the salt effects of the wet salt sand, but not more than the high side of iron to low side of foil. You also start to discriminate out smaller gold at that setting (like you found out with your daughter's gold ring), but better to have a chance at some of the larger gold jewelry than not hunt for gold at all.

I think the most important part is:

I have added something to my quality of life to get excited about.

That is really what it is all about.

You have me in the "can't wait" frame of mind for my next beach hunt which is a couple weeks off.
Thanks for sharing your adventures!
Cheers,
tvr