Detector Disappointment

[RounderRick]

Hi first off I want to say hello I'm new to the site and to metal detecting.

I've been wanting to get a metal detector for some time now and last week was at gander mtns looking around and decided what the heck I'm gonna get me one.
Didn't want to get the cheapest but can't afford a lot either so I choose the lone star at 179.00.
Over the weekend my wife and I went to her mothers old place and did a little but the ground was so hard and every time I finally found the treasure it was junk. lol
I liked the lone star but it didn't show the depth or pinpoint and in this ground it was just to much to not be able to have either so this morn I saw the quick draw 2 in their book I have and it showed to have a depth gauge and the price 229.00.
I think well there's not a lot of places here to hunt but there is a lot of city parks and I knew they wouldn't allow anyone to dig big holes so for 50 bucks more I can get a detector to hunt these parks.
Called the store and they said I could exchange it so I packed it back like it was and headed off to the store.
Well after I get there I see this sharp shooter 2 and see that it can also pinpoint thus no big holes in the park as I knew I was gonna have to buy a pin pointer anyways and it was 279.00.
I think oh well another 100.00 and I'll be set to go.
WRONG
I am now at home sharp shooter not even out of the box and I see it don't have a depth gauge so right now I'm disappointed thinking I can't go to parks now as I won't know how deep anything is.
I refuse to carry it back now so I'll live with it and hope someone can shed me a little light with this sharp shooter and good places to hunt with them other than parks.
Where I live there's no oceans so no beeches to detect all we have is river bottoms and woods.
Thanks and again hello I hope to be doing metal detecting a long time.

 

[Rivermarine1]

Rick, I have had a SSII that I got for Christmas last year. I have found many coins, silver rings, gold necklaces, artifacts and of course junk. I seem have to have one of the best hotwheel collections in Texas. I have found consistently at 6 inches. I agree, I would like a depth detector, but it hasn't stopped me. I looked at the SSII as a good starter, so I could learn about the hobby and develop some skills along the way. My unit has already paid for itself. If you look in the postings, my last one was "Saturday morning hunt" which is a few below this post. It shows the 21 inch 14kt necklace I found. With gold at the current rate, you can guess its value. I have found one more like it. I have found wheaties, mercs, half-dollars, and dollars. You will learn by listening to your unit. I run with sensitivity at 11:00 and Disc at 12:00. I have to be careful when it shows nickle to iron or I may miss gold in real trashy areas. When in not so trashy areas, I lower the Disc down to 9:00 and at time just barely on. As for hunting spots, hunt where you find people have gathered. I hit baseball parks, softball parks, fair grounds. Near me is an old Air Force base now closed, but a lot of the old housing area is still accessible. Found some great finds there. Look for old homesteads. Hook up with you local library and get access to Sanborn maps. They show locations of things long gone, but you can still find them. Just dive in and get your feet wet, so to say, You will have fun as soon as you start finding goodies. Welcome aboard, good luck and HH. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions. Lots of good info and friendly folks aboard.

 

[jasper12]

Hey Rick
I've been metal detecting only a few months & believe me,It takes time to get to now you're Machine & what it's telling you.I've read my owners manual 30 times,researched my detector and found the best possible way to set it up.I search Tot lots,My yard,Moms yard,I found a sight a few days ago where there used to be an old house,It was allmost dark & I found My first Wheat penny 1946....Don't expect to find something every time you go out...In two months I've found about $8.00 in clad & 2 silver rings.Thats it.But oh what a thrill it was on the rings .I dig a lot less holes now because I know my machine..As far as the sharp shooter I don't know to much about that one.If you're tired of pull tabs iron & nails.Try setting it to auto notch Sens to 4 o'clock Discrim to 3 o'clock.Good luck & hang tuff.Some one correct me if I'm wrong For I'm still knew to ..................pat

 

[jasper12]

As far as the depth meter or lack of it,Do'nt worry about it.Mine has a depth meter but I seldom even look at it

 

[RounderRick]

Thanks all I really appreciate the replies back and I feel much better now at least with being able to pin point with it my holes should be smaller.
I finally got it out of the box and it's good to go so I may explore my yard tomorrow because it rained last night so it should be much softer now.
By the way I live in west Tennessee where there's tons of forked deer rivers don't know how they would be for detecting but I'm gonna give it a shot and see I wish these detectors would pick up arrow heads because I know there's a bunch of them that could be found for sure in this area.
Also got a brother that lives near Austin TX so maybe next year I can try out there some when I go for a visit.

 

[JJ]

Hello Rick, I think you made a pretty good choice with the SSII. It has a few hi-end features at a lower end cost. I've had one for almost six years now and have no complaints. As far as the depth-gauge is concerned, you're not really missing out on much there. I have a buddy using a BH QDII (w/ depth gauge) and his depth readings are consistently off. WAY OFF. Allot of people who live and die by their depth gauges have a nice collection of scarred up coins. You'll learn to get a good idea of depth using your ears. Pinpointing is also pretty easy in either a disc or notch mode, but I also like switching to all-metal for pinpointing. You're in a state loaded with history. The first places that come to your mind to hunt have probably already been hit hard, not saying you wont have success there. I guess it all depends what your after. If you're after pocket change and some jewelry then go hit that new park down the street. For all the older, harder to find stuff, you'll have to spend time researching. The more time you spend researching the better you get at it and the better your hunting grounds and finds get. You'll also learn to track down the owner of any given piece of property and the best ways to go about getting permission to hunt. TC & HH, JJ

 

[GoGoGopher]

Will once again post the videos I made...









Hope these help,

GoGoGopher

 

[PACK RAT]

Wouldn't care if my detector had depth on it or not! Find most of them to not be very accurate anyways and hardly look at mine either. After you get to know your detector better you'll be almost able to guess the depth by the way your unit is talking to you. If I look for another unit I won't care if it has depth or not. Just my opinion.

 

[Wil-Phil]

Hi Rick, I was using a Quick Draw II for about four years and found it a pretty good detector. Looks like your SS II is the next model up. I agree with jasper 12 about the depth gauge. I found it very unreliable and never used it. I never used the sound to judge the depth either. I am sure the QD II amplifies any weak signal to the level of a strong signal, so you get a constant volume on matter what the target. The SS II could be different. I would be more inclined to listen to the slight change in tone when entering and exiting a target.

I found the QD II very good at pinpointing small targets, eg coins, rings, pull tabs, screw tops etc. I would dig most things that you can pin point to an inch after using the discrimination to remove iron. If it was a trashy area I wouldn't dig much below zinc on the ID bar unless I was finding old things or at a beach. Here in Australia typical coins of near pure silver, copper would show up as ID 1 cent to 25 cent.Bronze also comes in around this area. Some latter coins with only 50% silver as well as some modern coins would show up as pull tab or trash. You also will probably will miss gold if you don't dig below zinc. Get a feel for a site by digging all targets you can pin point, then decide how far up the ID scale you wish to travel.

I find the ID scale very useful. When you are pin pointing,swinging the coil in one direction then the other I look at the ID scale. If one directional swing ID is close to the other swing ID I am pretty happy. eg, Zinc in one direction, Zinc or 1 cent in the other; 1 cent in one direction, Zinc or 1 cent or 25 cent in the other. If the ID's are far apart eg, pull tab in one direction, 25 cent in the other i am not so confidant but would still dig. At the start of using my detector I was digging every thing. Best way to learn.

I found using the QD II to pin point large objects was impossible. You would get a signal as you entered the front edge of the target and another signal when you left the rear edge of the target in both directions. The target ID normally jumps around every where as well.It is worth while going over these targets a few times and trying to find a pin point as it could be a number of small targets close together. This could be where you are having trouble, thinking the detector is having a problem pin pointing, where it is really just a large object in the ground and the detector is picking up the edges first. When I was first using the QD II I was having a lot of trouble with this, digging large holes then finally only just clipping the edge of a large sheet of copper or steel. I wouldn't dig a signal like this in a park, but looking for relics or in a battle field, yes.(None near me)

Other things I have learned with the QD II is that it will not discriminate iron at depth but give a good signal and target ID, though my new detector does the same thing. I don't think I have ever dug a good target in the $1 ID range. It has usually been a buried aluminum coke can or something similar.

Hope this helps, but don't take my word for granted. Start in your own backyard and dig everything and learn the detector.