First week with V3 - Report

[RogerN]

I received my V3 a week ago, this is my experience thus far. I'm new to this, the V3 is my first real metal detector, I had a $30 one as a child but had no discrimination or such.

My most aggravating experience so far has been finding targets and pinpointing with them being there. Like pinpointing something that the V3 says is a coin 3.5" deep and I already dug a hole over 30" deep and can't find what the V3 is detecting. I've dug a few holes with the post hole digger that looked good but I can't locate them. I don't have a pinpoint probe yet so I'm doing the best I can with what I have. I've found some some coins, the oldest is a 1955 wheat penny I found the day my detector came in. Last night I found my first dime, a 1991 or so. So far I can't find anything much of value, my earnings on coins is less than $0.10 per hour so far. Sounds discouraging but.... I have a pin pointer on the way from' White's Santa pack coupon and I'm somewhat enjoying the time I spend digging and recovering stuff. I don't enjoy digging and not finding, even if it's a rusty nail, I like to find what I'm digging for.

Last Sunday I went to the fairgrounds and enjoyed hunting for a couple of hours before the battery went dead. Somehow I accidently turned the TX boost on without knowing it, killing my battery after a couple of hours. In that time, I found 3 nickles and 5 penny's, nothing old though, and not mentioning the foil and can tabs.

To compare "treasure hunting" with hunting, it's not unusual to spend over $1000 for a good gun and optics, just like a good metal detector and accessories. But unlike other sports I've done, treasure hunting pays off, if I find $0.10 in an hour metal detecting, it's not much, but it's better than spending $30 in ammunition in an hour sport shooting or some other hobby. I guess what I'm saying, with metal detecting, it's the initial expense then payback, other hobbies I've tried, it's the initial expense and additional expense as you spend time with your hobby.

Just my 2 wheat penny's worth!

RogerN

 

[Larry (IL)]

You will have to trust all who will respond........things will get better............much better as you learn the art of metal detecting. First, if a target pinpoints at 3.5 inches and you haven't found it yet at 6 inches...something is wrong. You are either off center or you have a very large target that is very deep. Unless you are just the curious type, move on and spend you time better on another target. Also hunting where targets are more likely will increase your finds. Nancy and I have hunted sports fields and playgrounds and brought home over $50 in change many times in a long day. This is not counting the jewelry and other interesting finds made along the way, sometimes gold and silver. Don't be afraid to ask permission to hunt private property too, aways ask permission first.

Good luck next time out Roger......keep us posted on your progress.........

 

[nw1886]

Roger...I commend you! (For several things you said.) Sounds like your attitude is good and you realize where you are at in the learning curve of this fun hobby we all share. Going out and buying the "top gun" is one heck of a commitment for a beginning detectorist but...it will become easier and a lot more fun as you enjoy learning the basic concepts and your new machine.

If I had one piece of advice it would be "You have to walk over the top of it to find it." Larry's advise to seek out the most likely spots is exactly what you need!
Old homes is the best place to start and you will find stuff.

Trust your detector at this point. Realize that all those squeaks and beeps are "correct". In correct, it is telling you exactly what it is able to with adjustments correctly made or not. (Very few of us are running this machine at it's optimum adjustments either and still making good finds so don't sweat what you don't yet know and enjoy the process. Factory presets are a must to begin with and ask tons of questions.

About digging to China and not finding a thing? Several things can trick you into thinking that something is there if you don't yet have much experience detecting. We all have dug those kinds of things and just took away some learning. One of the most common things, that can create that, is when a piece of iron is creating a strong "good" signal at the edge of it's halo. These signals are easily checked out by coming at the spot from several directions. Almost always, the signal goes away or changes to VDI's that show it for what it is.

Best thing to do is go out to a clean area (a natural opening in some woods that hasn't seen a lot of activity or just find an especially clean yard) and throw down all kinds of targets in varying proximity's. Seeing how they all respond, at different coil heights and locations to each other will get you familiar to how they act. Hope this will help. Welcome.

 

[BHNugget]

Plant some coins 3-4" deep in your yard and practice your pinpointing with the coil.With whichever program your using make sure tone id is on and that vco is on under pinpoint audio.If its not on,turning it on will help your pinpointing tremendously.

 

[CROCK of COINS]

Try this, take some cardboard, tape a target or two on the board. Make a few, and the spread them out in a park with the target face down.

You can put a #/letter on each card. Everyone take turns at the cards, and write down your guess on each card as to target value and if the back of the card has a GRID-like a spread sheet, then place your pinpoint guess.

Use a shipping address pouch (zip loc bag) to hold targets. That makes changing targets easy.

These cards made by Bob- "huntsforfun" ;-)

Jerry

 

[NuggetBucket]

Hey Roger, I like your attitude! These are some great suggestions on here to help you get better at detecting and the more you do it, the better you will get at it. I have found that perseverance and patience really pay off and seriously, isn't it about just getting out and having fun? You will find that the handheld pinpointer will make a world of difference in looking for those coins that have turned the same color as the earth you're digging (or other targets for that matter). Anyway, good luck to you and enjoy!

Nugget

 

[Hunt4Fun]

Roger,

Hang on to that great attitude .... you will soon look back and wonder why you had so much trouble at the start.

For accurate pinpointing, take some earlier advice and make sure you have VCO turned on in Pinpoint Audio plus make sure Ratchet Pinpointing is turned off. While pinpointing if the highest pitch & loudest audio covers a large area do a procedure called de-tuning to reduce the pinpoint area. To de-tune, place the coil to the the side of the suspected target location and squeeze and hold the trigger. Slowly move the coil toward the target. When the pitch and volume is almost at the peak, stop moving the coil. Hold the coil still and release the trigger, and then squeeze and hold the trigger again. The pinpoint tone and volume will be greatly reduced or silent. Again slowly move the coil toward the target and you will find the high volume area greatly reduced. You can do this de-tuning as many times as you feel necessary to reduce the target response area to a manageable size. If you are using a concentrically wound coil, the target should be directly under the center of the coil when the pitch is at the highest. If you are using a DD coil, you can use the described de-tuning but you have to do it a second time at 90 degrees to get an X to mark the pinpointed location. Hope this made sense.

There are other ways to judge the size of a target but the following works pretty well when using the stock coil. Do a quick pinpoint without any de-tuning and make note of the indicated depth. While still holding the trigger lift the coil straight up about 2 inches and again make note of the depth reading. If the difference in the readings is about the same 2 inches you raised the coil, the target is coin sized and about the depth of the original pinpoint reading. If the difference in the readings is far less than the 2 inches you raised the coil, the target is larger than a coin and much deeper than the pinpointed reading. If the difference in the readings is more than the 2 inches you raised the coil, the target is smaller than a coin and much shallower than the pinpointed reading.

You will be posting great finds soon.

Bob

 

[RogerN]

Thanks for all the encouragement and tips!

I knew I'm a beginner buying an advanced detector and expect a learning curve. I can tell I'm making progress though, having found several coins I'm starting to learn how the V3 responds to them. Sometimes I dig questionable targets just to learn what's causing the signal. I'm hoping to find some older coins and am trying to locate deeper targets.

I bought my V3 with Kelly Co's BOGO (buy one get one) sale and got my son a nice MPX for $50, so we can spend time together hunting coins, jewelry, and relics (or junk). I plan to go to the fair grounds again this weekend, a couple of time last weekend I pinpointed and touched the ground where I wanted to dig, and placed my finger right on top of a coin, the pinpointing does pretty good. A pinpointer probe came in today so that should help in locating our finds quicker. Bottom line is that in my first week I'm getting better a finding and digging my finds but I still haven't done any deep old coin finds so far... Maybe this weekend!

RogerN

 

[woodchiphustler]

Watch out for the drain pipe on a salt water beach. Keep at it. Part of the fun is learning.

 

[RogerN]

In my "still practicing" phase last week(end) I found 4 quarters (3 in my yard) some pennies, dimes, and nickles. Tonight I took the V3 out in the dark and found a 1972 penny, 9mm cartridge brass, and an old nail in about 3 minutes + 3 minutes digging in approx 1 sq. yard area. Nothing great but I found the penny in "relic" program in an area I went over a few times before in "coin". This has me wondering, are some of the objects found deeper as "Not Coins" really coins disguised at a depth? Or in other words, is VID accurate for deeper finds?

RogerN

 

[nw1886]

Roger, To answer your question about accuracy at depth. The VDI's do read differently at depth. This is just a "for instance" but...if you have a penny coming at you from say 6", it will still have "coin type" VDI's. (Several of them will be those of penny/dime though.) I guess the approach I use is...if it is at say 6"...70% of the VDI's should be in the "coin" range. (If it is tough soil or deeper, those percentages should be lowered.) All depends on the dirt your hunting in as to what you except as good. Then again...I've had accurate VDI's (and SOLID ones) down to 9" so...as you learn you detector and soil, you will come up with you own criteria. Heck...I'll still dig a lot of stuff if it just repeats a few good VDI's. Guess what? A lot of the time they are reporting good stuff!

Your going to have a blast...we all can tell!

 

[RogerN]

Today I went back to the Fair Grounds and did a little better than the first time. First time, I found something like 5 pennies and 3 nickles, nothing old, all current. Today, 2 weeks later than the first time, I found 6 quarters, 7 dimes and several pennies. I tried to avoid zinc pennies and dug only copper ones that could be older or could be dimes, I also didn't try to dig most nickels. I found nothing old or silver this time either but at least I found a lot of coins and didn't dig very much trash. Sometimes I would hunt a good while to find a coin, other times I'd dig one coin, stand up, get another coin on first swing, dig, stand up, get another coin within a couple of swings. I'd be digging coins with a short break to find the next coin! It's very encouraging to go from beginner to feeling confident in the V3 and beginning to understand what it's telling me.

I had a couple of "looks like a coin" but couldn't find anything so I gave up and filled the hole in. Still hoping to find some silver and/or older coins. I'll have to try "Coin and Jewelry" to see if I can find any jewelry, so far I've avoided due to finding lots of trash. So much treasure to find, so little time!

RogerN

 

[robertk]

...I also didn't try to dig most nickels....

Your mileage may vary, but for me, nickels are easy with the V3. In Coin & Jewelry mode, they hit with a VDI of 19, the top two bars line up on the spectragraph, and the bottom bar is one notch to the left of the top two. Every time. I've found several buffalo nickels and several Jeffersons and they have all hit like that. The only nickel I've found which didn't hit that way was a well worn V nickel in the same hole with a Jefferson.