I just bought my first detector and I'm having troubles that I don't know if the cause of is me or the detector. I bought this unit used so I don't know if there's anything you need to worry about but. I was at the UofA campus searching in the sand and I would toss a coin down in front of me and still not really find any signal. I found a pen, a fitting and a penny with the machine as well as a nail so it works but... I went to a school yard and couldn't move 4 inches without the thing beeping at some piece of foil so I couldn't figure out what to dig up... Should I just hunt in all metal mode for a while? If I hunt in coin mode will it pass rings over? I put out a gold ring to see if it would find it and I just passed it over in coin mode. So let me know, any help would be great!
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Garrett GTA 1000 Troubles I think?
- Thread starter TucsonAZ
- Start date
Maybe this is just an issue with the desert? I just went out to mess around in my yard, found a rather large gold ring but said it was a pulltab... Also I went in a wash on my yard and it beeped a good amount but it was only finding black sand... Can anybody comment on issues with detecting in the desert?
I would suggest you read the manual and run the detector with less sensitivity. Running it in coins mode would make your learning curve much easier, and still get most gold & silver rings. It's hard to say if it is not working properly, without using it myself. That's the gamble you take when buying a unit used, unless it was purchased from a dealer. I thing you are just new to your machine and it's going to take several hours for you to figure it out. Keep plugging away with it. Below is a link to the manual AND a link to a field test which might help. Good luck. 
http://www.garrett.com/manuals/GTA-1000.pdf
http://losttreasure.com/fieldtests/ArchiveView07.cfm?ID=TF19910724
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http://www.garrett.com/manuals/GTA-1000.pdf
http://losttreasure.com/fieldtests/ArchiveView07.cfm?ID=TF19910724
<center>
1. Do you have the first coil of the cable wire going over the top of the white rod?
2. Do you have the cable wrapped fairly securely around the white rod and the greeb aluminum tube.
Both should be,
3. For the sensitivity setup you'll need some ground with no metal objects in it.
Imcrease or decrease your sensivity, depth setting, until you're hearing popping or snapping noises while swinging the coil level to the ground. Back off the sensitivity until there is no popping sounds. Back it off one more notch so ypu are sure it will run stable.
4. Honestly, run in coin mode for 50-100 hours. Maybe you'll miss a goodie or two but by the end you'll know your machine well enough to be somewhat of a coin guru and probably will be finding some jewelery to boot.
5. Watch for overhead powerlines. They will set your machine free,
6. Black sand will also set your machine free.
I'll be sending a PM to you as the GTA 1000 is my main machine.
HH
2. Do you have the cable wrapped fairly securely around the white rod and the greeb aluminum tube.
Both should be,
3. For the sensitivity setup you'll need some ground with no metal objects in it.
Imcrease or decrease your sensivity, depth setting, until you're hearing popping or snapping noises while swinging the coil level to the ground. Back off the sensitivity until there is no popping sounds. Back it off one more notch so ypu are sure it will run stable.
4. Honestly, run in coin mode for 50-100 hours. Maybe you'll miss a goodie or two but by the end you'll know your machine well enough to be somewhat of a coin guru and probably will be finding some jewelery to boot.
5. Watch for overhead powerlines. They will set your machine free,
6. Black sand will also set your machine free.
I'll be sending a PM to you as the GTA 1000 is my main machine.
HH
BigCatDaddy
New member
One thing to try!! When you first turn the 1000 on, hold down the Power button till it beeps. This should reset the 1000 to Factory Default. I used mine this morning for the first time in a long while and it went haywire when I first turned it on. but after letting it reset, it was just fine and got me this!!!!
You found a gold ring on your first day? I'd say it's working fine.
It takes a lot of practice to get proficient. Lower the sensitivity. Run in coin or jewelry setting. Make a test garden. Practice.
Gold rings, and pop tops, and pull tabs, and pencil erasers, and nickels all have very similar conductivities. Depending on the ring, what carat gold it is, the design, it can indicate all over the place. I've found gold all the way from foil almost up to zinc cent.
Good luck. Let's see a photo of that ring.
Chris
It takes a lot of practice to get proficient. Lower the sensitivity. Run in coin or jewelry setting. Make a test garden. Practice.
Gold rings, and pop tops, and pull tabs, and pencil erasers, and nickels all have very similar conductivities. Depending on the ring, what carat gold it is, the design, it can indicate all over the place. I've found gold all the way from foil almost up to zinc cent.
Good luck. Let's see a photo of that ring.
Chris