Menu
What's new
Find's Treasure Forums

Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!

You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.

Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.

Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.

Click here to register!

Need Support Help?

Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you

Changed email? Forgot to update your account with new email address? Need assistance with something else?, click here to go to Find's Support Form and fill out the form.

Looking for a trainer

P

patg51

New member
Hello,

I got a Minelab Explorer II in March 2004. I must confess that I still don't know what I am doing with it. But I have found silver quarters, mercury head dimes, nickels, wheat cents, clad coinage and lots of junk.

But I know that I am missing a lot of good silver because I don't know what I am doing.

I live in northeast Michigan, Presque Isle county but have not found anyone to help me learn how to use my detector. I am looking for someone who also uses an Explorer II who would like to come to Presque Isle and show me now to work this device.

Some time in late May or the month of June.
 
Not to come off as rude... But if you are looking for someone to teach you, shouldn't you be willing to come to them instead of expecting them to come to you?

I have had people drive several hours and even from out of state to hunt with me and try to glean as much information as possible.
 
There might be reasons why I cannot get to them. Taking care of my 91 year old mother is one. Unhunted areas I can take someone to is another. And there could be many more reasons why I posted as I did.
 
Sounds like a good invite for the right person! I'm sure there's someone in or near your neck of the woods. If I were within an hour's drive, I'd consider it. If you're finding silver though, you must be doing something right! You may just need more time to figure it out and get used to it. I'm always rusty in spring after not detecting for the winter, and it jsut takes time to get back into it and find the groove.

Are you using the stock coin program right now? I consider that the best way to learn, then slowly start opening it up to more targets. Also I recommend using the Smartfind screen if you are not doing so already. Anyhow, lots of people and info here to help. If you can tell us your settings and how you're running people may have specific tips to make things easier for you.

And I hate to say it, but if you don't have Andy Sabish's book on the Explorer, it's worth the read. Understanding how all the controls work and what they do makes it easier to make intelligent decisions about how to set them.
 
While most people on this forum probably aren't near you and couldn't come show you how to hunt, we'll all be happy to give you tips on how to hunt with better results. If you have an elderly relative to take care of, we all know how demanding that can be, and that certainly restricts your ability to travel to meet people to help you out. (I don't think anybody here means to give you attitude about that, they're just used to people wanting the answers handed to them and not wanting to do their own homework so to speak)

Not to worry though, there is plenty you can do to better with your machine by just reading and practicing. Youtube is also a great resource for watching various peoples techniques and demonstrations.

Basic ideas:
1. Go slow, don't walk or swing too fast. If you're in an area with lots of trash, slow down even more.
2. Run with as much sensitivity and gain as you can, but not so much that the machine is putting out a lot of false signals. In heavy trash, you may want to lower your sensitivity a bit.
3. If you have some spare cash, get a small coil for trashy areas. Usually you can find things you missed that way that were right next to trash. Also, a probe like the sunray X-1 is highly recommended.
4. Dig any target that sounds like it might be good (anything that gives a partial high tone or bounces around between the left and right side of the screen, not just the clear repeatable ones. You will dig plenty of iron this way, but some good deep stuff as well.
You have to dig a lot of junk to find all the goodies, that's just the way it is.
5. Digging pulltab type signals will get you other good things from time to time, like jewelry, and also coins like copper nickel indian heads, older nickels, flying eagle cents, 3-cent pieces, WWII era nickels with part silver composition that read higher than a regular nickel.
6. For more detailed info specific to the explorer, get a book called "mastering the minelab explorer" by Andy Sabisch.
7. Have fun and relax. That's why you're out there swinging the thing in the first place, ain't it?
 
of my father's health.

I also just lost my mom around 6 months go...so I understand 100% about your personal reasons that you can't ...or prefer not to travel.

I personally have set a limit right now of a 1 hour drive time in order to hunt...simply because I don't want to get too far away from home...then find out something has happened with my dad.

I am not able to find as many coins as I did last year..but family is number one. I knew that when I had 2 parents...so it is definately no different now that I have only one.

I get asked to hunt and to teach people all the time...and I would LOVE to...but I just can't.

It has become challenging to even get any personal hunt time for myself anymore..and when I do...it's the same parks I have hit for 30 years.

Anyway my point to this was to let you know just as Chris said and Nick reinforced....you can really learn a lot from the things they pointed out.

I hope you are able to have someone come your way and help you out....as that is what you are really looking for. If not though...this is a wondeful forum with a wealth of knowledge from a ton of good hunters.
 
I have seen several posts about Andy's book. But no is saying where I can get a copy. I live in a rural area and have to shop online. So a web site address would be helpful. What is the exact book title by the way.

I have been using my explorer for about 4 years. But I just get frustrated when I don't know if what I am dong is the correct approach or not.

If I spend the day hunting with settings that just conflict with each other (something set too high, something else set too low) then I have wasted my time and am proceeding down the wrong path.

I use adjust my settings until I feel that I am wasting my time and reset to the factory defaults and try again.
 
http://www.sabischbooks.com/

That'll get you to the right person. He'll probably sign it for you too.
 
Thanks for the web address.

Which one of the following 2 books on the web site is the one people are referring to when they say 'get Andy's book'? Or are they both basically the same ? Why would you prefer one over the other?

The Minelab Explorer & E-Trac Handbook - (192 pages)
or Mastering the Minelab Explorer - (124 pages)
 
it is the newer of the 2 and has a ton of new information in it.

It will be a better investment than any coil change you could ever make..and it will only cost $20.
 
Thanks, I will get a copy and proceed with my education.

Unless someone wants to come up to where I am no further replies to this thread are needed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top