My confidence in this detector is improving...

[Anonymous]

I wasn't so sure at first that I had made a good decision to get this detector. I was digging up so many pop cans and pulltabs....
Last night after work I went to this old train station and started looking around. I found about half a dozen old pulltabs, and a nickel.
I went home and took out my coin collection, and I tried listening to the different sounds that the coins would make. Then I tried a pop can, a pulltab, a soup can, and a soup can top. I noticed where everything would come up on the screen and tried to remember all the sounds.
This morning I got up early early and went out there again before work. I searched in a slightly differnt place, about 20 feet farther from the train station. In 1 hour of searching, I found 3 pennies, a dime, and a weird flattened piece of copper. Im guessing it used to be a coin, and it was put on the tracks and flattened by the train. Only one piece of trash though, and it wasnt a pulltab.
When I get done with work, I'm going to go back there and search again. Guess practice makes perfect. I must say, this detector's a lot harder to use than my garrett is, but its a lot more accurate! The key is, remembering the sounds and remembering where the trash comes up on the screen.
I dont think I'll be blacking out any more trash that I find, though. After blacking out all those pulltabs with the smallest of the cursors, I went home and found that some of my nickels and an indian head penny wouldnt come up, not at all. Went to a clear screen, put a tick by coins, a tick by jewelry, and x's by everything else except ferrous coins, which I left blank. The coins were detected after that.
Oh yeah, and the coins were all 1970's <IMG SRC="/forums/images/frown.gif" BORDER=0 ALT=""> The train station has been there since 1873, though. So maybe I'll get lucky! There's an old brick sidewalk that surrounds the station, and goes down along the tracks. I picked up a lot of coins below that, but its hard to get the bricks up and I dont want to get arrested. <IMG SRC="/forums/images/frown.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">
Speaking of which, have any of you ever been arrested or fined for digging in any parks or such places?
Jeremy

 

[Anonymous]

Of how it turns out.
I've never been arrested or fined. Usually I would think that would happen on state lands and then they might take your detector and you'd never see it again.
So if you go on state lands take your Garrett instead. It would be no great loss <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">

 

[Anonymous]

In National Parks, no detecting is allowed anywhere. It is a felony, like murder. Some people dug up a cannonball. There detectors were siezed, their vehicles were siezed, & they were facing up to a half million in fines & up to 20 years in prison. In National forests, I heard of one case where the ranger said go ahead, but later one of the people had their house raided by the govt & they took everything that they thought might have been found with a metal detector. In National Parks, it is even illegal to have an assembled metal detector in your car, they say it must be unassembled & packed away where it isn't easy to get at it. In most states, it is also illegal to detect in state parks & state forests, but it is usually a misdemeanor rather than a felony. I read about one person who went to a schoolyard 3 times when the police told him to leave the first 2 times, he was fined $642. There are laws that prohibit damaging public & private property that date back to way before metal detectors were invented. But in city parks & public schoolyards we are generally allowed as long as damage is very minor. If there are no signs in these places, you might be OK to just go ahead & detect. But if the police tell you to leave, you should leave & not come back. HH, George (MN)

 

[Anonymous]

USE OF METAL DETECTORS
POLICY
The use of electronic metal detectors to find lost coins, rings, watches, or other valuables is a popular activity. Favorite search areas are intensive use areas, especially beaches. Parks and Recreation Bureau (PRB) has long recognized this as a recreational activity at appropriate locales. However, there is increasing concern that metal detectors are facilitating illegal removal of archaeological and historic resources from Bureau-administered lands.
Public Act 451, 324.74102 mandates the protection of historic resources within State Parks.
Public Act 238 of 1957 provides a means of disposing of personal property lost or abandoned on state property and this is included in the Park Field Manual, Ranger Guide, and Parks and Recreation Policy #1.10.
Public Act 451 of 1994, Part 761 Aboriginal Records and Antiquities, prohibits a person from removing, exploring or excavating any relic or aboriginal antiquities and abandoned property of historical or recreational value found upon or within the lands owned by or under the control of the state.
In addition to the concerns regarding the unauthorized removal of historical artifacts, there is a concern related to the potential damage to lands resulting from the act of "digging up" items identified by various metal detectors.
Public Act 451 of 1994, Part 324.74121, State parks; prohibited conduct, in section 74121 states:
"A person shall not do the following in a state park:
(a) Destroy, damage or remove any tree, shrub, wildflower or other vegetation or property without the permission of the department."
Metal detectors may provide the public with a chance of recovering some lost possessions in intensively used areas. Items of historic value may not be removed.
For the foregoing reasons, it shall be the policy of the Parks and Recreation Bureau to prohibit the use of metal detectors on all Bureau-administered lands except:
1. Designated swimming beaches
2. Designated day use areas
3. Campgrounds
4. Parking lots
5. Boating access site parking lots
Exceptions to the areas listed above may be given in specific instances based upon new information that was unknown on the approval date of this policy.
It shall be the responsibility of the individual field unit to provide a map specifically designating areas in which this activity is allowed.
For requests to conduct archaeological research, refer to Parks and Recreation Policy #8.7, Use
Permits. Archaeological research requires a permit jointly issued by the Michigan Department of
Natural Resources and the Department of History, Arts and Libraries.
The following conditions apply to the use of metal detectors in state parks:
1. All recovered items must be checked by a park employee before being removed from the park.
2. Any items the park has recorded lost and that can be returned to the rightful owner will be turned in to the park, or the park will notify the owner of the name and address of the finder.
3. Coins may be retained by the finder unless rare and historic. If coins are turned in, PRB staff should contact the Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries to determine historic value and disposition instructions.
4. Any artifacts found will be retained by the State.
5. The use of probes or small hand trowels to retrieve objects discovered beneath the surface shall be allowed if the land is not unduly disturbed. Disturbed material must be replaced.
6. Large-scale digging to retrieve objects shall not be allowed unless being done as part of a Department authorized archaeological research project.
Metal detectors are prohibited from:
1. Fayette State Park and Fort Wilkins State Park
2. Beaches, day use areas, boating access sites or campgrounds known to have artifacts.
3. Designated historic or archaeological sites. Designated includes sites listed on the State or National registers of historic places, or indicated by the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries as eligible for listing on the State or Federal register.
4. Areas specifically closed to the use of metal detectors by a Land Use Order of the Director.

 

[Anonymous]

I HATE ARCHIES!!! buncha hypocritical, sanctimonious, holier-than-thou.....never mind, don't get me started.....anyway... When I go to hunt somewhere, I go ask the police if there are any laws or ordinances that specifically....repeat SPECIFICALLY prohibit metal detecting on public property TO INCLUDE recovery of targets. I don't ask for permission though, only if there's any laws against it, then I get the officer's name with whom I've spoken. Don't go ask some flunky in city hall, they usually don't know crap from Kiwi and will arbitrarily say no just to cover their butts. Then I go hunting. I haven't had any trouble so far. I've had a few get out of their cars and come over to me. I thought I was in for it, but they just were curious as to what kind of luck I was having. I'm sure I'm gonna run into one someday that think's he's TJ Hooker (but comes off as Barney Fife!!) I don't hunt public land often though, my favorite places are usually privately owned.