Well, it finally happened to me, after 4 years of learning on the MXT. I was at the park today, not getting much, so I decided to go after some VDI's I normally pass up. I was in an area that was giving me 4 or 5 targets between 5 and 10, and digging up shards of the same pop can that had been mowed over. All were solid sounding hits.
Normally, I would let it go after the 3rd signal. Since I wasn't getting much, I kept with it. On the 5th target, out pops a thin 10k gold band. It rung up a solid 6, and was maybe 2" deep.
This is not a monumental find for most of you, but it is the first gold for me in 6 months. I do not normally go after anything less than 14. I guess I will have to find time to dig all the junk signals in the future.
[attachment 48145 DSC_rings2.12.07_edited-1.jpg]
The second ring came in at 83, and was down about 4". At first I thought it was silver, but after a few trips through the ultrasonic cleaner, there were some gold leafs revealed. It is marked 10k also.
When I first started out detecting, I ran the gain wide open, or as high as I could get without on overload. Lately I have tamed it down, and was running at 8 today. This really cuts down on the chatter. I figured out long ago that relic mode is where it's at, with disc at 2. While this works well in aluminum infested parks, cleaner sports fields and old places would benefit from opening up the gain and lowering the disc.
It seems I learn some little nuance everytime out. For instance, wet ground can raise the VDI 10 or more numbers than what you would normally expect out of a target. Or a quarter next to a bottle cap comes in at 50-65.
Cherry picking is fine, but you may some day learn that those "undesireable" VDI numbers have the potential to be your greatest finds. Face it, all the good clear stuff has already been picked up from your local park. Some goodies still remain everywhere, but you have to get out of the box to get them.
One of my best finds lately was a 47 at 5" deep. After 2 hours of recovering junk aluminum, would you dig such a signal? It turned out to be a war nickel. Another time, when I was running the gain wide open, I got a signal that alternated between 20 and 81, with 1/4 of the confidence bar lit up. I dug it, sure I would find a small bit of junk very shallow, and got a clean '47 Rosie, and a pristine fliptop out of the same hole.
Detecting is like anything else. The more you put in, the greater you take out. After a learning process, the most fun is trying to predict what a target is, based on past results. I feel I am just catching on to what my MXT has been shouting in my ear these past 4 years! (Something like, "Hey, Doofus! Get yer hands outta yer pockets an' dig this up!")
Anyway, now I am going to have to torture myself with digging those sub-+10 signals. Too bad aluminum doesn't hit 14$ per oz.!
I got a funny kid story out of the day also. I saw a family eyeballing me when I first arrived, and they packed up after about 30 minutes. Before they left, a young lad of about 5 approached, and asked me what I was doing.
"This is a metal detector", I replied.
"So, you're looking for garbage?" he asked.
"Yep, garbage. What are you up to today?"
"My Mom told me to come over and see what you are doing."
"Tell her I'm out picking up garbage."
As you can see, I could use some help to resize photos to fit into the forum. I apologize for this pic, but it was the best I could figure out.
Normally, I would let it go after the 3rd signal. Since I wasn't getting much, I kept with it. On the 5th target, out pops a thin 10k gold band. It rung up a solid 6, and was maybe 2" deep.
This is not a monumental find for most of you, but it is the first gold for me in 6 months. I do not normally go after anything less than 14. I guess I will have to find time to dig all the junk signals in the future.
[attachment 48145 DSC_rings2.12.07_edited-1.jpg]
The second ring came in at 83, and was down about 4". At first I thought it was silver, but after a few trips through the ultrasonic cleaner, there were some gold leafs revealed. It is marked 10k also.
When I first started out detecting, I ran the gain wide open, or as high as I could get without on overload. Lately I have tamed it down, and was running at 8 today. This really cuts down on the chatter. I figured out long ago that relic mode is where it's at, with disc at 2. While this works well in aluminum infested parks, cleaner sports fields and old places would benefit from opening up the gain and lowering the disc.
It seems I learn some little nuance everytime out. For instance, wet ground can raise the VDI 10 or more numbers than what you would normally expect out of a target. Or a quarter next to a bottle cap comes in at 50-65.
Cherry picking is fine, but you may some day learn that those "undesireable" VDI numbers have the potential to be your greatest finds. Face it, all the good clear stuff has already been picked up from your local park. Some goodies still remain everywhere, but you have to get out of the box to get them.
One of my best finds lately was a 47 at 5" deep. After 2 hours of recovering junk aluminum, would you dig such a signal? It turned out to be a war nickel. Another time, when I was running the gain wide open, I got a signal that alternated between 20 and 81, with 1/4 of the confidence bar lit up. I dug it, sure I would find a small bit of junk very shallow, and got a clean '47 Rosie, and a pristine fliptop out of the same hole.
Detecting is like anything else. The more you put in, the greater you take out. After a learning process, the most fun is trying to predict what a target is, based on past results. I feel I am just catching on to what my MXT has been shouting in my ear these past 4 years! (Something like, "Hey, Doofus! Get yer hands outta yer pockets an' dig this up!")
Anyway, now I am going to have to torture myself with digging those sub-+10 signals. Too bad aluminum doesn't hit 14$ per oz.!
I got a funny kid story out of the day also. I saw a family eyeballing me when I first arrived, and they packed up after about 30 minutes. Before they left, a young lad of about 5 approached, and asked me what I was doing.
"This is a metal detector", I replied.
"So, you're looking for garbage?" he asked.
"Yep, garbage. What are you up to today?"
"My Mom told me to come over and see what you are doing."
"Tell her I'm out picking up garbage."
As you can see, I could use some help to resize photos to fit into the forum. I apologize for this pic, but it was the best I could figure out.