kybob
11-11-2011, 07:08 PM
Yesterday Rosie, my DSW, and I met Tanacat at an old local park for my first detecting experience ever, using my new White's Coinmaster Pro.
It was cloudy, a bit windy and chilly with high's for the day about 50. We had a little rain the day before and the ground was soft but not muddy.
We had appropriate clothing with gloves and we brought a couple of good quality Lowe's garden trowls, knee pads, nail aprons, and pieces of feed sack to put dug up soil on. Tana lent us her old White's pin pointer. I was sure that we wouldn't need it as the Coinmaster had a pinpoint function but she assured us that we would need it. She used her Garret.
She showed us a bit about how to operate out detector and we started out. I got a beep right away and enthusiastically dug up...a piece of wire fencing. Cool, I thought, you really can see stuff under the ground. Then we were off on the hunt and found numerous pull tabs and bottle caps, not treasure but good lessons in how to use the machine.
Tana started moving around scoring coins left and right. Rosie and I got a good signal and dug up A SILVER RING! A simple wrap around sterling ring in the design of two fishes. We were excited.
That fueled the fire for the next couple of hours as we hunted and hunted. Basically those hours consisted of ridding the world of pull tabs and bottle caps one beep at a time. I was desperate to get a coin as Tana was scarfing them up left and right. I tried to use the opportunity to learn to use the descrimination and the sensitivity controls. I was getting confusing ghost beeps and multiple targets in clusters and they would turn up to be pull tabs. Tana helped and came over to validate my signals and check them with her machine so I could learn to understand what I was seeing and how to not spend all of my time trying to dig to China in order to find bottle caps.
The day wore on and I was a little crestfallen and anxious to find at least one coin. Finally after a lot of pull tabs and bottle caps and even a small dead snake I found A QUARTER! Just a 1970 clad coin, all red, but I had finally found a coin. I didn't even mind it when Tana soon found a quarter and a penny in a hole that I had struggled and struggled in with a bunch of confusing signals and digging and no luck. I had to laugh. And I had a very good time. I was quite satisfied with my small treasures and very thankful for Tanacat's guidance. I learned a lot.
Leassons Learned:
1--pin point detectors are a must. I had not even known that they existed. I like the Garret that Tanacat uses.
2--gloves are great, not only for cold but if you are digging where you might find sharp metal or glass like we did.
3--Our trowels worked good but I really liked Tanacats Wilcox. I went and bought one today.
4--I didn't think that I would bother using my knee pads but they were very good to have especially with damp ground.
5--The nailing aprons worked fine and I liked Tana's suggestion of using one pocket for junk and one for treasure but I might try a shoulder bag which may suit me better with my over-ample belly. I used a book bag in school and a haversack in living history and like them.
6--I need to pay attention to thinking in 3 dimensions and to remember to note the depth of the signal.
7--I need to practise alot to develop the finesse to properly utilize the discrimination features and the strength of signal. I liked the metaphor that Tana used in explaining that sometimes too strong of a signal is like using bright headlights in fog with too much reflection and not enough clarity.
8--I'm pretty happy with my Coinmaster Pro. It doesn't give the nuance and specificity that the higher end models have and it requires some interpretation of what the simplified brackets and icons are showing but it is sensing the materials and it is telling me about it. It is up to me to learn how to talk its language. It is just right for me at this stage of the game and I think that I can go pretty far with it. I am grateful for Rosie's thoughtful gift. :smitten:
9--I am an avid gardener and now I need to plant a coin garden. lol.
10--Finally, I Like This Hobby and I am going to do more of it. I have started to make some calls to get permission to hunt in some local areas.
Thank You Rosie and Tanacat! :happydance01:
It was cloudy, a bit windy and chilly with high's for the day about 50. We had a little rain the day before and the ground was soft but not muddy.
We had appropriate clothing with gloves and we brought a couple of good quality Lowe's garden trowls, knee pads, nail aprons, and pieces of feed sack to put dug up soil on. Tana lent us her old White's pin pointer. I was sure that we wouldn't need it as the Coinmaster had a pinpoint function but she assured us that we would need it. She used her Garret.
She showed us a bit about how to operate out detector and we started out. I got a beep right away and enthusiastically dug up...a piece of wire fencing. Cool, I thought, you really can see stuff under the ground. Then we were off on the hunt and found numerous pull tabs and bottle caps, not treasure but good lessons in how to use the machine.
Tana started moving around scoring coins left and right. Rosie and I got a good signal and dug up A SILVER RING! A simple wrap around sterling ring in the design of two fishes. We were excited.
That fueled the fire for the next couple of hours as we hunted and hunted. Basically those hours consisted of ridding the world of pull tabs and bottle caps one beep at a time. I was desperate to get a coin as Tana was scarfing them up left and right. I tried to use the opportunity to learn to use the descrimination and the sensitivity controls. I was getting confusing ghost beeps and multiple targets in clusters and they would turn up to be pull tabs. Tana helped and came over to validate my signals and check them with her machine so I could learn to understand what I was seeing and how to not spend all of my time trying to dig to China in order to find bottle caps.
The day wore on and I was a little crestfallen and anxious to find at least one coin. Finally after a lot of pull tabs and bottle caps and even a small dead snake I found A QUARTER! Just a 1970 clad coin, all red, but I had finally found a coin. I didn't even mind it when Tana soon found a quarter and a penny in a hole that I had struggled and struggled in with a bunch of confusing signals and digging and no luck. I had to laugh. And I had a very good time. I was quite satisfied with my small treasures and very thankful for Tanacat's guidance. I learned a lot.
Leassons Learned:
1--pin point detectors are a must. I had not even known that they existed. I like the Garret that Tanacat uses.
2--gloves are great, not only for cold but if you are digging where you might find sharp metal or glass like we did.
3--Our trowels worked good but I really liked Tanacats Wilcox. I went and bought one today.
4--I didn't think that I would bother using my knee pads but they were very good to have especially with damp ground.
5--The nailing aprons worked fine and I liked Tana's suggestion of using one pocket for junk and one for treasure but I might try a shoulder bag which may suit me better with my over-ample belly. I used a book bag in school and a haversack in living history and like them.
6--I need to pay attention to thinking in 3 dimensions and to remember to note the depth of the signal.
7--I need to practise alot to develop the finesse to properly utilize the discrimination features and the strength of signal. I liked the metaphor that Tana used in explaining that sometimes too strong of a signal is like using bright headlights in fog with too much reflection and not enough clarity.
8--I'm pretty happy with my Coinmaster Pro. It doesn't give the nuance and specificity that the higher end models have and it requires some interpretation of what the simplified brackets and icons are showing but it is sensing the materials and it is telling me about it. It is up to me to learn how to talk its language. It is just right for me at this stage of the game and I think that I can go pretty far with it. I am grateful for Rosie's thoughtful gift. :smitten:
9--I am an avid gardener and now I need to plant a coin garden. lol.
10--Finally, I Like This Hobby and I am going to do more of it. I have started to make some calls to get permission to hunt in some local areas.
Thank You Rosie and Tanacat! :happydance01: