Charlie Garrett's outta the box... we're going!
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,530 ✭✭✭✭✭
Wish me luck. First outing with the GTI-2500. Gonna go to some of the squares in Old Town Brunswick, to do some park coinshooting (as opposed to going to a relic-hunting site which might produce older coins but less coins in general).
This is my old detector.
This is my new detector.
...Well, actually my old detector would be more like a destroyer or light cruiser by comparison, but you get the idea. The old one was fine, but now I'll be using something much heavier and more expensive... and hopefully more effective.
Stay tuned.
This is my old detector.
This is my new detector.
...Well, actually my old detector would be more like a destroyer or light cruiser by comparison, but you get the idea. The old one was fine, but now I'll be using something much heavier and more expensive... and hopefully more effective.
Stay tuned.
0
Comments
(where's that image you posted showing the object size of the target detected?
... think it had a battleship on the display
go git 'em LM!
http://www.terraplus.ca/products/electromagnetics/em61.html
<< <i>(where's that image you posted showing the object size of the target detected?
... think it had a battleship on the display
You mean this?
<< <i>I'm off today...if you need some company, give me a call.....we could hit some of the local areas.. >>
Steve, sorry I missed your post. I could've used a tutor along with me.
I left the house, and discovered I had forgotten my camera. Oh, crap.
Then I got back home and remembered its batteries were dead, anyway. And the charger missing. Oh, crap.
Took my wife's smaller and more portable HP digicam with me, just in case I made any finds worthy of a diary entry.
Stopped at the convenience store to get batteries for the new machine, and a bottle of water.
I found I'd left my wallet at home. Oh, crap.
Oh, well. No point in goin' back again. There was a set of batteries in my old GTAx-550.
I hit Frederica Square (I think it was- the one down on First Avenue near the old hospital). Then Halifax Square, of course- my old standby. And the traffic islands down the middle of Prince Street near Halifax. I had the huge 12.5" spider coil and had a real, real hard time getting any repeatable signals. My first target with the new machine was a hot rock- a piece of coal slag. Second target was a tiny piece of lead shot- probably the most common type of find left in the N. half of Halifax. Third target was a 1973 Lincoln, fourth target was an orange-colored but corroded zinc cent.
Prince Street sidewalk and median strips, near Halifax Square, Old Town, Brunswick, GA.
Photo taken in early 2005. About a decade ago I dug an EF 1894-O quarter beneath one of the palms in the median strip.
Today's 1942 Wheatie was found along the sidewalk at the left side of the picture.
The fifth or sixth target was a high grade and well-preserved 1942 Wheatie at about four or five inches. Well preserved, that is, until I decapitated Mr. Lincoln with a nasy hit from my digging implement. Good thing it wasn't an SVDB or a 1914-D cent.
A buried section of pipe and another Memorial cent were the remainder of my finds for the day.
I noticed a funny smell. Oh, crap.
No... I mean literally. Crap.
I discovered that an open-faced spider coil has another, unintended use. It is effective in picking up semisolid nuggets of dog poop. I found a tiny turd lodged in the coil. Oh, joy. So I can go detecting, walk the dog, and clean up after him at the same time. How versatile!
All in all, I was a little disappointed. I can see there is gonna be a little bit of a learning curve with this machine. Having been a member of the "Garrett Mafia" for fourteen years, and a user of the GTA series machines, I have no problem understanding the display and settings on the new green monster, but I have to figure out why I am not getting repeatable signals in an area where I should be. I reduced discrimination and turned off the surface elimination feature, which I had been playing with. That helped a little, but I still had a dang hard time getting any clear signals. I think perhaps I was using too big a coil for those traffic islands, and multiple targets were affecting the detector's recovery time.
One thing's for sure- the 2500 is brutally heavy when one is already a little tired and using it after a full night's work on graveyard shift, walking around in sweat-soaked humidity for more than an hour or two. Compared to my old 550, which is not exactly a featherweight machine either, the 2500 is a beast. It's okay at first, but after a short time, it's kinda like swingin' a dang cinderblock around. The tendons in my right arm still hurt a little, tonight.
I think it will be a little while before I start posting some good finds. Part of that is my inexperience with this machine, of course, but another factor is the sites I go to. I might try it at the relic site near my house next time, instead of coinshooting in the parks. I dunno. I am still more in an urban coinshooting mood, despite today's frustrations. I might also try the standard coil instead of the big pooperscooper spider coil.
That's the one! haha
Never tolerate spin-doctoring and lies told to the people in the name of 'security' from the elected officials.
<< <i>coinshooting in the parks >>
I thought we'd hammered those parks so hard that only Buicks were left....
amazing that you're STILL finding good coins there, and not just recent drops...
considering that you really don't get frost heave like the folks north of you...
Never tolerate spin-doctoring and lies told to the people in the name of 'security' from the elected officials.
The big coil is difficult to use in a high trash area for sure. I rarely used it in anything other than fields with minimal trash. One thing I can tell you is to drop the sensitivity when using it. In Ohio soil I rarely got past 5 on the sensitivity with the 12.5 inch coil. The stock coil I could rarely get past 8.5 or so. The sniper coil can handle going almost to max without much problem.
Some things that I noticed with the GTI:
Watch for "C" size targets. If you are in an area that has had little digging done by other detectorists, the possibility of haloed targets is great.
If you get a mid-high end reading on a target that the GTI says is too big...Stomp the ground once or twice over the target (this can break up the halo), then re-pinpoint to see if it has shrunk. Sounds like BS but it really works. (I just did it with the Sovereign the other day and got a good signal after a good stomp, from what started as a crap signal.)
On more than one occasion, I've got a low tone that won't read on the meter. The only reading I was getting was a solid depth reading while pinpointing. ( approx 8 inches) If after pinpointing from no less than 3 differant directions and the depth never changes , I would be digging. I can think of 5 good coins that I retrieved in this manner.
Learn to use the all-metal. It can tell you many things about the targets by it's response.
Watch out for the "GTI Dance". (When you get bouncing signals that usually mean trash) If you see it , switch to all metal and check to see if there is more than one target under the coil. Many times there can be a good target lying close to trash.
You will find the stock coil is much more enjoyable than the "turd catcher"
<< <i>So what did you do with the old one? >>
I'm probably swapping it for a cityview thaler from the Cacheman collection.
I gotta remember to try John's "stomp the ground" trick. He mentioned it before but I had forgotten about it.
Down here, we are likely to be able to run higher sensitivity than up in OH, but I will try reducing it. With my old Garrett and its 8.5" coil, I used to run at 80%-90%.
<< <i>Watch out for the "GTI Dance". (When you get bouncing signals that usually mean trash) If you see it , switch to all metal and check to see if there is more than one target under the coil. Many times there can be a good target lying close to trash. >>
As a veteran of the GTA series detectors, I know all about bouncing signals. And believe me, I tried and liked the All Metal mode, which is gonna be really handy, particularly when relic hunting. It reminded me of my old 1980s TR detector. However, with the big coil on, in All Metal mode, it was very difficult to separate signals, even though they were clearer. I suppose it was just too big a coil for the area I was in, and I was probably running a bit too hot on the sensitivity.