Prizm III?? HELP!! NEWBIE POINTERS??

FortMyersDrew

Why does it keep giving random readings or is there really something there anyone with one care to help me out?What should i do about diging since i dont have a precise reader?

Also anyone have any newbie pointers for someone who just a a Prizm III

30AnvZ28

Should have bought the Ace 250... Ive never had any problems...

goldrush00013

Random readings. Do you mean a single target you are investigating gives more than one ID on the display? If so it is likely trash. A good coin signal will usually read the same no matter how many times you sweep over it and in any direction. But a coin on edge can give off bouncing signals as well.

To really learn your machine you need to dig each and every signal to find out what your machine is trying to tell you. You need to keep practicing till you learn what signals to dig, and what not too.
For me, I generally dig it all ( except for most iron) and let my eyes do the discriminating.

At this point in the game you need to practise, practise, practise.

BentFork

Just as Goldrush said, if you are getting conflicting readings on the ID it's probably because the object is trash. Coins, and most rings since they are symmetrical will give you a solid, stable reading. Pull tabs give a stable reading only because they tend to be symmetrical too. Not necessarily round, just symmetrical. Foil, beaver tails, and odd shaped items, and this includes some jewelry too, will not give you a stable reading. Given practice digging you will learn what you machine is telling you. A good habit during your learning phase is to figure out what the machine is telling you before you dig. If you guess incorrectly, then try to figure out why you were incorrect before you go on with your hunt. Practice at home with goodies on the ground where you can actually see them. Pretty soon you'll be wowing us with your finds.

Gary

CROCKofCOINS

>>At this point in the game you need to practise, practise, practise. <<

How true ! ! !

First: Set up a test garden!
Second: Learn to turn down the sensitivity.

Good Luck

Jerry

BunchOBull

<< <i>Should have bought the Ace 250... Ive never had any problems... >>




He's just teasing you because he believes you to be a gullible, new detectorist. It sounds to me that you aren't having any falsing issues, your're simply not aware of how your machine responds. In the beginning, one thing many people will tell you is to DIG EVERYTHING, while I won't tell you not to, you should most definitely dig everything with a REPEATABLE SIGNAL. Meaning, if you sweep the coil over the target from the right you should get an equally stable signal sweeping from the left. Once you sweep the coil back and forth several times, you should have a stable, repeatable signal. No metal detector on the market uses big neon signs that say "dig here," you unfortunately have to dedicate a little time to the machine and learn the difference between good and bad signals.

FYI, gold, especially rings, will often appear to be foil or pulltabs, so you may want to dig all low registering signals. Typically, silver jewelry will respond in the copper penny to 50 cent piece range.

One thing to be aware of is highly mineralized ground and hot rocks. Typically this is an issue in clay-rich areas that are high in ferrous content, but hot rocks can be found just about anywhere. They aren't magnetic, but they are iron-rich, thus very heavy as compared to a typical rock. Detectors will often pick these conditions and items up, you'll learn them in time.

CrockofCoins says to set up a test garden, that's a great idea. Bury modern clad of all denominations at say 5 inches, fill the hole well, and run the coil over the test garden, listen to what you hear and associate that to the type of coin you've buried. You can also do this with a silver coin, and any jewelry you feel comfortable burying. I'd also bury coins with different separation. Say, burying a penny and quarter in the same hole, a dime and nickel just 5 inches apart, and a penny "coin spill" of 5 or so pennies in a one foot square area. What you may learn from that could be invaluable.

Let me know if I can do anything to help.

Ross

Zot

Hi!

You've gotten some good advice already, and I don't have very much to add.

If it's a single target, it's probably trash. Dig the sucker up and check it out

If it's several targets, you may be in a target rich/trashy area or have difficult soil conditions and need to adjust discrimination or sensitivity.
It's astonishing how much metal there's in the ground in lots of places. On some sites you'll find your machine going ballistic, with beeps too close together to count ... rat..tat..tat..tat.....

If you can go to a beach, playground or other similar place that has plenty of signals and is easy to dig - those are good places to learn your machine.

If you want to make a quick check of the readings your machine is giving, you can just put some coins and other metal trash (pulltabs, foil, etc) on the ground and sweep over them with your detector.
Put them far enough apart so the signals don't mess with each other.
You will see that the coins give nice signals that shouldn't bounce around much.
You can then play with the discrimination settings on your machine and see how this changes the signals.

I remember very well the first time I was out detecting, being about as lost as one can be about what the signals were... Every beep and blip was a total mystery...
This is a hobby where practice pays off... while there's always an element of luck involved, you very much have to make your luck happen first...

Just ask away about any additional questions you may have. As you can see, there are many great folks on this board that are happy to help.



PS. Don't bother about the BS comment about the Ace 250, you'll do fine with the machine you chose

30AnvZ28

I was just kidding about my comment, as the others have stated. When I first started, I dug EVERYTHING, then I started realizing what signals were probably trash, and which ones wernt (by the "clarity" of the beep... and the repetativeness).

FortMyersDrew

Alright well when i first tested it i was getting all the signals it was on top of a terrazo floor which i believe has some metals in it. So we went outside on the grass works like a charm. Its me and my brother doing it im the searcher i mark it with a popsicle stick and right the depth and he digs till he finds something lol. But it works good like we searched over one spot it said a bottle cap we dug and what do you know a bottle cap. we got a signal on a nail and viola what do you know we found a nail. So we are doing pretty good right now the backyard is a good place to practice

Zot

<< <i>Alright well when i first tested it i was getting all the signals it was on top of a terrazo floor which i believe has some metals in it. >>




OK, I think we can declare the mystery solved!

FortMyersDrew

haha yea i love it its a great machine well balanced light weight its just a great machine all around

BunchOBull

I'm glad you're liking it. I've only heard good things about it. Good luck learning the machine. Don't get discouraged.

Ross

BunchOBull

I was going to ask, did you buy it from Ed?

FortMyersDrew

Yes I bought it from ed however he wasn't there when i got it. But others helped me out they even offered to put it together for me they gave me a metal detecting book, and a metal detecting magazine was great enviroment and i liked how they had a display case of SOME of the things that had found even to a cannon ball