1st time out (Garrity Ace 250) - Observations and Questions

Morglan

First I made it out to a local state park beach. The Ace worked pretty well. After getting bored digging up bottle caps, I set it to the Coin Only mode.

Every hit that registered as a 1, 10, or 25 (there were no 50 or 1.00 hits) turned up a coin.

On the other hand, the $.05 hits seemed to all be trash, so I started to ignore them (I'm sure that there were some nickels in there, but I was impatient so I skipped over them).

I found no jewelry, which surprised me (even after switching to the coin only mode I thought I might have found a silver piece or two.)

After about 45 mins - 1 hour I found 69 cents in clad.

Observation--if I'd had some kind of scoop/sifter I could have easily doubled my finds.



Next, I hit the large, old municipal city park. I went to an area that I knew was 1. old and 2. had a lot of 19th century traffic (area around a long gone wading pool).

I got all kinds of hits every time I swung the detector. Again, I concentrated on coins only. Here's where my questions come in.

I would get strong 10, 25 and 50 hits 4-6 inches down. Each time I dug, I ended up digging a hole that was equal to the diameter of my coil, and easily 8 inches down. Frustrated, I would still get the same readings when passing my coil over the already large hole. My handheld pinpointer wouldn't pick up anything in the hole, but the 'pinpoint' feature on the detector said something was there.

What's the deal? Any ideas? (The detector was working, as I found one clad quarter less than 2 inches down, just where the Ace said it would be.) Am I just mis-judging the location and spot to dig?

I know based on the hits and the history of the park that if I can get comfortable using the detector that I will have success there (Even though parks & rec said detecting was common there.)

Any advice?

Thanks.

BentFork

Morglan,
Since you question if you are digging in the correct spot, it could be the case you're not. Don't fret though. Pinpointing and digging in the correct spot is the most often asked question concerning the Ace 250. If you are using the stock Ace 250 coil the place you need to dig is right where the notch of the inner loop frame is in front of the mounting ears. To see this just take a piece of cardboard (1 ft X 1 ft) and tape a coin in the center. Lay it flat on the ground where you can see the coin and pinpoint it. When you have found the sweet spot according to the LCD panel and the sound it will be pretty much right at that notch of the coil frame. No two coils are exactly the same, but it should be there plus or minus a half inch.

Odds are this is the case why you're not finding the target. Give it an try and practice with coins you can see.

Let us know

Gary

Morglan

Thanks for the tip--I'll try that before heading out today.

30AnvZ28

I usually ignore the 5c mark on my 250 also. I have only EVER found 1 nickel... and it was in a very light trashy area, and I hadnt turned off the 5c yet... so thats the only reason why.

I find that older pennies (still have never found a wheatie... so 60's-80's) register up between dime and quarter if I recall correctly... but they dont register as 1c.

30AnvZ28

As far as digging a hole that big and the damn thing still saying theres something there... I have had that happen... usually once or twice an outing... I usually just get pissed off and fill the hole.

Morglan

About sand scoops/sifters--do you guys build your own, or is something suitable available from a hardware store? (Or is it a specialty thing?)

CROCKofCOINS

<< <i>About sand scoops/sifters--do you guys build your own, or is something suitable available from a hardware store? (Or is it a specialty thing?) >>



Google: Sand Scoop
http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/scoops.html

I can make my own. But I opt for the wire type and then beef it up a little.


Jerry

Morglan

Crock--

Thanks! That site was perfect!

I think I'm going to go with the fryer strainer, but I'm going to look for a square/rectangular one, as my beaches have a cement walkway at the edge of the sand, and that's where I've found the most coins. I figure that a strainer with an angled edge will allow me to dig right up to the side of the cement slab.

laserart

I use an Ace 250 also. Don't have the sensitivity control set too high or you will be picking up grains of sand that are hot. I set mine only half way on the indicator and it seems to work ok. I have picked up signals and used the pinpoint option and still couldn't find it. It turned out to be behind the coil. That doesn't make sense to me but that's where it was. Sometimes you can pick out hotrocks, rocks that will give you a rapid pulse because when you look on the screen it says you have just detected a nice silver dollar. Ya right. Nickels seem to be foil most of the time. You might get a rapid signal switching from cent to dime to quarter to dime to everything going, a sweet sound, but invariably it will be a large piece of iron. I have detected targets and when I go back over to zero in on it it disappears. I still don't understand that one.

fastrudy

I often get bad 5 cent readings, turns out to be foil. Don't even bother with them if they are inconsistent. Regarding the 4" target in an 8" hole: This has happened to me and upon further digging I find a much larger target down deeper than indicated. A target described as a dime at 4" turned out to be half of a beer can at 8". The detector will locate targets and attempt an ID via their electrical conductivity. A bigger, deeper target must have the same conductivity as a dime at 4".

phut

Congrats on finding stuff your first time out
As for the pinpointing- Walk to the other side of the hole and see if you get the same pinpoint. If so, then the target is probably large and deep. My machine has troubles pinpointing large old shotgun shells. For some reason the pinpoint is always 4 to 6 inches in front of the target.