Do you dig all signals?

cars

I've been reading these forums for a while and notice some of you say I didn't dig that b/c... I dug this signal b/c....

I can't tell any difference in the signals. I have a whites Prizm 3. I went out the other day and dug 15-20 holes. Seems that my signals jump around a lot. If I hit a signal it will point to the small ring/pop tab/bottle cap symbols. If when I try to PP it, it will change to nickel or nail. Most of the time its a pop tab, sometimes a nickel. I can't get it down so I just dig up everything.

On my last outing I dug up some pop can shrapnel, 2 bullets, 1 nickel, 2 cents, 1 thing I'm unsure of what it is, 3-4 nails and a few pop tabs. I've yet to find anything special. The oldest coin I've found to date was on this last outing, 1964 Lincoln

demodigger

i know very little about the prism 3. the whites webpage says it has 5 disc settings. its possible you have yours on the lowest setting, enabling you to detect everything. as a "newbie", i would suggest you put in the highest setting and just used to the basics. you may also want to see if there is a setting for the tone. most higher priced detectors allow you to set the tone. mine is set for 2 tone. one solid beep for most targets and a broken sound for iron. alot of new people also like to use the screen for an ID of what the target is.

basically its like learning any other type of skill. you can't become the master until you made it out of apprentice. you really need to learn digging techniques, tone ID and patience. you should also really look into finding a detecting club near you. there must be hundreds of them throughout the world.

pcgs69

I dig most beeps, unless I'm exceptionally tired that day. You never know what will pop up. Yesterday I got a bottle-cap-like signal... very weak too, turned out to be a buffalo nickel.

As demo said, it'll take some time until you get familiar with your machine but the finds will come, guaranteed. Just have to be persistent.

CROCKofCOINS

A lot of targets will have a GOOD sound/signal.

At a beach we dig most ALL targets! I will check the beach target from all angles and then guess what I will find. Just a little test to learn my detector.

This photo is what a club did colect in part over 3 Months. We will show this display to PARK personnel.




Jerry

DUBBA

yes!...nice work keeping those beaches clean jerry.....hh

ricko

Excellent way to promote a positive aspect of the hobby. Cheers, RickO

kiyote

Awesome work, Jerry! Half of that stuff looks really dangerous and stabby.

joestalin

I have been digging in the red clay of the south for the past few days and have noticed that my detector is jumping around a bit. I'm actually getting
coin signals and when I dig them they are some type of flat rock and if the sensitivity is too high I get all kinds of signals.

On dirt and woodchips you should be able to get good signals and hit pennies, dimes and quarters 100% of the time and Nickles 50-60% of the time. It's
all the "junk" signals that makes it interesting. Practice, practice, practice!

Kevin

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Do you dig all signals? >>

HELL no!

Life is too short!

But I've learned to be selective. My ratio of goodies to trash is pretty respectable.

I do, however, leave goodies behind, and plenty of them, by being so picky. The more patience you have to dig as many signals as possible, the better your odds will be. But you have to weigh that against the limited time you have, and the wear and tear on your back, legs, knees, etc.

Dig as many or as much as you can, without losing your mind or becoming a hunchback. I've found the limits of my patience and stamina, and know them well. I do still chase after some elusive signals, sometimes with good results, often with nothing at all or a tiny piece of junk. Those are the breaks.

I am a little too lazy when it comes to digging, and I recognize this fault in myself. But on some sites I have hunted, you could dig for the rest of your life and sift the top six inches of soil over an entire acre, and STILL get lots of signals.

grip

I would love to dig every signal,as i did when i was much younger.Father time has a way of slowing you down.
I hurt like he-- for the next few days ....If your young and have time dig them all.

............................................................................................
Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a
welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?

laserart

If I am on a beach I usually have the unit set for jewelry so yes I dig every signal. If I set it to all metals and the hit shows as iron I won't spend any time on it but if it sounds off as silver , you betcha.

mr3holesinone

I only 'dig' all signals when I am at a place with either wood chips or gravel, usually at modern schoolyards. I would also check everything on a beach but since I'm in Missouri we don't have too many of those nearby.

When I am at a place where I think there is a good possibility of finding silver I pretty much will dig all good hits. When I get the blips and broken signals I try to find an angle where I like the sound better. Sometimes the signal turns into a penny/dime hit and, if it's deep, I'll try a few. After a few digs and no good targets I'll narrow my digs to only what I think are the best hits until I start finding the good stuff. It's an on-going learning process. Sometimes the ground is just too hard to dig anything else but really good targets.

cars

I've resorted to digging all signals just b/c I haven't learned the machine yet. I'm in my 20's so I can handle it . Maybe in the future I'll figure out the quirks of this beast and not have to dig em all up.

Zot

It depends..

In water: Yes (my water machine doesn't have discrimination anyway)

On the beach: Yes (not unusual for me to dig 300+ targets on such outings. Of those, maybe 40 would be coins - although this ratio varies quite a lot, some beaches are better/worse than others)

In old areas with limited trash: Yes (I just wish there were more of these sites...!)

In areas with plenty of trash: Only if there's a compact area with potential for good stuff that I want to "invest" in by cleaning up the trash (in order to get to the deeper targets). Otherwise: no way (like LM said, life's too short). I tend to pick the targets more by depth than by ID; most stuff that's at 4+ inches gets dug (shallow targets only if they're "no brainer" signals).
Edited to add:
What I dig also depends on what I'm finding (or have found at the site before). Good stuff found --> more targets get dug, etc... It's an iterative process.
Many of my outings are also to areas with plenty of trees (which have roots ) and with rocks in the ground. In these, it can take ages to get to a target, so one is forced to be more selective.
One of the most frustrating feelings in detecting is when you've spent a looong time digging a deep hole, dug around criss-crossing roots etc, sweat is dripping from the tip of your nose, mosquitoes everywhere, maybe even fireants in the ground.. you get the picture.. Then you find the target with the pinpointer at maybe 8" and poke around in the hole by hand (in order not to damage the fine silver coin that this must surely be...). You haven't seen the target yet, but when you feel it you instantly know that it's no good. It has that unmistakable shape of "lump of metal junk" which means it's no coin, no jewelry, no button, no cool relic, no nothing of interest whatsoever...!