detecting in the surf

As a Bosun`s mate in the navy it was part of my duties to make announcements over the ships 1mc, or loud speaker
system. When you heard those words, you were supposed to pay attention and listen to what was being said. You had to pay attention, because it could be anything from a fire drill to a real fire, or a call to combat stations. I
have known many good talkers in my time, but good listeners are few and far between. When it comes to metal detecting, you had better listen up good, and talk about it later. If you air or ground test your machine, you will note that unless it is up close, gold does not always give a good audible signal. Head phones are an absolute must. There is always noise pollution, either man made or natural that can make you miss that soft, or tiny crackle signal. Small items, be they gold, silver, platinum or some other precious metal are hard to detect at anytime. It takes a well trained ear to find small items.

Your metal detector cannot lie to you. It tells you what it sees. Precious metals are measured in Karats, not to be confused with "Carats" used in precious stones such as diamonds, emeralds, etc. etc. 24k gold, 24K platinum, and 925. silver is not pure metal. It contains some impurities. 18k is less than 75% pure, and 10K is less than 50% pure. When your detector sees these things, it will sometimes give a reading that is a bit erratic. There is nothing wrong with your unit, it is just telling you that it sees more than one type of material. When hunting in the water, I usually set my discrimination just below nail elimination. I put up with more chatter, false signaling, and dig more junk targets than most people, but I also find the smaller gold and silver and platinum items. Over doing discrimination can cost you some valuable targets. I was hunting in the kiddie pool at the local state park a couple of years ago in chest deep water when I got a strange signal. I always work my way around a target from different angles, and listen closely before digging. This target gave a solid signal from one angle only, and the rest of the time as I circled it, it would give a very broken junk signal. I spent several minutes debating and listening to it before I decided to dig it
anyway. It was one of my better decisions. When I pulled my scoop up and let the sand sift through I was rewarded with the sight of a nice large mans ring with a 3 carat ruby that had 3 diamonds running down each side of the large
stone. The reason for the strange signal was soon evident. Wrapped around the shank of the ring was a burned sparkler wire. How it got there is anybody's guess, but there it was. I air tested it under my coil and received the same mixed up signal that I got before I dug it up. When it was turned to different angles, the signal was changed. When held with the shank up with the wire toward the top it bounced back and forth between good and bad. Small gold items will sometimes give the same type of signal. There just isn't enough metal there to give a good solid signal, and being made up of a mixture of metals, your unit is telling you what it sees. Small gold earrings, studs, hoops, and even heavily eroded coins can give this same signal. I have a number of coins, dimes, nickels, and pennies in various stages of determination. These always give a strange signal also.

By running your discrimination to high, you can also miss small rings and gold targets do to a masking effect caused by the iron or aluminum target being close to or above a good target. I have a number of coins with nails rusted right to the coin. I have found jewelry with iron objects crusted right to the object, and almost fused together. Heavy items tend to gather in one spot, often up against each other. Iron objects will expand many times there size with corrosion, and sometimes it will grow and engulf an object that has come to rest against it, much in the same way a lump of silver coins are sometimes found fused together in one big clump. Paying attention and having a good ear, along with familiarity with your unit can lead to some very good finds.
Many years ago, before I got into water hunting heavily, I knew an old boy that had a machine that was antique compared to today's units. He was constantly making more and better finds than anyone who was hunting the beach at that time. He would put in six to eight hours a day hunting the wet and the dry sand. He knew the machine he used like the back of his hand. He would put guys to shame who had the most modern and up to date machines. The man had an ear that was tuned to that machine like no one else could do. Many people buy a unit, and don't give the unit a chance to prove itself as a good detector. You have to spend a lot of time with your unit before you can successfully interpret what it is telling you. Don't be to hasty to give up on a machine. The first three months that I had my 1280X I was constantly threatening to make an anchor out of it. The constant chatter, unless the discrimination is turned up past 6, drove me nuts. But, I would think about how long it had taken me to get used to the previous unit that I had used, and refused to give up on it. That persistence has paid off over and over again. It is now my main detector, and I am still getting used to it and learning every time I use it. Listen up, pay attention, and get to know how your machine works best, and what it is trying to tell you. Good hunting,

Ozzie.

"Now hear this, Now hear this"