Monday 30 April 2012

Beginners guide to improving your metal detecting finds rate.


So your not finding a great deal of items on your permissions.

Here i am going to list a few sound pieces of advice which will hopefully improve your finds rate, no matter what machine you use.

i will start off with something so simple, but so important, your swing.
If you are going to swing your machine in a pendulum fashion, you will lose a high percentage of the ground you cover. The way you should think about your swing is this; Imagine your search head is a steam iron and you are ironing the grass/soil in front of you. If you have a pendulum motion you will only iron the fabric in the centre of your swing, the rest will remain creased. We don't want any creases, so let’s keep it level.


So you are now covering the ground in front of you correctly.

Once you are swinging in a fashion that covers all of the ground in front of you, then you need to now slow down.
I see all too many detectorists going hell for leather up the field swinging like a good thing but only covering about 10% of the ground they pass over. I recently attended a rally where on the second day of the dig (over 60 detectorists) a quarter noble was found within 15 meters of the car park. The area the lucky fellow found it had obviously not been searched properly as everyone had raced off over the top of it. Were back to the ironing again. Make sure as you move forward you cover every inch of ground within your swing range, don't leave any creases.
In my experience, one tends to find a high percentage of things within the first hour of detecting, because we tend to dig more of the "iffy" signals. I recently swept over a spot with my F75 and had an iffy ring pull signal. i had dug at least 15 ring pulls up already. For some reason i did indeed dig the signal, and at about 14 inches i happened upon an intact croatal bell. I reckon that after another hour of detecting i would not have bothered digging that signal. So I guess what I am saying is dig as much as you can, for every 15 disappointments, you may well get one surprise. At some point you will become one with your machine, and begin to know the iron signals. It is for sure though that the old adage of "you will only learn by mistakes" is very true.

And finally, get a probe!

No, don't rush off to the doctors; it's not one of those types of probe.
I will give a plug now to what i and many consider being the best probe on the market. The Garratt Pro Pointer is gods send if you can afford one. I don't know how many times i have missed a tiny object by a few millimetres when i have dug my hole. This can be frustrating as you start to doubt the ability of your machine. With the pro pointer in hand, you simply probe around the sides of the hole and, bingo your find is located. You can then recover the item without damaging it with a shovel strike. The probe also comes into its own when you happen upon a deep target. Occasional you will get a signal from a deep target. You dig your hole and wham, the target as gone. The void between your search coil and the target causes it to disappear! Simply probe the bottom of your hole, and hey presto the item shows up. I wonder how many deep treasure finds have been left in the ground after the signal disappeared?
Now let’s get out there and cover the ground properly. 

Good luck and god bless.



20 comments:

  1. Well said mate.:-)

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  2. Been detecting 6 weeks now and I recognise all of the points made here.

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  3. Very good advice not just for the beginner. But everyone, as we can all get a touch lazy at times.
    Keep up the good work.

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    1. I am new to the hobby and found those tips very helpful.
      Many thanks.

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    2. thanks for leaving comments.

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  4. Hi!
    Excellent tutorial, I've yet to buy my first Detector, I'm at the "read everything I can before committing" stage, and your tut' was so good, it left me wanting more!! You would make a good teacher on the forum, plenty have the knowlege, but lack the patience or abitity to get the detail across.
    Well done :))

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  5. Thank you for your kind comments moonscape, it makes the efoort worth while. good luck and happy hunting.

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  6. I am about to buy my two boys a detector to take on the beach on holiday, this guiode will set us off nicely, Thanks

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  7. thanks Anonymous, just remember that beach detecting is not easy and requires a certain type of detector to get the best results. you will also require permission to search the beaches. if its a crown beach a simple form filled out on the internet will do the trick. good luck

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  8. To anyone who reads this guide, i very much appreciate your comments good or bad, so please leave some feed back.

    God bless ya.

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    1. I've had my detector for 2yrs but as yet have not attempted to use it properly anywhere as I'm not sure exactly where I can practice without needing permission (local to Brownhills and a woman so need to feel safe too). A little worried about joining a club as I'm assuming it would be predominantly male so would feel a bit intimidated. Can you suggest any suitable areas or would it be best to approach a local farmer to see if they would allow the use of their field

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    2. Hi, i understand your trepidation in joining a club. most clubs have about 10% female membership, and they get along just fine.
      Basically, anywhere you might want to go will require some sort of permission. There is a farm not too many miles away from Brownhills that charges £5.00 per day. i could give you the details if you like. i could also ask at the club which am involved in if they would be willing to allow you to their next dig. they are based in or around Birmingham/Redditch area and their digs are about 20/30 miles away for us but they are a good bunch. see my latest blog for the hammie dance, one of the club ladies in on that video.
      if you look on interweb for clodhoppers mdc, you could join the forum and make some acquaintances.

      Regards Warren.

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    3. Hi Warren, I've been scouring information and metal detecting sites and have just found the reply you sent back to me 2 years ago! I'm so sorry I didn't see it sooner and really do appreciate the reply you sent me. Needless to say, I've still not had the opportunity to try and use my detector. I've just registered myself and I'm waiting for a response back (bookmarked the site now too). If you do still have details for a field/s that can be used for a charge that would be brilliant and I look forward to joining the forum. Apologies again for my very, very late reply.

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  9. Very good. Neale

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  10. Nice one! All I need is that pro pointer and I will be finding those goodies!

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  11. As a newbie I found this tutorial very helpful,absolutely excellent. Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to put it up

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    1. your most welcome, i hope you find enough things to keep your enthusiasm high. Its not easy when you begin, so stick to it.

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  12. I have no knowledge of this detectors capability. Good luck in your hunting.

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  13. Great article for beginners! I am fairly new to detecting myself and I have only found some old beer can tabs, square nails and other junk. Nevertheless, even the junk is exciting to find sometimes. I plan to get out this year and explore old properties and beaches. I bought the Garrett Ace 250 for my first detector and have been very pleased with it. Getting myself familiar with my new detector before venturing out helped me a lot. I hope to share some of my new finds later this year.

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