Digisearch meter a big help with my gt

[Jiminsandiego]

I got my gt about 8 months ago and a meter for it a couple of weeks ago. If you are like I was, trying to "learn the tones", I highly recommend considering a meter. I believe I went through way too much effort to learn the tones, when in fact , what I needed was a meter. The gt was saying "no it's not 180 it's 177 thats probably a zinc".. through my head phones, but I could not "hear" it. Now with the meter I understand what the gt is "saying". Weather I dig or not is up to me of course, but at least I don't have the added mental effort of attempting to do something that I am incapable of doing( tell a zinc from a copper for instance). Not having to concentrate so much on the "tones" also allows me to pay more attention to the other attributes of the signal. I seem to be able to "hone in" on a target (or now I say number) better with the meter as well. Eventually I hope to learn the gt's language better but for now the meter seems to be a perfectly capable interpreter.
Just my two 177s
Jim

 

[gear box]

My sentiment's exactly. Good luck and your hunt's will be more enjoyable and the good target's will increase.
HH Gary

 

[jamesinwesttexas]

I'm still undecided on the meter. I have the old bar graph one but finally quit using it as it was cumbersome. Where do you put it if hip mounting? You sure can't put it on the shaft without an extension of the wire of some sort. And that 177 could be gold, right? I agree, it is more info and you can still decide to dig or not. It probably is a necessary tool and I would like to try a 180 meter. But you do have the disc and notch to kill most of what you want to ignore and it seems to be pretty well accepted that you will miss gold if you don't dig most of the nonferrous signals. Now that I have the Tornado 800 [thanks Treasurechic, great to do business with] I will be using my GT a lot more so if I don't learn those tones real good soon and get tired of digging trash I may be looking for a meter. Really think Ron's Centech meter is a great alternative. But I can't help but feel the meter is a crutch and all you really need in the long run is probably the tone ID. But, I agree, if it does help you learn those tones faster then it's a good thing. Anyway, someone convince me what I'm missing. Sorry to ramble and good luck. James

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[Ron from Michigan]

For land coin hunting both the 180 and 550 meter works very well.These meters will allow you to split hairs with targets.The 180 is more stable and easier to use but the 550 can eliminate very stubborn screw caps that will give a 180 reading.

 

[Jiminsandiego]

I simply velcroed the meter to the outside of my hip mount bag. I plan to rivet the V clip to the piece of webbing on the outside of my black minelab hip mount bag. I may shorten the cable also as all I need is about 8 inches of cord. I too resisted getting a meter as so many people have the opinion that it is not needed, especially at the beach, however I have found that I can zero in on a number and isolate or separate it much better with the meter. Sometimes I'll just get a glimpse of 180 among a lot of other numbers but by using the sovereign wiggle I can get right over the target. Bottle caps often sound like good targets but the meter will show negative numbers mixed in with the positive ones. People say that the gt is very good at IDing targets. I was astounded at how true this was once I got a meter. A 145-146 number might as well have an icon of a nickel with it. It might be a pull tab or even gold but the detector is telling me it has the same conductivity as a nickel. Even though I still dig almost all signals at the beach I now feel I have a discriminating detector as apposed to a beep and dig machine and I feel much more confident that I am getting the most out of my gt. Finally I feel that "I get it" and this makes detecting a lot more fun.
Cheers,
Jim

 

[Treasurechic]

Great feedback on the meters guys, I should have mine soon its on its way ( compliments of dbsmokey) James, glad to hear your happy with the coil! anyway I feel the meter will give me an edge as well in determining targets, mainly with those "iffy" signals that sound good, but somethings just not right about them. I'm hoping the meter will jump around alot like the 550 I had on my Elite 5 years ago( I know, I know why did you sell it, I'v kicked myself enough already) anyway if a signal sounded good but yet sounded a bit bad, the meter would jump around from - to + signals, I found that those always turned out to be junk. My opinion is anyway I can find to cut down on unnecessary digging helps big-time since I can easily spend 6-8 hrs hunting if I'm at a "hot spot"

 

[jamesinwesttexas]

All good advice. I am liking that 8 inch coil. Seems to be the perfect size and weight. Ron, and Rick and others, thanks for the advice on that one. Looks like I'll be saving for a meter or trying to learn the bargraph one better.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

James,the little Cen-Tech 180s are cheap to make and light years over the old bargraph. Good Luck Ron

 

[jamesinwesttexas]

I may try to make that Cen-Tech meter although I'm not technically proficient at all. Ironically, I received a 550 meter by mistake when I bought the bar graph and the guy would have let me keep it and looks like I should have. Experience is a good teacher.