Lessons learned with the GTI 2500,so far

[kickback]

I haven't had my 2500 all that long but I really like it.The imaging,sizing,has helped me not dig big trash ie aluminum cans.I found out that not all dimes hit as dimes,some come in as pennies.Some pennies hit a notch or 2 below the penny notch.It hits nickels really good.I dig very few pull tabs to nickels with the 2500.Real shallow coins don't always id and size correct.I've been hunting in jewelry with the sensitivity turned down to 6 or 6 plus.I have turned the threshold down until it is a quiet hum in the background.Decreasing the sensitivity has stopped the falsing.I went on 2 short hunts,elementary school playground equipment in bad neighborhoods.I left when the locals started to hassle me.I hunted a total of a couple of hours.I dug 68 pennies,3 nickels,25 dimes,4 quarters,a silver plated Teddy Bear charm,2 .22 cal.long rifle cartridges and a 200 grain bullet(fired,it has rifling marks on it) from a .338 Win Mag.The .338 bullet looks like the same one I use to reload for Elk.I dug 3 pulltabs,3 small blobs of lead,2 zipper pulls,2 metal buttons and a small brass fitting.There appeared to be old plugs from another detectorist at both sites.I dig all size A,B and C size targets.At first the machine seemed heavy to me but now it doesn't bother me.I do like the treasure talk as it makes my hunting more efficient.I have 3 more days off to detect before I have to go back to work.I'm going to try real hard to get to some older sites were I have a good probability of finding some older silver coins.Bill

 

[cwilk]

Good analysis.

First and foremost you have to dig pulltabs if you expect to find gold. It is just a sad fact of detecting. With the 2500 I have found about 4 gold items that hit on nickel, one smaller ring that hit on foil, and 6 that hit above nickel. The ones that hit on nickel contained about 20-50 bucks worth of gold. The ones above from around 80-300 bucks worth of gold. That is at melt. There are times when I hunt in a modified coin program and notch out 5-7. Not very often. I would have missed my gold coin if I was hunting in this mode that day. Only super trashy sites and I usually try to go back and check them for gold later.

Real shallow coins are sometimes very difficult to pinpoint for me too.

About 40 percent of the dimes I find hit on copper cent and image as size A.

How did the locals harass you? I had my own bad situation with some hooligans as did Treasurefiend (I think it was Treasurefiend) who was actually assaulted. How did you handle it? Keep your cell phone handy.

Chris

 

[kickback]

I PMed you

 

[Uncle Willy]

Hey you're doing good. Keep at it and that 2500 will fill your pouch with goodies. The weight does get better the more you swing it. Running your sensitivity at that setting is what I always recommend for GTI's. Also scanning with your coil an inch or so off the ground helps plus running the coil cable straight up the shaft for a foot or so and cinching it down with tape, velcro, electrical ties, or whatever.

Centering the target correctly is absolutely critical with GTI's to get accurate readings on everything. When pinpointing watch the signal strength indicator and when the cursors at the top of the display line up all the way across, the target will be in or under the hole in the center of the coil. This coil has two receivers and the center one is only about two inches in diameter so you can't get sloppy with centering or pinpointing. Keep at it and you'll get it down and the 2500 will reward you well. It also works better if you scan slow..

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

Raise the coil on shallow targets and it will work a litle better.

Bill

 

[billKY]

I'm sure someone has told you that if you avoid all the pulltab signals you'll be missing the gold also........ diggin lots of pulltabs myself.