newbie to MD buys Safari AKA 3yr old shoots..50cal Barrett

[jshaw]

Hey Everybody

I've always thought MD was cool even before the the shows on TV, so last year i got a wild hair did a little research (like i knew what i was researching) and ended up buying a brand new Safari. In my research i learned that the Safari has quite the learning curve, but figured i didn't know anything about MD anyway so why not learn on the Safari.I have found some modern clad modern pennies an old sales tax receipt coin 2 cheap rings a broken watch and lots of nails and pull-tabs. i'm starting to wonder if i made a mistake and overbought or if somethings not calibrated right on my machine because it seems like the 30s # end up being nails or some other junk...Any advice ? Dump it or hang in there?

Sincerely,
Tired of digging junk

 

[KinTN]

1) how many hours do you have using the machine?
2) tell me again how the Barrett 50 figures in; does it mean you think you may be in over your head?
3) you are following a 'normal' learning curve as far as I can tell. you ARE going to dig lots of junk until that magical day that something Clicks for you. and then you will still dig junk, just not nearly as much and mostly just when you want to (yes, you Do want to dig junk to calibrate today's subtle ground sounds to your ear....but remember that you wont know that day until you recognize it.........dang, don't I sound like a zen master?)

Taking a wild stab here, you are looking at the screen too much and not listening and learning the sounds that the Safari is playing for you. I recommend that you:
- hunt in ferrous, hi trash (unless you are on a beach), auto sensitivity.
- black out everything EXCEPT 36 thru 39(us clad and silver). after you learn these sounds, open up the rest of the 30's(zincs and every brass/copper-containing piece of junk imaginable) + 14 thru 16(nickels). yes, you wont find gold with these settings, but trust me, that comes later. crawl before walk...etc.
- ground balance when you start and when soil or atmospheric electrical conditions change. this one isn't as important as many think imo, at least usually.
- put on a smaller coil if you have one, but don't worry if you don't.
- swing SLOW, as in several seconds per swing. if your sound is lagging behind your target, you are swinging too fast. slower is the word until you learn the right speed.
- when you get a target ('target' = strong REPEATABLE tone), do 2 things:
.....1) do not look at the screen before you predict what the sound is telling you, and
.....2) pinpoint with the coil using whatever method you prefer and mentally mark the exact spot where you think the target is. then read your depth gauge and compare to the orientation of your recovered target. ok, so that's more than 2 things.(a good Safarian ignores numbers as much as he can)

I know this advice wont net you the difficult targets/signals, but after you learn on the easier stuff, you can always go back and rehunt where you have been. unless another FBS machine comes along in the meantime, your treasure will still be waiting for you.

Good Luck, and let us know how you are progressing. it helps when you post what you are doing for peer review not to mention that we've all had pretty much every problem that any Safari noobie is having. we may make fun of you, but I promise that we are also laughing at ourselves as we remember the time we did the exact same thing.

oh, and Keep It, unless you are going to sell it for some ridiculously low price, and in that case holler at me first!

(pm me when you get enough posts under your belt. i'll send you a lengthier reply)

 

[jshaw]

The .50 cal reference was regarding the fact that i do feel like I'm over my head but determined to stay with it.The Safari seems to be a different animal so talking to a non safari user has not been very helpful.Thanks for the advice its helps a lot! hopefully I'll figure it out . At least i know that I'm not alone in my attempts to learn this beast and that digging trash comes with the territory.

 

[jshaw]

Sorry....to the question of how many hours i have in.... im gonna say around 30-40hrs

Also going to be at the beach this summer ..any tips on how to get the most out of the Safari at the beach?

 

[KinTN]

Careful with the water!!!! But you knew that.

Its OK to shallow water hunt(say ankle deep or so), but never and I mean Never tip up the coil and let water run to the control box. Other than that, Safari at the beach is a killer ime. I love beach hunting, but my nearest one is 8 hours away so I don't get to go too often. When I do, I use the Excal in the water and Safari in the dry and damp (mostly because its lighter and I know that machine better).

You are almost there on hours. For me it was about 45-50 hours (measured assuming a 15hr rechargeable battery interval). Everything I had read (like you, I researched the heck out of the current state of tech before returning to the hobby) says 40-60 hours. I still recall the day something changed. My wife and I had gone to a local park and before I hit a new (to us) area, I swung a few times in one I had already hunted. I just plain started killing it. Dimes and quarters all over the place. Wife looked at me and said "didn't you hunt that exact spot last week?". Yep. "What are you doing different?" Nothing. Just hearing my machine and paying attention to what it is saying instead of hunting and hoping.

I wish I had restricted my range to the upper 30s when I first started like I recommended above. I honestly believe it would have cut my learning curve drastically. Safari just plain tells you too much for someone new to FBS to learn all at the same time.

 

[KinTN]

Oh, sorry. Beach Tips.

Study the beach forums here and elsewhere.

Screen out everything below 3, everything else open. Low trash (unless it isn't). Auto sens, but play with the higher #s in sens and see how it performs for you. Biggest coil that you own; you want Coverage on a beach.

Dig Everything unless you absolutelypositivelyKNOW it is trash. ie, dig everything.

Clean your machine when you exit the beach, or at least every day when you are through hunting. That includes removing the coil cover and washing that out. Again, careful not to get water n the control unit.

By all that is holy, get a good sand scoop and expect to pay >$150 for one that will last you a lifetime or up to $100 for one that will last a few trips to the beach. I like the Sunspot Stealth (built like a tank and fantastic warranty) but there are other good ones out there. See some recent threads in the beach forum for others. If you have welding skills, making your own looks like a good way to go too.

Drag your scoop in a consistent manner as you hunt and you can see where you have been- makes gridding a breeze. I use a 'Tool Lasso' from Lowes/HomeD. Costs about $8 iirc in the ladder dept. hook it to your belt and go- saves your shoulder.

You will often see a very thin 'unstable' electrical zone where the water table is in transition during the tides. Its less than a foot wide and that is the ONLY place I have ever seen my Safari have the slightest trouble. I just ignore that zone since its so small.

Wear something on your feet. Once you have metal detected on a beach, youll never go barefoot there again. I cringe when I see barefoot kids on the beach.

Fill your holes, carry an obvious trash bag and make sure people see you dumping your trash into the cans. Don't hunt right on top of folks. Know where its illegal to hunt. Talk politely to any idiot metal detectorists you see doing these things wrong and get them to change their ways. we're all in this together and a few can ruin it for us all.

Let interested kids dig your low value coin holes for you and let them keep the spoils (you DO know what you are digging before you start, right?)

Never admit to finding anything of value the same day, or show a good find to anyone you haven't known for years. Too many lowlifes will claim its theirs. I always say that I found xxxx last week or last time I visited this beach but am still vague on its exact details. And if its possible, return the find to its rightful owner. You wont believe how much more you'll enjoy the find until you've returned one.

 

[jshaw]

hey appreciate all the advice! looking forward to getting out again!

 

[Goldstrike]

The only thing I would add to the great advice KinTN shared, is when you go from dry sand to wet or wet to dry sand, ground balance.
Also, I don't know where you live or what the beaches are like, you may encounter black sand (magnetite sands) like we do here in Southern California, that stuff will send your detector in a crazed state! Find a clean area of sand and ground balance it. That will stabilize your Safari.
Usually, you will see a swath or strip of black looking sand that collects between the dry and wet sand but sometimes it's below the sand and you will soon know when your detector goes berserk!!

 

[jshaw]

Thanks for the info...that's good to know ! we'll be on the east shore of lake Mich. so hopefully I'll be able to find some goodies

 

[KinTN]

Good Luck on the beach! (You can ignore my advice about daily cleaning on a fresh water beach.)

 

[Goldstrike]

jshaw...........I think Mudpuppy who posts frequently on the other Forums lives close to Lake Michigan. You might want to shoot him a P.M. and get some advice or get together? Good luck on finding some great finds there!

 

[jshaw]

awesome! thanks