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please Help me I'm new to metal detecting

S

stevew

New member
I'm new to metal detecting I am using the etrac I have gone to a few real old parks of 100 year plus and i cant find any silver I'm Getting extremely frustrated every sport i have done i excelled at and i cant even find one piece of silver I spent all this money on a high end machine and i need some help big time I cant believe i cant find any silver. I have this new place to go it was built 1720 and as i was told a very wealthy person built it. I know that know one has been able to dig this place for at least 80 years. Washington supposed marched his troops through his yard! I want to just find 1 piece of silver i haven't found even one wheatie please give some insight to keep the fire alive for me.

Thanks Steve
 
Steve,

1: Read your manual.
2: Slow down your sweep speed.
3: Dig every repeatable signal until you learn what is what.
4: Stick with it, takes a while to learn how to use this detector.
5: If you can join a local club or hook up with someone in your area with an etrac, they will help you out.

Joe
 
there would be no silver left in the ground today for any of us to find. :laugh:

Those 100 year old parks have probably been hunted hard for many, many years. The silver/old coinage still left in the ground will be elusive, and will take patience to find.

Just because you bought the top of the line detector doesn't mean you're going to be finding silver with it right out of the box. There are two big factors....knowledge/experience with your machine and location, to be a successful hunter.

Take, for instance, the professional golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson....just because you have purchased the same golf clubs as they use doesn't mean you're going to be able to shoot scores like they do on the course. Even with hours and hours of practice, you may never even come close to the way they play, but I know if you practiced consistently, in time you would be much better than you were a few months ago. That's the way it is for detecting too. You really have to understand your machine to find the deep, old coins, especially the ones hiding/mixed in with a lot of iron and trash items. Also, as for location....many times we think a place should be loaded with old items just waiting for us to find, but we end up not finding very much in some of those areas. Old home sites usually don't have as much as we think they should....Fact....if it's not there, we won't find it.

Enjoy your time with your top of the line machine....once you find one deep silver, it will continue to get easier...it's kind of hard to find something you have no idea what it sounds like beforehand. Place some silver coins in the ground...bury them at 5-7", to give you an idea of what to listen for.

You need to have lots of patience with this hobby, especially if you're looking for the older, deeper items. There's a reason why the older and deeper items are still left in the ground.....it's because those items are harder to find....having the best doesn't mean instant success, as I described above....practice, practice, practice. if you have any questions about your technique, or features/settings of your machine, there's plenty here that will help you out.

HH,
CAPTN SE
Dan
 
Steve I have a question or two. How much "junk" have you dug. Any aluminum cans at 8" plus? Any shotgun shell hulls, barbwire, fencing staples, bent nails, .22 casings, canning lids, pieces off the old aluminum antenna? You have stated you found clad. So did/do I. What is your sesitivity running when you detecting? Do you run auto or manual? What are your other settings? Most importantly, how often are you hunting? Fire back an answer when you get a chance.

The machine will lock hard on coins. If you watch detecting videos on YouTube you see there are a lot of old coins found under the 10" mark. Heck, I'd guess 90% are from 2" to 7". It can be frustrating. If I can do nothing more it is to encourage you. I believe the old coins will come, and I also think you just haven't put your coil over an old coin...yet! I average about 1 to 1 1/2 hour per old coin in the places I hunt. A couple of weeks ago I hunted 3 old house sights and only found 1 mem. penny and 1 or 2 cheap relics in about 4.5 hrs. worth of detecting. Frustrating? I could let it get that way, but I've "set my jaw" to learning the machine and how best to enjoy it! Keep at it!!!!

NebTrac
 
Dear Neb Trac


I turn my machine on go the only thing I have changed is I run deep. I was told not to touch anything till I find targets I'm looking for and I should have a 100 hours before i mess with anything on the machine would you agree? I have no clubs any where near me. What are the readings for silver? I bought the book from Andy on the etrac. I am hungry to find some silver. I have always excelled in the past so this metal detecting is a taste of humility I guess. In closing I appreciate everone trying to help the rookie out.


Thanks Steve
 
From one rookie to another - it is so much about location. Like Dan says a location may be great (at one time). My first day out I found a 1907 barber quarter and 2 indian heads. I had no idea what the hell I was doing - but the etrac locks onto coins even for a rookie. But it was a virgin site at an old house. And pulled over 70 coins out of it in the first month. Not that it is a lot. But again I was clueless. Now I am much better with the machine, and am not finding as much because I hunted out my site. I need to find a new site(s). It takes work to find virgin sites that are good. In my opinion a rookie will have more good finds in a good virgin site than a veteran will if the site has been hunted to death. Especially if it has been hunted to death by other etracs.
 
Andy's book is the number one tool you could have. Always hit noise cancel at each sight and often if you're hunting there long or you see a change in your sensitivity when you're in Auto. Look at the stickies at the top of this E-Trac forum page and you'll see a link for the TDI readings on a lot of coins and other targets. Don't get down on yourself to excel yet. Enjoy it! Unless its going to be your full time job, use it as a way to relax. I personally lose track of time and WORRIES when I'm out detecting. Yes I want to find good things...and I know I will. They do not come easily for me. I am more interested in trying to get my brain to soak in the different signals and when I dig them, next time I'll at least have an idea of what it may be! Its like learning to shoot freethrows. Anyone can launch a basketball from 15 feet, but its those that concentrate on that hoop, arm 90 degrees, palm off ball, consistant leg bend, and follow through. It takes time and practice.

The E-Trac is an electronic tool. It will give you its best guess....but your brain is the real computer!!

Let us know how it goes!

NebTrac
 
Hey Steve, you got some good advice so far. You are hunting the right spots, so now all you have to do is swing the coil over a good target! If you stick with it, you WILL find the good stuff!

Silver readings (In my opinion) can be anywhere from 1-25 ferrous and 36-48 conductive depending on depth and what else may be in the hole. If you are using the stock coin program discrimination pattern then I would suggest listening for the high sounds and digging!

Ok so be sure and post pics of all that silver you're going to be finding!
 
I'd say number one thing I have learned with etrac is to swing slow, REAL slow if you want old deeper coins. I use stock coin program and I made changes day one. and dig EVERYTHING above iron that is more than 4-5 inches

deep off
fast on
ground difficult
trash density high
vol gain 28
tone id multi
threshold pitch 28 makes silver scream out!
 
Well i went out to an old farm house today my oldest coin was a 1967 quarter i found a 4 quarters 2 dimes 6 pennies no wheats no silver

My question is does all silver start with 12- something an are the sound all high pitched sorry to ask such a trival question




Thanks steve
 
NO all silver does NOT have an FE reading of 12! nor does any other coin. If your waiting for only 12 readings your missing a TON of good stuff

silver can be all over depending what may be in hole with it. Today I dug a silver dime that read 02-50 !!! it had 3 nails in hole with it, you never know, but it sounded sweet so i dug it
 
why have the deep off and why fast on not questioning just wondering
 
well if your hunting parks and old houses YOU NEED fast on because it needs to be able to recover quickly after passing over trash, nails, iron etc, to be able to detect the next target. My buddy has NEVER used deep on and I have seen him dig 10" deep coins. 1st day I got etrac I dug a dime at 8" and I do NOT use deep on
 
If you can. Watch Goes4ever, NiagraCountyNY, Vidslayer, Neswiper, and OhioCoinHunter on Youtube. I have a few also but these guys have been doing it longer. Goes is right. Don't worry about that 12 line. The conductivity numbers hold better. For instance:

For me:

Indian Heads hit 34-38
Wheats - Memoria 1982 and older hit 41-44
Silver Dimes 43-47
Silver Quarters 47-48
Buffalo, V's, and Jeffersons hit 11-15

Clad dimes and quarters hit the same as their silver equivilants.

The thing that fools me is I've had Memorial pennies hit anywhere from 36 - 47 depending on their depth. Fools me everytime....do I get discouraged? No I just laugh and add another $.01 to my networth.

Listen to the length and consistancy of signal to start with. But like Goes says its best to just dig all that isn't iron for a while.

Keep the questions coming and watch those videos they really help!!

NebTrac
 
stock coin pattern
auto +3
fast on
deep off
ground difficult
high trash
sweep slower then you think you should
I am days between what I call a good coin finds with tons of junk dug.You don't live in big silver finding country.Your in Large cent country look for that.Every once in a while you will hit a Reale and the guys in the mid west will trade you a hand full of Barbers for one of those.You will get there.
 
Living where you do and Esp if you are hunting fields/cellar holes old home sites,I would use quickmask 27 (or all metal if you are rdy for it) And dig anything that isnt Iron for awhile.After 300 or 400 holes u will really start to see how targets can react in diffrent conditions.like CTtodd said,sounds like you are in Large Cent country!(u lucky dog!) .There are alot of old relics that can hit all over the place,Gotta dig those signals and see what they are .Ive spent days digging not 1 coin,nothing but junk outta old sites..But that one old copper,old button or old silver will make it all worth while! Hang in there .Alot of good guys with good advice here.Look forward to some pics from your finds :) HH
 
Hi Steve,

The old saying goes like this.... you aint gonna dig silver if the silver aint there......think about that for a minute.....

The house or park may be old, there may be silver there, there may not be.....tell me how I can go to one house and hunt the crap out of it and pull 4 silver and wheats while I hunt the houses on both sides of that house and cant even find even a single coin! I've dug a barber dime at an inch, and dug a memorial penny at 8 inches! It's 90% luck and 10% skill....I'd rather be lucky than good any day. You have a really good machine there, and I understand when you expect to excel and it doesnt come right here, right now. Been there, still there...my suggestion is to RELAX......read what these guys are telling you...cause THEY"RE GOOD....get yourself into a site that has potential ( all you need is potential age for silver), put the headphones on and listen to what the machine is telling you, it talks to you through high pitch repeatable tones...watch the guys on youtube to listen to what they hear, then bring home the bacon!!!!

Good Luck, Duane
 
wealthy people don't throw money everywhere :biggrin:

couldn't resist...

If your area has history of human habitation that is pre-1800's, it's just a matter of time before you get the ol'goodies:thumbup: A wealth of information here on this forum and others, but ultimately it will be up to you to put what you learn into practice.

As for NOT changing any settings on your E-trac...Bogus if you ask me! But here's the thing, if you're making changes to your settings more than you are swinging your coil THAT will be counterproductive. If you change a setting, leave it that way for the duration of the hunt so you can tell what changes in signal response etc. have occurred.

Get some coins similar to what you expect to find and pass them over the coil, noting the response. Read your manual, again...Even if everything does not make sense now, it will eventually come together...Goodluck:thumbup:
 
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