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Second time out with Ace 250. Could use some input.

MinerJohn

New member
Hi all. MinerJohn here from north Alabama. I just got my first detector. Ace 250. I hunted a good bit yesterday and today and would love to get some input from ya'll. I started in a park and left the settings set at factory. Coin mode etc..I noticed that it would get a tone quite often and not repeat. Is this normal? I played with this setting for awhile and found a few pennies and a lot of trash. I switched to jewelry mode and turned the sensitivity down two notches from factory. It did a little better trash wise. It kept hitting on 25 cents and it turned out to be trash every time. I also still got a lot of single tones that didn't repeat. One time it hit on a dollar at 6" and it turned out to be a beer can. I also am struggling with the pinpoint. Is it supposed to be in the center of the coil? Obviously I have lots of practicing to do but I'm hooked. Any advice on helping it discriminate better? Thanks, MinerJohn
 
MinerJohn: Do a search on the archives here. There are LOTS of posts on the 250, pin pointing, etc. Uncle Willy and John among others have lots to share and are very open with their expertise. :thumbup:
 
First off, you should have a solid repeatable tone in coin mode. When pinpointing, I always pinpoint in one direction and then pinpoint the target 90 degrees the other way. If its repeatable, its a good target. As for hitting a "dollar" signal, 99% of the time its trash and I usually ignore it but that's my style for searching in populated areas. Pinpointing will always be in the center of the coil. I would keep the 250 in factory settings.
 
Welcome to the forum!:wiggle:This is a wonderful community and a great place to share info. Congratulations on the purchase of your new Ace 250, and welcome to the hobby of metal detecting. That Ace 250 is a really great detector. A coin magnet!:biggrin: There is and will be lots of great advice given to you in this and several other forums. My advice to you is watch the DVD, again. Read the manual, again. Pratctice, practice, practice! Then, watch the DVD and read the manual again.:bouncy: Best of luck to you! Happy Hunting!
 
Welcome to the forum.
Bury different coins in the ground or at a sand beach and set how they hit and where they hit on the detector.
You can also practice your pinpointing with these burried coins.
Looks like you found some stuff in the ground that means your well on your way to mastering the ACE.
Practice ,practice and you'll do well .
 
Usually when tones don't repeat, it was a false hit. But I always recheck it a few
times, and use a bit faster swing to make sure it wasn't a good hit on the edge
of it's depth. Quite a few things can cause falsing, including bumping the coil
against something. You'll get to where you can tell the false hits from the good
ones. The good ones repeat and can be pinpointed in the pinpoint mode.
There is a trick you can use to help tell cans from large coins.
Lift the coil a few inches "maybe six or so" and see if it still hits. A can is large
enough that it can still hit 6 extra inches away. Most coins won't.
Detecting really is like dirt fishing. You can get a fairly good idea, but
you never really know for sure what the object is until you dig it.
Many trash objects can show the same conductivity as a coin if they are
the right size. Bits of foil from past bar-b-q's can be a real pain once they
get old and shredded up in the ground. Bottle caps can often mimic coins.
But after a while you will dig enough coins to get an idea how most coins act.
They are usually very stable as far as the ID, and don't jump around like some
trash objects can.
Check U-toob for Ace 250 pinpoint videos. Should be a few. I know some here
have made some.
With the Ace 250, it's most accurate if you pull the coil back to get a drop out
in the tone.
Here is an old pix I made about it.. You center the object as you pull back,
and when the tone quits, the object will be right in front of the inner coil.
It's very important to constantly center the signal from left to right as you
draw the coil back. The pattern of the tone matches the shape of the coil.
When you get to the cut out point, the side to side width will be very narrow.
But if you are real careful, you can pinpoint something close enough to where
you can stab it with a probe most times.
pinpoint.jpg
 
Set your sensitivity at four and leave it there. High sensitivity will cause a lot of problems. When pinpointing scan side to side and center the target then slide the coil straight back until the instant the signal stops. The target ( on shallow targets) will be under the center front tip of the inner coil. Deeper targets will be a little back ( towards center of the coil) from that point.

Usually non-repeatable signals are trash but if you "twitch" over the target they will often turn into repeatable signals. To "twitch" center the coil over the target and whip it rapidly from side to side for about two inches each way. Remember, no machine made can accurarely ID a target, they just offer probabilities. To eliminate beer cans just raise your coil up about a foot and if you still get a signal it's most likely a can or similar-sized target.

Bill
 
Welcome to the forum John.
It sounds like you already have some great advise. All I'll add for now is, practice on some coins and rings at home as well as some of the junk items that you may have already recovered. Good targets tend to lock into a single notch or bounce a notch. Junk like pull tabs and bit of aluminium cans, tend to bounce around. Over time you will start to heat little things in the tones that help to figure out what targets are.
I actually wrote a magazine article a few months back, that could double as an answer to folks like yourself who are just starting out, but it's a word document and I don't know how to post it on hear as a file upload.:shrug: If someone could help me out, I'd be able to post it. It's around 1900 words. It's a hints and tips article on some of the little things that you can do with the Ace. It is focused on Aussie coins but still has relevance to other countries as well.
Mick Evans.
 
Wow alot of good info Unk Willy and NM5K thanks. I am still mastering the 250 and read all posts on the subject. This is the first time I heard about the 12inch rule. I have dug about 8 or 9 beer cans so this will def. come in handy Thanks again.:thumbup:
 
Wow. Thank you all for the great advice. Looks like this is a great forum full of great people. I'll keep ya'll posted on my progress. Thanks again. MinerJohn
 
Welcome to the forum bud! There are a lot of experts with ACE 250 on this forum! I'm not one of them though, I see you are already getting a lot of good advice! Thats the good thing about this forum, ye only need to ask and ye shall recieve!:garrett:
 
Mick, you can just Copy and Paste using the Windows Clipboard and your mouse. Maybe break it up into a few sections and post one a day or every couple of days!!
 
This is a very friendly forum with lots of info.

If fact I'd say one of the best out there.

Use the search feature and read read read then dig dig dig.

I made a test plot in my yard and I think it helps with the learning curve.

Enjoy and welcome!!

Gabby
 
Thanks Big cat daddy. I'll give that a whirl again a bit later. I had a bit of a crack at it but I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment. I did a bit of that 12 years back when a did a course, but haven't done it since. I'll break out my old text book and remind myself how to do it again if I can't work it out. I'm glad I'm not that bad with my detector.:lol:
All the best.
Mick Evans.
 
John, Lots of good advice from good folks to be had on this forum. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Keep in mind that even once you have a much better grasp on things, you will still dig up some trash. It just comes with the territory. Post pics of your finds if you can, this is a great place to learn and share.


Welcome aboard,
Steve in PA
 
I think some one should make a CD on how to detect with the Garrett units. Not the one that comes with the machine but one that shows everyone out there what the different bell tones are to at least give the newbies some guidance towards whatt to hear and see on their units.

All these questions all the time and I know I have seen Uncle Willy get frustrated sometimes with the same questions over and over.

Think about it a 30 minute CD or video on the different tones and sounds of different targets. I believe I just saw and ad on some sound bites from another manufacture that kinda helps the owners learn there units by sound.

Maybe another good easy product for Garrett to produce to bolster his products!

Don
 
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