Be sure to visit the library at out club
meetings, to find books to do your research.
Something I see a lot of detectorists do is seek out the
best settings that the pros use and try to set up their
machines the same way. In theory this seems like the smart
thing to do but it can actually make you find less and
become very frustrated very quickly. Let me explain…
If you’re new to your machine and use high sensitivity and
low discrimination then you will hear a lot of signals and a
lot of falsing. The constant barrage of audio tones and
signals will actually desensitize your brain to ALL signals
and you will likely pass up even the good targets while not
even realizing it. This can also be known as brain fatigue.
A better method is to start with a sensitivity level that
is just high enough to get a very occasional false while
running relatively quiet. Also, decide what types of targets
you want to find and use a discrimination setting that only
allows those targets to produce an audio signal. Using this
method you will hear less targets but the ones you do hear
will have a better chance of being good targets that you
want to dig.
With practice you’ll start to learn the good signals and
then you can slowly start to increase sensitivity and let in
some of the falsing and blips so you can start getting used
to those. Your goal after several hundred if not thousands
of hours is to be able to run a high sensitivity and hear
lots of signals but your brain will be trained and have the
ability to quickly decipher good signals from bad ones. The
key here is practice and experience. Veteran detectorists
have muscle memory in their brains that allows them to
handle the massive amount of signals that would quickly
drive newer detectorists to frustration and failure.
GL and HH!
- Cutaplug
This is just a quick tip that has helped me a lot when land
and water hunting. Before I discovered nitrile I was always
fiddling with different gloves and they always seemed to be
too bulky or they would soak up water and make my hands
sopping wet and muddy. If the gloves were waterproof they
would hold in moisture and not breathe well enough to stay
dry. So I’d ended up with sweaty wet hands and that becomes
uncomfortable very quickly.
I was in Home depot one day and noticed a pack of nitrile
gloves and picked up a pair. The palm side of the glove is
rubberized and the back side is a thin mesh. These gloves
allow you to dig in damp grass and soil while keeping your
hands dry and also allowing them to breathe with the mesh
backing. In the spring when it’s raining a lot they are
great. They are also thin enough that you can push buttons
stuff without a problem so bulk isn’t a problem.
Another great use I’ve found for them is water hunting.
Broken glass and sharp rocks can really do a number on your
fingers and the nitrile gloves are extremely durable and
help protect your hands. I’ve dug cracks and sifted through
rocks and sand with them and I rarely wear a pair out. You
can pick them up for about $10 for a pack of 10 at Home
Depot and they’re well worth it.
GL and HH!
- Cutaplug
Sacramento Valley Detecting Buffs- © Copyright 2010