tips

**Steve T** · 03-05-2009, 09:41 AM

The most important part of metal detecting is the bit you do before you go out....RESEARCH !

What i always do is research the area I am going to search prior to getting anywhere near it. This is useful for pre-planned trips like when I went to Belgium last year. I got hold of 2 or 3 'in depth' books on the Ardennes offensive (1944-5) and then read them from cover to cover, noting down any interesting references. For example, one book had a quote from an American soldier saying '...it took us 3 days to clear the Germans out of the woods between 'village x and village y'......' So, up pops google earth, I find the villages, identify the woods, go and search....FINDS !!!

Same goes for England. Don't just go to an area because it used to be an airfield......research what happened to it. My brother went MDing for the first time at Steeple Morden, an old USAAF base. I warned him that there were NO remains of runways or any buildings and that he probably would have trouble finding stuff. But he went any ways. He found 347 million bits of aluminium foil and we later found that the farmer used recycled landfill 'compost' to put on his field.......which was full of mashed up aluminium foil !!! This was on a website so he could have saved himself 4 hours of time.

Find somewhere with identifiable buildings or old ranges where you can get the precise location or even old POW camps as many of these were out in the country. Then research them and use google earth to identify how you are going to get to the site and where you're going to search.

The old saying should always be foremost in your mind.....for every 20 detections you get 19 bits of crap and 1 good find......live by that and you'll enjoy it more

If you get lucky with a site like me, the saying gets reversed by the way

Steve T

appie · 03-05-2009, 09:54 AM

Steve, you live right in the middle of England. Would that by any chance be close to Haltwistle, as that should be the villiga thats geometric the centre of England?
In a book I have Haltwistle is mentioned because there was a German POW camp there.

**Davidh** · 03-05-2009, 09:55 AM

Thaks for these tips i appreciate it

i have just bought a book on britains battlefields so i had best get some reading up done, thanks again dave

**packin9** · 03-05-2009, 05:45 PM

I don't think I saw it posted but detecting after the rain and while the ground is still damp is a good time. Unlike when the ground is dry, when wet,the metal (rust etc.) leaks into the ground around it making it more susceptible to detection. You also can get false readings from the type of soil. Detect all,then discriminate.

**Davidh** · 03-15-2009, 11:20 PM

thanks for the tips

well today i thought i would give my backgarden a go and found a 10 french francs coin

and a 20p soon have that detector paid for with my finds

**Steve T** · 03-15-2009, 11:35 PM

Grats Scrooge !!!

Best place to find stuff to pay for your detector is beaches (search about 10 foot up from the high water mark after a roasting hot day.....i've found jewellery, coins, purses, belts, small children......Loads of stuff), or playgrounds beneath the climbing frame (especially if the ground beneath the frame is wood chips.....).

You'#ll soon pay for the detector

Steve T

**mr.dirt** · 03-16-2009, 03:12 AM

Try taking a look at the site below, the guy is very good at detecting, he has even run classes for the police in use of metal detecting equipment and has written several programs for the detectors that allow uploads of programming with specific parameters.

Truth About Metal Detecting, Treasure Hunting - All Info

He has experience worldwide in differing environments. He is basically a coin and artifact collector but his experience and search methods an be applied to our sort of searches.

**packin9** · 03-16-2009, 04:39 PM

Great,you didn't waste any time did ya?

**rgaraymd** · 05-04-2009, 05:46 AM

Dave, the ACE 250 is not really good for beaches. Actually its not good for wet sand. Dry sand is ok. I own a Garret ACE 150 and its done pretty well. What I did when living in NY was to go to really old useless buildings with a history and search. My first search was an old building in Staten Island that used to be a school in the 1900's. I found a lot of coins there and it was a lot of fun. So just look ans research. Good luck and cheers, Raul

**packin9** · 05-04-2009, 03:24 PM

by rgaraymd

Dave, the ACE 250 is not really good for beaches. Actually its not good for wet sand. Dry sand is ok. I own a Garret ACE 150 and its done pretty well. What I did when living in NY was to go to really old useless buildings with a history and search. My first search was an old building in Staten Island that used to be a school in the 1900's. I found a lot of coins there and it was a lot of fun. So just look ans research. Good luck and cheers, Raul

Did you have much of a problem with nails etc.?