Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Aquasound Metal Detecctor Constructed by Herb MacDonald (deceseased). |
My first experience using a metal detector was probably in the early sixties. My grandmother got a Radio Shack metal detector, and we went out to an old home site where only the chimney was still standing. As I recall we got some larger pieces, like maybe a door hinge and things like that but no coins. I tried the detector out at home after that. and found it didn't detect a coin. I don't know now if it was the settings, or the environment (maybe over concrete or rebar) or what, but after that I gave up on metal detecting. Then I knew nothing about metal detecting but now know enough that maybe it wasn't the detector's fault, but maybe it was. After all these years, I still don't know the model of the detector or its actual capabilities.
I got some university degrees and went to work and eventually transferred to Florida, partly to develop computer-based training for Eastern Airlines pilots transitioning from Boeing aircraft to the A300. Sometime after moving to Florida (it must have been in the late seventies), I ordered a White's metal detector from a Sears catalog and starting metal detecting for coins on Hollywood Beach. For some reason, after a while I didn't think it was working quite right and returned that detector to Sears. Again, now I'm not sure, if it was the detector's fault or mine. When you are a beginner, it can be a huge help to have a more experienced person to help you get started. It can also be helpful to get some hands-on experience before you buy a new detector if you have a helpful local dealer like Gary at Treasure Coast Metal Detectors. That can save you a lot of time getting started.
The one thing I would emphasize for anyone getting a new metal detector is to experiment and train as much as you can so you know how the detector works before going hunting. Some things you'll probably only learn through field experience, but you can definitely cut down on mistakes by taking the time to experiment and learn about your metal detector. I'm not saying you need to know all the fancy features and details, but some of the basics are very important. I'm really not one to put a lot of emphasis on maximizing settings to the nth degree, but you need to have some of the basics right.
After the White's, I went to the Pot of Gold shop in Hollywood and bought a Fishers 1280 Aquanaut. That was a very good metal detector and the one and I learned a lot during that time. I learned the importance of not using too much discrimination.
The 1280 had only three knobs' on-off, sensitivity and discrimination. I think I remember that correctly. But if you turned up the discrimination enough to eliminate a lot of the junk, you also cut out nickels, and more importantly, many gold rings. I've told this before, but for a while I thought men must lose a lot more rings than women. That was because, as I later learned, I was discriminating out a lot of the smaller and more valuable ladies' rings. So I quit using discrimination.
Overall, the 1280 was a very good and reliable metal detector and that was a very productive period.
I think I got my first Tesoro somewhere after that. It was a Royal Sabre. It was a good detector and had a lifetime warranty, which Tesoro honored until a few years ago before going out of business. It had more advanced features, such as notch discrimination and surface blanking, which could come in handy on very junky land sites.
I had a Tesoro submersible after that, but used it very little. It had some problems with the grounding, and after going back and forth with Tesoro, they finally sent me a modified replacement that worked properly. But my Tesoro's were mostly backup detectors which I didn't use very much.
Somewhere in there I got a Garrett pulse detector. It was too hot to iron. I remember one day digging a very deep hole on a submerged sandbar in North Miami only to find a junk metal class ring. That detector also loved bobby pins. Anyhow, I didn't like the Garrett pulse detector very much and sold it back to Kevin of Reilly's Treasured Gold. At that time, I didn't really understand pulse detectors very well and thought the threshold tone should have been more stable. Now I don't think I understood that metal detector very well. I'm not sure I got the best out of it, even if it wasn't the best choice for the kind of detecting I was doing at the time.
I got my best metal detector from Kevin, who sold me a modified Nautilus metal detector in a Ikelite case. That was one hot metal detector. I loved it. It had no discrimination setting. After using it a couple of times, I called Steve in Maryland and ordered a second just to have as a backup.
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| Steve Noga Metal Detector in Ikelite Case. |
After that, my next metal detector's were made by Herb MacDonald. Herb made a very similar modified Nautilus detector in his home. He called it Aquasound (shown above). And then the next one, or two, were also made by Herb.
The Noga and MacDonald detectors were my all-time favorites. The first Noga detector is my absolute favorite. It had a superhot coil, and I think part of the reason it sticks out so much for me, is that it represented a real jump for me when I was hitting the beaches really hard. It had no discrimination or target ID other than what you could get from the audio signal. It was simple and powerful and ideally suited for beach and shallow surf detecting and finding gold. It was not suited at all for searching junky land sites.
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| Steve Noga Metal Detector in Ikelite Case. |
After those detectors I've used many, including an Excalibur, which I used very much like the Aquasound (all-metals mode, no discrimination), a Sovereign, Equinox, and now a Manticore. I skipped a few, such as a Garrett 2-box, Garrett Ace, White's pulse, and maybe one or two more, that weren't real important to me but were used a bit at one time or another, usually for specific situations.
The reason I tell you all that is to bring out a few important things I learned over that time. First is that metal detectors often get blamed for poor performance when it is partly or completely, the user's fault. Or you might be using it for the wrong situation. The right detector depends upon what you are trying to find and the environment.
Each metal detector has strengths and weaknesses. Each detector will be suited to some situations or applications but not others. And the user must know how to use them in the chosen situation.
I often emphasize how much you can benefit by experimenting with your metal detector with different types of targets in different environments and using different settings. It is important to know your metal detector and understand what is is telling you. If you only hunt Florida beaches, that makes it easier. My Noga and MacDonald detectors were very well suited for detecting our beaches. Despite how good they were and how deep they would detect, they weren't made for junky land sites or highly mineralized soil.
No matter how good the detector is, you won't find anything good unless you put the coil over good targets. That has to do with doing research, reading the site, using good search strategies and good technique. Without those, it doesn't matter how good your metal detector works.
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I plan to take a look at some reales in future posts. I have three in particular selected.
Tonight, after sunset, step outside and look east. The Wolf Moon is rising side by side with Jupiter--a lovely conjunction visible even from light-polluted cities. The Moon is extra bright thanks to a rare combination of perigee and perihelion. Full story and sky maps
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| Surf Chart from SurfGuru.com. |
Nothing big there.
The tides are fairly big now, but not extreme.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net