How To Metal Detect Successfully
Metal Detecting Tips on Search Coil Discipline, Effective Area Coverage and Recovery of Targets
There are as many techniques and methods for metal detecting and treasure hunting as they are active people in this hobby! Here are some basic recommendations for metal detecting on land:
Search Coil Discipline
1) Keep the search coil parallel to the ground at a constant height to eliminate false signals.
2) Keep the search coil as close to the ground as possible.
3) Do not swing the coil in a pendulum motion so that it arcs upward at the end of a sweep - depth will be lost at these points.
4) Overlap the sweeps by advancing the search coil as much as 25% of the coil diameter, no matter what the coil's configuration is used, Concentric or Double-D.
5) Sweep the search coil slowly and methodically. Do not try to cover an acre in 10 minutes!
6) Do not bang the search coil against solid objects such as tree roots, large rocks, walls, etc.
Area Coverage
1) Search the area in grids (unless in the wooded area with hard terrain). To encounter good targets with less interference from previously rejected targets, scan the area at 90 degrees or perpendicular to the original direction of sweep.
2) At the site that has been searched consistently by others in the past, try to think what they might have done and do just the opposite. Thoroughly search the areas with or near obstacles such as metal pipes (with a smaller search coil and reduced sensitivity), bushes, logs (move them), tall grass (flatten it) and fences.
You can find more detailed info on the search methods in my article - Detecting around Cellar Holes.
3) Spend some time randomly searching for the spot with the numerous good signals - a "hot pocket ". If you locate it, leave other spots until this one is searched slowly and deliberately.
When you arrive at the hunt site that had been searched, try to spot visually the patch with a "cluster of dug holes" (or their traces) - the "cluster" spot which was initially a "hot" spot, and scan every inch of the ground in between the holes. In 99.9% cases, this approach turns out to be very rewarding.
If you arrive at the hunt site with a group of buddies, and one of them hits a "hot" spot, make sure you search that spot right after your buddy leaves it. Though, in most cases, the rest of the group is immediately invited to search the "hot" spot along with its finder.
4) Do not leave the hunt site without knowing that you gave it at least a 120% effort.
5) Revisit the hunt sites. Over the winter, the ground freezes and thaws causing many targets to shift position and become detectable. The roots, moles and woodchucks can also affect the position and depth of a coin by their actions.
Miscellaneous Tips
1) Coins lying in the ground at an angle may be missed on one search coil pass but detected when the search coil approaches from a different angle. Approach the target from different angles until you get the best signal.
2) If you get a questionable signal, dig it! Some broken signals are emitted by the good targets which are positioned in close proximity to iron targets, therefore, partially masked by them.
This 1808 Capped Bust Half Dollar Was Partially Masked by a Large Square Nail
3) If the location produces numerous meter readings from "pull-tab" to "silver," chances are, little or no detecting has been done here - it is a "virgin" site! A high concentration of meter readings from "iron" to "pull-tab" would be indicating that the site had been detected with discrimination set to reject pull-tabs, and therefore most gold rings, gold chains and nickels were left undetected.
4) Plug-Splitting Technique:
While recovering the target, cut the dirt plug out and break it in two halves. Scan each half ABOVE the coil - electromagnetic field above the coil is the same as it is under the coil. After you received a signal from one half, break split this half in two again and scan each half. Repeat these steps until you have a small amount of dirt, with a target, in your hand. This simple technique will help you recover the target faster.
Scanning the dirt lump by moving it above the search coil
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