Where's everybody from

I'm from the N.E. corner of Montana.45 miles from Saskatchewan and 21 miles from North Dakota.Hey Tom,I got my nursing degree in Cocoa Fl.at Brevard College.I use to live in Melbourne Bch. in Leisure Living by the fire station .Spessard Holland Park was kitty corner across the road from me.I wasn't into metal detecting then.Mel Fisher use to have a boat right out in front of the Leisure Living beach access.My neigbors had found gold and silver spanish coins on the beaches after bad storms in the 70's ocassionally(without detectors).Bill

((( And those Spanish Gold & Silver coins are STILL coming up at that location )))!!!

I've been to BCC MANY times.

Hi Bill, Tom, and Everyone,

I'm from Canada, about 40 minutes north of Toronto. Live in the countryside, in a rural subdivision, it's quiet here. Married 36 years this Sept, and started detecting 22 years ago at the age of 34. I've pretty much restricted detecting to autumn prospecting over the past 10 years, except for an occasional coin/beach outing. Was a hard core coin and beach hunter for a lot of years, when it was quite usual to find a minimum 7 or 8 silver coins in a few hours outing.

The enthusiasm I see here is infectious, and it's got me thinking about coin hunting again, just for fun. Thankyou.

Jim

Tom When I was establishing residency in Fla.I worked at Inlet Bait and Tackle at Sebastian Inlet.I use to do the morning radio surf report,dude.That was back in the 80's.I'd love to detect the beach by the house I lived in during and after the 4th of July.It won't happen this year.

Hey everyone..I live in NC-USA...where the ground is hard and the clay is Red
just 20 miles north of charlotte NC..Up near lake Norman...Just started Detecting DEC 07..My wife bought me the F75 in Jan 08 for my early March Birthday..Im a 38 year old work-a-holic....Trying to learn all I can here..
The most real world informative web site around..james

Hi everyone, It's been awhile since I have visited or posted but I live in Tampa Bay area of Florida and our primary detecting is beach and water! Needed to say hi to Tom since it has been a while since we last had a chance to talk. Still hanging in there looking for that one big score!!
Wally

I'm in N. Alabama, not far from Huntsville. Mostly relic hunt for Civil War relics along the Alabama/Tennessee line. Just bought an F70 and have an F75 on the way. I'm going to spend the summer using the F75 to coin hunt, in order to learn the machine (too hot and too many ticks in the summer to effectively relic hunt). I've had an MXT for the last two years and have been fervently wishing for a machine like the F75. Should be great this fall, going to areas that have been deemed as hunted out. I can't wait to see what turns up.

Wally,

Glad to hear from you! How are YOU??? And how is Suncoast doing?

Tom,

Doing alright. You know the old saying "I owe too much to go." Another surprise is that at 72 I have become a father again! I apparently need your wisdom in more ways than usual.

Suncoast is up to 85 members and thirsting for knowledge. I was going to make Treasure Week but I'll have to pass on it.

Your schedule should ease off a bit now for awhile??? I don't know how you keep up with the pace of the forum but myself, and about 10,000 others are sure glad you do.

Thanks for all the help
Wally

Wally,

Hmmmmmm....... explain the 'father' thing. I can only presume that you mean of the 85 members! Keep yourself AND the club active!!! Keep that life-critical "Burning Passion" running full speed!
Yes, no launch for a few months...... so times are at pistol velocity vs. rifle velocity. I'm going to attempt to commence the beach DVD and hope to have a lot of it 'in the can' soon.
Just curious; What's the average age of your new club members? Are young detectorists/members few-and-far inbetween?

Tom

Tom,

Fatherhood came as the result of a 12 yr. old nephew showing up on the doorstep, suitcase in hand, seeking asylum. He's been here for about 8 months, but yes those 85 members qualify also. I think average age is probably in the 50's but young at heart and no, I don't think I have any members under 30.

Our club, being beach and water hunters primarily, eagerly await your new DVD. And if necessary I would be more than glad to call your boss and make him aware of the need for you to get necessary time off to get the DVD done and then return to playing with his toys.?!? What do you think?

Wally

Hey Tom and Wally

I'm sure glad you made that perfectly clear Wally, for I had my HAT off to you and hanging my detector up. As you say and Tom asked about the age of your members. Tom and I were talking about that, and we need to do something to get the younger people in this TERRIFIC hobby. In my club the youngest member is 30. When we have a club hunt we have a 15 year and under hunt trying to get the other members to bring their grand kids to take part. It is really a hard sell...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2008 08:54PM by LiL John.

Wally...... I think that's a great idea...... and I should post my Boss's phone number on the forum so EVERYONE could give him a ring! He might even give me 50 years Sabbatical leave. ((( Not sure that would be a bad idea!!! ))). I am hurting for time to commence; however, I have the next DVD fully scripted thus far. Just need to commence! .... I do believe it will happen soon.

Yes,,,,,, I truly know of no 'young' detectorists...... and would like to see more of the younger generation entering into this hobby. It sure has been a 'history' lesson to me...... along with education with Geophysics, forensics, electromagnetics, conductivity...... mother nature...... dirt composition, etc..... A fascinating world of 'discovery'.

Tom

Tom, I often ask people I get in contact with about getting involved in detecting and common response "I'm not retired yet" ????? Why is that necessary? I took my brother in law detecting at a local school yard that had possibilities and after an hour or so he had a handful of change, as did I, but just the week before I had found 14K men's nugget ring.

His idea of fun is fishing and he spent $19000 for a bass boat and all he brings home is dead fish so I think I got the better deal.I have nothing against fishing but you need to keep things in perspective, I'll take the coins and jewelry over dead fish any time!
Wally

As for how to get more young people into detecting, you have to get whole families into it. I've managed to get my whole family into it and my 9-year-old son loves to go out and hunt with me (helps that he has his own machine and loves to dig). My daughter usually just tags along for something different to do and my wife actually enjoys just getting out.

IMHO, one of the best ways I know to get whole families involved would be for a club to organize a seeded hunt somewhere (preferably one that might have some native targets as well) and then advertise it for a couple weeks running in the local paper. Of course you'll need some loaner machines for the hunt and committee to organize the event, but I'll bet after the hunt you'll have some people wanting to come to your next meeting and wanting to know where they can buy an "inexpensive" machine to start with. And, if your club is like the fishing club I belong to, they should have enough of a budget to pull this off once a year. As far as I can tell, in this overprotective environment we live in, you'll need to appeal to the whole family in order to get some young blood involved.

Minnesota...Saint Paul!

The Great Southern Beach Shootout in Daytona, FL has a wonderful kids hunt..... with many kids participating. It's short-lived..... but is a great start. I just wonder where the 20's - 30's year-old age group are at. There's a few..... but not many.

Tom

Tom,

I think that a lot of the 20's are really just getting started and don't feel like they can afford it. I also think that some of the younger hunters don't choose to be involved with clubs so we just don't see them. Suncoast makes a very strong point on returning lost jewelry to owners and there are probably more than a few don't share our opinions. But we keep looking!!

Wally

I feel the problem with some clubs is that the meetings are more like a congressional hearing.
IE: The club i belonged to was filled with really nice people (and still is), but i think the format of the meetings need to be changed, but that's just me, it works for others I guess.

-Mike



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2008 01:16AM by PanMan.

Hi NASA Tom and Everyone,

I fully agree with the above comments regarding the involvement of young people into this fascinating hobby/interest.

They say that the "stable family unit" is the foundation/basis of a stable society, and that IMHO, is just the place to build this hobby while pursuing healthy outdoor family activities.

Accordingly, whether prospecting to the far north, or a camping expedition to a provincial park (Ontario here), I always try to include family members, and have been reasonably successful too. Insofar, as three years ago I surprised a 12 year old nephew with a new entry level detector for Christmas...just could not resist doing it after enjoying some quality time together at a park beach the previous summer while camping. Hoping for a future prospecting partner!!

Jim.

My 8-year-old granddaughter loves to use my detector ever since she found a metallic arrowhead. But she seems to lose interest if she doesn’t hear anything for 5 minutes.

I have been thinking about putting a Y-plug in the headphone jack so we can both have earphones and hear at the same time. And I would do the swinging. It is a little hard for a 50 lb child to swing a detector.

Plus she loves to dig which I love.

If they find things they'll get interested. Like Tom Did!!

I live in the gold country of California

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

hi there...
I live in the southern part of Norway - just south of Oslo
--been detecting for about fifteen years or so, -- started out with a borrowed 1210
and got hooked...
I am a "small coil addict" as I feel these coils to be more suitable here in
"Ironland"
looking forward to new postings on this very
interesting and educating forum....

wish you all a nice summer..
trond



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2008 07:32AM by trond.