Finally jumping into the forum from the sidelines

Hello to Everyone,

I have been a "lurker" for about 1 1/2 years now and felt that as a beginner in detecting I did not know what specifics to ask for in a forum.
So I just kept on reading and learning and beeping ... repeat.
I have learnt soooooo much from the articles and topics here. One helluva big Thank You to Thomas & all posting here!
So here's my jump into this lovely forum.

Have a great day!

Well welcome aboard!!

And Great user name!!! very CLEVER!!

Wish I had some of that wit about me .....

What detector or detectors do you use and what type hunting do you do??

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

I 2nd the welcome

and also am wanting to hear what kind of diggin you do & where you're from/do the majority of your huntin??

Welcome aboard! Great place to be and learn from each other.

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well welcome aboard!!
>
> And Great user name!!! very CLEVER!!

Well, I think "Keith Southern" is pretty clever, too <wink>!

And, yes, Scoopy_Doo, welcome aboard. Look forward to hearing/seeing what your months of tutelege here have accomplished.
Where are you located?

Wayne

Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?

This is the BEST FORUM to learn and express and teach..welcome

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!

Welcome man!

Long journey but you have arrived.

Welcome aboard

Hello again,

Thank You for your warm welcome!

@ Keith: Thank You for you compliment about user name, I grew up watching the cartoons ...

I'll try to answer all questions in one fell swoop and try and give you a picture of the detecting me:

I started detecting occasionly in southern Germany in the 90's with a borrowed metered c-scope. Yes I did find old coins.
Bought myself an XLT in 2004 at GOLD-N-Detectors in Colorado whilst travelling in the NW & Central States.
I found I was in over my head with the digital detector and rarely used it. I do prefer turn dials to push button menus as I found out.

I moved to the Med. Sea a few years ago and wanted to detect beaches. I did a lot of internet research on what to buy for that but came
to no clear conclusion. Since I have an electrical engineering background I was irked about the lack of technical information in
detector advertising and the proliferation of what I see as gimmicks in many new detectors. I found I prefer simple and solidly built ones.

Instead of importing a detector of questionable use, I decided to jump into the abyss of learning to use my xlt with three different coils (9.5", 6x4" & BF),
hoping to learn enough to make a more informed decision and being aware my detector is not the most optimal for the conditions.
I've put in around 800 hours of detecting, the learning curve felt like a cliff at times...

My three favorite websites of learning are this one, geotech & metaldetectingworld and also some small private sites.

Some of the things I have learnt which I find important:

The detector is only a part of the equation, the user's discernment/intelligence is paramount.
Recovery techniques, making your own tools & tweaks is not to be underestimated.
Ergonomics was/is a foreign word for many major manufacturers ...

Living in a remote place with high freight costs, I appreciate user servicable devices.
I would always prefer generic power sources such as AA batteries/rechargables over company specific power packs.
Oddly enough I don't like wireless headphones, because it represents another power supply I have to take care of.
The comfort of the headphones on my head is a very important factor to me. I usually detect 6-10 hrs.

I found that I very much appreciate the multi-tone feature. I listen to all tones even though it can be tough at times.
The "groundspeak" of each beach is very distinct, like a personality. I don't use the display (signagraph) anymore
and just going by tid can be very deceiving especial with all the Fe.

Iron, yes well, how about opening a mine here :-O. Yep, mineraly sand, iron flakes/specks and chunks and and and.
Under that alkaline clays and hot/cold rocks and no tides to speak of. Iron masking is a HOT topic for me which I only became
aware of on this wonderful website.

I am into building a surf Pi and Baracude PI to splash in the waters here, will see if the iron drives me nuts.
The coil will be Bigfootish and I am not looking for depth ...

I could ramble on and on, but I think it's already to much ...

Happy Finding, Scoopy_Doo

Please continue to ramble--very informative and enlighting.Felt like I was on those beaches myself.

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you have learned a lot already. Looking forward to your future posts...Stuart

Great Info Scoopy!!

Sounds like your a world traveler...

I envy you very much for that!!!

Have dectector will travel comes to mind!!

The Med. Sea area sounds fascinating and just exudes treasure around every corner,,,,,,,in my mind at Least!!LOL!

Again welcome and great first thread you have going!!

Hope to see more fropm you..

You have some valid thoughts in your detector WANTS!!



Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great Info Scoopy!!
>
> Sounds like your a world traveler...
>
> I envy you very much for that!!!
>
> Have dectector will travel comes to mind!!
>
> The Med. Sea area sounds fascinating and just
> exudes treasure around every corner,,,,,,,in my
> mind at Least!!LOL!
>
> Again welcome and great first thread you have
> going!!
>
> Hope to see more fropm you..
>
> You have some valid thoughts in your detector
> WANTS!!
>
>
>
> Keith

Hello again,

Um, yes, i have travelled quite a bit.

Have detector, will travel - I love that thought and am working on that :-)

But which darn detector should I take along ???
I only have one for now, so that's quite easy ...
On a more serious note I think I would be stumped to have to decide
between whatever, not knowing what conditions I would find when arriving.

And then repair & soldering stuff ... recovery tools. The airlines would love me ...

I started off with a garden shovel and poop scoop.
Now my jeep is cluttered with different recovery tools and stuff which has been made & evolved
for specific search conditions. My spouse likes detecting too, so no hassle here.

Oh yeah! Treasures abound in the med, locked safely within the iron chest of masking :-O
Did I forget modern trash like WWII stuff? Or ultra modern trash like pull tabs.

The manufacturers of soda cans changed their pull-tab design, so it would stay attached to the can.
That was quite a while ago in Europe.
But alas, people are apparently so nervous they twiddle them off all the time, Grrrrrrrr.
Do you have this phenomena in the States as well?

Happy hunting and fast digging ...

Yes stay tabs started here in 1975 I believe...

But people still pull them off LOL!!!

down my way we call them double pulltabs...

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla