Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Advice on using a cheap detector

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firechildc

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Joined
Mar 8, 2009
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I recently purchased a very cheap metal detector from Harbor Freight. Did it on a whim one day. Only used it once and had a blast! Found enough beer cans and pull tabs to build a life size replica of Optimus Prime!

Now, I realize that a really cheap detector has limits... but what I am looking for is information on basic tuning, discrimination, ground and sensitivity advice as the manual that came with the detector is completely and utterly useless.

Here is a link to the detector I bought...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43149

yes, I know... it's just about the poorest of poor man detectors... but hey... I'm just that... a poor man! HAHAHA. Any advise you can give this newbie (other than "buy a new detector") would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
hey all I can say is practice practice & set up a test garden with different known targets at different depth and work with the tuning til you know how the machine works. My boy has one also from harbor freight and sure its not a whites garret or tesoro but he pics coins as well as I do in playground areas
 
Welcome to the forum!

I agree with Cnr_dogs; lay some coins out on a piece of ground where you don't get any other signals, and experiment with the settings. As far as the discrimination goes, set it so it won't pick up a nail but will pick up a nickel, and that should be a good setting. If your sensitivity is too high, you'll get false signals, so you'll just have to experiment.
 
Thanks for the quick reply! I should be fair... I did find more than pull tabs and trash... found over a dozen quarters and a bunch of pennies... which is really cool. I live on the coast (South Texas) and Spring Break just started this weekend and the season ends in two weeks... planning a big trip out detecting the day the mass crowds leave... should be lots to pick up.


Any other tips you guys could offer about this detector? Thanks a bunch!
 
I have never seen your detector so I can't speak re: the controls but...place the senitivity up about 3/4 ( if it's a 1-10, place it at 7 ). If you discriminate, don't discreminate out the tabtops. That's where gold and nickels live.
Second...if your finding tabtops, your pretty close to finding more desirable items, like coins and jewelry :D. You may want to start by starting a coin garden ( bury some coins, note the locations ) and just practice listening for the different sounds each type of coin makes. You may try hunting in an area that doesn't have quite as much junk. Many new detectorist give up way too early because they are disapointed at their success. It takes time, kinda like dating. :D And most importantly, have fun. Don't beat yourself to death when your not finding treasures. Take a break...it's a hobby. It's supposed to be fun.
Happy Hunting
 
Welcome to the forum!

Ed's advice is excellent. One more thing - if you discriminate pull-tabs out, you will also discriminate nickels and gold out too. So if you want to find nickels and gold, you need to keep that discrimination low. You'll end-up digging lots of pull-tabs too, but that's the way it goes.

A fun place to hunt is tot-lots (play grounds for kids with wood-chips on the ground - the digging is easy.) Set the discrimination real-low - like Ed said and take your time. Over-lap your swings, keep the coil level to the ground at all times, don't swing too fast, and cover the entire wood-chip area. You'll find coins, junk, and once in a while you might find some jewerly too. Remove everything you find and be sure to fill-in all the holes you make. Hit these places at dawn - before the kids show-up.

Headphones will help you hear faint signals and they will extend the life of your batteries. Wear a glove on your digging hand so you don't get cut on sharp metal or glass.

If you're having fun, you're doing things the right-way.

Frog snuck in there while I was typing. His advice is excellent too.

Salt-water will drive your machine crazy. Stick to the dry sand and dig everything. A scoop/sifter will make hunting in the sand much easier and quicker.

HH

Rich
 
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I think all the advice above is good. I had just a cheap $75 Bounty Hunter bought from a young boy;; but I had FUN..and thats what it's all about. I have more equipment now and find the same things!..Just enjoy it and let us know how we can help ;)
 
welcome to the forum

The above comments say it all. It is a hobby. Your detector can find just about anything the pricy machines will, just not as deep. It's quality excercise, interesting, and fun for all ages. Good luck, and let us know when you find the "Big" one....Gil
 
Welcome aboard firechild, and welcome to the 'sweet addiction'. The key, no matter what equipment you have, is to learn the machine inside and out and then practice, practice, practice. Also, forums, this one in particular, are great for support and help. RickO
 
I wouldnt worry so much about that cheap detector. Probably cutting edge compared to 20 years ago. The tech behind these machines is pretty basic.
For shallow finds ( which is most ) you should do fine. Lots of people do well with machines that technophiles would turn their noses to.

Dig what is reasonable and give it a good 100 hours before you make any judgements.
 
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Requires three 9 volt batteries !! :wow:

[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]Never known a machine which needs that much battery power. [/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
 
Well looking at the machine you purchased we shall keep things on a positive note in our efforts to assist you. I did have a machine that costed $100 and did find a seated dime with it. Do like some suggest and place some coins on the ground to learn where they read on your detector. Then after that if possible try to find a demo site where the top of the soil has been removed, if it is an older house yard, the chances of making a nice find are increased.
 
A Real poor man detector

Firechild, that detector of yours is high tech. like Encrusted Yen said with the advances in technology over the last 20 yrs. they are all pretty good now. If you want to talk about a poor mans detector look at what I'm using. My detector is 35 years old. I think yours is a "nine function" I guess that includes the meter. Mine must be a 3 function, it only has (2) two controls Sensitivity and Null. Lastly your has got to be a lot better than mine, it uses (3) 9 volt batteries mine only uses 1 :D
Looking at the good side of this I think I am learning a lot by using a primitive machine. after a few weeks and about 30 hours I am able to tell iron from cans, pulltabs and foil from coins and I am beggining to tell a quarter from a bottle cap just by the sound of the oscillator and the repeatability of the signal while sweeping the target at 90 degrees. I think this will be a great help when I upgrade to a ID machine. IMHO a ID machine is great but a microprocessor can never compare to the human brain coupled with our hearing and intuition.

This is old school and poor (I believe these were around $60.00 kit form in 1975)
 

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You've already received some great advice so I won't add to it and you're finding the right stuff, so the machine works. My first detector was about $25 and good enough to get me hooked, so trust me, you don't have to have a high dollar detector to find good targets and that one will pay for itself alot quicker too.
 
I have several detectors. Some are old by todays standards. I enjoy using them because they are fairly simple to operate and you don't have to do a lot of programing. When you find something, you did it the hard way. Fun is what its all about. If you've found that many quarters, you're doing alright.
 
Welcome to the forum.
Thats a heck of a deal on their detectors. Its an inexpensive way to find out if you will like it or not.




Good Luck Out There.
 
~Alan~ said:
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Requires three 9 volt batteries !! :wow:

[/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]Never known a machine which needs that much battery power. [/FONT][FONT=arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
Click to expand...

Alan, my first good detector (about 1975) was a White's Goldmaster.

It took FOURTEEN batteries! A rack of eight AAs, and another rack of six AAs.

Believe me - that was one heavy machine.
 
You can blame me for bringing this thread back from the dead. I couldn't resist its a topic close to my heart:lol:
 
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