2017 d-u-n done!

Thanks

arw40 said:

Congrats on a super season for you !!! what a nice collection of a little bit of everything...Continued success to you in 2018....HH !

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And the same to you as well. Mark

Nice season.
That's a great collection.
Man I can't get over the size of that foreign coin......I'd just have a heart attack if I saw that in the dirt......
Happy new year and best of luck in 2018 .

Bob

Happy New Year

bobac said:

Nice season.
That's a great collection.
Man I can't get over the size of that foreign coin......I'd just have a heart attack if I saw that in the dirt......
Happy new year and best of luck in 2018 .

Bob

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Bob, thanks. That is the biggest piece of silver for me so far. Hopefully there are a couple silver dollars in my future. Sorry to see you missed the century mark, I missed as well and I had only a half century goal. Well heres what I got to say-- Next year--hunt more--dig more. Wish you a ton of cool finds in 2018. You on the Equinox list ? Mark

Equinox

markinswpa said:

Bob, thanks. That is the biggest piece of silver for me so far. Hopefully there are a couple silver dollars in my future. Sorry to see you missed the century mark, I missed as well and I had only a half century goal. Well heres what I got to say-- Next year--hunt more--dig more. Wish you a ton of cool finds in 2018. You on the Equinox list ? Mark

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No....
I guess I haven't really thought about new machines.....
The only thing I want for sure is the new minelab pinpointer. It sounds really awesome.
I'll probly wait and see what kind of reviews start popping up on the EQ....
I do still have a great amount of faith in my CTX....Although I may be looking at shoulder surgery if I don't take it easy with that thing.....
I hear this new ml is a pretty light machine , so maybe I should be considering it.....I honestly think my next machine would probably be a PI.
Whats the closest detector store to you anyway?
Bob

Some good digs for you in 2017 Mark!
Hope 2018 treats you well!!

markinswpa said:

I do think I'm starting to click with the Etrac. Still digging rusty iron, but nowhere near as much as I did.

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*whew!* That's good to hear... after my first 5hrs using an Etrac i'm amazed at the amount of "good sounding" deeper targets that turn out to be rusted iron nails! Excellent finds for the year- and cheers to continued success in 2018!

Indeed rusty iron

BrahmanShaman said:

*whew!* That's good to hear... after my first 5hrs using an Etrac i'm amazed at the amount of "good sounding" deeper targets that turn out to be rusted iron nails! Excellent finds for the year- and cheers to continued success in 2018!

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Br, thank you, if I may, pass on a few things I learned from some really knowledgeable members here on FMDF. I got my Etrac last March. I probably have several hundred hours with it and I'm just now starting to see how amazing this machine can be. 1st, theres is no getting around the learning curve, the more time you spend with it the better. There will be frustration but trust me, it gets better, I have wanted to wrap mine around a tree more than once. Now a few things I've learned, when you get a good repeatable signal, turn ninety degees-see if it still is a good repeatable signal. 1st good sign. I usually try from 3 directions but the position of the target may not allow for that. Next. switch over to Quickmask, numbers should stay close to the ones you had in your hunting mode. They might jump around a little bit but will stay close . Next this is big---TONE- when in quickmask you're in all-metal mode, so if tone gets louder, most likely junk. Don't take my word for it- dig a few- you will see. Also your target signal should not move on you when you turn 90 degrees. When you have a good signal its just that. Now if you want, go to an open screen in TTF if I hear just a grunt I leave it. If I hear a high tone and a grunt, that could be a good target mixed in with iron. More on that later. Next pinpointing, if its moving around on you most likely junk. I use the pinpoint mode first, I drop a plastic water bottle cap at that spot, then I turn 90 degrees and use the wiggle method, turn back and wiggle the original direction to see how accurate my pinpoint was. A note here-pinpoint mode is in all-metal mode which if theres a hunk of rusty iron in the ground it can actually pull you away from a good target. So wiggle method is preferable, especially in a high trash area. This proved to be the case several times for me and it makes me wonder how many times I pulled out a big bent rusty nail and left a good target. Confirming this in TTF works for me. See Goesforever's video on pinpointing if you haven't already. Now those iffy and jumpy signals, with time you will know which one to investigate and the ones to leave alone. Tone is really important, tells you just about all you need to know. I'm still digging rusty iron but nowhere near as much, I still have alot to learn but I thought I would pass on what others have for me to get you on your way. Best of luck and be sure to post pics of your finds. Mark

I appreciate the tips, Mark! Anything that can cut down the learning curve will help... and there's no alternative to actually putting in the hours detecting- to this point i've been running the Trashy Parks program, TTF... and training myself to go *much* slower than i had with the AT Pro. Even getting used to the noticeably heavier weight of the machine is a factor- i had no idea just how big of a change it would be! I'll definitely start utilizing the QuickMask function- and after a few outings, will hopefully have something interesting to report!