Got me a metal detector this weekend---Now I got to learn how to use it?

The wife and I were doing the weekend yard sale thing
and in this old Lady had basically emptied out her storage shed and was begging folks to take it all away.

Anyway, propped up against the fence I see this


Now I don't know anything about metal detectors... only that back when I was a kid I was convinced if I had one I could dig up all kinds of buried Pirate treasure... You know... Seeing as how Pirates were so common here in Western Colorado...

So I ask...
"What do want for it?"
"Make me an offer?"
"I would if I had any idea what their worth?"

that is when my beautiful, smart, lovely wife jumps in--

"Oh I saw one of those for sale at Wal-Mart over Christmas for like 20 or 30 bucks..."
and I stumble out.

"Well in that case--- will you take $10 bucks?"
She nods holding out her hand and I place two 5's in her palm.

Like I said I don't know anything about metal detectors ... Other than while this one is very dusty from years spent in her shed--- it looks to be in pretty good condition...So this morning I hit the Internet to learn something about what my ten bucks bought me.

guess what I found out?

Description:
The Tesoro Lobo SuperTraq is one of the finest gold prospecting metal detectors available. Computerized ground tracking capabilities set this apart from the pack. Discrimination capabilities allow you to hunt for coins jewelry and relics as well. This is an extremely deep searching, gold prospecting metal detector that works well in all ground conditions. Pros and beginners alike will find that this detector is really the leader of the pack!
PRICE: $679.15

Now that's what I call COOL MAN COOL!

So now I'm going to have to order me a pirate hat and eye patch, sign on a hardy crew of scurvy mates and hit up the back mountain trails to dig up all that buried gold ----

Well maybe I should download the instruction manual first?

Edit to add...
I think there must be buried gold in my living room as it "BEEPS" at almost everything I point it at!

Now you just need to plan an excursion through some old west ghost towns and see if you can't strike it big

Have fun and good luck!

go play with it at a park with tanbark or sand. perfect practice.

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

I'm just hoping this isn't the first sign of my getting old.

Pretty soon I'll be going gray, wearing Bermuda shorts and taking my metal detector down the beach...

Oh my god... I hope I don't catch "Golf' from this thing!

originally posted by: NorCal
go play with it at a park with tanbark or sand. perfect practice.

the first real thing I learned about using it.

Don't try it when your walking a pair of border collie pups.
They kept biting at the round part at the bottom.

a reply to: HardCorps

hit the beach.
Best place ever to find eveything from gold to coins.

Good luck hunting.

All I would say is bring lots of patience and always replace your divots, so to speak. (The holes you make to find what registers... fill 'em in and make it look pretty again. You'd be surprised how many don't and how much land is off limits to this now for that reason).

I say be patient because I'm still learning mine and it's a labor of....well...I keep the belief it'll be worth it when I next get out of this area to use it where it may hit good stuff.

My Dad left me a very nice one when he died. The first thing I did was toss my wedding band into the grass to make sure it worked. It didn't find it. I tweaked the dials and reread the digital screen. Still didn't find it. This is a 14kt gold band that has a little weight to it. It took a few sessions to "find it"....or more to the point, figure out what wasn't working. The operator seemed to be malfunctioning..not the machine. I'm still in that trial and error mode to figure it out as time permits.

At least yours is pretty simple and doesn't claim to do everything but dig the hole and look for buyers. I'd prefer that one.

a reply to: Wrabbit2000

I did the same thing with my wedding band and had the opposite prob.

there's already so much metal in the ground around my place. old nails and broken toys I had trouble finding a place that didn't register. Once I did it took me a while to figure out how to ground balance it. we have a lot of iron in our soil.

What really drove me crazy for a while was how to figure out exactly where the target was???
Mine came with this 10" Elliptical Widescan coil


If I had taken time to read what was printed on it I would have known the gold dot in the middle says right on it that's where the target is buried.

Yup this is going to be a long learning curve.