Newbe!!

[westattam]

Greetings all! I'm new to the hobby and glad to be here. I live in a very remote, isolated island community in the Pacific Northwestern corner of British Columbia, Canada. I bought a stater machine (Garrett Ace 250) and I'm still getting used to it. I'm finding pinpointing quite a challenge with this unit.
Any specific hints on hunting saltwater beaches would be appreciated!
We get HUGE tides and many winter storms here. I'm not quite sure of WHERE on the beaches to hunt? So far, I've had most of my success just in playgrounds! I'd like to graduate into finds better than pennies and nickels though!
This community has TONS of history and a First Nations community that has lived here for thousands of years.. I just need to find those key spots.. Ideas???

[TonyinCT]

Welcome to the forum.

[The TINMAN]

Welcome to TQ. Just keep practicing and also I'm sure you'll get help with your questions as the 250 seems to be pretty popular with alot of good feedback about it. If you go to the main page here, click on Beach Metal Detecting, you can post your questions there and I'm sure you'll get some answers seeing thats the Sand People area. Hope you do well & looking forward to some finds from your Remote liitle spot. Good Luck & HH

The TINMAN

[INDY]

Welcome to TQ. I have the ace 250, and sometimes have problems pinpointing... I mostly think it is user error, on my part. Just keep practicing and you will get to know your ace well.
Good Luck
HH

[John's Detectors]

Hi Westattam, welcome and a big howdy from Texas! Sounds like your liking the Ace 250 and it is a great machine. Since you are not able to change the ground balancing on the 250 all you can do is lower the sensitivity down to a level that isn't noisy on the beach. The wet sand will probably be worse than the dry sand. Pinpointing could be difficult alright and it just takes practice. When you hit on a target go ahead and do a pinpoint but if you lose the target just move the coil away from where you suspect it is then come back over the target and listen for the loudest tone and max signal on your digital readout. I hope this is helpful and I wish you happy hunting. God Bless and hope to see you posting a lot.

John Tomlinson,CET
John's Detectors
Blackwell,Tx.
Best Little Detector Shop in Texas!

[Coin Hunter]

Good to have you here. Looking forward to hearing about your finds. HH

[dooby]

Welcome to the forum, westatam !!!

The way I pinpoint with the Ace250 is NOT in the "center" of the coil, I find the target I want to dig, move off the target, hold the pinpoint button down, move back over the target to find the loudest signal / center of target, then SLOWLY after finding the center of the target (while STILL holding the pinpoint button down) move the coil back towards me until the signal begins to drop off / fade, the target should be just under top of the inner coil. If that makes any sense at all ..................

takes a bit of practice, but it works for me...........

[cjoej]

Welcome to TQ westattam. Looking forward to seeing your finds. If you are in a swimming area on the beach, the surf line to knee deep is usually a good area for jewelry and coins.

SWC
Joe