New member having fun

[JohnWPA]

Very beautiful ring and finds....WTG on loosing the weight also!

John

[johnj45586]

Well I figured out my profile picture isn't what is displayed with a message. I went back and made an avatar picture and that seems to be working.
I have also worked up a signature picture. I admired the one that Indy made so I also did an animation. Having done that I am not sure how to get it applied.
Attachments seem to work fine though. Attached is a picture of the white gold heart set with small rubies. I made a small picture then found out you can have really big jpeg files attached. I guess that is ok because there are thumbnails to view without downloading the attachment.
I will start posting my more interesting finds to the appropriate forums. I have some maker's mark questions that might find answers.
There is one really bad feature of the Bounty Hunter VLF Treasure Detector I am using is the attachment of the handle.
The grip came loose within a week. There was very little glue holding it on. I filled it with epoxy so it is solid now.
Also it came with 3 screws holding it to the electronics box. The screws were through very thin slots without much meat. Within a week they had torn loose.
I used the wrong adhesive (the epoxy) which turned out not to adhere to the plastic. Within a few days it broke loose again. I cleaned all the epoxy off and got some model cement. I also drilled 5 holes well inside the plastic and used self taping screws. I applied the glue and put the screws in more for gripping while curing than anything. That is holding together.
At the next break I am going to get a tube from a model shop for the handle assembly and mount it inside the tube that holds the electronics box and coil.
I sure hope my new signature is applied to this post. I am anxious to show it off to my wife.
Johnj45586

That is one spectacular ring.

CONGRATULATIONS

[PAPPY]

FANTASTIC, BEAUTIFUL, WOW !!!! Really GREAT ring John !

[pris]

Welcome, John!!! Man o' Man, but I'm impressed. You're gonna teach us a thang or two, I think. I can already tell you'll fit in just perfectly here. Smart men like you are what makes this hobby so nice.

VERY nice finds and CONGRATULATIONS on your weight loss.

Hi John and Welcome to TQ!

Really impressive finds...got me wanting to visit one of our "local" beaches. Congrats on the weight loss! I'm doing the 3-day 60-mile walk for breast cancer in Philadelphia in a couple of months and found that getting out with my detector has been great for helping me get in shape. My hubby jokes that I should take my detector with me on the walk...but I can't imagine anyone being happy with me stopping every couple of inches to dig something up. And can you imagine how long it would take me to cover 60 miles?

Looking forward to reading about more of your finds...

[MinelabMan]

Hi John and welcome to the forum. Great finds from any detector!

[johnj45586]

Thanks for the great compliments and communications. I love this forum!
I am lucky enough to live in Southern California near many busy beaches. I work Main Beach in Laguna Beach for the most part.
Because my interest is mainly in becoming fit and losing weight I concentrate on the dry sand. I walk from the boardwalk to the wet sand and back. I push my feet through the dry sand for extra resistance training AND it leaves a recognizable track in the sand. Searching perpendicular to the boardwalk/wet sand means I am always walking up and down an incline.
I have a very cheap bottom of the line Bounty Hunter detector ($45-$50) that I put on maximum sensitivity and junk filter OFF. I have found a dime at 18 inches in dry sand. Many times there are others ahead of me on the beach with much more expensive detectors - but that doesn't significantly change my finds for the day. They almost always miss dimes and some times quarters. Their more random approach to searching also means I find groupings of several coins walking behind them.
I search for 3 hours and can cover about half of Main Beach. In two search days I can cover all the beach.
Because I search "wide open" I find all the metal trash beneath the sand. I collect it and carry it away. (I also pick up all the paper and plastic eyesore trash I cross). That means that when I first started on this beach I spent all my time just about every other step picking up bobby pins, hair clips, bottle caps, foil wrappers and good old pop tabs.
But, from then on there is no "old" metal trash in my path. I can tell the difference between ferrous and non ferrous materials, but that doesn't stop me from digging it up and putting it in the trash sack.
With all this behind me I can sweep pretty fast and step ahead at a good rate. If there is something in the sand I will get a "blip" when the coil passes nearby. A slow detailed scan shows the location while the tone response tells me the depth (double beep is near or at the surface, very week single short tone could be a dime at 18 inches).
This is where it is good to be in dry sand. I next move the sand with my shoe to spread it out in a flat surface. Then when the coin moves I know just about exactly where it is or can see it.
Sunday and Monday mornings I swept the same portion of beach. On monday I managed 9,000 steps. I still got 8 quarters, 5 dimes, 5 nickels and 9 pennies. I was able to get that many steps in because I had already cleared most of the trash out of the sand on Sunday.
Laguna Beach is a special place in California. It is an artist colony and there are many celebrities living here. There even was an MTV series about Laguna Beach. There is are arts festivals from July 4 to Sept. 4 which pulls many tourists in.
All of those elements combine to make Main Beach a great place to search. Lots of stuff is dropped on the board walk that rolls and is buried in the loose sand. That is where most of the rings I have found were.
There are 4 sand volleyball courts. That is a good area for stud earrings and other odds and ends. And the jewelry that is lost off of blankets by the water can be spectacular.
My main mission though is exercise. So a day of just a few coins is just fine. And the best days of coins really doesn't pay the gas bill for the trip to the beach.
The really best way (money making) of searching the beach is at low tide during a period of maximum high tides. I see people with machines like the ACE250 out there doing quite well. The same with the sand just above the surf. It is perfectly smooth so you can keep the coil on the surface for a sweep. Both locations are better for "things", but very little exertion. If I lose another 50 pounds I will buy a better detector and move to the surf. Until then I will be a coin shooter.
I save all my interesting finds. This is a hobby, after all. Even worthless things have value as they are "treasures". My coins are up to 7 1/4 pounds. My treasure box is gradually filling. Eventually I will take all the artificial stones and make my wife a bracelet and necklace set. The real stones are destined for rings.
I have been reading some great stories in the forums and getting some ideas about other metal detecting activities. My original plan was to get some meteorite hunting in. I don't think I would like hunting nuggets in Sonora. But the ghost towns and artifact hunting is fascinating. Maybe I will be getting a good detector sooner than later!
This is definitely an exciting hobby. There is nothing like seeing underground finding what has been lost. And sometimes figuring out what you have found can be an unexpected reward.
Once again, thanks for the kind comments.
Happy hunting!

[pris]

Thanks, John, for your informative posts! I am originally from KY, so I don't know much about tide charts and all that, so it helps me to understand when a good time to hunt will be. I sure do appreciate that you have taken the time to explain your strategies.

I just love this forum!!!

[johnj45586]

Originally Posted by pris

Thanks, John, for your informative posts! I am originally from KY, so I don't know much about tide charts and all that, so it helps me to understand when a good time to hunt will be. I sure do appreciate that you have taken the time to explain your strategies.

I just love this forum!!!

Pris
Attached is the tide schedule for the remainder of the year for Orange County beaches. After several arguments with the attachments manager I finally found a way to attach tide schedules for the rest of the year. If nothing else, I am stubborn.
An overnight maximum high tide means there isn't as much nice dry sand the next day for putting down blankets. The first overnight maximum high tides wash a lot of coins and trinkets into the surf.
Searching is always profitable at minimum low tides just around the surf.
The days I am at Laguna the time is 5 to 8 am. Maybe I will see you there.

By the way - I am a transplant from Indiana. When my company consolidated to California I jumped at the chance to run away from the snow.