New member having fun

[johnj45586]

Howdy,
I am a retired aerospace engineer who had to lose weight and inches. Coin shooting at the beach does that and introduced me to a really fun hobby.
I learned of the forum when I was trying to find what I was doing wrong with a Famous Trails MD7030 Discriminator II that I had picked up at Big 5 Sporting goods. It was on sale for $99 and was claimed to be a $249 regular price. Figuring that more money was better I bought one to replace my Bounty Hunter VLF Treasure Detector ($49 at Big Lots).
I learned from the forum that there was an owner's manual that could be downloaded and a suggestion that better results could be had with proper tuning.
I did all that was suggested then took both detectors to the beach. I would use the Bounty Hunter to find a coin then see if I could find it with the MD 7030. In almost every case the answer was NO. I twisted every knob everyway possible.
I then went home and prepared some tests. The final one sealed the fate of the discriminator. I placed a quarter and a dime under 3 inches of kitty litter. The result was loud and clear with the Bounty Hunter and nothing with the MD 7030. Back to Big 5 it went.
After reading threads here and other places on the internet I now understand why. The more expensive units have a technology to identify ferrous metals and discard those signals. The problem is that in coin shooting near salt water coins become undetectable at depths of more than 1 inch.
I search from the boardwalk to the wet sand and back, overlapping the round trip a little bit. I walk mostly on the dry loose sand to get the maximum endurance exercise. Using a simple VLF at maximum sensitivity and junk filter at minimum allows me to sweep fast in sync with my steps. I get in 3 hours from just before sunrise to 8 AM when the parking is no longer free. The result is a loss of 30 pounds and 8 inches around the waist in less than 2 months.
With the settings I can find dimes as deep as 12 inches (if flat). Of course, every kind of trash sings out as well. But that is not a bad thing for me. I have a rather large seive with the hole diagonal slightly smaller than the diameter of a dime. I have a small "super" magnet in the bottom of the basket. That stops little pieces of ferrous metal and bobby pins from dropping through. I also pick up paper trash and anything else that makes the beach less than beautiful. Each bend down is additional exercise.
Instead of paying a spa or club for weight loss training I collect "treasures". The following list is most of the treasures I have collected in the last 7 weeks averaging maybe 3 days a week. It shows what you can do with the cheapest detector on the market if you don't mind generating good karma cleaning up a beach.
Coins
372 pennies
98 nickels
194 dimes
186 quarters
2 dollars
1 wheat penny
2 Canadian pennies
1 English penny
1 Canadian dime
2 Golfland arcade tokens
1 Disney flattened penny souvenir
29 bad pennies
Rings
Large gold ring with 6 mm blue sapphire heart cut
Gold wedding band (5 mm)
Gold ring center stone gone, 2 side diamonds
Sterling silver ring (8 mm wide)
Pure copper ring with yellow stone (one ounce weight)
3 kids steel rings
Bracelets
5 chain charm bracelet with heart charms
3 miscellaneous bracelets
Earrings
Pair 3 inch gold hoops each with 60 CZ.
Pair 3 ½ inch gold hoops
Pair sterling silver with 1 carat weight CZ
Single 3 inch gold hoop
Single 1 ½ inch gold hoop
Single sterling silver with 1 ½ carat weight CZ princess cut
Single sterling silver with 1 carat weight CZ heart cut
Single 1 carat round cut CZ from damaged stud
5 single various costume earrings
Miscellaneous
White gold heart set with 16 small rubies
8 pieces various hair pins/clips with costume jewels
finger nail clippers (new condition)
toe nail clippers (new condition)
tweezers (tool type, new condition)
6 model cars
Talking Gingerbread Man (from Shrek II)
T-rex model
That may not seem like much tangible for 7 weeks (probably 62 hours) but it sure was fun, the surf/beach is a nice place to be and I don't make my doctor cringe when I go in for an examination. There is a sleeper in the list. The 6 mm blue sapphire is worth more than $400 based on its clarity.
I look forward to taking part in threads on this forum. It is a great hobby with lots of possibilities. One possibility is looking for meteorites. I plan on searching in the desert areas. But any tips or help would be greatly appreciated. I will read the threads to find other opportunities for treasure hunting.
Good luck and happy hunting to ALL!
Johnj45586

[Kentfb]

great finds and 30 lb. loss to boot. can't beat that with a stick.

[anne]

Welcome

Great finds and a great loss 30lb
well done

[exnavyguy]

Wow! That is amazing. Wish I was near the beach so I could do that..probably could stand to drop 30 or so lbs myself...great job! And welcome to TQ...you will love it here.

[Dugday]

JohnJ, Welcome to the TQ family. Nice work on cleaning up the beach.
By the Way.............. I think I found your 30lbs. Want them back?

[The TINMAN]

To TQ. I'd say your doing pretty well. Like every one say's it's not so much the cost of the detector but how much the person swinging it has learned what it's saying. Congrats on the 30lbs & Bless you for keepin the beaches a little cleaner.

Good Luck & HH
The TINMAN

[gordiesgirl]

Welcome to TQ. Glad you joined us . Happy hunting

[COMMANDR]

Welcome to TQ. This is one friendly and knowledgeable place. Looking forward to see some of thoughs beach finds.

Gary

[INDY]

Welcome to TQ

[JCWhite]

Welcome to the best darn MD forum anywhere. You are cookin