ACE 250 sniper 1st outing

[johnj45586]

Today I took my brand new 4.5" sniper coil for the ACE 250 out for trial runs. The plan was to search the length of the boardwalk and around the life guard towers in Laguna Beach. These are areas in Laguna that give the standard coil a problem with nearby metal.
Walking to the search area from my car I swung the MD randomly. I made my first find with the new coil that way. It registered the large round foil on the display, but alternated between a beep and boing sound. I scooped and found a 3 inch silver hoop earring. I put it in my pouch and walked on.
When I got to the boardwalk I swept perpendicular to the boardwalk until I got a hit. Then I would sweep parallel to the boardwalk working toward the hit. I knew where the rusty iron fasteners were beneath the sand, so I would work around them to see if I got a coin indication. I also tested to see how close I could get before the MD sounded off.
I found some random coins then a pretty good sized spill (all small coins). There were 5 pennies on top of a bracing board of the boardwalk with this spill.
I got to a lifeguard tower with an aluminum ladder that goes below the sand. I was able to work very close to the aluminum and detect a good spill (quarters and all this time). There is no way I could have detected this spill with a standard coil.
I found an odd ring on a leather cord. It is not magnetic. It looks like it was cast in the ring shape. It may be silver (the weight is right), but it is really rough.
A little later I found an earring with the 925 mark on it. But the stones don't look real. I think at least one is chipped. But it is pretty and sparkly.
Then I found something that I started to just put with the trash. But then it roused my curiosity. I looked closely and saw that it had a patent number on it. That meant that I could figure out what this whatchamacallit really was.
In case you are wondering, the US GOV has a site for looking up patent numbers. Patent Full-Text and Full-Page Image Databases is the location. Just go there and enter the patent number (and tell it you entered a patent number), click and there you are!
If you do go there you might check out my patent 5 023 590 (don't enter the spaces).
Anyway, there at the gov site was the name of my whatchamacallit. It is a capo (clamp). It is used with guitars and banjos to change the pitch without tuning. I'll bet Dave (Iowa) knew that! I should have, but I have never actually held one in my hand.
Anyway, the pictures of the finds are attached.
I also found a piece of metal about 1 inch long that might have held an oval stone. I'm not sure what the metal is yet. It is not magnetic.
I really didn't cover much area today and only was looking about 2 hours. But I was able to work an area that has lots of metal close by and trash in the sand. The guy that runs the bigfoot in this area never finds anything. With the standard coil I suspected there were finds to be made, but couldn't separate them from the trash most of the time.
I found plenty of clad, as much or more than when I work the blanket line and more with the standard coil for 3 hours. The count was 10 quarters, 24 dimes, 11 nickels and 34 pennies. There was a 1957-D wheatie in the mix. It was in really good shape, so it was probably dropped like, yesterday.
I found a 1998 quarter that is in FINE condition. You can see all the feathers of the eagle. For contrast, I found a 1998 quarter that is going to require a lot of tumbling before I can turn it in to the bank.
Working by the boardwalk I get a lot of interrupts by people asking questions. One that I heard was a dad talking to his little girl saying, "look there is someone with a metal detector like your mummy has. Your mummy looks for treasure on the beach at home." The accent was heavy Australian. I stopped and let them look at the detector. The dad asked about the stuff I had found. At that time it was just a little clad and the hoop earring. I gave the hoop earring to the little girl and told her that she "could tell mummy she had a buried treasure from the beach." The earring was big enough to be a bracelet for her. I'm always a sucker for tourist kids. So I won't have my first find with the 4.5 sniper coil in my collection.
The first outing with the 4.5" coil is impressive. I bought it to work high trash areas and near metal structures. It does that very well. I have plans now for some trashy beaches. It is very slow going with the small coil. So, I will use the standard coil for searching until I run into trash.
I contacted kellycoChick to ask about a spare rod for mounting the coil. She was gracious enough to help with info and telephone numbers. This is a must in my book. It will allow a quick change of coils in the field. As it is I have to unscrew that screw of MANY threads to change coils. There is a reusable cable clamp that must be loosened and tightened. I would have ordered the rod when I bought the coil, but couldn't find it on the web site.
Love the ACE 250 and love the sniper coil!

[gordiesgirl]

What a sweet thing to do for the little girl. Nice hunt. WTG

A nice review on your experience with the sniper coil, John !!! Congrats on the digs !!!

[FinalLastDays]

I am glad you are enjoying the Sniper coil for the Ace250. I have one as well and it has been the coil used more of the two since I have owned it. I did purchase the lower shaft rod and hardware from Chuck @ TreasureHut to avoid having to interchange the two coils. It makes switching coils SOOO much easier - definately worth the investment. Good job finding some great things on your first time out with that Sniper coil.

[julieburger]

That was very sweet of you, but I already knew you were very sweet. Those are some impressive finds for only 2 hours and a new coil.

[EPC Guy]

Nice outing, John...you probably made that little girl's day!

[bigbillinsc]

thath beach has really paid off for you. WTG


and happy huntin

[MinelabMan]

Nice review and finds John and nice of you to give the bracelet to the little girl, I bet she can't wait to show her mom.

I agree with you on the lower shaft being a must, I have one for all 3 of my coils and an extra upper for the 5", for a quick change if I run into a trashy area.

Hey, just wondering if you know where I can get a cascadable self-testing comparator chip...... I'm sure it's a great technical invention but I couldn't understand a bit of what I read . Maybe I wasn't looking at the english version .

Anyway, I bookmarked the site, I can see where it can be an asset when trying to find out what something is, unless it's a "A cascadable self-testing comparator chip"

[EBCIII]

Very good finds John! The gift to the little girl made her day I am sure.

The clamp for the guitar is cool find also. The new coil seems to work well for you, congrats, Beale.

[grasshopper]

glad the new coil is doing good for you. nice story and finds.