First Finds - Started out good

[NexusX]

I blew the dust off the old White's 4900/D that was my Dad's and read the manual again (about the 5th time) before I did some backyard practice. We moved into this house about 4yrs. ago and I thought there has to be something around the deck lost by the original owners. First I found a nozzle for my pressure washer That I lost 2 summers ago and then a gold plated dog ID tag shaped like a bone that came off our dog's collar the 1st year. I thinking wow this is pretty cool! Then I found a pull tab, cushed alum. cans, and nails. I walked back to the rear of the yard and found balled up foil, 2 more crushed cans, single nails and 3 piles of nails. It was like somebody lost bags of small nails. I read the manual again and tried to tune out the nails but it still picks them up. Can you filter out the nails and aluminum? I didn't notice much of a change when I turned one of the knobs. With its age should all the pots for the controls be cleaned?
Sorry about all the questions. I wanted to get a feel for the hobby before I bought the Ace that you all told me about.
Dan

[gordiesgirl]

Like you said it is a start, If you filter out aluminum you may miss a gold ring or another piece of jewelry, Once you really learn the machine you will know the different tones and you will know when to dig, Dig everything til you really know the machine

[Buster]

I would do like GG said and dig everything...After it's all gone you will find more for sure.It will be cleaned out of trash....It's a pain but it will help...Rings will also give off a pull tab tone, so it is wise to dig all..Also try the local school yard and playgrounds for good practice....Happy Hunting...Buster...

[NexusX]

Do you guys know if the controls for the knobs inside get dirty and have to be cleaned. I didn't really hear different tones. The beeps sounded the same but I did hear a couple times when I passed over something it went silent. What does that mean?
Thanks for the help.

[ERnurse]

Keep workin at it, it will come.

[Lt1stone]

Sounds like the discrimination is working ok. The more you dig the more you find. Keep it up your on the way to the good stuff!

[MinelabMan]

Sounds like you're off to a good start! I would say a good cleaning wouldn't hurt if you're comfortable doing that. I'm not familiar with your detector but when it goes silent when passing over something, it may be something that you have discriminated out. As far as not hearing different tones does you manual say you should, not all detectors have multiple tones? Not sure if any of what I said applys to your detector, but there are some that it does. Good luck!

[Hank McMauser]

my 6000 has only 1 tone,when you have something discriminated out,you wont hear a tone,but you'll see the needle sweep,occasionally you'll get a really scratchy raspy sound you can tell it's being squelched out.this usually happens if the signal is very near to what's being discriminated out.Hope this makes sense.
I tried to find a picture of the 4900 d does it have a needle sweep,mine has a needle similar to the old analog electrical testers,it;s mounted above the handle some of the older models had the needle mounted under the handle directly on the main box,sorta hard to see under there I'd think.
I'd try to get used to the detector you have before going out and plunking down money on a new one,it sounds like you are,After using an analog detector,I wonder what it'll be like to go to a more user friendly, although less tuneable digital model?
Hank

[RingDancer]

Great start!!! Hope someone can help ya with the more technical questions on cleaning...

RingDancer

[NexusX]

Hank,
I found a picture of my old 4900/D that sold on Ebay. My Doesn't have a meter. It would just confuse me more while I am trying to learn how to use. I don't know if I should clean the tuning pots with some contact cleaner or not. I noticed that it has a cover for the coil, should i get one?Here is the link.
Dan
Great White's 4900/d pro series metal detector - eBay (item 260212936988 end time Feb-24-08 18:48:21 PST)