maxxkatt
Forum Supporter
What have I found more useful in learning a new detector or even being brand new to the metal detecting hobby? Two good authors who write books specifically about different makes and models of metal detectors. Clive Clynick and Andy Sabisch come to mind who write some good metal detecting books.
While these books and detector manuals are helpful the best information for me come from a few select forum members who really know their detectors and metal detecting theory. Even more important are the ones who can explain it in terms most newbies can understand. These men and women were always willing to answer my question in detail.
Over the past years I have found a handful such trusted forum members on this and other metal detecting forums. So I suggest over time you find your own trusted forum members and use them as mentors.
A big mistake to avoid is don't try to use all the advanced features of a SMF detector in the beginning. Stick to the stock programs until you at least have 50 or more hours on that detector. There is this tendency to think, "wow, I can adjust this feature and that feature and the detector will do all the work for me." Trust me, I have been down that road and it is a dead end. Hopefully you will eventually really understand what these many adjustments are for and maybe even learn to use the properly. Most SMF metal detectors are multiple types of detectors rolled into one machine. This is good thing, but the almost infinite combinations of settings if set some wrong will have you using a detector that is not really tuned very well and won't perform for you like it should. I spent quite a while with my new 800 using other people's settings with out really understanding why I was using those settings. To be really good with your detector you must REALLY understand each setting and why you would be using those settings for different types of hunt sites.
Also keep in mind with modern SMF detectors you will always be learning new things due to this little thing called updates. Updates are where the metal detecting firm's engineers try to fix or improve the detector through software fixes. Updates can and often do, literally change your detector for the good and sometimes bad. Bad means they may fix one thing and break two other things that were really good. I spent most of my career as a software engineer in the aircraft industry have lots of experience in fixing one thing and breaking two or more things. Why? Software can be so complex that you cannot possibly test the full effects of even a minor software change. So it is common practice to test it out on live customers because that is the quickest way to find if you broke anything. Few firms will admit this practice of testing their software on live customers, but it does exist and it is very effective for the firm but frustrating for the customers.
Lastly are a few select forum members who make really good hunting videos on Youtube. What I mean by really good hunting videos, are videos where you can see the target ID number and clearly hear the tones while the target is still in the ground. I personally don't follow detector compare videos on test gardens or air test because they usually don't really provide any real world examples.
As a newbie you can just use the stock programs and have fun hunting and find lots of good stuff. The other route is trying to learn the most about your detector and getting the best out of your detector and yourself. The former is the easiest and least frustrating route to take. But for those of you who want the best from your detector and yourself, then learn, learn, learn and hunt, hunt, hunt.
While these books and detector manuals are helpful the best information for me come from a few select forum members who really know their detectors and metal detecting theory. Even more important are the ones who can explain it in terms most newbies can understand. These men and women were always willing to answer my question in detail.
Over the past years I have found a handful such trusted forum members on this and other metal detecting forums. So I suggest over time you find your own trusted forum members and use them as mentors.
A big mistake to avoid is don't try to use all the advanced features of a SMF detector in the beginning. Stick to the stock programs until you at least have 50 or more hours on that detector. There is this tendency to think, "wow, I can adjust this feature and that feature and the detector will do all the work for me." Trust me, I have been down that road and it is a dead end. Hopefully you will eventually really understand what these many adjustments are for and maybe even learn to use the properly. Most SMF metal detectors are multiple types of detectors rolled into one machine. This is good thing, but the almost infinite combinations of settings if set some wrong will have you using a detector that is not really tuned very well and won't perform for you like it should. I spent quite a while with my new 800 using other people's settings with out really understanding why I was using those settings. To be really good with your detector you must REALLY understand each setting and why you would be using those settings for different types of hunt sites.
Also keep in mind with modern SMF detectors you will always be learning new things due to this little thing called updates. Updates are where the metal detecting firm's engineers try to fix or improve the detector through software fixes. Updates can and often do, literally change your detector for the good and sometimes bad. Bad means they may fix one thing and break two other things that were really good. I spent most of my career as a software engineer in the aircraft industry have lots of experience in fixing one thing and breaking two or more things. Why? Software can be so complex that you cannot possibly test the full effects of even a minor software change. So it is common practice to test it out on live customers because that is the quickest way to find if you broke anything. Few firms will admit this practice of testing their software on live customers, but it does exist and it is very effective for the firm but frustrating for the customers.
Lastly are a few select forum members who make really good hunting videos on Youtube. What I mean by really good hunting videos, are videos where you can see the target ID number and clearly hear the tones while the target is still in the ground. I personally don't follow detector compare videos on test gardens or air test because they usually don't really provide any real world examples.
As a newbie you can just use the stock programs and have fun hunting and find lots of good stuff. The other route is trying to learn the most about your detector and getting the best out of your detector and yourself. The former is the easiest and least frustrating route to take. But for those of you who want the best from your detector and yourself, then learn, learn, learn and hunt, hunt, hunt.
Oh, and this garden is over eight years old so the targets are not what you would call a fresh drop.
