Equinox Newbie Help Required Please

[GB_Amateur]

Good on you for asking questions on how to improve.  However you may be getting ahead of yourself.

Regarding becoming a top golfer, Jack Nicklaus is credited with saying (paraphrased) "first learn how to hit it long; figuring out how to hit is straight comes later."

IMO, metal detecting's equivalent goes something like this:  first learn how to dig everything; later you can figure out how to avoid digging some of the trash.  Note I said 'some'.  Anyone who digs none of the trash is leaving goodies for the rest of us, and we should thank them for that.

A good tip I learned early on (from reading advice just like you're getting here) is to mentally predict what you will dig up and then see if you got it right.  I still do this all the time.  But don't ever think you've got it completely figured out.  "For every rule there is an exception" and that was never more true than at metal detecting.

Try out the 'tricks' and techniques you read about here, but use that to make your prediction and then dig the target anyway, regardless.  That feedback will allow you to teach yourself.  For my last cliche' of this post:  "There's no sustitute for experience."