F350Platinum

Thanks for the info! As I posted just above, it's about 4.5", so 4.62 might be about right, I eyeballed it with a tape measure, and weighed it, it's 12 pounds. Used a cloth bag and a fishing scale. If it were a round canister shot, wouldn't it be lighter than 12 pounds, even loaded? I'm going to check on it soon, nobody goes to that field and I left it so it could get washed off more by the rain. And welcome to the Forum! We need all the help we can get sometimes 🤔

Thanks for the info Gerry, Ceramic Rings are new to me, and I thought it might interest anyone who wants to wear a ring but not detect it with a pinpointer. I do get approached a lot, and just wanted my wife to be comfortable with it because she can't be there. I just took all my rings off previously but thought she might get a kick out of me insisting on wearing something. She really supports my hobby. 🙂

AI is going to be quite annoying. That's why I use an ad blocking browser. (Sorry Steve) My phone runs very fast not loading ads. I'll bet AI will be used to get around that as well, unless the ad blocking browser also uses AI. 🤬 ♾️ Tungsten Carbide is cheaper still than Titanium Carbide I think, but it's heavier and detectable. At least you can find your ring if you lose it. Ceramic Rings are fairly new. Guess AI isn't smart enough to understand that 🤣

Excellent finds Deathray! Looks like you've made it up already in relics. Glad you're able to get out, and especially with your son. I trust he is developing an appreciation for the finds, is that rock gold?

Exactly, but we got some females here, so just being generic. 🤣

Haha, yeah! I guess I could modernize it to: "Happy Spouse, Happy House" 😁

Haven't been getting out much lately, we had a lot of rain and now a cold snap, so I'm fiddling around with stuff at home between the Honeydews. When I go out detecting, I always take my wedding band off because It gets detected by my pinpointer when I'm searching for stuff in my hand. This got me to thinking, which I probably do too much of 🙄 but I always feel a bit uncomfortable removing my wedding band, it's a sign of infidelity or deception to some. I also know of people that can't wear conductive or allergenic metal rings, and others that check their pinpointer with their ring. Some may just not care too, but this is for those that do. I've always said that to get the most out of detecting or the most detecting possible, you have to make some concessions with family or you're going down a deep, dark rabbit hole. I searched around for non-detectable rings and came across Ceramic Rings. They are made of Titanium Carbide, which seems to be a plentiful and cheap material, surprisingly not detectable by any of my detectors or pinpointers. Ceramic is also is lighter than and as strong as Tungsten Carbide, and may not shatter as readily. Ceramic Rings come in black, white, and some fluffy colors for the ladies if they want to be fluffy 🤣. They can't be made to have a silver or gold color like Tungsten Carbide can. They can also be combined with other non detectable materials and be quite attractive. This makes them more expensive, up to about $400. Stones like diamonds or others cannot installed without metal so that's out. My wife asked me If I wanted one for Valentine's Day when I showed them to her, so she had this one etched with "Happy hunting", and paid all of $60 for it. Since then I've found you can get one for as little as $10 with no etching that is just as good as this one. They're light, comfortable, non-allergenic, and don't scratch like Tungsten Carbide. They're also cheap, so if you lose it and can't find it (certainly not with a metal detector 😏), it's better than losing your original band. I think my wife got a kick out of my doing this, it certainly seems that way. I got her some 14k ruby heart earrings to match a ring I found for her this year. Y'all know the saying.

We are discussing whether we feel we are good enough to deserve an expensive machine or much to some spouses chagrin "Another one 🙄", but there also seems to be an undercurrent regarding not being up to jumping up to a newer and way more expensive detector out of suspicion that we might not match its performance, indeed like a rifle that is more accurate in a sandbag or vise hold. I've received a lot of advice over the years, and luckily have remembered much of it. I was employed right out of college as an Accounts Receivable clerk as I knew my fresh degree in IT and a dime might make me enough to call someone who cared. This was back when being able to spell "computer" without a "k" was almost enough. It helped that I was promoted to the computer department of a large company from the freight receiving desk earlier, but that's another story. The IT director approached me one day and asked me if I knew anything about Lotus 1-2-3, to which I replied that I did, writing Macros was something I really enjoyed. It appeared that some young "genius" wrote a large macro to transmit financials at the end of day had crashed and they wanted me to look at it. I fixed it, and one day the director threw the system programming manual for their IBM system at me and said "If you can write me a program from this book, I'll make you a programmer". I did, and he did. One day we were discussing the imminent bankruptcy of that company and he gave me the second most sage advice I ever heard: "Don't ever be afraid to take on something that you think is bigger than you, be it a job, a thing, or person". The reasoning was that if you do, you will push yourself to understand it and do it/use it/triumph over it. Quite frankly I'm pleased and sometimes amazed at how I've been able to do that even if I get knocked down or pushed back. Never doubt anything but your fears, even if you get knocked down or pushed back. Great thread LS, I'll shut up for a while 😏

I noticed this and mentioned it a while back, I've read other posts that also mention it. I've also noticed the clock being wrong now more than ever. I'll see what I can do, both my remotes are back at V2 but I don't have a lot of programs so I guess I could take a step back again on one to verify this. That is the advantage of having two. I'm another one that doesn't use pinpoint much if at all, so it hasn't mattered much. I do use the clock a lot.

I definitely am happy with my latest detector, so much so I now have two, well really four (Deus 2 and WS6) 😀. I still use my midrange machine now and again but it pretty much reminds me why I upgraded. I'll probably give my first machine to an interested kid. Every hunt for me is practice and about testing skill, I don't mind getting skunked now and again and I'm thrilled when I don't. I try new stuff and bounce wild theories off of my detecting buddies, sometimes even here on the forum. I'm probably as good with a detector now than I was with a rifle, but my Army Expert badge was pretty hard earned too. However, that sort of hunting doesn't appeal to me anymore either 😏 I may be missing the point of your question, but so far I have reached my goal about 95% of the time I use my machine, and yet I still have some to learn. That gap is closing now because of using it so much and sticking with it. I constantly and repeatedly seem to outdo myself each year, probably haven't hit the other side of the Bell Curve yet. I hope that doesn't happen until I'm too old and feeble. That's a lot of reward. A lot of factors play into my success thus far, but yeah, I think I'm good enough. 🙂 At some point there will be a better machine, so I still have something to anticipate.

I'm kinda on the other side of the coin where the ultimate goal is not about making a profit at all. For a good part of my life I was a musician, and wanted to go far with it, but my mother gave me some good advice early on: "Don't make music or anything that could be a hobby your vocation, make it your avocation. If you have a good vocation, you'll be able to afford the best things to enjoy the avocation, and it will mean much more to you." So, I joined the Army to pay for my college, and went out and got a career started in IT. I always disliked the IT profession, but it paid well and I made damn sure I could at least do things my way by the time I retired. I had all sorts of guitars and amps and played in bands, had my fill of dopamine, but never made back the money I invested in it. I didn't care because I enjoyed the thrill of performing part time. I was pretty darn good at photography too, worked for a studio for a few years again part time doing weddings, and yet again never made enough to pay for the great cameras I had until I started buying old cameras and selling them. That hobby probably broke even, but I kinda got disgusted with dealing with the public. There was no real thrill in it for me, people kinda suck in general when they want you to do something for them. I bought a metal detector about 6 months before I retired, and probably get out there a few times a week, because of where I live I don't have to travel far. Heck I found a 1773 Virginia half cent about 100 yards from my house. There is that much stuff here. I've filled up probably about 30 Riker cases thus far. I've since upgraded to the latest detector, and after 2 years I'm still learning it, it keeps me going. In 3+ years I have made some astounding finds in any book, but unless I find something that my wife doesn't want, that doesn't mean much historically, and I have no attachment to like a platinum diamond ring too big or gaudy for my wife, I'm going to take the low road and leave it all to the history folks posthumously. 😀 My local Jeweler is waiting for that day as well 🤣 I enjoy the thrill of the finds, period. I wish my wife was well enough to go with me, but at least I earn my points with her by tackling my responsibilities first, taking her out for dinner if I find precious metal, and giving her right of first refusal on everything. 🙂 It's a discipline but well worth it. Bottom line for me is being able to afford the best gear has always been an easier path than starting at the beginning. My wife always says if you can't afford the best at least shoot for the midrange. Oh and I really like this forum for the help and the friends I've made, for some reason the most genuine people I've ever known or met are right here. I think that's enough for me.

Great stuff Strick! Good to see ya oot and aboot. 👍 Did the chain contain any K's? Guess the dark one is tungsten. 🤔

Welcome to the forum. By sending it in for service. 🤔 You can also buy replacement parts and fix it yourself from Serious Detecting and other places. Most XP parts are available separately. There should be videos about how to do it. https://www.amazon.com/XP-Pinpointer-Circuit-Board-Battery/dp/B08YFH38LZ When water, especially salt water, gets into electrical devices it's pretty much over.

Heh got nothing on the tag, but I like the Cracker Jack Warship ~1920s 👍 First US dog tags looked like this ~1860s: That might be a destination tag or something 🤔 Thanks for some unusual finds! 🏆

Outstanding again. I don't know how you do it, but I sure know why, 🤔 looks like things are starting to thin a bit. 😬 I get the silverware but old buttons and doorknobs? Well at one beach I have found some old house parts like glass fuses and such. Another great one. 👍

Let's say you might have to be faster than Pb. 😏

Yep, but woe be to the person that isn't invited... 😬

Phone is where ya want to use it anyway 👍

It's there, you have Android? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.caltopo.android&hl=en_US&pcampaignid=pcampaignidMKT-Other-global-all-co-prtnr-py-PartBadge-Mar2515-1

You came to the right place then, the people that frequent this forum are probably some of the best there are out there, most here have decades of experience. Ask questions but read the manual first, and don't be afraid to take a hit on a "duh" moment. I've had quite a few 🤪 Like others have written it is an addiction if you end up with good results, always keep family in mind, earn those Detecting Points™ with them, and you'll find it to be a blast. If I find gold or silver I take my wife out to dinner, and she gets right of first refusal on any jewelry I find. 🙂 She has not yet asked me why I needed another gadget, and even gets them for me on special occasions. Relic hunting is pretty much luck and persistence, I dug a ~300 year old gold ring about a month ago in a field. Beach hunting is pretty much the same, but there are places on a beach where you have a high probability of finding the valuable stuff, you'll have to read up on it. Tides, weather, seasons all play a part, and as others wrote beaches are constantly replenished either by new visitors or from serious erosion. The most important thing is to get out there. 🍀

Although expensive, Verizon is your best bet for coverage no matter what others say in rural areas. I moved here about 20 years ago, and became Director of Technology for the local school system, it wasn't until I met my wife that I got a cell phone. 😀 Didn't trust or like the damn things, still don't, but they are helpful. I'm glad I can still afford it on fixed income. I talked the superintendent and county supervisor into renting county land for cell towers, and even still only Verizon works well here, there are a couple places I hunt where sometimes there is no coverage or it comes from another state. 😵 I have a 5G phone but only get 4G. CalTopo lets you download maps where service is good, and will navigate and track even if there is no service. That's what it was designed for. GPS works most everywhere. You'd have to learn a few more things about it but it might be worth it. Depends on what you want to do.

I did other posts on the forum regarding how to use USGS Lidar maps, topos and OnX Hunt, but the all-in-one award goes to this app. 🏆 Wrote to them today calling attention to the fact that there might be a lot of detectorist interest, I hope they respond favorably. 🙂

We're working on ways to carry your phone so you can see it as well. 🤔 I think it might even be useful when beach hunting, over time the more reliable spots to hit would be more evident. I'm wondering if it's all that random? 😀

I got into metal detecting after a roof replacement on my house, kind of by accident. I bought a fairly cheap detector to find nails that were dropped in the lawn. Then I decided to search my yard, and because of where I live my yard was loaded with relics, some dating back to the 1600s. Got permission to search a farm that surrounds my house, found old Spanish silver and lots of really old stuff from the 1600s to the 1800s, apparently my area was really active. The detector I had wasn't all that great, so I went to a metal detector store and with good advice bought a mid-range machine, the Equinox 600. I got a lot of local permissions and found a lot of old relics, so I was hooked. I learned to laugh when digging pull tabs and iron, and really do now. Humility and lack of envy is a requirement in detecting. It's been nearly 4 years, and the finds get better and better. I now own a Deus 2, I wanted to have the lightest detector out there because I'm retired. For relic hunting it's the top tier, and from what I've experienced and seen it does well on the beach. Over the last few years I've found gold both on the beach and in the fields. Not a lot, but enough to keep me happy. My entire detecting history is on this site. If you're expecting instant gratification it's possible, but not probable especially if you go to places where others frequent, or at the wrong time. I do beaches and campgrounds from May to October, and relic hunting from November to April. It was a year before I found my first gold ring, but since then I get 3 to 4 a year. Experience and learning your machine produces the best results. There is a lot to learn. If you're looking to be an Internet star, probably best not to get too involved in it unless you have time for countless hours of editing and have some sort of charisma, character or a damn good gimmick. The Internet is loaded with personalities from the sublime to the ridiculous. This forum has seen me grow, it literally raised me. Great members here, many of which I consider friends now. GL, HH 🍀

Ok y'all, Chase brought my attention to this FREE app a while back that almost does it all, navigation, Topographic maps, tracks, markers for finds, pretty much everything, and they just added USGS Lidar maps. You can pay for the pro version but the free one is crazy good until it isn't. 😀 It's an app called CalTopo, for both iPhone and Android. I only use Android so there may be differences, but it's pretty full featured, you can't save photos of finds yet but you can mark them and label them. What Chase and I want to do is walk old roads on Topographic maps especially, find disturbed patches and the like. If we had cellar holes where I am, that would be great too, but almost none here. Let's get to it, download the app, open it and go to the icon that looks like stacked paper. I select "shaded relief" which is the USGS Lidar mapping they just added. It shows disturbed ground, cellar holes and most ground relief, it "sees through" trees. Next I select "MapBuilder Overlay" and "Structures" to see current roads and current structures. You can also select "Contours" and whatever level you want for the latest erosion, might be helpful. I use 10 feet. I'm showing you where I live, but if you decide to detect anywhere locally to me you'll receive a visit from my local Sheriff's department, or worse. 🤔 😎 Here's where it gets really interesting as if Lidar wasn't enough, you can overlay old Topographic maps: Select "Stack Base Layer", and pick "Historic" near the bottom of the list. Set the transparency percent to 40% or whatever your preference is, you may have to switch between the years to get one that actually displays, and BAM. Now you can see old roads and old structures! We're not done, you can mark positions of finds, and eventually see patterns: "Long press" the screen at the location, and you can add a label and description. I save ID numbers in the description. OR you can hit the "four dots" icon on the bottom and select "marker at GPS location". It will also save tracks like OnX Hunt and Go Terrain. I haven't tried that yet, but if it doesn't keep them you can run OnX as well. See the black rectangle? That's the location of an old farmhouse that is long gone. The roads are "fairly" accurate. Old maps weren't in the same scale often, so it's not perfect, but... Wow. There are a lot of things you can do with this app, but the more overlays you add the slower it will be. GL, HH. 🍀