Hello All-
I've been lurking around for a bit and a looking forward to getting involved in md'ing. My wife just gave me an md for college graduation and I am wondering where some good places to start would be. I live in Walnut Creek (near Oakland, San Fran, etc.). Thanks for the help! John

a good spot is san fran in most areas ill send u a mail of a spot or two.

HH dan

Thanks, Dan! Any help would be great. It seems like a great hobby. I'm excited to start. Take Care, John

one tip, it isn't gonna be all that fast at first, at least for me. im relatively new, and have had some fun, yet some disapointing times to be honost. once at a beach i got 2 pennies, another time 1 dime. just check around your backyard and local parks, then once your have a few hours under your belt, hit some spots you think that might have potential.
HH
Daniel

Hey John, welcome! I also have detected for only about a year and a half (which is nothin compared to some of these guys) and have learned a lot about the hobby. First off wat kind of machine did ur wife give u? Mabye others who have used it can help u. Another thing, dont give up, u might go through some droughts where ur not findin much, but stick with it itll pay off! There are many spots in SF and probably Oakland to for that matter. One of the main ones is Golden Gate Park (or GGP), its really old and has a lot of stuff in it. There are lots of guys that live up in ur area that can help u and that u can hunt with. Unfortunatly i live way down in SoCal and dont get up that way much. Well good luck, and remember to stick with it!

HH Tristan

Welcome to the forum John,area's I would look for are some older park's in your area.Also keep an eye out for sidewalk's being ripped out and repaired,you need to hit these before they put any fill dirt back in.Keep an eye for empty lot's in older part's of town.HH,Tom

i would suggest you start with local parks and schools and learn audio tones. read your instruction manual. a beginner should focus on digging techniques. remember to fill all holes. take your time and relax. you'll find theres tons of trash buried everywhere. may give you a new perspective on littering.

Welcome Jimm

Lost of places to hunt.

Learn how to pin point the target. Practice your digging. There are some good references on the old forum.

Also there is an MD club somewhere out that way. One or more of the members here are in the club.

Mike

Hi John,
I live in Walnut Creek and would be happy to go hunting with you. I try and get out once a week if I can, usually week days. What is your schedule like? Let me know if you are interest, JimClick

John,

Welcome.

They all have given you good advice. But what type of detecter did you get? Alot of members can offer advice on how to use your new detecter. This might help make your time more pleasurable to start with some knowledge on how your MD works.

Lots of luck!

Sal

John, if you ever get down in the Santa Cruz area, look me up and we'll hit a site or two...

eh, detecting in parks and schools is not as fun as cracked up to be.. good for starting out though and if you need change for lunch... however you can learn your tones easy that way! I made the mistake of detecting over at a brand new junior high school, where below the thick grass was littered with old rusty nails and what appeared to be tin-foil! (due to the amount of nails.. I began wonder if the nails were placed purposely!?) I packed everything up and drove to the hills nearby and found a more natural area.. mostly flat, little brush.. I was looking for riverbeds (not man made) and ended up finding a overflow runoff adjacent to the side of a dirt road where I found lots of rusty nails, a .45 shell and a decent sized nugget of something silverish.. too light in weight to be led.. I plan on hitting that spot back up once I build some sifting tools!

digging through grass can be such a pain! if you stick to locations like the one I described above, if you're lucky you'll surely find runoffs that are rich in soft sand/dirt dampened by rain or other sources of moisture. (keep in mind I live in Southern California and we just had some record rain)

as of Walnut Creek, I'm of no help! I visited my uncle up in Santa Clara not too long ago, we drove to Santa Cruz for a breakfast and I saw zillions of spots that I wanted to hit up but didn't have the time.. oh well! maybe next time. =]

good luck! ..and remember to fill in those holes!

Hi IMM, I been swinging for 30yrs. or more, [metal detectors, that is], and if you go just about anyplace where prople have been, you will find a coin or two. You have to learn to keep your eyes and ears open for leads. I have worked CA., AZ., CO., and a host of other places and always find something. My oldest coin is an 1839-0 Dime. The best Penny is a 1914-D in exl. condition. I found this fresh water beach here in AZ. thats been real good to me. I usually wait until fall when it cools off and most of the crowds leave & then I will hit it a couple of times. I think the least I ever found was 146 coins and the best day was 364 cions, mostly junk money that I turn to the bank, once in a while an older one but not many. My best find there was a 14K gold 8" C-link bracelet and a small white gold ladies ring w/three very small diamonds. I try to work at least 6hrs. or more per day when I go out. When I hit a high trash area I turn the dis. up and take what I can get, if the area turns up any older coins I rework it at a much lower setting and of course dig a lot more trash. Also if you set your discrimination high enough to start losing nickels you will usually lose gold rings and chains. Chains are made up of lots of small links and the detector is not seeing it as a solid mass of gold.
The same is true for very fine placer gold. Fill a two dwt. [penny weight] bottle with very fine gold most of your coin machines will not detect it because its not a solid mass. Now I know, some guys are going to say, ya, my machine will pick it up. Well MAYBE, in an air test, and not very far at that, but bury it 3 or 4" deep in the dirt and see what happens, nothing. If you have a auto-balance machine thats great, if you dont, then check it often and keep it in balance. You will find, at times, you will be in some bad ground & cant seem to get a perfect balance, if that happens keep it balanced a touch on the positive side & you won't lose much depth. Now go fill your poke.

Welcome to the forum ColoBob! :D Dan3

Hi C-Bob, Welcome! Be sure to post your finds and stories. Always nice to hear from another expert. JimClick