Not disillusioned or put off!

Well....My first attempt at metal detecting went really well (not:-(
As I said, I have a workmate who owns a farm with a few fields
attached, and I thought it would be a good place to start. Ridge and
furrow field, (could be promising), in which horses were kept (bad
move). Hadn't gone far when I had a good strong signal. I'd just
brought a long screw driver and a plastic trowel to do the digging
with. The ground was as hard as nails and it wasn't long before I got
a nice big blister in the palm on my hand. Kept digging and
rechecking. Signal was still there. Suddenly, I hit something solid.
It was big. Dug around it with the screwdriver until I could get my
hand around it and pulled out a......bit of pottery. Could it be part
of a roman pot? Signal was still there. Spent 20 minutes digging down
about 8 inches when there it was. Again dug around it again and
loosened it and pulled out a.......horseshoe. Never mind.....
because it was so deep, it just has to be a horseshoe from a roman
horse. Yeah right! The piece of pottery was probably the remains of
the farriers teacup which he broke when he dropped a lump of iron on
it.

Moral of the story. Don't do your first bit of metal detecting in a
field in which horses are kept.

Never mind. Better luck next time

SilverB

> Moral of the story. Don't do your first bit of metal detecting in a
> field in which horses are kept.

Correction...
Certainly stick with that field, but next time have the foresight to take a
spade at least !
Ridge & furrow is amongst the best land to search, and there WILL BE ancient
bits there, you just have to find them !
Keep trying, and don't look a gift horse in the mouth (excuse the pun.)

Jim

"SilverB" <raybbirch@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:e7361f87.0309271536.7dc0baaa@posting.google.c om...
> Well....My first attempt at metal detecting went really well (not:-(

I'm relatively new to the detecting scene myself. Just under two years. I
spent my first six months using a machine which could not discriminate iron
very well. This really put me off and I nearly gave up. I regularly got
horseshoes etc. After a while I changed to a different machine, the Minelab
Explorer XS - I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I find it second to
none. With a bit of advice and trial and error I now almost never dig iron
(probably once out of every 100 signals) and when I do I'm pretty sure it is
but just want to be on the safe side..
What I would say is make the most of your machine. Experiment with whatever
discrimination settings you have and eventually when you are comfortable
that what you think is iron definitely is iron ignore it and you'll be able
to start to enjoy what is an excellent hobby - it takes time though.
For example in just two hours today, would have been longer but I needed a
huge dump, I got five Georgian coppers, an Elizabeth I Penny, a medieval
buckle and a copy of Men Only, must have been the staples I suppose! Not
much by the standards of some but I'm always ecstatic when I find hammered -
even more so when I find porn ;-)
Oh yes and when you've got the iron thing sorted you then get in to the
realms of am I detecting in a potentially good place, but that's a different
story. As Jim said search on ridge and furrow if you can.
Don't be put off by spending ages digging up a bleeding great horseshoe. I
found nothing earlier than a George III halfpenny until I knocked out iron.

All the best,

Dave Walters dave@ukbis.net
UKB Coins & Collectibles http://www.ukbcoins.co.uk
UKB Internet Services http://www.ukbis.net

Screw driver ???? plastic trowel ??? are you nuts ??? buy a border spade ya
loony !!!!!
you will give us detectorists a bad name .LOL
.....................G

I once found four horse sheos about a foot down in exactly the right dimesions
the horse would have dropped dead or keeled over.

They were very basic shoes and must have been a few ton years old

Steve

sheos ?????

ok Boots

>sheos ?????
>
>ok Boots

I knew wot you ment bud

Paul :0)
Superleadman/Cap'n Lead

	#1
SilverB	Not disillusioned or put off! Well....My first attempt at metal detecting went really well (not:-( As I said, I have a workmate who owns a farm with a few fields attached, and I thought it would be a good place to start. Ridge and furrow field, (could be promising), in which horses were kept (bad move). Hadn't gone far when I had a good strong signal. I'd just brought a long screw driver and a plastic trowel to do the digging with. The ground was as hard as nails and it wasn't long before I got a nice big blister in the palm on my hand. Kept digging and rechecking. Signal was still there. Suddenly, I hit something solid. It was big. Dug around it with the screwdriver until I could get my hand around it and pulled out a......bit of pottery. Could it be part of a roman pot? Signal was still there. Spent 20 minutes digging down about 8 inches when there it was. Again dug around it again and loosened it and pulled out a.......horseshoe. Never mind..... because it was so deep, it just has to be a horseshoe from a roman horse. Yeah right! The piece of pottery was probably the remains of the farriers teacup which he broke when he dropped a lump of iron on it. Moral of the story. Don't do your first bit of metal detecting in a field in which horses are kept. Never mind. Better luck next time SilverB

	#2
Jim Sewell & Debbie Bone	Re: Not disillusioned or put off! > Moral of the story. Don't do your first bit of metal detecting in a > field in which horses are kept. Correction... Certainly stick with that field, but next time have the foresight to take a spade at least ! Ridge & furrow is amongst the best land to search, and there WILL BE ancient bits there, you just have to find them ! Keep trying, and don't look a gift horse in the mouth (excuse the pun.) Jim

	#3
Dave Walters	Re: Not disillusioned or put off! "SilverB" <raybbirch@ntlworld.com> wrote in message news:e7361f87.0309271536.7dc0baaa@posting.google.c om... > Well....My first attempt at metal detecting went really well (not:-( I'm relatively new to the detecting scene myself. Just under two years. I spent my first six months using a machine which could not discriminate iron very well. This really put me off and I nearly gave up. I regularly got horseshoes etc. After a while I changed to a different machine, the Minelab Explorer XS - I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I find it second to none. With a bit of advice and trial and error I now almost never dig iron (probably once out of every 100 signals) and when I do I'm pretty sure it is but just want to be on the safe side.. What I would say is make the most of your machine. Experiment with whatever discrimination settings you have and eventually when you are comfortable that what you think is iron definitely is iron ignore it and you'll be able to start to enjoy what is an excellent hobby - it takes time though. For example in just two hours today, would have been longer but I needed a huge dump, I got five Georgian coppers, an Elizabeth I Penny, a medieval buckle and a copy of Men Only, must have been the staples I suppose! Not much by the standards of some but I'm always ecstatic when I find hammered - even more so when I find porn ;-) Oh yes and when you've got the iron thing sorted you then get in to the realms of am I detecting in a potentially good place, but that's a different story. As Jim said search on ridge and furrow if you can. Don't be put off by spending ages digging up a bleeding great horseshoe. I found nothing earlier than a George III halfpenny until I knocked out iron. All the best, Dave Walters dave@ukbis.net UKB Coins & Collectibles http://www.ukbcoins.co.uk UKB Internet Services http://www.ukbis.net

	#4
Gerry	Re: Not disillusioned or put off! Screw driver ???? plastic trowel ??? are you nuts ??? buy a border spade ya loony !!!!! you will give us detectorists a bad name .LOL .....................G

	#5
Princebilly1	Re: Not disillusioned or put off! I once found four horse sheos about a foot down in exactly the right dimesions the horse would have dropped dead or keeled over. They were very basic shoes and must have been a few ton years old Steve

	#7
GOOSEY	Re: Not disillusioned or put off! >sheos ????? > >ok Boots I knew wot you ment bud Paul :0) Superleadman/Cap'n Lead