Home Improvement with the Ace250

Not much swing time this weekend, home improvements kind of dominated the theme.

We are in the process of removing the popcorn texture off the ceilings, getting rid of that 80's look ....................... as you can see from the photo's it isn't exactly a nice clean job. Not a hard job, but when the wife asks why there is dust all over the house, just tell her "its a construction zone, baby"
I did hit a ball park of a couple of hours tonight, quarters were the theme today.

Total take: 5 quarters, 3 dimes, 5 pennies

Ace250 and a Sniper Coil

Back to the same park as was in yesterday. The only difference is today I had the sniper coil on the Ace250.

I worked a couple of high trash picnic table areas and the sniper coil performed flawlessly. I did not cover near the ground as yesterday, but I picked a bunch of clad I missed yesterday with the stock coil.

Sniper coils are nice, but one has to realize they need to work very slowly as these areas are still high in trash and you are covering a much smaller area.

Total take: 16 pennies, 2 dimes

Rare Occassion

I won't do this often, in fact rarely will I show my older finds, but I made a trip to the safe deposit box today, so before I went I decided to make a photograph of some my silver / finds.

btw, the large cent and bar token came from a Wisconsin.

If you look close at the large cent there is a small nick on the bridge of the nose, the one buffalo didn't far as well. Chalk that up to lessons learned. The coins come out of the ground in Wisconsin in great shape, the sandy loam really preserves the coins well.

The quarter in the upper part of the photograph toned in a heart beat after coming out of the ground, I am not really sure why as it came out of the ground in beautiful shape. Maybe the soap I used, the pollution in the air around here or leaving it on the mantel.

The V-nickel I attempted to clean with a polishing cloth, another mistake, only the high spots shine up. Lessons learned, clean with soap and water and leave them alone.

Minutemen

This is a picture of a monument dedicated to the Minutemen in Lexington, MA.

One can read all the history they want, but to actually go experience some of these places brings a whole new meaning to the words one has read.

It was a short weekend, but way too much fun running around Massachusetts !!!

Pinpointing with Garrett Ace250

Amazing really, you can read reviews all over the internet and find all the information you want on how well the Ace250 works in the field, see the finds people are making, hear the old timers brag about how this machine is a coin magnet. You buy the Ace250, hit the field, hear those bell tones, pinpoint and start digging only to find nothing, re-pinpoint and end up digging a 6" hole and spend 15 minutes to find a penny. Frustrating ....................

Frustrating to the point of buying a pinpointer to help find that target.

The first thing you need to know about the Ace250 is that the SWEET SPOT on the stock coil for the Ace250 is probably NOT in the center of your coil.

How do you pinpoint with the Ace250 ?

1. Look at your stock coil. It has what appears to be a larger coil around a smaller "inner" coil.

2. The sweet spot on my coil is at the TOP of the inner coil, not in the center of the coil as I had assumed when I purchased the detector.

3. To pinpoint a target, hold your pinpoint button down and make an "X" pattern over your target and attempt to find the center. A quick note here about pinpointing: move your coil off the target and inch or two before hitting the pinpoint button.

4. Now while still holding the pinpoint button down and centered over your target, slowly begin to pull the coil across the ground and back towards you.

5. When your signal begins to fade, STOP, your target should be right at the top of the "inner" coil.

Give this technique a try with a coin on top of the ground and practice pinpointing before your next hunt. This pinpointing technique works very well for me.

One other thing I have found is if your target is below a couple of inches of dirt, your target may be under or just behind the top of the coil. If I don't locate a target within a minute or so of probing, I re-pinpoint and usually find I am off a bit left or right.

Something I Found

Here is a couple of license plates I have know about for years, nailed on the inside of an old garage wall. Sure would have loved to known what make / model car sported these plates !!!

Are the plates still attached to this garage wall ??? No, but I know where / who has these plates..........*grin*

I finally convinced the owner to remove these items before they disappeared.

Silver Quarter

A little close up of the quarter I picked yesterday. Talk about nice shape for being in the ground. Almost makes one wonder if this quarter wasn't lost in early 1963. Now I really need to get in and work this area much slower. Hopefully next weekend !!!

Silver Quarter

Got to the lake today. Been a busy week with little time to swing a detector.

A beautiful day this Easter Sunday, although overcast all day, the wind has stopped and the temp reach almost 60 degrees. Been working a different park at the lake, lots of trash as always, but the nice thing about this park is nothing is very deep. In fact the quarter was found at just over an inch deep. 6 pennies, the nickel and all 3 dimes lay on top of the ground, a pocket dump from this past week I am guessing.

Needless to say I will return to this park !!

Btw, the quarter is a 1963 D and in beautiful shape...............

Total take: 9 pennies, 1 nickel, 3 dimes and a silver quarter !!

Artesian Well

Just something about an artesian well and the chance to get someone wet that just brings the little kid out in me.

I think this was the last picture taken at the park as everyone was scrambling for cover when they saw the glint in my eye and a mischievous smile cross my face.

Relax and Enjoy an Effinger's Beer ?

Well, the rain continued through out the week. Sunday brought a beautiful sun rise, temperatures finally climb back into the 50's, but oh the ground. One can't hardly take a step without sinking to their ankles in mud. So although I would have liked to swung the detector a bit, I decided that it would be best to get another 9 hours of CPE work in and to just relax a little bit.

Today, I thought you might like to see a picture of a tin beer sign I acquired back in the 1970's. The Effinger's Brewery closed its doors in the early 1960's. I am unsure of when this sign was made as I have never been able to find a Schlehen Brau Special Brew bottle to help date this sign.

Maybe we should all take a hint from this sign, grab a big old nickel beer glass full of your favorite brew, a good cigar and enjoy life !!!