A new detector can look intimidating: modes, numbers, notches and menus. The good news is that almost every machine comes down to the same four controls. Understand those and you can set up nearly any detector in a few minutes.
The golden rule for beginners: a steady machine beats a powerful one. A detector running quietly at moderate settings will find more than one running flat out and chattering, because you can actually hear the faint signals. Still choosing a machine? Start with our beginner metal detectors.
Modes are preset combinations of the other settings, built for common situations: coin, jewelry, relic, beach, all metal and so on. They're there to give you a sensible starting point.
Starting point: pick the mode that matches where you are. If you're not sure, use the general or coin mode in a park, and the beach mode on sand. Most detectorists end up living in two modes.
Sensitivity controls how strongly the detector responds to signals. Higher sensitivity can reach a little deeper, but it also amplifies everything else: mineralized ground, electrical interference from power lines and phones, and other detectors nearby.
Starting point: set it to around two-thirds, or the manufacturer's default. Then follow this routine:
Repeat this whenever you move somewhere new. Interference and ground change from place to place.
Discrimination tells the detector to ignore certain target types, usually iron, foil and pull tabs, so it doesn't beep on them. It's useful in very trashy parks, but it's also the setting beginners most often get wrong.
The problem is that good targets and trash overlap. Gold rings in particular often read in the same range as foil and pull tabs. Discriminate too much and you'll walk straight over them. The same overlap makes small gold nuggets easy to miss, as our guide to whether metal detectors can find gold explains.
Starting point: reject iron only. Dig everything else for your first few hunts, even the signals you think are trash. That's how you learn what your machine is telling you. Add more discrimination later only if a site is genuinely overwhelming.
All soil contains minerals, and some contains a lot. Ground balance tells the detector to ignore the ground's own signal so real targets stand out. If your detector beeps as you raise and lower the coil over empty ground, it's out of balance.
Starting point: use automatic if you have it. If not, ground balance at the start of every hunt, and again whenever you move from dry to wet sand or onto different soil.
| Where | Mode | Sensitivity | Discrimination | Ground balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park or yard | Coin or general | About 2/3, adjust for noise | Iron only | Automatic, or set at start |
| Dry beach sand | Beach or general | Medium to high | Iron only or none | Set at start |
| Wet salt sand | Beach or salt | Lower until quiet | Minimal | Re-balance often |
| Trashy site | Coin or relic | Medium | Iron and foil, carefully | Automatic |
Every machine is different, so treat these as a starting point and check your detector's manual for its own recommended settings. Hunting the beach? Our beach detecting guide covers wet-sand settings in more detail.
Bury a coin, a nail, a pull tab and a piece of foil in your yard at different depths. Try each setting on them and listen to how the response changes. An hour of this teaches you more than a season of guessing.
Tell us which detector you have and where you hunt, and we'll suggest settings to start from. Call (689) 407-5377, Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm EST. New to the hobby? Start with our beginner's guide.
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