Famous Trails Discriminator II Metal Detector

I went out to a site to try my hand at metal detecting with this. It is the WORST metal detector ever.

I buried some coins in the ground - a couple of silver dollars, silver dimes and regular clad coinage. I buried them only about 1/4 inch under dirt. The detector would not pick up any of the coins.

Yes, I did understand the directions of how to calibrate the machine. I was able to calibrate it so that it picked up these coins on the surface, but covered with only a tiny bit of dirt, they went invisible. This is even with the sensitivity all the way up and discrimination down. I tried all 3 settings as well - VLF as well as the other 2 settings. No matter how I tweaked it, it would not pick up these coins that were mere millimeters from the surface.

I did pick up one thing - a large can buried 6 inches in the ground. So my advice is this. If you are looking for a large rusty coffee can, buy this machine. If you are looking for coins, jewelry...Read more

I went out and puchased this metal detector after my mother lost her gold bracelet while gardening. After following the directions (which really are not that well written) and calibrating and tuning the machine I tested it on a similar gold ring. Everything seemed to work fine. I hunted around the garden a bit, but not a sound was emitted from the detector. I decided to try testing the ring again only to find that the machine would not "find" it. After multiple times of recalibrating I have decided to return this item. It is not user friendly, and feels very cheaply made. This item is manufactured like something that should cost $30, not $100 (and that is after it was marked down from $240!) Also, I tested out a bit of platinum on it and the meter did not register at all. This item felt more like a toy than a working piece of equipment.

This is a piece of junk and a complete waste of your hard earned money. It doesn't work at all.