New member from Morpeth NSW

Hello Everyone

Chris here and I have just got my first detector. I got a Minelab Go-Find 66 for Fathers Day. I am totally new to this and keen to learn from the best. I have only done about 40 mins of beach detecting and that was on Fathers Day after unwrapping the go-find, didnt find anything yet. Keen to get out around Newcastle and the Hunter to find relics.

Thanks Everyone

Welcome Chris.

Welcome Chris, time to get out into your backyard and scratch one of these out of the ground



Plenty of history in your local area

Wally

I have recced a few spots in Morpeth that I want to try but unsure whether or not I will get in the poo for having a dig at these places? Can I just go to these council owned places and dig or do I need to ask permission from council?

Public land is generally ok, provided there are no by-laws preventing certain activities.

There are some good techniques to research for leaving little to no footprint when relic recovering, cant remember where they are but surf the site and there are some links to videos, tools and modifications to Bunnings shovels that make relic detecting efficient and stealthy. A pinpointer is a great time saving investment and also stops you making a mess when chasing a target in a plug of dirt

Good luck out there, a few of our members have frequented Morpeth, so you will need to venture to where they didnt..... and nobody ever gets all the targets, if an area is quiet, they may have just removed all the rubbish for you. Go low and slow.

Welcome Chris. Be wary around Morpeth. Some of the locals are a bit over the top.We had to call the police on one ranting local.

Ramjet said:

Welcome Chris. Be wary around Morpeth. Some of the locals are a bit over the top.We had to call the police on one ranting local.

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Ramjet do the locals here not like people detecting on public land?

Wally69 said:

Public land is generally ok, provided there are no by-laws preventing certain activities.

There are some good techniques to research for leaving little to no footprint when relic recovering, cant remember where they are but surf the site and there are some links to videos, tools and modifications to Bunnings shovels that make relic detecting efficient and stealthy. A pinpointer is a great time saving investment and also stops you making a mess when chasing a target in a plug of dirt

Good luck out there, a few of our members have frequented Morpeth, so you will need to venture to where they didnt..... and nobody ever gets all the targets, if an area is quiet, they may have just removed all the rubbish for you. Go low and slow.

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Wally,

I had a look at MCC website and couldnt find any writing to say that you cant metal detect. Have the members who have detected around here had any dramas with council rangers or is it just some residents that are the problems?

Not sure, but I would offer the following advice.

Be confident in having acquired the skills to be a responsible detectorist, know how to minimise ground disturbance, avoid manicured lawn or playing fields and test your methods on your own lawn, if you are not happy with the impact, dont expect others to be, particularly if they take care of the grounds you are detecting on.

There are the odd anti-detectorist folk out there, they are generally anti-everything. Best practice is to avoid conflict. Most people are dismissive or inquisitive, including police, rangers and council workers.

Burkey_242 said:

Ramjet said:

Welcome Chris. Be wary around Morpeth. Some of the locals are a bit over the top.We had to call the police on one ranting local.

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Ramjet do the locals here not like people detecting on public land?

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All the "private property" signs on the common are there because of it. Some locals think only they should be able to be there.

Welcome Burkey_242.

I think we need to factor in the historical significance and local connection to an area we're wanting to detect.

For example we have a park in town that features a war memorial dedicated to our service men and women. In a way it's a park considered sacred among the locals. It's very old ground and features large trees and manicured lawn, the perfect site for old coins and such. But, this is a park I would never detect out of respect for the local community, and I would imagine anyone caught detecting there would cop a well deserved serving from the locals. I would also imagine the council would get involved no questions asked, and the last thing we want to do is piss off the council.

I've done a small amount of detecting at Morpeth, but in saying that, it's a historic little town and the locals are not wrong for wanting to preserve it (which they're doing a great job of atm).

All I can say is choose your sites wisely and be respectful of where you dig.

Just my opinion of course. Happy detecting.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Found my very first find tonight in my backyard, a chunk of lead folded in half down about 30cm. Need to work on my hole digging. Would be keen to learn from some of you Newcastle/Hunter Valley guys.