I have been metal detecting for about 6 years now.  It is a great hobby and I get a lot of excersize as well.  I bought a Minelab "S" machine when I started and eventually upgraded to the Minelab Explorer II a couple of years ago.  

One of the things that I really enjoy about metal detecting is all of the great friends I have made through metal detecting.  I have detected with many guys who are in a local club with me. One is Angelo Primo (who won the National Championship at Jerry Burr's "Cash Bash" hunt at Connecticut in October 2005).  Angelo has been detecting for about 25 years and uses a Whites DFX Machine. Another partner is Jim "Rob" Williams, who has been detecting for about 4 years.  He also uses a Whites DFX Machine and also has an XLT.  I detect frequently with buddy, Bob Pierce and his son Rob - they use Whites DFX and Minelab Explorer II Machines.  I also detect from time to time with Pete Teal, a young guy who uses a Whites DFX Detector.  My friend and sometime detecting partner Sergei Teplyakov has used (uses) the following detectors: Garrett Master Hunter CX-II, White's Spectrum XLT, Tesoro Cortes, Minelab Explorer XS, Minelab Explorer II, Barracuda PI, Pulse Star II Pro.

Sergei developed the following program for the Minelab Explorer II, which I call my "All Metal" program.  With it I find numerous 'artifacts' as well as coins and so on:

Group A Settings:

DISPLAY CONTRAST - at 10

AUDIO VOLUME - Max Limit at 10

NOISE - at 5 (if interference from the power lines, other metal detectors, etc. is absent)

RESPONSE - Audio 1

RECOVERY: FAST - off and DEEP - on  (I sometimes vary this and have the Fast function on)

GAIN - at 8 (even a deep target produces a loud signal)--Sometimes I lower the Gain level down to 7 when the junk concentration is high.

TH (treshold) TONE - at 5(on Explorer XS) and 8(on Explorer II)

VARIABILITY - at 10

LIMITS - at 10

SOUNDS on FERROUS (medium size ferrous targets don't respond with a high pitched tone as if of silver)
Group B Settings:

SENSITIVITY--usually as high as possible - a notch below a setting that makes my detector unstable, which is allowed by trash concentration, soil mineralization, and the search coil's size.

Sensitivity Settings for different sizes of Double "D" Waterproof Search Coils:

15 inches WOT Coil - 10-20

10.5 inches Standard Coil - up to 28

7.25 inches Coil - up to 32
DISCRIMINATION paterns vary greatly. I utilize IRON MASK for all types of metal detecting: I always keep IRON MASK at -16 and in OFF mode, and switch it ON only when I need to check a questionable signal. I usually utilize the Explorer's Discrimination factory settings to create desirable Discrimination patterns. Occasionally, I use LEARN and EDIT option programs in ADVANCED MODE to adjust Discrimination pattern for a particular target.

My basic Discrimination paterns:

For Relic Hunting and Cache Hunting - REJECT:"Nail", ACCEPT everything else

For Coin Shooting - ACCEPT: "Coins", "Jewelry", "Foil", "Pull Tab", "Screwcap"; REJECT: "Fe Coins", "Crowncap", and "Nail"

Sergei has a great web page that I would recommend to anyone interested in metal detecting: here is the link; http://metaldetectingworld.com/index.shtml

To check out the Metal Detecting Club we belong to, Empire State Metal Detector Association, go to the link; http://www.northeast-metaldetectors.com/club1.html

A great place to talk to other detectorists and see finds is: http://www.thetreasuredepot.com/

The place where I bought my machine and where I recommend people interested in detectors from Troy, Tesoro, Minelab, Garrett, Fisher, Technetics and others and any and all detecting supplies, is http://www.upstatedetectors.com/index.htm

Some GREAT relics that I have found over the last years are shown below - I have also found literally 1000's of old coins.  These items are featured in the January 2009 issue of the Eastern Western Treasure magazine.

           

War of 1812 Eagle Button with Cloth on Back                     1857 One Dollar Gold Coin

   War of 1812 Plume [Feather] Holder                             War of 1812 Shako Hatplate

 Typical Revolutioary War Soldier's Buckle              Large Silver Plated Colonial Period Coat Button

War of 1812 Minutemen Medal [dated 1816 on back]   Colonial Era Embibing Cup hand stamped Pittsfield [Mass]