Tuning your metal detector to detect gold rings

Heres a little tip to help beach and water hunters make sure they have their metal detector set up to detect gold rings.
I was asked by Tim in Virginia Beach, if I use the same settings at every beach I search and the answer is no.
Even beaches you search on a regular basis can change dramatically from one day to the next, erosion on the lower beach may expose black sand or the salinity of the ocean can vary widely. 
I perform a simple test to make sure my metal detector has a good combination of depth and sensitivity towards detecting gold rings.
I carry a thin 14K gold wedding band attached to a length of string, the string has small knots every two inches. 
After digging a hole approximately 10 to 12 inches deep, I place the ring in the bottom of the hole and push the sand back in. 
I then see if I can detect the thin gold ring, tweaking my metal detector controls to help detect the gold ring or improve the response from the gold ring. 
If I cannot detect the ring, I pull the string out of the sand to the next knot, until I detect the gold ring.
You can learn a lot about your metal detector at the beach by seeing what it is really capable of for yourself.
Thin gold rings always make the best type of test target, because if you can detect small or thin gold rings you can easily detect larger deeper gold rings.
My "Ring on a string" test can help you if you struggle to detect diamond engagement style rings at the beach, which usually have nice size diamonds set in prongs on thin gold bands. 
This photo has the type of gold jewelry you should not have a problem detecting, when you have your metal detector tuned correctly to detect thin gold rings.