How To Get Started?

For the most part City parks and Public schools are OK . Check with your local police station and Chamber of commerce. I once got kicked out of a Park by an over zealous cop so now if possible I get a letter to say its ok to detect in city Parks. The County Clerk lives a couple of houses down from me so its no big deal for me to get one plus I live in a relatively small city.
If I detect on a road trip I always stop by the cop shop and ask if its ok to detect in the parks. Usually they say sure go right ahead... Google Earth is great for finding pocket parks but these are normally private and you have to contact the housing association that incorporates them to get permission. Talk to your local Realtor Sometimes they get old houses to sell and if they are the friendly sort will arrange for you to contact the seller for permission to search.
Hope this helps

One of the most difficult things to do for a beginner is learn how to pinpoint with the detector. What I did was start out hunting "Tot lots" - playgrounds with wood chips or sand, because the digging is easier and you can't ruin it by digging all kinds of holes (or 2ft wide ones because you couldn't pinpoint your object correctly. besides, I have regularly found more stuff in tot lots than anywhere else so far. Just remember when detecting there that you need to stay away from the metal poles of the equipment by at least 6-8" to avoid false signals.

Another good thing to do is practice with different objects on the ground, far enough apart so they won't interfere with each other, to see what sounds they make and practice pinpointing. You ideally want to know the exact location under your coil of the object. Once you think you figured that out, have someone hide the object under a large piece of cardboard and find it again, use your finger to mark it and move the cardboard to see if you were right. It's fun an non-invasive.

Remember to dig properly and respect the public areas you are hunting, that way, we all get to keep doing it.

Another good resource for info is the Friendly Metal Detecting Forum (www.metaldetectingforum.com) I have the same ID there as here. It was a good place to learn TONS about detecting.

Let us know what you have and maybe we can help more. Good luck. I know you'll have fun with it.

Jim