Used to find old galvanized steel irrigation lines in my front yard during a landscaping project. I ran across a very old steel irrigation line while re-landscaping my front yard and thought that there might be more, so rather than ruin a trencher I took a chance on this metal detector to see if I could locate any remnants. Much to my surprise, it found the entire network of buried pipes. I wasn't expecting that due to the depth (well over 6-inches). From what I read, it was likely that the lines were too deep to detect, but this unit had no problem finding them. It confirmed that there was an old system in the ground and kept me from some ugly surprises when using the trencher. Well worth the investment for me as a tool, not a hobby. I can't comment on how it works for hobbiests.