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Steve Herschbach

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Steve Herschbach last won the day on March 7

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  1. You need a thick skin to put yourself out there, especially if you like to stir the pot. I fully sympathize as this forum is largely set up the way it is to protect my own peace of mind. The open internet can be vicious and genuinely harmful if not managed properly. Sometimes it’s just not worth it and the best solution is to step away. He has my best wishes.
  2. Just depends on the individual piece. Some small specimen gold can bring 10X market price or more but most will be market price or less, since true gold content is less. So like maybe 80% of spot price. Have to figure time and effort also. I'll sell you a small nugget for more per ounce than I will sell you an ounce of the same stuff since my time is worth something. If it's a boring round nugget no big deal. Wire and crystalline gold - sky is the limit. Collectors will pay top dollar for extremely unique gold..... https://www.irocks.com/search?mode=quick&_token=uvGIBnI4Tah8IbSxEEL4ix9s8UmfKzwdIutQglhq&query=gold Basic advice to nugget hunters - it is not the quantity you find, but the quality of what you find. You'd be better off finding one super primo specimen than a jar full of low quality gold. I have sold quite a bit of gold a piece at a time at premium prices and other stuff I just take to a refiner. Note that for collectors an exact location of the find is very important. Generic finds where the finder does not want to reveal where it was found are not going to command nearly as high a premium to a true mineral collector or museum. The provenance is as important as everything else. Some locations are so famous that the gold just being from them will add a premium. Think of mineral collectors as being like coin collectors trying for a full set of proof quality coins.
  3. This forum is not private, anyone can read it. I don't force people to join just to lurk and to find information if that is what they are looking for. If they want to block spammers then require registration to post but let people look. That's what we do here and that is what can also be done on Facebook. Blocking viewing unless registered - that is what they mean when they say private.
  4. You nailed it Mitchel. Yes, the way to go find more gold is to go find undiscovered patches. We all say it and as you note the machines we have are perfectly capable of doing the job. I don't think people will be lining up to buy new models based solely on them being "a better patch hunter."
  5. There are two markets. The hobbyists who do it for the sunshine, long walks and social outings. Lots of that here and some in Australia. Then there are the serious guys - plenty in Australia but the huge market is Africa. You can always sell hobbyists stuff. People detect for coins and jewelry and relics and some people will go detect for a few small nuggets. I lean more the other way - gold was always a way to make money for me and I did quite well with it. And those Africans? They are putting food on the table. So Minelab can come out with a multifrequency Gold Monster 2 or a lighter weight GPZ 8000 and there will be sales to be had from hobbyists. But the serious folks, the people who expect their detecting to pay for itself and then some..... that HUGE Africa market? Minelab will only see real sales numbers that matter from a detector that makes dead ground light up again. Ground that no longer pays with a GPX 6000 and a GPZ 7000 must pay with a new model. If not, it is game over because the hobbyist market is a pittance compared to the worldwide market for serious gold detecting. Technology hit the wall? Dreamers want to dream but my decades behinds the scenes experience and contacts with engineers do not allow me to wear those rose colored glasses. Minelab faces their hardest task ever - one upping themselves just one more time. They have been eking out gains on ever smaller gold and that has been working up until now. But hitting stuff smaller than a GPX 6000? We are into VLF country at that point, and what really is the point? I am the guy Minelab needs to sell. I'm ready to hang up nugget detecting entirely as not worth my time. If I just want to go detect for fun I can do that at a local park or at the beach and have as much or more fun as wandering around NOT finding good gold. The Aussies want a detector that will hit a 6 ounce nugget at enough extra depth it makes them toss a modded GPX or a X Coil outfitted GPZ 7000 to the side in favor of the new model. What I really need is more depth on one gram to 15 gram nuggets. Not a "oh gosh it seems like that signal is a bit better" imaginary difference on a buried test nugget. I need a machine that when I bury this 1 to 15 gram nugget, there is no signal at all with a GPX 6000 or GPZ 7000 and a strong signal with this new machine. No BS hair splitting, but a genuine "bang" versus dead silence. If the new machine can do that then I will buy the new one and be happy and Minelab shareholders will be ecstatic. The Africa Gold Rush and more will reignite for one last round, aided by higher gold prices. Minelab will sell piles of them, and at no doubt eye watering prices. But can Minelab deliver? As somebody with more than a wishful thinking aspect about what it takes to make that happen, I'm not very hopeful. At some point the well does really run dry, and I frankly just shake my head knowing what I know at the blind faith in the idea that detectors will never hit a wall for depth. There are genuine reasons for why that is not true and good reason to believe Minelab is having a difficult time beating what is already available. I'm quite certain there will be something to sell, some statistic generated by a positive result in some circumstance. No doubt pictures of some gold found on "well pounded ground." All I can say is I am that guy that has always, without hesitation, ditched my last Minelab the second a new version came out, and never regretted it. Not this time. I will wait until I see inconvertible proof that the wall has been truly burst through and nuggets are popping right and left out of ground we all have now about given up for dead. Until that happens it's all just opinionating and wishful thinking.
  6. I don't know. At this point I think all that will make a splash is a genuine performance boost to the point where we can go back to places pounded with the 6000 and 7000 and have some reasonable gold start showing up. If the patch is dead to a 6000 and 7000 with X coils a lighter 7000 is not going to cut it. I bitch about the weight all the time but fact is I can still swing a 7000 all day long. If a GPZ 8000 does not give me a genuine better shot at gold coming out of currently dead ground then I don't need it, no matter what it weighs.
  7. Previous threads about drones.... https://www.detectorprospector.com/tags/drones/
  8. "Minelab Partner Conference Adelaide Australia, May 13th to the 19th 2025" Sounds like a GPZ 8000 introduction to me.
  9. Check with a gem and mineral dealer or see if there are any rock collecting clubs nearby.
  10. I agree the armrest cuff is on the smaller side compared to others. However the cup is highly flexible - just push your arm into it and force the wings apart. There are no other ones made at this time though I have an idea for how to make the existing one larger that I might try and get back to the forum on later. Strap length though is another issue and if too short you'll have to use something else than the one provided.
  11. Just read the warranty Chuck - it's the exact opposite of what you say and has been since day one. Just like the last poster is telling you. https://tarsacci.com/warranty-policy/ The limited warranty will be considered void/invalid if the product was not properly registered to Tarsacci. This warranty is extended to the purchaser identified in the Product Registration Form (“Purchaser”) and is transferable.
  12. Many Fisher and Nokta models employ 0-99 target id scales. Almost all White's top end detectors from the very first had a 100 point target id range, expanded not long after into 190 points. -95 to 0 ferrous and 0 to 95 non-ferrous. This is an almost exact match for the phase shift reality that underlies most VLF discrimination systems. I liked it then and like it now and fail to see why more numbers rather than fewer is an issue. If the numbers are jumpy it's from too much sensitivity or EMI. You can set audio tone overrides on most machines now to make it a two tone or three tone detector and just ignore the target id if too many numbers is a bother. The CTX 3030 has 1750 possible dual target id combinations and 100 is too many? White's XL Pro target id range White's target id scale XLT MXT DFX V3i etc etc
  13. The forum has a search function 26 Previous Threads About Sand Scoops This one got 44 replies….
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