Dubious

Yes, the demise of coins is sure narrowing the scope of the hobby. It wasn't that long ago that everyone received change in transactions and carried a pocketful of coins for parking meters and pay telephones. Now, pay phones are pretty much extinct, parking meters take cards, and many businesses won't even accept cash. Detecting for coins was probably the main entry into the hobby for most folks (I've stuck there--I like digging for coins), and in another decade or two, it will be all but gone.

There are people who swear by the V3i and its controls (favorably), but choosing between it and the Etrac (at that time), I went with the Etrac for its apparent better record of finding things for most people.

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by mentions of Wampum in some of the books I read--the shell-based currency used by many pre-Columbian Indian tribes in eastern North America (and not just those along the coast). It seemed to me that if one was fortunate enough to live in the period and by the sea, there would always be a ready supply of money. Well, it wasn't quite that easy--apparently there was a lot of work involved in finding the right kind of shells and then crafting them into strings of wampum. Interestingly, for a while, the early European settlers also used wampum as a medium of exchange, especially in the fur trade. https://www.wampumbear.com/P_America First Currency.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampum

Li-ion batteries burning/exploding is apparently a growing problem for airlines. Here is the FAA chart showing recent incidents: https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/resources/lithium_batteries/media/Battery_incident_chart.pdf "As of December 1, 2019, 261 air/airport incidents involving lithium batteries carried as cargo or baggage that have been recorded since January 1, 2006." Because of the energy densities, li-ion batteries are inherently somewhat dangerous, but the most dangerous type is that used with RC model planes and similar devices, which by design lack the protective circuitry of the mainstream li-ion.

I believe some of the pre-Columbian civilizations in Central- and South America did know how to alloy gold with copper and other metals, which I suppose could result in something hard enough to be made into a poor arrowhead. But I don't think any of the North American Indians had that technology. Also, electrum (a gold/silver alloy) occurs naturally, but while harder than gold is probably still far too soft to give flint any competition when it comes to sharp pointy things.

Good for a laugh, anyway. If anyone wants to get excited, there is much more gold and platinum a lot closer than that space rock--only a few thousand miles away, straight down.

Oddly enough, the Tesoro website is still up and running, showcasing the New Mojave, as though nothing had happened. You would think someone would have posted a suitable notice, explaining the situation with the company closing down. I can only suppose whoever is/was in charge at the end simply didn't have the heart for it, and I guess I can understand that, too. As for whether existing Tesoro detectors are still worth something, of course they are. I acquired both of mine used; neither has required any service, and both still work just fine. I would hesitate to recommend buying a new Tesoro because of warranty concerns; but I'd have no problem with a used, working unit in good shape.

Sometimes odd Bluetooth pairing issues go away if you repeat the pairing process with the two devices just inches apart (rather than feet).

Let us know how it compares to the 24k.

Does anyone worry about Lipo batteries exploding? I know some store them in fireproof containers when not in use.

I've recently picked up the 15" coil, and have used it a few times in parks, hoping for an extra inch in certain locations. Not sure about the depth question, yet; but I was pleased to find that it handles EMI reasonably well.

My feeling is still that the Etrac has advantages over the Nox for deep coins in most park-type settings (in some very junky places where the Etrac is virtually useless, the Nox can still function and separate out coins). I've more recently picked up a CTX as well, but it's more like the Etrac than otherwise (I do like target trace) so doesn't change my opinion. I would say the Nox is at least as deep, though; and admit that as I get more familiar with the nuances of the Nox, I "upgrade" its capabilities with respect to coins. One area, though, in which the Etrac has both the Nox and CTX beat is in the availability of coils. Yes, their stock coils are good, but I would really like to try a few others that aren't presently available (and probably never will be), such as the 6x8 SEF...

In parks, I usually use Park 2 these days, but probably should be using Park 1 for maybe a little extra depth on coins. After all, most coins are sufficiently not vertical to register, and it generally makes sense to play the odds. The coin on edge issue is another reason I wish Minelab would open up its machines to the coil makers. There are coils like the Tornado with reputations for doing a better job hitting coins on edge, and it would be nice to have them for the Nox.

Any success with this project? I almost went the V3i route some years back, but ended up with the Etrac, instead. The V3/i still intrigues me, but I'll probably wait until Whites comes out with the next version with faster hardware. Too bad the V3 user base is so small. If it were a popular computer or even Android phone, we'd probably have a variety of cracked and maybe even rewritten open source versions of the software floating around. As it is, it probably requires a very determined individual with the right skill set and a lot of free time to disassemble and reverse engineer the code. I like Steve's idea of Whites being forthcoming and opening up the detector and its software to hobbyists, but that is probably even less likely to happen, alas.

I also like the mini Samsung, but am shy about taking it to parks--certainly looks less offensive than a long handled shovel, though. In parks, I try for the low key and non-dangerous look. In many places, it is actually a crime to carry a large knife, so I try to use tools that suggest gardening rather than weapons.