Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I spent 5 days out at Sawtooth, N. NV desert practicing with the 7000.  I lost a couple days to some summer electrical storm activity and a little rain.  There was actually some big rain out towards Imlay, but the weather was tolerable at Sawtooth.  Low 90's during the heat of the day and high 50's at night.  I tried the Bogene silent threshold settings to combat the electrical activity, but still was a struggle.  I'm not knowledgeable enough about the area to get over any serious gold, but I scored 5 tiddlers adding up to a whopping 1.7 grams.  The smallest won't register even 1 grain on my scale.  These came from obviously pounded areas judging by the dig holes.  The ground was relatively quiet so I nearly maxed out the 7000 and moved at a snails pace.  I settled on the Bogene setting for this crumb hunt, adjusting volume and target signal to a manageable level of morse code type background chatter, I think Nevada Chris uses a similar setting. The faintest target signal would just rise above or smooth out background chatter.  It worked for me, but its all a matter of personal preference.  Running the 7000 with that much power would not be my choice for a prospecting mode, but certainly proved itself on known gold producing ground.  I kicked a lot of hotrocks and dug a bunch of tiny ferrous targets all part of the learning curve. Some frustrating target recovery efforts with that coil.  Finding a sub-grain piece at about 2 inches improved my confidence in this beast for sure.  As Steve H has pointed out, "if you're finding the little ones, the big ones will take care of themselves".

On my last day I ran into a local prospector, Smokey who claims he taught Lunk everything he knows about detecting, not really but he spoke highly of Lunk.  He has also met Steve H. and Reno Chris out there.  He showed me some pictures of pounds of gold from the old days of the White's Goldmaster and untouched ground.  At 76 he's still going strong with a passion for detecting.

All in all, I enjoyed my trip.  Decent weather, tolerable food and good health, can't ask for much more than that.  I'm still learning this 7000, but I'm looking forward to some new low and slow opportunities.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites


The GPZ can be a real bear to pinpoint with because it likes little nuggets but it's got a big coil. Kind of unique situation.

There's been times where I've been probably trying to push around a tiny little dink I just can't pinpoint and eventually I've just moved on.

If it's so small I can't easily see it in a handful of dirt I've been pushing around with my scoop for 10 minutes I think my time and energy are better suited just moving on and digging bigger targets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The GPZ can be a real bear to pinpoint with.

Get a pinpointer - it can help you find that target quickly. I was digging deep nails a while back (some were not nails but were gold) and a pinpointer is also good to help dig smaller holes in chasing deep stuff. I've actually used a VLF with a small coil as a pinpointer as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Get a pinpointer - it can help you find that target quickly. I was digging deep nails a while back (some were not nails but were gold) and a pinpointer is also good to help dig smaller holes in chasing deep stuff. I've actually used a VLF with a small coil as a pinpointer as well.

I may have to add a pinpointer to my arsenal.

Love your book Chris!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...