U_U

Gold Monster comes with an extremely useful 5" coil and really does what it is supposed to do. Regarding what one can find with it, I actually also find small modern coins with it plus what I usually would find with a "relic and coin detector". In trashy areas, looking for e.g. a coin where there is lots of tiny, thin fragments of foil and wire, it can be a bit of a pain finding a good signal among the distractors. Other detectors just do not detect these (too thin, too small).

"The weaker the signal, and the more short sweeps over it, the more likely you will track out the target. Keep sweeps wide." This is very reasonable in theory :). When using the GM1000, wide sweeps do not bring back response to hot rocks (or whatever this target was). The GM1000 just screams and then goes silent over that spot. It is less pronounced in manual sensitivity mode, but happens also there). Tried that many times now. With actual signals, I can swing over many times, without response weakening. I will have to get hold of these chondrite types to learn how the GM1000 responds. Thanks all.

Yes, I have this book, plus read it, too :) GM1000 has no manual ground balance, it is always on auto tracking. I actually mentioned this in my post asking for a meteorite detector. Makro Gold Kruzer would have been an option too (once it ships at some unknown point in time). But I am actually not so sure, if tracking is a big negative. Also manually, I need to ground balance it. The ground is often difficult and ist is also changing a lot. I will get a lot of wrong signals without ground balance. The only relevant condition is snow on ground. There it is useful to just set it so that everything comes in as a positive signal. There is basically nothing distracting there. If it is just 1 little rock, the tracking should not cancel this out, only a bigger patch of ground. In theory at least. Maybe. The detector must be sensitive to rocks with specific magnetic characteristics. I did air-testing with hot rocks. The etrac is not sensitive to them, not at all, the GM1000 gives a good signal and it does not fade. It might be most important , that the detector is able to see tiiiiny tiny grains. The GM1000 is excellent at this, not only with surface deposits. And that it reacts to specific magnetic characteristics.

I watched the air-testing videos that came out on youtube yesterday (as I was contemplating this vs GM1000) from what I saw and the performance of the GM1000 which I just got and tested in the field and air-tested, I have no regrets. But it is a bit early to tell.

The big advantage with my etrac for me is that I know what the target most likely will be. That minimizes disappointment ;-) A bottle cap, foil, iron trash. But I dig it. Because it could be a coin, a gold item, interesting iron item. I found that discrimination is basically useless to me. Using the etrac convinced me of this. The target ID is unstable most of the times too. Only when you know exactly what you are looking for, maybe a certain type of projectile, a certain coin etc., then ID helps somewhat to save time.

I have been using the GM1000 for maybe 20 hours, covered some (often difficult and shifting) ground and found what I normally would find, mostly trash, most interesting so far an old key. So far so good. It is not impossible that there might be some gold to find, but highly unlikely. I am trying to dig every clear signal. I am mainly out to find meteorites, and I am still unsure how not to overlook a possible meteorite. Very, very often I would get a clear signal with iron characteristic. When I remove the ground cover, it often slowly fades away. Not sure what that is. Sometimes I do find small corroded iron crumbs (then the signal does not fade). But most often nothing. Also, very often the GM1000 would give a really strong signal, but it is not possible to localize, because it just fades away even before I notice if it was an iron signal or not. I assume due to the auto tracking, so this might indicate a hot rock. But what would I have to expect from a meteorite? If there is iron, also as quite tiny grains, the signal should not just fade, is this correct? So I do not have to worry about the signals from hot rocks? Thanks for help.

The magnet is a very good idea! I tend to find a lot of tiny iron parts, finding those targets will be much faster with a magnet . Was out today with the bigger coil and long shaft. It is not such a very big deal to pack and unpack the GM1000 on a hike/ biketrip. Much lighter than my Etrac. I found the usual stuff I would find with the Etrac. This is a good sign, I will not miss anything of this, plus I should be able to find meteorites and other targets. I did find some hotrocks, which the Etrac does not react to.

Did some testing with my new Gold Monster. The GM1000 is easy to use and has a perfect user interface. While it can be quite compact using custom parts, I wish Minelab would provide a telescopic shaft. A better shaft would really make a big difference for usability while hiking and biking with the monster. The hard part with the Gold Monster is learning to find the tiny targets it detects, digging staple-size targets is challenging. Now I am hoping to find both huge and tiny meteorites with the Gold Monster.

I did ask Minelab several weeks ago, and the tech support does not have an opinion regarding this. I am not sure what is wrong with meterorites as targets, and why metal detector manufactures are ignoring these items. It is up to users to purchase detectors and testing them. There is so much mumbo-jumbo and little actual information.

Not sure. I did watch the episodes where they were hunting in Sweden. Metal detectors are strictly not allowed to use there. No explanation was given why some men acting like crazy maniacs are allowed to. Typical "entertainment" junk. The more the main characters act like stupid monkeys, the more entertainment supposedly.

Thanks all. @Steve Herschbach What I forgot to mention, I am looking for a detector as lightweight as possible. Yes, with detectors it is somewhat hard to tell how the specs provided will translate into performance in the hunt for meteorites. @fredmason I did ask Minelab tech support, they have no official opinion about their detectors and meteorites, it will be interesting what you find out with the Equinox 800. Both 600 and 800 should be much more sensitive to tiny metal objects than my Etrac is. @Lunk Very inspiring!! Noticed you also list the Equinox 800 as gear having experience with, I wonder how it compares to the GM1000 regarding chondrites. Maybe the GM1000 reacts to yet smaller grains than the 600 and 800? I am about to order the GM1000...

When primary aim is finding meteorites (also with low iron/ nickel content), what metal detector would be a good idea to get (within budget)? Minelab Gold Monster 1000 (no manual ground balance, does this matter?) Minelab Equinox 600 (no real all metal mode??) Makro Multi Kruzer (how sensitive to small objects?) Makro Gold Kruzer (unknown when it will ship) Other detector (why?) Or do I need to spend more, i.e. get an XP Deus? I would very much appreciate any insight or even practical experience. Thank you very much for your time!