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I understand thanks Chris. I appreciate your information. I'm heading out Sept 18th. I'm going to use just VLF that day. I'll focus on my GPX-5000 later in the fall, i'm probably going to start off with the 8"inch commander mono. 

Im very new i just got my EQ800 in December and just got my GM1000 two months ago. I only used the EQ800 for about 1hr total.

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Gotcha. 

1 hour ago, garikfox said:

I understand thanks Chris. I appreciate your information. I'm heading out Sept 18th. I'm going to use just VLF that day. I'll focus on my GPX-5000 later in the fall, i'm probably going to start off with the 8"inch commander mono. 

Im very new i just got my EQ800 in December and just got my GM1000 two months ago. I only used the EQ800 for about 1hr total.

Ok gotcha, that's a good start.  Somehow I had the mistaken impression you just got your Equinox in May based on a previous post, so sorry for the confusion.  In any event, get used to your VHF detector, especially Equinox by just detecting your yard or local parks or ball fields.  You need to get some swing hours in so you are not lost out there in the field, trying to learn your equipment.  That way you can be used to the controls, displays, and audio BEFORE you trek all the way to the gold fields.  Besides claim sites and maps, are you getting any one-on-one assistsnce and instruction from any of your club members in advance of your September excursion?

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I'm alone in my prospecting adventure. I've been doing self study of most things including geology. I haven't met any club members yet. I live in SE Maricopa County so its pretty far to our claim sites.

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See if you can get with some local detectorists (not necessarily prospectors) so you can work on your detecting skills with local sites and get used to your machines before you hit the claims.  You will be more comfortable and proficient that way, and who knows, maybe you will find you enjoy coin shooting, hunting for jewelry, or ghost town relic detecting too. 

The key is getting to some productive sites if possible so you can be exposed to different targets and their recovery and can get used to how your machine responds to them.

 Though it is not cheap, equipment is the least valuable variable in the detecting equation.  Just as expensive golf clubs do not make the golfer, expensive detectors do not really make the targets pop out of the ground any easier. 

I speak from experience.  I thought the key to better detecting success was better and more equipment.  I learned that it was not until I stopped playing musical detectors and focused on learning one type to the best of my ability (including getting some in-person instruction from experienced detectorists) was the key to getting proficient.  That is when things started to click and I started really enjoying detecting. 

The concept of hearing beeps or reading meters is deceptively simple, but the nuances are significant and it took me awhile to understand that the best classroom was not books or video but getting in the field and accumulating hundreds of hours of experience including digging a hell of lot of nails, pull tabs, bottle caps, tractor parts, aluminum cans and tin foil.  But when that gold ring glimmers in your scoop, or that civil war cartridge box plate or uniform button appears in the mud, or that silver quarter pops out as shiny in the sun as it was in 1852, then all the hours of tedium and digging trash become worth it.

I’m admittedly not a natural gold prospector, but the principles are the same, regardless.

Best of luck out there on your prospecting adventures.

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  • 4 weeks later...

It was way too hot, 101F. Dug one hole to find a piece of sheet metal, than i called it a day. At least I finally saw the Little San Domingo Wash 🙂

I'm heading back out Oct 4th 🙂 

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