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Anyone remember the old Popular Science ads?

I thought this was a good classic to share. Even though this ad pre-dates me by 6yrs, it puts a smile to my face :) 

 

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I have one as holes are not allowed in the parks in my city, just popping with a screwdriver.  I use the probe to find the object first. I'm not talented at it AT ALL yet. Honestly unless I cheat and cut the turf with a pocketknife first it hurts my hands. I've mostly gone other places. 

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I don't remember that specific ad but there were multiple 'build your own' articles you could start from scratch, as well as a few kits.  See this thread where I pictured my (broken) Heathkit GD-48.  (See this Findmall thread where someone posted a tantalizing but incomplete schematic.  Phrunt will be building one, now.  😁 Link deleted since Findmall Forum update broke all old links . Those come up on Ebay frequently.  Apparently injection molded plastics were still in their infancy(?) since the housings (control unit and searchcoil) were flimsy and broke easily.

 

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21 hours ago, phrunt said:

I can't believe they sell these, a worn out phillips head screwdriver for $15 USD!

These ones are half the price and go just as deep:biggrin:

 

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Yeah, I have a brass probe, but not a Garrett one. Mine is half that. Its a brass rod stuck in plastic, hard to get wrong I figured, bought the cheapest version on Amazon.

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As a kid who started using detectors in the early 70's, I always wondered how much better the other brands and models were vs what I had.  The big break in technology to me, was when DISCRIMINATION came out.

Here is one from 1970.

Thanks for making me feel young again.

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Those magazine illustrators really were skillful at their task, getting us to fantasize over the possibilities.  Just another lost art in today's internet/social-media/cellphone/selfie photo-dominated age.  Here's a slightly later issue (vol. 3, #3) from 1971.  Remind anyone of Northern Nevada desert (or Southern Nevada, Northern Arizona, SE California,....?

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And the back cover:

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From the accompanying article (written by the infamous Bill Mahan, founder of D-Tex):

The total count was 202x silver dollars, 79x $20 gold pieces, 53x $10 gold pieces, 43x $5 gold pieces, 2x $2.50 gold pieces.  Mint dates range from 1850-1881.  The detector Charles had borrowed form his dad was an old 1966 model D-Tex Standard....  He barely had a signal.  It was (later) found that the battery was down to less than 4 volts.  It was purly accidental that he detected anything at all.

Any detectorist's bucket lister includes a gold coin.  How about a cache of 177?  Imagine the world-wide media attention such a 6-7 figure find would garner today.

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GB,  I actually have that DeTex model (see attached photos).

Your magazine mentions "Nevada's Largest Gold Nugget", what exactly does it weigh and where was it found?

Just love these old Treasure Magazines and their article.

Busho, I have one too, but mine works like a dream.  I can easily go to the mall parking lot on a Saturday afternoon and turn that baby on, guaranteed it will point to a big metal car every time.  You have to believe my friend...just believe.

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1 hour ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Your magazine mentions "Nevada's Largest Gold Nugget", what exactly does it weigh and where was it found?

The article relates a story from 1877 near Osceola, NV.  A drifter prospector (was there any other kind?) named Charles Keisel, working legally on a consortium (of which he was not a part) claim, found a nugget which when melted down contained "at least" $6000 in gold.  Assuming $20/ozt that would be 300+ ounces.

According to Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osceola,_Nevada

there is still small scale mining in that area, but the town is now abandoned.  Osceola is ESE of Ely, a couple miles from US-50 ("The Loneliest Road in America", coined by Life Magazine in 1986) and only ~20 miles from the Utah border.

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