The X-coil Has Landed

[mn90403]

Let me just say that I had a long day of detecting to the first spot I found gold in 2011.  It was tough to find gold there then and I didn't find any on this trip.  That is the sad part and the reason I didn't come back and post right away.

The weather was perfect with very little wind.  I couldn't ask for anything better.  I arrived just after dawn after leaving at 2 AM.  Many people are familiar with the Dale and I've been to various parts of it over the years.  A couple of clubs I belong to have claims there and in years past many nuggets have been found ... most before I started hunting there I'll add.  Over the years I've found less than 1/2 of an ounce there but I keep going back.  Several members of this forum have done much better there than I have.

Anyway, I tried 5 very hammered patches and patch fringes.  I gridded some and cruised flat stretches some.  I tried hot and standard settings.  Missed trash was found and once again as I did on my first X-Coil trip I found missed trash under bushes because of the shape of the X-Coil.  What I didn't find was any unseen screamers which I was hoping for.  I did find some deeper targets but all turned out to be the very sticky hot rocks.  Another detectorist who was with me using his 14" found similar targets and no gold also.  We both tried hard.

Late in the afternoon I tried one last spot where I had found a specimen.  It is an area that has been raked, groomed and detected.  I found a few bbs there that probably came after the detecting.

At this point in my detecting life I honestly don't know where I can find a guaranteed nugget on a trip.  In years past I've had a couple of spots that would produce and I went to one of them the first time with the X-Coil.  It is time for Arizona trips I would say.  That would be Gold Basin and Quartzsite, in that order when I get the time.  I need to spend a couple of hours learning what a deep or faint gold sound is with my settings and new coil.  I did try to dig everything but also listen for obvious targets also.

The 15x10 X-Coil is a pleasure to swing.  Andy has said in another thread he compares his 10x10 to an SDC coil.  I can understand what he means and this is much, much more friendly on the arm with my bungee system than a 2300.  I'll get a picture of that one day.

Mitchel

 

[mn90403]

Here is a note about making the X-Coil splice.  I tried several contacts before I found a guy who was willing to do the splicing.  Several X-Coil owners have spliced their own connectors and I think that is perfectly fine too.  I'm just not 'set up' for it.

Jeff at Torrance Electronics was the guy who spliced my coil wire for my X-Coil.  He is willing to do the splice in either the Chet way or the original X-Coil way.  He reviewed the 30 page PDF and the online videos before he completed both sides of my splice.  I've shown and use the adapter and it is working perfectly.  He now knows how to do them.

He tested the 19" side but I have not used it yet and don't have any plans to do so.

Jeff is willing to do more.  He would like you to call him at 310-328-2501.  He is a busy guy and he told me the turn around would be in the two week range.  I'd say if you drop it off to him it would be in the $100 range.  I don't know what it would be if you drop shipped it to him and had a pickup when done.  You could save yourself a lot of money if you cut your wire and just send it to him to make the adapter but ask him about that first.

I hope this helps someone feel comfortable about making the X-Coil work without relying totally on your own soldering skills.  The directions are quite clear and I think you may be able to find a local techie if you don't use Jeff.

Mitchel

[Gold Catcher]

Hi Mitchel, I suppose you mean the Dale mining district in the Pinto mountains past Twentynine Palms? Really cool area but mostly lode I think.

Andreas

[mn90403]

8 minutes ago, davsgold said:

In most places over here I need to use "Difficult" and "High yield" and sensitivity 16, occasionally I can use "Normal" HY or Gen and sensitivity about 9 or 10 in normal.

That is something I should have done but I was trying to make it work in HY, Normal on my first two trips.  I didn't experiment enough with my settings.  I've got about 15 solid hours of detecting with it now.  Pointers are appreciated.

[mn90403]

6 minutes ago, Gold Catcher said:

Hi Mitchel, I suppose you mean the Dale mining district in the Pinto mountains past Twentynine Palms? Really cool area but mostly lode I think.

Andreas

There have been a lot of nuggets found there with metal detectors on club claims.  Some meteorites have been found there also.

[Gold Catcher]

Cool. I don't belong to any clubs there but have explored some of those massive alluvial fans hiking south of the 62, i.e. 34.071995°, -115.680626°. Found tons of trash. Also, people shoot their long guns across the canyon. Not very friendly...but need to check out the clubs there. 

[mn90403]

Yes, there are some ranges out there that make it impossible to detect from both a live fire standpoint and trash.  I don't like going out there on a weekend but this was an exception.

[Gold Catcher]

Check out the Gold Park district, just east of Joshua Tree National park on BLM land. Less trash and never a soul out there. Found some small stuff, never anything big though.