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Vanquish 440 Best Settings For Gold


Reaper

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4 hours ago, Reaper said:

I think the fact that I was in an area rich in Iron ore, probably one of the richest Iron ore areas on earth, threw the thing a little.  I would get a target ranging from 34 to 40 at a maximum depth. Would start digging - scan again the reading would disappear. The other reading I would get sometimes was 2 to 3 (earings symbol) again at a maximum depth. Scan the area again and it would disappear.  Scan it again and would get a weaker hit in the same place. The area was hard to explore due to thick mud, inclines and heat.

It sounds like you were detecting in one of the most difficult sites for an Induction Balance / Very Low Frequency (IB/VLF) detector (to which the Minelab Vanquish belongs).  As several (abenson, Phrunt, Chase) have pointed out, even members of that class of detector that possess ground balancing features have a difficult time.  And I erred in comparing the Fisher Gold Bug family with the Vanquish for just this reason -- the Gold Bug has ground balancing capability and the Vanquish does not.

Simultaneous multi-requency (SiMF) detectors (of which the Vanquish is one) do apparently have some ground balancing logic as the ground is revealed differently at different frequencies, allowing for some correction.  However, as the Vanquish's big brother Minelab Equinox has shown, adding explicit ground balancing adjustability is superior.  This is magnified in difficult ground.

Finding natural gold is difficult (compared to, for example, coin hunting) for many reasons, even in mild ground.  Adding both uniformly (oversimplified description) mineralized soil as well as hot rocks and damp salt -- all things that can coincide -- just multiplies the challenges.  Ground balancing pulse Induction (GBPI) detectors became popular because they are less susceptible and/or more easily adjustable for difficult ferromagnetic ground such as you are experiencing.  But don't be misled, they take considerable operator skill as well.

When I've detected in the NW Nevada desert I've been fooled with good sounding signals (probably similar to your "2 to 3 reading") caused by damp salt located 6 or so inches deep when using the Minelab Equinox 800.  Same result -- dig down and there is no obvious tangible target, just some slightly darker (from moisture) soil.  I've also been fooled in the Arizona desert by small concentrations of ferromagnetic minerals -- basically a small patch of material requiring different ground setting.  And in that case I was actually using a PI detector.

If you are still interested in searching for native gold I recommend getting professional instruction.  I tried on my own but it wasn't until I received that instruction that I started finding gold.  I had a lot of fun in the meantime and certainly some people have been able to figure it out on their own, so you have options.  Take your time and enjoy the journey!

 

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