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Looking For Advice From California Gold Prospectors


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I chase the old gold pocket prospectors who worked out the pockets long ago. What they missed were cleanup during the 1930’s depression. Over the last 170 years the ground has been worked hard by ground sluicing and fires. The hillsides are steep, rocky and thick in brush, vines and canyon oak. The lower elevation red soils favor buckbrush with the east belt soils favoring manzanita. Over the years I have come up with a method for picking up the old timers leftovers that requires crawling under and through these hillside thickets. I have patch-worked together a couple of VLF detectors and I have a good PI detector for the hot ground. What I looking for is a rugged waterproof wireless multi frequency (either in the coil or controller) VLF detector with a 9x5 enclosed Double D coil, an adjustable 150 ohm wireless headphones with one ear cup and a telescoping shaft. In a full multi frequency and individual range of 14, 20, 30, 40, 45, 50 kHz with adjustable polyphonic 5 tones. A modified the Equinox 800 costs to over $1200, the XP ORX is too limited and along with the Deus untested on these California soil types. I have had luck with the Makro Gold Racer but it is limited to 56 kHz &  I hate the tones. The Minelab 705 has been a good fit but is dated and limited to 3, 7.5 and 18.75 kHz. The Nokta Makro Legend may be a fit along with the XP Deus II. However far and few between when I get to the top or discover a long hidden camp I scan for coins. Any recommendations based on real gold prospecting experience on mineralized ground?

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If you want fully adjustable 5 tones...........no detector that has high enough frequency as a single frequency or in multi frequency can do that in their dedicated gold prospecting modes. The Equinox in its Gold modes, the Deus 1 in Gold Field, the ORX in its two gold modes, the Garrett/Whites 24k and even the Nokta Makro Gold Kruzer in their hybrid threshold based all metal modes are 1 to 2 tones at the most. You would have to use the Equinox, Deus, ORX, and Gold Kruzer in one of their discrimination modes to access more than 1 to 2 tones. I don't know the choices on the Deus 2's gold field program yet and the same goes for the Legend's gold mode.

If you insist on multi tones for gold prospecting, Park 2 and Field 2 using the Multi frequency option are virtually the same on the Equinox 600 and 800 which I and others have used very well for gold prospecting for smaller sized nuggets. They can be setup for 5 tones.

Don't let anyone try to convince you that the Equinox cannot handle tough terrain. It can do that easily. 

An Equinox 600 ($649) with a Detect Ed or other collapsible shaft and the Coiltek 10X5 elliptical will run you around $900 especially if you find a dealer with all of those components and who is willing to make you a deal.

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Thanks for the input
The Minelab 705, Equinox & Legend all have an “All Metal bottom” located on the face of the controller. With the ML 705 in “Prospect Mode” with masking around 7 . When the threshold blanks I hit the All Metal button for a VDI reading. If the VDI is in -4 range I may pull dirt away to rescan, if the VDI improves I may switch over to the “Coin Mode”. It is here that I want multi tones. I am familiar with the straight forward Minelab interface and for me the the All Metal button is a must. From what I have read the ML Equinox 800 in Prospect Mode kicks out a VDI. Is that correct?

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The 800 does indeed give VDI readings, and surprisingly accurate ones in many conditions, BUT, I suggest testing accuracy with every significant change in the ground, if there are small numerous hot rocks or heavy black sand it may not be very accurate at all. BUT, even in most bad conditions if you pay close attention to the VDI and you see popping up in all the negative numbers a consistent one or two positive numbers, odds are good there is a non ferrous target in with the junk or bad ground.   

If gold is your target however I would avoid the 600 model because it lacks the two highest frequencies.

BTW, keep in mind that you can use modes other than gold ones to get more than one tone, BUT, the more discrimination you have set in ANY Mode the less sensitivity and depth you will have, and gold mode is optimized for gold.!  Also discrimination takes Processing Time and this reduces how fast the detector responds to a target as well as it does more filtering of background noise, So that is why for Max sensitivity and depth No Discrimination is preferred if you can get away with it.

In situations with constant small hot rocks and hot ground that typically will readout at -7, -8 or -9 that makes it almost undetectable I will switch to gold discriminate mode, BUT, will notch out JUST the number or numbers causing the problem, Remember the more you notch out the less sensitivity and depth.  

On the 800 you also have a Custom Mode, where you can alter a preset mode to whatever you want, save it, and with one press of a side button go to immediately any time you want, Alas gold modes still cannot be set for multi tones.

As for setup for brush, by far my favorite is a Telescoping Rod and the 5 X 10 Coiltek Coil, Super Compact when collapsed, very light, and the 5 x 10 coil with it's extra edge sensitivity and shape beats the Minelab round 6 inch in almost every situation.  Also any Bluetooth APTX Low Latency headset you like will work with the Nox, just make sure it is Low Latency.

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I’ll be pocket hunting the Sierras all next summer, and will be using a GPX 6000 for nearly all of it, and an Equinox 800 when it’s not the GPX. I’m not saying that’s the best combo, nor that the Equinox is what you need. It’s just my choice, for whatever that’s worth. I’ve recovered about a pound of heavily gold laden quartz specimens from the Sierras so far, so I’ve got a few hours in with some success to point to. I have a Deus 2 on the way, but it will not replace my Equinox due to the lack of coil options. It’s as much about coils as detectors from my perspective, because the detectors are all so good. What makes the real difference is the ability to radically change the detector via a coil. For instance, there is no way a Deus 2 can hit as deep on a large nugget as an Equinox with 15” coil. Is that cheating, since the D2 has no large coil? Yes, and I’m all for it. :smile:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/7468-my-tips-on-nugget-detecting-with-the-minelab-equinox/

image.jpeg

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Thanks for the direction

Minelab has a proven track record on mineralized soils and I definitely like the logic & layout of their display. This is the time of year I get out…between storms while the temps are cool, the ground is wet and the snakes are underground. After the holiday dust settles I’ll pull the trigger.

As a side note: Twelve to fourteen feet snow in the forecast in the next two weeks for the Central Sierras. Makes for good spring run off. 
 

Thanks Again, Happy Holidays

 

 

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1 hour ago, Knomad said:

 

If gold is your target however I would avoid the 600 model because it lacks the two highest frequencies.

BTW, keep in mind that you can use modes other than gold ones to get more than one tone, BUT, the more discrimination you have set in ANY Mode the less sensitivity and depth you will have, and gold mode is optimized for gold.!  Also discrimination takes Processing Time and this reduces how fast the detector responds to a target as well as it does more filtering of background noise, So that is why for Max sensitivity and depth No Discrimination is preferred if you can get away with it.

 

Just to be totally clear, the Equinox 600 does not have selectable single frequency 20 and 40 kHz.  As far as I have been able to determine in testing and actual field use, Park 2 and Field 2 are using approximately 40 kHz as one of their multi frequencies. Are Park 2 and Field 2 as sensitive to small gold as the Equinox 800 gold modes? No, but we are talking in 1/4" differences here.

Also, in theory, using more discrimination and tones can make a sensitivity and depth difference on most detectors. Personally, I have not noticed that on the Equinox. Recovery speed does have an effect on depth for sure for small nugget detecting and using too much iron bias will definitely turn small gold responses into iron responses in high iron mineralization.

I went directly from the X-Terra 705 to the Equinox 800. The controls and interface are very similar as are the tones and VDIs. I had an easy transition.

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Keep in mind that the Coitek Nox 5"x10" is an open housing coil.  Buying a piece of 1/32" polycarbonate sheet (I got one from Amazon) and cutting it (I used a scoll saw), then epoxying in place is a decent substitute but the top is still open....  Just realize that the epoxies that keep the skid plate from coming off at the wrong time keep it from coming off at the 'right time' too.  I.e. it's one there for life.

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Out of interest, why not epoxy the polycarbonate sheet onto the existing skid plate not the coil, that way the coil isn't altered for warranty purposes and it just seems to make more sense as you can reverse the entire procedure by just buying another skid plate.

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1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

Keep in mind that the Coitek Nox 5"x10" is an open housing coil.  Buying a piece of 1/32" polycarbonate sheet (I got one from Amazon) and cutting it (I used a scoll saw), then epoxying in place is a decent substitute but the top is still open....  Just realize that the epoxies that keep the skid plate from coming off at the wrong time keep it from coming off at the 'right time' too.  I.e. it's one there for life.

You could use double face adhesive tape. 3m makes one for signage that is waterproof. This is also less permanent as you can use a piece of fishing line between and remove the scuff and be able to replace it. Epoxy will bind to the coil better than the scuff as epoxy doesn't really bind to acrylic that well.

Just a suggestion

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