Your VLF And Why You Chose It

[auminesweeper]

G'day Everyone, As Opposed to asking which is the Best VLF and Starting A Brand War, I think the Most important Questions Are What VLF /S do you have and What are the most important Features To You about Your VLF,

With Me Being an Aussie YEP you guess it I was Minelab NUTS But after Many years looking at Finds on the forums and wondering if I was ever going to find something Like I saw in The Magazines and forums, Anyway I went showing off my Sovereign GT with all the coils I had round A Mates House and he got out a Detector I had never seen Before and within seconds I was deflated And then we went detecting and I realized that Living in an Area with over 5000 years of metal workings I needed A Machine with A Fast Recovery .And Not Only that It Had to be Hyper Sensitive and After Spending Time reading reviews by Certain Young Alaskan Gentleman and dreaming about the Stories he told I ended up with My First MXT 300 and I Struck GOLD, ( 16.4 grams of 18ct ) On my Second Trip Out in The First week, So Back to the AMD forum and I found out about the GMT Goldmaster, So Out with My Bank Card Again and the Next Day I had A shite and Briney ( Bright and Shiny ) GMT should I say, and the first thing I noticed was the Ground GRAB and the Manual GB Ooooo    So Then I was Back On the Phone Ordering the New MXT Pro, It has the Grab button Tooooo , This Grab Button Is worth its weight in Gold because I Never use my Machine without Covers on them and having the Grab saves me having to open the Cover to switch to Auto Track and then back to Manual and the Hand Made Custom Covers Keep my machines Looking Like New, I love the Fact these machines can be Turned On and I am detecting In Seconds and they will work Anywhere In the World, I sometime detect up to 60 hours a week and more some times and the Coil Choice means I can fine tune the machine to suit the Venue, The Manual says You should get about 40 hours from A Set Of Batteries But I have found that I have got over 57 hours out of them and they still were not flat, I would Like to Try some Energizer Lithium Batteries because they run Higher Voltage and with some equipment can last up to 10 times longer and Have many other Merrits,

For those of you who Are world Travellers If you are going to the UK or Europe Make sure you bring a machine with A fast Recovery speed and if you do have Machines Like the V3i or the Deus they will Be Perfect Also, Tesoro's Are Lethal On English Hammered Coins Too,

Anyway Thanks for Listening, ( yeah I Know) Reading.

John

[Reno Chris]

Choice of detector - VLF or not - is based first on what you are doing. Choose the right tool for the job you are performing. If you are hunting nuggets in gold fields, that is one thing, but if you are hunting relics in British agricultural fields it is a whole other thing altogether. The two are only distantly related. Hunting valuable relics in fields full of thousands of years worth of trash in addition to valuable stuff, you need good discrimination, and a VLF is the only viable choice for that application.

[auminesweeper]

Choice of detector - VLF or not - is based first on what you are doing. Choose the right tool for the job you are performing. If you are hunting nuggets in gold fields, that is one thing, but if you are hunting relics in British agricultural fields it is a whole other thing altogether. The two are only distantly related. Hunting valuable relics in fields full of thousands of years worth of trash in addition to valuable stuff, you need good discrimination, and a VLF is the only viable choice for that application.

Very True Chris,, I Have A PI as well, But I bought my GMT for hunting fine Gold In Wales and Scotland As they recently RE Opened up A Gold Mine in Scotland and I am working on going up there for months at A Time, Hence why I Own the Machines I do,

As you say the Trash Is A Very big issue here which Is why I got rid of my GP3500 and went with the SL because I can knock out some of the Junk,

john

[Norvic]

I recently choose a Xterra 705 to compliment the GPZ, but as my son who also has a 705 has recently purchased a CTX and is killing the coins in trashy areas at depths beyond the 705( his verdict), I think I`ll soon be adding the CTX also to my armoury. But I`ll have to work the 705 next to the CTX when I get a chance. The 705 is no slouch, so I`ll check the son out first, he`s not unlike his Dad when it comes to new toys.

[1515Art]

My vlf is a whites sst, I bought it for the ease of use it being pre set for my local ground type here in california. This detector is up and running in seconds, seems to match the mxt in power, has very fast tracking and excellent ground balance. The 15 kHz makes it a good all around easy machine that is very stable for a newbie.

[Steve Herschbach]

I have my PI detectors pretty well sorted out but the VLF units are driving me bonkers. The vast majority of my hours are spent using a PI yet I have a pile of VLF detectors. I just have a hard time compromising and tend to have several machines when realistically one or two would do the trick. I am determined to weed them out but may have to throw a couple babies out with the bath water.

There are only two right now I think I can say for sure I will keep.

Fisher Gold Bug 2 - 71 kHz screaming hot on the tiniest gold. Great for lode prospecting in particular.

White's V3i - 2.5 kHz or 7.5 kHz or 22.5 kHz or all three simultaneously. If this were not enough it runs my Bigfoot coil. My urban jewelry detector.

[Norvic]

Steve, Not having used a GB2, used the original GB briefly, how does it compare with the GM2 which I just loved and wish I`d never sold when PI`s came in. Found it tops on the small surface and specis even in hot ground. I do miss the "fun" of that VLF over the "business" of the PI and now GPZ.

 

Actually I`ll take the opportunity to tell a wee story which explains my brief use of the original GB, out in NQ way back run across a fellow using the GB, we swapped machines for hour or so, he gave the GM2 a run. He was very impressed and left day after to purchase. But we had a few drinks and chat that night, the fellow was David DeHaviland of Gold & Ghost fame. Never seen an operator before or since cover so much ground in a short period but still did it well. Certainly was a privledge meeting him, he was very open and gave me a lot of hints.

[Steve Herschbach]

I have found thousands of nuggets with the various Goldmaster models. Great detectors, no doubt about it. The bottom line is the Gold Bug 2 has a small advantage on the tiniest gold due to the much higher operating frequency. I also like the compact light weight design and option to hip or chest mount. However, the Goldmasters will penetrate deeper on larger nuggets than the GB2 - like everything detecting there is a trade off for jacking that frequency so high. But if it is bigger deeper I am after, I will use a PI.

Last fall I had a Goldmaster V/SAT, GM3, GMT, and Gold Bug 2. Too many overly redundant machines, with the older ones kept out of nostalgia more than anything. The fact is if I needed a hot unit the GB2 was always the one I grabbed so I sold all the others.

[auminesweeper]

Steve, Not having used a GB2, used the original GB briefly, how does it compare with the GM2 which I just loved and wish I`d never sold when PI`s came in. Found it tops on the small surface and specis even in hot ground. I do miss the "fun" of that VLF over the "business" of the PI and now GPZ.

I want to get more time In with My TDI SL, But It has Limited use for me here and I was going to buy A 4800, But I have so much fun with my VLF's every time is like an Adventure,

The GB2 is the King of the Specks without A Doubt, But The GMT having the meter helps me Recognise the Subtle Ground Changes,

I Love the V3i but having all those menu's puts me off it, But yes I want one, whether I will buy one is another matter

The GM3 is Nicer to listen to than the GMT from what I heard on YT videos, whether it is in real life or not is something I can't Answer.

[Hobo]

I can still use a vlf (GB 2 hip mounted) all day, at almost 80 yrs old i can't even lift a SD or a GP any more. LOL