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Madhatter, Have patience (I sometimes don't). Why do you need patience? Well, everyone here giving you their settings and advice spends most of their time swinging without a natural target present. You can't hear what is not there. We all have experienced complete days of 8-10 hours and more without a hint of gold. When you see someone posting 3-4 nuggets now sometimes that is the result of more than one day of hunting. My last trip to a gold producing area took me 10 hours to drive there. I found a little flake within my first hour of hunting and for the next 2 days (20 hours) I was unable to locate any more gold even tho I had found gold in these areas in the past. It is easier to get good or great settings on the 7000 than it is to get directions to a patch to use it. Research your search area MORE than you research your settings. Mitchel

Id set your volume limit to something like 6, 7 or 8, unless you like getting your ears blown out on overload signals. Then adjust your main volume so you can hear your threshold well. 10-15 works for me

It goes to the very heart of what "induction balance" is all about. The V3i and its related documentation is a virtual class on induction balance technology and how it works. From Spectra V3i Advanced Users Guide by Carl Moreland, page 3-2: "V3i uses induction balanced loops which rely on a “null” between the transmit coil and the receive coil. The quality of the null may determine the point at which the detector overloads, especially when running Tx Boost along with high Rx Gain settings. Null quality varies loop-to-loop, so some loops may overload at lower gain than others." And from Coil Basics by Carl Moreland, page 2: "a second coil can be placed such that it inductively couples with the transmit coil. By careful placement, we can also get the second coil in a “null” of the transmit field, such that there is no coupling. In such a case we say the coils are inductively balanced, and this is where the term “induction balance” (IB) comes from." The V3i pushes coil design hard by running separately at three different frequencies at high TX output. Each frequency must be separately nulled for optimum performance. There are ways to fudge which makes coils appear to work fine but which result in degraded performance. I can slap a 13 kHz F75 coil on my 19 kHz G2 and have it appear to work fine, but the fact is there will probably be ground balance and target VDI issues. It is stuff like this that makes a layman like me question how Garrett can be getting optimum performance with AT coils on detectors running at 13.6, 15, and 18 kHz? Just how far can this be stretched? The X-Terra models show how a detector can sense and compensate for different individual coils tuned for different frequencies. In theory this has a better end resultant than than trying to get one coil to run best at three different frequencies. In Garrett's case the coils are all the same, probably wound for 15 kHz but with loose enough tolerances that 13.6 and 18 kHz are within an allowable range of offset, and with possible electronic compensation going on in the circuitry. Just a guess on my part however it is this sort of fine tuning that does make or break those "edge of performance" differences between VLF detectors these days.

So you have the best detector with the arguably deepest punching coil there is. I've been throwing it around since it came out. In the beginning I had it on for as long as possible but it was late in the season over here and the summer heat halted the crusade. I had not had a single signal .. nada, niete, halemaal niets (well one then - a f&*@ing tree root... on my first day out - see my initial run with gpz 19 thread). The season started a few months ago and I've become a bit more strategic with it. I was only chucking it on when I knew or thought we were in deep ground. So I'm out with the boys and on a spot that has had a lot of gold come off it (a lot means a lot). The ‘girls’ decided they would sleep in as we detected until 1am the night before. "You snooze you lose" comes to mind so I'm up at 6am and into it with the 19". The area had a fair few hot rocks (even with the 19") and then I came across a confusing signal. Definitely not a screamer but got me mildly excited. Scraped away with the boot and the signal was gone. Bugger another bloody hot rock. The sound just made me hesitate and I thought just check it out. There was a small hot rock and I still thought there was something going on - it just felt wrong. I grabbed a few more rocks and found one with a signal. It was covered in shit and I was expecting to see the classic black of an ironstone hot rock. Rubbed it and it was a dark brown and I thought, "I'm in here". Cleaned it up on the spot as best I could and was scanning like a madman to see any speck of colour. After about 30 seconds of scanning there it was - the tiniest speck on the outside. Relief ....... I hammered the area for another half hour then went back to camp. Strategically making just enough noise to get the girls stirring, they arose. "Get any? The call comes from sleeping quarters. "Well yes I did", and threw it to him. The grim look on his face said it all - "he's beaten us". The specie's from this spot had generally been running at 1/3 of the weight of the specie. This one was 68g so the prediction was a 20g specie. The plot thickens........... At the end of the day the boys were a bit demoralised as they had nothing to show, and of course I reminded them of this fact. Out of interest I threw the specie down for my mate to check with his 4500. Barely a murmur, you would walk over it with the 4500. Initially, the look was one of OMG, I can't hear this specie and I could have walked over 30 of these today and would never have known ...... Then it turned too - "mate there's a gram in there at most". They kicked back laughing and joking for the rest of the night happy in the knowledge my potential win was actually a huge loss. I got home and went through the specie procedure to estimate the weight (great calculator at http://www.gold-prospecting-wa.com/gold-in-quartz.html). Whoops, it's 20.9g of gold ......... I gave it a whack. There is gold all through it ...... I just about cried laughing and fired off a few pics for the lads to digest. The worlds biggest and best detector with the largest coil with massive depth gets a bloody floating specie ..... the irony is, well, ironic. Cheers BB

Using the GPX with wired headphones is a pain in the neck for me. So I was looking for a wireless option. When I saw the Pro Sonic system I went ahead and ordered it. What a relief, so much more freedome without the cable. Especially the heavy GPX with all it's cables and the harness makes it so much more pleasant not to have another cable. I can place the detector away from the target area while digging and don't have to take my headphones off. No more cable getting snagged at the handle, no more dangeling wire. Another benefit, on a hot day, I just clip the receiver to the shoulder strap of the Pro Swing 45 and use the speaker instead of headphones. About a possible delay in audio responds, so far I have not noticed any delay. Audio is spot on as the coil passes over the target. Another nice to have feature especially on a GPX is the volume adjustment on the receiver module. So in conclusion, I can say, I am very pleased with the Pro Sonic. I paid $269 for the system. Is it worth the money when you compare it to the Garrett or Deteknix systems? Maybe not. I think the only benefit is the built in speaker of the ML system. Other than that, if you are on a budget or you only use headphones, go ahead and buy the Garrett or Deteknix and safe more than half. I think ML needs to come down with the price to make it more attractive. So why did I buy it? Ohh well I guess I am a ML fan boy ? FschJg

rMadhatter; I generally run my volume at 8,9 or 10; my sensitivity 6-8 vol 7-10 I use Jonathan's enhancer and dual speakers most of the time and turn the enhancer voulume up if it gets windy... don't just listen for clear signals, listen for repeatable changes...you won't hear the subtle changes unless you go low and slow and overlap your coil swings.... fred

Pretty sure he is in Mexico...been following his youtube channel for a while now. He does speak english and makes trips north of the border frequently to hunt beaches with some gringo friends that also have youtube channels. I'm not very good with speaking Spanish..bout all I can say is open the gate and close the gate and don't feed the horse lol strick

Tom, You do know we don't really want to increase the competition, umm... I mean grow the hobby. Some ideas: Think virtual Pokemon. Sell a $1 metal detector phone app with $99 in hardware. First company that gets a metal detector app on a cell phone will win this game. Think $100 Dues. Promote regular treasure hunts like you did with the Easter hunt. Once they get the bug an upgrade in equipment is a given like any other hobby. If I was a metal detector dealer I'd already be doing this. I have an acquaintance that is really big time into solar observing. He creates solar viewing events. No he doesn't make the sun do anything special. He just goes around and makes it possible for people to have a chance to look at the sun. Sets up lots of scopes at different events and lets people look. Metal detector dealers could be doing the same thing at fairs, special school events, boys/girls clubs, scout clubs, etc. Anywhere there is an event where poeple are gathering to have fun, there should be a corn box with some trinkets where you can hand a kid a detector and let him find and keep a trinket. Think bubble gum ring or something. Kid has fun, parents get an idea for gifts or something. Another words in sight, in mind, out of sight, out of mind. Too bad you don't have dealers/distributors selling anymore . HH Mike

Madhatter, I think everyone has given great advice. I also prefer the ferrite and the figure 8ish pattern. My advice on the small gold, which is mostly what I am likely to get here in the states (Arizona) is: 1) go very slow. (maybe 4 seconds minimum for each direction of swing) With small gold, especially, it is not a race. It takes a lot of time to cover ground, but you'll happy you took your time 2) try not to use Difficult Ground type if at all possible. This will greatly decrease depth. Normal will be best. Slow movement will assist with this. 3) Experiment using a sample piece of gold to determine what settings YOU like. For example, I have a buddy that runs the machine silent (threshold = 6). This will narrow down the signal to almost a pinpointing mode. And it will let you run higher sensitivities. Me, I prefer to hear the threshold but I will turn down the sensitivity (down to 3) so my threshold is silky smooth. Any ripple or deviation is likely a nugget. We both get small gold at least down to .03g. Good luck!!

Recently bought a used V3i from a hunting buddy. He bought the V3 new and later updated to the V3i version. The machine is fairly clean and the 10" D2 appears to never been used. He bought two SEF 10 x 12" coils, one white and one black. I was very concerned about the lack of air test distances, but with a few reductions in settings the coils will be sufficient for while as long as I don't run multi-frequency and keep the tx boost off. Did the simple test to see if they were V rated and all failed and one will not ground balance while in multi-frequency. All this makes sense since he originally bought a V3 detector. Now I understand why he bought the SEF coils (he thought they would add depth). I originally bought the machine for only gold/jewelry hunting with the 22.5 frequency which will require a V coil if I run with high sensitivity settings.

G'day Mitchel, Thanks for the advise, I have thoroughly researched the area I am detecting in and I have found gold there. I just wanted to get advise on settings and adjustments as wanted to get some confirmation on what I was doing and where I needed help. I didn't want to know your "patches" Thanks all for the info guys.

Mitchel, my friend...I repeat-just teasing!!!! I confess nugget hunting is exactly that-HUNTING, HUNTING and occasionally finding. I have only been on a few small patches where almost every target was gold. The patch I found in the Northern Territory in 2003 was every nugget hunter's dream. Not a bit of trash. What a thrill! El Dorado's Patch was a close second with almost every signal a nugget....and then there is The Rest of the Story...which will remain obscure for now. I have spend days hunting and not finding...for most of us, that is the way it goes...so sad. fred

I just ordered another one. Not sure if it is Minelab approved. But should help you clean up in a pinch, if in the boondocks for a couple weeks.

Indeed you don't sell the steak,... you sell the sizzle :-) Here are my thoughts on my hobbies. If I want to prepare a meal of fresh daycaught fish, I'm not heading out to sea with rod and reel. If I need some cash, I'm not grabbing my detector and hitting the local sportsfield. If I want a decent knife, I'm not wielding my honed to perfection damascus. If I need to get somewhere fast, not taking the 4x4 with all the camping gear. But when I want some quality ME-time, any of the above will do! Trying to get the kids into this game is like trying to take drugs from an addict. They first need to get their brains and emotions stimulated to mush in order for them to finally realize that a camp fire crackling in the dark is something to enjoy! Even if they hate you with a vengeance while doing it,... in time they will come to cherish those hours sat there just watching the leaves blow by and not saying a single word to each other.

They do their best but many of them are opposed to having any kind of online presence. So I think it's hard for them with the changing market. But some of them do alright without even knowing what Facebook is. Still, I wonder how much BETTER they'd do if they bit the bullet and learned how to use the technology at hand to increase their reach. Old dog, new tricks... Thanks to everyone for adding to the discussion. I'm starting to see that the generational differences play a huge role in the changes we are seeing to metal detecting. There's a whole new crop of hobbyists who spend a lot of time on social media and sharing is a huge aspect to them. They may not be in a detecting club or do much face to face sharing, but you can be assured their finds will show up on Facebook and get a ton of engagement from people all over the world. The interesting thing to me is how little cross over there is to forums like this. The younger set tends to stay away from internet forums. Well, they might read them, but they are not as active as the older guys.

Don't be bitter, Mitchel; there are endless combinations of setting and ears to hear them. Patches are hard to find and even harder to share...besides you used up all your good Karma in the beginning...just teasing fred

Finders Keepers in Kalgoorie keeps them in stock. https://www.finderskeepersgold.com/product-category/gpz/ Matt, the owner, will ship to the USA.

1. A signal graphic similar to the DFX but based on audio response with variable update speed, tie the baseline to threshold. 2. A reading on current GB so I can see when it begins to struggle instead of guessing with my audio 3. The ability to suspend coil operation temporarily while digging, taking a break or just going over to see what my mates found and compare signals. Tired of having to turn things on or off and chucking the detector away so I can dig in peace. 4. As said before, on screen clock without having to open the GPS Both 1 and 2 could be put together but would require a better screen.... 3 would mean a bit of circuitry or maybe programming... 4 should have been a no brainier for the engineers.

If advice/wisdom of metal detecting could be summed up in one sentence, this is probably that sentence. I should frame it and put it on my wall, then read it every day. Those three phrases sounds simple, yet you could write an entire book on each (and I guess some have tried) and still not cover them sufficiently. It sounds and looks so simple, kind of like swinging a weed-eater. How hard can it be? Go over a valuable, get a good signal, and dig it up. Soon you'll be supplementing your income with a weekend hobby! Likely this is why detectors get bought after the intoxicating advertising, and then put on the shelf or sold after a couple outings. How long does it take to get good at shooting a basketball? Hitting a stationary golf ball? Playing a musical instrument? Looks pretty easy watching a pro do it effortlessly. Well, come back in a lifetime and tell me the answer then.

Yep, got that, and thanks again. That was quite a long thread (like some here ) with a lot of good info. I've always been the 'doubting Thomas' type, which explains my choice of careers. I've also occasionally been burned accepting things at face value, but I'm sure that's true of everyone whose lived more than a few years. I want to accept that the F70 is every bit as good as the F75 Ltd because that means I can save lots of $, whether buying new or used. But I guess my skeptical eye also spills over to second guessing. E.g. I buy the F70/Patriot and when I'm not finding as much as I wish, I wonder if the Boost Process would have been the solution. This is what the marketers want, of course, and thus the several hundred dollar additional cost. (As you know and have stated here, there are a few other differences, such as manual ground balance on all 75's, so it's not just the Boost and Cache Processes that differentiate.) The flipside is that I spend the extra money for the F75 Ltd (or T2 black), never see any advantage in using those additional functions, and say "why didn't I just get the F70?" As life's challenges go, this is pretty insignificant.

Lucky, nice finds and great tips. Thanks

I think that I should also add that most large, living cactus are more valuable to me than a nugget. I don't want to make a choice. Now if you are talking about cholla, I hate those things! haha

Hey Strick You said a guy from Mexico but could it be just a guy from a Spanish speaking country ? In Mexico you have two class of people and he don't look as he's on the lower end. Here in Texas we have two class of people too. One who has Oil Wells and like me that don't. Chuck

From the Minelab Knowledge Base Article at http://www.minelab.com/__files/f/274444/KBA_26-1%20GPZ%207000%20Tips%20for%20Better%20Ground%20Balance.pdf "A ‘dust iron’ toroid suitable for the HF frequency band (e.g.1–30MHz with an initial permeability of between 6 and 10) has been carefully selected. It is recommended to use this specific Minelab accessory, only. Alternate ferrites may significantly degrade ground balance quality." You can get the ferrite ring at the link provided by Hawkeye above. Timely, as I just had a discussion with Minelab about the difficulty in finding misc parts. Since all GPZ detectors have been supplied with this part as a standard item for some time dealers probably get no demand for them.

I use it all the time in Manual Ground Balance. I also, retune when I can't keep a stable Threshold. Seems to help? Rick

Strick, try this: https://store.minelab.com/mobile/product.aspx?ProductCode=3011-0301&404;https://store.minelab.com:443/product-p/3011-0301.htm=

Minelab says it is critical to use their ferrite... fred

Meanwhile on the other shaft the guys are now 10.5 meters deep. Progress is slow but I am hoping the pace will quicken this week as I now have 10 guys digging. The rock is changing from weathered granitoid to more competent granite and soon we should be in bluestone which is quite hard.

Thanks for sharing your story. Don't let up on your mates, follow up with a photo of a nice 20 gram button. My experience with the 19" is the same as yours, so hopefully in a few weeks I will scrub a hot rock out of the way the same. Were you in High Yield or Difficult.

My List, 1.Cheaper price 2.Less expensive 3.Lower cost

WOW...... What great find... Congrats...

Dave; Bob Verish wrote an article about the SBW and mentioned me. He wanted to know where I found the pieces I had, so, he came out, camped and I gave him a short tour. On his way out he lucked into a scatter area and picked up a bunch. He later confirmed they paired with SBW. I did not mind sharing my information with him. However, he was just using me to get information and location. I asked for the coordinates to his find but he never would cough them up... he won't ever get anything else from me... fred

1.) Deeper 2.) Deeper 100.) Deeper 101.) Lighter I'll buy another if so. Out of the game until that point.

With my limited use of the 7000...I would have to say that my biggest wish is that I could save programs like I do my ctx. Most importantly going from gold mode to ground type. If I could do this faster I would be happier. strick

Thanks Steve for showcasing my video! I never knew my gasket scraper would get so much praise! LOL.