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I found this a little while back with the Omega 8500. I don't use the Omega very much but I had it out standing behind the door for some other activity and it was the one I grabbed when I headed out the door. Not very big, only 4.05 grams of 18k gold. Took the picture with my Fire tablet so the detail isn't the best but hey, we all like looking a gold even if the detail is a little fuzzy. HH Mike

Orange Roughie patch Post Script 2 On the day that the Roughie was dug up a car drove very slowly past on the nearby road. We were aware that the secret was out, and it was obvious we were being watched. Shortly after, we arrived one morning to discover a number of fresh detector holes that we had not dug. We had been 'moonlighted'. Checking these holes we discovered that although some were very shallow, only penetrating the top soil, others were deeper, going down through soil, gravel, to the clay beneath. These would most likely have yielded gold. From the position of the holes it was obvious that someone had closely observed us and knew exactly what area we were successfully detecting. To put a stop to this I hired a caravan (trailer) that day, and parked it on a section already detected and overlooking the area we were currently working. I then camped there, setting my alarm clock to ring every few hours, whereupon I would take a flash light and check the area. This was not an ideal way to get a good nights sleep, but it did work, and we had no further problems with poachers. I suspected that the car that drove slowly past was the culprit, and two years later I believed that this was confirmed. I had just recently teamed up with John and Ian on the Pulse Induction prototype project, and we had only been in Dunolly for a few days when I recognized the suspect car pulling up outside the Railway hotel where we had booked in for what turned out to be a years stay. I had met the two brothers that alighted, and knew them only slightly. They were a pair of notorious 'moonlighters' from Ballarat. "G'day fellas", I said, "long time no see", and I invited them in for a beer. Over a cold one, and after a bit of small talk, I asked, "look, it's all water under the bridge now, but just how much did you blokes pinch out of Carr's Paddock?" They looked at each other and laughed. "Aha", I said, "so it was you buggers". One said, "well you're half right", we did go down to Rokewood with the intention of doing a bit of night time detecting. We parked our car right up near the old tip (rubbish dump) and walked all the way down Frenchman's creek , but just as we got to the paddock, a car came up the road, and as it went around the bend its lights swung out into the field, there was a guy out there with a detector, so we decided to give the whole thing a miss. "You didn't happen to see what sort of car that bloke had did you"?, I asked. "Well yeah", was the reply, "we returned via the bridge, and his car was parked down there in the bushes". From their description, I knew that car quite well.

I've linked to a thread I started in July. I finally (after over 3 1/2 months, most of which were bone dry) returned to see if I could squeeze a few more old coins out of this site. At the time of my earlier searching the parks department had fenced off a large coniferous tree to prevent the demolition crew from damaging its roots. That had kept me out of that area as well. Now with fence removed I decided to see if my good fortune in the rest of the recently acquired lot could be supplemented. I was not disappointed. Fisher F75, gain of 50, 4H tones ('H' meaning US nickels hit on a high tone, with copper and silver), 5 inch DD coil, either de (default) mode or fa (fast) mode (both filtered discrimiation side) depending upon the amount of iron trash (nails). Supplement that with my now favorites: White's Prostar headphones and White's TRX pinpointer. I was able to get in 8 1/2 hours over the weekend before the stormy weather arrived. I didn't start under the tree but rather along the street curb, some of which I had searched once (without too much success) and some virgin. After 2 1/2 hours with nothing more than a Zincoln to show for the effort I switched over to the unsearched area under the tree. It didn't take long for the production to result. Deepest coin (Wheatie) was 5 inches; compare that with the deepest ring tab of 6 inches. Even though I was running at a gain of 50 compared to July hunts' 70 I was finding targets at similar depth. Most pennies were in the 3-4 inch range. The silver dime (1945 plain -- see photo below) was only 2 inches deep. So much for the theory that coins always sink considerably with time. Over 50 years in the ground and only down 2 inches. I added 14 more Wheats to the 36 I had found there in July, and my 5th silver coin (3rd Merc) from this reclaimed lot. The sterling ring was also under the tree, likely dropped by a child many decades ago. With a severe storm approaching (my several hundred $ lightening indicator told me so ) I worked my way to the car, but dragged the coil along the edge of a couple sidewalks to see if anything jumped out. With minutes to spare before the skies opened I got a strong but inconsistent ID signal. I guessed either a nickel or a pulltab, got a low but clear signal from the TRX, and dug down about 3 inches to find... gold! 16 grams of 14kt. I told my wife that my best find ever won't be staying with me for long. The owner's full name is inscribed on the inner surface so shouldn't be too hard to locate.

Quote by Tiftaaft: Thought I would throw some love at the Tesoro forum since it has been quiet here since Steve set it up. ... Tim, glad you posted this, and as a long-time Tesoro fan, for over 34 years now, I'll have to devote more attention to this Forum. I recently purchased a Vaquero Black with both the 12x8 and the 5.75 widescan.... I also added the newer black-packaged Vaquero to my detector team and outfitted it for my needs and wants. The 'Black' Vaquero comes standard with the new 8X11 RSD Double-D coil which works well for me in my Tesoro set-up because I grab this unit with this bigger coil for coverage when hunting a beach, a plowed field or other larger open-area that has metal targets well spaced. That allows me to get the benefits of depth-of-detection the Vaquero provides. As a rule, even though I have been using Double-D search coil designs since putting the early Compass Yukon TR models to work in 1971, I still prefer a Concentric coil over a DD most of the time ... if I have that option. I do with the Vaquero, and I keep the thin-profile 6" Concentric mounted full-time on my Vaquero. (Marketing folks thought the 5.75 name would be cute but the coil measures almost exactly 6" in diameter.) I am still choosing my locations and learning the settings, but there is just something about running a Tesoro... so much fun!!... 'Fun' is a key word to figure in when using any detector that is simple, functional, and works really well for our wants and needs, and the Vaquero fits that category, to be sure. For me, settings are pretty easy: • I adjust for a proper slight audio Threshold hum. • Usually GB to be spot-on when hunting in the All Metal mode, or just slightly negative when searching in the Discriminate mode. • Discrimination is either set at 'minimum' to respond to non-ferrous targets and most ferrous debris, or increase just to the point where I just barely reject common iron nails. I never use more than that. • Unless I am close to some interfering source, I leave the Frequency Shift toggle in the center position to operate at 14.5 kHz. My intent was for it to be a good grab and go for tot lots, curb strips and edges of basketball courts, though I do have a Compadre as well. But the 12x8 also lends itself to walking into the field as well. While I am still trying to understand the true depth of this unit, it is definitely meeting my initial expectations, and I believe it can also be a good unit to hit areas that I have already covered with my other detectors, and possibly squeak out an additional find or two.. especially with the 5.75 coil. I have already found a couple of junk rings and a good ratio of clad for the actual swing time I have posted... looking forward to finding some gold, or something with a little age to it. HH Tim.... All my Tesoro units serve the "grab-and-go" niche in my arsenal, but at times I also work them like I used to as a primary search tool. Generally they are my first pick for cruising tot-lots and playgrounds at parks and schools, hitting sidewalk tear-ups and other renovation work, and for 'scouting' out-of-the-way locations I research to see if there is a hint of potential production at the site. I did send my Vaquero to Tesoro to get the high-tone modification, and while it isn't quite as high as what I get from my Silver Sabre µMAX (pronounced microMAX) it makes the audio response a lot more 'hearable' for my impaired hearing/deafness. Quote by GB Amateur: I have a couple more questions for you guys (and any other Tesoro users for that matter): 1) how many tones does the Vaquero (and other Tesoros) have?... Steve H. gave you good answers, but the Vaquero, like the majority of the Tesoro models, produces a single tone audio response. The older Royal Sabre, Golden Sabre Plus, Pantera and Golden Sabre II had a two-tine audio, but those were older and somewhat larger and heavier than the models produced today. There were a couple of Golden µMAX units that were supposed to produce four processed tones, but today we mainly have the benefits of single-tone audio in most of Tesoro's newer, lighter-weight detector models. 2) Are the modern Tesoro detectors a throwback to the (good old?) analog days in their response?... as Steve stated, Tesoro essentially ARE based on an analog circuitry which some of us certainly enjoy. It makes a great complement to the more modern digitally-based models most of us are using. That's a pretty vague description/question, I realize. What annoys me still (yeh, of course I live with it because of all the nicities digital signal processing brings) is that sometimes over large targets I get a short, clean tone (not actually clipped, though) making it sound like a small target when it isn't small at all. I don't remember analog detectors doing that.... Any detector, with an analog or digital circuitry, will sometimes produce a response on some targets that the operator might otherwise expect to be rejected. This is caused by several factors, such as the conductivity of the object (and that factors in what it is made of, plus thr size and shape in orientation with the search coil's EMF), and even the size and type of search coil can be a factor. That said, we see so many of the modern detectors this past several years coming with, or being used with, a Double-D search coil, while most Tesoro models come with, or many of us prefer to use them with, a Concentric search coil. It is a known rule that Concentric coils deal with iron targets better than a DD coil design, at least in most applications, and that's true with both digital or analog circuitry devices. My personal opinion is that while an Average Hobbyist might do okay putting less frequent, shorter-duration hunts with just one detector and be satisfied, any savvy Avid Detectorist will likely own and use at least two or more detectors, often having four-or more in their working arsenal. If so, I think at least one detector ought to be one of the better models Tesoro has offered in the past or currently. In this case, the Vaquero we're discussing can make a nice complement to some modern Target ID/Tone ID digital type detectors. Monte

To be clear - I do not know when the Equinox will be available to actually have and hold. Until Minelab makes an official announcement everything else is just speculation or wishful thinking. How many detectors do you have anyway Chuck? Something tells me you will survive. Take the time like I am doing to do a little house cleaning maybe? The Deus, Tek G2, CTX and Impact all found new homes and the Gold Bug 2 is looking for one. I am down to just five models: Minelab GPZ 7000 - the big gun for big gold Minelab Gold Monster 1000 - clean up the tiny bits the GPZ misses Garrett ATX - backup for GPZ, ocean and lake detecting White’s V3i - runs my Bigfoot coil, jewelry detecting Makro Gold Racer - because I always wanted a detector like this and I feel like Makro made it for me Add the Equinox 800 to that and I am done!

Ah ! .......... The Plot thickens ! Cheers Ashley

I got out to Tarnagulla today for about 4hrs and more often than not I come home from Tarnagulla empty handed but today I managed to get these three. There`s got to be a big one there somewhere waiting for me (I hope), but these three go 0.85 gram Dave

Corfu brings back memories, I found a beautiful 1/4 oz further down the drainages just off the edge on some surfacing back in 1995. The piece was in red clay which just fell off when I put the nugget in water, leaving a bright polished piece of gold behind. Amazing place Victoria.

If that's the qualification then everyone (worth a $#!^) is an apprentice. Proud to be part of the club.

Thanks beatup & Steve. Kiwijw : The apprentice bit was the first thing that popped in my mind after looking through the " Reg Wilson Collection post" and then i posted up this post. But i still consider myself an apprentice as i am always learning, learning, learning. mn90403, Thanks, "Those that have mastered", I wouldn't like to hazard a guess on their gold take and most would never divulge it, But "Those that have Mastered" to me means mastered their detector, Mastered reading the ground and their environment and the gold will come. Cheers Ashley

Got out yesterday with 2 buddies to Franconia, AZ. meteorite hunting. It's been a long time since getting back out there. I didn't miss all the hot rocks, WW2 bullets and trash, digging 2 foot .50 cal bullets, ect. The GPZ handles hot rocks pretty good, but not out there, there are some hotter than a goats ass in a pepper patch. ? But overall it was a nice day, and we all beat the skunk. Here are some H Metal Iron meteorites found out there. Dave

Steve Tell me where it’s written on the number of Detectors a guy can have? Ha I’m like you I sold off my Deus sometime back and some others too. I’ve got two true coin machines and three nugget Detectors. Two others are deep water coin or beach if the need be. That’s beyond 10 feet is what I’m saying. I left one off and that is a two box detector by Fisher. So if you ever need one I’ll loan it to you. I don’t sell a friend that’s been in the family a long time as it has. Believe it or not I do understand that you don’t know anymore than we do about when the Equinox will be out. Thanks for putting up with my bull. Chuck

You know, looking at the gold in your post. I wouldn't hesitate to use my 4 inch sub surface dredge there. I bet my subbie only weights about 100 LBS and it will keep up with any standard four inch dredge. Adding air to any dredge will give you added ability. But its still a two inch and moving overburden is tedious. Something to think about. As far as getting sick from the water, that's never happened but I have had the swim ear thing, I use a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide to keep that at bay. Lastly gold is where you find it. My claim has been worked off and on for the last 100 years or so, a lot of the experienced prospectors tell me where they think I should dig, a lot of times that is the obvious spots like low pressure zones (inside bends and behind boulders) so I try to look for the spots that wouldn't be first on the list of most people. Seems to be working fine. Have fun and be safe.

Tis like most of lifes quests, an open mind helps a lot, keeps you always learning, especially as you get on a bit and find you are always forgetting, ah CRAFT disease.... now what was I on about............

Absolutely. Count me in as well. Every time I think I've got this game sorted, something unexpected emerges from left field just to remind me that I haven't

Good detecting, for sure! fred

High trash, low trash. I expected something better for an explanation of their function. Perhaps the manual will explain further and ML felt the wording fits for the casual use but I need MORE! Since the modes use different sets of freq's I had assumed that one mode, field perhaps, would deal with mineralized ground better. For now all we have is "high trash/low trash". meh! Come on Minelab we arent't casual users! Tom edit: My apologies if it came off like a rant. LOL I'm confident/hopeful ML will give better info eventually and in the manual. Like Steve an many others, I also want it to be a real advancement.

Chuck, I am with you in that I shop for my own Christmas in order to get what I want, and 'Christmas' shopping might take place on any of the 365 days a year. I also feel the new MX7 is going to be one of the best offerings we have seen come out of Sweet Home in many years. It's using a now refined and proven circuitry. It's in a well-balanced package with a properly-located headphone jack, and they have priced it at a remarkably competitive price, too. Something we haven't seen from White's very often in the past decade or so. This new model will quite likely be one of the most talked-about detector offerings in many discussions on Forums, in meetings, and any get-together of avid detectorists. There's no such thing as 'perfect' detector, but it is great to see a more competitive entry come to market from White's. A White's detector was the first factory-produced unit I ever had back in the summer of '68, and I have owned and used and used to sell White's detectors for almost five decades. Some I didn't like very much, but quite a few satisfied me immensely and brought me a lot of success afield. I believe the new MX7 might just end up making it to the top of my all-time favorite White's detector list. I sure am hoping so. Best of success to everyone as this year is concluding, and on into next year as well. Monte

Jen that is a tarantula, basically harmless bite like a bee sting. Wife plays with them all the time, lets them climb up her arms etc. Just one of the many fun creatures you find in the desert. Don't like cat claws much myself. Mike

Mitchel, Some of my friends say 2 ounces per week during the season as an average is minimum just to stay afloat.... That was a clue to me as to how hard it is to depend on prospecting for a living.... ah but what a wonderful office they have!

Reg and JR, This is truly a multi-layered cake. There are enough pieces for everyone to enjoy. Thank you for adding some personality to those things that I swing with a Minelab name on them. Mitchel

Steve I had to read twice on what you last posted about it to totally understand. I do know now that buying the Equinox 800 is money well spent even if I don’t have it yet in my hot little hands. Thanks for your time posting all the info on both Equinox ‘s . Chuck

That's an amazing insight Reg. Thanks

you still have to use a forsner bit to open up the tee that snaps to the GM shaft before cutting though otherwise it will not snap on to the shaft

Dave: More Llanelly than Tarnagulla, but have a try around Black Ben reef and gully. Oodles of small gold there once and the Z cranked right up should find more. Same applies to the reef heaps and upper parts of the gullies draining the Corfu Reef area. PS: Don't tell anyone I told you though!

Hey Bryce, See me when you come in and I'll get you a sticker! Brian

Both my big and little pick where looking a bit worse for wear lately, but they both still have nice sturdy handles on them so I decided to have a go at fixing them. To replace the big pick would probably cost me a couple of hundred bucks. My mate Steve gave me the material , a piece of car leaf spring. I used a 4½" angle grinder with a cut off disc to cut the pieces I needed, (don`t force the grinder, just let the grinder do the work and you wont tear hell out of the disc). I own a 240 volt, 15 amp inverter stick welder that I bought on ebay, ( I have no idea what the equivalent would be in the States), I fitted the new material to the the back of the pick blades, and welded them length ways only, NOT, across the blades, with low hydrogen rods. I wanted to use them for a couple of days before I told the world how clever I was, and I gotta say these new picks are great, so much easier to dig with. Much better than when they were new off the shelf. I`ve only used them 3 days so I still have to see how they stand up, but at the moment I am very happy with them. Dave

Most are swinging AT-Pro's or Ace's and go for the clean sounding high conductors. Racing over the beach cleaning the surface drops. Foil, they don't even go there :-) Get a little moisture and the sand goes all conductive on the surface and it's game over for them. See you next year. I prefer autumn hunts when the crowds are gone. Spring and summer is for fishing on a hard to get at beach. Now I'm generally a real social person,... till the other guy turns up!!

I do not believe in trespassing on others claims, but someday it will be written in law on what a meteorite will be considered. I tend to think it will swade in way of the claim owner.... good info from everyone... thanks Lunk and Clay for the input. I am surprised with all the lawsuits nowadays, there hasnt been a civil case on this subject yet. Dave

OK that was a trick question Lunk. You can't share any meteorite laws with us because there are none. Many years ago I was constantly getting different answers about what was written in the law. Seems nobody could come up with a verifiable answer. It was all like this thread, different opinions and a lot of "everybody knows". I tried looking up the laws but that turned out to be full of lawyerspeak and Not Yours! attitudes in secret libraries far away from any working man. So I did the obvious - I went to law school and learned how to find and understand the actual written laws. Back then that wasn't an easy thing. Took years to figure the system out. Try looking up Shepardizing to get a hint as to how onerous the process was. Lucky for us now in the modern times we can look up any Federal law quick and easy. No need for years in law school. It's like Google Search for law. Here's a link to that search function direct from the folks that keep the law records. I've even done the search for you. As you can see the word meteorite is nowhere to be found in Federal law. I think we can agree that if the word meteorite is not to be found in the law then the law has nothing to say about meteorites? Feel free to play around there it's a great resource. Of course being curious when I first heard these theories about meteorites not being valuable minerals I had to investigate every new theory being proposed. One of the big fantasies in the meteorite circles was there was a case called "The Old Woman Meteorite". Supposedly this was the big case that established that meteories were not subject to location and belonged to the Smithsonian. Well such a case actually exists so I got a copy and read the case and it doesn't address meteorite ownership, mining claims or the actual meteorite itself. The Old Woman case was about the right of the Secretary of the Interior to bypass normal established administrative process in awarding study materials under the Antiquities Act. No issue was raised and no decision was made regarding meteorites, meteorite ownership, public lands, valuable minerals or mining claims. The 9th Circuit simply was carrying out their duty to review a challenge to an administrative decision under the Administrative Procedures Act. Although the decision was judicial it was strictly the final decision on a single administrative action and did not interpret or define anything in regards to meteorites, minerals or mining law. You can read the Old Woman case HERE. As for that BLM "Internal Memorandum" you might observe that expired a year after it was issued? It was neither law nor regulation and was not a public document. It really doesn't matter though because the woman who wrote that memo was in the archaeological resources office. Her job is to enforce the Antiquites Act. The Antiquites Act specifically exempts stone or mineral that has not been worked by men. The writer of that "Internal Memorandum" had no right to make any rules or regulations about stone or minerals. Even if the stone had been worked by a man the object and work had to be more than 100 years old and Archaeologically significant. Even if there were some traction under the Antiquities law mining claim locations are specifically exempt. You can read the whole Antiquities Act HERE. Now we still have the big elephant in the room. The fact that mining claims have been located, mined and patented for meteorite materials. After many court cases challenging those mining claim patents they are still as valid today as the day the claims were located. Despite all the meteorite collectors rumors and invisible "law" that big elephant is sitting right in the middle of one of the most significant falls in the world. Proof that mining claimants own all the valuable minerals within their mining claim - including the valuable meteorite materials. You can ignore that or pretend it's a one off case but several courts disagree with you. In fact the man that made those meteorite claims was the author of "The Law of Mines and Mining in the United States" - still in print today 120 years later.

Okay Barry, it seems that the courts have ammended the common laws of property to decide meteorite ownership cases, but it is certain that the federal government has asserted that a meteorite does not qualify as a “valuable mineral” as defined under the 1872 Mining Law. So I would now have to say that the legality of collecting meteorites on federal land containing a mineral claim would have to ultimately be decided by the courts. I for one would approach the claim owner beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings.

Meteorites found on public land actually belong to the Smithsonian Institution as laid out in the meteorite law. Being a meteorite hunter myself, I know there are definitely meteorite laws in the United States, and they have been used in court battles over meteorite ownership disputes. And also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorite_hunter

The laws regarding meteorite ownership in the U.S. are very clear, and it has nothing to do with the mineral rights: a meteorite legally belongs to the owner of the land it is found on. So technically on public land that has a mineral claim, one has the right to search for and collect meteorites. But since meteorite law is not common knowledge, trying to convince a claim owner that sees you detecting for meteorites on his gold claim could be problematic! However, there are new BLM rules in place that allow only a certain amount to be collected per person per year. Not only that, but if the collection of meteorites on BLM land is for commercial purposes, i.e., with the intent to sell the meteorites, then a permit must be obtained, the cost of which is set by the local BLM office.

Made one a little different from ridge runner that works pretty good also except I took a 1/2 inch standard PVC fitting and opened up the center hole with a 7/8 forsner bit which for those that do not know what a forsner bit is it allows you to cut perfect circular holes through just about anything wood or plastic, I wanted to be able to remove this easily by opening up the center hole on the fitting to 7/8 with the forsner bit it will slip rite onto the end of the shaft of the GM 1000 and is a good snug fit for the rest of it I used 4- 1/2 inch 45% fittings and four pieces of 1/2 inch PVC did not have to glue any of them and it makes a great stand vary stable no more tipping over Thanks Ridge Runner for the inspiration one thing for those that decide to make one like I have described make sure you put the fitting in a vise or something you can hold the fitting with because you do not want that forsner bit getting into your hand or you will be spending the day in a ER getting some pretty serious repairs done to the injury

Here is a slightly different version of this type of stand. This one came with a used detector I bought some time ago so I did NOT make it.. forgive me for my lack of plumbing parts vocabulary but whoever made it, cut the top piece in half which allows it to snap on to the shaft very securely.. You can pull it on and off as you like. Bryan