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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/23/2017 in all areas

  1. Fair to say a good time was had by all at Bill Southern's fall outing. Plenty of food. It was delicious. Bill smoked 2 briskets, I smoked 1, Kevin Hoagland smoked a pork roast, and someone smoked a turkey. There were a ton of people. Debbie Smikoski, the Minelab representative, came with two suitcases full of Minelab goodies for the drawing, which was free. Everyone walked away with some kind of Minelab goody, whether it be a hat, t-shirt, gloves, etc. Bill donated a Go-Find 40 for the drawing and I donated a pick, there were other donations made as well. Bill, Kevin, Mike Furness, Debbie, and I hosted two training sessions on the Gold Monster 1000. We trained over 50 people on this amazing little gold getter. I went back to a ravine where I had my last successful find and spent one hour walking just to get far enough and exhausted enough that I figured most detectorists would probably be tired of digging trash. That is where I started looking. There was no shortage of trash. Got a nice target that sounded pretty loud, could have been mistaken for trash but I liked where it was positioned, right on the side of the gully before it would drop into the wash. Turned out to be a nice 3.3 gram nugget, perfect pendant nugget. If you have never attended one of these spring and fall outings I encourage you to do so. Lot of fun, lot of good information shared, great food and people. The next one coming in the Spring is going to be at Quartzsite. Here's some pictures. By the way we have moved to a 4500 sq foot warehouse in Henderson. 1180 Wigwam Parkway, Suite 110, Henderson, NV 89074. I sold my office building to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department. I think given the neighborhood, the police would be the only ones safe in that building. I built my building in 1986, so it served me well for 31 years, it was time to cash out. The Metro Police are going to turn my office into a Neighborhood Criminal Justice Center. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Doc from Doc's Detecting
    10 points
  2. We hope everyone will have or has had a Happy Thanksgiving Day. It is a time to give thanks to good family, good friends, good forums and good gold. I'll give some thanks also for some good pictures of the beaches we detect.
    5 points
  3. Gold Monster is a great really easy to operate machine. However, I had bigger deeper targets in mind. Last time I was in that gully I pulled a 3.6 gram nugget, it was positioned exactly the same as this nugget, sitting just up on the side. However it was about a 1/2 mile away from this nugget. The area is really a good looking area with lots of tributaries feeding into the main wash. Probably take 5 years to work the area properly. It's also on a a AMRA claim, of which I am a lifetime member. Cool area. Takes an hour just to get to it by ATV. Doc
    4 points
  4. Nice video from Minelab's. Full article at Minelab website
    2 points
  5. I hope everyone has a great day and a full belly, no matter where you are and whether it is a holiday or not!
    2 points
  6. Wow nice pictures !! Mitchel that's my home turf......plenty of good diving at Point Dume..
    2 points
  7. I can’t answer questions on fine details of the efficiency of any one function until the code is baked. But yes, I have no problem cherry picking copper/silver targets. The reason I sold the CTX was not that the Equinox does better than the CTX, but because I could not find a compelling reason to keep the CTX once I had the Equinox in hand. I am not saying that a true CTX guru might not feel differently.
    2 points
  8. Yeah, I very bother rarely with the manuals GB procedure or ferrite, just go with the Z as is same as any other auto gb detector, but I concur with JP and have found the semi-auto gb seems to be the go, I say seems to be, as nothing is written in concrete in this game. Right or wrong pffff.......... it just gets the weight for me.
    2 points
  9. The averaging is happening on two fronts, since the release of the GPZ 7000 there has been a number of updates so the software has changed a few times, subsequently the averaging is not quiet so important with the ferrite balance any more and basically redundant in Semi Auto mode (I highly recommend users operate in Semi Auto mode at all times). If you are in doubt about your ground balance then its not hard to power cycle the unit (turn off then on again) which flushes the algorithm except for the last known fixed point. Best bet is to pass the coil over the ferrite with the Quick Trak button held in till there is no noise, then pump the coil nearby till there is no noise in either direction (Up or down) then pass over the ferrite again. Keep doing this process till there is no noise heard on the ferrite after the GB has been normalized nearby. You can use the sweep method of ground balance too but I've found there is more accuracy if the coil is pumped once the Quick Trak button is released. The accuracy I seek is down to the auto GB being very slow due to the nature of DOD coils to prevent tracking out deep targets, sweeping gives an averaging, pumping givings accuracy immediately under the coil, I use the pumping method to bring the detector back to a defined point then let the averaging go from there as I sweep the coil looking for gold. DO NOT PUMP THE COIL OVER THE FERRITE, always sweep the coil over the ferrite. There is no advantage in having the ferrite near the coil whilst detecting. JP
    2 points
  10. What is the biggest coil that you have used? I have an 18" Nugget Finder that works very good. I don't need a sled. It is light. The 19" Z coil is a beast. Many of us know what it takes to wield that monster over good ground. Reg's Gold Album thread has several pictures of prototype coils that were very big. Here is a picture I found on Bill and Linda's site for John Bowles. http://www.billandlindaprospecting.com/johnbowles.html What are some of the other ways to use and mount coils?
    1 point
  11. This topic split from a previous thread. Hi Brian, nice to see you back. I follow a lot of your posts elsewhere - great stuff! The reality is I have been and am part of the Equinox development team in my own small way. I therefore have access to information and knowledge that few do. Yes, I do have an Equinox 800. I have to tread carefully but my goal is to bury you guys with Equinox info to the best of my ability. I have a pretty good idea of what I can and can’t say yet, and I am sure Minelab will pull me quickly within bounds if I stray. That is one reason why I only post on this forum now - the original content must remain under my control. Please do not copy and paste elsewhere! Other testers to watch... There is Brandon Neice, who appeared in the Detectival announcement videos, and who is based in Idaho. Brandon goes by Dr. Tones on YouTube There are Derek & Sharon McLennan plus Neil Jones of the DUG THAT OFFICIAL MINELAB EQUINOX 800-600 GROUP who are based in the U.K. At Minelabowners.com, the gentleman posting as ironhearted_gog is Gordon Heritage, one of the members of the U.K. Equinox Test Team.
    1 point
  12. I broke the swing arm on my 7000 so this was my fix. It has been through the fight and prevailed.
    1 point
  13. figured you had one.... could you have 'come out' sooner if you wanted to? question re: FBS dual ferrous/conductive VIDs vs EQ single digit...is there some sort of 'tell' with the EQ that informs one there's a good chance for old silver/copper coins? but maybe you haven't found enough yet to say? the FBS machines were able to let me know when there was a good chance of 'oldie below' with the combo VIDs. was selling the ctx more due to ergos (ie weight loss) than due to a better ability to find oldies on the EQ's part? how accurate is the 'running depth' meter as an aid to a solid VID that 'could' be something 'older'? do you run 'auto' GB most of the time... enough for now you lucky dog!
    1 point
  14. I was at an Outing this last weekend and was able to buy a Profind 35 pinpointer....I like it very much , seems to be real sensitive . It was a big help when using the GM1000 at finding the little bird shot that was the same color as the dirt in my scoop. It also found other lead targets and brass shells. I have not had it out coin hunting yet , but I do think it will be great.
    1 point
  15. I just looked at Rob’s forum and he said he sent some 35’s out yesterday. So the dealers do have some to sell. He did say he had a limited number and it would be some that will have to wait on the second shipment to get theirs. Chuck
    1 point
  16. Beach detecting has been 'orrible ever since Matthew sanded everyplace in.. Considering the amount of erosion Irma did I'm believing there should be much new-old stuff just waiting for a coil to be passed over top.. Problem is being able to get to that line due to the high ongoing on-shore breakers.. The good news would be they've prevented everyone from working that zone for any length of time.. So I'm betting (hoping?) most of what got pulled and churned to there is still there.. Hopefully we'll be able to find out soon, but it won't be today or the following couple either.. Surf's running 3' - 4' at the moment.. ( https://www.surfguru.com/ Under central florida, click 3rd down -- Cocoa Beach Pier.. This cam will place you in the center 1/5 th of what I consider my "beach detecting home location," and includes good views both N & S.. ) When I lived beachside it was about 5 blocks N & W of The Pier.. Today, and for the past 24 years, I live a bit over 20 miles W & N of The Pier, with that stretch still being my closest beach access point.. Just a real-time view is all -- what I check these days to see if I want to head that-a-way since I no longer live beachside.. Swamp PS: Would love to find a reale or escudo.. Need to head further S to the Treasure Coast for a shot at 'em..
    1 point
  17. Steve, Did you go to the dark side! May the force be with you. P.S. Love your posts and all the good information you give us.
    1 point
  18. Got out to hunt coins today, I used my PRO FINDER 35 to pin point, sure made finding my targets in the sand a lot easier. All my targets was non-magnetic so no report on the ID mode.
    1 point
  19. This is real... from http://www.detectorprospector.com/metal-detecting/minelab-multi-iq-technology-details-explained.htm I have highlighted what I think you should really pay attention to. Multi-IQ is derived from: Simultaneous Multi-Frequency In-phase and Quadrature Synchronous Demodulation. We can go to a statement from Dr Philip Wahrlich, our principal technology physicist, about a key difference of Multi-IQ compared to the demodulation taking place in conventional single frequency VLF detectors: “Within the Multi-IQ engine, the receiver is both phase-locked and amplitude-normalized to the transmitted magnetic field – rather than the electrical voltage driving the transmitted field. This field can be altered by the mineralization in the soil (in both phase and amplitude), so if the receiver was only phased-locked to the driving voltage, this would result in inaccurate target IDs and a higher audible noise level. Locking the receiver to the actual transmitted field, across all frequencies simultaneously (by measuring the current through the coil) solves these issues, creating a very sensitive AND stable detector” Precisely measuring these extremely small current variations is quite remarkable if you consider the levels involved. It’s actually parts per billion, or nanoamp signals, we are talking about here! With Multi-IQ, we can derive much greater target ID accuracy and increased detecting performance, especially in ‘difficult’ ground. In ‘mild’ ground, single frequency may perform adequately, BUT depth and stable ID’s will be limited by ground noise; whereas the Multi-IQ simultaneous multi-frequency will achieve maximum depth with a very stable target signal. In ‘strong’ ground, single frequency will not be able to effectively separate the target signal, giving decreased results; whereas Multi-IQ will still detect at depth, losing a minimal amount of target accuracy. Let’s hear more from Philip Wahrlich about the technical details: “For each frequency the detector transmits and receives there are two signals which can be extracted which we refer to as I and Q. The Q signal is most sensitive to targets, while the I signal is most sensitive to iron content. Traditional single-frequency metal detectors use the Q signal to detect targets, and then use the ratio of the I and Q signals to assess the characteristics of the target and assign a target ID. The problem with this approach is that the I signal is sensitive to the iron content of the soil. The target ID is always perturbed by the response from the soil, and as the signal from the target gets weaker, this perturbation becomes substantial. With some simplification here for brevity, if a detector transmits and receives on more than one frequency, it can ignore the soil sensitive I signals, and instead look at the multiple Q signals it receives in order to determine a target ID. That way, even for weak targets or highly mineralized soils, the target ID is far less perturbed by the response from the soil. This leads to very precise target IDs, both in mineralized soils and for targets at depth.” I can sum this up simply by saying Equinox correctly identifies non-ferrous items that previous detectors mis-identified in some way. In bad ground non-ferrous items often are incorrectly identified as ferrous. The depth at which this happens may be much shallower than people think. I can promise anyone that uses an Equinox for very long will start making good finds at depths that are shallow enough you would swear there is no way they could have been missed by so many detector for so long. But as Tom Dankowski is fond of saying, you can’t know what you are missing. Well, Equinox lets you know about at least some of what we have been missing. The depth is there also, but there is more going on here than just “more depth”.
    1 point
  20. Did my choirs all morning and by noon time thought I'd go out for a quick hunt. The days have been nice and cool, ground soft after a few days rain so I went to the usual spots I have been clearing up of iron trash and nuggets. After about 2 hours of wandering, paying attention to my swing speed and listening very carefully I got this sweet mellow tone...along the bank of a small creek, digging down about 7 inches I found this sweet little nugget 1.47 grams.
    1 point
  21. GB, That piece was part of a two piece belt plate that clips into what they call tongue holder part of the belt buckle. I have found military issue ones but they are made (cast) from brass and are solid and heavier compared to the ones mass produced. Many of these found today in the goldfields are bought by gold seekers headed to the goldfields from for example San Francisco or their local merchants they bought other provisions before they set out on their quest. As far as buttons, i have also found eagle D's , and A's center of eagles chest. Those are cavalry ..D stood for the Dragoons. I am no expert, just research I have done after a find..always curious as to what it is and where it came from. Don't throw any of those away....they are valuable to collectors.
    1 point
  22. Minelab would be wise not to impede aftermarket coils in any way. Actively helping and encouraging them would be best. As Ringmoney illustrates coil selection is a very important factor with any new detector, and expanding the selection as rapidly as possible can do nothing but help Minelab sell more Equinox detectors.
    1 point
  23. I 've put a deposit on a 800 because I visit Oz on a regular basis and it will be ideal for those flakes of gold. here in the UK I want wireless like my CTX
    1 point
  24. Minelab usually wire audio positive to tip & negative to ring. They use the shield wire/connection for various things like sensing headphones in the CTX to shut the speaker off or on the GPX where there is no shield connection trip on the inbuilt amp for external speaker use (if correctly wired). A true 1/4" TRS to 1/8" TRS cable should work? Are you sure it's wired TRS on both ends? Check that first if you don't want to modify the headphones - easier to check & modify the cable if needed.
    1 point
  25. There is a Gold Map here: https://finfeed.com/juniors/eym/elysium-resources-announces-gold-discovery/20171122/ Another Gold Map here: https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/junior-miner-news/press-releases/2320-asx/mau/38532-magnetic-resources-outlines-anomalous-gold-trend-across-1-000-metres-at-mertondale-project.html
    1 point
  26. here's the piles I was playing around in..... The hillside also caught my attention but I'm not 17 and no longer a mountain goat....lol Thanks again all for the tips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    1 point
  27. It seems I have spent half my life detecting tailing piles - there are many stories at my Steve's Mining Journal on the subject. Ganes Creek and Moore Creek in particular. I have chased targets in cobbles like you describe for too many hours - but they can be gold. As a rough generality over the year I have found two hot spots in unhunted tailing piles (good luck finding those now). The very top of the pile came off the bottom of the workings and I have found some nice nugget mini-patches on the top of some tailing piles. The other spot is the lowest areas around tailing piles. Once nuggets start rolling they usually keep rolling all the way to the bottom. And then yes, you can find a nugget also just about anywhere else so nothing is off limits. Dragline operations in particular can be a real mess. Do keep an eye out for clay lumps, often covered with moss. If the gold is on a clay bottom a lot of gold gets caught up with clay chucks and discarded. Detect any areas with clay in the tailings very carefully. Another clue is ripped shards of bedrock on tops of tailing piles letting you know they really were at the bottom. Do check the records also. In Alaska many bucket line dredges worked areas where there was nothing but fine gold. I do not hunt tailing piles unless I have some sort of evidence nuggets were recovered in the area. Even then the patience and effort required can be daunting, but at least you know the chance of big gold really does exist, making it worth the effort. Aerial view of tiny portion of Ganes Creek tailings in 2002. The old machine shop shown in the photo was unfortunately destroyed in floods a few years ago.
    1 point
  28. A couple weeks ago when I got back from a hunt my wife asked me "what did you find" and I had to respond "nothing worth mentioning" (meaning no old coins or decent relics or jewelry). She then said "well, maybe you need to find a new spot." Now, my wife wouldn't know which end of the detector to place on the ground (because she couldn't care less about using one), but her advice rang true. Coincidentally I was reading the October issue of the ICMJ Journal and there was an article there by Chris Ralph (who posts here, in case you weren't aware of that) titled Is it time for a change? New ways to find more gold. How appropriate! I see this quite often in this endeavor. For example, advice which seems like it is specific to one detector applies to many, sometimes all detectors. Even though finding native gold poses different challenges than coins/relics/jewelry, there is a lot in common. Chris's article covered quite a bit of detail. For many reasons I don't want to try and reproduce what he said. But a couple key points are 1) instead of going back to the same spots where you've been harvesting gold for a long time, with diminishing returns, start fresh and find a new (with emphasis on minimally searched) location. 2) Try using different equipment. For the latter, he was giving examples of changing from detector to dry-washer/sluice/etc. or vice-versa. But even a change of detector model or just the coil for a coin hunter could break the trend and provide new insights (and valuables!). Regarding Chris's point of finding a new location, I know in my town there are way more old parks that I haven't searched than the ones I have. I've made the mental excuse "I bet those have been hunted hard" but I don't know that. It's kind of a 'sour grapes' rationalization. They're harder to get to (farther away), they have more human use (most of us like to hunt in solitude/peace), and maybe they require more work (new research). But all that seems minor compared to the potential.
    1 point
  29. It's amazing how much expense anyone with a bit of imagination can save by making or modifying/repairing their own prospecting gear. In this day and age of diminishing gold returns every penny saved is important. It seems to me that the market for prospecting and after market gear is heavily loaded towards the affluent weekender. Sorry Mitchel! Off topic, rant over!
    1 point
  30. Here is a picture of the gold jewelry found with the GM 1000. A dime for size. The 18K gold diamond post was found around 3.5 inches deep but the stone is fake. And it was a good signal. A lot of the gold are just very small pieces. But bottom line, if you are willing to dig a lot of targets. You have a very good chance of taking home gold jewelry.
    1 point
  31. Good post GB. I too forced myself to try something new and out of my comfort zone and get the heck out there and do it!! Picked a new I place I've been staring at on my screen and saving for that "full" day I may get some time. And yes the usual excuses dribbled into my head as I am contemplating going.... yup - it was a long drive and not prepared for the cold. I had to hike in a few miles and I had to go alone and barely got out by dark.. blah, blah, blah.....and it was freaking AMAZING and can't wait to go out again. And for my efforts, I was rewarded with my first piece of silver in the three years I have been doing this. Needless to say, I drove home with a very big sense of accomplishment. Nugget hunting is on my list now to get out there and DO IT!! Cheers G
    1 point
  32. And by the way Ringmoney, feel free to start a thread on AKA and bring us up to speed. Like you asked, why does nobody mention AKA? That does include you also. I post stuff all the time just to be informative. There is no forum rule against others doing the same. I would welcome it!
    1 point
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