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This nugget is said to be the world's largest crystalline nugget. http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/sierra_lodestar/article_ca273814-da1c-11e7-b866-b37713f31b00.html

I happened upon this toad today. Just under 2 Oz. 59.8 grams!

If your ever in the area of Murphy's , California its worth a trip to the Ironstone Winery. They have some incredible specimens on display including many for sale in the huge gift shop. Pretty good wine too..lots to see.

Sorry everyone, I have been super busy. I have been detecting Rich Hill area. I was running in extra deep with the Zed. It was a solid inverted signal. I was surprised it didn't have the warble. Probably about 20 inches deep.

I own a V3i, an MXT Pro and an F75. Although I've never used any of them in AZ, I can give you an honest opinion (and this is only my opinion)... I really like the F75, it's light, balanced and has great sensitivity. Unfortunately, it does not have a ground tracking system (only ground grab) and is not my choice in mineralized soil. The V3i does have decent ground tracking and does better with mineralization... The color screen is great and provides excellent visual discrimination capabilities. However, the MXT has one of the finest ground tracking systems ever devised. It was developed by Dave Johnson and is the same as the tracking system used in the GMT... It's lightening fast in adapting to ground mineralization changes. Therefore, if the ground you hunt in AZ is highly mineralized, I would suggest taking a look at a new MXT Pro.

Tom(CA) and I have been working a site that we researched that's produced several 1850's - 1860's seated coins, and some rogue early 1900's coins, as well as a variety of period relics. We tried to get one more trip in before Old Man Winter completely shut us down, and it did in fact shut us down, but not before I finally, got something I've been looking for for a long time, and after watching others find them over the years (I saw Tom dig three!!!), I was starting to think it would never happen. Well it finally happened, and it turned out to be a good one, an 1865 San Francisco minted Liberty Half Eagle!! Here she is out of the hole: Here she is rinsed off: Here's a video of the hunt: Less than 100 known, Mintage: 27,612 Although the mintage of the 1865-S is quite a bit higher than the mintages of the S Mint Half Eagles from 1858 to 1864, it compares in overall rarity to the 1858-S, 1860-S and 1863-S and is only slightly less rare than the others. Almost all known examples of this date are well worn with VF and lower being all one can expect to find. The 1865-S ranks second in the entire $5 series according to average grade and I do not know of a specimen that would grade better than EF. The very few specimens that I have seen were rather softly struck and the mintmark was always quite weak. Thanks for looking, hopefully the next one comes easier

I am getting questions via PM instead of the forum.... “Why did they put an external speaker on the Equinox? Is there anyone that even uses them now days? I know a few that have had trouble with the speaker leaking on the CTX” and “I saw a post saying the Equinox may well have a true AM mode like the Xterra does for prospecting. Would this bring it to an equalizing depth against the Xcal and CTX in the salt water? Have you tried the all metal mode and IF you have, could you do a post on it (true all metal, threshold based, does it lock on when the button is pushed or do you have to hold the button). Curious as to if it is something that could be used like an Excal in Pinpoint or if it is just a quick push of the button to go to a non-notched mode of discrimination.” My perception of Equinox is that it is a general purpose all terrain detector intended to take market share from Garrett AT and Deus. It is waterproof to ten feet and does have a multifrequency beach mode. I think it will do well in salt water. I question whether it will replace a true diving detector like the Excalibur with the hardcore water crowd. For people like me who get in the water maybe three weeks out of the year it’s just great however. Whether it proves sufficient for the hardcore water hunters, only time will tell. The all terrain, all purpose intent of the Equinox pretty much demands it include a speaker. It is just a fact that people expect detectors to have an external speaker. The Fisher CZ-7 was an early attempt to make a detector without a speaker (it had a plug in accessory speaker). It was not a well received idea. The Minelab SD, GP, and GPX detectors have no external speaker, and people have been selling external speaker kits ever since. The vast majority of people think a detector should have an external speaker.. Again, we are talking an all terrain detector here that will see more use out if water than in it, not a dedicated diving machine like the Excalibur. The Equinox has four Detect Modes. Park, Field, Beach, and Gold. The Park, Field, and Beach modes are discrimination modes. Everything is discriminated visually by target id and/or tones. You can block or notch out specific target id numbers or ranges. You can also, at any time, by hitting the “Horseshoe” button, go to a wide open “All Metal” mode where all items are accepted, similar as to the way it is done on X-Terra and CTX. This is not a true non-discriminating all metal mode, but a discrimination mode set to accept all items. The discrimination filter is engaged. You can at any time engage the pinpoint mode, which activates when you press the pinpoint button, and turns off when you press it again. It might serve like the all metal pinpoint on the Excalibur but I am a bit doubtful of that. The pinpoint of the Equinox currently “ratchets” automatically to focus on and pinpoint targets. This is still being tweaked so I can’t say for sure, but I personally would not buy an Equinox thinking it will duplicate how the Excalibur acts as far as pinpoint mode goes. It might in the final version, but I would not want to bet on it. The Gold Mode on the Equinox 800 is somewhat like the Prospecting Mode on the X-Terra 705, a threshold based all metal mode. It operates at 20 kHz and 40 kHz plus MF (MultiFrequency) and is too hot for salt water or wet salt sand. It might be good on dry sand for micro jewelry, but that’s it. For wet salt sand or in salt water, the Beach Mode, which only operates in multifrequency, will be the go to mode for most people.

InTrouble is correct, Crawfords website says: Coming Soon - Expected December 2017. Still no ML official announcement, so we will see.

Hi everyone , I am new to this sport and forum. Have been lookin around here for awhile, some great info here. Just thought I would let you all know that some of the UK sites are showing that the Equinox is expected to show up on there shelves sometime in December. I hope that helps alleviate some of the depression that is showing up due to lack of a firm release date. I to have the 800 on pre order but the ground up here will be frozen until sometime in late March early April. I'm hoping to have mine well before then. Cheers

Nice coin! I'm sure there are more there. You will find them next season! Not to take away from your great find but I did dig one of those 1858S half eagles that you referenced. I know how you felt when that came out..... Congrats again on your great find! do we all do this or what??

This is true however there is no reason why a manufacture could not increase the power output in a digital device. Its not that the output devices for power are analogue its the drivers and receivers being analogue requiring that power to give us that information to dig or not to for machines of that vintage. :) Thing is, to me, there is no reason to do so as digital devices do not really require high power outputs to pull the most information out of the data they process. In fact I expect it would be detrimental to a digital device with higher outputs as it would create more noise in the data than information. I feel older tech is still good tech just have to have an operator behind the wheel to get the most from whatever they are using.

Nice to see you posting on this forum...Get Tom over here now.......after all whats just one more little itty bitty forum strick

Gold Depth is always relative to Ground Noise - Minelab Treasure Talk- by JP https://www.minelab.com/anz/go-minelabbing/treasure-talk/gold-depth-is-always-relative-to-ground-noise

I enjoy the V3i for park hunting, but for simplicity and fun, I really enjoy the M6 or MXT Pro. M6 is a simple, yet fun machine and for our ground a real coin and jewelry machine. Cannot speak for AZ. Brushcreek

No worries...i figured you were hot on the trail of some more fat boys

Crikey, a beauty but for me the original would look better, although I guess it was just a lump of quartz freshly broken from the reef rather then naturally eroded, just gold loses something once acid bathed to my eyes. Mind you I`d still love to find that 44lber.

The higher single freq. capabilities of the 800 will be of little practical use in salt water - there, the multifreq capabilities will be the ticket. They are probably at least the equal of the Excalibur Sadly, like all the multifreq VLF detectors, they will be likely "deaf" to small gold, whereas - away from salt, the single freq 20 and 40 kHz capabilities will probably be very effective for small low conductors such s small nuggets and tiny gold jewelry - and, of course, every bit of aluminum trash. Physics is a harsh mistress! I have an 800 on order - I am keen to see what it does.

I would say that if a person truly wants to learn to use their new Equinox when it's released this will be the forum to do it on. I recognize many of the user names here from the other forums and they're many of the more learned folks in my opinion. I get the impression that many people on other sites are hoping that the Equinox will be a failure just so they can lord it over others. My EQ is paid for and i'm #9 on my dealers list when they come out. I won't be selling my Deus, or my excal II as having a good backup detector is as important to me as anything else. I'd rather take what Steve says than the guy who's using detecting to become the next youtube sensation.

Good deal at Sam's Club: https://www.samsclub.com/sams/24in-protective-case-member-s-mark/prod21372505.ip?xid=plp:product:1:1 Apparently not carried in all brick-and-mortar Sam's Club stores but mine has them on sale for $40. Below is a picture showing it next to my ($150 from Amazon) smaller Pelican case. Note the long lower shaft from a White's TDI (26.75 inch length) which fits diagonally in this larger case. I had to improvise when travelling with my TDI and the Pelican. (Despite what my cat thinks, these are not qualified as a cat carriers!) The Pelican shown is allowed as carry-on although I haven't used it as such. The main value to me is that most cases can be damaged by rough (human) baggage handlers of checked luggage. Both of these came filled with polyfoam blocks. The retractable handle on the Sam's Club case seems a lot cheesier than the one on the Pelican. The Pelican wheel housings are more recessed (so less likely to break off with rough treatment). Other than those they appear to be of similar quality. NOTE: I don't think it is as well made as a Pelican case in the fine details, but I think it would do the job of transporting metal detectors, for example, just as well. I've travelled with both the White's TDI/SPP and Gold Bug Pro simultaneously packed in the Pelican, with two coils each, extra batteries, Lesche hand spade, etc. (Exception being the long lower rod section of the TDI as mentioned above.) I'm thinking I may be able to get three detectors into this larger case. ("How many detectors do you need??" I'll answer that when I have enough!)

I missed seeing what detector you found this with? Could you remind me? This is worthy of an article in one of the hardcopy magazines such as Western and Eastern Treasures or Lost Treasure. It also would likely be highlighted by the detector manufacturer in their newsletters, webpages, etc. It could even make the mainstream media. That's just how impressive this find is, IMO.

Well done!!! Was a bit scared to open the thread based on the header but glad I did

Share away no probs. The big difference is that the GPZ in Normal with a slightly lower sensitivity could easily be run in that ground. The GPX would need the Sensitivity dropped to minimum, and you'd need to have good tolerance to noise. If I had a time machine, I would love to go back and try a big DD on the GPX.

I can only guess that to get it certified for Human use would cost a heap of dollars and apparently the stuff sells like hotcakes now without doing all sorts of clinical trials. Again I say, try it or don`t try it, completely up to the individual. Here is a article I found about the stuff before I first bought it. cheers https://www.todaytonightadelaide.com.au/stories/horse-gel

Hi guys, long time lurker here, havent had much input lately as I very seldom have the opportunity to prospect these days, but enjoy thall the articles and feedback from a really great forum. So , as for the magic carpet ride !, I wouldn’t give it a second thought. But what I did do when I was swinging my first detector was go big on the coil, a 20” DD on an 8klz ft 16000 ,now at the time i was recovering from a prolapsed disc operation ,so swinging a coil that big was pretty ambitious in fact as it turned out to ambitious as I just couldn’t do it . So what I did was I made a wheelbarrow. I used a child’s plastic rimmed front bicycle wheel and a greased wooden dowel as the axle . Basically a wheel barrow frame made of light wood such as pine with out the tub, suspended the coil behind the wheel facing forward and Bobs you’re uncle, worked a treat’. When you hear a target just rock back and forth to pinpoint, obviously you would have to make the frame of the barrow to suit your height and arm length. If I could get my hands on a SD2000 and had the time ......

They are a variation on drag coils / tow coils. I bumped a recent thread on the subject to the top. I won't comment on the blanket style coil since I have never used one personally. The fact the Aussies have not lined up to buy them is all I need to know.

Wow. That is huge!! "The Detector that is worth the wait" ;)

All my comments are well deserved. And the above quote begs the question/suggestion.... "Steve Herschbach Detecting Bootcamp". Just putting it out there. and sign me up for every session. Tim.

Redz, no mate. No big bits found with the sled, but it is a great tool for eliminating a large area in a relatively short time. Diesel is the way to go as far as lack of interference is concerned. The alternator will cause interference, and that is why it must be disconnected while the detector is running. Four stroke engines are no good at all, as they need spark to run, and that causes havoc with the detector. We once tried a Faraday shield and various suppressors with no success, although VLFs are not as susceptible to engine interference as pulse induction.

Sorry didn't mean to drag off topic, just there were pictures of the sled in the album, but most of the large pieces seem to have been found by hand helds. I was just wondering if they were successful in finding some of the larger bits. I was also curious about the EMI as the off roaders here drive my detector nuts

After finding my first Merc in a campground, I have spent lots of hours in every one I can find. The most productive areas is in the duff that has been raked off for a tent. I have also talked to neighbors and friends about detecting their yards and just about any place that is not off limits. I have been on a roll lately. The Merc in the middle was my first one Norm

When I get serious about finding value targets, or I am hunting a place for the first time, I grab my 6 1/2" concentric to hunt with. Nothing I have owned or used has yet to out perform it.

That would not surprise me Reg. Prototypes were often ungainly analog monstrosities from a retail standpoint, but they sometimes lose something in the translation from wild eyed prototype to well behaved retail product. I will still bet every time on people who have top notch research and prospecting skills first. Asking which detector they use comes second. I like my detectors but frankly I don't see why they get so much credit in finding stuff. Consistently successful prospectors generally go from one machine to another and stay successful. People who don't take care of research and basic prospecting skills - well, half the time it does not matter what detector they use or if they use a detector at all. Bet on the prospector, not the machine.