Leaderboard

Here are a few quick photos of the latest 24K victim. This fine specimen was in some mineralized ground and had some serious iron staining. Comes in at 22 grams = 2/3 ozt, but not sure on the amount of gold yet. Only about 7" depth and found with the 6" concentric coil on the new White's 24K. I'll try to get it cleaned up next week and post some more pictures as I think this one will be a beauty when done. This is my favorite piece so far with the 24K.

I posted earlier in the summer about a new spot that I was using the Monster and my Puffer drywasher at; well, I went ahead and claimed it so I could have a place to go play all the time?The process was a great learning experience, and the guys at our local BLM were really helpful to a newbie like me! I finally got the quarter mile of brush, downed trees and rocks cleared so now I can get in there with my side x side....a bit gnarly still, but doable. I initially attacked the old timers stackings...here’s one that was a screamer in a small depression, seen to the left of the Monster in 2nd pic: I continued to move rocks, detect, then drywash.....here’s the area now, and a sample of a good day’s detecting: I explored other areas of the bench, and Woo Hoo, got my biggest piece....a whopping .43g lol! It was almost 5” deep and pretty faint...pic doesn’t look that deep, but it was: Here’s one scraping/dig hole that had 6 pieces in it! Good thing I kept checking it, for sure: If you zoom on the scoop you can see all them little babies? So the pup and I have been having a fun summer.....nice utv rides along the creek and in the pines, picnic lunches at the claim, and I’m finding a bit of gold while she’s chasing chipmunks all day! Life is good??⛏

So far all my 24K sales have been with the dual coil package for $100 more. I do have one customer who thinks the best coil on the 24K is the one that was designed for it (10" Ellip DD). I understand his thinking, but am trying to educate him on the different soils, types of gold and situations he'll come across when in the field. How many people feel the $100 more spent on the detector is worth the small 6" coil? Des anyone else feel the stock coil is sufficient? This is my latest find with the 24K and it is a 22 gram specimen. Found at 7" with the small 6" coil. Notice the iron staining on it. I sure hope it cleans up well.

After I've broken several times, I've done this reinforcement. I hope it lasts a long time

Graduated from tiddler class today..... So is this more like what you were wanting see?...? Got it at over a foot deep with the Modded 5000 using the Nuggetfinder 16” standard coil... We are calling it the, Pipewrench Nugget”,... my biggest nugget yet..! The jaws of the wrench were added feature by us with the jackhammer... ?

Just starting out and wanted to say thanks for having me.

Yep some of the gold i get is iron stained like that. The black grains are probably just black sands (magnatite and hematite) that is caught in the pores in the gold, but it could be matrix.

Not many posts from the Nevada and California folks this summer - good to see the Idaho prospectors giving the Kiwis some competition! That is a great looking work area you have there Peg. I like the methodical way in which you are working the ground.

Ted, I think Detector Pro is finally listening to the complaints across their entire H/P product line. They were at or near the top in after market MD headphones for awhile with some excellent headsets. But perhaps relied too heavily on customer brand loyalty and reputation and maybe also got complacent in design, cheap part selection, and build quality, as a result. Ultimately got lapped by some stiff competition including improved OEM headphone products by the larger detector manufacturers. They may be waking up to the fact that they can't "phone" it in anymore (pardon the pun) or they are not going to survive in the MD marketplace without going back to their superior design roots. Competition is a good thing.

Published on Aug 20, 2018 by White’s Electronics. Check out this air test on our new Goldmaster 24k. We used a quarter of a #8 birdshot weighing in at about .25 grains for this test. At 1" the target gives a solid hit and at 2" we get a very slight threshold raise with no target ID. Impressive!

I did not do this video and it is good...BUT... my testing has shown much smaller of gold can be found. I'm talking tiny. The other aspect of the test is the Settings as I did not see what settings they had. Now in mineralized soils there will certainly be different results. Prety good test though for those who are not in the know.

When I detected Aussie Land a few years back I built some good customer relations. Since then I have sold a few machines to folks over there. If any of you Aussie's are wanting one, let me know and I'll see what we can do. Don't want to step on ones toes though and I might get told NO from White's but I heard things are changing for the better.

You say that the GB II being too sensitive, No offense meant but this is where the skill of the user comes in to play As in not being scared to turn down the Gain, Any of these High KHZ machines can be classed as "Too Sensitive", Most folks just want to run them maxed out to get the depth out of them, From what you are describing I would say that it might be helpful for you to practice running the GB II at a reduced gain just to get an Idea just what exactly is possible from running these machines at reduced settings, But because it is a VLF/LF people tend to push them too hard. The thing is a VLF will loose a lot less depth than most people Imagine by running a reduced gain setting but the benefit of running them this way has many positive benefits, 1) it will stop the machine getting over loaded with signals, 2) It will help with ID'ing targets between the junk, 3) It will cut down Ground Noise and help the machine Ground Balance better allowing it to run smoother. and the list goes on. I would go as far as to say that in most cases that these machines are "Not" sensitive enough, I would rather have the GB II with the ability to be able to run so hot and have the option to back it off or reduce the gain than be out in the field with nothing in reserve. And just because at times we can run these machine up in the boost zone does not always make it the right thing to do, Most people practice with their Machines running close to MAX settings or above but not many folks if at all practice running their machines at reduced settings Which leads people to live in fear of having to turn down their Gain, hope that helps, John.

Has anybody seen anything like these? Is it just iron staining or something?

Published on Apr 12, 2018 by steelPHASE In this video I talk about the settings on detectors, aiming mainly at the Minelab GPX, SDC and GPZ series. My aim is not to tell you what settings to run, but rather give you the knowledge to make informed decisions on settings out in the goldfields. Now I am no Einstein so I do stumble and fluster in a few spots but I have edited in some text to make things clearer (hopefully).

Don't ask me to explain it, but the forums are up again. There is no way to know if or how long they will be up. So if there is anything regarding past information that you want, you should find and save it immediately. I am still working to get new forums up. I have a host and also have a provider for new forums. It just takes a lot of time to learn the new process of putting them up on the Internet. I am also working to try to migrate some, or all of the old posts into the new format.

EXCELLANT.....!!!!!! I only got one itty bitty today......

Congratulations Peg. A lot of effort but you have found a slice of paradise. Well done ? Dave

I don't think I have ever liked G.G. anything. Poor fit, poor volume, poor sound quality. I bought a pair of the LS.Pelso yellow headphones for the Multi Kruzer. I assume they are the same as on the Nox, except with a different connector. Construction wise, they are much beefier than the yellow Koss headphones and I could tell they block out a lot of surrounding ambient sound. I never got to try them though, as they were dead out of the box and I returned them to Kellyco in exchange for another pair that I requested they test to make sure worked.

Good job on the claim, gold, hard-fun work.... picnic lunches in the pines....priceless. Now that’s what I call a good retirement plan..... and of course FL in the winter ?⛱?

That would be my guess

WTG Peg that's a nice collection of gold , congrats.

Very nice! Keep the photo's and stories coming. The heat and smoke have been keeping me out of the hills here in CA so it's always nice to be able to live vicariously.

All that matters is the case now. It sure seems hard to get a clear answer on exactly who will be stocking the Goldmaster 24K for purchase in Australia. I suppose I could contact each of the listed suppliers and find out but I am not looking for a 24K in Oz myself.

Congrat's on your claim and on the gold. That area looks so peaceful.

This video is just what the thread calls for Published on Mar 30, 2018 by DetectorComparisons. Two newer detectors; both claim to be able to handle heavy mineralization. Don't forget the basic 14 kHz Kruzer and Equinox 600....

Your wife wont know the difference betwern the two detectors if you get a 600. Seems more cost effective than two 800's to me and the fewer settings would be less confusing to a newbie.

The 600 would be less hassle instead of 2 different systems to keep in your head.

Hey mate yeah that is strange, to cold in the gulf for Barra. Might even get out for a swing myself shortly, seeing Pauls gold is giving me itchy feet.☺️

Good point, there is a lot of history up here and you never know what can be found. Unfortunately there is a lot of land too so the density of history is much thinner than Europe. The other unfortunate thing is percentage wise there is very little privately held land. State, Federal and Native Lands are all strict on historical artifiacts which can be anything over 100 years, amazes me how miners can come dig up acres of land, leave all their trash behind, then all the sudden it is a historic site and can't be touched, seems backwards to me, there should be a bounty for cleaning up the litter. Actually there is some very acient history, maybe even metal based. Talked with an archeologist the other day that found a Pleistocene Age find, not sure what, but with native copper abundant in some areas, there could be very old stuff found, might have to see if I could accompany them sometime.

Excellent point Cipher !!! In fact, above all others IMO. 800... on my way !!!

Wow, Now that is a pile of gold. Fantastic finds and thanks for sharing. I love seeing the varieties of character in each nugget. Hats off to you two.

Darn! Sorry Fred. The ballad is called "With My Swag All On My Shoulder" and that rendition is by Warren Fahey, but it is a popular traditional song and many versions are available online, here at least- - - PS: If you install a free VPN provider (such as Tunnelbear) you will automatically bypass all those silly international online restrictions

The 600 is the obvious recommendation. Makes a great backup to the 800 and a great primary water machine so you don't have to subject the 800 to that type of abuse. Even though the Infinium is discontinued, you can probably still find one new in box somewhere, and as a Pulse Induction machine it is perfect for one who likes to dig deep and dig it all... I have an ATX (the Infinium's younger cousin), it's deep, it's heavy (Infinium is a little lighter), it can get wet, and I much prefer using my Equinox in the water. Digging deep bobby pins gets old after awhile, not sure if she would enjoy that... The 600 is the ticket and much less expensive. Best value of ANYHING at or within plus a couple hundred dollars of its price point (except the 800, lol).

As a Christmas present, a friend of mine asked around amongst many friends/acquaintances and received five positive replies for permission for me to search their properties. Last weekend I went to my 3rd (actually 3b since this is a property now owned by one of the original five, but a second property). I find it interesting to compare/contrast two of these properties which I'll call 3a and 3b. 3a) small (<1000 sq ft) home built about 1940 on a corner lot. Total property size ~0.1 acre. There is a detached garage, part of the yard is fenced off for farm animals, and although I had permission to search in with them (goats and chickens) I didn't do as thorough of a job searching their space as the rest, for obvious reasons. I was expecting good results but a 4 hour hunt only produced one old coin -- a late 1930's Wheat Cent. It's possible this site had been searched previously but I think it's less likely than a second theory -- whoever has lived there just didn't hang out much in the yard and/or didn't carry coins in places where they could be dropped. Regardless, I was disappointed to the sparsity of finds, but that just makes me hungrier for other sites and more excited when those produce. To my surprise and appreciation, that home owner told me she was in the process of buying a rental and said I was welcome to search it. Proceed to... 3b) similar size home and lot, but this time no farm animals, built ~1955. Assuming the 'old' coins I seek stopped being circulated by the early 1970's, this property only offers about 15 or so years to have accumulated these targets as opposed to twice as long with 3a. After my previous experience I wasn't expecting a windfall but still was hopeful. Last Sunday I was able to put in 3 hours of searching and covered a little more than half of the searchable ground. During the hunt I was finding a moderate number of coins, mostly copper Memorial cents, a few clad dimes and quarters and a couple Jefferson nickels. I was discriminating hard against Zincolns which might have been a mistake. Two of the copper cents I found (I think both were Wheats but not sure) hit 20-21 ID on my Equinox 800 (Park 1, 5 custom tones, ground balanced, recovery speed = 6, iron bias = 2, gain = 18). When I don't expect Indian Heads I tend to discriminate at 21/22 ID break. I don't like trying to clean coins in the field so although I knew I had some Wheaties I wasn't sure how many. Turns out 7 of the 21 pennies I recovered were Wheats. My standard procedure is to soak in just water for several hours and then use just my fingers (including fingernails) and a soft toothbrush to figure out date+mintmark. Soaking removes the loose grit (think 'abrasive' which is why I don't mess with coins in the field) and a fingernail is soft enough not to scratch the metal. As most of you experience, copper coins that have been in the ground a long time tend to build up a scale which doesn't come off easily. 95% of the time I have to scrape the date area with a fingernail. It's kind of a fun process because rather than seeing a date immediately there is a gradual revelation. For example: "looks like a 194x, no maybe 191x (scrape some more), OK 1942? or is that a 3 or 8? I'm seeing a mintmark but can't tell if 'D' or 'S'. Hope it's an 'S'...." Part of this process is driven by poor eyesight, even using magnifiers. That's exactly what happened with the coin shown below. It looked like a 1924 but there was too much scale to see a mintmark. As usual I hope for the best "please be a -D" but my dreams almost never reach fruition. However, this time, bonus!! Just as I had begged for, a -D (Denver mint) showed through. Of the >200 business strike Lincoln cents, the order of rarity (based upon mintage) is 1909-S VDB, 1931-S, 1914-D, 1909-S, 1924-D. I found the fifth scarecest Lincoln (not counting the rare and sometimes valuable 'error' coins such as the Double Dies and off-metal planchet errors nor 'proof' coins issued for collectors only). In the 1960's I searched bank rolls and pocket change religiously for my collection. I estimate over the years I looked at 25,000 or more Lincoln cents and not only did I never find a 1924-D, but no cents as valuable either. (Actually the value even today is quite modest. Given its wear, even if I can successfully clean off the scale it would only be worth about $15 on Ebay.) Since restarting metal detecting 3 years ago I've found just over 100 Wheaties. 1/100 beats 0/25,000 every day of the week.

I have both the Equinox and Multi Kruzer. I initially bought the Multi Kruzer just because that's how I tend to be with new machines. There are very few people that I pay close attention to on detector reviews. So most of the time I will just buy and test for myself. I initially did not like the MK...I tested it exclusively against the Equinox and in every scenario I put them through, the Equinox was the better unit. So I sold the MK. A month or two later, the guy I sold it to tells me he is getting out of detecting and asks if I know anybody that might be interested in the MK that I sold him. He had since bought the 7 inch concentric coil, the waterproof headphones, and a waterproof power pack for it. He said he'd sell it all to me for $400. Heck I couldn't turn that down for a waterproof machine...if nothing else, it could be a backup to the Nox in case it flooded out on me and for people to use if I ever have someone come tag along with me that doesn't have a detector. So since having it back and getting to play some in the water with it, and having the 7 inch coil that people are raving about....I have came to a somewhat final conclusion about the two. The Equinox is still my primary unit. I hunt coins, jewelry, and Civil War relics, on land and in water. Performance wise, the Equinox goes deeper for me. I like its audio/tones better. It is the first machine I reach for. The Kruzer does have a few things that stand out about it though that, at least in my opinion, is better than the Equinox. The control housing is built much much better. They put a lot of thought into how it is designed. The menu navigation is EASIER on the Kruzer as well. There is no scrolling thru the menu to get to changes. The coil selection is already better for the Kruzer too, and it was announced and rolled out AFTER the Equinox. In the water, I really like that 7 inch coil but do wish they had a 9 inch round option. Neither Minelab nor Makro have that size available. I feel for freshwater JEWELRY hunting, a 9 inch coil would be about perfect. However the 7 inch works much better for me than the stock Kruzer coil IN WATER. The 11 inch Minelab coil is a bit too large for my liking in the water and I haven't been able to get my hands on a 6 inch coil yet. My fear is that the Equinox will go the way of the CTX, and only have 3 Minelab coils available, and then CoilTek will be the only one to do any others for it...which will be over priced oddball sizes that no one wants. -------------- The Multi Kruzer is not a bad choice. In fact as of this writing, for the Equinox and Minelab haters, it's probably their best newer option for competition against the Equinox. They are hinting towards something big to be revealed in Sept at Detectival though. In some ways I would take what they (people on other forums) report with a grain of salt. Some have a huge agenda and strong animosity against the Equinox and are liable to claim/say anything. If I could only have just one machine it would be the Equinox hands down. BUT...IF I were a WATER relic hunter that liked chasing big iron....such as guns, artillery shells, etc. I would have to pick the Kruzer over the Equinox for that. I feel it gives a better audio profile for sizing targets and would give more audio intel for iron objects. I have tried this water hunting for relics stuff and it is exhausting if you don't have the correct machine. Water ways have been human dumping grounds for centuries...there's more junk in creek and river beds than probably the city dump. ----------- I don't hunt ghost towns or sites like that. There is something those guys like about the concentric coils over DD coils that do it though and that's another tick mark on the Kruzer side. I have played a lot with the 7 inch concentric coil on the MK and while I don't find it to be deep...I do like it in around places where home sites have been torn down...ESPECIALLY sites with tin roof or cans. But to be honest, in testing the Nox and Kruzer in these sites, I haven't found the 11 inch coil to hinder the Nox much. I've not found any masked targets that only the Kruzer with 7 inch coil could see...if that makes any sense. Which really has me curious as to how the Nox does handle with a smaller coil on it.

I had the 600, and I think the biggest reason I sold it and bought an 800 is precisely this...I didn't want to have to keep asking myself the very question you just have. Just having to wonder if I was missing anything or leaving anything on the table drove me nuts! I am also a bargain hunter and I knew that at some point, nomatter how good I know the Equinox is, it's not going to be someone's cup of tea. Sure enough. As soon as supply ramped up I found one for just a little more than a new 600, and I jumped on it. I even planned to sell the WM 08 and the headphones it comes with. The headphones I may still, but I fell for that little WM 08 module and now I'm glad I have it. 7 and 8 on the recovery side are noticeably quicker than 3 on the 600 (which is equivalent to 6 on the 800). I can't say I've noticed extra depth from running recovery at 1 on the 800 as opposed to 1 on the 600 (which is equivalent to 2 on the 800) yet, but just the possibility was enough to bother me if I opted to stay on the 600.

I don't own a Kruzer of any kind, and I don't have an impact, although I've had an opportunity to use it and I do have an Equinox 800. The Impact was an extremely deep machine in the little time I had with it. I don't have a problem with the Equinox depth, but if I had to bet, I think there are circumstances where the Impact or Multi-Kruzer would best the Equinox for flat out depth. Not target ID to depth ratio, but flat out until you just barely get a tone type depth. That does matter to some guys. Many guys in fact, until they begin digging all that way only to find that trash hides pretty deep too. Still there are days where I myself will commit that I'm going to dig a certain number of targets as deep as I can reach. I have my dig everything days as well. Some of the other arguments I have seen guys make are that the Kruzer has a better build, a better IP rating, and as Steve pointed out, a wider coil selection for now. A concentric coil is a strong preference for me in milder ground coin shooting, which is one reason I continue to hold onto and use my V3i, and may eventually get a DFX. The DFX especially has a very wide and large coil selection, some offerings from 18"-21". So I can see why someone would choose a Kruzer, but I wouldn't. In the end, the Equinox offers much more, and if you're like me, if you wanted both you can certainly find ways to own them both.

Wow, impressive this is well within GB2 territory in sensitivity.

Very nice Paul...you have certainly gone bush...post the video...they are just words! fred

Put a few bits from “Paul’s Patch” through the ultra sonic cleaner. About 45g in the pic.

A big congrats mate from all the Goldhound crew over here. It was always going to start getting bigger with your determination to hang in there, listen and learn. Goodonya mate.

Good depth shown by this tester with the little 5 & 6 inch coils Thank you ? to the author of this video

Thanks Strick, Good luck and let us know how you do.

My first Roman Silver found with the NOX, Field2. VDI 14/15, default settings 8 inches down, 4 units on the depth gauge. Lovely tone Believed to be a Silver Denarius by Septimus Severus AD209, This side Minerva, the other side the head of one of his Sons either Geta or Caracalla, commemorating the victories achieved by the Romans led by Severus and Caracalla in Scotland AD209 -10.

I just found this video of Toms about the 24K and it looks impressive and it is a first class instructional video on Toms behalf too. John.

Another interesting specimen discovery with the White's 24K. Here is a 10.8 gram (just over 1/3 ozt) I recovered the other day. Approx 7 to 8" deep and heard it fine with good headphones. I posted more details and info on the main Prospecting forum so go check it out. This detector is an easy and exciting machine to run and my success has been better than expected.

Folks, My conditions could be totally different and probably are. The sites I have been detecting are not typical mineralized soils, but more of old worked tailings and ore dump piles. The 1st pic piece was only 3 to 4" and it was a screamer as expected for that size. The 3rd pic, which is the 2nd nugget was maybe 3" at most. The last pic was actually the deepest and it was 5 to 6". Guess I messed up on the photos as I do not have a pic of the 4 posted...sorry. I'm not an Engineer so I could not say for certain if the new XGB alone adds more depth, but I am a believer of the smoother a detector can operate, the easier my ear can hear distinguish a faint signal. I do feel in the sites I have tested, it does run much smoother and less EMI as well. Also, I am able to operate literally 5 feet away from another 24K. This is from White's - Detection of the 24K is better in certain situations up 40%. Yes, even an ugly nugget can look good if you know how to take a picture with right lighting and background. My 4 biggest LIKES of the 24K so far. 1st is User Friendly Operation. 2nd is the Smoother/Fast Ground Balance. 3rd is price. 4th is...I'm finding some nice gold...and having fun doing it.

Are you after coins, jewelry, relics, or all of the above? Also, is the ground mineralization mild or hot? Are the targets shallow or at depth? That info will help on initial mode selection and then we can work on settings. If you are after "all" types of targets I would go with either park 2 or field 2 and use the default settings. Noise Cancel, auto GB on a target free area and swing away. If the iron falsing is overwhelming, then you can dial in a couple clicks of iron bias (setting of 2 or 3) But in thick iron you also run the risk of not unmasking a non-ferrous target with Iron Bias filtering set too high. The key in thick iron is running recovery speed at or a click higher than the default setting (6 to 8, with 7 perhaps being the sweet spot). If 50 tones is overwhelming, feel free to back off to 5 tones. And unless there is also a lot of modern non-ferrous trash, do not notch anything. Make liberal use of the All Metal (Horseshoe) button to interrogate high tones. If you hear a lot of iron low tones, you either have multiple ferrous and non-ferrous targets under the coil, or possibly ferrous falsing. You will have to dig these to see what's what then when you have it down, can start playing the odds. The key is getting to the point where you can minimize use of the filters (disc, notch, iron bias) and let your ears and brain do the discriminating based in tonal nuances. But the above should get you started. If you are focused primarily on higher conductive coinage, go with Park 1 or Field 1 (lower Frequency weighting which hits harder on high conductive targets like silver). In thick iron, you may have to up recovery speed from the default in Park 1 and perhaps lower iron bias to avoid undesirable target masking. HTH

Man; just reading all that could make me crazy-er...I chose simple! Thanks for doing all that writing and cross checking. fred