Leaderboard

Groundscanner and I stumbled upon a spot and I pulled these three 1850 era half dimes out. I’m guessing the flat piece of lead with the “X” scratched in it is some type of game piece. Pretty good day. I was running the Nox on field 2. Thanks for looking!

Mmm! A bit off with his location for the Poseidon nugget discovery site. It was actually in a short, narrow, shallow tertiary lead very close to the Woolshed reef, as were most of the other big pieces. The Woolshed Reef is in a patch of forest (owned until recently by the Harris family) a kilometer or more south of where he is filming. You can occasionally see it when he pans his camera. He is pointing towards the spoil heap of the "Poseidon" claim, a deep lead shaft located in deep ground. the entire Poseidon lead was eventually worked at depth right underneath the Loddon River.

I confess, I did it... Many years ago, down around Yuma, when I was green as new grass I would occasionally bury a penny or nickel for testing. I had no clue about high conductors or low conductors, or much of anything else... Usually I dug them up but not always. One time back around Yuma, I got a very nice signal and fairly deep. After some digging and some anticipation it would be gold...because it was deep. Out came a copper penny...then I realized that I had been there and done that... foolish me fred

Carl is actually their PI expert. Not saying he is not brilliant on VLF, but I am guessing he is the guy that convinced FT to go this route. Carl knows just how many years this sort of PI has been dangled out there, only to never appear. Anyone remember Pulse Devil? What I sure need is the gold nugget version of this machine, although if it costs more than a GPX 4500 I am not sure how much market traction it would get in the prospecting world. In that regard it will all revolve around whether the iron disc truly is better than any other PI. That alone is worth a fortune to a lot of nugget hunters and is really the key question for me. Simply matching the power of the Minelab big guns won’t be enough, and it is looking like the Impulse would need a large external battery just like the Minelabs to get the operating time hard core prospectors would want. A big battery on a harness or belt just puts you back in GPX land. It is the discrimination that will make or break the machine in the prospecting world though, not the price or ergonomics. Prospectors are purely about results. No matter how much I push ergonomics, if a 10 lb detector came out tomorrow with razor blades in the arm cuff that detected gold better than anything we have today people would buy it. That very same question applies to coin and relic hunters. Just how good is the iron disc really? We have had power for years. It is the ferrous disc that has been lacking. A PI with decent iron disc could set the coin and relic detecting world on fire anywhere bad ground exists. While I really want the gold nugget version of this machine I am convincing myself I want this one because it should really work well at Lake Tahoe. That would be the primary use. And then I could give it a go in the milder goldfields. Anything I learn with this version would probably benefit me as getting a head start with later versions.

I'm a little disappointed in the lack of West Coast Beach Hunter finds. I see the whole coast line getting slammed with storm after storm and high winds. Is this not the PRIME TIME to be out there swinging exposed layers of gravels and hard-pan? I know there has to be crusty black discs (silver coins) and the gimmer of gold beneath the coil. Show us you mighty few & faithful... as we inlanders are snowed in and football season is over. I know there has to be a select handful of hardcore detector abusers out there willing to brave the sharks. I've got me new CA style cowboy boots on and Equinox packed ready to go if the invite comes?

I get asked so many questions in the early Spring about Gold Detectors, one of my specialties. To help some of you newer members to DetectorPropspector that use a Ground Balance capable VLF gold detector, this video I did a few years back on the White's GMT will help you. Even if you have the newer Gold Monster 1000 with no Threshold, this video has some recovery tips to help. Proper Coil Control and correct recovery tools are very important when trying to find tiny gold.

I just realized I hadn't made an introduction although I've been following the forums daily for a few months. I'm Morgan and I've been in Alaska since 1980. I get a lot of enjoyment out of detecting as well as the advancing technology. A lot of the work I do is in ultrasonics so the concepts of eddy current, frequencies and penetration are very familiar. I've got a few detectors (well, 5) and other equipment. I'm trying to extricate myself from Alaska. The winters are long, cold and dark and make for a very short prospecting season. So, I've got one foot in Arizona and one still in AK. The forum's are a great resource and there's a bunch of great people here. Happy to be a part of the worldwide community. Thanks.

Went to a park in a nearby town for the first time. I’ve been told it’s totally hunted out. Well, someone missed this 1907 V nickel. It was positioned a couple inches from a piece of trash metal. The 6-inch coil on my Nox 600 sniffed it out, no problem.

I'm not sure where to start, I had an epic day that I never thought I'd see. There are some things you never figure you'll dig and when you least expect it.... BAM!!! I met up with a fellow hunter to do a little relic hunting at a old fort site. His day started off with an 1846 Mexican 1/4 reale and then an awesome button, which he ended up finding 2 of. I started off with the usual lead and percussion caps and finally a 1846 Mexican reale as well. I was having a frustrating start with my wireless earbuds cutting out and the other pair not working at all. I tried using wired earbuds on the Equinox, but kept pulling them out almost everytime I set my machine down. Jimmy let me use his ML80's and that helped me settle down and get some serious hunting done. Jimmy ended up leaving after a few hours and I told him I was going to hunt for another hour and then head to the house. My goal was to at least find a couple of nice buttons to make a day of it, little did I know the fun was about to begin within the next 30 minutes. I worked my way around to the other side of where we had parked, and started finding more lead and a few more percussion caps. I got a screaming 25-26 hit on the Nox, I dug down about 8" and figured I had hit a can or something. I covered the hole, but, thought to myself..... that could be a buckle. I redug the hole and finally pried out a top of an old aluminum can. About 15 minutes later I get an almost identical signal, 25-27, but, when I pinpointed it sounded different. My thought was I was digging a silver coin at depth, so....I was quite a bit more careful with this hole. Almost 8" down I pop out a huge round thing it didn't register what it was until I picked it up and felt the weight. Then it hit me......no freaking possible way!!! I saw the back first, then turned it over, the front had about a 1/4" of dirt caked on it, I carefully rubbed it and there it was My first Union breatplate, something I only dreamed of finding and now there it was in my hand Thank God I didn't dig it like I had dug the other target, no dig marks on either side. Jimmy had found a US buckle a couple of years before, now, I had me a breastplate, something I never thought I dig.

I targeted gold but didn't come back with any. When in Gold Basin you can also target other things. I went back to an area (actually several) where I had found meteorites and I got a couple. One is flattish and only weighs a half an ounce and the other one on the right is 1.5 ounces. These were found with the 7000. After I found them I experimented with settings for the Equinox on finding meteorites. Meteorites are like hot rocks and can resemble the ground. It was really not possible to hear them unless I was in gold mode. I went from slow to very fast. I went from all metal to reject 9 only in gold mode. Hot rocks are the problem for a VLF. I think the setting that needs more experimenting is speed at maximum, iron reject can vary but reject just 9. This gives an audio response for objects above ground noise and lets me hear a meteorite. Does anyone have a suggested 800 setting for meteorites? Mitchel I've added a few pictures of Gold Basin for those of you who don't see it often.

Not wishing to hijack Geoff's excellent thread unduly but just to clarify some misconceptions from the video posted earlier, here's some notes and portion of a map from that excellent prospector, goldfields historian and really interesting conversationalist John Tully: (Credit: John Tully) The short, shallow northwestward trending lead next to the Woolshed reef is the discovery location for most (but not all) of the big pieces. This is a branch of the main NE trending Poseidon lead and is sometimes erroneously called the Woolshed lead on many modern maps, whereas the actual Woolshed lead drains the eastern side of the reef and was worked in the 1860's. The notes on the Poseidon lead is from a small booklet published in 1988 entitled "Dunolly and Tarnagulla Goldfields" by John Tully and now, sadly, out of print. Incidentally, the video also shows a piece of roadside conglomerate. This, and much of the roadbase for the original road came from the nearby tailing dumps of the "Poseidon", "Poseidon United" and other claims along the lead. Naturally, it was rich in detectable gold. This led to that stretch of road being nicknamed "The Yellow Brick Road" in the 1980's by local prospectors - - - :)

They were all New Orleans mint marks. I would love to find one with a San Francisco mark.

Did he offer to buy it? Are you sure it is 24 k ? I think she should do what she wants it it...it is only worth what some other will pay... take it to some other jeweler and see what they say. fred

Welcome to the forum from SoCal. Best of luck!

Deltadigger put a whippin' on me that day - lol. If I recall correctly all 3 locked on at a solid 19. No luck for me that day with silver. All I was able to find was a couple of buttons and some camp lead. Great finds!!

Getting around to something more like I had in mind for a finished product I’ve added floats to my highbanker and can now just drop it in water if the conditions allow instead of recirculating water from tubs. One more item to fabricate is a lower header box in place of thr highbanker hopper without the classification screen, I’ll fabricate a short punch plate instead and the header box will lower the suctions discharge closer to the water surface maximizing the suction effect from the nozzle. video flowing water with the 12v 20 amp suction jet nozzle

Nice, that's the kind of site I enjoy detecting! If any of thsoe are San Francisco minted, could be good news.

Stick with Minelabs, the number one choice of professional prospectors worldwide. There are less expensive alternatives but nothing better. Beware the many vendors who want to take your money by making excessive claims. No metal detector made can find gold nuggets, even the largest ones, more than a few feet deep.

I have reported enthusiastically about models made by every manufacturer of note, but the trolls do seem to come out the most when it is a Minelab. Since the internet relies on people hiding who they really are I do tend to think it is not a coincidence. There are lots of people out there with agendas. Minelab is top dog in many ways and lots of people do hate the company and would love to see them taken down. Many are Aussies oddly enough. My early report on the Gold Monster drew a vicious attack here by a couple Aussies. Yet another machine I feel quite comfortable with having called it right. There is not one review I have ever done that I can go back and read and think I mislead anyone. Why don’t I do big negative reviews ripping on a detector? I simply pass on those since I am only interested in the good machines. The only exception was the MX Sport but that was because White’s backed me into a corner on that one. Having initially been extremely enthusiastic in reporting on the machine, more so than anyone else, I felt I had a responsibility to report when I discovered it was released with massive flaws. Not bugs, but known flaws. I thought all that history mattered but I guess not. Well, that’s not fair. It does to the decent people, just not to people with an agenda. It’s too bad the internet has become such an unfriendly place.

Well it is a wonderment isn’t it from around the time the Nox was released and forward in time. A whole series of Kruzers are released and no one is thrashed as a shill. The Anfibio is released and no one is thrashed as a shill. White’s MX7 is released and no one is thrashed as a shill. White’s Goldmaster 24K is released and no one is thrashed as a shill. White’s TDI BeachHunter is released and no one is thrashed as a shill. Tarsacci MDT 8000 is released and no one is thrashed as a shill. And now a French detector the Manta with a Fisher sticker on it is being released and no one is thrashed as a shill despite the fact that this thing has been shill-ed to death!

There's a few crackpots on Dankowski, I think shoveler hates everyone, he's blasted just about everyone on there before, and may have had a time-out as I haven't seen him on there lately and a big thread where he got pretty nasty was deleted, first time I've ever seen a thread on Dankowski forums deleted, their all about freedom of speech and all that. But I understand what you're saying about Carl, hopefully Carl is working on their Equinox killer, I don't see a need for a PI in my detector inventory, unless I'm wrong, maybe I do need one?

Few holes dug well done thats a nice selection!!!! RR

That's Karma buddy! So happy for you Struck! One of those coins that you never think will be found. Awesome!

Hey Thanks. I couldn't stand to wait. I ran a few test targets over the coil to get some ideas on how the target ID is. So using the Coin Fast mode for test I came up with the below: Copper Penny= 91, Wheat Penny =91, Liberty V Nickel =63, 1878 Indian Head Penny =82, 1935 merc dime=91-93, 1964 nickel=63, Clad Quarter=95, zinc penny=86, clad dime=92, square pulltab=65-66, bottlecap=90, 10k gold men's ring=66-68, round pulltab=73-74, women's small 10k gold ring=58-59 I also took it out in my yard which is horrible and has been hunted over and over through the decades. Found 2 clad dimes in the front yard. One thing I can say is that this ORX can be very chatty. It gives you a LOT of information on what's under your coil. Not so sure I am loving the pinpoint feature and instead have been using the front of the coil in the middle where the XP logo is. I run the tip up to where I start getting the target then size it out and BINGO, there is where I dig. Not a bad first 30 minutes out. There is a whole lot to learn about this unit and getting the Target ID's in your head are the main thing. I can see where over time this is a machine that can really net some finds.

Don't let it bother you. Every new detector that comes out has a buy and try crowd. Been there done that many a time. I will ditch a detector simply because it feels wrong on my arm or does not have enough external speaker volume. Their reasons for owning the detector are most likely just different than yours and don't actually reflect on the detector itself. It does tend to be hard to get the real story as those selling them want to sell them. So there is usually a narrative that explains it is a great detector but they don't need it because of a surprise bill, etc. Such is the world of being an early adopter. I always tell people to wait six months to let the dust settle, but I have been one to be the first kid on the block and so I don't follow my own advice!

And I see signs of just the opposite. John in Edmonton NEVER speaks of anything but Garrett. Ever. His blood runs green. So what to make of this post he made recently. ”But......are there more coming from other manufacturers?” Looks like a heads up to me from a guy who knows something but can’t say. I’ve done that in the past for people with eyes to see. Another interpretation of the videos is they are pushing the ATX to clear inventory ahead of a release. It just depends how you want to spin it. I sure am not going to hold my breath though. Been doing that for years and I just don't have the lung capacity anymore! I can’t say much for Garrett’s VLFs but the ATX is a decent multichannel PI and Brent Weaver is a brilliant engineer. I would not count them out.

Garrett’s response to these new machine rumors appears to have been sending the “HooverBoys” a few ATXs. They have been releasing youTube vids the last 2-3 weeks with nothing but ATX relic hunting. If they are pushing those machines it’s doubtful anything new is in the pipeline

Now, for something different, Flashback Friday Entry:(This is a true story, although I have taken some liberties in enhancing some details, but I have not exaggerated any of the facts about the gold.)Before I start this story, I’ll need to provide a bit of background. I was chasing the gold in the mid 1990-s one summer, in a wilderness area far to the north of where I currently live. While there, I worked with some large-scale placer miners, helping out whenever and wherever I could. In return, as the miners were a wealth of knowledge about the new-to-me area, they gave me valuable tips on where to look for gold in that heavily glaciated region. They also let me tag along as they excavated to bedrock so I could see firsthand the local variables of gold deposition. However, as any of you that chase the gold well know, even with tips from the locals, it’s still possible to find trouble while looking for gold, and that trip was no exception.Story Title: Gettin’ High On Placer Diggin’sSorry in advance to those of you into illegal or licensed substances, or those of you hardy enough to have actually smoked gold, or had it ground finely enough to inject or snort, because this tale does not deal with banned chemicals, licensed stimulants, or hallucinogenic substances. (Except I do think I have hallucinated while dreaming about gold in the past, especially during our long winters.) This story deals with the mind-altering effects of a metal. However, this prospecting tale itself is nonetheless mind-altering and reading it is not without risk.One summer, when the snows had melted and the swollen rivers had dropped enough to allow travel, I headed up North to the gold-fields. Up north means a sixteen-hour drive from my home. But, why drive sixteen hours when there are other gold fields much closer? Well, there’s far less people that’s why, and there’s coarser gold. As for population, there are less than thirty souls. As for the gold, it’s chunky and knobby. On a related note, some of the local boys dig test-pits right in their front yards, then shovel the dirt into a small high-banker onsite, and they get good gold.But, I digress again, and as you'll see, I'm pretty good at digressing. So, to summarize, less people, that’s good, right? But bugs? Bad! There are tens of millions of nasty, blood-sucking, winged vampires! There’s no way to hide from, or to outrun them. The bears, by comparison, are less of a concern, mainly because they can’t fly. But, because the bears are huge, smelly, and can be cranky (kind of like me after too long in the bush) they do deserve some respect.In retrospect, I was in an area of low mountains with fresh, crystalline streams, surrounded by thick stands of deep-green boreal forest. In the low places, mysterious swamps nestled into the hollows and were bordered by countless mounds of glacial till, leavings from the miles-thick ancient glaciers that once bound the land in perpetual winter. The moving glaciers generated havoc, and the ancient, glacial meltwater produced numerous, titanic rivers, and some placer excavations have exposed seven or eight overlapping and intersecting stream deposits. In contrast, the frozen glaciers were dozers on insane steroids, cutting deep down or deep into the original bedrock, then pushing sections of channels helter-skelter, or orphaning sections of channel high above the present streambeds. It was one of these orphaned sections that this story is written about. One day, I was sitting near the wash-plant fixing a broken six-inch pump. Having been at it a while, I took a break. Looking across the river, I noticed something high up on the opposite slope. A line of boulders and river rock ran in a well-defined line along its side. The line indicated an ancient riverbed resting atop the underlying black slate bedrock. It was roughly sixty feet above the modern-day river, and sections of that high channel had sloughed off, exposing a bit of face. Because of this, I scanned the area with my binoculars to gather more information. Clearly, the channel rested on a bedrock rim, while the river-run itself was covered by eighty or so feet of boulder clay, which was then topped by thick forest. All at once, my pea-sized brain was hammered by a giant, golden brainwave . . . I had to cross the river to sample that channel!No argument or thought of personal safety holds me back if there's a shot at getting gold! As hot fever had fired my resolve, I had to act.I grabbed a five-gallon (20-liter) plastic pail, shovel, pry/digging bar, and a small sledge; these items all fit neatly inside the bucket. Next, I shouldered into my prospecting backpack. (I keep all of my essentials in the backpack for easy transport. Nonetheless, when fully loaded, it weighs just a tad under a fully loaded B-52 bomber.) However, rather than worry about the gear in my backpack, I should have chucked it out and made room for a back-up brain instead. As will be seen, a spare brain would have saved me a lot of trouble that day . . .Regardless, all packed up, I made my way down to the river. Now, in Canada, even in mid-summer (which it was), the rivers that far north in B.C. NEVER get warm. In fact, if you dunk your head, you get instant brain-freeze! Ignoring rational thinking, I had the clever idea to delicately pick my way across the stream in my rubber boots, and ballet-like, I flitted from rock to rock. Yet somehow, I lost control. Disaster struck! Prospector, pail, and pack plunged below the surface. (Any comments uttered after surfacing will not be printed here in order to protect the innocent.)In spite of being wet and cold, I fully enjoyed the rest of the crossing (that’s a huge lie!). I felt somewhat refreshed (another whopper) after dragging my cold, soggy carcass out of the water. On a brighter note, after dumping eighty or so pounds of ice-water from each boot, it was easier to walk.So, threading through the poplars and aspens beside the river, I then headed up the slope until I hit a new obstacle: boulder clay. This is the stuff I mentioned earlier, a nasty mixture of tan to yellowish clay liberally dosed with boulders that was abandoned whenever and wherever the lazy glaciers wished. Boulder clay sloughs or oozes down hillsides when it's wet, and later it dries into bomb-proof concrete, though not quite as soft as concrete. As well, getting a toehold on it is the devil. Regardless, I somehow cut some steps with my shovel, and through stubborn dedication, I progressed a third of the distance upslope finding a v-shaped wash filled with cobbles and larger rocks, ones birthed from the channel and boulder clay above. The v-shaped wash held a nest of ill-tempered branches, dead limbs, and exposed roots that blocked my way. However, even with my squishy, soggy socks and boots, I navigated Mother Nature’s hazards. I continued upslope and worked my way into some sheltering pines. At that elevation, the smell of the pines is a wondrous thing; it's a smell I'll always associate with the true sense of freedom only to be enjoyed in the mountain environment while out chasing the gold. At last, I reached the high placer diggin's, the coveted bedrock rim with its ancient channel. Eagerly, I went to work. (I need to provide a little description of the worksite here: Imagine how tricky it is to rest one rubber boot on a three-inch ledge of bedrock, as the other boot powers the shovel, all while trying to maintain enough balance to avoid a tumble down the mountain. Imagine as well using the pick and bar in such tight quarters, while trying to carve out an excavation, one running three feet into the face of the boulder clay in an attempt to expose the bedrock.Success arrived when I exposed the underlying black slate of the high channel. Then, pulling my sniping tools from my backpack, I cleaned every little crevice, cranny, and dip or gutter in the slate and dropped the collections into my bucket. In addition, I added some oxidized reddish-orange dirt to my bucket as well.Not relishing the long haul down to the river with a small load, and wanting a good test sample, I loaded that bucket as heavy as I could in case I only made one trip. So, with the bucket filled, I tossed my tools over the edge to a landing of sorts, lifted the bucket, and turned around. Instantly, I realized something shocking; that return slope looked a lot steeper than it had on the way up! What mind-altering substance had possessed me to get where I was anyway?Clearly, some moron had deluded himself into scrambling to a place no sane person ever would. Moreover, I get myself into such fixes by denying the existence of the laws of physics, and probability, etc. I override and defeat all laws, and any stored wisdom when I'm gold crazy. Yet, I carry on in happy oblivion until I realize far too late what I've done. Regardless of my denial of scientific laws, etc., one law never surrenders to my delusions, and that law, as we shall see, is the irrefutable law of gravity!So, there I was, faced with a problem. I had to go down, no option, because I couldn't go up a vertical wall of boulder clay regardless of how high I was on gold-fever delirium. Deciding on a better course of action, I took the first step down. (This in spite of my brain trying too late to warn me of some impending doom. Come to think of it, I often override my brain's warnings to court danger while chasing gold.)However, the first step really wasn't that bad. I just leaned into the hill and put all of my weight back on my boot heel. Miraculously, it held me in place, and the eight-thousand-pound bucket of gravel and I took another step forward. (Could it be that the bucket was so heavy because of its high gold content? Or, was I just an idiot that had severely overloaded it?)I kept at it, leaning and stepping, and soon found myself in the branches and cobbles that littered the earlier mentioned wash. I took several more steps but then a malicious root or scheming branch snagged my boot. Well, that bucket just kicked out in front of me like it was rocket-boosted. (At about twice the speed of light, Sir Isaac Newton’s law had instant and complete control.)Immediately my brain switched to its salvation-panic mode as I yanked myself back as hard as I could, the bucket jerking back toward me. However, the problem was, my feet no longer cared what I was doing, as in trying to right myself, they chose instead to betray me by heading down the mountain. The effects of gravity increased in intensity as I picked up speed.Now, when viewed from the other side of the canyon, it must have looked as if someone had shot and wounded a strange forest creature, some ugly beast, a raging bull-moose perhaps, or some other smelly, cantankerous critter (a classification I could easily qualify for after weeks in the bush!). It also must have looked as if that crazed creature was hurtling down the slope to a certain and speedy demise.The real truth, however, is that instead of being out of control, I was magnificently in control, in fact, most supremely so. Even with my rubber boots throwing off more smoke than an Alaskan smudge fire, the accompanying smoke was a planned effect to keep the bugs at bay. However, keeping the smoke pouring from those hot boots while simultaneously attempting to apply my brakes among the boulders proved too tricky. In addition, the fact that the three gold pans in my backpack were absorbing more shock than a crash-test-dummy at impact was only a minor annoyance. As well, bashing off the face of the boulder clay was merely a slight test of my prospecting mettle, so to speak.At last, still breathing (though hot and ragged breaths those breaths were), I came to a sudden stop. Some friendly tree branches gracefully halted my ballet-like plunge. (It's rumoured a visiting Russian judge, observing from across the river, gave me a 9 out of 10!)Now, for those with a sense of the divine in nature, this was the perfect moment. The moment that finds the human at one with the mountain (and miraculously still alive). However, more remarkable than my survival was that the dirt had not spilled from my bucket! Yes, that is the wonder in this high placer tale—not a stone was lost from the bucket, not a single grain of sand! So, with pay-dirt still intact, I somehow made my joints regain function, more or less (more pain and less function!). However, with renewed confidence, I set off once again. The only obstacle remaining was the sullen boulder clay.At some point, you'd think the brain would revolt, refusing to power the muscles required for descent, especially after a such a brush with imminent extinction, all perpetrated by some ambitious idiot bent on chasing dirt! But no, the brain can always be overridden! I've located the master switch to disarm it. I've used it many times to stop logical thought, yet I have somehow survived to tell this tale. (This is proof that life is full of mysteries, ones not easily solved by rational thought.)At any rate, about a dozen steps down, the clay, somewhat wet from a seep, remembered one of its admirable qualities, the slicker than greased Teflon quality, and off I went again. This time it was only a playful, sort of jarring bashing, with the odd bone-numbing wallop thrown in for variety. It lasted for a mere twenty or so feet, then I came to a feather-like stop on the gravel below, the contents of the bucket still intact.Although amazed at the miraculous luck required to save such a valuable cargo, I took a break and picked a pan full of golf ball-sized gravel out of my mouth. Next I pushed several teeth back into their sockets, then replaced my left eyeball. After that, I checked to see what the crooked protrusion was that seemed to be attached to my head. Finding that it was my neck, and finding that it was still attached to my shoulders, I set off to the river to pan the dirt!Three flakes, in five gallons. . . . You can't make this stuff up.I guess there's a lesson to be learned here, but far be it from me to get preachy, or to force my hard-earned wisdom on any of you. I'll let you figure out the drug-induced dangers of gettin’ high while chasing placer diggin’s.All the best,Lanny

Because "most" dredgers are fair weather dredgers.. you really only need a drain if you're going to be in freezing weather. It's easy enough to do it yourself but big kudo's to Keene for putting a little more in the correct spot for the drain. A little inside fyi.. Keene pumps might start coming with the intakes on the pump threaded so you can screw the intake hose on, that way you won't get any air.

I may be wrong but I believe this specimen with 72 ounces of gold in it was found at Poseidon only a few years ago by the people that now have the lease there

Nuggets from the Poseidon Rush. Left: "The Christmas Box" - 18 December 1906 Middle: "The Poseidon" - 18 December 1906 Right: "The Federal" - 12 December 1906 David Gordon Collection. Poseidon Nugget. This is the actual hole from which the monster nugget came to light in 1906. Looking west down the course of the lead. David Gordon Collection. The above images are from the excellent Tarnagulla.Org website. Well worth a visit. Found only a few small pieces here personally, but was following up on Jim Stewart, Reg Wilson and John Hider Smith. These guys didn't miss much!

Yep - common labels are: 333, 375, 585, 750, 917 aka 8, 9, 14, 18, 22k

Thanks Gerry! I’ve happily rubbed my plastic scoop against the top of the coil - so glad to know I’m doing that right! ? REALLY appreciate the video and explanation. ? -Julie

Julie, Both sides of the coil will hear the target. I imagine when running the coil over the nugget (when on the ground), my coil was much closer to the ground where the picker of gold lay. When it was in the cup, I was off of the coil some. try to keep the coil as close to the ground when swinging and when a target is in cup or plastic scoop, be sure to do the same thing. That is why you see on some coils, a few scuffs and rub marks on the top of the coil. The attached photo is from the White's 24" small 6" round coil when I was testing it. You'll notice little black nick marks/scuffs across the coil "horizontal". I like to have a slight hum of threshold at all times and that way it is easier for me to hear the change from a potential target.

Not as far as I am concerned at least. Mineralization differences are why I honestly pay no attention to most stuff that gets posted as regards metal detector depth. Florida data is completely worthless to me. I may as well air test for that kind of data. It boils down to get the machines and see it with my own eyes. Frankly, it simplifies life. I don't have to watch tons of videos and ask for advice. If you are a PI user the whole thing about VLF depth gets plain silly. If I really want depth, I will use a GPX 5000 or a GPZ 7000. That's depth! Once you get used to the performance of detectors like that in bad ground all VLF detectors are a distant second. I use a VLF for discrimination, not depth. Argue about the Equinox versus V3i for depth for instance. To me it is a shoulder shrug because compared to a GPX 5000 they both suck for depth. I use the Equinox because I like the total package and its depth is acceptable for me. But I never kid myself that it is going "really deep". It's just a different perspective I guess.

I’ve got my lads home this summer so I’ve been grabbing every chance I can get to drag them out detecting. For me finding some gold is always a good way to get some ready cash for incidental things like beer which both boys now seem to have discovered a taste for.? My attitude is the more I can get them out detecting with them the better because they will soon enough be pursuing their own life directions and if my life at that age is anything to go by no doubt it will be in another town a long way away. So in exchange for beer, a bed, air con, food and the odd bit of cash here and there, oh and don’t forget always running out of data on our internet plan,? I get to occasionally grab one or both lads and go do a bit of father son detecting. Yesterday was a lot of fun, the weather has returned to hot and muggy again (typical February weather in Central QLD) so an early start was necessary. This time we decided to target an area not far from a high voltage power line, not because we love the constant discordant threshold (The GPZ is heaps better than any of gold machine in this regard), but because the gold tends to be chunkier thanks to the area not having been detected as often due to the interference. The keys to detecting here are to find a clear frequency for the location, this is changed pretty regularly as the frequency of the line changes often too, I also find lowering the sensitivity helps a lot and also backing off the B&Z booster a bit to take the edge off the variation. There is also a fair amount of trash so we tend to just focus on signals that sound a bit buried. I was lucky and pinged a deep 1 gram bit only 30 minutes into the session, I held off letting Tim know because its better in a nasty area like this to keep things low key and not too competitive. Being hot and sweaty as well as listening to an annoying unstable threshold is bad enough without feeling pressured from Dad. Anyway this session was kinder to me and I managed to ping quite a few chunky bits poking my coil here and there amongst the old boys diggings on the edges of the drainage. Poor Tim was struggling he had pockets full of lead and trash but no gold, so I suggested he head on over to were I pinged the first bit. Right on knock off time I saw Tim grinning triumphantly and he then refusing to finish off for the day until he had covered the area more thoroughly. Long story short, Tim got the biggest nugget for the session sitting right at 1.6 grams with a grand total of 7.4 grams between us. Seeing how were are partners we spilt the gold with 3.7 grams each or $214 AU for a few hours work, no wonder he likes coming home for a visit.?? JP Some pics of yesterdays session and a few from another one last week. The gold is just a bonus, the true gold is the time spent with my boy.

A note on Recovery Speed. The basic story is lower Recovery Speed settings draw out and elongate/enhance all audio signals. In low mineral ground and sparse targets you can in general say lower is better. In areas with electrical interference lower Recovery Speed settings tend to reduce EMI "chatter". However, the detector gets touchy in bad ground at lower Recovery Speed settings. Ground response is magnified as well as responses from hot rocks. If the Recovery Speed setting is too low the detector will not even want to ground balance on bad ground. Hot rocks will react more strongly at low Recovery Speeds, and can act to mask adjacent gold nuggets, just like a coin can be masked by a piece of trash in a park. Trash items like nails can obviously act to mask nuggets also, and so low Recovery Speeds will enhance nugget masking in trashy locations. Coil knock sensitivity is enhanced by low Recovery Speed settings. This is a problem in particular with the stock 11" coil, not so much with the 6" coil. If the coil seems overly sensitive to being bumped against things, increasing the Recovery Speed will help alleviate this. Which all gets back to that the simple out of context "lower Recovery Speed equals more depth" is an incredibly misleading statement. It is just as accurate to say that higher Recovery Speeds can reveal targets missed by lower Recovery Speeds. If a lower Recovery Speed results in a missed target due to masking, how exactly is that "going deeper"? Anyway, long story short is if you look at a lot of my earlier writing I tend to fight back hard on this idea of "lower Recovery Speed equals more depth", especially as regards nugget detecting with the 11" coil and knock sensitivity. With the 6" coil out now I am lightening up on this because the benefits of lower Recovery Speed are immediately obvious with the 6" coil and on tiny gold in particular. For covering ground I still lean to the higher Recovery Speed setting, but when down and dirty hunting a 20 square foot patch with the 6” coil at a snails crawl low Recovery Speeds can really enhance tiny targets.

And if whatever you are doing is working for you, DO NOT CHANGE just because of what [us] so called experts are saying. You may have discovered some quirk of the machine or something. Just because we don’t understand why it’s working for you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. But, yeah, get more hours, get comfortable and then try some “informed” tweaks. Unfortunately, you may be spending too much time with your Equinox to get there. Lol.