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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/19/2019 in all areas

  1. So today I thought it was about time I took my 2.5 year old daughter out to my gold claim. The claim is in reasonably rugged country with steep slopes and dense vegetation. Most of the gold is found as small nuggets on or near bedrock. There was one spot I could think of that was within 100m of the road where a river bank had been washed out and bedrock was exposed. That said I knew I'd have to cut a bit of a track through the vegetation to get the little girl through. We got to our location after a bit of a scramble down a short but steep slope with the aid of a rope. Was a bit of a performance with a backpack on my back and carrying my daughter. I set her up on a grassy bank next to where I'd be digging and surrounded her with snacks with which to entertain herself. As luck would have it I managed to uncover three small nuggets by clearing the gravels off the bedrock and detecting it. After about an hour she'd had enough and we clamberd back to my car. Needless to say, I'm very proud that she's now big and patient enough to take gold hunting! Oh, we got 0.8g total. However in this case the memories (at least for me) are priceless.
    14 points
  2. I got this piece yesterday down about 6" and until I cleaned it I was 99% sure it was another bird shot. Over the years I have been surprised how many of my bird shot have turned out to be gold. ?
    11 points
  3. Hi, it's the war of marks, lol but it's not a problem the level of performance and separation gold / iron reaches such a level, that it is worth all the bulletproof vests :)
    6 points
  4. As I was leaving this morning my neighbor in the motel was leaving and he was detecting near me yesterday as it turns out. He showed me 3 little bits he had found in the last couple of days. It was good to talk with someone using a 5000 and a 2300. That bit of research this morning on the way out the door led me to get a second bit today about .4g or so. It is the same size as the one he found. His buddy got skunked so I'm doing average for the last couple of days. More later ...
    5 points
  5. I got the word that Jim Straight has passed away in recent days. I last saw and spoke with Jim a bit over a year ago. He spent several hours on both Saturday and Sunday in the ICMJ booth with me at the Pomona GPAA show. He was a good man and wrote many articles for the ICMJ. It is sad to see him go. Jim was a great pioneer in the world of metal detecting for gold. He was on site for a great many famous old gold finds with metal detectors. Yet ye was very tight lipped about those locations. A lot of great secrets passed with him. It was always great to chat with him as we traveled a lot of similar paths - we both graduated from the Mackay School of mines, but about 30 years apart. We both spent a lot of time prospecting around Randsberg, CA and the northern Nevada placers of Pershing and Humboldt counties. I will miss our talks, as will so many other prospectors.
    3 points
  6. I couldn’t resist the good weather and one final beach hunt. First beach I hit was invaded by 3 bus loads of teenagers and a small pack of little kids. I think it’s one of those religious outings. One minute it’s quiet, the next minute it’s total chaos . So, I left to another beach and finished the hunt. This one is all GPX, as my metallic cuff for the Equinox was not in yet. I found a little bit of clad, with a decent amount of copper Wheats/Memorials and some nicely toned nickels. The good finds were limited to a Mercury, silver Roosevelt, silver wave ring, and a silver earring. No gold this time. Not a spectacular hunt, but a good way to end the season. Next week starts the archaeology detecting season that should go right into November. The last two pictures are from 2 seasons of CTX, Equinox and GPX hunting of beaches. I know a lot of people dread pull tabs, (especially park hunters) but on the beach Bobby pins and tent/canopy stakes kill me. Nothing like digging 16” looking for a stake that is really on the side of the hole at about 10” But I guess we all do our share of cleaning the trash from the beach.
    3 points
  7. Thanks for the comments guys. I'm hoping that my daughter grows up to appreciate the outdoors as much as I do. In my opinion too many kids these days are stuck indoors without the opportunity / motivation to get outside and get muddy like I used to.
    3 points
  8. Had a great time hunting the old 1850's site again today. Found a lot of fired lead along with a bucket lister and my oldest silver coin to date, an 1852 seated half dime. This is the first silver coin to come out of this place since we've been hunting it for the last few months. We both knew there was one hiding in there somewhere :-). Running the 800 with the 11 inch coil. My settings were as follows:. Park 2, recovery speed set at 6, iron bias 0, this time I performed a manual ground balance, sensitivity set at 18, 2 tones .
    2 points
  9. Klunker, That is a really great photo but I'd have to say your affliction and memories have called for a vote way too early before the mid-year mark! Lots of other kids and grandkids and even a few great grand kids will be out and about before the end of the year ... or they should. Keep the photos coming. The contest is still open. Mitchel
    2 points
  10. “new metal detector For Metal Detecting, water hunting, relic hunting and treasure hunting”
    2 points
  11. The Minelab Vanquish has been added to the Detector Database
    2 points
  12. Bobby pins are a pain - one of my least favorite targets.
    2 points
  13. I never had the pleasure of meeting Jim. He did correspond with me a few times, and without fail Jim went out of his way with kind commentary. A real gentleman for sure... Rest In Peace.
    2 points
  14. When I first got into nuggetshooting, I learned a great deal from Jim’s publications. And a few years later I was fortunate enough to hunt with him in the northern Nevada goldfields. And then several years ago I ran into him in Randsburg, where he graciously took me on a geologic tour of the area. I will always remember his sense of humor and passion for prospecting. Rest in peace my friend.
    2 points
  15. Location, location, location ... I moved today and the first place I stopped looked like all the others. There was some difference as the slopes down to the deep dig holes were wider and longer. I had my hopes up that this would be different but I came away with nothing again. I had another spot a couple of miles up the road to try before dark. I got there and I could see a difference. Quartz was strewn about and the oldtimer holes were not so deep. The soil was very red and I got excited for a change. My first few swings revealed a nice soil and without much trash. I decided to scout the area because I'd be back tomorrow. About 20 minutes into it I had gotten some trash, I was 'near' the road and I was digging this target. It warbled a bit but so had many others all day. I picked down a bit and there was quartz. I got that out of the way and there was still a signal. Could this be it? YES! It is a little one but my first one! I estimate about .8g but it changes what I write tonight. It doesn't remove all of the frustration from the last week and this might be the only nugget on that patch but I've got one. I'll be back tomorrow and work that area again. I'm not the first one there I assure you. A forum member Pat who makes the SP01 that I am using pointed me in this direction over two months ago. I plotted in the spots last night and got out of Wedderburn. On my way out this morning I talked to the motel owner a bit. He told me a couple of detectorists were in the hotel last night and they had found 3 little pieces in 2 days. Such is the way of gold. He also told me that at about the same time the 20 oz nugget was found in Bendigo someone in Wedderburn had kicked up (no metal detector) a 7.5 oz nugget! Maybe there is still overlooked gold in these obvious locations. I've got a long day to tell about but I'm going to cut it short and post a few pictures. I did see my first hand stacks here. I wondered how they were using them and then I saw a trench on the upper side. They were using it to channel water to the top of another gully. I had read something about lack of water had caused all of the miners to leave sometime in the 1850s or so and when the rains/water came back so did the miners. This trickle trench would have been used to feed a pond at the top of a larger gully. The order these pictures upload are just random. I've forgotten how to control the order but it doesn't care about the time the picture is taken. I have something to say about all the pictures except the scull. The teeth give it away.
    2 points
  16. took my new xp orx with 9 x 5 elliptical coil out for a walk yesterday in the northern az goldfields heres 2 from a heavily worked area with the orx this dog will hunt quiet smooth & ez to ground balance the small 1 is under 10th of a gram the orx gets it done i like it
    1 point
  17. I am quoting from this YouTube page so I am just repeating whoever posted it. The MD-Hunter Blog likes to make things up but also does have info at times that is ahead of the curve. The problem is you never know which is which! This screenshot from https://md-hunter.com/wiki/minelab/ is projecting three models: Vanquish 340, Vanquish 440, and Vanquish 540
    1 point
  18. I think you just need to find a clean spot using the pinpoint option. Rich, Chase, thanks a lot for the discussion. LOTS of useful information. At the end of the day everyone can draw conclusions from it. I tend to go back and forth: sometimes I perform GB, sometimes not. Most of the time I just leave it at 0 since that is what Minelab suggests for the modes I use. Unfortunately, as you both pointed out, Minelab is not telling at what point GB should be performed. So maybe GB should be performed "just in case" everytime ? I guess I am running in circles as well when it comes to this ?
    1 point
  19. Mitchel; go back to bed it is only 4 a.m. there...you need your rest for todays digging!!! FOCUS...more! fred
    1 point
  20. everyone can give their opinion or ask questions / it's not a problem it's just that I'm a little tired to always repeat the same thing ... a scoop for the forum the latest changes now allow detect a 24 carat ring weighing less than 5 gr (no ring 24k heavier to test ...) under a big nail / or several small nails if you have a ring 24k try with your detectors it's impossible / even tdi (modif Reg Sniff) can not do it (22K is its limit ) it will be a very specific setting that I would explain in video this extraordinary feat detect the 24k under the iron gives you an idea of the level of separation, gold / iron
    1 point
  21. Nice finds. I wished I had mine back when I was living in Georgia. It would have been great to carry with me when I used to gold pan there.
    1 point
  22. Mr. 1864Hatter. Sir. You should be ashamed. I was subjected to the same kind of abuse as a child and so instead of being a normal child I grew up with an appreciation for the wildlands of the Sierra mountains, a love for prospecting and the realization that I had a very special father. And now I am thoroughly addicted to prospecting with little hope for recovery. I am voting for your photo to be the "Best Photo of the Year"!
    1 point
  23. The EQ can be a chatty machine in the water near hardpan..... better in fluffy sand out there. If the Box and coil is under water its not EMI as much as the salt/minerals. The deeper you go the more effect the salt has on the machine. I also find it a bit irritating that the machine wraps around in the lower gold digits.... rather than the higher digits out of my way. That means you have to play with 5 tones or 2 tones.... 50 tones seems to work better for me to ID targets from that wrap around falsing. You can always turn down the GB...... but in hard pan your will really notice a depth difference since the machine is already working with reduced power. You can also turn up the RS.... but that kind of chops signals... and you still have to reduce sensitivity with to much chatter. IMO they need to play with the salt balance a bit more. I agree Clive its not CTX or Xcal in PP mode...... they seem a little more refined out there and can be deeper if you have to do a lot of adjusting to the Nox....... BUT the smaller shallower gold the Nox seems to pick up.
    1 point
  24. My information was the new detector(s) coming out wouldn't interest me, thus not a higher than equinox detector (excluding the possibility of a new prospecting model). Mid-range and a gold machine sounds right to me.
    1 point
  25. Have a good 10-15 hours on the first charge on these batteries and they are still nearly full with no loss in power. Machine performance is like a fresh set of batteries. I am getting the same performance I get from my RnB pack I got for my AT pro at 1/4 the price.
    1 point
  26. Cosmetic if you are nice or gimmick if you are a cynic like me Now that DeepTech has dealers and a service center (green on map below) in the U.S. I will add their detectors to the detector database. http://deeptech-bg.com/contact-us
    1 point
  27. Screw the beaches! We got those in the US.
    1 point
  28. 99.9% of detectors with a small coil and operator with good hearing can do that. I tested out a Tesoro Compadre for a year in downtown Sacramento, CA small parks and pulled jewelry out left and right and more than a few silver here and there, especially near the meters and irrigation components. Crocker Park parking meter base got a silver @ 2-3 inches and by the time I was done the hole was 25" deep, 15 silver coins and another handful of clad.
    1 point
  29. DeltaDigger Yes is a big difference in tones. With the deus you can choose 2tone,3tone,4tone,5tone,Full tones, and pitch. On deus you can also adjust iron volume, and audio response. With audio response you can make those deep targets really come to life by cranking it up if ya like or feel the need to. Is a lot of detail in the 3 tone mode with the ORX. Try running your ORX like this. Iron volume off, disc at 9.5 and see what you think. My headphone for my ORX go extremely loud and clear. Hope you don't have a issue with yours. Prob just need to get use to the tones. Are a bit different sounding then most machines.
    1 point
  30. Daniel Tn Just wait till it hits the shops. There are going to be guns blazing from all sides. People tend to forget it's just a Metal Detector.
    1 point
  31. Yes, less EMI was an unexpected plus. I make sure to noise cancel every hour because my GPZ gets significantly quieter over time. As for full moon, it does help, but I have a couple different lamps that I bring with me. One is a Predator and I can't remember the name of my other. I will check when I get home. Both are adjustable and can get very bright. The benefit of the Predator lamp is that you have the Red or Green LED option, on top of the standard white. The colored lights also will not be seen by animals, sometimes, which is why hunters use them. The colored lamps aren't as noticeable by people as the white lamps either. And while I do not claim jump, I like being discreet. And if you like to see what is watching you, you simply holler out loud and scan with your light. You *will* see eyes within 500 feet of you and realize you are never alone. Just before finding the gold, I had run across a raccoon and a grey fox. You just won't see these during the day.. Also, certain times of the year, the colored lights helps with bugs. My only complaint is with the red light. Sometimes they kind of bother your eyes, where-as the green just gets seen as white, eventually.
    1 point
  32. Finally go the video finished of comparing equinox 800 to the gold monster 1000 on in-situ targets in the field. This is my no mean the comprehensive review as im sure the settings on the equinox could be tweaked more produce even better results. But from what i saw on my ground they were vary evenly matched. The gold monster seemed to pop a little harder on the targets, but the equinox still hit all the targets the gm1000 hit. Since i detect mainly creeks the equinox has a leg up since its water proof and i dont have to worry about it getting wet or falling in the creek. Hope you guys enjoy the video and ill take more footage as i work this little patch.
    1 point
  33. There have been like a dozen threads on finding gold nuggets with the Equinox and 6” coil since last year if you do some looking. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/7468-my-tips-on-nugget-detecting-with-the-minelab-equinox/ https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/9606-tiny-gold-hunting-with-the-equinox-800/
    1 point
  34. Gain and sensitivity normally are the same control. Reducing sensitivity always increases stability but obviously it is a trade off. You have to find the best balance between raw power and stability - useable power. The old rule of thumb is increase gain/sensitivity until the machine becomes to unstable/noisy, then back off a hair.
    1 point
  35. Broken antenna. All fixed now.
    1 point
  36. Jasong that is why taking a break or changing the tone or volume can make a difference for the better...
    1 point
  37. As hot as possible for the conditions while still staying stable. No need to memorize settings really, just the philosophy. Adjust accordingly as you travel. For most of the US West not right next to EMI/civilization and not on basalt or serpentine, BIF, (or similarly hot or pyrite/magnetite/galena/etc laden bedrock) I've been able to run HY, Normal, and 18-20 sens. I keep my threshold lower than most though because sensory adaptation is real and affects us non-computer humans more than some might think. When it comes to 1 grain to 1 gram stuff, General will miss a lot that HY will hit like a bell.
    1 point
  38. KL, that`s got to be closest to the truest setting that applies to everyone and every detector. Most settings are individual but that settings universal.
    1 point
  39. This is only my opinion. I can' back it up with any facts but my opinions are always right. I have never used or heard of any detector that depth and sensitivity didn't operate, at least to some degree, inversely to each other. The 7000 is set up to make setting changes almost without stopping so it greatly reduces the compromise between depth and sensitivity. Mostly I use "difficult" with with high sensitivity. I normally have the audio smoothing in whatever it takes to keep the threshold smooth.Often I will cover the same ground twice first in difficult then in normal, again setting audio smoothing and sensitivity for a quiet threshold. In the areas that I detect, rarely do I have audio smoothing off. No settings will eliminate the need for careful operation of the detector and intense concentration.
    1 point
  40. i noticed this with my my machine as well....reacting to fresh green Vegetation...I'm glad it's super sensitive in a way probably means I wont miss any gold. strick
    1 point
  41. A high threshold and a loud threshold are 2 different things although you may not have meant what I am reading into it. Most take their threshold down to a point of where it can't be heard and then raise it up a notch at a time until it is a nice steady hum. On the GPZ this means starting at about 23 and usually ending up about 27 (which is also the factory default from memory). It means a 6' 6" person is standing in 6' of water. Their head is just out and they can hum. If you set your threshold much HIGHER then you are likely to miss small targets as they can't breach through the higher level. It is the same 6' 6" person but now you've put them in 7' of water - they just can't get high enough for you to hear them - even if they stand on their toes. If you are lucky enough to get a big target that is fine because the person then jumps like a madman and gets his head above water. Once you have your water (threshold) set at the right height you can use your booster to take that steady threshold as LOUD as you like - make them whisper, make them talk, make them yell. A lot of that depends on your surrounds. Noisy water, noisy leaf litter, busy road, quiet expanse of the outback. And, of course, you can use the detector to change the pitch of the 'voice' to suit your hearing. I know most old people I see at work can understand me because I have a low pitch voice - and I talk slow because I'm a dopey ruckman ? I hope that analogy makes sense and I hope I'm not telling 'Grandma how to suck eggs'. Also happy for someone to poke holes in my analogy if it is a bit off the mark. As you have an SPo1 Phrunt, it would also be interesting to hear from SteelPhase where the settings other than volume come into play in that analogy - if they do at all? NE.
    1 point
  42. Here's what worked for me when I was swinging a 3500. These settings will work equally well with small - medium mono coils and the stock DD coil. Set your controls to the following settings: Signal control - just off maximum (in noisy environments you may need to turn it down to 2 o'clock) Tone - the highest setting you are comfortable with. My preference was 3-4 o'clock Volume - 4 o'clock Threshold - just audible, but smooth - if it is breaking up it is too low Coil - Mono Soil - Sensitive Ground - Fixed If the ground allows it you can use Deep boost, but if it upsets the stability of the threshold, use Normal. Ground Balance as often as practical, and avoid running in Tracking if at all possible. Perform an Auto Tune as often as necessary. The most important aspect to the tuning process is to ensure the coil is held motionless. The easiest method I find is to turn the coil at 90 deg. and find the loudest direction of interference, and then place the whole detector on the ground, with the coil still vertical. With the GP 3500, you can keep the detector tuned by using the Manual Tune control. When you get a faint signal that you suspect may be a small nugget, play with the audio controls and see if a few small tweaks improve the signal response.
    1 point
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