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Hey Guys, I have known Jim since the early 90's, no doubt one of my mentors when it comes to Geology and Gold Prospecting. Without Jim and I writing letters back in forth from California to Arizona, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. Jim was a huge help when I was studying Economic Geology when I was in College along with his books were a wealth of knowledge when I was searching for gold. Jim Straight is truly an Icon in this hobby of gold prospecting. His book, "Nugget Shooter's" Bible was in my opinion one of the best written book and top sellers of all times. I sold thousands of those books, up to the 8th edition which is now really sought after. We still sell the "Advanced Prospecting and Detecting for Gold" and "3 Hours to Gold," both great books. I even have a bunch of his older books, but I'm not sure if I'm going to part with them at this time. God Bless you Jim, you memories will live forever.

Though I don't prospect, I'd like to share this - HH and enjoy! https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/05/worlds-rarest-form-natural-gold-reveals-secrets/

I have hunted many sites that exhibit harsh EMI on the Equinox. At these sites, if after performing a noise cancel in the conventional way and not seeing good results, I'll lay the coil flat on a clean ground area and do a noise cancel. If at that point the machine doesn't quieten down to my satisfaction I'll listen to each channel and pick the one with the least "noticeable" EMI. Now, If I'm still not happy I'll reduce the sensitivity a couple numbers at a time. Final note, in most cases, as long as the coil is in motion the machine will run quiet but when I stop to dig a target the EMI will ramp up. I know this is not a documented noise cancel procedure, but it works. Give it a try. Don't get frustrated and give up.

After noise cancel reducing gain has a dramatic effect on EMI. The lowest I have had to run is 14. Most people refuse to reduce gain that low. Another thing to watch... are you hunting in all metal, no target id numbers blocked? Most EMI comes in at certain low range numbers. Simply blocking the offending numbers will quiet things down. It starts where it starts though and different modes have differing EMI sensitivity. If Field 2, for example, is too noisy, try Field 1 instead. Interesting to me is that high recovery speeds tend to enhance EMI by putting a sharper edge on the noise. Settings of 6 and higher are extra noisy, try 5 or 4 instead. As has been mentioned going to single frequency combined with the above notes will almost always solve an EMI issue. Use the Gain setting as your guide. I would rather run a single frequency at Gain 21 than in Multi at Gain 14 for instance. Every time you try an option, see how high the gain can go before things get too noisy. I love the last post... people tend to forget small coils almost always work better in high EMI locations. It is literally a reason to own one.

A couple of weeks ago I was hunting a permission that has persistent, harsh EMI. All of my typical tricks failed to reduce noise sufficiently to hunt. I went through multiple noise cancels, sensitivity reduction, single frequencies, factory reset, etc. What finally reduced the interference enough for me to hunt was to switch from my 11-inch coil to my 6-inch coil. The machine still had some interference, but it was manageable through the techniques mentioned previously in this thread.

There has been some fine analogies recently. I like this one too. DP forum has become detectorphilospher.com Be warned, I am still but a Grass Hopper. However, I guess the mind set I have now changed to is 'go big or go home'. I have the luxury of going some time between nuggets in the hope that those nuggets are sizeable. I don't envy Mitchel as he does not have the luxury of time on a trip like this. But don't worry, I will be trying to get us on to something decent - it is in the best interests of both of us ?

I was able to get back to my honey hole again today. I'm in an unusual situation in life that allows me to hunt more than I normally would, so.......Off I go to try and round up a few more relics while I can. The morning just sucked!! I dug nothing but trash with an occasional percussion cap and a piece of lead here and there. I told myself I would move to another spot and if the trend continued, I was outta there. Fortunately I was able to meander to a hot spot that finally started to give it up and was able to salvage the day. Most of the finds came within the last couple of hours of the hunt and I left feeling very gratified and tired!!! I scored what I believe are 2 Confederate ringtail Sharps, but, I could be mistaken. I'm loving the Nox for this kind of hunting. Let me know if these posts are getting old ? My settings were: Nox 800 Park 2 11" coil GB 0 Recovery 6 Iron Bias 0 2 Tones Tone break -9 to +8 Sens 21 Disc -9 to 0

Try using a single frequency instead of multi....I've had to do this in a couple of spots while working in town.

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.

I envy Mitchel for planning and carrying out this wonderful trip. I don't envy him having to make where-to-hunt decisions on the fly in strange (to him), areas. That is difficult no matter how much experience you have. I don't have any advice except to echo Fred (focus), and everyone else who is saying enjoy your surroundings- which you seem to be doing. There are a lot of people willing you onto your next nugget.

How far down have you reduced the gain?

I know there are a few nuggets within range but I also know that everyone tells me I'm not going to find a big nugget in hammered mullock piles. They hunt for bigger nuggets on the sides and other places that I hope I can learn about over my remaining days with Adam. I mixed it up today. I tried for a little guy and also hunted a reef. This is a very mature game in Victoria. If you look at the other prospecting forums no one is getting a lot of nuggets in a day. Guys that know what they are doing do get some better pieces and then there is all the rest of us. I brought my big game gun on this trip and just like on a safari a squirrel is not a trophy!

I am primarily a gold prospector but I do enjoy all things metal detecting. The thing is I really like finding gold (or platinum, silver, etc.) so my focus is always on precious metals. That being the case relic hunting has not particularly appealed to me, especially given the laws surrounding finding true artifacts in this country. Many relic hunters are at least technically in violation of federal law if they are recovering items 100 years or older and in many places 50 years or older can get you in trouble. I don't need that kind of problems in my life, and so even though the actual risks involved tend to be overblown, it is not something that excites me. I have the law firmly on my side when prospecting for gold on land open to mineral entry. Eight years ago some friends suggested I might enjoy hunting ancient artifacts and gold in England. The UK has laws regarding the recovery of antiquities that are far superior to ours. They actually support metal detecting and have proven so successful that museums are being overwhelmed by the numbers of exciting finds being made. I always wanted to find a gold coin anyway. My friends suggested the operation that centers around Colchester, England. Colchester is the site of the earliest Roman occupation in England and has history extending far earlier. The Celtic tribes in particular were active in the area, with many Celtic gold coins found by detectorists. The gold coins found span the millenia though including hammered gold coins and milled gold coins of more recent vintage. Just browse the website finds page for an idea of the types of finds made every day in this area. All photos in this story may be clicked or double clicked on for larger versions. Just one field of several at this one location. I could have spent the whole trip here. The hunts are limited to a couple times per year when the farm fields have just been harvested or planted, so Feb-March in the spring and Sept-Oct in the fall. The limited timeframe and limited openings means it is hard to get your foot in the door with this club unless you apply a year or more in advance. 2019 is already filling up and people are booking 2020 now. Long story short I made the trip for two weeks back in 2010 as told at Metal Detecting Ancient Coins at Colchester, UK. I refer you there for more details especially photos of all my finds. The hunt was amazing with finds ranging over a 2000 year span. Finds that would be world class in the U.S. are not only common but considered "new" by comparison to the finds I made almost every day I was in England. Yet I did not score that gold coin. There are many found, but when you consider the number of people hunting 12 hours a day the reality is that you have to be very lucky to get your coil over one, even given a full two weeks. I came away better educated on that reality. It was a fabulous trip but I was in no great rush to return knowing what I learned, plus it rained half the trip, and UK farm field mud is as sticky as it gets. It is far easier to find gold nearer to home and I went back to prospecting and jewelry detecting as my main focus for finding precious metals. Nostalgia does creep up however, and as time passed I thought I should give it another go. I booked a slot with two of the hunt managers, Minnesota Mindy and Chicago Ron, figuring that I had a shot at maybe at least one of them. I had never met Mindy but we knew of each other from Ganes Creek days, and Ron I took a photo of making his first Morini Celtic gold coin (see story above). A year went by and then suddenly Mindy had an opening, which I jumped on immediately. Just a few days later Ron had an opening. I was going to decline, then saw by some miracle his week started when Mindy's ten days ended. I really hate making trips of any magnitude for less than two weeks. This is low odds stuff and the costs also do not justify short hunts in my mind. I booked with Ron also and suddenly had seventeen days in England on my calendar for October 2018. By sheer coincidence it turned out that a forum member unearth (hi Gary!) was booked for Mindy's portion. Field with view of the River Stour I got a ticket with United for $1250 round trip to Heathrow from Reno, NV. It is a pretty easy flight really. Afternoon flight out of Reno to Los Angeles, and then 11 hour overnight flight from LA to London. Overseas flights coach class is more like domestic first class, and if you can sleep on planes you can sleep most of the journey away and wake up in England. My return was the reverse but routed through San Francisco with a longer layover in order to deal with customs on re-entering the U.S. No real issues for those used to navigating large airports. It could be exciting for novices however but just relax and ask for help the minute you have any problems. The trips to a certain degree are like an all inclusive vacation with most everything covered, but may include nights out at English pubs for dinner. I did none of that my first trip so looked forward to seeing a little more local flavor this time around. I must be mellowing with age because it is not all about the hunt these days - I am making more effort to smell the flowers along the way and just enjoy. Accommodations on the trip are in barns that have been converted to apartments, which is why these types of hunts are referred to as "barn hunts" but there are other options. Rooms are normally shared - my room for the first ten days. Art was a great roommate. I got far more lucky with weather this time much to my relief. It makes everything more pleasant for all involved. Groups consist of seven or eight people including the host, who busses the group to different fields each day or twice a day. All morning hunting takes place on one farmers fields. The hunt may continue on that farmers land in the afternoon, or switch to another famers land. The farmers are paid by the number of people on their land each day so for logistical purposes it is one or two landowners per day. The amount of land available is mind-boggling vast. There are fields that have been hunted for the 16 years the club has been in existence, and good finds are still being made. This is part due to the sheer size but also the fact that the famers deep plow and turn the land. Targets that were too deep or on edge get brought up or reoriented, and so areas thought dead come back to life on a regular basis. I proved that myself this trip. New fields are also added on a regular basis for those who like that feeling of being on less hunted ground. I took two Equinox 800s on the trip, one outfitted with the new 15" x 12" coil that arrived just before my departure. This is a fantastic coil, very light for its size, and just the ticket for covering huge areas. There is a depth bonus also on most targets but to me that is just a bonus. That extra 4" coverage per swing is far more important in improving the odds for finds than another inch of depth. I will get more into my settings and how they evolved during the trip as a follow up post. United wants $100 for a second bag, and I was able to bring two complete Equinox and everything I needed for three weeks on the road in a single 40 lb bag plus small satchel carry on. Nice! I could drag this out as a blow by blow accounting of each day but let's cut to the chase. Just a couple days into the hunt one of our group found a Celtic gold coin, always a good sign. Five days into the hunt Gary (unearth) scores part of a medieval gold ring with a red stone, possibly a ruby. A great find and Gary was very pleased to find gold - who would not be? Congratulations Gary! I and the others were finding various old coins and artifacts similar to what you would see in my story from 2010 - lead seals, hammered silver coins, watch winders, buttons galore, musket balls, etc. Gary scores gold and a gemstone - jewelry finds are very rare October 16 dawned nice and sunny, and we went to hunt some of the older ground in the club and so few people want to hunt there. Yet I was immediately busy digging "gold range" targets with my focus being on target id numbers from 7 on up. I will explain the reasoning there later. I made a few passes back and forth digging all manner of small lead bits when I got a nice little 7-8 reading no different from hundreds already dug in the last few days. I turned over a spade full of dirt, and out popped an oddly shaped piece of gold! Celtic "Votive Offering" fresh out of the ground! I knew it was gold but I was not sure what it was. It looked like a small torc, normally a band worn around the arm or neck. This was too small, maybe 5-6 inches long, so it would barely loop around a wrist enough to stay put. More like the size of a ring really. Whatever it was I knew it was great and my emotions soared sky high. I reached in my pocket for my iPhone to take a picture.... and had an emotional crash. My phone was gone! I went from elation to panic almost instantly. I left the find and detector where they were, and proceeded to backtrack my trail. I had not gone far and the ground was rolled flat, so I determined I must have left the phone in the van with Mindy. So I got on the radio and announced my find of a "mini-torc" and explained I had lost my phone. New Minelab Equinox 15" x 12" coil helps make once in a lifetime find Mindy was excited and said she would be right there. She did indeed have my phone, so we rushed back and took photos of the find. Everyone gets excited when gold is found and this time was no different. Now that I had my phone I got excited all over again, quite the rollercoaster! Happy guy! Photo courtesy of Mindy Desens Celtic gold, the find of a lifetime for sure. Many of the Celtic gold coins found here date from around 50 BC to 25 BC and so it is reasonable to think this find is of similar age, though that cannot be determined for sure without further testing. Gold dropped around 2100 years ago - simply amazing! Equinox and Celtic gold! The find has since been labeled as a gold "votive offering". The ancients lived for the harvest, and offerings were made to the gods in the form of gold tossed into the field to insure a good harvest. At least that is the theory that tries to explain why nearly all the farming land seems to have at least a few Celtic gold items found in them eventually. The truth is nobody really knows for sure as there are no written records from that time. For all we really know this might be an ancient gold hoop earring! That's half the fun, imagining what this stuff is and why it is where it is. The club has been hunting these fields for around 16 years, and while many Celtic gold coins have been found this is the first item of it's type, making it a particularly rare and satisfying find. It is really hard to get my head around the fact that somebody last held this gold over 2000 years ago. Celtic gold "votive offering" closeup All gold or silver that is not a coin is immediately declared as treasure to the museums. I actually got to handle the find very little before it was whisked away to a safe. The museums will evaluate it, and possibly bid on it. High bidding museum gets the find, and the money would be split between me and the property owner. If the museums decline, I will pay the property owner one half the value and eventually get it back. This normally takes about a year but can take two or more years depending on the backlog. Every item found that the finder wishes to keep must go through this process, and there are only so many experts who can identify and catalog all this stuff. I live for the hunt and the photos. It's not like I haul gold around to show off to people - it all resides in a safe deposit box. So for me the only real value is in making that adrenaline rush happen and then having photos I can easily share with others. I won't mind therefore if it sells at auction and I get half the cash. Clean and easy. If I get the opportunity to get it back however I may very well have my find fashioned into a ring. There are not many people in the world who can claim to be wearing jewelry fashioned before Christ was born. I could sell it myself no doubt for over twice whatever I pay for it, but I don't need the bucks that bad to part with such a find. Celtic gold details - actual age unknown but BC, around 25 to 50 BC if in range of coins found in area The Equinox with 15" x 12" coil did a good job making this discovery. As a classic open ended "broken ring" type signal it was reading 7-8 and was detectable to only about 4-5 inches in air tests. I am guessing it was about 4 inches deep. The Equinox is exceptionally hot on gold and while you can never say for sure it is very possible that this gold item was left in this heavily hunted area because it is such a poor signal on most detectors. Needless to say I am very happy with both my Equinox and the new 15" x 12" coil. It is the perfect coil for this type of large field detecting. Speaking of Equinox I was surprised at how many were already in use with this random cross section of hunters from around the U.S. About three-quarters of the hunters were swinging the Equinox, most having switched from the Deus or CTX 3030. Other than the typical minor quibbles people were unanimous in liking the machine and there was constant talk about how well it was performing. The Equinox really loves round items in particular, and people were reporting noticeable increases both in depth and target id accuracy at depth. Ferrous identification is almost 100% accurate under these conditions. I dug only one ferrous item in nearly three weeks that just clearly fooled me, a very deeply corroded steel spike of some sort. There were a handful of other ferrous targets I dug that I figured were ferrous but were borderline enough I figured "just dig it". Better safe than sorry, but in each case they were the expected ferrous items. Lots of Minelab Equinox plus a Deus and CTX The next day we were back in the same general area. There was one small plot Mindy wanted to hunt and nobody else was interested, so I decided to hunt with her. I was at one end of the field and Mindy the other. I was hunting fast, trying to cover area, when I got one of those showstopper signals and dug a nice 1737 George II milled silver sixpence. I had no idea what it was - kind of looked like a Roman emperor to me and so Mindy had to take a look. I found I was best off not speculating on finds as I was usually wrong though I am learning. The "George" I know now is a dead giveaway that this is a "recent" vintage coin. A real beauty though and I was quite pleased with it. 1737 George II milled silver sixpence It was only 15 minutes later that Mindy calls out on the radio that she found a full Celtic stater, the larger of the Celtic gold coins. It was her twelfth gold coin find on these hunts over the years, and a real beauty at that. I am one of those people who get nearly as excited as the finder when a great find is made - I love seeing people do well detecting - and this was very thrilling to witness. Although I was in no position to complain this was exactly the sort of find I had hoped to make myself, and it is nice to know these targets still remain. I had walked maybe ten feet past the coin as I headed for the far end of the field. Just a stunning coin, and looked almost brand new even though it had been in the ground for around 2100 years. Gold is just amazing in that regard, whether nuggets, jewelry, or coins, they pop out of the ground like they were dropped yesterday. Mindy scores a Celtic gold stater - her 12th gold coin 45 BC to 25 BC Addedomarus - Trinovantian tribe 5.58 g.16.90 mm Can you imagine, twelve gold coin finds, including a hammered gold noble, some sovereigns, and Celtic gold? Mindy is amazing. Here I am looking for my first gold coin and she gets her twelfth - now you know why this hunt attracts people. The next day we were hunting some of the newer, less hunted ground, but after some high speed scanning I wandered off to an area that has been hunted a lot before because two gold sovereigns had been found there recently. There are areas where there are lots of targets, and also vast stretches of fields where targets are few and far between. People tend to like the idea of new fields, but they often have very few targets to dig. I kind of prefer older target rich zones that have prior gold history because even after years of hunting I have no problem digging lots of gold range targets in these locations. This does usually mean lead but I am happy to dig lead targets all day as opposed to being in an area where there are only targets once every 15 minutes or more. This was one of those locations, and I was in gold hunt mode digging lots of tiny signals in the 7-10 range with 9 being particularly prevalent. This almost always is an oblong little bit of lead, but I dug another nice 9 signal and up popped a large gold flake! It was not much different than something I might find gold prospecting, but is either a fragment of a hammered gold coin that has been worn to oblivion or maybe a portion of a blank gold sheet. I don't know but it was my second gold find in three days and so very nice to see. Just making one gold find is exceptional, and two in a week is harder yet. The flake only weighs 1.03 grams and is 15.05 mm long and 0.80 mm thick. Truly just a flake of gold, and another testament to the gold ability of the Equinox even when running the larger coil. I was pleased with the find as much from a technical aspect as anything else, since I have already found countless similar flakes of gold while prospecting. I went all the way to England to find a flake of gold! It finally came time to say goodbye to Mindy and the group and get handed off to the new group incoming with Chicago Ron. Ron is an incredible hunter with a real nose for making finds. I really enjoyed watching him - an artist at work. In fact there are many people on these hunts that are amazing detectorists (Scott and Scott, and Mike, I'm looking at you) and there is always something to learn by observing good detectorists in action. What makes Ron special is he just wanders around in an apparently random fashion, yet consistently wanders into some really great finds. He has one of the best noses for detecting I have ever seen. My luck dropped off in this final week but no complaining here - nobody would sympathize anyway! I had my trip in the bag and was more relaxed and I was admittedly cherry picking a lot more now, focusing on the gold range and round targets. Most people are hunting hard for hammered silver coins, but for me those were more accidental bycatch. I just hunt for gold and let the rest happen. I had the chance to eat out a few times with Ron's group and enjoyed seeing more of the local flavor than I did on my first trip to the U.K. There was a dinner night out with Mindy's group (I bought dinner and drinks for all celebrating my find) that was a good time. I just love the English people and these nights out gave me more chance to interact with them. I even took time out from a hunt to go shopping in town with Mindy just to see the town of Manningtree close up. Again, one of the benefits of making a great find - the pressure was off and I did not get so crazy about just detecting. Manningtree, England One pub in particular out with Ron and company was directly across the street from where the captain of the Mayflower lived. The history everywhere you look is just stunning. Ron like nearly everyone in his group is was swinging an Equinox, and early on one day of the hunt he made a find that is rarer than the gold coins - a huge 1653 Commonwealth hammered silver half crown (30 pence). This is one of the few English coins with no king on the front because England was a Commonwealth without a king for a brief period of years. How this 14.39 gram silver coin was still sitting in the middle of a hunted area is a mystery, but as we all know if you do not get the coil right over the spot finds get missed. The coin is 34.66 mm or 1.36 inches in diameter and 2.0 mm thick. I got a great photo of Ron with his first Morini Celtic gold on my last trip, and here he is again doing his magic. What fun! Chicago Ron and 1653 Commonwealth hammered silver half crown Ron's 1653 Commonwealth hammered silver half crown I added to my collection of hammered silver, 1700 and 1800 copper coins, and milled silver coins with the remaining time I had. I tended to wander off in oddball directions away from the group, doing the "go big or go home" thing by hoping to get into some little corner or hotspot overlooked by others. Given the size of these fields there are limitless opportunities for this sort of wandering, and it often means fewer finds. It is however how spectacular finds like a horde happen so I do enjoy giving it a go. It ultimately is my favorite type of detecting, being alone in some place wandering around doing my own thing. Gridding target rich zones is probably more productive, but it has a mechanical work aspect to it. Wandering is more freestyle and also more conducive to the sort of meditative mental state I achieve while metal detecting. I am one of those types that lives in my head and some of my best thinking is done while wandering around detecting. I get so into "the zone" that hours flash by in apparent minutes. Whether I make finds or not I find metal detecting to be wonderfully refreshing. For me at least there are few things more relaxing than metal detecting. The trip ended with a spectacular bang by another new Equinox owner who recently joined the forum. Tim was kind of frustrated with the Equinox when I met him, but I did what I could to help him gain confidence in his detector, and the finds started coming. The very last day he made a find that exceeded my own in some ways, but that is his tale to tell so I will leave it for now. It was so awesome again to be around when a major find was made, and come to find I had walked about 30 feet away from it the previous week. Miss it by a foot or a mile, and you miss it. Usually you never know what you miss, but in this case I got to find out. It may be hard for people to believe but I am happier that Tim made the find than me. I am getting a bit jaded these days whereas Tim nearly fainted from the excitement. I get a real charge out of seeing that in people and Tim is just a really nice fellow. He really worked hard for that find and it was an awesome way to have the adventure come to a close. I am sure we will hear the details about Tim's amazing find very soon. I could not be happier with my 2018 UK adventure. The weather this time was really great. I actually got a farmers tan while in England! Mindy and Ron and his wife Gretchen are all great, doing everything they can to insure people have a good time. The folks I got to visit with in both groups came from all over the country, and I could not ask to meet a nicer and more upbeat bunch of people. I really am going to have to give this another go because I finally came home without that gold coin. Even that is ok because what I did find is even rarer, and I made two gold finds on the trip. Eight years ago I went home with a pouch full of great stuff, but I think my pride was a bit wounded that I had found no gold. I am supposed to be the "gold guy"! I am constantly competing with myself at some level, and this trip really left a warm glow. Again, my thanks to all involved for making this one of the best experiences in my now very long detecting career. Just awesome!! ~ Steve Herschbach Copyright © 2018 Herschbach Enterprises Many more details and pictures later in this thread plus the settings I used so do follow along ! Here is a partial selection of some of the finds I made on this trip. I won't be able to post a complete listing until I get the museum documents back - may be a year or more from now! A few finds made by Steve Herschbach in England, 2018

We started our journey on Sunday from PHX to SFO. First leg was no problem. At SFO things deteriorated. After arrival the airline departure board showed 1 Sydney departure logically in the international terminal 2 hrs hence. We made our way to the international terminal and settled in for a wait. I checked the departure board several times, only one Sydney departure showing a minor delay. At boarding time our boarding passes were rejected, wrong flight. They really couldn't help us with why there was only one Sydney flight and we weren't on it. We scurried back up to the main terminal, one Sydney flight now boarding, but upon closer examination a different flight number. There was no help desk to be seen so in desperation I Googled our flight number. Google said terminal A, and we were in terminal G. Again checked the departure board, one Sydney flight showing, not ours. We discovered that terminal A was a long way from here, after a mad dash we discovered that not only was terminal A way over there, it required leaving the secured terminal and going through security again. Yep, the security queue was clogged with the unwashed masses and the chances of us making the flight dwindled to nil. Oh no. So we went to look for the Qantas desk to try and fix our problem. No luck, Qantas has windows open from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. So I called Qantas and got an English as a Second Language(ESL) clerk, barely intelligible given airport noise and accent. Basically she told me I was F'd and that our entire ticket would be cancelled, no refund. I knew better than to argue at this point and called our booking agent Orbitz. Again, ESL but a sincere effort to help. After some long hold time we discovered that Qantas was closed for the night, but that they would work on it. I booked a $300.00 hotel room for the night and went out to catch the shuttle. The hotel clerk assured me the shuttle would pick us up at 12:52. At 1:25 I surrendered, the hotel said they would reimburse me for a cab. Next day, Orbitz came through and re-booked our flight for the same time, same terminal A. I asked about our baggage, "can't help you there", take it up with the Qantas counter at 6:00pm. First in line at Qantas 6:00pm they told me that our baggage was downstairs and would be re-tagged and put on the flight. Are you sure? Indeed, when you get to the gate you can check with them. Of course the gate assured us that naturally our baggage was on the flight. NOT. Well we caught the flight and I found that economy seats are, well economical. I had a middle seat for a 15 hr flight. My row mates were tolerable, but the aisle seat went to sleep and I hated to be an ugly American and wake him up just to stretch my legs. At about the 10 hr mark, I couldn't resist and woke him up. He was pleasant enough about the whole thing. Curiously, the young lady next me boarded very last and arrived in sweaty dither. She later told me that the Departure board showed only one Sydney flight, the same one I encountered the day before, and that she discovered the mistake in time to sprint through the terminal and security was very kind to move her to the head of the line, just in time to make final boarding. She was much younger, fitter and prettier than me, so she pulled it off in time. We arrived Sydney and went to claim our baggage to clear customs for our continuation flight to Perth. Surprise, no baggage. We went to the claims desk to make all the necessary notifications and almost missed our connection to Perth sans baggage. To make a long story tolerable, we're in Perth with 3 of 4 bags. 3 arrived at the hotel last night, the 4th won't arrived until after we make our flight to Meekatharra. Qantas assures us the 4th bag will get couriered out to us verily. Naturally, that bag has Dennis's detector in it. I guess he can dig targets for me and Paul in the meantime. So, the journey begins... Stay tuned for our misadventures in the Summer of OZ. I'm typing at 5:00 am local, suffering from jet lag. Hopefully Steve will edit as necessary.

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 .

Good job mate—— good to see you are already learning the meaning of “Harden the Fk up” lolol This story sounds vaguely familiar.......can’t quite put me finger on it—-how bout a little help Norvic —— maybe you remember some story like this???? Hahahahaha

Adam, not to worry mate. I've spent all of this time out in the bush and you've helped me all along the way with your texts. That won't ever be forgotten. And Norvic mentioned someone coming to the states and looking for nuggets and where would I tell you to go? I'd take you to the same places I go and have 'limited' success now. I get skunked there often so I'm familiar with that result. I just thought here there were so many hundreds of places to look that I could get more lucky than I have. I have a pocket full of bbs to show it hasn't all been hunted. We'll have a time of it and make some memories. I'll take those home with me.

Nah, not my quote, comes from an everlasting C&W song by Roger Miller, I thought was a Glen Cambell original until I googled it. https://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/miller-roger/little-green-apples-1156.html

I will fix or delete that old link. Thanks for the new upload... saved me a little work! Just a note to forum viewers who are not forum members. Download capability is reserved to forum members to conserve bandwidth. To download this file or any of the many files in the website Downloads Area you need to register as a forum member New Member Signup - Click Here!

Speaking of quotes... I'm sure I will find a way to slip this into my conversations about 10 times today. Thanks, Norvic! And good luck in the home stretch, Mitchel.

Hi, everything that has been said before has worked for me. I have had to turn sensitivity/gain down to 8 or 10 in a few places here in the Denver area. Even in the moderate to high mineralization and EMI here, the Nox will still hit 6" to 8" coin sized targets with ease. Some other detectors I've used at these sites made by FTP, Tesoro, Whites and Garrett could not cope with the EMI plus high mineralization and were unusable. Jeff

It was a really great time Dick. In every regard the trip and hunt was really enjoyable. Glad you like the story. I write them as much for me as anyone else these days. My memory for long past events is poor enough many of the details would go lost unless I record them. I highly recommend anyone into adventures of any sort keep a journal and take lots of pictures. It’s far too easy to get into the game and not take time for that sort of stuff, but ultimately the memories or records are all we have.

Can confirm these are listed on the Qualcomm website as APTX LL but the reviews are not very good on various web retailers.

It sucks that they couldn't leave with some dignity to their followers. My Tesoro's are worth ZERO along with the fact that my newly acquired Makro Multi Kruzer's price just dropped 15% a month after I bought it doesn't please me. I never buy things like this thinking they are any kind of investment but I ain't buying any more machines in the foreseeable future unless they are Minelabs. They really hit the market hard with the Equinox series. I can see Whites folding in the not too distant future too. Sad because I was raised on Whites machines. Survival of the fittest I reckon.

Nice finds!

Hey MN your avin a go on ya, have a hypothetical for you "I`m thinking of coming over to the US to chase a bit of gold for a few weeks, what advice can you give me to enhance my chances." Please don`t tell me I`m not going to find a big nugget in hammered mullock piles, because someone will as sure as God made little green apples.? Nah... Enjoy the hunt...……... ya know ya soaking in it.

Dan -- Yet again, NICE job! Great saves! Steve

Yup pegmatite. White looks like feldspar with the more translucent minerals being quartz. Black probably biotite maybe tourmaline can't tell in the pic.

Pegmatite w/schorl or pegmatitic granite.

Yes, it's a rock. (Not being smart-ass, just meant it's not a meteorite or anything)

Book of Jack.pdf

Today was spent detecting a 'ridge' in the morning. All the old timer workings were up but nothing to be found. I took a break and then went to seek a couple of more marks on the map. When I got to this location there were no workings at all. It was just patches of quartz and red dirt. I worked at it and then took off up the reefs to see what I could find. After 2 hours just more bbs! Time to move but the roads were washed out and I couldn't make my next spot. It was tricky getting back out. I noticed some workings on the way out and I had about 1.5 hours of daylight so I stopped. I wasn't there 5 minutes when I got that nice mellow, repeatable sound we love. I scraped down about 4 inches, past the topsoil layer into the quartzy, yellow gravel. I knew it had to be a nugget and it is! I used all of the rest of my time there trying to get a second nugget and it was not meant to be.

First rings with the Gold Kruzer. The anchor ring is rose colored 925 silver. The white ring is costume but the stone looks to be real. It is very pretty. The camera just doesn't do it justice. Everyone I show it to tries to keep it. HA. A fun couple of hours. HH Mike

Nice batteries can be found in used laptop battery packs. I found 6, nice batteries inside a HP laptop battery pack. All test good and can provide some nice project batteries. Some of the best on the market can be found in laptop batteries. A trip to the local computer repair shop can usually find some nice discarded batteries cheap. Brand: LG Model: LGEAS318650 (ICR18650S3) Capacity: 2200mAh Rated Voltage: 3.60V Nominal Charging: 4.20V Maximum 1075mA Standard 2150mA Maximum Discharging: 3.00V Cutoff 430mA Standard 4300mA Maximum Description: Blue Cell Wrapper White Insulator Ring 18650 Form Factor

This is my white's TDI beachhunter li-ion battery pack. Just have measured the power consumption. Detector takes 535mAh. Impressive. *** Trying to adjust TDI's buoyancy by adding some lead shots. The grip can take only around 200 grams, but it's not enough. well... it's better then nothing.... *** also 3d printed slim coil protection and luet it to a coil with some silicon.

I completely agree with Chase. Unless you have "0" ground condition, it cannot hurt to ground balance to obtain the maximum sensitivity to a target other than the ground. It also helps when pinpointing - especially a very weak target. When you pinpoint, you should hear no signal when the coil approaches the ground. If the GB is not correct, you could lose a weak target, either by getting a positive or a negative signal from the ground.

Rich - the following is just a counterpoint addressing the ML p. 40 statements directly and not meant to be an I'm right and you are wrong thing. Nor am I advocating that YOU should change the way YOU do business. I know you quoted Horst but I too was in the camp of why not just do a GB so that is why I am responding. Your position is valid because Multi IQ on Equinox does afford a lot of forgiveness when detecting without an optimal Ground Balance point set, I better understand your GB=0 position and just wanted to state why I do GB on regular basis as part of my startup routine (except for one situation) regardless of the soil condition and why I think I too am not violating anything ML has stated on p. 40. And again even though I have a difference of opinion, I also agree it does not mean you should in any way change the way you do it because it works for you to swing at the GB default. Anyway, with that out of the way... I interpret p. 40 a little differently but again, that does not mean my interpretation is right for everyone, here is my take. Fact - Multi IQ and multi frequency machines in general do have the advantage of being able to separate the ground signal by benefit of getting real-time reactance and resistance readings from the ground at different frequencies. That means that UP TO A POINT, the machine can readily compensate for a non-zero ground phase condition. The question is, at what point do does it start having an issue. Minelab gave us the answer on p. 40 as well as on page p. 11 which refers you to the GB procedure on p. 40 if you are experiencing excessive ground noise after conducting the quick start steps. The problem is you do not know if you are experiencing excessive ground noise unless you have removed all discrimination (horseshoe button) and furthermore, you do not know how much the ground noise is affecting detector performance up until the point you notice it though I am sure that in the grand spectrum of effects, on Equinox not having a precise GB in Multi IQ has at worst, a relatively small effect even at large ground phase discrepancies. My Opinion/Philosophy/Take on GB with Equinox - In my region I am subject to a WIDE range of soil conditions. No site, except the dry sand beaches I go to, is completely free of mineralization and also baseline ground phase readings vary greatly from site to site and mineralization is only ONE factor that determines a non-zero reading. I usually use more than one detector at a site and go with the hot hand. Unlike the Equinox, my other primary detector has a mineralization (Fe3O4) meter and I have seen Equinox ring up with some very high Ground Phase numbers even on low mineralized soil (Side note: unless you have a detector that can explicitly read out mineralization level, you cannot tell the level of mineralization at your site if all you have the Equinox ground phase reading because high GP number does not necessarily correlate to a high mineralization level). Furthermore, I have found that Equinox will ring up with significantly different Ground Phase readings on the same patch of ground depending on what mode I have selected. Finally, if I am not searching in AM mode, I may not have any idea if I am experiencing ground noise because that usually shows up as a constant -9, -8, -7 variable chatter and just because I don't hear it in the NF target region does not mean it is not affecting my NF target detection capability. Even on sand beaches, I have NEVER been to a site that has given my "0" on an AUTO GB. Since I have no way of knowing what the GP reading is going to be and at what point a non-zero reading is going to affect detectability, I just do the auto pump as part of my startup routine and swing away. So let's go to what ML said on p. 40 again. "The default Ground Balance setting of 0 is recommended for Park, Field and Beach Modes because these locations typically have less mineralisation than goldfields. However, if the ground is generating many noise signals (and/or the Sensitivity level is set very low), then using Auto Ground Balance is recommended." My take (just my speculation and opinion again, not proven fact) is that ML was really pointing out why they chose 0 and NON-TRACKING as the DEFAULT GB setting vs. TRACKING as the DEFAULT for the Gold Modes and was trying to keep things simple for detectorists of all skill levels by not REQUIRING a GB for most situations because it should really not affect detecting experience all that much, especially with the Multi IQ advantage. Many low end detectors do not have anything other than a preset ground phase reference point, and that suffices for most situations and people do just fine with them. However, I am surprised that ML is linking Ground Phase solely to mineralization, as mineralization is not the only (though it is probably the most dominant) factor in determining ground phase reading. Furthermore, in the CTX words I am especially surprised that ML said "Ground Balance should not be enabled in most detecting conditions where ground mineralization is mild." "Should not" is pretty strong language and is incongruent with them throwing in the qualifier "most detecting conditions" later in the statement. So what are those outlier conditions when you "should" GB in mild mineralization? Also, not being familiar with CTX, some of the nomenclature is also unfamiliar to me - what does "enable" ground balance mean in the context of CTX - is that some sort of tracking GB mode? If so, I fully understand why you would preferably not want to use a tracking GB feature in mild mineralization and address that below. Bottom line, I don't think ML is saying don't do a GB under mild soil confitions with Equinox, only pointing out the basis for their default settings. As far as I am concerned, if I am getting something other than 0 (and the only way to know that is to go into GB and pump or listen for Ground Noise in AM) then why wait to see if you are getting ground noise just head things off at the pass and start off with a ground balance point that most closely matches the site condition, regardless of whether that is 0 or some other number. There certainly is no down side to always doing an Manual/Auto GB at as part of a startup routine other than the 5 seconds it takes to do it and since that GB reading sticks from the last session, it is prudent for me to do it anyway since if it is not zero, then it can be WAY OFF for the new site. I also noise cancel and GB separately for each mode I use at a site. Since it is now just a routine thing, I even do it at the beach. My bottom line - Even though ML "recommends the default ... setting of 0", I do not think they are saying you "should not" do a GB, either. Unless I am missing something, there is no real downside to doing a GB routinely at the start of a detecting session regardless of the site and on the flip side there is probably very little penalty to NOT doing a GB at most sites and just sticking with the default of 0 (but make sure it really is at 0, especially if you did a manual/auto GB or used tracking at your last site). But regardless how small the penalty is, I see no reason to incur it when it is easily remedied. If I am mistaken regarding the "no downside" statement on routinely doing a GB, I would like to know. The philosophy of using tracking GB is a whole separate subject, especially considering the fact that there may indeed be downsides to using tracking GB, especially at low mineralized sites, because tracking relies on changes in mineralization to trigger a GP reading and rebalance and I don't want to get into that here. Thanks for reading and welcome feedback, especially if I am missing something that would indicate doing a routine GB is somehow detrimental or even non-optimal. Thx.

Can't wait to try one of these coils on a QED. The Bulgarian carbon fiber CC coil has yet to come up to expectations so far.

Thank you all for the tips. I've been amazed with the kindness of the people on the forum. I've been here for a while, and I've never seen any hate? On the upcoming Saturday I am going with my brother for a hunt. I am going to stick to field 1 factory preset, maybe I will increase iron bias a bit and save it in a user profile. I own 800 version.

Hi NHNZ, your desire for the Monster in NZ is well founded. The mineralization over there is next to nothing I hear and so, the monster will NOT chirp, pop and fart like they do here in Oz. Hence you could run the monster in max gain settings and get amazing results. But, the 24K is no slouch and will better the monster in some conditions with more solid shaped gold. The thicker and more shotty stuff, the 24K with its 6" concentric coil will get you some serious depth. Its really a toss-up whether the 24K or the monster would be best for your NZ conditions. What I like most over the monster is that the 24K has a wonderful threshold buzz that is rock stable (not the BS digital beep of the monster) and a zappy analogue type beep for the targets.....takes me back to the 80's when I 1st started detecting. The iron ID is very reliable on anything larger than a nail and the numbers on-screen dont lie. The 24K is fully capable of finding ALL of the gold that the monster can, thats for sure. Its just a matter of ground conditions giving you a bonus over the monster or not. The coils are all shielded differently due to the added coil amperage/voltage so none of the old goldmaster coils can be used on the 24K. the new 6x4DD 24K coil is due to be available at the end of this month. Im getting one!

Shoot! I broke the housing off my old AT Pro by just sitting it down too hard. It was only held on by two screws and plastic studs. I repaired it myself by using longer screws, epoxy and a hose clamp. It was plenty secure after that.

Interesting thread - new control box for peanuts - no valid warranty claim - has a new day dawned at ML? After all the hits I have taken (often justified) for being a ML downer, things seem to be changing. Heck the entire hobbiest detector market is in an uproar and the Equinox didn’t start it, I suspect it is just a very smart response to new realities.... Anyway, here’s what I posted on the above thread just a while ago.... Seriously, I am not surprised. Minelab had for years a reputation for being very agressive not only for detector pricing but for spares/repairs pricing. Those who suffered from this were often pretty open about their opinion of the whole business. I mean, contrast it with, for example Tesoro (RIP - pause while I wipe away an actual tear), Whites and first Texas whose repair policies have been largely somewhere between wonderful and benign. Fast forward to now - who is this company pretending to be Minelab. First they destroy the market for the CTX and Excalibur with their Equinox pricing, then they get a new repair subcontractor set up who seeems, by all accounts, to be doing awesome work - and now the sneaky devils (masquerading as Minelab) are replacing entire control modules for the price of a few gourmet pizzas! Will wonders never cease. OK, I’ve had my fun, but seriously if this is one more sign of a whole new approach to the hobbiest detector market by Minelab, then the rest of the industry ought to take notice. What cred do I have for my opinion in this matter - I have resolutely been a critic of pretty much everything about ML except for the performance of their machines. Now - even I must wonder if a new day hasn’t dawned.

I don't like to dish dirt on an otherwise superb detector and to be fair I have a sense that if my bench tech had replaced the side clips too there would have been no problem after the repair. With the R & D that' must have gone into the CTX Im surprised that this has not been addressed more soundly. This second gasket is not even captive--it just sits on the outside of the case--nothing some black tape wont accomplish. My fix did work today something for anyone who has had a leak to try: Take the lid off a water bottle and cut out two rectangles 1/32 x 1/8". Get some tweezers and some crazy glue or mix epoxy. Put a puddle of glue on a surface, pick up each shim , dip it and place each one exactly on where the cell clip seats--on the battery holder. Trim with nail cutters. Use the clips to clamp for drying. This will make for a firmer seal. Be sure to use an (strong) elastic to secure the clips now. Then, to keep the sand out--apply two strips of black tape--top and bottom. Just funny--Im run this machine for periods of time problem free but then it has leaked several times in a row no matter how hard I try to make sure that everything is situated perfectly. This fix seems so far so good--two rechargeable cells later... PS scored this Italian cuff today18k 9.7 gt. seems to be working! cjc

Finds of a lifetime for sure. You earned those gold pieces Steve and should be on cloud 9. Colchester is a heck of a detecting site and I have been there many times. Mindy and Ron are top notch group leaders and I have hunted with both in years past. The guy that runs the show has a heck of a site, land and identification system but his personality can be a "Dill" at times...just like mine on an occasion. Its all good though and your story, photos and finds are very enjoyable to read and dream. As you are about to find out, the gold artifacts end up "Declared the Lands Treasure" and could be purchased so you'll get some compensation for them. The best part though....your detecting skill helped save an item that is of historical significance and will end up in a museum for all to see. Keep us updated on the findings.

I have a feeling it FT is about to rock the detector world, they have been too quiet for too long. They have some of if not the best detector engineers in the world, they have lowered prices on the F75/T2 platform to a level that is bringing them into the mid-level machine price range, even though they they are still at the top performance wise. FT is behind in the all terrain business but that wont last long and I think you will see a repackaged waterproof F75/T2 machine very soon and a true game changer shortly there after. I had an Equinox on pre-order but other than being waterproof (which I really don't need), my F75 LTD SE has more depth and is plenty fast for my hunting, thus I canceled my order. I am going to wait and see what FT has up their sleeve, until then I will keep going behind the latest and greatest machines and dig what they can't hear.

Got hold of a T2+ and at first before I received it I was scared FTP may of did something to reroute a Good thing...So I waited and wondered ...The ever evolving series of T2's throughout its life span had me in limbo not Knowing which way it would go... The original T2 I got in 2007 I believe it was upon release..And I instantly fell in love with it.Buttons were everywhere waiting on me!!..and Loved it,,all but the NOISE of EMI...but still I ran it because I KNEW what it could/would do. The The Camo LTD with bp mode and Cache Mode...a Godsend...What PUNCH or ability to airgap!!! yet MORE noise...LOL...But I KNEW what it could do... Then we got the V2 (DST) model...Quiet as a mouse where did the EMI go????Yet to me it was not SPARKY any more and seemed to have a LAG feel and the extreme depth targets would sort of just clip out instead of go to a fuzzy sound like on a non DST version.. Then we got the T2 Classic..WOW!!!!! EMI non existent and speedy,zippy,sparky!! LOVED it..Still had a bit of SLIGHT deep target signal clipping but not bad.YET no BP mode for my air-gap pinestraw prone hunts... Now we have the T2+ Ill make no qualms about it...The T2 to ME has always been a hall of famer status detector and I'm sure others know/feel this as well..Plus I just mesh with it so easily and love to use them on any iron ridden and or mixed use sites...the ID is superb and Its lite and it just plain digs Relics and loves brass..The Disc is Par excellence on the T2 as a +..One of the few VLF I can pick large brass in large iron easily and add small coil and damage some iron and or trashy mixed use sites with ease...I like to set DIsc ((on a say 100 year continuously occupied site most walk away from including me from all the assortment of trash)) up to 80 and just grab all the silver and large brass etc eerily easy. Go to a nail ridden civil war house full of iron debris and set disc on zero 2+ tones and Sift iron with small coil... Work open fields with large coils and threshold all metal and dig DEEEEEEEP.. This is what i like about a T2 a very multi use machine and steady LOCKING I.D's when you need it.. So the T2+??...Well,, and I don't say this Lightly...to me it may be the best T2 built To date...As always K.I.S.S. easy interface..same housing and rods etc..although I notice they have went back to the way the pistol grip attaches to the rod like the first ones did..and I like that..there for awhile they used the brass insert and screw to hold the handles on and they had a slight wobble the first ones with bolt and nut did not have...well the T2+ has the old school set up,, really tight no wiggle!When you turn it on its like any other T2..disc mode 60 sens and 1 tone..Change settings turn it off turn it back on and your back to the 60 sens and 1 tone..I LIKE THAT..hard reset everytime..and makes me check my settings on every hunt..Has all the T2 standard tone modes..1,1+,2+,3,3b,4,Dp and now the added BP and like on the LTD BP its two + tone only...same screen new T2+ Written across top of screen graphics..and detector is T2 classic green ( my favorite color LOL!!) Here's where things get interesting and my worrying was in vane...This T2+ is as fast as any T2 Ive used in past 11 years..and EMI free to boot...there is some sizzle spark on 99 Sens but that's the Gain not outside interference...It lightning quick!!and recovery shut down and separation is enhanced it so seems by the speed...So its fast and yes its still Deeep... Clad dime indoors Biaxial coil, 2+ tone, factory ground balance of 90 zero disc is air testing 12.75 inches..and non to jsut slight slight clipping its a modulated whisper like old days pre DST...Turn Bp on same dime is now 15 inches.So the AIR depth is as hot as any T2 I've ever ran..and the speed is as good or MAYBE? slightly faster Even Bp mode which is inherently slower seems to be quick still not as laggy as a V2 DST T2 in standard tone..And maybe a tad bit faster than non DST BP mode..I know there seems to havea tightness feel to the tone now in precise way. It almost feels like the T2+ has a faster processor or??? inside the unit...Tones are crisp and tight and the separation is quick..And that may be away they overcome some of the DST lag..just speed up the clock?? I never used Cl mode on other T2s so I don't miss it on this one and if you don't need iron volume settings and Variable tone pitch the V2 offers but want performance then think basic old school T2 with Bp only thats where youll be....and the Bp mode on this one carries over to the all metal mode as it should! I would say its everybit the T2 C. in production now yet seems more reactive and there is a slight cleanness to the tone over the C.Its just as quiet as a T2C.but with the added Bp mode for better below 3 to 4 bar dirt and or air-gap issues from sites its a welcome addition... This is workhorse unit for sure and can do very well about anywhere inland..Hate to sound to excited about the T2+ but to me its the evolved unit I've wished for...I need no notching or backlights or the likes ..Does well on my 9 inch dime in 4 bar dirt like any PROPER T2 and clips a high tone on the 10 inch dime 4 bar dirt like any PROPER T2.. I wont say its any deeper than past T2's of any model in the soil...but its as fast or faster than some models... Lets call it a PROPER clean running noise free T2..What more could you want if you need a machine that can really SITE SIFT modern/old or combo of both..There's SOME better iron sifters and there's deeper machines in certain soils But the T2+ has some excellent clean disc and quickness that overcomes its start stop audio gate to a point that it makes it hard to hunt a site then come back and not have to work hard on the site with the Iron sifters to manage more goodies. One other thing on my buried dimes the 3 tone actually has a cleaner more dig me hit ..the ten inch dime is at least 75% of the sweeps telling me to go for it..On other T2's the 3 tone never was this two tone was .. OK I like this T2+!!!LOL!!!But I always have... Keith

Two sold recently on eBay, one for $175 and one for $250 eBay sold listings are a good way to set current value on used detectors. Stuff is only worth what it sells for.

The “+” package really is a screaming deal The certificate for a free refurb and 2 year transferable warranty takes care of the old problem of warranty only to the original owner, making eventual resale easier - Nice add-on. The pinpointer is just great. I had one out last weekend, noticibly deeper than my TRX and less fussy.

The Teknetics T2 was in my opinion First Texas last “breakthrough” machine and a true classic. The F75 is basically just an offshoot variant. It was the T2 that created the mold, especially the widely copied 7” x 11” DD coil. I really like the all metal mode performance with metered target id. Not only is the performance there but to this day no detector feels better on my arm and in my hand the the T2 platform. Just a terrific machine and a killer value package. Considering the included $149 Tek-Point pinpointer (an excellent pinpointer!) and digging tool the T2 is priced at $399 and is easily the best of class at that price point by a large margin in my opinion. Thanks for the report Keith - we missed you here!

Welcome to the V3i rabbit hole! Yeah, track speed, SAT, recovery speed, filters - all matter and interact.