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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/25/2019 in all areas

  1. Something I've been wanting to do for a while now..I got another x ray generator couple weeks ago and wanted to try it out on my DR System.. Heres most but not all of the coils I have. 1. CTX 6" 2. TDI Pro 12" double mono 3. CTX 17' 4. XP Deus 9" 5. Miner John 8x12" mono 6. x cal 8" 7. Gold Monster 6" 8. Fisher Gold Bug two 6" 9. Nox 6" 10. Nox 11" 11-14 GPZ 7000 stock coil
    10 points
  2. I've been meaning to post this for a while . After seeing the great finds GKman found on the Equinox forum, it reminded me to post this. Here is a shot of most of the brass Native American kettle points we found from an ongoing project. These points were found by 4 other hunters and myself. I get asked a lot of times from people that find their own points, how old are they? and what tribe do they belong to? The time period is easy, early to mid 1600's., but the attribution is more difficult. So we are in the process of starting a data base of points found while metal detecting. Since I am a metal detectorist, first and foremost , I informed them that the exact locations are not going to be disclosed ?. No one is going to give GPS numbers on their finds. The people I have worked with for the past 8 years are excellent people and are only interested in general information and a good, clear picture with a ruler or measurements (length and width). This data base will allow us to see where points are generally found and will eventually be able to attribute styles of points to actual tribes. I have only 1 point that was found at a cellar hole, on my own and have given them the information on where it was found. Only the town and state. That is all they needed. So if anyone is interested in contributing information (anonymously if you choose), I would be glad to log it in. Hope you enjoy the picture. It represents around 10 tribes that fought along side the English, against the Pequot tribe. If you have never had the privilege of digging one of those, I can say it never gets old. I have had the pleasure of pulling a lot of those points pictured from the dirt and the feeling is always the same ?
    5 points
  3. Hi JP. Been watching a lot your work out in the scrub during the years. Thanks for your time very helpful. I`m over in the WA side and need to put my bit in. Even though new to this forum I have gone through the 4500 to 5000 to 7000 series over the years. I look at the posts from persons telling me how good the new x coils work but to me over here I work over old grounds flogged over the years full of hot rocks and minerals. Most areas have been scraped by blades to flatten the ground and get the coils as close as possible to the ground. I am picking up small nuggets usually within 50mm from the surface. The average size is 0.1 grams. I will include a photo of some pieces collected from the Leonora area four weeks ago. So it may take all day to get a gram but I enjoy the struggle, then every now and then out pops a beauty. I use the ML14" coil with the skid plate bouncing on the ground (carefully). I have to run in difficult all the time, high yield, sensitivity 20, threshold 1, vol 12 with the VM12 unit, ground balance auto, all smoothing off. The coil works nice and quiet as long as you balance properly at the start and take your time. I have picked up a lot of small stuff that people and machines have left behind. Any nuggets greater that 1 gram set the machine off so loud that it wakes you up with a fright. In high mineral ground give it a try. All in all the ML14" suits me to a tee. Okay a bit heavy, but I swing without needing a harness and the coil takes a lot of punishment from me. Enjoy the bush out there all, cheers Sturt.
    5 points
  4. Well, if nothing else I guess this shows Minelab they could have been making some $dough off selling these patch cords if they wanted to get some cash from the X Coil release. Can the service center here sell the coils they warrantied out and would otherwise be tossing, assuming the chip was good and kick Minelab it's nominal profit cut? If so, get a hold of me and sell me your trash.
    4 points
  5. I agree - it's rare to see something really different on the forums and this is one of those posts for sure!
    4 points
  6. Quote:"Looks like a ferrite choke inside the GPZ 14" stock coil too but the wires go into it tightly bunched and come out loose. Somethings going on in there" Yes indeed. The TX coil is would from multi-stranded Litz wire, appearing 'fatter' on the images. It's then soldered to short lengths of 'regular' wire ( I don't know what, probably just PVC-insulated equipment wire ) , which are then soldered to the PCB ... or maybe it's the coil cable inner directly soldered to the Litz. The ferret .... well somewhere in ML's patents is the answer. I recall that big blob solder joints were detectable to PI's in some less-than-ideal way. And the ferret 'hides' the joints, somehow. I'll have to trawl Geotech1 to find the details. [ferret's may be known as polecats in your country ] Update: Here ya go ( after 10+ edits, I'm still struggling to get the links to work ... Iwish there was a 'post preview' option ) Patent US20130057286 https://www.geotech1.com/forums Also: MD-Hunter's blog has X-rays of the Nox coil, and a few other types.
    3 points
  7. I am always interested in something new, especially if it is beach related, or EMI mitigation related. But honestly I am tired of waiting on machines that never seem to come to market. Maybe if they would just let us know what is going on instead of silence, that would help. Minelab is always silent on their machines and never gives you more than a small glimpse of their new releases, but at least they do release them. My money is not everlasting by any means ?, so if I buy something today while waiting for the promised machine, I will not have the funds to buy it if it does come out! That happened with White's one time. I waited and waited and then the E Trac came out, so I bought it. They lost my sale, and helped Minelab get into my main line of machines used. Hard to knock them from that now, especially with just promises. I think it really hurts the credibility of a manufacturer to cry wolf too many times.
    3 points
  8. Dunno JR I got ozs with the 19ML, on ground that had been flogged with everything up to 22" on 5000s. The 19"ML to me is up there with those "faulty" X coils you talk of. Horses for courses and jockeys, but I accept & respect your opinion, there is no definite, what works for one individual isn`t for all.
    3 points
  9. That's one of the top ten coolest posts I've seen on gold forums! Thanks for sharing.
    3 points
  10. Well there it is Strick! The elusive flux generator in the 14” ZED coil Good to see all that tuition money for school wasn’t wasted ??
    3 points
  11. From the Minelab Facebook page: "Have you been on the new Minelab website: WWW.MINELAB.COM ? We've given the site a modern and fresh layout while making it easier to find key details. Browse product information, learn about accessories, read user-submitted success stories or locate your nearest dealer. Did we also mention it's now translated into 16 different languages. Let us know what you think of the new design in the comments or send us a message."
    2 points
  12. Hi Folks I have been busy making quite a few finds recently. After more than a year with the Equinox, it continues to impress me with it's capabilities. Some of my recent finds include some early 1630's Kettle Points and Turtle Effigy, Spanish Silver, KG's and more. I even have had it scuba diving. Unfortunately I wasn't impressed with the volume with the Grey Ghost headphones. I have a new pair of Tony Eisenhower headphones ready to try out with the hopes that the volume is better. We shall see. HH Everyone...
    2 points
  13. I've fixed the links in my post, which was hard work. I'm going to have to practice if I'm going to post any more links in the future. The GoldBug2 has a few recognisable features: The fans of 6 or 7 wires are where connection is made to the graphite paint finish on the shell inner surface - one for the top, one for the bottom, I assume. The wires are bare tinned copper, possibly melted into the plastic, possibly taped down. Then the graphite is painted over the top of everything. There's a capacitor in there, the rectangular thing on two wires, typically a wound polypropylene type, in a little plastic box. This will tune the transmit coil. The excess of spare wire is what would be used to get the correct null, where there's very little output from the coil when nothing metallic is nearby. This could be moved around, formed into small loops, etc, in addition to moving the location of the central ( RX and bucking ) coil assembly about a bit.
    2 points
  14. Hi Kac! I like the X very very well! But I like about all the DeepTechs.in my soil they are nice and deep. The new design to my ears has enhanced audio traits over the other already great audio traits DeepTechs.The added second disc is nice to have if needed.Yuo push trigger forward fro second disc and pull for all metal center is first disc. What I like the moat about it is its what i wanted a Tejon to be for years but never happened. I'm an old school hunter and grew up on analog and the X just feels like an old friend to me.But has some modern twist. They may not be for everyone and especially the newer generation of hunters .To them it may seem antiquated or lacking.But if you like to hunt and dig targets without meters and even be able to hunt in more modern trash areas where the old Vistas cant then its a win win. I actually feel the X has a cleaner disc of targets Vs the Tejon.But unmask as well as the Tejon and that's hard to do .I've always considered the Tejon to be the best single tone analog unmasker made. One thing for certain is the big iron that trips up the Tejon to make you dig it will not happen as often on the X.you know big iron very easily on the X. The build quality is very good and is weather proof but not water proof. To me its a straight up analog with some modern twist .and it just flat out makes finds.And can hunt iron very very good and go very deep.and can also be used in parks etc the same as any other full disc non-metered machine you've ever used with same type outcome. It has ability to control the Receive signal through threshold control.Very NICE! The Audio is everything on the unit .very rich and nuanced with subtleties. Makes you decide instead of the machine deciding.YOU feel more at one with the soil with the unit instead of feeling like I do alot of times with some machines that your disconnected from the soil by a artificial barrier. Is it the greatest machine ever made? NO but it is a machine I ENJOY and I can make it feel right to ME.And I like the as one with the soil alot of machines dont offer as much as we move on in technology. Keith
    2 points
  15. I do not believe the ferrous rejection methodology employed will work for most gold nugget detecting. Too much variation in natural gold responses. Fisher Impulse AQ Logo
    2 points
  16. Recovery speed...... i run at 4. 3 and below gives a unique sound from the salt water...... run it to fast along the bottom and you notice it especially with you coil slightly tilted. It seems to be that same SWOOCH most detector give like the Xcal in PP when the water moves over the coil. 4 doesnt..... i assume because it give a bit shorter tone. You arent going to silence this machine completely...... its sensitive. A lot of that falsing i jumping to those lower digits so even disc mode .... unless you want to disc 1-6 is going to help. The hotter you run the more it picks up shallow surface minerals/and salt in the sand out there. The machine you are comparing it to is a very refine machine ..... even in the water.... thus the $2400 price tag. You have to realize ... salt setting... reduced power in Beach 2... and turning things down a LOT makes the machine run smooth...... but may be a huge disadvantage. What i did to try and silence it here is..... RS4, IB 2, 19 sensitivity (you may have more minerals than us), turned off threshold, turn down iron volume to 2...... i run AM, but disc would reduce iron more even. I also run 50 tones..... which i prefer. LESS tones might help....... but the key seems to be getting it to a tolerable level...... and still pick out the weak targets without loosing a lot of depth.
    2 points
  17. Thanks for the post JP. Although it seems like some of the early issues may have been ironed out is always nice for a potential consumer to know the teething problems a new product has had and potential issues that may still arise for some purchasers depending on ground conditions or if the patch lead, etc aren't quite up to scratch. Although I no longer own the Z, if it were still in my hands I know I couldn't bring myself to 'cut the cord' as it were. The risk versus the reward would be just too big for me at the present time. I think you mentioned in one of your earlier posts about the possibility of "coil not connected" being too scary to contemplate - I am definitely in that category ? This is also not a slight on the X coils, their manufacturer or Davsgold. Obviously there are many happy purchasers experiencing little or no issues and finding good quantities of gold in flogged patches. But there are 2 sides to every coin and it is good for potential purchasers to see the flip side so they can make a fully informed decision. Cheers, NE.
    2 points
  18. Absolutely bloody brilliant,really one of the top posts !!
    2 points
  19. Here's a video i did of the X Steve Sorry its so long but tried to get in the attributes in under a hour LOL. 50 gain and threshold 40 all potentiometers go zero to 50..disc point is where it just drops out AIRTEST DEPTH Nickle 14.5" Indian Head 13" Z Penny 13" Copper Penny 12.5" Clad Dime 12.25" Silver Dime 12.25" Silver Quarter 14" Half Dollar 15.25" Silver Dollar 16.5" .58 Cal. 3 Ringer 13.5 C.S.A. Rectangle 23" U.S. Oval 25" Breast Plate 23"DISC POINTS WHERE JUST GONE Nickle 34 Indian Head 38.5 Z Penny 39 Copper Penny 43 Clad Dime 44.5 Silver Dime 45 Silver Quarter 46 Half Dollar 48 Silver Dollar 50 still solid Coke Can flat 45 Square tab 34 The X has very good Disc actually a sweet disc its gone when its gone on the dial just today I set my second disc on 38.5 to low/high tone a .58 caliber three ringer and hunted in a trashy area and picked some deep 3 ringers out by checking on second disc and if the tone was flip flopping I almost KNEW it was a bullet!! You can set the 2nd disc to break up (flip flop from low to high tone) on a target which I like for exactness or silence the target or accept etc.. If you dont want to hear a low tone for disc'ed items just turn the iron volume to zero.then its a single tone with full disc on either first or second disc. You can use both disc to create a notch window if you like to your exact requirements say nickles.Set first disc right below nickle and second disc right above or on edge of breaking then you have a user defined notch to check a target with . You push trigger forward to use second disc and pull for a all metal no tone accept all mode like a pinpoint.theres 2 triggers for either right or left hand operation. Machine is on 12 Volts with Drop in battery holder like say a Infinium with quarter turn door. The Gain control is the receive gain.A amplifier for the returned signal and can be tweaked for hot ground or more benign ground The Threshold is the depth/target size control and decides how weak a signal you can hear the lower you set it the more signal it takes to break though the higher you set it up to a point of say 45 the less signal it takes to over come it.even in deep woods EMI free areas you will overdrive it into instability as a sizzling chatter..Im running it right on edge of sizzle for best depth and even smallest of targets. The I've dug no big iron with the X since running it now about 25 hours.Even in my big iron sites.I hear it but know its iron by the way the tones sound even n just nail reject.of 20.And picked brass out of the sites of all shapes and sizes. Crown caps also sound ratty. The knobs are very tight and you can set them and wont bump them out of tuning..One thing to show the exactness of the disc is I can cancel a flattened beer can and still hit a Quarter Clean Keith
    1 point
  20. Klunker I am surprised you don’t know the answer to that one...or are you being rhetorical? 40% more depth would be my quess......?
    1 point
  21. I advertise that mine is 8 in shorter. But the drop Riffels are exactly the same. If you look at most of the pictures out there, the gold is caught in the top part of the riffles. Other than that being a few inches shorter at the exit end, it doesn't change the way the sluice box works at all. My response to was just to make sure that everybody had the real story and there was no misunderstanding of how mine came about. If somebody wants a longer one then buy the longer one. If someone wants the shorter one or my mini Trap, which catches gold amazingly too, then mine is available. Just want to be fair to everyone and have an honest understanding of how the le trap works.
    1 point
  22. You're a heck of a photographer Mr. Strick. Could you bring that thing up with you on your next trip. I would like to play with it and see if it could be adapted to field use. How much depth do you think we could get with it?
    1 point
  23. Thanks GB.. I have not identified it yet. I think it is 1700, so William III?
    1 point
  24. It is true American Mining does have the Le'Trap mold bought from John at Jobe after he bankrupted. However, before that, I was already making the Le'Trap. It is identical in design and has the same drops. Mine is identical to the original. For the sake of not arguing, that mold American Mining has is not the original either. There was an older version before that. There are no patents on this and never were. The design is public domain. I had many dealers ask me to make the Le'Trap when no one was making it for a couple years. They all asked me to make it about 8 inches shorter because almost all the Gold is caught in the first few riffles. 8" shorter does not make it catch less gold or work differently. Also the shipping cost to send the original longer version was a lot more. When they are shipped they go by the shipping size. When a dealer buys them even in bulk, the cost to reship them is high. When Michael bought the mold , John from the closed Jobe never told him that I was already making them. John came to my shop and seen mine and tried to get me to sell exclusively to him. I said I would sell them to him at a jobber price and I guess he didin't like that. Michael found out the night before that I was making them. I was asked by dealers to make a mini version for backpackers, which I did. It has the same drops and riffle design but weighs less than a pound. Side by side they do the same thing and catch the same amount of Gold. I think they are both good products. If you put them side by side they will catch the same gold.
    1 point
  25. You can go to smaller DD coils but that kind of negates why you use a GPX - the power. Basically, no, you can’t reduce sensitivity without reducing depth.
    1 point
  26. The trick is to get new models when they come out so you get the full ride. After several years you just never know when a new model may.. or may not, come out. And no matter what the new machine costs existing units always take a price hit as many people dump the older model to get the newer one. Since Minelab owns the high end market with no competition in sight there is no business reason to replace the GPZ any time soon. For a long time now the only company competing with Minelab on the high end gold detectors has been Minelab. Not saying it won’t happen, but people counting X number of years between releases forget what happened when the GPX 4500 came out. The release time between it and the final GPX 5000 doubled over previous release intervals. I know because I sold my GPX 4500 anticipating a new model.... and then had to buy another one when the 4800/5000 release was delayed.
    1 point
  27. If they can bring out the Mantra in Gold form where it will dismiss iron,,,,,,be a machine to have for sure Marty
    1 point
  28. A common subject that has come up recently with all the coil discussions is X signal and what it portrays. This thread is to put some clarity on what X means to the GPZ 7000 end user and why you should use your Ferrite. When the 7000 was released its software was designed to automatically calibrate for a component in the ground called X signal, there is no need for me to go into the scientific aspects of what X is and nor am I qualified to do so however, in the case of the GPZ, it is NECESSARY that the Ferrite be used and operators, no matter what or where the ground is they are working, should make it part of their daily detecting regime even if they can’t discern or understand the need for it. The GPZ has the ability to ‘balance’ out X signals, to do this you need to activate the Quick-Trak button on the front of the handle. When you press the button you are also activating the regular ground balance that any high end gold specific metal detector uses, initially when the button is triggered tracking is forced or sped up briefly, this also means the GPZ 7000 is doing two things at once when the QT button is triggered. On the first release software the Auto Ground Balance mode was trying to actively cancel out X signals as well as G signals running in parallel with each other, to some extent the G balance will also try to balance out some X signal if the X signal is loud enough but overall the detector requires X balance to cancel out X signals effectively. The issue with the release software was the X balance was too lively and was being too easily dragged away from accuracy by Salt signals and Saturation signals of which WA and Victoria are well know for (most gold fields suffer from these signals). Minelab then released the Ferrite to help operators to let the detector ‘SEE’ what X signal really was in Salty and Saturable ground, during the release WA and Victoria had suffered a long and extended rain event so the ground was water logged, Salt is conductive so therefore is exacerbated by moisture. Because of the water logged ground during this time it caused lots of early complaints from GPZ users. Not long after this Minelab also developed a software update to slow the Ferrite balance down so it would not be so readily dragged away by those pesky signals, this helped a lot but I was still advocating using the GPZ in Fixed GB mode. At a later stage another software release was provided that allowed the user to use a SEMI AUTO mode where once the Ferrite Balance was completed the X balance would be FIXED whilst allowing the G balance to continue to actively track the regular ground balance, this is my preferred and advised mode. X signal in the ground is not like G signal, it is in varying subtle degrees but is not as VARIABLE as regular ground G signal, the reason a GPZ makes a signal on X is because since the last calibration the temperature of the electronics has shifted or if in Auto GB mode other signals in the ground have confused or altered the X balance calibration. The only real way to tell if your calibration is OUT or WRONG is to use the Ferrite to confirm if this is so, which is why it is so vital you make it part of your daily routine. NOISE: Noise is any sort of audio signal that should not be there, noise competes with targets plain and simple. The less noise you have the more obvious targets will sound and the deeper your detector will run or more accurately the deeper you’ll be able to discern a target (assuming you are also using the optimised Ground type and Gold modes for the ground you are searching and the size of nuggets targeted), all targets under the coil are being energised by the Tx evenly at all times relative to coil position, however user choice of settings, calibrations and coil control have a huge impact on the outcome. If the ferrite balance is out then a signal off any X in the ground is going to join the audio and potentially compete with you being able to discern a target signal. X SIGNALS and X COILS The GPZ 7000 is a very versatile metal detector, if can be used even if the Ferrite calibration is WAY OFF as is evidenced by users who refuse to update their detectors or who refuse to use the Ferrite (or both), or if users are using X coils that make a signal on the Ferrite regardless of doing a Ferrite balance. I am a purist so will always check my Ferrite balance because even 0.1% less noise in the audio is an advantage in my opinion. The X coils do actually balance out the Ferrite over the receive winding part of the coil (not as cleanly as a ML coil but acceptable), but they do manifest a LOUD signal in another location that any savvy X coil user will soon identify unless a mod is done during manufacture (I am unsure of coils made in the last month or so but it is easy to tell). The manufacturer was unwilling to do the mod due to feedback from customers not complaining, the resistance was based around the mod adding a lot of weight to the coil (gets the coils up into Minelab coil weight territory, isn’t that interesting?). I am unsure how he went about removing the Ferrite signal or the mod required to do so and am not at liberty to discuss why a ferrite signal happens in the first place. The reason I was pushing so hard for the mod was to try and get the X coils across the line for PERFORMANCE parity with ML coils in the hopes of accessing the dongle, the X coils showed potential but needed to be refined, in the end the current option was decided upon and I was no longer needed. As it currently stands any coil that makes a noise on the Ferrite (especially a LOUD noise) will by default make an unacceptable signal off X signal in the ground, operators will not really notice this signal as it will blend in with general ground noise responses, believe me it is there and it is COSTING you depth!! I do not use the X coils in Clermont because of these main reasons, our ground is saturable and the X coils saturate much more readily than the Minelab coils, most of my coils have the mod so X signal is not such a problem but a couple of them do not so they don’t get used either, with the larger coils I always use GENERAL/DIFFICULT and every X coil I have used makes touch and knock noises, some are acceptable (The Spiral wound ones seem best) but in most cases General/Difficult is out thereby negating the advantage of using a larger coil for larger deeper nuggets. To fully appreciate the differences in the coils I am going to include the settings I use so GPZ operators can benchmark what I am experiencing with their own settings. SETTINGS Audio Smoothing: OFF Ground Smoothing: OFF Sensitivity: 9 Threshold: 27 Gold Type: HIGH YIELD (To experience Knock and rub noise use GENERAL/DIFFICULT) Ground Type: DIFFICULT Volume: 6 to 8 for Headphones (either through a B&Z booster or GPZ direct), 12 for WM12 Ground Balance: SEMI-AUTO Conclusions and Suggestions: At no stage have I said the X coils are unusable just user beware. In quiet ground they should be OK and in variable ground, like I operate in here, they are usable but twitchy. I have found gold with them but choose not to use them full time in my areas due to the above issues and my being fussy about noise. I did during supervised testing (under duress I might add for the very reasons that have been borne out online) find gold in ground I frequent, I expressed that I was impressed that I was able to find gold with them in such a flogged area and that they showed potential which was borne out by my continued involvement till I was no longer needed. I have since been back to that area with customers on training and as always have found gold over the same ground as is typical of Clermont thanks to its high variablity ground. My favourite X coils are the flat wound ones because they seem to handle our ground better and have less touch sensitivity, however they are a LOT heavier. In essence they are what they are and did not meet required standards to be officially recognised, which is a shame because I too desperately want to see more coil options for the GPZ. JP X Coil 2021 News
    1 point
  29. Yep, that is a way cool post, Strick. It makes me want to go out and get an MRI. Or not …..
    1 point
  30. The Le'Trap sluice is awesome for catching small and large Gold. Here are the photo's of the Green one as well as the new Mini Trap which uses the same drop riffles as the larger one bet this fits in a backpack. It is 30 inches long. We also offer them with a solid top end or we have them with the top end cut out for you.
    1 point
  31. You can wait...or not. If you buy a used gpz or some earlier pi you will still get less IF a new GPZ comes around...when you sell to buy the new model. I don’t think Minelab ever introduced a next generation detector for less money! what is it worth to you. fred
    1 point
  32. They were primarily used for arrows.
    1 point
  33. outstanding post strick
    1 point
  34. They are amazing. I have never seen anything like that ?
    1 point
  35. Well it's all gone quiet so hopefully there will be an introduction some day. This was the only machine on the horizon I had any interest in this year but with each passing day I am thinking it will be more of a next year thing for me anyway.
    1 point
  36. We've had a ferrite inside our coil all along it looks like. It's not in the photo you posted of the coil being tested in the Minelab bench, wonder if it's just an FCC compliance thing as some mentioned in earlier threads. It seems to be covering a wire junction or solder point in the middle. Anyone know what that square thing in the GB2 coil is? Also, I hope my Deus coil goes bad at some point just so I can take it apart without worry about breaking it and figure out how they crammed a whole detector into that tiny amount of circuitry. There must be more shielded in that tube thing.
    1 point
  37. I have had about 9 people now send me offers . I guess I will sell it. I am going to allow a full day for anyone else to submit offers and or ask questions. I will post this in the Classified section too. Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9PM Mountain time, I will PM the person with the highest offer, as I get PMs through out the day I will let others know what the exact highest offer is or let them know if they are currently the highest. I do have to work, so have patience with my replies. See the Classified for more details.
    1 point
  38. The X coils are DOD wound (SuperD is the name Minelab give for that configuration), you need that style of coil for ZVT to work properly. The Spiral wound X coils have a flat Tx and a traditional Rx, because of the spiral they seem to behave a bit like a monoloop with a signal kind of coming off the side edges of the coils as well as the traditional receive points where the windings cross each other. Electronically they are flawed with what Minelab would consider to be too much saturation signal (Tx is most likely too close to the ground relative to the Rx in an attempt to save weight and simplify design and expense), the windings also allow too much knock and rub energy through the windings causing noise especially in General Difficult. Because they are hand made there will also be discrepancies and inconsistencies between coils which I also noticed with my coils. If Minelab made such a coil they would be constantly having to replace them under warranty. I gave all this advice when I was testing them to both the manufacturer and the importer. JP
    1 point
  39. Well only early days but I cannot see any difference in performance between the SDC with the Coiltek 11" and the Z with the 10"X, both had no trouble on this variable ground patch. Both handled the variable ground and both got small scraps (10 to the gram), felt a wee strange at first swing the Z with a small coil, but I like the SDC with a centre mount coil as per norm. much better. Both showed no "knock resistance" to the being bumped up against the heavy grass or the numerous rocks. This ground had previously been run over with the SDC + 8" standard coil and whilst it got pieces not with the ease the SDC + 11"Coiltek. In regards to the Coiltek 11", the first one I received lasted 20 minutes, my dealer got me a replacement from Coiltek (no cost to me) as fast as. For me it is good to know as I can have the SDC fitted with the 11" and the Z with whatever X coil it has on (suspect be mainly the 15 for patch hunting) just lovely to have these coil choices for both the SDC and the Z. Like kids in a candy store...………...
    1 point
  40. Wow davsgold you were right there. I have had 4 people PM me with offers. I was still on the fence about this too.
    1 point
  41. Thanks Folks... An update on those Tony Eisenhower headphones.. I was able to hear the detector while scuba diving with them. Not sure how many others are trying the Equinox in this type of environment but if you are I would recommend these headhphones over the Grey Ghost.
    1 point
  42. Yes. Both happy and lucky. The lucky part is the local detector salesman said you'll probably detect a whole 5 gallon bucket of metal trash before you find your first nugget. It was more like 1 cup of trash in exchange for the first 5 nuggets. I'm sure that means I'll be working on filling that bucket for quite some time.
    1 point
  43. Thought of you on this one, Dave, but it was kind of the opposite problem (too noisy vice too quiet and loss of depth). A problem nevertheless in the surf. Hope you have better news after July. Otherwise, a different detector might be the answer, unfortunately.
    1 point
  44. Editor note: split from https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/9945-my-salt-water-report-card/ I agree with ya on some of your points and grades. After a year of using the Equinox, I can give a fair assessment on where it ranks and how it compares to other detectors for the uses that I do. If I were solely a beach hunter, I would personally feel more confident with a CTX 3030. I personally feel it has more depth to it in that arena. Even in freshwater, I put a good season of water hunting in with the CTX and all last year with the Nox. I found more rings last year with the Nox but I also found triple as much small junk that slowed me down...stuff that fell through the scoop, and or just disappeared. This alone has me wanting to snag a good used CTX. On saltwater beach...this is an even stronger feeling of favoring the CTX to me. I personally didn't mind the weight of the unit. I find the screen is easier to see on the Nox, particularly in direct sun light. I even like the feel of the Nox. I just feel from what I see, that the 3030 has more muscle to it in that area. I can't ever remember having a target that disappeared/vanished on me once I scooped a hole while hunting with the CTX. I had some I almost gave up on cause they were so deep though. The Nox will do the Houdini act in salt sand and in dirt....it doesn't like open holes at all. When it comes to hunting in mineralized soil and coin/relic hunting back home...this changes big time. Even though the CTX is revered as a great coin machine, it is handicapped a lot by red dirt. The Nox runs circles around it there. Like night and day difference. Hunting in iron...same thing. Heavily favored to the Nox. This leaves me in a split mood. Most of my summer hunting IS in the water for jewelry, albeit freshwater. The Nox will find the same rings as the CTX...but it also wants to lock onto those small pieces of crap that fall through the scoop. I need to figure out a way to have both and hope the wife doesn't find out ?
    1 point
  45. Here is an uncirculated 43. No artifact on the die near bottom left back, letters are flat, talons are above the log. I brought this to the forms for others opinions because I thought it looked odd. The more I looked the more discrepancies I saw. If I didn't post the link to a particular seller then would your opinion change? People seem to be stuck on how many sales someone has made and a sellers rating over the images and points I had in question. I regret putting a direct link to one of these sellers as it created some bias on peoples opinions. Lastly if you think about it, lower more common coins that are not typically rated could be easier to pass off to unsuspecting buyers as they are filling their collections rather than high ticket items that people pay for ratings on. Who would pay $20-$50 for a rating on a coin worth less than that? My guess is I may have stumbled on something much more wide spread and probably extends across many other coins of different years. Only real way to confirm is to get a hold of one of the coins or if someone has bought one
    1 point
  46. Daniel, I think you know that I gravitate to those that know the detectors I write about and not the ones with the flashiest YouTube videos or the most posts on some forum . . . Social Media is a great tool but when people become self-proclaimed experts and spread bad information, it is a double edged sword. It is a shame that people pick that information up and get more frustrated than had they left well enough alone. You will recognize the veterans that I contacted for input in the book and each is well recognized in their are(s) of expertise. Andy Sabisch
    1 point
  47. My extremely limited experience with an AQ prototype (I had it for about 4 days at the end of last year only to test various headphones) in the Gold Canyon AZ area was that it ran fine over our medium mineralized AZ dirt and got depths comparable to what I got at a black sand beach in San Diego on buried nickels. I know our “positive” hot rocks sounded off in all metal and I could use the “iron mask” control in multitone and mute ID modes and silence them. I don’t think I ever tested depth on one mode vs the other. How it would do in extreme mineralization is more doubtful since the ground balance system is optimized for providing the iron ID function and not for coping with extreme conditions which shut down machines not optimized for the goldfields - like the GPX series. I’m sure folks who get one for the beach will try it inland and it will be fascinating to hear how they do. Of course, FT has stated that a “Terra” (as a opposed to “Aqua”) version is under active development - so - patience is a virtue.
    1 point
  48. I learned a lot from Ben. Look at the picture with the screen on his drywasher. Most everyone uses the expanded metal that's on most production dry washers. Ben used a 1/4 screen to get better fine gold recovery. He would check his tailings with an old whites gold master when he was done.
    1 point
  49. dew -- indeed! That WOULD make the 15" a game changer for beach hunters...instead, what I'm hearing is about 1/2" to 1" depth increase, with the 15", compared to the 11". Steve
    1 point
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