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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/09/2019 in all areas

  1. I have the Coiltek 11" round coil for the SDC and after hunting with it for about 36 hours at Rye Patch last week I agree with Strick in that I would only recommend it if you are looking for more depth on bigger gold. In my opinion the larger coil turns a detector that is special in it's ability to hit on small gold into a more ordinary machine that will find larger pieces deeper than the stock coil but is not as deep as the 5000 or 7000 on pieces over .5 grams. I had hoped that it would be close to as sensitive as stock on the .5 gram and smaller and better on the larger pieces plus having the benefit of significantly more coverage but I don't believe that is the case. What I found is that I did find my typical number of .5g -1g pieces that I would have found with the stock coil plus some deeper .75g - 1g pieces that I am fairly certain I would not have found without the Coiltek. The downside is that I only found a couple of pieces that were under .5g when I normally find 3-5 in that range on a typical day. I base my observations on average daily results of having spent somewhere between 300 hrs & 400 hrs detecting at Rye Patch since getting the SDC in Sept of 2014. Other observations on using the Coiltek: It has a much more subtle signal on the small nuggets at similar depths than the stock coil so you could easily miss a target that would be a screamer on the stock coil. It is quite a bit less stable in the threshold and more prone to hot rocks making it tougher to stay focused enough to hear the fainter signals. I do like the Coiltek for hunting tailings in Idaho where I live. The better coverage and significantly better depth on larger specimens are worth the trade off in sensitivity on small stuff. The added weight is enough that if you don't normally use some kind of assisted support (bungee , Hip Stick etc.) you will definitely want to get something.
    5 points
  2. Very few to my knowledge have been from the battery end..... more so from the screen.... and oddly some still work when the operator noticed it. Id think if it was the battery youd be getting a real response. Ive had mine under water for hundreds of hours....... so i agree with Chase ...... if you get intrusion it wasnt right in the first place and we have a GREAT warranty here...... use it. I have been reading a few more of the machines may need BURPED ....because of weak sound, there is a post of that. Im here to tell you..... if you guys think you are going to NOT have any trouble with ANY machine you put in the salt water you are mistaken. Plan for it...... be glad you find enough to pay for those repairs when the machine is out of warranty...... thank ML for the 3 years, it could have been 1 like on the Xcal. I also talked to Keith at ML PA about those after market battery covers. He didnt recommend me and has had a few machines that those may have created the problem.
    4 points
  3. Not being the shy type I will bet there are more coils for the Simplex by year end then there are for the Equinox after two years.
    4 points
  4. Just got this cool note: "This email is to let you know that you are the winner of the Minelab’s Find of The Month competition for September 2019. Congratulations! We thought your story and finds were great!" Funny thing is they run this competition but I can find no place anywhere that they actually announce the winners anymore. The last announcement seems to be from November 2018. You would think they would want to promote it on their Facebook page at least. I guess just getting people to submit stories is the main goal but they would benefit from letting people know they actually do award the prizes also. Whatever - thanks Minelab!!
    4 points
  5. I believe the key to success with the new F2 mode is mitigating audio fatigue. The other day I was hunting an old beat to death site with good success using F2 2 and recovery speed 4. Anything lower than 4 was overload for my ears and what I mean by that is the slightly longer drawn out iron responses creating a cacophony of noise. I was hunting at my normal sweep speed as well. Note: watch out for old nickels hitting just below the normal nickel 12-13 bounce. Got a 1905 V that was mostly a solid 12 but bouncing to 11 as well with a bit of iron in the plug directly above the nickel. Reminded me of the Fisher CZ 5 where you dig all nickel foil bouncers in old sites and parks. I have had good success on old nickels using park 1. Tom D had stated Park 1 is good for nickels and he's correct on that IMO.
    3 points
  6. Steve I think that it should have read "Minelab’s Find of The Year" Glad that they have honored you with their message, but they need to correct their sentence. Congrats.
    3 points
  7. Hey all, I just joined the forum and wanted to share my experience with the Equinox 600 which I just acquired recently. I am completely new to the Equinox series of detectors and so spent a lot of time on here reading what Steve and others have generously shared over the past year. I really wanted to get an 800 but I found a 600 on craigslist that I could not pass up. I got the 6" coil and just recently had the chance to try it out in Northern AZ for a couple days. I set it up in Field 2, with some adjustments, and went at a patch Id found gold in before. I was really surprised at how fun the Equinox is, and how well it sniffed out some tiny lil nuggets among the noisy hot rock infested ground. I guess I was just so pleased with how it performed that I had to share. Smallest nugglets took 4 to make a grain.. (Scale is tiny too) I dont think Iv seen anyone post a nugget found with the 600, lots of jewelry of course but not much nugget action. I assume its because most people serious about prospecting are leaning towards the 800 in general (I am!) I actually picked up an 800 that I cant wait to try out and compare with the 600. Anyway, I can share my settings if anyone is interested, and also if anyone has been using the 600 for prospecting Id love if they chimed in on this. Cheers! Also, just want to thank everyone here for sharing so much knowledge and experience, and I hope to be able to contribute to that as I learn more..
    2 points
  8. the "patch" as I found it, was on the side of a gently sloping hill. I had found one bigger piece (gram+) previously which was deeper than say 4-6" with sdc. I returned with a 12"evo on the 4500 and didnt find anything else. When I went back this time, i just scraped a few inches off of where Id found a smaller piece and found another, then another. So I just used my pick and scraped back a few more inches in every direction. As it turned out, the tiny pieces (which most id missed with the sdc) were within the top 2 inches, nothing deeper (or nothing deeper than I could detect) and no bedrock in sight. I was hunting a narrow parameter of signals (0,1,2,3) ignoring everything esle (but hearing and seeing 0 through40). Signals were bouncing all over from iron and hot rocks which I removed if I could isolate them without digging too much. Moving the coil really slow to pick up a solid tone, or id# and then giving it a little wiggle from different directions to lock on seemed to work. I really dont know how big the patch is haha, but what I found was spread out within about 15'x10'. If I had known this was the case, I would have brought a rake and pulled off the rocks first, detect, then scrape back an inch or two, repeat, being methodical and going slow. I'm sure that I missed a few with my sloppy procedure, and not allowing or investigating -3,-2,-1.... and also not playing around with the settings to get it dialed in better.. Sure did enjoy not having to chase false signals and ground noise though!
    2 points
  9. If the voltage did not drop almost instantly to 1.5 volts that might work. Reality is probably “no”. From https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/lithiuml91l92_appman.pdf: From ”Although the higher OCV of the LiFeS2 system is 1.8 volts, the nominal or rated voltage is 1.5 volts which makes it a suitable replacement for alkaline and nickel systems. The battery voltage will drop when it is placed under load. For this reason, the higher OCV will typically not damage electronic components, but device designers should take into consideration that the OCV of fresh batteries can range from 1.79 to 1.83V. LiFeS2 batteries fully meet the ANSI specification for a 1.5V battery. When a drain has been applied to the battery, the OCV drops dramatically and then slowly recovers with time.”
    2 points
  10. And if your Nox has a manufacturig defect that violates watertight integrity of the housing, that cover and insert is likely not going be 100% effective. The Nox is designed to be watertight down to 10 feet. If your Nox leaks under those conditions it is defective and should be replaced under the terms of its 3-year warranty. As far as I can tell, ML is honoring the warranty for that situation each and every time on the rare event it does happen. Also, be careful about applying a cover like the one described as the Nox needs to be able to dissipate heat from the housing under high outside ambient temperature conditions and bright sunlight. Some users have reported screen blacking and erratic behavior under extreme heat conditions even with those commonly used slip-on black vinyl sleeves with clear faceplate protectors. Buyer beware. HTH.
    2 points
  11. Hey kac, I built a couple like that a few years back. I still use my original one. I can tell you the t-handle design works great for me. I didn't like the lesche style handle when trying to cut through the turf. In harder soils they put alot of pressure on your palm. The t-handle does a good job of eliminating that. Also nice for leverage while loosening soil deeper in the hole. Your design looks good, simple and effective. I used an old #2 shovel for the blade of mine. It is thin but strong and cuts the roots like no other. Good luck with it
    2 points
  12. Subject pretty much burned itself out but here you go.... https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/10450-my-nox-is-toast/ https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/6908-my-equinox-has-drowned-and-waterproof-headphones/ https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/10640-another-flooded-nox/ https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/10644-with-the-reports-of-drownings/
    2 points
  13. On Monday morning i went to my best beaches early in the morning , the tide was in but going out and the tides are short at the moment . I didn't expect much . I started to detect and found a few coins here and there , it was enough just to wet my appetite so i kept going . I got to a groin and entered the next beach which i knew would be a lot quieter , i found a few coins and then with my ET i got a target reading 12 19 . I am always suspicious of that number and this time proved why . I dug down and out popped a nice 18 k 5.9 g Gold Signet ring , by this time the tide was showing that the beaches had scuffed out quite a bit . So i searched below the cut and down to the waters edge , i carried on till i reached 2 wooden groins and after that turned round and started back . At that point i found a Silver ring and after talking to a person who saw me and talking about detecting i carried on . Then i saw another Detectorist and we talked for a while . When we parted i found another thin Silver ring and not long after that a bit of Silver from what might be a Chain . Further along i found another Silver Signet ring then a heart shaped locket which broke when i tried to open it . When i reached the area i started i stopped and went to the Bank to pay in my last Months finds then got the Bus home . I stayed on the beach for 4 and a half hours and found the Gold ring , 3 Silver rings , the bit of chain pendent , the Locket and 95 Euro Cents , 2 small other foreign coins and £35.17 p in change which i have cleaned and will Bank next Month. My next hunt will be next Tuesday morning or Friday next week . I might take the Nox but that depends on the conditions and the weather . I get so much more from the target info on the ET and it is easier . But if the beach in the right state i will take the Nox and give V 2 a go .
    2 points
  14. Well said but it's doing a remarkable job up at the high settings--killing even alloyed slag. Looking at Steves chart didn't realize that it was an expanded range on both ends = better drawing of targets out of iron??? My intital "cap beater" F26+ range tests (In 2 tone to liven it up--take the cotton...) were impressive and seemed to offer a good solution for those brutal slag and cap infested beaches. Much as I like to complain I open my mouth and nothing comes out...!!!
    2 points
  15. No, the pinpoint low volume bug is a fault. It should not matter what the coil is over; when you engage pinpoint it should come on at the same volume level every time. The whole time I was in the UK it happened randomly, and I just hit the pinpoint button a second time and the it would work. Or I would just ignore it since I could hear it, just at a very low volume. Other detectors do not do it and neither should the Equinox. I'm surprised it did not get addressed in the latest update. Half the time I don't use pinpoint at all, just eyeball the beeps. In any case for me it is such a low level annoyance I really don't pay any attention to it. But this thread was about a separate issue, which is why I asked the question.
    2 points
  16. This in many ways is a repeat of my 2018 UK Adventure except two weeks this time instead of three. The 2018 thread is loaded with details and very many local photos that I will not repeat here. Go to the link for the "full tour" with location and travel details. I booked the trip last year as is pretty much mandatory for the Colchester trips. There are only a limited number of trips available in the spring and fall and with so many people returning every year you really have to plan ahead. Mindy had a 10 day opening so I jumped on that as a week is just not enough in my opinion. With the benefit of last years trip experience I was able to weed my suitcase down to 40 lbs including two complete Equinox with 15" coils. Had it about perfect except for a couple shirts I never did wear. I was packed well in advance, and had great connections, so was looking forward to a relaxed trip. I had an afternoon flight out of Reno connecting in Chicago with an overnight to London. Perfect for me to sleep away a lot of the 10 hour overseas portion, and arriving in London in the morning. The plane was half boarded when they announced boarding would halt while they evaluated a flight advisory just in from Chicago. Massive thunderstorms, all flights in delayed for three hours - just enough to miss my connection! I have to give American Airlines credit, they automatically booked me into another flight just two hours later than the original connection, still arriving in London plenty early. We land at Chicago and the plane taxis forever. Finally the pilot announces the gate is blocked and he has driven past it twice. I'm looking at my watch thinking "this is going to be close!" Luckily the gates were close together, but I literally got off the one flight and walked onto the other. I was pretty sure my bag was not going to make it. Well, the flight was fine but less seat space than any overseas flight I have had yet. Price was great though so oh well. I can't say I was shocked to find my bag had been left behind in Chicago as did prove to be the case. Still, all we were doing was booking into a hotel next to the airport before heading out next day, so I hoped my bag would follow on the next flight. No such luck, so next day on the first hunt in the afternoon I was in my travel clothes and on a field with a borrowed Equinox. Thanks Tim! Luckily in a group of seven people somebody always has spares; just as I always travel with a spare, so do others. My very first target that I dug was a full British Crown, I believe a 1937 George VI. Not that old but a large coin and 50% silver. I made some other finds but was hampered a bit wandering around in corn stalk stubble in street shoes. Can't complain though... I was happy to be in England and out detecting! 12th-14th century St Mary the Virgin's Church, Little Bromley Again, American Airlines came through in the end. They actually delivered my bag that afternoon the 99 miles to Colchester (their limit is 100 miles) at no charge. So it really was just a minor snafu of no consequence, mainly due to good weather and a spare machine being available. We had a really great group, four guys and three gals including Mindy. Mindy cooks in each evening except for one pub night out. There was also an optional museum tour for one day later in the trip. I wanted to wait and see how my finds were doing before deciding about that. Weather for the first part of the trip was the best I'd ever seen in England, about 70F each day. It made for really pleasant field hunting. I was as always hoping for a gold coin, with anything else accidental by catch. I was making nice coin and relic finds, including a couple hammered silver coins. A few days into the trip, good buddy Tim, he of the gold ingot from last year, was nearby when he scored his second Celtic 1/4 stater ever, a real beauty. Not minutes later Mindy found here first ever Saxon sceat, a small rare coin that was one of her last "bucket list" items. Lots of smiles and high emotion in the group that day! This may not seem real but the fact is I come very close to liking somebody else making a great find as making one myself. I was right there, got to see the finds right out of the ground, and shared in that "great find high". It's one of the best things about hunting with a group in my opinion. I may never find a Celtic gold coin, but I have been right there when it happened several times now, and that really is about as good for me. Tim and Mindy's finds - Celtic quarter stater and Saxon silver sceat A few days later we were hunting a field right across the road from a small town. I was getting some nice buttons and 1800's coins but nothing spectacular. Late in the day I got another typical button signal of about 17 on the Equinox. I proceeded to dig but the hole was getting deeper and wider with no button found. One of the things I like about the 15” coil is I can pinpoint fairly well with the tip or heel of the coil, and nosing around in the hole revealed the target was deeper and larger. At over a foot the target was squealing, and I was sure it was a large iron target or possibly even an aluminum can. There have been times and places where I have kicked the dirt back in the hole and moved on from such targets, but not in England where you never know what might turn up. I was however getting near the plow line now, the point below which the ground turns rock hard and where due to the rules we have to stop digging. I worked round the center of the target and gave a last scoop, and there sitting in the bottom of the hole was a large green item that tumbled out of the shovel full of dirt. I’m no expert at this kind of stuff, but it looked like a Bronze Age ax head to me. This was not something that I had ever expected to find and so my brain was not really processing it. I wandered over to my buddy Tim who was nearby and asked “is this what I think it is?” I swear he almost fell over, realizing the import of the find more than I had, and assured me I had found an excellent condition Bronze Age ax. Better yet, it appeared to be intact, as many of these that are found have been broken. The final verdict was that my find is a Bronze Age palstave, a predecessor to the modern ax. A palstave is a development of the flat ax, where the shaped sides are cast rather than hammered. My particular find has been identified as a Bronze Age (circa 1500-1400 BC) cast copper alloy primary shield pattern palstave, dating to the Acton Park Phase. In other words about 3500 years old, and about as old as anything that can possibly be found with a metal detector! I never in my wildest dreams ever thought I would ever find anything so ancient while metal detecting, and the fact this ax is intact and in good condition makes it the find of a lifetime, and that is no exaggeration. I have always been looking for that gold coin, but after all the gold I have found in my life and now with this I am officially saying "good enough". Anything I ever find from here on out in my detecting career is just gravy, my detecting bucket list is complete. Bronze Age (c.1500-1400 BC) cast copper alloy primary shield pattern palstave, dating to the Acton Park Phase (photo of Steve by Tim Blank with permission) This trip was extra good because everyone in the group was making some really great finds, many in excess of what they were hoping for. After many years detecting these huge fields are far from hunted out, with many of the best finds coming from fields that have been hunted well over a decade. Still new ground does come online regularly, and those fields add a little extra fun in the form of the unknown, especially as regards possible horde finds. There was one set of new fields that another group had found a lot of Roman stuff, including a really nice Roman silver coin and some good condition bronze coins. The trip was over half over and our weather had turned rainy. Not too bad really, just passing storms, with two hours of solid rain the worst I saw. Still, this limits some of the hunting as some fields with a lot of clay content get really nasty. After my ax find I had four days of mostly newer 1700s and 1800s coins and various widgets, but sort of a four day dry spell. So Tim and I passed on the museum tour and braved the rains instead since time was now running short. That plan paid off for me in a couple more hammered silver coins, bring my total for the trip to four. The hammered silver are kind of the standard prized find on these trips, rare but not so rare that most everyone has a good shot at some. Most date from 1200 to the 1600's after which milled silver coins replaced them. I found them off in one corner of the field and as the day wore on decided to head back to the area where all the Roman stuff had been found. There were many footprints but lots of gaps and so I hunted in the gaps. The day was almost over when I got a strong signal and dug up an odd looking lump. At first I had no idea what it was, but suddenly as I cleaned it a head and shoulders resolved into view. I had what appears to be a small bronze Roman bust! There is no real way to date the find, but it definitely looks like a Roman noble of some sort, and was found in the middle of a lot of other Roman finds so it is 90% certain to be around a couple thousand years old, maybe 100 AD going by the coin finds. I am in some ways more pleased by this find than the ax head for some reason. It’s almost like I am talking to that old Roman. I wonder who lost it and what it was. Decorative? A child’s toy? There was a Roman barracks in the area so military related somehow? It is just a great find and I am not aware of anything like it being found by the club before. Small bronze Roman bust found by Steve As noted I was running the Minelab Equinox with 15" coil the whole trip. In retrospect I wish I had brought steveg's new rod with counterbalance as my upper back would have thanked me for it the first three days, but it was a bit too long for my suitcase. Since everyone always wants to know, I basically used the same settings this year as last year with one minor tweak. Last year I ran Recovery Speed 5 and this year lowered that to 4. I normally run with nothing rejected, full tones, but have the Horseshoe button set up to reject 6 and under. This eliminates small stuff, maybe even small silver cut coins, but anything round will still ring up. Target ID 1-6 gets all manner of really tiny stuff almost always small lead or brass fragments. Stuff that’s also slow to recover. So as I say I normally hunt wide open and dig it all, but if time is limited or I am just tired of tiny stuff I hit the Horseshoe Button to go to “Cherry Pick Mode”. Park 1 Frequency Multi Noise Cancel 0 (adjust as needed) Ground Balance Manual, 0 Volume Adjust 20 (adjust as needed) Tone Volume 12, 25, 25, 25, 25 (Steve 4, 25, 25, 25, 25) Threshold Level 0 Threshold Pitch 4 Target Tone 5 (Steve 50) Tone Pitch 1, 6, 12, 18, 25 Reject –9 to 1 and Accept 2 to 40 (Steve Reject -9 to 6 and Accept 7 to 40) Tone Break 0, 10, 20, 30 Recovery Speed 5 (Steve 4) Iron Bias 6 Sensitivity 20 (Steve 22 to 25) Backlight Off Just a really great time with great people and some fabulous finds. I will post a complete set of pictures at some later date when I get the export listing, but for now here are a couple of my favorite hammered silvers from the trip to wrap up this report. Submitted to Minelab for the Find of the Month contest so we will see if I get lucky there also.
    1 point
  17. All-new patented 8"×12″ Dual Field coil for improved depth and sensitivity. Bonus 7.5″ Dual Field concentric coil for a limited time! To hunt all day, you need a lightweight detector that still provides high performance. The TDI SL Metal Detector has pulse induction power that provides unbeatable depth and sensitivity and is designed specifically for prospecting and identifying relics. Special prospecting features make life easier, such full-control ground balance that filters out the iron mineralization of hot rocks, black sand, and other tough grounds. This compact detector weighs only 3.5 pounds with its waterproof 7.5" x 12” High-Q Search Coil, which offers deep detection depth. Other accessory coils are also available. The rechargeable NIMH battery lasts up to 6 hours, and a backup AA battery back will power all-day exploration. Owner's Manual (for TDI SL series, none specific to High-Q) White's TDI SL High-Q Camo metal detector White's TDI SL High Q Technical Specifications* Internet Price TDI SL High Q $1099 (available in both tan or camo colors) Technology Ground Balancing Pulse Induction (GBPI) Frequency 3250 - 3370 Pulses Per Second Autotune Mode(s) Slow Motion Ground Rejection Manual, one turn control Soil Adjust Ground Balance On or Off (two position switch) Discrimination Conductivity switch*, 10 - 25 Pulse Delay Volume Control No Threshold Control One turn control Tone Adjust No Audio Boost No Frequency Offset One turn control Pinpoint Mode No Audio Output Speaker, 1/4" headphone socket Hip Mount No Standard Coil(s) 7.5" x 12" High Q plus bonus 7.5" round Dual Field (Limited Time only) Optional Search Coils Over 100 accessory coils available by White's and others Battery Rechargeable NiMH & AA Operating Time Up to 6 hours Weight 3.5 pounds Additional Technology The TDI was designed specifically to be able to use Minelab SD/GP compatible coils. However, performance can vary and the pulse delay may have to be advanced to compensate for coil differences that result in overload readings. Notes *The TDI is unique in that it can suppress audio responses into two different classes. Targets have a high tone or low tone audio depending on how the target relates to the ground balance setting. In general high conductive targets give a low tone and low conductive targets a high tone. The TDI can be set to allow for one response or the other. See White's TDI Coin Settings for more details on this control. *Notes on Technical Specifications - Detailed notes about the specifications listed in this chart. White's TDI SL High-Q Tan metal detector White's 7.5" x 12" High-Q coil for TDI series White's 7.5" round Dual Field coil for TDI series
    1 point
  18. I was thinking more of this series of waterproof units that are obviously quite similar, but sure, let’s toss the 2009 XP Deus in as the unit that pointed the way. 👍 Don’t call the Deus rod a stick however. That’s what the other ones are, XP did far better with their sculpted S rod.
    1 point
  19. Better for what? Finding small gold? No way. Handling difficult ground and hot rocks? That is what a PI is for more than anything else. In moderate to low mineral conditions with few or no hot rocks you are better off with a VLF and since this is the White’s forum 24K or GMT. If those machines are having fits due to the ground or the hot rocks, then you switch to a PI like the TDI. My little saying is “use a VLF when you can and a PI when you have to”. People talk about finding small gold with a PI like the TDI but it’s all relative. Compared to the 24K the TDI is relatively blind to tiny gold and wiry, spongy gold. For my northern Nevada low mineral, small gold locations I prefer the 24K to the TDI. PI detectors, since they ignore the ground far better than a VLF, have an inherent ability to run much larger coils than a VLF. In bad ground a large coil on a VLF is actually counterproductive, since ground feedback overwhelms and negates any hoped for depth advantage. That’s why you rarely see coils larger than about 14” employed on VLF detectors. Since PI detectors are far less subject to ground issues they can run much larger coils effectively, making them superior at finding larger items at greater depths. It is not unusual to see 18” coils on PI detectors and coils up to 36” are employed regularly by some users.
    1 point
  20. I wonder if that form factor somehow facilitates IP68 environmental qualification as all three of those detectors are waterproof to at least 3 meters. In fact, I was surprised to see ML move away from that form factor for Vanquish. Which is NOT waterproof, btw. I would really like to see Nokta repackage the features of the Anfibio into the Simplex form factor and include the ergonomic streamlined UI (even if the price leaned more heavily towards Anfibio than Simplex). But I would settle for the “simple” addition of an additional higher operating frequency selection (e.g., 24 kHz) to a Simplex ++ deluxe model. Regardless, the streamlined simplicity, economy, and mid-to-high level performance capability of Simplex+ is more intriguing to me than Vanquish, and I might just spring for the Simplex to see what it can do out of the box. There is something strangely liberating about knowing that you can’t tweak settings and just gotta make do with what you have in your hands and trust that the designers have it optimally tweaked for 95% of situations, right out of the box. Reminds me of my Tek Delta days, a detector I still keep around for sentimental reasons and because it has an awesome concentric 8” coin grabber coil. And I like my Equinox form factor so what’s not to like about Simplex.
    1 point
  21. Can anyone date this? Found on old homesite in Louisiana along the Mississippi River.
    1 point
  22. I didn't realize you wrote that, Steve. But I am glad a I did the sweep speed mod to mine. I have to sweep a bit faster, but that's no big deal. I prefer that to having to sweep really slow to detect the small stuff. It's possible the C56 & diode mod helps in that regard...making the SL more sensitive. Jim
    1 point
  23. 1 point
  24. Allow me to suggest one more caution about full covers that I learned the hard way. Last June, I took my EQX to the Florida Keys and it was HOT!!!. I had a protective cover over the control box and after a short while, my EQX started to malfunction. The display went crazy and the buttons didn't work properly. I removed the cover, allowed the EQX to cool down and everything returned to normal operation. At that time, I made a "wild guess" that the cover, which covered up the speaker/vent holes in the back, may be preventing the EQX from "breathing properly." Again, just a guess at that point. I cut out part of the cover exposing the holes to the air and have not had a problem since and I hunt on Florida beaches year round. If this cover you describe is a full silicon cover and your hunting in hot weather, you may, and I say may, experience the same malfunction. I'd be very cautious were I you but that's just the view from my foxhole...Good luck.
    1 point
  25. Chase, that makes sense, i will keep that in mind! Thanks! And i just replaced my arm cuff with a Jeff Herke aluminum verson from Steve! Can't wait on Minelab to upgrade! That's when i found the broken coil tab, so i haven't got to try it yet!
    1 point
  26. It should provided it is constantly submerged or being doused by wave action (though the silicon can act as a thermal insulator of sorts and if the heat is being generated in the housing electronics, the water can’t remove that heat as effectively with the silicon barrier, but yeah, probably a non issue in the water). Also, many water hunters I know often hunt at the tide line or in the wet sand during their detecting session and in direct sunlight, without water cooling off the now exposed but silicon sealed housing, things can heat up really fast.
    1 point
  27. Note they said the Auto-Tune was "slow motion". That means if you swing it too fast, the A-T can't keep up. I think that may be what Reg Sniff's sweep speed mod was designed to cure. I also noticed in the video how slow they were swinging. I can see that in a patch, but you wouldn't cover much ground in general searching. Jim
    1 point
  28. I sent the US service department an email last night requesting instructions on returns. I'll post here when I have a reply.
    1 point
  29. I’ve said this before and so many things is way back when. In the early 70’s I hunted with a guy that couldn’t talk and also couldn’t hear . He and I both hunted with a 66 TR from White’s. I found that this company made items to help people like him. One was it had a vibrate unit that plugged into the speaker plug that I put in for him . To me it worked great but he liked to watch the big meter that the detector had . You put it on your arm like you do your watch and it worked the same as the Simplex will. Sorry guys I just had to give you another history lesson. Chuck
    1 point
  30. There’s a YouTube channel that talks about snakebite management in Australia. I have a cool compression bandage it has a marking on it that looks like a rectangle and you only put it on tight enough to stretch it until that rectangle turned into a square. That’s pretty neat , as long as you’re not already blinded by the venom. Maybe should practice put it on in the dark
    1 point
  31. They call them body recovery systems in WA------ 12 hour average response time---- dont know that for sure ,,but thats what i heard while there... i certainly doubt they would help much if you were ever bit by a snake way out bush... I read somewhere...maybe about a taipan...just sit down light a ciggy and relax, you wont have to worry about putting the cig out.. i believe more importantly that you know where your rig is- i lost mine this year and was only 100 yds from it.... but i dug out my phone and saw where i marked it on the map plus app... turned left and walked right to it... i wasnt even off Trents claims yet !!!! Navigation.... number one mate bandage kit 2 Radio contact number 3 Have fun number A1---- lolol
    1 point
  32. I still like to complain, in general, but certainly not about this F2 implementation. Still working it out, but I am liking F2 5 as a sweet spot over my tried and true FE 0. Will give it a workout in some mineralized, iron infested relic sites in about three weeks and will learn a lot more about it. Can't wait.
    1 point
  33. Yes, they are. Thanks for confirming what I posted above (requoted below), it is nice to know I am not getting bogus info out there. Maybe I need to write less per post so the important info gets seen. . In any event, hope ML comes through for you on this (I see another user was able to return to ML under warranty with the same issue so the odds appear to be in your favor). . Good luck! As Steve said, it is a generous warranty package from ML compared to other detectors so take advantage of the protections to your investment. Well, since all Equinoxes are still under warranty (3 years), why not get them replaced by ML? I have heard of this happening to other users and ML has honored the warranty for this issue.
    1 point
  34. It is no secret I have a huge dislike for most people in general. The more nosey they are, the bigger my dislike of them. I figure I mind my business, and they should mind theirs. But that is often the opposite of what most do. One day I had a crazy idea and the even crazier part is, that it works, and works extremely well. I have an old park close to my house that I like to detect, but it is popular with snobby people that walk/job the walkways around the park. They will give you the stink eye big time. The crazy idea was...I had noticed the local city workers usually wear a hi vis safety vest when they are working, and nobody even seemed to pay them any mind or attention. So I bought one and gave it a try while detecting. It works so well I will never go hunt a public area without it. I guess people just assume you are doing cleanup work or some kind of maintenance and leave you alone.
    1 point
  35. On Friday had about an hour and a 1/2 to kill between calls. The heat has been unbearable so I went to a local swimming hole And using my Excalibur with 8" coil had one of my best and shortest hunts ever. The bracelet and ring are 14K the little ring with this pink stone is silver the men's wedding band is junk.. Strick
    1 point
  36. Unless the Vanquish coils turn out to be compatble with Equinox (which would be great, but unlikely), don't hold your breath on an Equinox compatible alternatuve to the 6" round. After nearly two years, ML has not even hinted at launching additional coils for Equinox and there doesn't appear to be any active effort to do so from third parties either. On the other hand, I have all 3 coils and except for unique situations, I find the 11" stock just makes sense for 95% of my detecting situations from beach, to park, to relic hunting.
    1 point
  37. I appreciate you posting that. I have been trying to convince people the 600 is nearly as good as the 800 for gold nuggets, but since the 600 lacks that magic “Gold Mode” it does make people skeptical. You are officially now the “Equinox 600 Nugget Master”! My Tips On Nugget Detecting With The Minelab Equinox
    1 point
  38. Hello to all we moved house on the 26 th of july into a ...........another house which needed a fully restoration it is all done now thanks god after skips of rubbish ,timbers and plaster . Anyway back to the subject i managed few session on the beaches which have been hunted to death with my CTX (Silver ring) and my G5c (PI) the gold ring came out after 5 min of switching the machine on....at maybe 10 inch loud and clear:2.97 gr made in 1887 Birmingham)UK) so lost a while ago,i observed the ocean the day before and waves where a bit stronger han usual........ I want to emphasize that i m no a super experienced beach comber but i just decided to step up my game and invested a fair amount of money in this project.Broke another sand scoop shaft in the process but it is now all sorted The last ring (Green jade) was found in the street yesterday i was parking my motorbike at work......... Any Drum rolls here are the pics
    1 point
  39. Expect cool days and below freezing nights. Still, it's the best time of the year! Ice fog rainbow.
    1 point
  40. Should you of found the cross around the New Orleans area it would be near the 1920-1935 era. It is showing the cross with the sun in the center of it. That design was used in the French areas near N.O. due to the religious beliefs at the time. Some Catholics were converted Voodoo believers and they held on to some of their beliefs. Hope this helps.
    1 point
  41. Great find! Still looking for my first Indian Head Norm
    1 point
  42. Hi JW, I have never had a problem with PI detectors running stock coils and things like boot lugs. 18” and larger coils seemed to be where I might run into the issue.
    1 point
  43. The 80s and 90s were a time of great change in Alaska. One issue was the integration of a number of large new National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, etc. created in the 1970's that lead to a lot of conflict with land owners either near or suddenly inside of a park or refuge. These people became known as "inholders" and it took quite some time for all the conflict to settle down (some remains to this day) but everyone slowly adjusted to the new situation. The mines at Chisana were now inside the Preserve (Refuge) portion of Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The Preserve is different than the Park in that activities like hunting are allowable. Mining claims was an issue that took a lot of time to sort. In order to mine at all any claim has to pass a validity exam (not required on most "normal" mining claims) and then have a fully approved plan of operations. All the new requirements lead to a severe reduction in the number of claims. The claims at Chisana are some of the only active claims left, having fully passed the validity exam stage and permitting process. I was involved in this process and will mention some more about it later. In the meantime however operations were quite limited on the claims, with only small scale dredging, highbanking, and metal detecting permitted on at least some of the ground. One thing I was discovering was that although the old records made it sound like multi-ounce nuggets might be possible in the area, the reality is the gold is generally smaller, with quarter to half ounce nuggets being the normal "large nugget" finds. Most of the nuggets found metal detecting, as can be seen in the photos earlier, are smaller in size. There is ample smaller gold, such that if a location is found metal detecting that reveals a lot of small gold, then there is almost for sure going to be more there to be found with a gold pan or sluice box. Here is a location along a trail in the bench workings where we found gold right along the trail itself with metal detectors. The gold was small and lots of it, so the solution was to fill five gallon buckets. These were loaded into an ATV trailer borrowed from the claim owner at the time. Filling buckets with gold bearing material The trailer was then pulled down to the creek and the buckets dumped into as Keene sluice box. Unloading the buckets Sluice box set up and ready to feed I had finally graduated to pulse induction metal detectors, and brought my Minelab SD 2200D up to the ground for a go at the gold. The SD of course worked well, but as I had discovered already it does not really shine in low mineral ground with small gold. Hot VLF detectors run well in this ground, and so they leave very little for a PI to find, primarily because there is a lack of really large, deep gold. I know of only a few nuggets found at Gold Hill that weigh over an ounce in the last few decades and unfortunately I did not find them. Most were found by dredging operations, with one nugget of about three ounces found by another claim owner with a metal detector. The SD 2200D did find a nice nugget of about 8 pennyweight, which is the largest I have found on this ground. Steve with Minelab SD 2200D pointing at spot 8 dwt nugget was found This was another short three day weekend trip. The problem being a working stiff is getting time during the short but busy Alaska summer to do things like this. Since I was an airplane bum relying on my father for trips, we often hooked up for Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day three day weekend expeditions. Still, in addition to nuggets found while detecting, a couple ounces of nice gold were recovered with the sluice box operation. Steve with a couple ounces gold - photo courtesy Jeff Reed Gold is not the only thing you can find with a metal detector at Chisana. There are a few copper nuggets in the area and I would find a small one now and then. However, this rock gave a great signal with almost no metal showing. The copper staining is obvious however. Copper nodule - see the thin line? I have a small rock saw just for jobs like this, and so I cut the nodule in half when I got home (see the cut line in photo above). Solid copper core revealed Well, I kind of rushed this last bit. The fact is I have covered this in more detail before at Steve's Mining Journal in an entry. Plus, I want to get more up to the present where I have lots more tales and photos to show and tell! Here is the story at the Journal: Metal Detecting for Gold at Chisana, Alaska - 7/21/00 To be continued...
    1 point
  44. One thing I always found fascinating at Chisana was the effort expended to bring water to bench locations - gold bearing areas far above the current stream area. The terrain is steep, and the bedrock is fractured to great depth. This made ditches a poor solutions for much of the area, and wooden boxes or "flumes" had to be constructed to carry water to the desired mining areas. Just getting the lumber to the site was a major undertaking. The gold bearing creeks are well above treeline. That being the case the lumber was whipsawed in the valley below then pulled by horses to the valleys above. More impressive was the engineering feats involved. The flume would start far upstream at creek level and then follow a more gentle grade than the creek itself, eventually bringing water miles downstream and hundreds of feet above the current stream level. In the process gullies were bridged and the entire structure built across cliff faces. Most of the old flume system is gone or in serious disrepair, but sections remain to tell the tale. Click on images for larger views.... View down lower Little Eldorado Creek - flume high on hill in distance Closer look at flume above mouth of Little Eldorado Creek And closer yet... Upper Bonanza view of flume system - much of the wood has been scavenged over the years Flume crossing cliff areas Detail of flume construction Flume winding around the terrain The old flume system close up To be continued...
    1 point
  45. Hi Brian, good to have you here! That post is a perfect setup for a little Chisana history. I am helping out with the Rye Patch hunt today so this will perk things up until my next entry. First off, the entire area was added to the Preserve portion of Wrangell St.Elias Park & Preserve during the 1970's. The bad news is this required decades of adjustment for Alaskans and Park Service people figuring out how to work with situations like mining claims in a Preserve. Long story short permitting can only be had for previously mined ground - virgin ground is off limits and operations are under a microscope. That is frustrating to say the least. On the plus side, the Park Service did up a tremendous history of the area, quite detailed and full of photos. I am not sure of the copyright status of the old photos and so will refer you to the entire pdf history. Well worth a look. A History of the Chisana Mining District, Alaska 1890- 1990 My favorite quote, from the start of Chapter 2: "Billy James and N. P. Nelson began sluicing Little Eldorado No. 1 on July 4, 1913. Assisted by Andy Taylor and former Dawson City bartender Tommy Doyle, the pair recovered nearly two hundred ounces in just two days. By August 2 they had already garnered $9,000, or an average of about $300 per day." (emphasis added) And a few old photos... Wreck of old cabin on Gold Run Creek Treasure chest! - but nothing in it... Old wheelbarrow with old rusted gun leaning on it Canvas roof miners shack Old wooden flume for diverting water to bench workings
    1 point
  46. I’ve been watching for you to post something about your trip this summer. I feel very fortunate to be one of the few guests to actually mine on these Historic claims. To see pictures from the early 1900s and now your early pictures of when you mined on the claims is aw inspiring. And to be able to say I recognize that spot is great. Only detected a few hours this year found gold but nothing big.
    1 point
  47. My father and I had only a couple days on our visit - one of those three day weekend kind of trips. However, when you have the results we did a return visit was quickly planned. This time more people got involved and so my sister and brother-in-law came equipped with a Fisher Gold Bug. Armed with our new knowledge from our exploratory trip we spent more time concentrating on higher bench workings away from the creek. I was running the Compass Gold Scanner Pro again. I detected my way across one relatively flat area high above the creek, when I started getting multiple beeps per swing. I called in the troops, and a brief gold rush occurred as we all started finding gold nuggets. This bedrock hump had been mined off, probably just washed off with water directed from one of the large hydraulic giant "water cannons". It did not appear however that the miners had actually cleaned the bedrock and the cracks and crevices were loaded with gold. Steve's sister detecting bedrock with Fisher Gold Bug View from above of bedrock "nugget patch" in old bench workings I got a particularly good signal from one location in the bedrock. A little digging and out popped a 6 pennyweight (9.6 gram) nugget! Plus another one about a third that size. I could see other smaller gold mixed in the dirt in the hole. Here I am holding the nugget just above the bedrock in which it was found. Steve with 6 pennyweight gold nugget found with Compass Gold Scanner Pro It was obvious that there was a lot of smaller gold in the pockets and crevices in the bedrock. We started scraping and cleaning bedrock as best we could and filled buckets with the material. This was then carried to a gully some distance away where the material could be fed through a sluice box. The was just barely enough water to run the sluice and feed it with a hand trowel, but it proved quite effective. The bedrock was blocky and came up easily. The rubble was screened into the buckets to remove the oversize material. Finally, when the bedrock was deemed halfway clean, we would splash buckets of water on it to wash it down, and then carefully excavate the last remaining material from the pockets in bedrock. You can see wet areas remaining in the picture below. Cleaning out cracks and pockets full of gold bearing material Sluice box set up in gully using all available water In the meantime metal detecting continued. There was a hot patch of bedrock that I had been working around, but my sister was able to get into it easily with the Gold Bug, and she found a nice 4 pennyweight nugget. Steve's sister with 4 dwt gold nugget she found with Gold Bug Steve's brother-in-law sniping for gold in crevices Time was running out and so our little bedrock cleaning and sluicing operation came to an end. The results were pretty impressive for hand work with simple tools... Steve with bedrock crevicing results from sluice box And finally, my results with the Compass Gold Scanner Pro. A nice showing of chucky gold nuggets, the largest weighing in at 6 pennyweight (9.6 grams). Gold nuggets found by Steve with Compass Gold Scanner Pro My wife to be made a trip up to Chisana with me in this timeframe and so I had the 6 pennyweight nugget made into a pendant for her. She ended up telling me gold nugget jewelry was not her thing, and she gave it back to me. I sell most of my gold so this is probably the oldest nugget I still have that I found. I wore the nugget on the chain you see around my neck in the picture above for many years. I am not really a jewelry person myself but it came in handy a lot when I was at work talking metal detecting and gold, and could easily pull the nugget out to show people. I eventually did retire it to the jewelry box but still have it, so just got it out to weigh it and take this picture. The nugget is well polished from many years of wear. All in all another fabulous trip with gold found by all involved! To be continued.... Six pennyweight (9.6 gram) gold nugget found by Steve
    1 point
  48. Posting an update - took my detector to a remote beach to test on Sunday and no chatter issues, so looks like my back yard has really bad interference. I was able to solve the issue with the advice in this thread - lowered the sensitivity to 17 and had no issues. I think the reason i thought it was working previously is i mistook threshold for volume when i unboxed it and was running at a lower setting so didnt notice the noise (rookie mistake). This video is pretty good at describing the issue - glad i’m not the only one who thought i’d have to return my unit:
    1 point
  49. One thing to always try when having issues like this is go to multiple locations, or at least more than one. It is impossible to know how much EMI there is at any location. Just because other detectors did not react does not mean there is no EMI. There are plenty of machines that run quiet as a mouse in bad EMI but which at the same time lose significant performance due to it - "silent EMI masking". Other machines avoid it by running at a frequency that misses whatever EMI there is. I went to a location yesterday where I could not get the Equinox to shut up until I got down to sensitivity 10 in multifrequency and around 12 if I ran in 20 kHz. Terrible EMI location for some reason. I am not saying what anyone is experiencing is EMI - just passing this along for people with a new detector using it for the first time at their house or backyard.
    1 point
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