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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/02/2020 in all areas

  1. I just got back home yesterday from wintering in Arizona and am now seemingly a prisoner in my own home due to the virus. I was able to go out detecting many times with only a few skunk days. The last day out, I found this specimen that is quite different from anything I had found before. Norm
    17 points
  2. Norvic, You are getting a collection going there, very nice. Glenn, I have a set of scales, but did not find them. Cool pics. RedDirt, I love that style of weight and have only found 2 but I seem to have misplaced one of them. Here are some of the others I have recovered with my biggest as being 2 oz as well. Wonder if they had anything larger than 2 oz?
    6 points
  3. Lunk I didn't mention it, but that nugget with the black matrix came from Gold Basin. Northeast I am including a picture of my Arizona finds for the winter and them on the scale. Mitchel The heaviest nugget came from the Quartzsite Metal Detecting Club Claim. I didn't get the box full, but have the bottom covered now!
    5 points
  4. Bored to tears and holed up like everyone else, but I can't bitch too much as I got a nice warm place to hole up in and enjoy looking out the dirty kitchen window at our local elk all bedded down in the yard. Pic taken today...… We worry about corona and the elk worry about CWD....
    5 points
  5. After sheltering in place for over a week, my son and I escaped to the desert to refine our social distancing. Instead of playing with settings on the 7000, I decided to work on my personal hunting technique concentrating on swing speed, 'range of motion' as JP calls it, coil control and listening for faint, vague changes in a steady threshold. My son took off to hike while I clambered down a boulder strewn and treacherous hillside with all my gear. I tuned up at the bottom and began to slowly cover ground I had already gone over in a previous post. Almost immediately I got what sounded like a small EMI tone-change in the threshold. But as I made my first boot scrape I saw my son waving from the top of the hillside and motioning for me to come up. I took off my headphones and heard him calling to me to come and help him. Now I am advancing in years and that hill is not for sissy's but he was insistent. A few minutes later I stood beside him out of breath and slightly put out, but when he pointed at a near-by prospect hole and said "can you help me get him out?" I was honored that he had asked me to come and help. Somehow a desert tortoise had fallen into the excavation. My son clambered down, lifted him out and handed him to me. We put him in the shade for awhile to let him calm down after being lifted and carried around. After awhile, refreshed and emboldened, he took off, snacking on Spring flowers and grass shoots as he went. My son continued his hike as I made my way back down through the rocks and resumed my hunting. My first faint change in the threshold produced a flake so small that, if it didn't go off on the detector, I would not have believed it was gold, it looked more like a slice of silica, but it was gold. (0.01g). The next flake was beside a basalt rock and I made out the signal in the midst of the sound the basalt was making. That's where swing speed (slow), and coil control makes the difference between finding a bit of gold or passing it up and moving on. Anyway, all in all, 5 stupidly small flakes - but all of them were found because I had decided to focus on what I was doing rather than what the detector was doing. Best to everyone in this strangest of times.
    4 points
  6. Please be a waterproof, multi-frequency, balanced detector that can handle the salt, highly mineralized soil and screams on gold nuggets, chains and jewelry. Not so much to ask!
    4 points
  7. Go out shed hunting on the ranch i trade them for rock to flint knapp and give some to a friend who makes lighting fixtures from them . These were all found in the last week or so only no real big ones yet . some blades from blue obsidian from lassen creek california also these i knapp when i have down time . that i k
    4 points
  8. I have yet to find a scale weight, but many years ago I and my wife dug out the inside of this cabin and we found in pieces of a old gold scale. I eventually restored it and now I display it our finds cabinet.
    4 points
  9. How many have received their invitation "via email" to the newMinelab Competition? According to the email it will be based through Facebook and other social media sites.
    3 points
  10. The Rain can't stop Jeff and Gary (Two Toe's ) as they head to the Hills in search of those elusive Gold Nuggets. Jeff has his White's Gold Master V-Sat (VLF) Metal Detector and Gary has his White's TDI (Pulse Induction) Detector see which one finds the most and biggest Gold in the California Mother lode. Clear that Bedrock and check those Crevice's there might be Gold Nuggets hidden in there !!!! SG 018 Thanks for watching !!! Jeff
    3 points
  11. In my memory of detector manuals, most wanted you to keep the coil off the ground and there are different heights per model of detector, but 2" was mentioned many times. Now I know for a fact when my staff and I train customers, we want them to keep it as close to the ground as possible. The reality of it is, the ground type/structure I am sweeping over. If really rough ground with many rocks and cobbles, I'll keep the coil just above. If it is smoother ground, I like to let the coil slide across the ground. Now on occasion extremely hot ground is encountered and when GB'ing, I notice detector won't keep up, then I adjust the coil height to stay in the "happy medium". Another issue I run into with the 7000 and others. If it is really hot temperature outside and I don't want to wear headphones, then I'll lift the coil and set my bungee just above ground level, so I am not hearing the coil skid across the ground as the noise it makes does not allow me to hear the faintest of potential signals. Most folks who know me, will tell you, I prefer to wear headphones when using a GPZ, as the coil is usually making noise as it scuffs the ground quite regularly. Now when using other machines or chasing bigger gold or new ground, my mind is more in a cruise mode trying to find the indicator nugget. Then my coil is usually a little higher (1/2 to 1") off the ground. Like others have said and I feel the same way. In most ground I hunt with a 7, the 2" off is a loss of 2" in depth. But in reality, just like settings and threshold level, there is no right and wrong, just more of a what do you feel comfortable with. If you are happy with your results, then I'm happy for you. As for different coils and some other detector models? I have had units, that could not even be used scuffing the ground because the detector and coil would make to much noise. I myself attribute that to a bad coil. The Fisher GB-2, small 6" ellip coil had had a change when they moved from Los Banos, CA to Texas and for about a year, the coils being made, had a high % bad coils. I think I was on their shit list for a while, as I would send them back multiple coils telling them they were bad. They would argue with me saying the tested just fine. Now the coil has changed design, so that goes to show there was some issues, plus a few other things inside, but they have a handle on it now and those small gold grabber 6" ellip coils can be used on the ground. Bottom line: If you're not wearing out your coil cover, you are missing gold.
    3 points
  12. All of your window photos are out of focus. The Gold Basin meteorite is an ordinary chondrite, so if you see any bright, silvery flecks of nickel-iron metal in your windows, you've got the real deal. Example:
    3 points
  13. I certainly did not mean to stir up talk of death knells. I'll perk up when the official release finally happens, but with FT shut down we are now on indefinite hold. Hopefully before end of year for AQ, and maybe next year for Terra. Or maybe the delay will allow Terra development to catch up with AQ, but no matter what we are looking at yet another delay, and obviously no fault of FTs. All I'm saying is I'm not wasting any more energy watching this pot not boil.
    3 points
  14. My only weight and coin from new south wales australia. A 50 metre section of a small dry creek worked in 1855 gave up about 2 ounces in nuggets and the weight and chinese coin and a couple percussion caps. I could almost see the old prospector weighing his gold in the dry creek bed in 1855. Judging by what they left for me i bet it was a good weigh day and jovial night around the campfire.
    3 points
  15. Went to Oregon on Saturday and scored one of these babies. I don't find them often (less than 10 in 40+ yrs of MD'ing) but when I do, it puts a smile on my face. Pay attention to those little odd finds so you don't throw them out. I'd love to see some of the ones you other hunters have saved, so please show some pics. I'm sure the Aussies have a few as well. Last pic shows the weight.
    2 points
  16. Click or double click for larger version.... NEW! from BOUNTY HUNTER Time Ranger Pro metal detector Backlit Display FeTone™, Adjustable Iron Audio Enhanced V-Break®, Tone Discrimination System Notch Mode with Adjustable Notch Width Computerized GROUND GRAB® One Touch Ground Balance with Manual Override Unmatched Target Separation in Iron and Trash Continuous Ground Condition Readout: Ground Phase value indicates type of mineralization, Fe3O4 graphic indicates amount of mineralization Ground balance all the way to Salt Static All Metal Pinpoint with Depth Indicator 19 kHz Operating Frequency Ultra-Lightweight, only 2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) $449 Internet Discount Price $399 Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro Color Flyer
    2 points
  17. Yes, I think that is a GB...congratulations
    2 points
  18. Same company, three websites, probably just an oversight. Whoever did the flyer probably had Fisher on the brain since as we all know this is an F19 in new clothing. I may get one yet... I like the detector and I like the new color scheme. It's just a no-nonsense grab and go detector. I always meshed real well with the FT 19 kHz machines. That said I have no real need for one.... it's just that "I want a new toy" thing tickling me. I've not got a new detector in almost two years!
    2 points
  19. 2 points
  20. And the official site: https://www.detecting.com/pro-metal-detectors.htm#time-ranger-pro
    2 points
  21. I have only borrowed an Equinox 800 for a few minutes use a couple of time so I'm not a lot of help with specifics about it. I do own and use two of the Minelab Vanquish 540 Pro Pack devices to keep the most-used 5X8 DD on one of them and the larger 9X12 DD on the other for more open areas, such as a beach, wide-open grassy park or hunting plowed fields and the like. I have lived in Oregon most of my life with the bulk of that in the greater metro area of Portland on the west-side of Oregon. I currently live in Vale, in far Eastern Oregon. I lived in the Portland area when I started using meal / Mineral locators the start of March 1965 and spent most of the first 18 years Coin Hunting city parks and schools and anywhere I possibly could, to include farm fields after strawberry harvest. I did occasional hunting of ghost towns and homesteads or any older site during that period, mainly in Oregon and Utah and Nevada, but also in Wyoming Idaho and Washington on occasion. Since July of '83, however, I have concentrated on relic Hunting activities in older and more out-of-the-way locations, mostly in Eastern Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, California, and several other states across the country, and, on occasion, a bit in Washington. I currently rely on my Nokta FORS CoRe's w/'OOR' DD and 5X9½ DD coils mounted, FORS Relic w/5" DD mounted, and XP ORX w/5X9½ DD mounted for most of my serious Relic hunting in nasty dense trash. I also use my Nokta / Makro Simplex + w/11" DD, Vanquish 540's w/5X8 DD and 9X12 DD munted, and a Tesoro Bandido II microMAX w/6" Concentic and Silver Sabre microMAX w/6" Concentric mounted for some Relic Hunting needs, but especially for urban Coin & Jewelry Hunting tasks. With my Detector Outfit and the limited amount of time, by comparison, that I devote to urban Coin Hunting, the Vanquish 540's handles my needs from Minelab. That said, I have several friends who own and use the Equinox 800 and like it, especially for Coin & Jewelry Hunting more than for their Relic Hunting. If you get the EQ-800, which is a very good 'general-purpose' detector, I will suggest this: ► Spend the time to learn it well. Start with the default programs and master them before advancing to other programs .... and don't get too carried away with a lot of function adjustments. ► Get the 6" DD coil to help enhance the versatility and performance of the Equinox in trashier or more confined spaces. ►Remember to Ground Balance whenever you use it. Automated GB or Manual GB, it's best to adjust it before hunting. Monte
    2 points
  22. I really don't know what the matrix is, if you expand the picture you can see small shiny faces. They look crystalline in structure. As to the weight, it is only 1.71 grams. a little creative photography gives it some size Norm
    2 points
  23. Great post, flakmagnet; thanks for sharing. All of us who inhabit this planet need to respect it but particularly those of us who use more of it -- filling our holes (and those holes left by the idiots), carrying out our trash and that of others, and especially protecting the wildlife. It's their home, we are merely visitors.
    2 points
  24. Nice sheds beatup!!! Brought back memories of my avid shed hunting days. Cancer slowed me down so hiking the steep stuff for sheds has stopped except for some detecting. Horn buyer was just setting up chair and Buying Antlers sign in town a few yrs back so I asked him to follow me home cause I wanted to sell my sheds. I kept a few of the best ones and here's what he drove off with. Averaged $9.30lb for these which was 7-8 yrs worth of shed hunting....
    2 points
  25. Flak, Not only are you dialing in your detecting skills and technique (with golden results), you are able to spend quality time with your son. That tortoise story and photos will be remembered, shared and talked about over many Thanksgiving dinners. The true gold in this post, is the time with your son. Now the gold bits....is very impressive. I always tell folks, I judge ones ability with a gold detector on how small of gold they can find. Heck, hearing it is half the battle. Then you have to try and pinpoint it with the 14" coil and try to get it in the scoop. Job well done to the both of you.
    2 points
  26. I hadn't seen an overview type video on the Gold Kruzer, at least not in English, so decided to do one. It's just a bit of a run through of the machine and a run across some ground and a few targets. Hopefully of interest to anyone wanting to know a little more about it.
    1 point
  27. Greetings everyone! Newly minted detectorist here. I live in Moscow, ID, but spend a great deal of time in the Helena, MT area. I started prospecting for gold a little over a year ago, and decided I would add a metal detector to my toolset, not only for gold, but also for relics and coins. I’m currently hunkered down in Helena, socially distancing, watching a lot of YouTube, and Netflix. I’m also learning to use the new Equinox 800 I received a mere four days ago! This forum/website is mostly responsible for my Equinox purchase. I wanted a machine I could use for gold AND relic and coin hunting, and the info I was able to glean from all the posts and articles here helped me to make an informed decision. Thanks for that! The learning curve of the machine and the hobby is a bit steep, but very manageable, and again the forums and website make it all a damn sight easier! I’m currently staying with a friend in an 1890’s house, and have been detecting her yard the last couple of days. And I’ve found my first two non-trash pieces. A small enameled piece of jewelry, and an old chinese coin! I’m very excited to explore more of the yard when the recent snow disappears, and it warms up again! I’m sure I’ll have some questions along the way, but so far I’ve been able to get a lot of answers just exploring the site. If anybody is in the Helena, MT, or Moscow, ID area, and wants to share some knowledge and detecting time, I’d totally be up for it! Best luck to everyone, and stay safe out there! Mark
    1 point
  28. Mitchel, that would be great when all this craziness ends, I think one... the smallest now even tinier from all the grinding I think is good a start anyway, the others hot rocks on closer inspection your eye is well trained. Fred, lunk slightly better pictures but my eye phone camera’s not working like it should last year I dropped it and broke the camera, apple replaced it but before the macro was amazing now for some reason the macro won’t work, thanks for the help.
    1 point
  29. yup its a no go. Must have them chipped to not be compatible. Maybe they will surprise us with the update and all the anfibio/kruzer coils will work with simplex. If they did I would prob buy 2 machines just for myself and keep one with 7'' on and one with the 9x5 coil on.
    1 point
  30. Let's start by considering how the engineers determing the default settings. They do their own tests. They have stored up knowledge from previous work (e.g. other detectors). They get advice & feedback from field (beta-) testers. Then they make decisions, but those decisions have considerations: who will be using this (new) detector? What are the best settings that fit the most users? Are there settings which will confuse a lot of buyers? Consider how many differerent settings combinations exist. I calculated/counted them and posted here previously but I don't remember my result, other than it was in the the thousands. Finally, as we all know, the optimal settings are sensitive to conditions such as ground mineralization, EMI background, goals of the detectorist on the particular day s/he is using the detector, the background trash targets that the detectorist is expecting and experiencing. There is no way the ML engineers can anticipate all of those, let alone recommend a few combinations that cover that space optimally. I think it's safe to say that once the new detector is in the hands of thousands of users, the default settings start to deteriorate in terms of specific situations. We all (manufactuers and users alike) recommend default settings at the beginning, but there should be no restriction on (carefully!) making adjustments as time progresses and familiarity with the detector increases. Now, we haven't (AFAIK) heard from Minelab nor seen in software upgrades any changes to the default settings. I don't interpret that to mean what they gave us 2 years ago in defaults are the be-all, end-all. And I doubt they ever felt they would be. The defaults are good starting points, and they will work pretty well in many conditions. From there forward it's up to us.
    1 point
  31. Norm, That is what I love about gold, is the uniqueness. So many different textures, shapes, sizes, matrix mixed in or around and overall characters. Keep us posted on your prize find.
    1 point
  32. Think about finding a rock with some rust on it. The outside of Lunk's meteorite is kinda rusty. Here is a link to one of Fred's hunts. As you can see none of the rocks are as dark as yours. My last Gold Basin trip I found one little meteorite in the 'gold area' but when I went to the 'meteorite area' I looked for a couple of hours and struck out. When we get past the restrictions I'll stop by and show you some that I've found or meet up with you in the basin. Mitchel
    1 point
  33. Possibly Amphibolite? The gold also looks like it was a small veinlet by itself! Very cool
    1 point
  34. When I had the Z I most gently rolled across the surface. It helped with weight support and also finding the tiddlers. Where I detect I was able to do this. But, and I am sure JP will confirm or deny this, I am sure I read a thing from JP where he suggested running the Z coil 1-2 inches off the ground particularly in saturable ground. I think the reasoning was that if the detector was simply unusable at ground level then being 2 inches closer to the gold was no advantage. However, if by running 2 inches off the ground you could still detect then at least you were still in the game. As always JP, feel free to correct me 👍 Edit - actually it was Steve H - half way down the first post. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/970-minelab-gpz-7000-a-super-vlf-saturable-soil-tips/
    1 point
  35. Lunk Not the least bit magnetic and the black seems to be very hard. I sure wish now I had taken some geology classes when I was young enough to learn something. Norm
    1 point
  36. Way to go Norm! Sounds like you had a good winter season. Is your specimen attracted to a magnet at all?
    1 point
  37. I use it on the mid-coast Oregon, on the beach and parks right out of the box with factory settings. Have had no problems getting silver at 8" where my park soil is mostly sand and bottoms out with compacted small rock. Hits deep at the beach too with stock coil. You will not be disappointed with the 800 or 600, in MHO. GaryC/Oregon Coast
    1 point
  38. Time to shine your nozzle. I know there are many ways to do it. I used to like to buff the crap out one with my hands, but that took to long and my hands would get tired. So know I use a tumbler and they come out shiny...but sometimes takes more attempts. This collection has taken me a few years of detecting old yards. Most houses had one in the front and one in the back. In the winter time I use the tumbler and fish aquarium gravel to clean up many of my old brass items.
    1 point
  39. Well with the COVID-19 pandemic, I will not be purchasing a new detector this spring.... My business in which I am self-employed is all but shut down and will put my money toward bills etc. Hope everyone is staying safe and feeling well and pray this will soon be over!
    1 point
  40. Best research I can do is a Religious button. All the symbols kinda line up with that, the little building not so sure. While on the button thing, I remembered that my since passed uncle gave me a few old buttons about 9 years ago. He was a civil war buff with members of his family in it. He also gave me a book set of muster rolls printed shortly after the war. He also gave me a hand full of buttons. Here are the photos, not sure if they are civil war? If anyone knows a button collector that could help me out, that would be great.
    1 point
  41. A bit further down and the other end of the contact. Virgin area, outside of known districts. poundage 🙂
    1 point
  42. These will blow your mind.... https://www.christies.com/features/A-collectors-guide-to-meteorites-8231-1.aspx?sc_lang=en https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/arts/meteorites-collectors-auction-christies.html?
    1 point
  43. Hello everybody, take a look at the first presentation (i think so) of time ranger pro : https://www.lovecpokladu.cz/home/bounty-hunter-time-ranger-pro-instruktazni-video-a-prvni-dojmy-7896
    1 point
  44. I’ve always imagined ground balance and discrimination as “necessary evils”. In other words, if I don’t have to use them, I do not. Both are electronic filters, and their use can cause lost depth and lost targets. The TDI is the best example of ground balance off giving best performance in mild ground, but there are others, like the little known ability to shut ground balance off on the GPX 5000. The thing is, if you use no ground balance, you will run into issues where increasing ground mineralization and especially hot rocks impede depth and create false signals to the point where you are better off engaging the ground balance to get back stable performance. I have found it is the hot rocks especially that are the issue. I can run a PI like a Surfmaster PI or TDI with ground balance off in pretty bad ground as long as the mineralization is even, spread out, homogenous. But toss some hot rocks in mild sand, and the false signals can get overwhelming. Same with discrimination. Digging everything is the only way not to miss good targets, especially the vast numbers of good targets masked by trash. If you don’t dig that trash target off first, that masked target at 4” stays there. It’s not all about depth; there are plenty of good shallow targets in parks masked by trash. But most people hit a wall digging trash. We all usually have time constraints, and digging everything can be counterproductive when all you have is two hours. So I turn on the disc and do the best I can. Therefore my mottos. Use a PI when you can, and a VLF when you have to. Leave ground balance off when you can, but turn it on when you have to. Leave discrimination off, but turn it on when you have to. Each of us has different thresholds for when we are forced to switch methods, and no one methodology can be said to be right or wrong as it just depends on circumstances and personal taste. The main goal is to have fun I think, and so do what it takes to make your detecting fun.
    1 point
  45. I think it's more complicated than this. George Lesche is now with Predator (family business?) but it appears his earlier products are made by the other company. Whether he sold the rights to the originals, got forced out,...? Bottom line, though, is that thanks to this thread (and those on the linked site), many of us are now better informed going forward.
    1 point
  46. Yawn...someone wake me up when they actually release something NEW
    1 point
  47. Although my Lesche was a good solid digging tool, I did ultimately wear the blade down to the point of it cracking, so they don't necessarily last a lifetime (depends on how actively you detect). Since then I have imported a Raptor Model 31c to Australia and it has performed very well over the last few years - digs very neat plugs and has shown very little wear so far (aside from the foam grip). Although we have to pay gst on imports, I do think it pays to purchase quality products in the first place rather than go cheaper and settle for something second rate (ie. Welded mild steel, non-heat treated etc). I also have a min shovel and long handled stainless shovel, though still prefer using hand tools for most recoveries. Phrunt, I also tried searching for that Stanley tool in Oz and had no luck sourcing it or even a website listing it - almost looks like an NZ exclusive to me.
    1 point
  48. Unfortunately if you want to find little bits and pieces of gold jewelry (broken chains,charms and earrings) in dirt and woodchips you’re gonna have to dig all that tiny foil too. That’s the unfortunate paradox of urban prospecting!!! In the water it’s a different story as the “motion of the ocean” helps to stratify the targets and generally washes off the lighter foil.
    1 point
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