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As some of you know, I am a metal detector dealer (so half the stuff I say must be salesman-shit?) who enjoys the hobby and actually gets out in the field much more than the average guy or dealer for that matter. I also am very hard core when it comes to detecting and feel my detector knowledge, skills and tools used are the best I can get my hands on. I sell all the major brands and have been for 20+ yrs., so I am not really bias as to what is the best brand. Yes some of you will say I lean towards Minelab, but only for the models of detectors I feel will give me the advantage and edge. I want to go home with treasure and since my Field Staff Experts are some of the best hunters in the US, I better be on my A game all the time. I need to make sure I'm holding my own with those wizbangs and so brand, model and price is not a factor to me. I like to compare detectors on undug signals and see for myself what the results bring. I also listen to and rely quite a bit to my staff and their experiences as well all hunt different sites, locations and styles. But on some trips we do manage to get a few of us together and that is where the work starts as we pull out our detectors and see who has the best setup for a signal. After doing this numerous times over a weekend, we learn pretty good/fast which detectors are the Winners and the ones we'll be sure to not be swinging. I'm not going to say there are Losers as I enjoy certain traits of each. I've tested for most major brands and so far, have yet to find the ultimate gold detector. In fact, I get so tuned and focused, I don't think the ultimate unit will ever get built and be in my hands. I'm too damn picky and want perfection. Where am I going with this. Sorry, the Equinox for Gold? As most of you know, the NOX is a multi purpose detector that is capable of many styles of hunts including gold nuggets. Here is where the issue lay. It is classified by most to be a Multi Purpose detector and as it has been in 45+ yrs past of my own MD'ing career, a multi purpose detector is capable, but not as good as a genuine gold detector. OK, I know what so many think and feel as this has been the history of Multi Purpose detectors. Well since gold detectors are my specialty, and there are at least 10 models out there, I can say for certain how a detector performs for my areas as I have actually used them? I'm here to tell you the KNOWLEDGE that we have learned while in the field with a NOX chasing gold in 5 different states. If you don't agree with me and feel your trusty VLF dinosaur is doing you fine..I personally have no issues with that. Please don't think I don't like other VLF gold detectors, as I mentioned above, there are certain things I do like and or prefer vs the NOX, but overall and at this time..the 800 NOX it out of the park. Here are some pics of Au my customers and I, that are in the know have recovered with the Multi Purpose NOX. I'd like to see out there who is actually using the Equinox 800 and or even 600 for that matter for Gold Prospecting and some of your Success with it.

It's all about the audio. I had both the Tejon and Vaquero, several years ago and I got good at knowing when the target was a pencil eraser end. It should always be the audio first.

Got out today for 2 hours and detected a spot that had been grown over by Florida vegetation. Someone came in and scraped the top layer off and cleared tons of brush. I thought I would see if anything old was there. Seeing the area was settled in the 70's, I was not expecting much. And that is what I found! I only found clad around the area where the homeless must have been. Around a blanket that remained, I found about $2 in quarters and dimes. Having exhausted that area and becoming exhausted in the 108% humidity, I thought I would try my trusty neighborhood football field again seeing the gate was opened up again. About 20 minutes into that location, I got a strong 6-7 that had that special sound to it. I flipped over the plug and had to get the camera.🙂 This is my 4th class ring , 2nd in FL at this complex. It has the date, school, name and boyfriend's name, so I'm hoping it will be able to be returned. Looks like it has been in the ground over 10 years just going off the date. It is 10K. The field continues to give up the gold and the 15" on the Equinox continues to earn its keep. I was using Park 1, ground balanced, 18 sensitivity, 7 recovery speed, and all metal. I'm including more pics for those who are not able to get out yet. I always enjoy looking at pics, so maybe others do as well. UPDATE--I got a hold of the school office, and a very helpful woman took my information. She said she would reach out to others to see if they could contact the owner of the ring. A day later, I received a text from the possible owner. I asked her about the ring, and she gave all the correct answers. Just the other day I was able to meet with the owner's sister in person for the exchange. She was very thankful and happy that someone would go to all the effort to return a ring; her smile says the same. She said she would likely see her sister this weekend. Today, I received a picture with the ring on the owner's hand. Always cool to know it was a positive thing on the receiving end. I didn't know it at the time, but after polishing it, it turned out to be white gold, my first! As an aside, I had to ask the sister about the inscription inside. She said her sister and the guy did not work out. 🙁

Jeff Mc.- I still have a few sites the NOX has issues with as for mineralized ground, but that is what PI and ZVT are for. What really impresses me with the NOX is the classification of "Multi Use" and then when compared to the VLF gold specific detectors for a variety of gold hunting, the NOX is my choice. I just have a hard time trying to convince folks who call and ask of my opinion and then think I am trying to sell them a Multi Use detector for their gold hunting needs. Realize, I'll sell you exactly what you ask for...but if you keep fishing me on what I use, you'll get the truth and it might not match your initial request. I actually feel Minelab did a piss poor job of promoting how effective the NOX is when used as a VLF gold detector and in fact how well it does for a variety of MD'ing styles. But at the same time, I realize they have other detector models that need to be moved. Phrunt - Yes the selectable Notch Discrimination is a great feature on the NOX. That is part of the reason we prefer it vs our traditional gold machines as they are not quite there yet. As you can see, we enjoy finding bigger gold, but the sites we hunt have higher concentration of 100+ yr old Prospectors trash and Iron can kill you. Digging occasional iron is OK, but when I have a detector that has the capabilities to ID it better than the competition, I'll be swinging it. Digging iron wastes to much energy at these sites and that is why they still produce gold. Now, there are times when you need to remove everything, so I have no issues with folks who like to do, but realize some detectors can make life easier. I just happen to be in a position to get and test the majority of them. Lunk- Yes you have some in those pics. Sunbakers are my favorite. Dances with Doves and Matt, I did not forget you and will reply later, the wife is already telling me this weekends hubbydos.

Nothing so special here, just a common 18k wedding band, really usual in Europe. I'm satisfied to see again gold after over two months of Covid Lockdown😷. The amazing thing is from where I pulled it out. I've been totally shocked by the use of a compass today, cause I found too much times myself uncapable to keep straight lines underwater in murky or windy conditions. So today I was testing not only the use of the instrument, but also a new weight harness I maked to relax my poor back and what a relief! I'm now doing snorkeling without fins and a neutral buoyancy trim. The place was a terrible one, rocky, aluminum infested, uncovered bottom by months and deadly pounded by competition of other locals... Before the lockdown I cleaned up the last drops of gold remained, when they were saying me "is over..don't do it again" and laughing,leaving me alone there: (terrible mistake💀😉)... At a certain point I was next to leave, when I decided to follow another line on the compass to come back to the shore... Thicker Sand, freshly deposited, no referral things to take note of, but......Bang! When I heard the CTX to punch a solid 12.24 I was amazed and already sure about the shape of the thing...In the middle of nowhere.... The end of the story is...I've been fooled by myself dozen of times, never been really able to cover entirely hot points in patterns and potentially leaving lot of good stuff behind..I'm sure about it cause I frequently passed again like in a circle from same spots already checked... To hunt wading is another thing than snorkeling or scuba diving. I have proof now that a compass can make the difference when I need to cover bottom in the right way. I'm noticing this fact after "only" 15 years😭....Take note and apply.....Hard payed experience....

This is why I ditched all my other VLF nugget machines. The only other one I have that I use is the 24K because it can run off batteries for situations where charging is less than convenient, has better ergonomics than the Equinox, but mainly better coils for prospecting, including a concentric coil option. It’s a great little scrubber. Minelabs refusal to make a solid 6”x10” coil for the Equinox is particularly irritating given its strength as a gold prospecting detector. The Equinox/24K combo leaves me lacking for nothing when it comes to VLF gold prospecting. It’s a push on small gold between the two but I’d give the 24K the nod there if pressed on the matter. Depth on large gold - Equinox, hands down. It was apparent to me back when prototype testing that the Equinox was a superior gold prospecting detector, even with coils that are not optimized for that purpose. However, I decided to not push that aspect of the machine very hard. Partly for the reason that Gerry mentions, but also because many prospectors are set in their ways, and Equinox is a different beast requiring some out of box thinking and willingness to experiment to really get the best out of it as a gold prospecting unit. I was getting enough guff at the time over shilling for Minelab that outside of offering some tips I decided to just lay low on this aspect of the machine. Prospectors can be a pretty harsh bunch if they think you are pushing something off on them. But yeah, Equinox, Multi-IQ, gold nuggets... 👍🏼 Minelab Equinox in Sierra Nevada gold country

Gerry, You've got that NOX dialed in dude !!! Your killing it.... Here is a picture of my first gold found with the Equinox 800 when they first came out, I think this picture was April 8, 2018.... I never leave home without it... Dave

I’m not always at liberty to show images of coils as I’m often using gear that is locked down tight under confidentiality agreements etc. That’s not in any way saying I’m testing anything in particular just that some of my gear is unconventional in nature and would raise eyebrows in the wrong circles. I have coils here that date back to pre-production of the GPZ, old favourites that produced the goods and I quite often find myself putting them on for a particular location or concept that I’m experimenting with. I’m always experimenting, it’s whats keeping me sane during this year of lockdowns and restrictions, going back over old spots trying something new or different can be challenging, using something a bit different puts a mental slant on things that can justify the reason to go back and keep trying again and again and again...........😬😪🤕 Below are some pics of my last few sessions. JP My personal message to COVID19 Plucky 2 gram surprise that came from thinking outside the square (thats 3.9 grams not 390!! 🙂 ) I haven’t taken Mia out detecting with me for a week, so did some local detecting to give her a nice day out. I call her the “Pair-Hair” which is a play on words for “Precious” and “Hairy” 🤪 Mia has a sense of humour much better than most humans, except when I leave her at home, then she’s quite unimpressed and disgusted.😳 Mia’s day out gold

I recently returned from a MD’ing trip to Cancun and the 3 of us used Minelab Equinox detectors. Finds included 100’s of coins, probably 10+ pairs of sun glasses, with 1 of them being Ray-Bans, 2 cell phones, numerous ear rings with 1 of them being 14K gold and another was a diamond stud. Chains, bracelets and metals, some broken and others hole. Over 30+ rings with many sterling, a few of the modern Tungsten and Stainless wedding bands and even gold rings (both white and yellow gold). 2 rings really popped out that were both 14K gold. One was the blue sapphire with diamonds and the other a wedding ring with a nice 1+ karats of diamonds. Even the 1st time lady digger scored a nice 14K white gold wedding band with a couple cool sterling rings. I managed 21 of the 30 rings so I won't complain but the amount of gold was certainly off my standards. Pic of rings on my hand were the ones I found minus a sterling that broke when being tumbled. We all enjoyed the warm weather, water and experience. The Equinox detectors performed as hoped. Used Beach Mode #1, GB on, open screen by pushing the Horseshoe, SENS around 17 to 19 and Threshold so I can hear it. All other settings were FP. What amazes me is the gold to modern metal ratio. The resorts I hunt used to produce more gold than modern metals and now it has flipped. in years past, I'd come back with 15 or 20 gold rings on a weeks hunt and never a modern Stainless or Tungsten. Now it seems I'll get more of them than I actually do the gold ones? Well the wife still likes going down there so I might as well get used to it and realize 5, 6 and 7 Gold ring days are long gone at those places. Guess I'll jump into a lake and follow BeechNut around as his gold ring counts are still good.

Alain Loubet - the founder and CEO of XP was a big fan of Tesoro detectors and the analog audio. The story goes that when Alain suggested some modifications to improve on his design to Jack Gifford of Tesoro, Jack kindly told him what he could do with his suggestions. That inspired Alain to build his own analog audio ID detector, the Adventis around 2000 which had a very familiar Tesoro look and feel. After some iterations on that concept, Alain embarked on a groundbreaking wireless design that became the Deus and it's simplified but similar performing cousin, the ORX. While the Deus and ORX do have digital target ID displays, they are also primarily about the audio and borrow their audio target ID from XP's earlier analog offerings. Full tones, pitch tones, and Gold Field's VCO pitch like audio convey a lot of subtle target information their audio and the visual target ID just provides an additional piece of the puzzle. Most relic hunters in the UK that use the Deus often hunt purely by audio and leave the control unit that displays target ID information (and helps to custom program their machines) in the car during the hunt relying solely on the wireless headphone audio to make dig decisions. You could say that the Deus audio has a little Tesoro DNA included in it's design.

How much I miss days like that! It reminds me some virgin like places back in 2015😭... Well Done!

Gerry, I have tried every gold prospecting specific VLF detector and a few PIs in the last five years of my detecting life where I have had the money and time to see how well they do or not. I am barely able to carry you guy's water bottles or maybe clean your boots ability wise. I have found plenty of gold however. More than that I have found two detectors that could handle every highly mineralized ground condition that I could put them on. Some of these places make some very famous VLF gold prospecting detectors that actually include "Gold" in their names, go into overload or just make me want to puke from the ridiculous sounds they make trying to handle hot rocks and severe iron mineralization. The Equinox 800 has handled all of these places with absolutely no problem. The XP ORX does a remarkably good job too for a single frequency detector. Thanks for posting this and for keeping it fun and real for all of us prospectors and wannabe's on this forum. Hope to meet you someday..... Jeff

Part of the reason I made this post.. Uneducated folks calling me and wanting to get a certain gold machine. No worries, I'll sell it to you, but when you ask how I like your potential new detector? and I tell you I don't own one anymore as I now swing the NOX...don't get pissed off at me.

My digging tool. I’ve never had a problem with nicked targets. 😂😂😂

I learned on a Tesoro Lobo and a Cutlass II. Awesome detectors. I often think about getting another one but then I remember I already kind of have a Tesoro on steroids with the 3 tone ORX. In discrimination modes the VDIs are fairly useless where I detect. I just go on the quality of the tones. Fortunately, the Nox has accurate tones and accurate target IDs that I can always depend on especially when I need both of them. Jeff

A friend of mine once told me that in Germany, if you're learning to work with metals, you're not allowed to use a machine until you've first proven that you know how to work with hand tools, files in particular. Only when you've mastered those tools and their associated techniques can you move up to lathes, milling machines, etc. Maybe that's the way it should be with metal detectors. I know when Kevin Hoagland is teaching finding native gold, he covers the screens of his students' detectors (the ones that have screens) and forces his students to listen to the subtle sounds that indicate a possible good target. Maybe coin, relic, and jewelry detecting should start the same way. Those who cut their teeth on the Tesoros learned the right way, IMO.

I really appreciate those "aluminum" targets too. The last two gold rings I found last week both had multiple target ID numbers on the Equinox. One was 10,11,12 and the other one was 13,14,...........even though the targets sounded good, I was not expecting gold jewelry when I dug them. I got lucky or thankfully I made myself dig two fairly iffy signals....... Jeff

I am not sure if anyone else is doing this (it appears to be a Coiltek sale but no mention on their website), but Chris at AZO is advertising Coiltek coils for the Minelab SDC 2300 at 20% off for the rest of the month or while supplies last. 20% OFF the following premium Coiltek products:• 10x5 Gold Extreme: WAS $295 - NOW $236• 11" Gold Extreme: WAS $315 - NOW $252• 14x9" Gold Extreme: WAS $315 - NOW $252• Gold Extreme SDC Accessory Pack: WAS $67 - NOW $54 http://arizonaoutback.ipbhost.com/topic/14510-coiltek-isolation-special-new/ https://www.coiltek.com.au/coils/gold-extreme/

Got tired of my machine flopping over so I made this. Fit's Kruzer and Amphibio series with or without optional external battery pack. Will give it a good beat down and if all works well will bang out a few if anyone is interested.

Dance w/ Doves: Both detectors work well for the 2 applications you asked. I've been told the new GMX is a waterproof 24K and if that is the case with no other changes, then I know the 24K is quite capable since I was one of the testers. Now if you go to a salt water hunt, all bets are off for the 24K or GMX. They are single frequency detectors designed for gold prospecting, so to try salt water is not what they were built for. I actually like the smaller coils on the White's more than the 6" round on the NOX, but I am cutting hairs by now. ID capability on the NOX is better than 24K and for gold rings or coins in tot-lots, hot springs, rivers and freshwater swimming areas the NOX will punch deeper, partially because it comes standard with a 10" round coil. If you are a White's guy and used to their VLF gold machines, then probably stick with American Made White's. If you think having more capabilities, an extra yr of warranty and might hunt coins or salt beaches, then go NOX.

Yep. I believe XP never pursued FCC certification for the analog machines so they are not sold in the US.

At it again I see and another good one to boot. I have a local high school nick named the Viking's also, brings back memories. Be careful around the homeless areas. I once stepped on a needle that stuck in my shoe, luckily it didn't stick me. Glad your out in the heat and humidity, I would pay for some good warm non rainy days. Good luck on the next trip!!!

I just knew my 40-45 minute statement was going to get a response, but rest assured, I am not !! I know you're not crazy because apparently you spent a lot more time swinging it than 40-45 min in a ghost town. So that makes a for a completely different story. In the ghost town scenario, I would probably use my Deus over the Equinox. I'm still evaluating the Vanquish, but one annoying thing I have come across is that it apparently has an affinity for constently ringing up pull tabs in my local park at 18 (in jewelry mode). Why is that a problem? Because it pushes the typical pull tab at that site into the high 5-tone bin on the Vanquish and the breakpoints are not adjustable. It bangs hard on actual high conductors though, but it is annoying constantly stopping in my tracks by a great souding ringing high tone and staring down at that 18 on on the VDI. Boo!

Anytime you find the multi-grammers where you are hunting it makes news! There are still some ouncers out there on the BLM lands of Gold Basin. I'm not good at finding them. You will one of these days if you can keep from falling in the Joshua Trees! You've already brought fresh eyes to worn out patches and done better than I have in the last couple of years. I wish I could get over there and explore with you on a couple of trips but that is not possible right now.

That’s easy early gold put that skunk out of his misery ASAP little stinkers always hiding in the bushes...waiting, watching, lol follows me everywhere🤨. The days of multiple nuggets have been few and far between, I’m still waiting for that virgin patch and my one ounce or plus nugget like to check that one off the list first thing next time out😃. not all club claims are worked out, some nice gold to find on occasion but mostly crumbs the stuff you find regularly over there makes headlines here. Luckily keeping it interesting every once in a while (as in years) someone finds a lump gets us all excited again.

Late gold. It is akin to fishing. If you get a fish first cast more often than not you might as well go home straight away - there won't be another bite for the whole day. But if you work hard all day and finally get things right and get a fish you feel rewarded for your effort and perseverance. If you get gold in the first 5 minutes and then nothing for the next 10 hours - think of all the other things you could have been doing. For example, you could have gone fishing 🤣

There is a wash on the eastern part of the GSSN claim and then you go over to the MPA. There have been some half ouncers found over there in the past. When I was last there I chatted the drywashers there and they were finding nuggets down deep with their detectors and getting good fine gold too.

That's exactly why I place little stock in nailboard tests as conclusive indicators of relative, real-world detector performance because they are unrealistic 2-D setups. Whereas the relative adjacent target depth aspect of real world 3-D target distribution in the ground changes the equation significantly as your simple demonstration illustrates.That being said, I find El Nino's test results interesting from a pure intellectual curiosity standpoint.

Bashin, Nicks in the goods happen, Don't be to hard on yourself. Like GB and Kac said take your time with your coil to learn the center. Multiple sweeps are in order. When I find my spot I pull a small patch of grass or mark the center of exposed dirt with an impression. I then insert my hand digger about 4 inches off target and lift the soil up slightly, Then I shove in the pin pointer to tell me exactly where my target is. This is by no means fool proof, and takes a little practice . Sometimes with target masking ( multiple targets in one hole ) you will damage the good target and not the bad and vice versa. I can't tell you how many cool things I've ruined. But each time it happens you will remember to slow down and focus on how to remove it without damage. (maybe). I suggest rebury it and find it in 10 years and you can wonder how the nick got there. ( maybe a knife fight ) 😆🤫 All kidding aside It's still a great find no matter what!!!!

Welcome to the forum! The only stupid questions are the ones that go unasked. There is nothing magical about metal detecting, just pick a decent spot, dig stuff, and use proper techniques for leaving no trace i.e. carefully filling holes, even in the middle of nowhere. The way you learn is to go do it and pay attention while digging stuff. No magic settings required - use the recommended settings in your manual to get started. Location and patience matter more than anything. Finally, in a lot of ground in Nevada or California you may only get half the depth people back east talk about due to higher ground iron mineral content. Do not expect 10” dimes, more like 5” - 8” at best. Good luck!

Some great commentary here. I’ll keep mine short and just say thank you to people who leave “aluminum” in the ground!

I can definitely relate to your post GB Amateur. In fact, I really wish he could have also just planted a US nickel or found one with his settings. That would have been a very helpful comparison too. The only reasons why I currently own an XP ORX are: first and most important two outstanding no-nonsense all metal modes= therefore outstanding gold prospecting detector; then comes extremely lightweight and packable, and distantly last.......for coin and jewelry hunting preferably in wide open athletic fields with sparse aluminum trash. In dense aluminum I pick a different detector. I totally get why Dave D. used a planted gold ring and I really appreciate XP doing this video. I have been begging them for one for months! Jeff

One of these days I'm going to keep my mouth shut (err, fingers dormant) but at the same time I feel that's being dishonest. So here I go again, but I'll start with some disclamiers: 1) Jeff, I respect your knowledge and your sharing of that as much as anyone who posts here. Anyone. I also appreciate your posting this video as I seem there are things I need to learn. In that sense I give the video a plus. 2) I don't have any XP products. However, there are enough positive things posted on this site that I'm confident the Deus and ORX are top performers. I even consulted with one of you (Chase) privately when I was considering picking one up, but decided it wasn't enough of an improvement over the Minelab Equinox (as always, better at some things, not as good at others) and buying another detector to share time with one I'm still learning is more like treading water -- one more detector I haven't mastered -- that I'm better off currently putting all my attention on the Eqx. OK, now I'll (again) play the little boy watching the King dance around in his underwear. Let's review the hits shown in the video: 14 total -- one clad quarter (90's TID), one copper alloy Lincoln cent (right around 88-90 TID), one zinc penny (low 80's TID), ten pieces of various aluminum (square tabs, foil, can slaw). I'll save the 'best' for last. The goal of the video was stated to be distinguishing aluminum trash from gold rings. The coins are up there where you almost never get gold. No big deal there, and the detectorist never claimed there was. Now here's a question -- how many aluminum trash targets do you typically detect in the course of finding a single gold ring? I've seen estimates from 100 to 500, and I think I vaguely recall someone saying 1000. The reality is there is way more trash in the ground than treasure, especially when the treasure is gold. Let's say I go out and try the same experiment, except I'm going to call everything less than zinc penny (and above ferrous) aluminum trash, or even more non-descript -- non-gold. What's the chances I dig 10 targets and all of them are non-gold? Oh, but there at the end of the video he does find a gold ring! Pretty impressive. He goes through all the techniques he's been using and shows the signal is different than the others. Then the deflating comment -- he found that ring two weeks prior. So this was planted. He knew all along while he was going over the target exactly what it was. This isn't simply about bravado ("I can tell trash from treasure"). This is why scientists do double-blind experiments. When they know the result they can easily fool themselves. Summary: apples to oranges, again. Real aluminum trash and a planted ring. I do appreciate his honesty in confessing he had dug this target previously. He had me fooled.

With the HF 9" coil on the ORX I just find the quietest frequency around 31 or 54 kHz for micro gold jewelry which usually won't be very deep anyway. Small gold chains and earrings may have slightly jumpy numbers. The larger gold ring jewelry will sound fantastic and have really tight numbers on the ORX, similar to detecting a surface to 4" US nickel although the numbers may be different from a nickel. Oops, sorry Chase, you already answered. My internet is super slow this time of day with the kids needing the internet for school. Jeff

It seems more likely that folks will sell one or two of their unused / underused previous detectors, and keep their new Eqx, which in many cases has become their all-round go-to machine.

Great piece of adventure and advice. I don't kill them any more and in fact don't mess with them much either. I used to though. These pics were at Rye Patch, NV from years ago when I was stupid. And before anyone chimes in and says that is not a real pic and it's photoshopped? Please look at the pic and notice the shadow of the gold nugget on the snakes back. Please folks, no use trying to get yourself bit like I did that day. Not worth it. Yes I was a dumbshit. Good that the 2 of you both got gold too.

Well, he did find your lost Toyota keys nearby. Presumably, some of those nuggets were the ones that fell out of your pocket with the car keys. People who know Paul would find it inconceivable that he could lose a set of car keys mere weeks after he let the local miscreants steal that same vehicle and our detectors. A curious coincidence indeed. Could be a conspiracy to defame Paul.

My lazy a.. watch snake must have been drinking again--- stay off my patch you two!!! lololol

I prefer rougher water and waves for most hunting but after a few days of getting tosses around, it is nice for calmer waters. Since I am on a trip, I don't worry about the tides and or lower surf... I just hunt 8 to 10 hours a day. To me, rough water causes more treasures to get lost. I watched hundreds of people one day in about 3 to 5' of water do body surfing, wave riding and just enjoying getting their bodies tossed around. So many people have no clue the power of a wave. Girls get their tops and or bottoms ripped off, guys loosing glasses/cell phones and some of them have no clue.

You came to the right place. Welcome!

Great to have you here Ed, I'm not much of a gold guy being from PA, but I'm sure your knowledge and thoughts will be of great use to the members of DP. Glad you decided to join this great forum. The amount of awesome gold and coin detectors out there are overwhelming at times, but just take your time and make your decision based on the areas/soil, and budget and you will come out on top of a great hobby. Looking forward to your first finds!!!

Thanks Gerry, very motivational for those of us that have not been at it very long, hope you keep up your hardcore swinging and sharing finds. ht

Cool, thanks. 20,000 acres is a reasonable size bit of land but then I suppose it sees a decent number of people and has done for a long period of time. Probably OK to keep a couple of people busy for a few weekends a year. I would guess most are there to enjoy a hobby rather than seriously 'mine' their bit of gold basin dirt considering there are mostly only crumbs left behind? Club claims certainly give you guys somewhere to go which is nice. We are very lucky in Victoria, Australia that there is quite a bit of public lands (currently) available to prospect on. Private land is sometimes hard to get access (depends how you approach the owner or who has done the wrong thing in the past) and there are quite a few Heritage areas, reserves and National/State Parks that are off limits. I assume that will increase in the future.

The Detech coils may be waterproof but if fully submerged then flotation may become a problem. Ideally, a fully potted coil would be best for water work, especially in deeper water. Another potential problem for non potted coils is water pressure compression on the coil shell could generate false signals and worse still, rupture of the coil housing. Just as an FYI...fully potted means a solid epoxy filled coil, typical for water/diving based detectors such as the Excalibur, Sea Hunter, Aquapulse. I am in the process of trying to acquire an epoxy filled coil so stay tuned. I have decided not to pursue a smaller land based coil for my TDIBH as I’m not confident the single turn GB control will do the job. Tony

My ground is mild. I haven't used Coin Fast mode but it makes sense for jewelry hunting. Targets won't be real deep. I'll have to bury some test targets to help learn. In northern Michigan I don't have a lot of areas to hunt. I've switched to water hunting. I want to try the Orx for jewelry hunting on land though. I have the 9" hf coil. Does it matter what frequency is used? A high frequency would get a better hit on gold wouldn't it.

Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you aboard. Good luck!

I'd be surprised if there was a dealer conference, current conditions being what they are.

For Equinox and Vanquish - the service center will only test and replace faulty hardware which means straight up replacement of a faulty coil/cable, control pod, rod/stem/cuff, associated headphones and wireless audio accessories, or Equinox battery (if defective within the first year). Everything is surface mount, microelectronics now. Gone are the days of detector tuneups and tweakable potentiometer, variable capacitors, and inductors. It is a throwaway electronics world now which has both upside and downside. As "repair" technicians, not software designers, they have no authority to alter the software/firmware in any way. That has to come from the Factory in the form of an all user firmware update. Who knows if ML will update Vanquish at this point. All we know is that it is technically feasible for the end user to do it provided they are given the appropriate update interface program and firmware. Regarding the Vanquish, I am with you Monte. ML was a hair's breadth away from completely knocking it out of the park - three things would have made this detector truly great and should not have increased the price one iota - 1) ground grab/or manually adjustable GB (Simplex has it - so this is not a cost driver), 2) Replace the custom mode slot with a single frequency mode - at say 10 khz, and 3) simply make the 3 Multi IQ modes remember their custom discrimination settings after power down, just like the Equinox does, obviates both the need and limitations of a single custom mode slot. Would like to see some kind of sw fix for the GB issue, but I doubt it will come to pass because what you really need is ground grab or a manual ground balance setting and I don't see that happening without some accompanying change to the physical user interface. Hope I am wrong. PS - I also want to say that while ML may not have "hit it out of the park", it IS a helluva detector for the price and the included coils make the 540 PP worth the trip.

Yeah but when the ground is hot like in Arizona the only way to use the ORX is turning down the sensitivity........

Amazing what a week of the wrong direction winds can do. Keeping tides very high and pushing sand in...Not Good. But luck was with me the last two hunts and I was able to get into a small section out in the middle of no where and dig some treasures. Four Gold rings and eight silvers.