Leaderboard

Thanks to the good people on this forum I returned to one of my lakes with the intention of digging less than 100 bottle caps as I did last time. I found about 20 but I dug many that I had anticipated would be bottle caps but I just wanted to be sure. I hunted in "Park 2" and 40 khz for the start of the hunt and switched to my user profile (4khz) on suspected cap targets and the cap TID's almost always jumped up to "36-40" range. Eventually, I just left the detector at 4 khz because it was so smooth and quiet and I wouldn't have to keep switching back and forth. Targets really stood out when the coil passed over them and it made hunting so much more relaxing.. I was concerned that I might miss some low conductor targets at 4khz but I did still get 2 of them maybe because of their depth or size. I plan on doing more bench testing today to see if there are any drawbacks to hunting in 4khz. Fortunately, I got my GoPro camera to work and I captured a couple of exciting moments that I am able to now share. GL&HH!

The original Minelab Gold Monster design simply always ground tracked. You start using it, and it is ground balancing all the time. However, if the mineralization changes a lot, it was a little slow to react. So they added this ability to put it in quick balance mode. Long press the Detect Mode button, the coil symbol flashes, and for a few seconds the ground balance speeds up. Basically it is just a ground grab button. Bill Southern talks about this new function in this video. Like Bill says in the video, most people might never use it,and sure no reason to buy a new machine. It’s a small time saver, nothing more. I’m curious, for those that even know about this, are you actually using it?

A short hunt just before sunset snagged this small 2.2 gram 14K in the salt water with the Nox 800.

Thankfully i got the coils a couple hours later today!🎉 So i went right to work getting them configured the way i initially planned to use them! The Beach Setup: The G2+ "Pinky" has changed her colors! Now sporting a Jeff Herke arm cuff, a neoprene pod cover, and a Detech Ultimate 13" coil! Also has a Nel Snake 3.5x6.5 coil! The Trashy Parks Setup: The MXT now is sporting the Ultimate 7" coil! Still have to find a box and pod cover! Also has a Detech Ultimate 13" coil! Plus i still will use their original coils, if needed! So there went my budget for the year!💣💥 Now i need to gather my yearly finds together, and cash them in!💰 Can't wait for the testing phase to commence!! More to Come!!👍👍

One spammer was so cocky he actually posted an “attaboy” on this thread, not long before I banned him!

I got a chance to go out on a couple of hunts this week and the best things I found were this little 10K/1.28 g Gold Ring, a 4 g Silver Ring and this 4 oz Lure. I think the lure is the most expensive! The little ring was a challenge as it was down about 5 inches and I had forgotten I had my F2 on at 5 from an experiment. With that setting the quarters sounded funny and I was about ready to do a factory reset when I discovered the 'problem.' I was using the 15" coil so I consider it a good get for the small target that read 6. Mitchel

Should have been included from when it was first released, I pushed hard for it and got ignored.🧐 In variable ground it is a God send, soon as the zero threshold becomes threshold like (ground response becomes more dominant and is breaking into the dead zone threshold position) it’s a simple matter of hold in and pump for a few seconds till quiet. This now allows you to run a more aggressive sensitivity level in hot ground and then keep on the GB grab as soon as the GB starts to drift. Using the AUTO sensitivity modes it is also very handy, I used to find the sensitivity would degrade if the GB went out of whack and it would then take too long for the GB to recover without doing a power cycle, now just Grab the GB again and keep walking. The Monster is now a well rounded metal detector and up there with the all-time VLF greats. Not good news for early adopters but good to see Minelab were willing to make the changes. JP Note: In salty/conductive ground pumping the coil might not always be the best option (conductive signal can be exacerbated by lifting the coil away from the ground), in this scenario hold in the GB grab and sweep side to side instead.

The weight difference is 6 ounces.....(4) EBL 26650......... 13 0unces which is a lot, (4) 18650 ......7 ounces..the stock battery they have now comes in at 19 0unces.......And you are correct, will the 6 ounce diff be worth a few more hours..

In 64 are 65 I got a kit from Relco out of Houston to build a metal detector. Like said the receiver was a Transistor Radio. It would detect metal but you would see the metal about the same time the detector sounded off . I think it was in 66 I found this Whites dealer and he would sell them on time. I just started working for the phone company and that BFO detector was selling around 150 160 . Now days that’s a drop in a bucket but then that was a lot for me . Back then everything was coming up silver Then I didn’t buy the next detector until it had paid for its self. I became a Whites dealer about 72 but I really didn’t like being one . I didn’t care telling people good places to hunt because that cut into my hunting area’s. I always hunted alone and never said about what I found. I still hunt alone most of the time but times is not as safe as way back when. Chuck

The Detectors have arrived!!🍭🍭 Thank's Gerry, of Gerry's Detectors, for the Whites MXT All-Pro!! And Amazon, for the Teknetics G2+ "Pinky" special! Just waiting for the coils from MetalDetector.com to arrive!! And some Cooler weather to give me a 🤬 break!! In the meantime, i have to read up on these two! Updates to come! Stay tuned!!👍👍

I found this interesting. Gold_Fever Aust.pdf

After reading many sad recollections of White's Electronics and the lamenting of the state of metal detector companies I was wondering what things were like back in the beginning. I happened to see and subsequently acquire the Annual Treasure Edition of Frontier Times Magazine issued in September, 1964. Although you need to go back to the 19th Century to find the real beginning, this is about the time that metal detectors became both portable and affordable (thanks to the recent development of low cost solid state electronic components -- transistors and diodes). In addition to five full length articles, here's a summary of the ads (full page all the way down to 2 line classifieds) in this issue relevant to the general topic of treasure hunting: Published materials -- 25. Build-your-own instructions -- 1, Panning, sluicing, etc. -- 3, Multiline dealers -- 3, Clubs -- 2, Scams -- 5. Besides those, here's a listing of metal detector manufacturer ads with state of location. See how many you recognize -- order is as found paging front to back: Raytron (CA), Relco (TX), Fisher (CA), White's (OR), Metrotech (CA), Art Howe & Co (KS), D-Tex (TX), Gardiner (AZ), IGWTT (NM), Goldak (CA). (Carl probably has at least one from each company. ) The only one of these with an ad of any size (second largest was D-Tex's 1/4 page) is Relco's two page spread shown here: Noteworthy in its absence is Garrett. According to Charles's 2015 obituary, the company was formed in 1964 so they were likely still a year or two away from their first ad. Adendum: I've added a scan of the White's ad later in this thread. The very small Fisher ad showed (in tiny drawings) part of a modern style detector and a 2-box, but hardly any detail.

Thanks Buddy, I do it for I enjoy being one step ahead.. As far as Fisher listening, they are paper pushers...they have in their heads what they think will work. I look at it from all different directions and test it as I go..I know just what they have planned and wish them Luck...I see the 18650 battery as not the right one...they should go with the EBL 26650...8 hours is alot more appealing then 5 and a half (30+) minutes...... Good Luck on your adventure, your very creative I am sure you will find away to out think the locals...👍

JRBeatty sorry about that badly damaged 30 oz nugget I would swap it for one of my undamaged 5 oz nuggets if you are still upset. 😁

I've had all the same detectors in the past. MXT, T2, 6000 Di Pro- and several Tesoros. I agree with your assessment 100%. Thanks for doing the testing and the post. Kind of like reliving the past, and much appreciated.

I originally meant to include this (1964) White's ad but forgot. Is this the *original* Gold-Master? Check out the payment plan!

Maybe getting off-topic a little, but this is still about treasure hunting (old and new). Books and framed pictures were a common hiding place for paper money. One of my favorite stories I read in a treasure mag years ago was finding coins in the locking/opening mechanisms of doors -- the kind of locks that had a slot for a skeleton key. The author's thought was that a child was playing with pennies and saw a 'coin slot' to stash some. He found a semi-key 1914-S Lincoln in one. I've opened up several of those locks from old doors without any prizes. Never heard of coins sealed in the wooden part of doors before, though. Like you say, 'ingenuity' and that means putting yourself in the place of people and imagining where they might have hidden things.

Here is a video about an underwater camera. What do people here use?

In case people are wondering, this is not a NEW thing. The update that added this happened at the end of 2018, so machines with this function have shipped for almost two years. The Monster has no update capability, so older users can't add this, but I never missed not having it in the first place. Some people complained of overly long times to ground balance, but I did not encounter that personally. But for people that have that issue, this is the fix.

Thanks Joe. My way out is my PI. Avoiding the dry and and going deeper and slower in the wet. Like where you're at , everyone here swings the Nox. And amongst many , they have a race to see who gets it 1st. You wouldn't believe how some literally are running down a beach. And extremely fast swing speed. I might have to video one of them. 5 hours is at least workable. 8 is the way to go. My old TDI BH would get maybe 6 hours , not great by any means. The DF , would get around 22 give or take. That's what I'm talking about ! But I don't see anything like that happening in the AQ until a different battery is developed that doesn't weigh 7lbs.

The Gold Monster has no real operating manual, and so this function is basically unexplained. However, it is identical to what Minelab has done with the SDC 2300. Again, the SDC is always ground tracking. No need to fuss with it. But it does have a “quick track” button that does the same thing the Gold Monster does. This page from the SDC 2300 Manual may help shed light on what the Gold Monster is doing.

As a moderator on another detecting forum I understand how much work goes into keeping a forum running smoothly! And, you do it by yourself!! 🎖️

That was the year I started to chase gold by myself. Metal detectors were advertised in "Men's Only Magazines" back then in Australia. I thought of getting one, but was told they were able to pickup a 22 caliber bullet. The advice given back then was gold that big was very rare, and it would be a miracle if I found any gold with it, that alone pay for it ($100+) when GOLD was a massive $35 an ounce (3 ounces of gold.)

Well I appreciate your kind words!! I am glad to know that someone enjoyed my little write up of thoughts!! I like doing this kind of stuff. It is a little too dry to get out at the moment so I have been doing at home test if you will. It keeps my mind active a bit.

The "Sensational... 12T" -- I have one of those. There was another Texas company called Jetco that competed with Relco in cheap BFOs. "Jetco" was named for the owner, John E. Turner. Does anyone know where the name Relco came from?

Another piece of gold for the pile!! Love finding those misc pieces of gold.

So the other day I took it upon myself to mess around with just what your saying here in my own test garden. I had an opprotunity to do some testing with some other units this week. Here are the ones I was testing against my current XP Deus ond ORX. 1. Whites 6000 DI pro sl 2. MXT Tracker 3. Teknetics T2 4. A few Tesoro units. These were all compared to my current Deus and ORX with the 9" HF coil. All of the units I tested were tested with the stock coil the machine came with. The MXT is the original tracker with the 950 concentric coil. The tesoro units all had the 8" brown concentric. The 6000 DI pro had the 950 concentric and the T2 had the 11x7 DD stock coil. I was a long time user of Tesoro as well and I had to put them all up against the XP line up. The only thing the Tesoro's had above the others mentioned above was their light weight and the convenience of being small to get in and out of vehicles with. I am sorry but that is about it. I was a long time fan of the company and have had a ton of them. some of my favorite relic finds have been with a Tesoro. But modern technology has surpassed them a while back. The 6000 DI pro sl was one of the best at correct ID and depth of the coins in my test garden. It even breaks up on bottle caps. I have used one in the past but it has been a very long time since I have had one in my hands. As far as a coin shooting machine, this one surpassed all of the others in this test for that. It is a great unit as far as performance goes it lacks the ability to pick a coin up next to iron due the the handicap of the stock concentric coil and the only other thing going against this machine is the large control box and the weight of it. Although it was still balanced well, it would let you know after a while of swinging it that it was a heavier unit. For average old open yards and parks it would be a very good unit still for coin shooting purposes. The Teknetics T2 is a fast unit. It balances pretty well too. It can pick out a target pretty darn good next to trash. I like the unit over all. The best thing about this unit to me is the fact that it runs only on 4 AA batteries. It is balanced well and has good depth. It's separation is still very good for picking stuff out next to trash. It does lack a little on locking on with the target ID number as it bounces around a bit. This particular one that I have now is a very quiet one so I can crank it on up and it does not chatter until it gets above 90 on sensitivity. It is pre DSL or what ever they call it that is supposed to be quieter than the older T2 units. The MXT Tracker it one of my all time favorite units. I have had a few in the past and I really learned this machine inside and out. It has great depth, the target ID locks on better than the T2 does on deeper items. It suffers from not being able to pick good items up next to iron with the concentric coil, however it can depending on what angle of attack you approach the item next to iron. It is well made and balances in the hand good too. It has a fast enough recovery speed although it is not as fast as a First Texas unit but it is faster than a lot of other units. It is a good one for parks inside the city limits due to the fact it does not suffer from EMI issues hardly at all. It has the auto notch feature for notching out pull tabs in the coin and jewelry mode. It is my favorite of the others I have tested this week due to all of the time I have had with one under my belt. So, for what it is worth, after several hours of having fun and some eye opening experiences these past few days with some units, that are to me very fine metal detectors even still to this day, I have come to my own conclusion below. None of these that I have tested are as fast on recovery, can separate targets next to trash as good, are as light weight, are as deep and have a stable numeric target ID number on deeper items better than my current XP machines. The only thing that any of these had over the XP units was the Whites built like a tank durability and the 95% correct probability of correct identifiaction of the coin ID of the Whites 6000. That's about it. Technology has come a long way. I remember back in the 1990's when metal detectors had a leap in technology. I think we are there again the past few years. I see guys keep on wanting the XP company to come up with a multi freq format for the Deus. I personally do not think it needs it for where I live. Anyway this is just some thoughts from my own little experiment this week. Maybe some of you will enjoy this little write up!!

Yeah Simon, Of course coins were not only buried, but hidden in as many locations as human ingenuity would allow! My favorite was solid wood doors! Old timers would use an augar, or paddle bit to drill holes into the tops of doors! They would then put silver dollars, and gold coins in these holes and seal up! Some never recovered! I've always suspected that is one of the main reasons why, in old salvaged houses, the doors are the first thing to go! And get examined, before being sold off!👍👍

Your vigilance is respected by all mate,thanks. Sadly due to Covid it has been a year of lock down here in Victoria Australia so nothing to post as we havent been and still aren't allowed out to travel, even detecting local parks is out. As soon as this has passed l will start posting as l want to chase up an Whies SPP detector for my grandson and those that have them over here wint part with them so 1 out of the States will probably be my only option. Hi to all and keep up this great site! Thanks Steve. Lennie.

The FT Gold Bug was designed by Dave also, which morphed into the F19 etc. In some ways you could divide detectors up by main engineer than company involved. Dave was instrumental in detectors made by Fisher, Tesoro, Troy, and White’s. They all share characteristics in common, and I think of them more as “Dave Johnson” detectors than machines made by this or that company. From Interview with Dave Johnson at http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/davejohnson/Interview%20with%20David%20Johnson.pdf Many of the people reading this interview unknowingly own products of your design. Would you mind listing them? My first metal detector (in 1971) was a portable experimental vehicle detector for use on roadway loops. It discriminated between cars and trucks, but to become a practical product would have required a lot of development and nobody was interested in investing in it. Fisher in California: 1260, 1220, 1210, 1235, 1225, 1212, 1265, 1266, CZ6, CZ5, CZ20, original Gold Bug, Gold Bug II, Gemini, and industrial instruments including TW6, FX3, XLT-16, PF-18, and circuitry of the TW-770. Tesoro: Diablo MicroMax, Lobo SuperTraq. White's: GMT, MXT, analog circuitry of DFX, Beach Hunter and PCL-600 line tracer. Troy: X-5 and X-3. FTP Bounty Hunter: major revisions to existing platforms most of which originated with George Payne. The BH Junior, Platinum, Gold and security wand (sold under various trademarks) were new designs. FTP Teknetics: T2, Alpha, Delta, Gamma, Omega, G2. FTP Fisher: F2, F4, F5, F75, F70, new Gold Bug, circuitry of the TW-82 industrial line tracer. In the case of microprocessor-driven FTP products, the software was coded by John Gardiner and Jorge Anton Saad. Mechanical designs were done mostly by other people, but I engineered the ergonomics of the T2 mechanical design, which is also used on the F75. See also Detector Stuff Interviews FT-Fisher Engineers, David Johnson and John Gardiner at http://detectorstuff.com/detector-stuff-interviews-ft-fisher-engineers-david-johnson-and-john-gardiner/ Want people to know you own one of the Dave Johnson detectors listed above? Just download and print the attached logo and apply to your detector. Click for larger version:

Small gold ring from Last Friday using the AQ....Got 2 more gold Saturday but they were at a different beach and the excalibur. I'll post them later this week. Hit a bump in the road Sunday night, had to take a family member to the hospital ..she was in for few days and came home today... Thank God..all went very well. I was out twice last week with the shorty battery and it is now packed up and ready to go a few rounds with my friend Carolina...Give him a week with it and see what he has to say...I want his confirmation on the run time of 5 hours and 30 minutes and see if I need to make any adjustments...before I sell a few. Got rid of the m-8 headphone fitting and the battery is fitted with a M-12 8 pin CTX head phone fitting..(Very Common) and replaced the M-8 4 pin on the battery with a 90 degree molded cable that goes right to the end of the white shaft 4 pin power/headphone plug...So we got it down to One M-8 fitting..which the 90 degree is a Bulgin molded SS fitting..so it does not stick out like the stock...

I knew you would be cleaning up with those settings. On your next test let us know how it picks up that chain without the pendant at 4khz. Keep the precious coming, HH.

Geotech I don’t know how Relco got its name but I do know that I couldn’t see for the flash of silver and gold they said I’d find. It was for years in Houston and just about every mag you could find their ad. I don’t know if you remember but Heathkit put out a detector too . Chuck

Thanks for the information Steve. Haven't tried it yet, but now I will just to see how it functions. Appreciate the extra efforts you make to educate. All the best, Lanny

I bought a Relco BFO and built it in the mid 60's, it worked, you tuned it to a transistor radio and get a bfo signal to listen to. It did work. I think i remember there was one transistor in the simple circuit board you had to build. Found a lot of metal items on our 3 acres but nothing valuable. Moved to Calif 1972 then bought my first TR Whites coinmaster used from a buddy, was hooked after that.

Happy to hear you have your coil situation squared away. Nice finds, I hope the Cartier is real. HH Mike

I run FE2/0 as unmasking is my primary goal. Interestingly large iron tools (axe heads, chisels, large spikes, etc) TID at a solid 13, right at nickle. I know this will sound odd, but a nickle that TIDs @ 13 sounds different, more tinkley vs iron tools which have a flat/dull sound. I still dig them because (1) I want to remove them and who knows maybe you'll find a gun part or something interesting, and (2) it's a 13 and I'm typically hunting old sites, so it could, in theory, be a gold coin or something else interesting.

That is a nice lock now you need to find the key that opens it. Nice hunt and good luck on your next one.

Nice!

It is a shame, I have and use a White's detector at times, wish they could have found a way to keep going.

Well that is awesome for you!! THe pink is not too bad. I am still kind of torn on wanting one myself. Heck I may pull the trigger on something soon. What coils are you waiting for??

I am using Win7 but FireFox although i dont have issues running the forum with any major issues,the new update is 'ok' i guess but if i am honest i much prefer the older version.

I like it, bit like my Kindle Paperwhite, clear as. Digging the stuff !! scoundrel !! no respect these young generators. Judging by the size of the scraps I`m getting I`m starting to wonder if I`m in JWs and Phrunts back yard.

Yesterday the wind direction changed and took the water out, so I had the chance to swing a bit on the normally flooded black sand area. I've used beach1, sens 18-19, F2 4 - and again I had the feeling, the machine runs odd. From my remindings it normally runs dead quiet in that area, even with higher sens settings. Perhaps it's just my subjective feeling.. I have no realtime comparison and those conditions are very rare.. would be cool, if one could switch between firmware versions on the fly 😁

Thank you! Hopefully it's not a fake. lol I'm going to do an acid test; I care more if it's really 18K than anything.

Try the lithium ion rechargables, they are exactly the same dimensions as alkaline aa's. I use them in my Tejon. Dual disc machines you need to make several passes for cherry picking but are pretty efficient as your not listening to so many targets at once. Flick for quick junk check and move on. Do get a little tricky with can slaw though but that is true with any machine.

Just to clarify this point once for all: The only problem with the AQ of Deb was that the coil cable was not fixed tightly enough to the lower shaft; it was moving in the water and thus, generated the false signals. Tightly fixing the cable on the lower shaft is a general requirement for all sensitive detectors. Nothing to do with the Florida waters,. The 12" coil works perfectly in salted water. provided the pulse delay is slightly increased.

Wow Steve, That a fantastic list of achievements by Dave Johnson! It would be great to have a bio of each key developer and engineer, and than; Where Are They Now! Retired, consulting, active, etc... I'm guessing that there is probably a book or two compiled somewhere, with much of this info! 👍👍

Gold Racer is a great machine! Yup, the first high frequency machine with target id. If White's had listened to me and made a 48 kHz MXT they could have done it, but it took Makro to listen. I still have the one below, my late prototype test model. The pitch mode is fun for park jewelry hunting - zip, zip! The Gold Kruzer is basically just an updated Gold Racer, but I still kind of prefer the Gold Racer. Not much call for waterproof in the desert, and there is something to be said for drop in batteries. A little better balance also with the underarm battery location.

It’s not even a weak point. It’s just a fact that the salinity range overlaps with the extreme small object / low conductor range. Eliminating some salt signal will also have an impact on some other low conductor signals. It affects all metal detectors that are designed to work in a salt environment, and as such is less a weakness than a shared operating property common to all electromagnetic based metal detectors. The chart below gets it mostly right. The reality is the tiny ferrous, tiny non-ferrous, and salt range all overlap. They are not discrete, separate ranges, but fully overlap. Instead of “Sm. Nugget” it should say “any weak non-ferrous signal.”