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Gold is one of natures most interesting and inspiring metals on this earth. I've been fortunate to see, handle and or even find my share of unique pieces but this one takes tops honors. I know there are some legends of gold hunters on here and would ask your help. If anyone has ever found one similar, please let us see. As it stands now, this is a 1 of a kind and I was the lucky one who realized to grab a cell phone and put it on video mode....just in case we found a nice nugget. But what was actually dug up just blew us away. Oh my gosh is all I could manage to stutter from my lips. Now we need to name this beauty and we'll all ears. Please give some suggestions for a name.

Pretty happy with this little nug, it registered like an old button (13-15) and came out in the first shovel. Using gold mode 1, sens 22, 6" coil, tracking. We were originally looking for goldfield relics, just sat down for a break and decided to try for some little bits of gold and got this as my second ever piece.

My second hunt this past week was at my favorite EMI beach. Besides getting a new scoop I also decided to try a Coiltek 14" anti-interference coil for my GPX. I need every advantage when hunting this beach, so I decided to give it a go. I was hoping I could still use the coin/relic setting with this coil as it is the deepest, but it was not going to happen. So I changed timings and it worked well. Now all that was left was to see how much depth I lost. Honestly, at first I did not like the coil since I really wanted the most depth I could get, as the coins tend to be deep. But I kept at it and eventually did get 2 silvers that were around 12" deep. Not bad, but a bit short of the depth I wanted. Then something strange happened. I got another deep sounding signal and dug down around 12". Still no target with the pinpointer, so I scraped another 2 inches out, and finally I heard the target, I carefully removed 1 more inch and I flipped out a small copper ring. I measured the hole and it was 15". I couldn't believe I heard that ring that deep. I'm pretty careful with my measuring and I saw the ring flip over when I was pulling sand away, so I'm confident that it was not falling back into the hole. I use a spade to get the bulk of the sand away and then use my hand to finish finding the target. Although it's just a junk ring, I like the enamel design that the 40's through 50's era produces. I've found a couple religious medals before and they were enameled the same way. A couple more trinkets and lots of junk I didn't photograph, and that was it. I'm always happy to get any silver at this beach, so 2 silvers this time of year is a good hunt for me. Just happy to get out twice in one week.

It's been a while since I had a chance to get out with the AQ. Finally, a semi good low tide at a beach where you can walk out a long ways during a good low tide. I've been itching to try the AQ at this beach. I only had about 2 hours of very low tide to work with in the furthest away section, so I concentrated on the lowest areas. I also had my maiden voyage with my new scoop - the XTREME Surf-Master X3 with the carbon fiber handle. On this beach you either have packed rocks, packed shells or that stagnant, clay like, dark sand (smells good too 😂). The scoop had no issues with any of that. I was very impressed on how it handled and how I could bury the large scoop and pry it out of that clay like silt. I will have no issues with this scoop when I start to do some water hunting. 2 hours passes quickly, so no gold for me this time. Most of the other 3 hours was spent waiting for the low tide, so most of the junk came from that period. I was actually shocked at the lack of targets when the tide dropped. I expected many more deep targets, but it was rather quiet the whole time. I may have dug 20 targets in that 2 hour period. A total lack of coins too! Very unusual for me to hunt 5 hours and only get 4 coins. Settings were: All metal, ATS 3, Sensitivity 4+, Delay 7. Got a little bit of deep lead and 2 shot gun shells that could have been gold, but I'm thinking the gold sinks way lower that I am able to get to. Best find was a Buffalo nickel at around 12". Shotgun shells were about 14 - 15". Also found that, what I'm thinking is slag, sounds deep and quiet and fools you into thinking you have a deep, small target. All in all I had a great time trying my new scoop and trying my best guess at deep settings on the AQ.

four of us were out yesterday detecting and we found some small bits of gold but i found this tin in a wash out at an old mine site and we were perplexed as to what the stuff in it was , well steve broke one of the chunks in half and the smell of coffee was quite strong so we think the old timer who this belonged to boiled his coffee down and then let these chunks dry into what would be dried coffee just add hot water.

When my friends and I talk about going to a nugget patch, we are just referring to a place where gold has been found before. Patches tend to be more a desert thing, where exact edges of a location are determined over time. The size depends on the underlying geology. A patch could be 10 feet across, or a thousand. They can be any shape at all. I found one “patch” that was several hundred feet long and only a few feet wide. The gold was bleeding off a vein, and from there made a straight path downhill that barely varied off centerline. We have a place here called Rye Patch which refers to many square miles of terrain where gold is found. I’m used to detecting in river country, and people rarely discuss patches. Instead it is specific creeks where gold is found. Every situation is unique, and the answer to nearly all your questions boils down to “it depends”. For instance, geof mentions patches spreading with time. In flat country, that may be true, but where I hunt gold concentrates over time into stream and gully bottoms. So much so that there is no gold to be had outside the stream channel - very common in steep terrain. There are bench deposits, downhill bleeder deposits, alluvial fan deposits, etc. etc. in almost endless variety around the world. People who hunt certain terrains find that things are a certain way, but the more you know about where and how gold deposits, the more the term “gold is where you find it” comes to life. Gold Prospecting Information

So many suppositions. What is clear is the lead and plug and play nature of the NF ZSearch, that fact alone speaks volumes regardless of any official announcement. We finally have a sanctioned, tacit or otherwise, coil choice that will grow. Fact: The ZSearch coils have to go through an approval process to access the leads. Fact: I was using prototype NF GPZ coils a long time ago (over 5 years ago with an adapter) well before Xcoils were even known. Fact: Anyone can buy an X coil, no one is stopping you. I have a number of them myself. The subject of X coils has been done to death and I for one do not want to risk this most excellent forum or my close friendship with SteveH by constantly being dragged into emotive discussions on the subject. It is what it is, for piece of mind go plug and play, if your adventurous then go grab an X coil and find a good technician...... JP

As we all know, appearances can be deceiving. Looking at it from a logical progression point of view, the GPX range had made many functions that were preset and hidden in the GP series, e.g., the motion and audio filters, stabilizer and tracking speed, etc., fully user adjustable beginning with the GPX 4000. So the next logical progression of this for the more automatic and user-friendly platform of the GPX 6000 would be to have the detector automatically and continuously adjusting these parameters according to the ground conditions, the coil sweep speed and other variables. Perhaps this is in part what the Geo Sense tech is all about.

Rob, you might have missed all the lengthy discussions on this topic on this forum when X Coils first came out. But X Coils did want to make plug in Minelab approved coils (and I think they still do), and they tried to work with Minelab to do this. However, the coil plug has a security chip in it which can only be sourced from Minelab, and Minelab did not want to sell or let X Coils use their coil plug. So, the adapter is the work around solution. No one likes it and no one wants it. But plenty of customers do want GPZ coil selections, so some of us made adapters in order to run the equipment we need. X Coils could absolutely make a coil that just plugs in - if Minelab would let them. But Minelab will not provide the chipped connector. And so we have customers forced to build adapters if they wanted to run a coil other than stock, which is by no small fault Minelab's, for failing for over 5 years to provide a coil that customers wanted or needed. Keep in mind that at 5+ years old, the GPZ is probably in the mature or end stages of it's product lifecycle, based on Minelab history. The fact that Coiltek still hasn't released a GPZ coil and it took NF 5+ years to release a coil shows exactly how hard ML is making it on manufacturers to work with them IMO. The adapter is in no small part, caused by Minelab's ridiculous coil security scheme and inability to follow through with promised coils that people actually want to use (Z19, looking at you).

Thanks. Yep. I love trash 😄 Doing my part to keep America clean. I think the Buffalo was a 1937, barely readable. I save my trash and labeled it by beach. In case they want to ban detecting, I have something to bring to their attention, as to the good service we provide.

Hey Guys, Great comments from all you and Thanks for the better explanation about the patch lead. I'm still a bit stumped, Nugget Finder is not endorsed by Minelab, but they somehow got around and built the cable that will just plug right in. This would be nice for X-coils, Coiltek or anyone else that would like to design coils for the GPZ or future detectors. I 100% agree about aftermarket coils, their company loyalty to Minelab and the fact with them, Minelab is selling many more detectors. I'm still selling Coiltek, Nugget Finder and Detacc searchcoils for detectors that are 15 years old and older. All these additional coils give the end user many more options on gold types, ground mineralization, ground terrain, more depth, more coverage, weight, greater sensitivity to small gold and on ...... I think Coiltek, Nugget Finder and many other companies, plus others that are newer should be able to prove their worth to Minelab as down the line it would only increase more sales. Just my thoughts. Hope I didn't offend anyone originally, that was no my intentions whatsoever. Rob

This stuff is not uncommon in Northern Nevada. I have a few, just not nearly that large. Though one is so folded that if I unfolded it it would triple in apparent size. Not a doubt in my mind it's naturally occurring gold, which has far more range in appearance than most people realize. In this case what we are looking at is commonly referred to as ribbon gold. https://thegoldmuseum.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=3 https://www.pinterest.com/goldnuggetsales/rare-gold-nuggets-specimens/ Google Images

Hey Guys, For the people, Yes and I'm not going to say names or exact numbers. I have been a dealer for almost 25 years, so there are customers that had units burn up, had to purchase completely new detectors were purchased. As you see, there is already a friend and forum member that stated one person had two units burn up. Please keep in mind, I can't speak for someone else, just know there were issues/damages from modifications. These were not faulty coils, but rather a "modification process" that allows you to use a aftermarket Minelab coil on a Minelab metal detector. I just want to make sure that is "crystal clear." Minelab will not warranty, nor fix/repair a burned up GPZ related to a modification or tampering. The only coils endorsed by Minelab at this point are Coiltek. I can't speak for how a person does the work, wires it, or whatever the issue(s) might have been. These coils are probably great, I had a handful of opportunities, even from the designer to test a few. I didn't find the value at that time, with a smaller coil to see that much performance difference (risk vs. reward). I decided I was finding enough gold with the 14x13 that I didn't really need to risk any potential damage, so I waited it out for another Minelab coil or a coil that was 100% endorsed and backed by Minelab. After over 4 years with the Minelab GPZ 7000 and stock coil, I found this new NF Z Search coil a pleasure to use. Its lighter, more sensitive, well built and plugs right in. It also includes all the hardware and lower GPZ Shaft. Furthermore, I just want to plug a coil in and go play. I don't want to tinker or modify. Rob

Hello All, Had a great time testing the new Nugget Finder "Z Search" Searchcoil today on a wash I haven't hunted in some time. This small coil for the GPZ 7000 is much lighter, more sensitive and easier to pinpoint small targets with. I was super impressed with the new coil, wish I had a few dozen in stock. I also love the fact you don't have to modify anything, just mount and plug in like a stock GPZ coil. I have already had 3 customers burn up their $8000 GPZ 7000 by making some wiring mistakes on adapters for aftermarket coils. In my opinion, I don't recommend anyone voiding a warranty or sacrificing a $8000 metal detector if you make a mistake. Pictured below are nuggets found today with the new coil here in Arizona. The coil comes with a lower shaft, mounting hardware and skidplate.

What a fantastic find! Congrats to the finder. I might have missed the weight of it? Brings back memories of my find. Not quite as big I don't think, but still over an ounce (just under 2 ounces actually!) of folded up leaf gold. I found several ounces of smaller pieces over the years. This find was actually on the cover of the ICMJ around 10 years ago (July 2011 issue). It was very deep as well. As soon as I hit a layer of undisturbed cobble, I figured I was onto a nugget. I'm pretty sure it was around 20" deep. The overload of the coil had me thinking it was a multi pounder as many had been found in the area. Found with a GPX5000 and (If I remember correctly) Nuggetfinder 9x13 coil.

Anfibio Multi is a selectable single frequency detector that has a good range of frequencies for most detecting. It is well made and I have heard very few complaints about reliability for the Anfibio Multi. It has good coil selection and great features. If I had a list for VLF detectors I want to own it would be in my top five list. Do I need one.........No. I do much better with simultaneous multi frequency detectors like the Equinox. The Equinox has most of the same features as the Anfibio Multi and several more that make it a better choice for my higher mineralized ground and addiction to small gold nugget prospecting. The Anfibio Multi I tried for a week could not handle much of the mineralized ground I detect on, period. The Equinox set in multi frequency can detect well in almost all of the mineralized areas I hunt. The Anfibio Multi has two standard features that I wish the Equinox had which are a mineralization meter and a threshold based all metal mode. The Equinox does not have those. The Equinox 800 does have the Gold modes which are very close to being threshold based all metal modes. Also, there have been far too many Equinox complaints about water leakage, 11" coil ear breakage and arm cuffs breaking. Many are associated with submerged water detecting where these thin plastic parts are really torqued and stressed. Some are not. The Equinox (there are some on this forum who don't own one and dispute this) has outstandingly accurate numerical and audio target ID on non-ferrous targets and is very good on iron targets too. This accuracy extends throughout the Equinox detecting range when using multi frequency and is not hampered very much by mineralization. Where I detect, all single and selectable single frequency detectors including the Anfibio will detect low and mid conductor non-ferrous targets and call them high conductors if they are deeper than 3" or more. The Equinox still detects them correctly out to the edge of detection depending on the coil size. So, in very mild ground or in fresh water submerged detecting conditions, I would reach for the Anfibio with the Equinox being close behind. Its target ID accuracy would be good enough in mild ground and I trust it to perform well when submerged and to not leak. Salt water performance is average for a single frequency detector. Personally I would not submerge any "do it all" VLF detector in salt water for long periods of time unless the water was fairly calm. I would get a salt water specific detector that was made to be constantly submerged and use the Anfibio, Equinox or some other general purpose VLF that just happens to be sort of waterproof as a backup. In moderate to high mineralization, in situations where I want outstanding target ID accuracy on deeper targets, for small micro targets/gold prospecting or in wet salt sand or shallow calm surf (without the control box submerged for long periods) I would pick the Equinox with the Anfibio not even being considered. One situation where I might pick the Anfibio Multi over the Equinox is in a thick bed of shallow iron targets where non-ferrous targets could be found. Both detectors are extremely good at target separation and target recovery speed. The Anfibio might be a bit faster in that situation. Sorry for the long post. These really are two great detectors that have similar features and prices. They are very different however. They would make a good team since their strengths and weaknesses compliment each other.

Was out to the local park on the football field. It just rained a couple days back, so the ground was moist. Usually these conditions mean that deep wheat pennies or silver is easier to get to. Today I hit a 33 in Park 1, recovery 4, 50 tone, and all metal. I thought there was a possibility of a silver quarter, but to my surprise there was a silver ring instead. Looks like it may be from the 1940s. It was resting on top of a clay layer under the sandy surface. I think there were 3 wheat pennies, but they are very crusted with sand.

I know enough of this machine to get me interested. I already own the GM, SDC and GPZ, use all of them heavily and I can't say enough good things about all of them. The 6000 specs, from what is known, would make a nice fit into my fleet and I am confident that this is a superb machine and suited for my additional needs. But of course, you can opt for a more cautions approach. Everybody plays this game differently, but I want it asap so I can test it. And in case I really would not like it, I would just trade it in for something else.

From following all the commentary over the time, this was my understanding. Build them to a certain spec or don’t get the chip. I no longer have a GPZ but if I did I don’t think I would rush out and by a Z search. Not until I found ground or conditions that really warranted it. Love the fact that the Z search is plug and play - simply couldn’t have risked an adapter. Each to their own though 😉 Well done to Rohan for meeting the specs and providing another option for people. Look forward to further smaller and larger coils in the line-up. More pics/vids of the Z search in action would be great Rob 👍

Hm - I'd choose the 800 over the 600 anytime. Hunting the beach doesn't necessarily mean waterhunting shoulderdeep - you don't need waterproof headphones for normal beach hunting or hunting with waders. But the threadowner didn't specify his style of hunting... I love the WM08, because I can use the headphones I like (that's also possible with a bluetooth aptx-ll receiver), I especially love the variable Tonebreaks and I do use the Userprofile once in a while. Even the Gold mode saved my butt one time, but I wouldn't call that a killer feature for "me".

I don’t know why ML are making Australian dealers go through the rigmarole of all the stupid restricted release teaser BS when information like this video is out there anyway!!! It’s like holding a pencil up to your eye and saying “I can’t see you, therefore you can’t see me” !!! 🤪

Thanks, yeah I posted that question like 1 minute before you posted your response. 🙂 Keep us updated what you find out re: NF. For anyone who hasn't had the chance to speak with or do business with Rob - If Rob says 3 GPZ's failed due to coil mods, I believe it. Rob has always been among the most respected dealers in the USA among almost everyone I know for good reasons, integrity and honesty.

Hey Dave and Phrunt, I appreciate your comments. However, my business ethics over the years don't have to be explained, I think all my customers would say I have been upfront, honest and gave them the best service and advice any dealer could give. That being said, I'm not sure about your selling techniques, or if you even sale. When anyone calls and tells me they damaged a $8000 metal detector due to a modification error/issue, then it's only fair for me to tell anyone out there to be careful and make sure it's worth the potential risk. I have never told anyone not to inquiry, test or purchase any product or coil, just make sure you do enough research. I'm not sure either of you called Minelab and tried to satisfy the customer, but I did. I did everything in my power to have Minelab work with the customer(s) to see what type of options they have (if any). On another note, I had to make a small correction on my original post. I posted "that the new Z Search" coil was endorsed by Minelab" and I was told today, this is not correct by Minelab. I'm going to follow up with Minelab Americas/Australia to find out. This is a question someone might ask. It's my understanding today, the only Searchcoils endorsed by Minelab are Coiltek Manufacturing. P.S. As for the pinpointing issue, it's more about time then true issues of finding the target. Lets just make it easy, the smaller coil makes it easier to pinpoint more precise and less time recovering nuggets that are grains in size, not sub-grams, or grams. Rob

My 10 year old At getting some extra time while my Infinium is getting overhauled. Found a brackish water small beach, tide just heading in slow. Polluted with tabs and had been hunted recently. Pretty quiet till I struck a small area with a nice spill of coins. So about $2.90 and no bling. Doesn't sound like much but a bonanza after hunting in deeply sanded beaches. Great day too.

That is an amazing piece of gold, I’ve seen similar looking stuff here in Australia from Georgetown up in North Queensland, but nothing as impressive as that, not by a long shot!!! One of a kind for sure and fantastic we got to share the experience thanks to having the camera rolling. I was amazed how bright and clean it came up just with a bit of water splashed around. JP

Hi Northeast, I have in the past suggested people keep the Equinox beach modes in mind for extreme salt and mineral situations while gold prospecting. The detector will tell you this is needed by falsing so much on the ground that you can’t operate effectively, and if extreme mineralization is present, the overload downshift function available in beach can maintain operability. Sensitivity is sacrificed of course, but if it is a choice between beach mode and going home, try beach mode. Pounds of gold are being found in saltwater with the Equinox, so any thought it is not worth a go is ignoring some impressive evidence. But again, as a last ditch solution, Beach 1 first, then Beach 2 for dire straits. See below for details. Minelab Equinox Nugget Hunting Tips As far as moving threads, I do that to get better coverage for the original poster. When a thread runs out of steam, if there is another forum where it may get additional action, I move it there and leave a link for 30 days. Sometimes I’ll cross link to multiple forums. Basically I’m just trying to help threads get responses and sorting them into final locations at the same time.

Well, I’m home again now. Mountains, freshwater rivers and warmth. I don’t mind the beach but we sure live in a blessed part of the country. Did a 30 minute session last evening for $4 and some junk. Was an interesting trip all up and learnt a few things. Almost all good finds were within 15 metres of the step/path leading onto the beach. Money was most frequently found within proximity of bottle tops 😂 Wet sand/shallow water detecting is much harder to get a handle of than dry sand/towel line detecting. The Equinox 800 - is a bloody cracker. Couldn’t be happier with its performance and also the performance of the supplied Minelab Bluetooth headphones. I’ve used the Nox a lot around home for coins and some gold but have only used the beach mode one other time. Targets really seemed to ‘bang’ in that mode and got great depth. Thanks so much to the people that provided suggestions, hints and tips to help me, it is very much appreciated 🤩

An adapter the same as X coil is doing now. In my gold detecting Utopia all coils would be plug and play like the new Z search. But if the best performance comes from a coil where I have to use an adapter, so be it. At this stage I will probably get both. Now even though I cannot and don't speak for Rohan or Minelab and seriously have no clue of the reasoning either, I am going to do what everyone else has done and tell you exactly the reason why The Z search coil is the way it is.😁 It's because just like Putin would have killed for the leads and chips for his X coils, Minelab said if you want them you have to build coils to these certain parameters or specifications. NF agreed. I bet my left one Rohan would kill to have free reign with leads and chips and if he did what we'd have would most likely be way different than the Z search. But, knowing NF, the Z search will be a performer anyway. Like I said, I have no idea..but that's exactly what happened.😄 ps. Happy new one to you too.

Minelab had no qualms taking coil manufacturing away from their two local and loyal 3rd party coil makers, Coiltek and Nugget Finder essentially giving them the bird. I was somewhat surprised when Nugget finder started building coils for them again. I don’t like chipped coils that limit the consumers choice and usability of 3rd party coils on what are not cheap Detectors. Without X coil I doubt Nugget finder would be building Z coils. Giving the Chip to one and not all, could be considered Anti-competitive behaviour.

Typically, getting on a list does not necessarily require a $ commitment so its a no lose proposition in the event the release results in a slow rollout and wait times - good to be near the front of the line, there is still plenty of time for all of that information to come out before a customer actually has to put down actual cash. At least, that is the way I play it. I ONLY deal with dealers who do not charge a deposit to be on a waiting list.

When I see GeoSense I don't see location like a GPS, I see Geology. Like GeologySense. I don’t think anyone has said that yet. To me that makes a little more sense in regard to ground balance.

Hey Guys, JP - The coil was super quite, but kind of expected that with a small coil. I didn't take it around anywhere I felt there was a problem with EMI, I was pretty much in the outback of Arizona with minimal to no EMI (electrical, airplanes, microwave towers and such). Dave - We can agree to disagree. If the X-coils were "plug right in" I would be selling them. I had the same opportunity to sell these coils here in the US. I think the X-coils put the fire under other companies to either build additional coils for the GPZ 7000 or not. I personally think originally if the patch lead was included with the purchase of a coil early on, there wouldn't be any issues. However, that was not the case, you had to purchase the coils from Russia or elsewhere, then find someone to make a patch lead using a wiring diagram. These are the facts. I agree with you, where customers might have been having the patch leads built, or doing it themselves is a different story. I never stated that the X-coils were bad, but more so giving a customer more options of coil sizes and potentially more gold in different hunting environments. This is the information anyone that owns a GPZ 7000 deserves. If a customer wants to have additional coil options, they need to be aware if there are issues, Minelab will not cover the expense or make the repair. Lastly, If one manufacture can make a coil for the GPZ with the correct connector that just plugs in, why can't X-coils? What is the reason for the adapter? Rob

If your detector blows because an adapter has been badly made that is not covered by any warranty, I have not heard to date of any actual X coils blowing machines but it now seems plenty have been blown with poorly made adapters. There is always a risk of an adapter failing due to repetitive strain when shortening and lengthening the shaft, the ML over-mold is pretty robust but the GPX 5000 coil lead ends less so (they are designed for a loose wrapped around the shaft type connections and tend to have movement in the connector when too tight, causing noise, this is why ML went to a better connector design on the GPZ). If a correctly made adapter fails that does not necessarily mean the detector will blow as the two power wires also need to short out (current carrying wires). I’ve not heard of any adapters working then failing then blowing a machine, but it now seems there are more blown machines out there than I knew about. In simple terms, using an X coil will not void warranty, if your detector fails through normal use and the X coil was not the reason (ML can test for this) then your warranty is still intact. If the adapter is faulty and blows the machine then you have no warranty (ML can also check for this). I know on one units that blew they sold the user a new PCB (expensive) but this policy might have changed and things might now fall under their NO service modification policy and return to sender.

The folks in Dubai are doing a full release / data dump. If it is publicly posted to the internet then how can Minelab give anyone grief for pointing it out? It can't be happening without approval or at least looking the other way. These people could be canceled over stuff like this, and apparently they are not worried about that at all. Minelab GPX 6000 Data & Reviews Minelab GPX 6000 Accessories & Spare Parts

The 600 is all you need on the beach but the headphones that come with it aren't very good and look dorky. They also aren't wireless. Expect to buy better headphones. If you are planning on only going knee deep or shallower, you might as well get wireless headphones. This is assuming that you are confident enough to walk in the water without falling and getting them wet. If you expect that you'll be submerging the detector or hunting in the rain, get waterproof headphones. IMO, the 800 is worth it if you do a lot of dirt hunting. Wireless headphones plus the WM08 module, wider Recovery Speed range, Gold modes, two extra frequencies (20 and 40 kHz), etc.

This video goes over each of the controls and initial setup for the new GPX 6000. It's in English so no translation required. My thanks to Luis for posting this video on the other thread. Minelab GPX 6000 Data & Reviews Minelab GPX 6000 Accessories & Spare Parts Minelab GPX 6000 Controls (see chart below for control ranges)

Having just spent a few days at the beach using the Equinox in beach mode and it performing so well I wondered if people use them for detecting salt lakes looking for gold. Maybe a silly question? My disclaimer is that I have never done that sort of detecting but have read many comments over the past few years about salt lakes being notoriously hard for detectors to handle. Although the Equinox is a VLF and might struggle against a PI in mineralised ground, would it possibly have a distinct advantage in a high salt environ. Steve H - thanks for shifting my other thread about beach detecting. Again, wasn’t sure about this one - Gold forum or Equinox? Cheers, N.E.

here it is all brewed up smells like real dirty dish water and burnt coffee and no way would i drink it.

The old and flatter ground the bigger the gold spread, the reverse applies. Have a look at my post "Nugget spread" ....LINK....

The best mod I did was convert the Whites 6000d VLF to SAT in 1980 for the wife together with hip mounting it as in this old photo.

Northeast I had no trouble detecting in salty ground (It was worst when damp) if the VLF detector had pure TR discrimination (not motion disc. and could be set to balance the detector in this mode by using the discrimination to ground balance the detector and stay in TR every signal had to be dug. I was fortunate that most were gold and very little junk.

Im on a distributors list as well. This is the gold machine i have been waiting so long for.

You know that as soon as any detector manufacturer comes out with a machine the first thing everyone does is pick them apart then get all hyped up for the next one. All that fuss and many of us fart around the same old spots hehe

This whole problem with difficulty in working out ways to provide additional coils for the 7000 can be laid directly at MineLabs feet. As has been said (many times), before, there was absolutely an implication if not an outright statement that there would be other coil(s) for the GPZ and it took years for the 19" and then nothing. In exchange for asking us to pay ten thousand (or whatever) dollars for their top-of-the-line detector, that is ML simply not being honest with their customers.

Re: Geosense - that's what I've been saying from the start, and explaining in detailed depth in many posts regarding their patents. 🙂 Re: incremental improvements - I really felt that the GPZ marked a turn in the road there honestly, it was more than incremental improvement. And I expect the trend to continue, which is why I was following the 6000 closely. I'm a little let down I guess, but no one knows how this thing actually performs in the field yet so I think it's too early to draw conclusions. But on that subject, the amount of performance gain that coils can give the GPZ (I've said numerously that it feels like a next level up machine) makes me wonder if something like a 7500 was planned with nothing more than better coils originally, to milk the technology. Eh, who knows. The shaft length is a let down, it really looked longer than the GPZ in the first videos. I'm 6ft and I detect with the shaft fully extended already. I know some guys that are 6'2, 6'3... Not sure why on Earth they'd make the shaft even shorter... Love the providing 2 batteries though. Finally, that's great to see. Really hope they do USB-C charging in the next model though, or whatever USB is most common with phones at the time.

I may have my friend in Dubai snag one for me and ship it over 🤠

Most of my mods have been done to improve ergonomics, not actual performance. Here is a thread (scroll down to near bottomf of page 1) where I described modding a White's TDI Pulse Scan 150 mm (6 in) diameter round mono to be negatively buoyant (i.e. to sink as opposed to float). In the process I also changed the bottom of the coil housing to get the actual coil windings 3/4" closer to the ground ==> targets. As far as success, it was a mixed bag. I accomplished adding weight internally (limestone drink coasters) to get the coil by itself to sink in water. But when mounted on the detector shaft in operating position it still floated (slightly), requiring my wrist to provide enough torque to get it submerged. I did gain the 3/4" 'depth', though, so success for that part. There are better ways to add weight as was pointed out to me, such putting bags of sand on top of a coil for dead weight. And that is reversible so when on dry land you don't need to deal with the extra toe-heaviness that permanent weights lead to. Success in the 'lessons learned' department, anyway....

J. Finnis Pin invented the first Pin pointer while training his dog to hunt birds in the heavy brush. The dog was trained to "point" whenever it detected a bird in the bush. Thus the "Pin Pointer" description was coined. The dog was at a later date trained to detect buried metals in holes at shallow depths and some could discriminate between ferrous and non ferrous metals for a chip of dried liver treat. Mainly used as a mine detector for the military. After Finnis passed away several companies developed sophisticated electronics to duplicate what the dog could do cheaper, smaller and with greater accuracy. After the war this device caught on with hobby metal detectorists and continues to be used and refined for more depth and accuracy at a lower price point. Note tail direction tells the operator the direction of target. This example indicated straight down in hole.

I think ... that several new multifrequency detectors will be released this year ...

Check the differences and think about the type of hunting you might do now and in the future. I hunt mostly beaches in Florida and never use the gold modes (but would if in Cali). Then there is the User mode which many people like but I don’t use it. And finally the number of frequencies in multi mode. Also do you need the WM08 module for your existing headphones? Others will be able to give you specifics and check the youtube videos on this question. Finally, I have hearing loss and the sound of crashing surf can interfere with hearing the detector. I had the included 800 wireless phones but they did almost nothing to isolate the surf sounds. I found a wireless set made by PAWW that included noise canceling and it works very well to reduce surf sounds. Make sure if you buy headphones that they are compatible with the Equinox bluetooth version. Lots of discussion on that. It has taken my 2 years to get a good grasp of how to set up (and trust) this detector. If you have a friend or detecting club there it may shorten the learning curve. Enjoy the search