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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/25/2021 in all areas

  1. Another fabulous weather day here. Started out at 32 degrees, ended up about 63. I had a forum member special guest who may or may not identify himself, but he did a lot better than me. We started out on an old un-hunted landing, visited a very trashy point nearby, and finished up back at the landing and in the farm. 8 hours for me! Total blast. I like hunting alone but it's nice to have an esteemed visitor. Top down in the photo: Ford hubcap (I think) but certainly a Ford part. What I believe to be the "rest" of this vehicle is in the woods nearby. This little cap was a surprising 32 on my Equinox. Edit: Definitely a model "T" hubcap. Not sure what the "w" means. 1917-21. Some sort of work animal tack, it's solid brass and rings like a tuning fork when dropped. Looks like it snapped off of a screw or bolt. Rein guide? Cool brass buckle, a 26, some sort of white metal object with some decoration, an unidentifiable whatzit that was a solid 15, another "river queen" Indian head penny, an 1888 Indian head (it was tough to get a date off that one - still might not be right), broken tombac, a "D" buckle from the extremely trashy point, and yet another thimble, this one mashed flat. We left the point because it was just insanely signal-rich, and nothing we tried could help that. Apparently hunters eat their lunch there and bury the trash. Hope this doesn't bore y'all to death. Don't think it will if the guest chimes in! One more day this week outside and then it's gonna rain for 4. Guess I'll have to get some work done around the house. Borrowed a new toy to play with, more later.
    10 points
  2. It is well known, the longer it is the better it is .... There hasn't been a Marketing launch yet, the day it happens, at that point you can really talk about the hype ... I would try to do my best. I suggest you go see the last video of our friend Joe with the iron on the surface and the ring detected without problem 17 '' below. We can shout to whoever wants to hear it "Vive equinox" (long live equinox in English), until proven otherwise this one is incapable of having such results. This is called iron masking. Steve had announced the resale of his Impulse for the new version, although I am not in his place, I think it is still relevant. As far as Gigamaster is concerned, it doesn't really need an IMPULSE AQ as all the targets we see on its videos are within 20cm on the wet sand at the water's edge. This concerns recently lost jewelry. Regarding the price, Russ shouldn't have announced something that hasn't been discussed internally yet. Nothing has been decided. Europeans were excluded from sales because the detector was not CE certified for battery reasons, it would have taken 100,000 USD to certify a battery that disappears in the new version. Now nothing prevents you from going elsewhere, you do not have to follow these conversations...
    8 points
  3. Bob - thanks for hosting me today. Great little escape from the winter blues. Don't sell yourself short, those are some great finds, more total keepers than me. The IHP and buckles are great. Haven't have had a chance to get the finds out of my finds box, but here are some in situ picks. You have a great situation and plenty of keepers ahead. Can't wait to come down again. Really enjoyed the early touch of spring and the digs. Thanks!
    8 points
  4. Discrimination for pulse detectors is a last ditch type of thing and I would advise against it. On my first trip to Alaska I watched as several multi-ounce nuggets that had been found in the days I was there tested on a Minelab PI and discriminated as junk. Only very loud targets, that you have carefully pinpointed their location can be safely discriminated even with a VLF. You are right that serpentine is a very difficult bedrock to work with a VLF - dang near impossible. Serpentine can at times even be difficult with a pulse detector. The frequency of a detector does change the sensitivity of a VLF detector to hot ground, but only a little. Turning down the gain helps too but only to a certain point. That is why on really difficult ground like serpentine bedrock, a pulse detector is best. One of the things about successful nugget detecting is that with only a few exceptions, you need to accept that you will dig a lot of trash.
    8 points
  5. I agree with just about everything you are saying as well as others in this thread so my comments are just my thoughts on the matter and not written in stone or anything like that. đŸ„Ž The rest that follows is not directing entirely at the quotation but your comments created a desire to put forward my POV.😁 Sensitivity is very important to wring out an edge of detection target signal for sure but it can also kill faint signals if the control is overused. A good detectorist’s brain can get very good at picking out a signal from a busy background, the most powerful add-on to any detector is YOU after all.đŸ€«đŸ˜œ In essence I agree with the sensitivity first philosophy because it is a fundamental control, however I do not agree with Audio Smoothing use other than Off, IMHO that control should be limited to ZERO in ALL cases and all other adjustments made from there. Waving over a known target signal is not a good approach to come to a conclusion about a target signal standing out or not, the reason being is the target signal is obviously breaking through the dead zone so of course it’s going to stand out if you damp down or filter out the background noise. But what about the signals that are right on the edge of detection, what happens to them when you introduce ‘dead Zone’ filtering? I use the term dead zone because I’ve been corrected about my description of raising and lowering the noise floor filter through the use of Audio Smoothing. In essence it is the point where a target signal in relation to the threshold is allowed into the audio signal relative to the filtering, kind of like sensitivity of the threshold. Moving the dead zone relative to threshold dictates what can break through and what can’t. On the GPZ there is also a lot of other things going on at the same time when you introduce Audio Smoothing and is why I always use that control on OFF and will be recommending ML on any future models to not include it at all and instead mirror the way the whole concept has been approached on the GPX 6000. The GPZ 7000 does not need Audio Smoothing, the electronics are so refined with regards to Sferic noise there is no need for it. It’s inclusion on the GPX series was as a measure of controlling Sferics noise which they are really bad for, and ML in their infinite wisdom allowed 50 billion control combinations to the detriment of the end user causing absolute confusion, everyone’s got a favourite set of settings to the point where Opinions are like backsides, everyone’s got one! To my mind it says the engineers do not have confidence in their ability to set some controls in stone instead relying on the operator to try and find the right combination. The Audio Smoothing is a carry over from a bygone era and operators just want to hang onto controls out of fear of change rather than sound reasoning associated with having a full understanding of the trade off. Please do not take my wording personally, I’m passionate about the subject from my POV not about experienced operators opinions and what works best for them, I say this because this subject has come up before and my comments have left behind a lasting memory that I was unaware of. I am passionate about this but not insoluble. The GPZ is a very powerful tool and has the horsepower to be used in many different ways. So everything else that has been said in this thread is pretty bang on the money especially Jasong and Goldhound’s comments. As I have said before the Gain levels on the timings are quite a bit different between Normal and Difficult, so it takes some mental flexibility to go from one to the other as the whole detector sounds different when you dance between them, another reason why I do not like test beds. Assuming Audio Smoothing is turned off, you very quickly work out how much elevating sensitivity impacts on a target signal. Whenever you experiment on a ‘known’ target do not just wave over the target and make your call signal response, you need to walk away from ground zero and actually work the machine in the 50 square meter zone associated with the target and then come into the signal response and make your decision on any improvements. There is always a cut off on elevating sensitivity relative to ground signal, EMI and target signal and locations will be different. Only you can make the call on what ‘Actually’ works in your chosen location, so I recommend absolute honesty with yourself. So cranking up sensitivity to excessively high levels then clipping that sensitivity by introducing Smoothing will indeed make the signals that make it through the filter stand out big time but the edge of detection signals, the ones that only just move the threshold pitch will be blended out too, they have to because you’ve filtered them out. This then gets back to Range of Motion, a signal, depending on which direction you approach it, has a ‘lead in’ and a ‘tail out’. ‘Lead In’ is when your audio comes from a background ground signal behaviour that is averaged by the Semi-Auto GB just as the Threshold pitch starts to alter as the Rx of the coil starts to react to the field of a buried target, you then move the coil through the ‘Lead In’ section and pass over the loudest possible point of the target (dead centre or Ground Zero) this is where the target is at it loudest point assuming you have the coil over dead centre which is a whole different process of feeling around with the sweep direction and speed to find the true dead centre (Ground Zero). ‘Tail Out’ is as the target comes from peak volume back to background ground signal of the localised ground conditions. In all cases ‘Tail Out’ is twice as wide as the ‘Lead In’ this is because it takes time for electronics to recover. The ‘Lead In’ and ‘Tail Out’ is hugely affected by any sort of Motion filter and also swing speed. Elevating sensitivity to excessive levels can slurry up the ‘Lead In’ and ‘Tail Out’ information, adding Audio Smoothing makes them stepped where there is no partial information anymore but a significant step out of a filtered neutered background straight into a Pitch change, cranking sensitivity boosts the hell out of this giving a false sense of target definition, because the background noise is muted by the filter. It can seem like a cleaner signal but in reality you have distanced yourself from what is truly going on with the receiver by introducing filtering/dead zone. This is all my opinion and I do not for a second want to seem like its my way or the hi-way as I find discussions like this very interesting and am always experimenting and trying different things. I use strong words because I’m passionate about what I do and believe in it 100%, with the caveat of course being able to change my mind or have others change it for me.😜 JP
    7 points
  6. Sometimes the junk will beat you. My wife and I got nuggets right up to the cans. We removed a lot of cans before the photo was taken how ever the small bits of rusted cans made it impossible to proceed. However managed to find two patches that yielded over a kilo of gold each with only a couple or so of steel rubbish no further than 5km away.
    7 points
  7. Yes I did, and I said repeatedly it had nothing to do with lack of performance. Bringing my sale up as if it means something negative about the detector is neither accurate nor fair. I simply decided to wait and see what both final versions of the detector have to offer, before making any further decisions. The Impulse AQ in my opinion is exactly what it says it is, a detector for finding gold rings on beaches. It has almost zero application outside of that, so in my opinion relic or gold nugget hunters are barking up the wrong tree here. I am specifically talking the AQ version. The Impulse Gold version is the one that may have more versatile uses, but the AQ is more focused on a single use than almost any detector design I have ever encountered. For my personal uses the Impulse Gold is likely to be the better model, providing most of the motivation for my sale. I’m the first to admit also that the battery system, as included with the Limited version, put me off more than I thought it would. The Impulse with a drop in battery system would be my long term preference. Fisher Impulse AQ Data & Reviews Fisher Impulse Gold Data & Reviews
    6 points
  8. Temp warmed up along with a low tide during the day.
    6 points
  9. If it is sitting so that the sunlight touches it, its a sunbaker, whether you see it first or the detector sees it first. I've found underwater nuggets that were exposed to sunlight, and I'd also call them sunbakers, even though they were underwater.
    6 points
  10. I havent lowerd the sensitivity/gain below 20 for years😉 I adjust my swing speed to compensate for ground noise and emi is just music to my ears. If you watch my mountain goat gold vid or any vid of me detecting youll hear how noisy I run my detetctor. My philosopy is that since I own a ferrari Im going to drive a ferrari... and drive it HARD and push it to its limits and test mine 😍
    6 points
  11. I do the opposite, I run max gain and use a combination of playing threshold against the smoothing options. The filters work great at clipping the eratic emi but keeping the target signal, you do however have to adjust the threshold up to compensate for the clipping. Lower your gain though and kiss those deep faint signals goodbye😘
    5 points
  12. All has been revealed now! Thank's for posting some cool finds guy's! Leave it to F350 to find the Ford parts! If you follow behind me, you can probably find some parts falling of my F150!! I'm driving it into the ground too!😂👍👍
    5 points
  13. Dew, this might be the post of all of yours that I like the best. YOU NAILED IT! Fisher tried something which no one else has - in detector land - a kind of public Beta Test where the testers have to “buy in”. And just to show you that no good deed goes unpunished - here is a bit I have been saving about product testing - with a focus on metal detectors...feel free to stop reading now! There are several kinds of tests for new products. Alpha Testing - this is done in-house on engineering prototypes. Devices which don’t show the promise of reliable performance and fitness to compete against existing leading devices in the intended market go no further in the development process. Beta Testing - pre-production devices whose final design and configuration decisions will be made on the basis of heavy use by experienced field testers. the units are sent to outside testers who have long established experience and credibility in the technology involved - as well as an established respect for confidentiality. These tests are conducted under Non Disclosure Agreements and no publicity is wanted or allowed. These testers are valuable especially for their impartiality. I know personally a couple of such folks who have tested products from competing manufacturers and provided valuable feedback while respecting confidentiality. Public Beta Testing - this is a variant of Beta Testing where at least some portion of the general public user base of a product is invited to use the product and provide feedback. Confidentiality in not usually demanded. Marketing Testing - production level hardware is sent to “influencers” - these people may be dealers, experienced users, respected members of communities of users of the type of product in question. Needless to say, here publicity is the goal. It would be foolish of a company to choose as marketing testers folks who had a history of bad-mouthing the company’s products or representatives. Post-launch testing by users - this is pretty much beyond control of the manufacturer. This happens in the press, on Forums, Facebook and and is the kind of stuff posted on YouTube by enthusiasts or publicity seekers. The decision by Tom Walsh, the President of First Texas to build a quantity of AQ units and put them in the field as “Limited” versions - selling them at the lowest possible price amounted to a new kind of “Public Beta” testing, where the testers had to buy their machines. The goal was to gather valuable data about the design in order to optimize it for a full launch of a version which would benefit from all the feedback of users of the Limited version. I was selected as the sole dealer to distribute these units and the buyers were required to read and acknowledge their understanding and acceptance of the contents of Tom’s “Disclosure” about the Limited which explained in detail what it was and what the conditions of its sale were.
    5 points
  14. Back when Palladium was around $400 a man lost his almost 20 gram ring with stones in a shallow bay on a Finger Lake.He called the club and my buddy called me and we made the half hour drive to the spot.He did not know where he lost it in this about 20 acre cove.Armed with my 5by8 coil on My At gold I got a most unusual sound and scooped up his huge ring.I walked over to him since he met us there and I drooped the ring in his hand and asked if this is what you are looking for.This man was so happy because he did not believe he would ever see the ring again.He gave the club a gift of about $150 and since then the price of palladium has hit about $2400.One other time a man on the beach lost his ring just by posing for pictures on the beach. I found it in 20 seconds since I was walking by when they lost it. I said I don't want anything and just kept on hunting down the beach.In this instance a man lost something without even being overly active.The only time I got paid was when i found a young man's key to his sport car which was expensive to replace .I found it in 30 seconds and this guy was very happy.He offered me money but I refused.He kept on insisting so i said I will use it to take my buddy to Wendy' s to celebrate you getting your key back.Me and my buddy used the $20 for a nice meal at Wendy's.One other time someone left a keg on the beach and me and my buddy split the $20 deposit.You never know what adventure the beach will bring you.
    4 points
  15. And here's a few quick tips I wrote back in May 2015. After many more years swinging the GPZ, I still stand by each one. 1. Use a very slow sweep speed - but you don't have to overlap as much as when using a mono 2. Keep the coil just off the ground, light occasional skimming is fine 3. Sensitivity is critical, but often less is more 4. Go easy on your target Volume. 10 is plenty if using headphones. 5. Spend the time to set the optimum Tone to suit your hearing 6. Mellow, repeatable broad signals are usually NOT ground noise 7. Learn to trust the Tracking, it'll save you digging lots of ground noises Full thread is here, with lots of excellent info and discussion: https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11703
    4 points
  16. It's a 1920 SLQ (Philly) Iand the other is a no date Wheatie.
    4 points
  17. I had two of the prototypes to test - one in San Diego and back here in AZ and another in Norway in conjunction with their Norwegian Agent. I also was offered the opportunity to purchase the first AQ Unlimited model in December 2019 and I happily did so. All of these functioned exactly as I expected - excellent depth even in black sand at Coranado in San Diego and with useful multitone and mute discrimination functions - nothing like a VLF discriminator, but in some circumstances very useful. Depth, quiet and power. That pretty well sums it up. It’s a PI, not a VLF/IB detector. As far as “selling” goes - it was a one-time arrangement - my 3-4 years background with the Manta Project, which became the AQ - made me uniquely suited to assist Fisher with this “Buy-In Public Beta” arrangement which no one in the detector world had ever tried before - to the best of my knowledge. Assuming the AQ proceeds to the “unlimited” stage, I hope to be a dealer for it - along with others.
    4 points
  18. Gave the Gold Racer with stock dd coil a run at the beach, mostly damp sand and dry sand. You guys were spot on about manual ground balance. In the wet sand it was hard to follow targets. Dry and damp sand and general towel line hunting it is really nice. Super sensitive to small bits of cans the sea leaves behind but still able to sniff out this 2 gram 14k charm. Good machine for towel line small jewelry hunting. Thanks.
    4 points
  19. This plan and simple was a test model normally given to testers with NDAs so ya never here who they are.... and they then gave the machines back. Fisher tried something different.... allow a group of good hunters to test a machine and talk about it. AND they could buy their machines. Unfortunately the price was released as well. Maybe not the best idea. We got to see this machine evolve and change. Fisher learned quickly what we liked and didn’t. Even though from the beginning Rick said the production model was going to be in that mentioned price range. So your complaint is the tester got to buy their machines at an unheard of price .... not that the machines are any different
    4 points
  20. You have it. Either you see the gold before the detector sees it or you see the gold after the detector but you see it without digging. You can take a picture of a sunbaker and know it is gold.
    4 points
  21. Thanks all for the recent advice and explanations! I also wanted to mention and thank Steve Herschbach for his metal detector database with reviews which was very helpful in narrowing down the capabilities of the large list of gold detectors available from past to present. I do feel all the detectors I’ve narrowed my research too from this list our very high end detectors and several I would of never considered before reading about them. I only wish I had more opportunities to try all these detectors out (toys for me). It well be most likely I well need quite a few different detectors to meet all the type’s of detecting I do in different environments. Hopefully more detector feedback on the reviews page or on this post will help more in narrowing down these detector options.🙂 My old hole digger.
    3 points
  22. Wonder if any came from Lunk.... When we see him driving a new Mercedes camper we'll know. 😁
    3 points
  23. You're always welcome! It's good to have experienced company on a hunt. This place is so varied you never know what you'll find. Thankfully most times the ground is good (or totally clear of stuff), but what an Equinox symphony on that point! Going to go back there with a single frequency machine or two and some sharpshooting coils (thanks) and maybe do a shootout. I know the Equinox is a "grand piano" that can be used in single frequency and limited tones as well, but I'd rather use it for what I see it does best.
    3 points
  24. I wish that old "T" would fit in a display case đŸ€” Might just make that hubcap my avatar. The truck is a payoff to myself for an illustrious career, I pull a 40 foot "toy hauler" with it. It's getting close to travel time, going to regale y'all with beach hunting stories at some point. They'll "button" up the farm in a few weeks and plan to plant corn. I'll still have some places to go out there, just not so choice. No such thing as a fallow field here!
    3 points
  25. We dont always agree Rick, but i believe both our goals is to see the best possible machine produced. Im a niche water guy looking for gold.... so im selfish about what i wanted to have. I may have rubbed some the wrong way..... but im also old, grumpy, and dont care lol. There still seems to be some tweaks needed and im sure Fisher is working on those. If that happens ....this should be worth every penny especially for those who like a PI.
    3 points
  26. Nope; good to see some old stuff, especially coins. I haven't gotten out during February (and won't) so I'm living vicariously through you posters' photos and stories. Same to you, Chase. Can you pull a date off of that worn Standing Liberty Quarter? And what is the other coin?
    3 points
  27. From the second photo group, the lead part and shaft appear to be oval. Just making a guess here, but it resembles a writing instrument or perhaps a cutting, carving, or light chiseling instrument. The slit on the lead tip may have held an ink well scribing tip or possibly a small blade. It may even have held a needle for making tribal style tattoos by hand. If it was very old, I would expect the lead to be more of a white color. It's a puzzler. Cool find, though.
    3 points
  28. Ah! It seems my lack of attention to detail brackets me into a: No sunbaker! As I did not see the gold before I disturbed it, but the specimen tells the story of presenting the opportunity to have. ...at the end of the day, it's gold! 😏
    3 points
  29. Sensitivity seems to be the thing that you and other new people I see posting in other threads not entirely undertstanding, but I think I can help you there. Sensitivity is the amount of gain the RX circuitry applies to the signals which the RX coil lobes detect from the ground. These are not audio signals, these are electromagnetic signals. Sensitivity is controlled by an EM frequency amplifier while audio is controlled by an audio frequency amplifier. Two completely seperate things. Think of a radio and an antenna, and a speaker, very similar thing happening. An FM radio has both an FM frequency amplifier and an audio (volume) amplifier. Does turning up your volume do anything at all to a weak FM radio signal? No, because the audio amplifier is not amplifying the actual radio signal, it only amplifies the demodulated audio signal. So increasing the volume without increasing the FM amplifier gain will only amplify static noise (EMI) and not the radio station you are trying to hear (the nugget). To pick up more distant or weak radio signals (nuggets) you either need a better antenna (different coil) or a stronger radio frequency amplifier (more gain/sensitivity). Sensitivity (aka Gain) determines how sensitive your machine is to weak signals. All the audio (volume) amplification in the world won't make a signal appear which the RX circuitry is not strong enough to amplify. More Sensitivity however will allow the detector (and thus the audio circuitry, and eventually your ear) to hear signals which it cannot hear at all at lower Sensitivities. But! RX gain/sensitivity also amplifies any signal the coil is picking up, including EMI. Which is why people like myself use the audio controls to adjust for and control the amount of noise you hear. I always, always, always run as much Sensitivity as possible for the conditions, then use the audio controls to compensate for noise. When you read the manual, this is exactly why those controls exist, and how the GPZ appears to be designed to be used. And this is why I have said since 2015 that it's better to run in as high of Sensitivity as you can, and then to tamp it all down and control the mess with the audio controls. Even in high EMI environments like we have often in the USA. Because running low gains means you are eliminating a ton of signals that will never be heard at all by the detector, and thus will never be heard by you no matter how much you fiddle with the volume controls. The speed and method you swing a coil can often be used to differentiate target signals from EMI too. The biggest mistake I see new detectorists make is running low gains then thinking they are compensating by boosting volume controls up and then thinking they are gaining something more by boosting audio even further with an audio booster. All the volume boosting in the world will not amplify a signal that isn't in the detector to begin with because you are running Sensitivity/Gain too low. That said, my experience (and I recently met another very experienced individual who independently has the same experience) is that past a certain level of Sensitivity, you will tend to boost more EMI than target response. In my experience, this level is at 18 Sensitivity. Going to 19 and 20 seems to exponentially increase the EMI while only linearly increasing target response. That's why in noisier parts of the US I find 18 Sensitivity to be the sweet spot, and you will see since 2015 this is what I've posted here. I can run 20 gain with some benefit in quieter parts of the country. Normal loves high sensitivities. When the ground thaws, do your own testing on test nuggets rather than taking my word for it. The difference between 18 Sensitivity and 10 Sensitivity is huge when it comes to a nugget you can just barely hear at 10 or just beyond 10's detection range, it will be a sweet target at 18 often. There is no ground, and no part of the USA which I have found any place necessary to run below 12 gain where you can't get better performance by instead running higher Sensitivity (wet salt ground being the only single exception I've encountered, but this varies) and using audio to process the RX boosted signal isntead. RX Sensitivity is the first thing you want to maximize because if it's too low then your detector will simply miss entirely a lot of deeper nuggets.
    3 points
  30. Hey All. I have been researching this last month or so throughout Detector Prospector, Minelab's Knowledge Base and TreasureTalks so that I can take my skills with the GPZ to the next level and I think in order to do that it involves these 4 settings: Threshold, Sensitivity, Volume and Volume Limit. A lot of forum members talk about these comparing and contrasting, but none really give you a "How to." How do you go about adjusting these to reach perfection, to reach that perfect ZVT zen. Conclusions that I have read are that: it just depends on what you want to hear, or how you hear what is coming out of the detector. OK, but I think it is more to it than that, and if you don't understand what these controls do how can you really achieve the best results. Keeping these setting the same. Noise Canceled. Gold Mode: High Yield. Ground Type: Normal. Ground Balanced with Semi Auto. No filters - Audio nor Ground Smoothing. Lets talk about how we start. Here is what I have researched and summed up describing these controls. These are my "interpretations" based on everything I have read and I think I really have a grasp on it now. This information and dissemination of it came from everyone here, and I mean everyone! Huge Thank You! Sensitivity: aka Gain. Control of the INPUT "strength" of a "sound wave." You don't actually control how "sensitive" the coil is. ZVT is ZVT, that is the tech we are using In order to understand these controls I think of it like a "sound wave". What you control is the "sound wave" coming into the machine. Too much gain and you over modulate the sound wave, cause distortion, and increase the "noise" level. Too little gain and your "sound wave" is decreased (like making it a flatter line) maybe allowing large "sounds" to come through but in return lowering the "noise" level and small "sounds." In Sensitivity is where you want to produce the "perfect sound wave" coming into the machine. You want that sound wave to just barely reach below a distortion level to get the best "sound or tone" Threshold: This is how much of the "noise" level you want to hear. It kind of acts like a bottom or "noise" filter. Increase threshold (lower number on GPZ) and you filter out more of the "noise" level as well as small "sounds." The opposite is to lower threshold (increase number on the GPZ) to filter out less of the "noise" level and hear smaller "sounds." These two setting should play off of each other so that you can achieve the "biggest window" for the ZVT "sound wave" to operate in with the least amount of "noise". Some people use a 20 sensitivity and a 7 threshold. Is that the biggest window they could achieve? Some do a 15 sensitivity and a 27 threshold. Is that the biggest window they could achieve? How come you could not do a 1 sensitivity and a 53 threshold? Nobody has ever commented on that. Boost it? Probably not a good idea. I don't know, never tried. Food for thought, but I hope you get what I am saying about that. In my eyes these two controls are where you should start. Achieve the biggest "window" that ZVT can work with. If you minimize the window you are not taking advantage of the full technology. In turn you are probably not finding the smallest pieces you could achieve or the greatest depth on targets. Don't limit ZVT, maximize it to its full potential. Open the window as far as you can for the ground/mineralization you are in. Now on to Volume and Volume Limit This is where I do not have the best grasp on these controls, even after all the research I am not sure if I am describing these correct. So many people play off of these and have different explanations. This is what I "think" they mean. Volume: aka Audio Boost. Control of the OUTPUT "loudness" of the Threshold and Sensitivity window that you just created. We are told that this acts like an audio boost and that increasing this by one is like increasing Sensitivity by 2, etc. I don't think that is a good way to describe it, at least for me. What I think Volume is doing is increasing the loudness of the "window." Than includes the "sound wave" as well as the "noise" associated with it. If you can not hear the targets you want after adjusting your "window" above, then you need to boost the audio. Doing this though will increase what you hear in "noise" and I "think" this is why some describe this as equivalent to increasing Sensitivity but it is not. The "window" has already been set with your Threshold and Sensitivity, what volume does is change the OUTPUT "loudness" and there by multiplies how big the window is ("sound wave" and "noise"). This allows you to hear hear more, but more of EVERYTHING, in affect increasing overall loudness. This is why it should be used "conservatively." Start at 1 and work up until it is where you "like" hearing it. This is the part that should be subjective to each individual and their hearing. Volume Limit: The Big Mystery. What does this do? How does it help me? Some say that this is actually volume. Some say this is what you should adjust to hear targets better. Some say it is just there to not blow your ear drums off if your volume is set to high. My questions are: Does this affect the "OUPUT" signal or the "INPUT" signal or both? Why would I want a Volume Limit? My thoughts on this...... I think that Volume Limit sets the MAXIMUM Volume (Audio Boost) "level" that can be used. I don't THINK it limits the Sensitivity. So this is an OUTPUT control. Therefore if you set the Volume Limit high you would get a higher (louder) incremental step with each number in Volume (Audio Boost). If you use a lower Volume Limit, you would have lower (less louder) incremental steps in Volume (Audio Boost). So if you want more precise control of your Volume (Audio Boost) you would set a lower Volume Limit. The trade off is maximum loudness. If you need to hear things louder you are going to have to raise your Volume Limit and then adjust your Volume (Audio Boost) accordingly. My thoughts are that people think this actually raises the volume but in the end if you keep Volume (Audio Boost) at 8 and increase Volume Limit, it will get louder per se because you just raised the the maximum loudness level there by increasing the loudness steps for each Volume (Audio Boost) number. Make sense? It does to me, I hope I am right otherwise I am gonna have to relearn this all over again 😉 Well now I need feedback from you all. Am I out in left field on all of this? Am I spot on? Or do I just need some minor tweaks? đŸ€Ł AND if you have the desire to help some, could as many folks as possible make a video of them adjusting these settings to achieve a perfect balance? These are the videos that are missing on YouTube, etc. We see tons of people digging up gold but not many at all on "How" they use and set up their machine. This would be huge to see. You don't have to make a fancy video, maybe just have someone with their phone over your shoulder while you go through it. This would be a huge boon for a lot of people, including myself. Especially us that have to stay in all winter and have to wait to test their own theories. đŸ€Ł So any help in that regard please post! OR if you already found some vids, please share. I have tried every search I could to no avail. Anyways many members on here have said it before. You need to learn your machine. Its only one aspect of being an expert detectorist. I know I am not there yet cause it sure looks like I am still trying to learn my machine. The rest for me seemed to have come easier, researching locations, reading locations, putting the coil over the gold, etc. Now I NEED to revisit a bunch of locations where I got the easy gold by just using preprogramed settings that I learned when I just started. I started detecting at the SDC level. Turn on and go. I never had a GPX so comparing to the old never helped me. I am part of the new school of detectorists and I don't want to be ignorant by having less control. I want to take control. Its time to achieve ZVT zen and see what was left behind. Its time to level up.
    2 points
  31. Hello all, My name is Ron and I'm new to the forum and have been learning a lot from it's members and really appreciate all the time everyone puts into this forum, some really great information comes from this forum. I'm in the market for an upgrade from my current detectors and am trying to decide on which would be the best detector for the worst case scenario as I have currently been detecting in the Siskiyou's serpentine gold belt (pretty much to hot for VLF's) and this gold belt also contains a very large amount of trash. The Equinox 800, Gold Bug 2, Garrett AT Gold have not been able to handle the mineralization of this ground very well. I have not tried any other VLF’s here though. I usually rely on my Minelab Pulse Induction unit in this ground and use the iron disc. to save probably 75% of my time from digging unnecessary holes. I'm still interested in owing a top of the line VLF due to I detect mine dumps in the backcountry of Idaho, Nevada, and eastern Oregon where the trash is less abundant and the ground is not so mineralized even though it is usually steep and rugged (great VLF areas). After reading several posts on this forum I have narrowed my research of VLF metal detectors to the Equinox 800, Gold Monster, X-tera 705 Gold Pack, Nokta/Makro Gold Kruzer or AU Gold Finder, White's 24K or MXT, or a second back-up Gold Bug 2. I am really looking for the machine that can handle the hottest ground and has the sharpest sound on small and deep gold. Although no detector is a do it all machine I'm hoping the one that can handle the hot ground the best should be able to excel with better iron/disc. and target separation regardless of it being a multi-purpose detector or gold only detector, my assumption only. Does the frequency of detectors change their ability to handle hot ground like Australia. Has anyone tried these detectors in highly minenalized ground with any good results? For Pulse Induction I'm narrowing my research to the GPX 6000 and/or GPZ 7000 both non disc. units for a great option for Idaho, eastern Oregon, and Nevada were there is less lead and iron trash present. For these Siskiyou's trash sites I'm looking at the GP/GPX series with iron/disc. Garrett ATX, Fisher Impulse Gold (has anyone been able to separate out lead and iron trash with the Fisher limited AQ Impulse version and still find small and deep gold)? Has anyone got a good grasp on these machines being affective in iron and lead infested areas? Thank You for your time. Ron
    2 points
  32. Had a chance to get 2 beach hunts in with the GPX and AQ and was pleasantly surprised that the conditions at this beach had changed for the better. It was going to be a 50/50 split between both machines, so that I could get the benefits of both machines technologies. Started out great with the AQ, but unfortunately the headphones started making a loud clicking noise. I figured out the thin wire had finally given out. Then it completely stopped working. The conditions were perfect for trying out the AQ in Tone mode, since there was almost no trash, or small iron left in this spot. So high tones and grunts meant nickels/gold/ huge iron or silver/clad. The AQ scored a lot of nickels, paper thin worn coins and 8 silver dimes before it died. So the hunt continued with the GPX. That patch was on fire giving me the most silver in a single hunt ever, along with the greatest 2 day total as well. The area covered was about 20 x 30 feet, as I had 3 other detectorists around me on either side. This area was sand with packed cobbles beneath it, so I paid the price after digging in that for 2 days. The ring is 14K and was the only gold found, surprisingly. Now, I love my AQ, but honestly not being a durable machine kind of makes it take a back seat to my other machines. I have been gentle with this machine, but I did a lot of holes. Those two days I estimate digging almost 250 holes and I beach hunt generally once a week. I would love to get a new set of headphones (not stock), but if I remember the connector is hard to get??? If anyone has info on that, please let me know where I can get one. I would have Tony make me a set in a heartbeat. It's not often that the beach gives you those kind of conditions, so I was happy to be there at the right time. I can't wait to get back and see if the conditions are still good.
    2 points
  33. Ron, Welcome to DP. I have owned and used (with Success) all the VLF units you mentioned. I won't go into detail as I feel your narrowed down list to EIGHT different VLF detectors is not very narrowed down and it would take me forever to type it all up. So I'll say this. I have 9 Field Staff Experts in the NW States and we have found gold with all the units you mentioned. BUT!!! We only own a couple of those machines now and they can get anything from me at a discount (good reason to be on my team). These guys are top notch gold hunters and they earned their way onto the team. All 10 of us use, own and find gold with an EQ-800. All 10 of us used to own GB-2's and GM-1000's, but none of us do now. Most of us used MXT's and X-705's back in the day, but don't own them any more. Only a few of us owned the Makro Gold Racer and 24K, both good for the price. Here is your problem. None of them are PI detectors and or can they minimize the bad soils like a PI. We do feel the EQ-800 serves best for Identification in trash, Fine Tune Adjustment Capability and overall depth on a variety of gold types and sizes. We also realize a VLF has it's strong and weak points. How about the big dog PI's and ZVT of the 7000-it's not a PI. 9 of us own a GPZ-7000, but some of us also own SDC-2300's and GPX-5000's, as they each shine in their own ways in certain situations. I sure wish there was a simple answer to your questions, but in reality, those who detect for gold in so many areas and types of soils, terrains and trash sites really do need a variety of detectors. If I could only have 1 VLF it would be the EQ-800. If I could only have 1 big detector, it would be a GPZ-7000 today and probably a GPX-6000 in a couple months, as I really want the new lighter weight and better ergonomics. As for Iron Discrimination on a GPX-5000, most of the guys who try it don't know what their doing so they quit. But I assure you, if the time is taken, the DISC on a GPX-5000 and a DD coil is a lifesaver. Heck, most of the Civil War Relic hunters Back East are now learning to use a GPX with Disc. Can you miss gold in DISC mode, most certainly just as easy as you can miss gold with a PI that a VLF sees and you can miss gold a VLF won't respond, but if you crushed the ore, there could be gold in it. You need to play the odds in your favor and have the best tool for the site you plan on detecting. If you are in known gold producing area, the next best thing is knowing how to operate the detector properly and know what to listen for. When you get ready to purchase, call me at www.gerrysdetectors.com and we'll discuss more details, as I am slow at typing. Or you can keep a smile on my face and purchase 1 of each.
    2 points
  34. Doh ! My bad. I saw "V3" and assumed he was talking about the Whites.
    2 points
  35. This thread is about the Minelab Equinox software upgrade version 3.x. I assume that's what MM32KY means when he says V3. IMO those questions are better directed at Minelab since they are the ones who used (at least some) of those words. Most of what we users on DetectorProspector.com have learned (or feel we've experienced) regarding this latest software update can be found in this thread now approaching 250 posts. The 4 kHz single frequency addition is the easy one to agree upon. After that,...?
    2 points
  36. Agree there completely. I believe the most important task to unleash the full horsepower of the GPZ is to make sure the machine itself is hearing the maximum possible number of target signals first. This is the basis of my entire detecting philosophy with the GPZ, and it sounds similar to your ideas as well. Get the information into the machine, as much target info as possible, then work the operator-side audio controls out as required. If the machine itself is missing a good number of target signals from the very start due to running too low gain, then no amount of adjusting audio will ever recover or hear them. This may vary if forced to run in Difficult, but I can't comment there, I can comment based on my experience though, though this isn't written to GoldHound since he already knows and prospects full time, as much as is it just putting this out in general. Most important is run in Normal any time possible. Next run in as high of sensitivity as possible. Control the mess with threshold and smoothing as needed. Detailing #3 - I'll adjust Threshold down first. Then if I need Low Smoothing, I'll turn it on and bump Threshold back up to where I started to compensate. If not stable still, then I'll start bumping Threshold down 2 points at a time until I get something stable. If all that fails, then I'll finally lower Sensitivity by 2 points, and start the process again with normal threshold and no smoothing. Very rarely, almost never, have I ever had to drop below 16 Sensitivity. I am guessing in general the difference between you and I is I will run a much lower threshold, as my THold max is usually 20, my max is lower than most people's minimum. Probably a lot more EMI around me since I'm much closer to cities though. AFreakOfNature - it's not really possible to avoid discussing timings and smoothing while discussing Sensitivity and Threshold. They are all interrelated and used to compensate for each other. When the Ferrari goes in a tailspin in a tight curve, you don't slow down but you compensate by turning away from the curve (I might have that backwards, I'm not a racer haha) and also by accelerating, and that's how you keep driving fast but maintain control. The machine is all interconnected just like the GPZ controls are when running at peak performance. Now I know many will disagree. But my feeling is that Volume and Volume Limit are not really fundamental in getting the detector to work at peak performance since they have less to do with what the detector hears and everything to do with what the operator hears. It's like how dirty your Ferrari windshield is, it only affects your driving it, but not so much the performance of the car. when the windshield is clean enough to drive, then good to go and not much to talk about. They are user-side settings. So, how a person sets them largely varies by the person's preferences (or hearing damage) themselves. Whereas the way timings, sensitivity are set depend largely on the environment and the gold and that applies equally to us all while detecting the same places, so more specific statements can be made than with relative settings like Volume. Thold and Smoothing are user side audio settings that border on machine side settings too in so much as you can use them to try to stay in Normal and higher Sensitivities and so all 4 of these settings are closely related and must be discussed together for any completeness. Thold and Smoothing (worked together with Sensitivity) are the "turning and accelerating into the curve" to maintain top speed settings without losing control. Timing and Sensitivity are the engine and accelerator pedal.
    2 points
  37. If you saw a meteor fall from the sky how would you find the meteorite? There are many cameras looking at the sky. A calculation can be made and give an estimate where the strike would happen. This would be the beginning of the trail and then eye witnesses would assist. This is what happened with this iron meteorite in Sweden. https://www.thelocal.se/20210223/meteorite-hunters-find-swedens-first-ever-new-fallen-iron-metoerite
    2 points
  38. I cover a few different combos of Audio Smoothing and Threshold in this video. Volume Limit I pretty much leave on 8 and never touch it. If I'm in a thick trash area and getting consistent loud blasts, I turn my enhancer down a touch and drop the Volume Limit to 7. If Minelab ever did another software update to the GPZ, then my No. 1 wish would be to just bring back the Stabilizer 1-20, and add threshold 26.5, but then I'm just one of those guys who loves analogue pots. The immediacy and fine tuning ability of them.
    2 points
  39. If you are in heavy trash, you need patience. If it’s good ground, gold will show up. Learn how to recover targets fast. ( magnet work etc) have confidence. Trust me, the gold is there.
    2 points
  40. Welcome to the forum Ron, If "Reno" Chris Ralph, Steve Herschbach, Jonathan Porter, Gerry in Idaho, and a few other "hard core" gold hunters here don't have good answer's for you, there most likely isn't any! So heed any nuggets of information that they toss your way!! Good Luck out there! And let us know how it works out!👍👍
    2 points
  41. Congratulations on the cool finds.
    2 points
  42. Several times I have found sunbakers. While swinging the coil I have spotted several nuggets lying on the surface before the coil reaches them. It's great to see them and then swing the coil over them and hear that lovely beep. Western Australia was the best place for finding sunbakers.
    2 points
  43. Also, I will add that when you look at what the 6000 is doing, near as I can tell anyways, it's emulating this sort of setting philosophy. Which is what almost all serious, successful detectorists I've ever met do automatically on their own. First - find the best timing. Second, find the highest stable sensitivity for the ground, EMI, and timing. Third, adjust (or potentially eliminate in the case of the 6000) the threshold. You are the "computer" adjusting these settings as needed with the GPZ though. Adjust as needed through the day as your environment changes. The user can adjust audio as they see fit, but that makes little difference as to what the detector itself hears. The most important thing is to adjust the detector such that it hears the maximum number of target signals while still being stable (emphasis on the stable part). Audio adjustment comes after that to process the cacophony into something easier for the human brain to process, which varies greatly from 1 detectorist to the next. Edit: I am writing this all with the caveat that 95% of my detecting is in Normal. JP has posted many times that Difficult is inherently high gain built into the timing. So results may be different there. So, Australian or other very hot ground users this may not apply to, I am not sure since I don't have enough field experience in Difficult to say one way or another.
    2 points
  44. To me a sunbaker is one that you can see before you disturb the ground, that is the nugget can see the sun. It is OK if the detector sees it before you do.😁I have lost count of how many but it is around 30 but most are small in the range 2 to 4 grams. The one on the left has moss and lichen as it was hiding from the sun most of the time. It made the oz+ the other one was an oz also The large one on top was just under 5Ÿ oz and was sitting right out in the open enjoying the sun. The smaller one was in the ground hiding near by about 6" deep.
    2 points
  45. I fully agree... but these give one a general Idea of what the machine is capable of and really you learn doing these test. Not just how deep it is but the machines characteristic. One of the secrets of the AQ is one way signals. I can't tell you how many gold rings I have dug with the AQ , then even more with the excalibur. Just a faint one way of the swing ...signal. One reason I hunt with my eyes shut, they stand out so much more when your focused... Mike Guard and I have talked about the one way signals with the excalibur for years... And let me add....... Eyes closed........one reason I fell in a hole, not pay attention to my surroundings...to focused on the audio..😬 Thanks Tony, Good to see you... I'm doing very well. Maybe I'll be back out this summer? I would be out there now, family obligations.
    2 points
  46. There is a piece of crab pot about 2 inch's long with some legs coming off of it, It is a inch or so near the PVC pipe....it's giving the low tone (null)..see if I can find a picture of it..., we have a lot of this stuff in the bay, these are from lost crab pots breaking up.
    2 points
  47. It's simple, because a Marketing person will never say they don't know, even if they don't know.
    2 points
  48. Amen to that, I know technology has provided better results over the years but like you, I'm stunned on how much is left to find. Here we have spots that were dredged over and over and still have given up 40 plus gold in one season. Very nice report on the hunt also, Love the color of the 14k. Sorry about the stock head phones, to many times have we seen the stock AQ head phones fail. Wish I worked at First Texas to solve these issues. I just fixed two sets of excal head phones for a friend, one the stock yellows, the other GGA's. Then I replace the coil on a Old Sword model that had the original stock, big cord red head set.. still working after 30 years. Something to be learned there....
    2 points
  49. Codan does indeed pay dividends. Annual Dividend/Yield $0.2431/1.94% Ex-dividend Date 02/24/21 Dividend Pay Date 03/11/21
    1 point
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