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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/29/2021 in all areas

  1. Ok have spent 12 hours behind the 6000, on old patches (our wet will not let me go further) Like all ML detectors the 6000 is Magic, but then I say that about any detector or coil that puts weight in my pocket, thus I give my review because history is in the past and we are looking forward if you don`t agree stop reading and bug off. At this early stage I list the great features, tis light, no menu just a simple matter to press a button say go from normal to difficult, to change sensitivity, to switch from no threshold to threshold, to change operation channel etc top time saving features. Does it get gold? You bet it does, remarkable sensitivity/depth on "micrograms" and stability and it has found its first patch, in amongst the high grass on a 45deg slope on the bank of a small wash. Am I impressed..... you bet but that is normal for each ML new detector for me since year dot. Only thing at this early stage I miss is no manual GB to give the final cleanup of patches. Does it compete with my ZX combos...... no way it complements it.
    18 points
  2. It’s exciting when a new detector emerges, none more so than a new top notch gold getting machine from Minelab and the new GPX 6000 is as exciting as it gets. Just a little reminder about the virtues of the GPZ/14” an older brother he may be a little thick in the middle but this heavyweight can still sniff out a few crumbs in the pounded terrain in the desert of Gold Basin Arizona, from a few recent hunts.
    9 points
  3. Good stuff GB and Gerry. I really appreciate the detailed responses. I'm excited. Tomorrow I'm picking up a very nice, slightly used one ton truck to pull my 5th wheel. My old one was getting a bit long in the tooth. This new one has a lot of bells and whistles and most importantly, is 4WD, so I will have an easier time reaching good gold and relic hunting areas. 4 months to go!!
    7 points
  4. went back to the pig farm, that used to get its pig food from the leftovers from some resultants back in the late 40,s thru the 50,s . Lot of table ware got tossed as well and not a few tips this is now the second Mercury dime i found on this site, and i figure tens of them waiting, maybe some quarters two. found a miniture wine bottle as well, it must have been served to costumers.
    6 points
  5. https://www.icmj.com/magazine/article/plp-update-4454/?fbclid=IwAR3-OTlUQ3SqYmxYpp-BeaVHxKIee0IEIzY5ZlJc2kCiMhmNLq-HFTvSYq4 This effort deserves a vote of thanks from all of us.
    5 points
  6. AUgetter, 1st off, thanks for taking the time to post to Detector Prospector site as there is a wealth of knowledge being shared. I would have replied sooner, but was actually in NV over the weekend testing some new MD'ing toys. I feel detector knowledge is the most important part of ones success and time in the field with known successful gold hunters speeds up your learning curve. If you have not purchased your gold detector yet, then speaking with real dealers who use and sell a variety of gold detectors from the top brands, is your 1st step. Dealers prices for most machines are the same as internet, but our knowledge in the field at finding gold is what separates the few good dealers from the masses of offerings just to sell. When you get time call a few known gold detector dealers to get some input and then call me. I may not give away the barn, but the knowledge my staff and I have...can not be beat. You know, that name you have is half the battle right there. You're already thinking right AU.
    5 points
  7. Hi Guys Just thought I would share my first trip with the GPX 6000 out near home. About an hour and a half in an old spot on the NSW Far South Coast AU. Settings on manual about 12 o"clock position in difficult. Hot ground but with a steady threashold. Down @ 6 - 8 inches. Cheers Jack
    4 points
  8. surface find in the leaf litter a nice silver earing
    4 points
  9. Dancer - not ignorance, I think you are just missing the point a little. The statement you made below in a previous post is a great example. First of all - there is a self contradiction here - if they did NEED some tweaking, then having a software updateable machine would avoid the need to send it back in for tweaking. In other words, by placing the two sentences above back-to-back you unwittingly backed up Steve's point. But more to the point, I think you are not differentiating between updates required to fix a defect and updates that improve the detector's capabilities. While it is true that updates are often thought of as merely fixing flaws, that is not the only reason to update a machine. Updates to digital machines can also bring on board new features, capabilities, and improved performance and that is key. Take the Equinox for example. The latest two Equinox updates may have contained some "bug fixes" under the hood, but primarily they added additional capabilities to the Equinox including improved iron bias and added a new low frequency mode to improve depth when hunting specifically for high conductive or large targets. So as Monte said previously, having the ability to self update your machine avoids the need to send the machine in for tweaks, bug fixes, or to gain new features. Steve's "just say no" to non-updateable machines was directed primarily at First Texas who seems to be the one remaining large detector manufacturer that does not provide machines with with field update capabilities and still requires them to be sent back to the factory for updates and/or charges for updates that add new features. Nokta, XP, Minelab, and now Garrett have all gotten on board the update train which is really the expectation of todays technology consumers where phones, computers, and even cars are able to be updated in the field. The one machine that has me scratching my heads is that Tarsacci (I own one) that despite being an advanced design, does not appear to be field updateable (the designer having once worked for First Texas may have something to do with it, but I doubt it). That being said, it does not appear that software tweaks have been needed for Tarsacci which is a testament to the "first time quality" and out of the box capability of his machine. Regarding your ACE 250 comment, that is fundamentally true - for 95% of detectorists and situations the ACE will do just fine and for the army of clad hunters out there, it will scratch their itch just fine and is still capable of finding significant treasure, jewelry, and relics merely by swinging it at a decent site (probably the most important ingredient for detecting success) and provided you simply get the coil over the target. But old targets and natural gold do not get refreshed, clad is drying up as the cashless society progresses, and COVID has really taken a dent out of fresh jewelry drops at beaches and parks over the past year. I believe the majority significant treasure now lies not at great depths but is buried untouched amongst the trash at relatively shallow depths because older machines just nulled out under those conditions. Depth is not as important as speed and the ability to pick shallower targets out of thick ferrous and non-ferrous trash. That is where the modern mainstream (Equinox/Apex/Simplex/Vanquish) and niche (Tarsacci/Deus) machines come in to play with high recovery speeds, mutifrequency capabilies for salt and iron (more on that below), ability to have expressive audio that differentiates ferrous and non-ferrous targets well (Deus), and superior mineralized dirt handling (Tarsacci/Deus/Equinox). What is so great about multifrequency? Some target interrogation, salt cancellation, and signal processing features can be optimally implemented if the machine is using simultaneous multifrequency signal processing because targets of different conductivities respond differently to different operating frequencies. Put simply, if you hit that target with multiple frequencies you can gain more target information in real time based on how the target responds to the different frequencies which enables better iron detection and better salt signal cancellation - that is why vlf multifrequency machines tend to do better than single frequency machines at the beach. The notable exception being the Tarsacci which uses a special single frequency signal processing methodology to balance out the salt signal. Anyway, it is always easy to make statements like "my old machine did just fine". And like I said, for many, many, detecting situations you can almost get away literally with a pinpointer on a stick and do just fine. But my ability to recently pick out an old Capped Bust dime in the hotest of hot dirt at a pounded site, 81 minie balls out of a patch of highly mineralized ground, and my first gold coin floating in a sea of iron nails and can slaw, really benefitted from using machines with special capabilities and state of the art technologies. I can almost guarantee that I would not have the same success in those situations if I was swinging an ACE 250. HTH HH.
    4 points
  10. I have some unexpected extra time on my hands and am going to give metal detecting another try after quite a few years. I was on a couple of forums that might not exist anymore. I took the detectors out of the closet and brushed off the cobwebs and dust. I have a Troy Shadow X2, Tesoro Bandido II, and a Whites GMT. I mainly used the Shadow for hunting for relics and found a few. I recently sold a Tesoro Eldorado to a friend and hopefully he'll get the detecting bug and we can go out and find something interesting. I'd like to resume the hobby and search for relics, gold, and meteorites out here in the desert. This is a great forum with expert reviews on detectors and many informative posts. I hope to learn quite a bit and enjoy the hobby.
    3 points
  11. I am retiring at the end of August. I will be pulling my 5th wheel around the US hunting nuggets and relics. I have been mostly vacation detecting for a couple of years now. I am really looking forward to doing A LOT more of it with way better equipment. I have met a lot of other detectorists out there and what I'm looking most forward to is making friends with more of you. I get a lot of enjoyment from sitting around the campfire swapping stories, getting to know people and absorbing some of the vast knowledge of how and where to hunt. I hope to see y'all down the road!
    3 points
  12. If that's the accurate ID, then .... must be a souvenir pocket piece modern loss. I doubt it's a period piece. Hey, a guy in Monterey, CA , during an old-town demolition scrape project, found a Roman coin that he got dated to something like 100 AD. He assumed it was probably brought back to the USA, as a souvenir, by a returning soldier. Believe it or not, coin-collecting (and the habit of picking up souvenirs) is not a new trait. People have gathered nostalgic nicknacks, since time immortal. As as odd as it sounds, it's possible that they then get lost at some fumblefingers location somewhere else.
    3 points
  13. As I said yesterday on another post, it’s a great weapon to add to a good prospector’s arsenal. I was impressed with it in the very small amount of time I got to see it and cannot wait to get my hands on one. Lookout gullies and creeks!
    3 points
  14. Yes I agree . I have a little story about this . Once I was in a "sea of iron nails" with my deus hf set at 30khz and there was an other guy , that I never met before , who arrived at the same time with an Ace , I dont remember which model . Two hours later we compared our finds , I had 15 small coins in my hand and he had found ... nothing. I was really disappointed for him actually btw ... Conclusion in this area you absolutely need a specialized high freq machine if you want to find something . You would find very few with a machine running under 15khz there .. This was a very interesting ( and not planned ) field test , which simply means that you need the right tool for the right job . Concerning the software update yes I consider it as a very interesting feature , even if sometimes I get excited when microsoft blocks my PC with a windows update and I have something urgent to do lol ... 🙂
    3 points
  15. Found this on Etsy and it looks like what you have. https://www.etsy.com/listing/995292385/vintage-brass-wings-statement-brooch?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=wing+brooch&ref=sr_gallery-3-35&from_market_listing_grid_organic=1&pro=1&frs=1
    3 points
  16. Thank you..... Learn something new everyday. I though there was a small amount of silver in them.😬 Here are a few Old nickel rings. (Not marked) Then another I am not sure, it is marked Nickel / Silver. Just looked up, the single ring is German Silver.. Nickel Silver vs. German Silver The terms “nickel silver” and “German silver” actually refer to the same substance, but items made of this metal are not really silver at all. Nickel or German “silver” is a white alloy containing copper, zinc, and nickel. While it is silvery in color, it contains none of the more valuable metal. This type of metal was developed in Germany in the late 1800s as a less expensive substitute for silver.
    3 points
  17. Look at the bright side. At least the coil ears didn't break !🤣
    3 points
  18. From my viewpoint (and location), the GPAA has helped me learn about finding gold. It's more than just about helping members but also non-members (especially pre-adults) so it has a service organization contribution as well. In particular I've taken advantage of the organization's claims, of which there are many (60+, from memory so don't take that literally) spread over the Western states including Alaska. There are a couple private properties in the East that the GPAA pays for access to as well. Other benefits include a bi-monthly magazine, local club meetings, initiation packages (gold pan, how-to videos, gold vials, etc.). Outside of the pandemic they conduct half a dozen shows around the country each year (those are open to members and non-members alike). From what I've seen (and certainly in my area) the majority of members are into gravity gold recovery, not metal deteting. However, there are many metal detectorists among the membership including Kevin Hoagland who is a (paid) higher-up (I think his title is 'Director of Research') and a well known knowledgeable and successful metal detectorist. He writes articles about detecting for gold as well as many other topics in the bi-monthly magazine. He has at least one article in every issue, usually more than one. In most (all?) western states you also have the options of joining state-wide clubs not associated with GPAA and even some local clubs. What all of these types of organizations share is a commonality among members for the hobby/pasttime/endeavor of searching for and finding naturally occurring gold. You can get lots of good advice (and occasionally some not-so-good advice) from other members, for free. In my case the advice and help I received from other GPAA members did not come close to the instruction and knowledge I got from taking Gerry's class. It was an elementary introduction whereas Gerry's class is more like an intermediate lab study.
    3 points
  19. Also learn how to research and where to find gold. That is probably even more important than learning your detector because if you don’t put the coil over the gold you will find nothing.
    3 points
  20. I will be retiring in 3 months...yaaaa hoooooo! I have been detecting for relics for about 2 years. I plan on buying a new or used Minelab detector in the next couple of months and trying my hand at gold detecting. I will be roaming around in a custom 5th wheel set up I've been working on for the past year. My question is, how advantageous would it be for me to take gold detecting training from a store I buy from or from a private party that offers it?
    2 points
  21. Finally got onto the forum.
    2 points
  22. Good to have you here Arch, Glad your back at it!!!! And I'm really glad you joined up with this motley crew of of treasure hunters for some knowledge and info. As for the learning part, Heck we are all still learning and you'll fit right in!!!!
    2 points
  23. I know that in general, DD coils are theoretically better for highly mineralized soils and for EMI. However, I have hunted with 11” Commander DD coils and 11” Commander Mono coils with a GPX 5000 on highly mineralized dirt and the Commander Mono was actually more quiet than the 11” DD and much easier to ground balance. I also have a Detech 8” DD which is more quiet than my 11” Commander DD which makes sense, but it is not as quiet as my 11” Commander Mono is some places.
    2 points
  24. I can admit to starting any given detecting outing in southeast PA where I live, with the hope of seeing silver in the bottom of a deep hole. It does happen often enough. It is fairly common to find really old copper coins, but in our wet and clay soil...usually comes out pretty toasty so causes both satisfaction and an aw shucks. I have a hard time getting excited about searching through pull tabs for shallow jewelry, although most of my nieces and my daughter proudly wear rings, bracelets, necklaces, anklets, and even a toe ring that I gave them. They will always check out the one display case for any new items in it that might fit them. I have been focusing my attention more on the travels of Washington's Continental army here, as he crisscrossed Bucks and Montgomery counties. Finding an army button at a site they were camped at....that would be simply amazing. I am currently detecting a property which was a hotel used by the Doan gang repeatedly during the Revolutionary War. Not expecting to find things signed by them, of course, but some of the old stuff i am finding could have been theirs, who knows. If you want to read about some bad dudes, google them. sheesh. I always keep the silver dimes I find. The common silver nickels, quarters and halves get saved up and traded to my coin dealer for gold. one day, though...maybe. Happy Hunting Rod
    2 points
  25. Poking around one the older park areas here and came across this pin with wings and a stone in the middle. Not sure how old guessing turn of the century or maybe 1930's? May have been plated at one time. Left the clad in the shot so you can see the size.
    2 points
  26. This article caught my attention as I've also been on the receiving end.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/environmentalists-versus-bush-user-groups-veac-proposal/100096256
    2 points
  27. Chase, of course you are right on all counts. In my case the drying up of Clad/ Jewelry. And I can't argue the popularity of some of the upgradeable machines out there. It's the menus than sub menus and I don't know what else that seem more like gimmicks, then those nuances have to be enhanced. I believe I have read that coming up there will be machines that will accept cell phone calls like the newer automobiles. Oh, it's gonna happen. Maybe tied in with the wireless headphones. Distractions! I too own the Tarsacci and have a lot of hours on it. Will I ever truely understand it? Probably not. But I'm going to squeeze as much out of it as I can. The Tar along with the Vista X and Garrett s At Pro and Infinium is about all the Technology I can handle.
    2 points
  28. This is a little bit better story with pictures of the incoming meteor/asteroid. https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-trace-22-million-year-journey-of-a-meteorite-that-crashed-to-earth
    2 points
  29. For all the text they wrote they could have included an example of the methods they allude to. I am not bashing PLP, they have done an incredibly good job on legal affairs, and I have a lot of respect for them. But they could have done a bit more than tease dredgers.
    2 points
  30. Agree that this sounds like a loophole. I really hope there is some merit to it, but it reads like one of those clickbait advertisements that say "Dentists don't want you to know this one secret because it will put them out of business!" Like I said, I really hope to get in the water again, but I will wait and see what the news is.
    2 points
  31. Interesting read GB-A, I'm one of the few who has many (thousands) of hours hunting both silver coins and gold nuggets. My 1st 25 yrs was pretty much chasing silver coins and the last almost 25 chasing more gold nuggets. I have to agree with Oneguy as my experiences have been the same and it's much easier to o the mind when hunting gold nuggets away from the everyday hustle and hassle of people. As for excitement and what it takes...I'm quite easy to please as the task changes 2 weekends ago I was at a close RR to town RR site and towards the end of the day, I finally scored an IH cent and let out a nice whoop of joy. This last weekend I was in NV trying my darnedest to find a nugget with the EQ-800 and the large 15" NOX coil. After about 2 hrs, I hit a 4.2 gram speci and again let out the same "whoop" of joy, as I accomplished my goal that day. As you know a few weeks back my goal was to show off the capabilities of the NOX 15" round coil and with proper detector knowledge, the right size/depth coil and knowing certain locations, I too accomplished the task with an 8 silver day, which I have not done in a few years. Yes that day was a "whoop" but it took most of the day to get there. It's never been a value thing to me either, as value comes in many ways to me. Thanks for taking the time to give us some perspective.
    2 points
  32. Kayak fishing was a lot of fun. I think I'm too old for it now. I've seen some ridiculously huge catches myself. Got a lot of Atlantic Croakers and Catfish. I got into it before anyone really made an affordable fishing kayak, I took a Sit on Top and tricked it out, thus no place for a large fish. Used to tow them back on a stringer. I'm probably over the top on safety here. It made sense to me to be careful, got some warnings about this area.
    2 points
  33. I saw a vid once of a guy that caught a swordfish fishing from a kayak. Talk about a sleigh ride ! It was a long day for him ....... He called some friends with a boat to come out to bring him back to shore. They had to help him with bringing the fish in too , he was beat ! Can't remember exactly but think it was in Costa Rica?
    2 points
  34. Welcome aboard Arch Stanton ! For some unexplained reason I'm hearing a lone guitar and somebody whistling this really catchy tune , and occasionally cackling. Lots of reverb. Nahhhh , .Must just be an ear worm.... All that info you seek is here , much of it already posted. Ask about anything that puzzles you , answer on anything you have something to add. I've heard there are relics , gold and meteorites out in the desert , so that checks out.. When you and your friend find some remember this one thing........We Like Pictures !
    2 points
  35. Thanks Joe. I did a quick scratch test on the stone before I headed out to work. It left a mark on the stove easily. I could only find the 22K and 14K solutions, so I put a drop of each. The 22k ate through the line rather quickly. The 14 K took a while but did eat through it also. Ahhh the old German Silver trick. False advertising at its best. I mean it is nickel and it is silver "COLORED", so I guess it's ok 😄 As for the creamers, I think you have the answer in your own words. Sell them as vintage American Airlines sugar/creamer set and add that tag line "When they used to treat you like you were someone" $20.00 a set and you'll make a profit and you can bury that sucker feeling for good. 🙂
    2 points
  36. I have heard from my duck hunting buddies when I told them I was going to river hunt that if you slip or fall into the deep water, the waders can fill up and drag you down if you can't get out of them easily. There is a shelf in this place where I'm hunting. If you wear a tight belt over them you do get some buoyancy, but it might not be the buoyancy you want... The other problem of course is water temperature, the colder it is the more it will affect you quickly. The PFD should keep my head up. It's only about 15-20 feet deep in this branch, but some places are deeper. My waders are chest high and heavily insulated, I thought I would be out in the river when it was colder. The boots have a steel shank and are heavy. I used my scoop to check some of the softer exposed areas, and one step took my foot 6". Pulled it out and backed off! It's all sand on top with sticky/stinky black muck underneath that will stain your hand. Currents run pretty fast here, I was kayaking once and got caught on a creek when tide was going out and had the same tree as my goal for almost 45 minutes of paddling. I traded my fishing kayak for some construction work. 😀 The rockfish was about 30" long and weighed about 20 pounds. When I got it to the kayak I cut it loose because I had nowhere to put it. 😀 Later on my boat I got a 42" that weighed 32 pounds. It was like rescuing someone from the river! They don't pull you off the kayak, they take you for what kayak fishermen call "The Sleigh Ride". You use your anchor to stop that so you can reel it in. If you don't have one and don't cut the line you may get caught in a current you have to fight, or end up a long way away!
    2 points
  37. Heck it’s no better here in Texas. Any place it’s a state park you can’t go on there with a detector. Along the coast if it’s a state park you better not pull a detector out unless you want a fine are jail time. We have some treasure ship’s along the coast so to make sure they keep you off they made it National sea shore . There they don’t put you in jail they put you under it . like your problem they don’t want to put out the time and money plus all the hard work and maybe still get nothing. They are willing to take it from you like Texas did in 67 from some treasure hunters. If they ever get their foot In the door it will be like California they lost dredging and may never get it back again. Chuck
    2 points
  38. I think it's specfically the silver 3 cent piece, at least here in the USA. We also had a nickel-copper 3 cent piece which superceded the silver one. That wasn't very popular either. Finding either is an accomplishment but the silver one is so tiny that it's even a better feather in one's cap than a nickel 3-center. In the mid-19th Century the USA experimented with several non-standard denominations: 2-cent, 3-cent and 20-cent. None came even close to catching on. They all share a pattern -- the first few years had (relatively speaking) high mintages but their failure to be popular led to a few years of low to very low mintages and eventually their demise. The years of mintage were: 2-Cent (95% copper) -- 1964-1873 (10 total, with almost 75% being in the first two years), silver 3-Cent (90% silver) -- 1851-1873 (23 years, but 1864 and later are all rare), nickel 3-Cent (25% nickel) -- 1865-1889 (25 year, but from 1877 on all are rare except 1881). 20-Cent (90% silver) -- 1875-1879 (5 years, all quite collectible and except for two with mintages specified below, rare to extremely rare.) Of special note for the 20-center is that of the above oddball denominations it's the only one to bear a mintmark (i.e. only one minted outside of Philadelphia). All five years had coins minted in Philadelphia. 1875-S and both 1875-CC and 1876-CC are the exceptions. The 1875-S has by far the highest mintage (1.115 million) followed by the 1875-CC (0.133 million). I've never read of a metal detectorist finding a 20-Cent piece. Anyone here ever found one? You don't even hear of it being a bucket lister and most people, detectorist or not, probably don't even realize they ever existed. Quite an asterisk in the history of USA coin minting.
    2 points
  39. 2 points
  40. GB-amateur , as the others have said: Excellent post ! It is a common observation that gold-nugget hunting is more profitable. From a daily "melt value" perspective (given a skilled hunter, in each venue, that knows what he's doing). And let's be honest : Even if you factor in key-date old coins, that the odds are: It's rare that any old seated coin (even the key date S and CC mints !) will merit you $1k. And a cool collectible buckle or button might net you $1k. And so forth. Contrast to the guys who have strictly drifted to gold nugget md'ing: It can have much higher dollar values for their accumulative value. Than ANY coin/relic guy could have had in the same period. This is why many Sacramento area hunters, back when the nugget-specialty niche of the hobby first took off, tended to "leave coins/relics behind", and focused STRICTLY on nuggets forever more thereafter. It became an addiction unto itself. I know we can debate: "What about the coins that were found, that were worth $10k ?" Well , gee, so too : "What about the nuggets that were found that were worth $10k ?" But at the end of the day, we all can't deny that if money were the only driving factor, and skill-levels-were-accounted for, then: Nuggets seem to be more profitable. HOWEVER, as Raphis-Dan and others point out, there is NO substitution for the thrill of the history (strategy, skill, story, etc...) that the old coin or relic presents. A nugget is strictly a monetary object. But a coin or relic holds a story. Not sure if that's making any sense. This is all-so-timely for me. Since: My wife and I are looking at taking our central coast insane real estate market nest egg, (since I'm not on the ugly side of 60), and thinking of G.R. area real estate living. And as such, I'm pondering learning the nugget hunting aspect/side of our hobby. Great post GB-amateur !
    2 points
  41. Dug a lot of silver and old coins over the years and enjoyed the hell outta it! It got kinda routine after so many years and I just got really tired of having to deal with any form of the public (asking permissions, people flipping you off, calling the cops, claiming they own curb strips, dogs barking, people interrupting asking questions, needles in the parks, etc. etc.). Needed to avoid the crowds so started after the gold. All I can say is finding something really rare, one-of-a-kind, that takes a lot more effort on your part is much more rewarding....to me anyways? Out in the brush all by yourself 99% of the time...priceless (a little gold helps also)..... Sorry to avoid the question but for me it's not about dollar value.... it's about sanity.
    2 points
  42. While not a perfect match, its shape is very similar. Guessing it is safe to say it was a brooch. https://pbuy.ga/ProductDetail.aspx?iid=21392354&pr=66.99
    2 points
  43. Well I'm laying over in northern Nevada for some detecting before heading back to Idaho and my summer job, and decided to go revisit an old dink patch with the GPZ 7000 this afternoon. Since I've hit this place pretty hard, I figured I better use a higher sensitivity setting to see if it would light up some bits that were missed last time using a lower sensitivity that helped keep the alkali rich ground feedback under control. Needless to say, I had to move the coil painfully slow over the really noisy areas, but the extra sensitivity started working its magic right away, as I got a faint but repeatable little wobble. Digging down about 3 inches or so revealed the first little bit of yellow. 🙂 Soon there was another signal a few yards upslope; another shiny golden bit, this time a little deeper. I couldn't help but wonder at this point how much deeper the new GPX 6000 will be able to snag dinks like these, and how many the Zed is leaving behind. 🤔 Guess I'll find out when I finally get mine. Just then I was awakened from my wonderings by a sharp response from the Zed; sounding pretty shallow, the tiny target was out from under a bush with just a boot scrape. And I mean tiny! One more golden goodie sitting on bedrock ended a splendid, sunny afternoon in the goldfields. Total weight of todays finds, zero point six of a gram. Good luck out there!
    2 points
  44. The only place to go would be Gerry's Detectors, Boise Id., as they are some of the best people for what you are asking. Just remember to make sure that you understand your detector before they let you go home and ask plenty of questions. There are no stupid questions when it comes to detecting, believe me I have asked many of them and have always got good answers.
    2 points
  45. I'm a graduate of multiple trainings. Each class taught me something else. First there is the training you get on a specific detector. It sounds like you are taking an economical route and getting a pre-used detector. You will save enough on it to more than pay for a couple of 'get to know your detector' trainings. Before you schedule them look at several YouTubes on your detector. Just make sure you select a gold detector. Dealers have those used and traded in also and they will have checked them out before they sell it to you. Second type of training is where to go. This may also determine where you buy your detector. Get training from a place you like to stay. You can join GPAA and go to any of their claims in several states but that doesn't tell you where to go on those claims. Detectorists will be friendly and give you some pointy fingers and say 'there is gold all over out there.' That doesn't get you some of the practical help you need. Where is that 5th Wheeler going to take you for most of the time? It probably won't be in Arizona this summer. Go north and see Gerry if you are anxious for summer hunting. Call several shops and see what they have for sale. I tried too long to learn on my own and be secretive about where I was going to look and I wasted time. Pay someone a couple hundred to take you out to a gold patch and it will be worth it.
    2 points
  46. The cost of the 3 day training depends upon the cost of the detector you bought from Gerry, and in my case since I didn't buy a detector from him I still was able to get the training, but without a discount. Definitely worth it, IMO. Not only do you get Gerry's expertise but also that of four other top level gold detectorists (including Lunk who posts here regularly). It's roughly 1 1/2 days of lecture and an equal amount of hands-on in-the-field instruction. Getting this kind of training takes away the doubt ("am I doing this right?") and thus saves a lot of getting up-to-speed trial and error. I tried learning on my own first and after multiple trips out West never found a single piece. After taking Gerry's class I found two pieces in the next two days.
    2 points
  47. As mentioned, getting training from a dealer is the best way to go. It is offered by several well-known and capable dealers including Gerry’s detectors in Idaho, and Rob’s detectors, Chris at Arizona Outback and Bill at Nugget Shooter in Arizona. Definitely go for training which they offer for free with purchase of many of their detectors, or at least go to one of their paid classes if you buy elsewhere and don’t have a good source for training with it.
    2 points
  48. Welcome, looking forward to your finds.
    1 point
  49. Hi, i wanted to include some finds in with yours. I just got back yesterday from a short trip out to WA goldfields to give you a comparison of what can happen between different years. Shows how easy it is to miss a target with different machines. The first photo is from mid 2017 of a find with my 5000. Top of the world and sent off photos to the family etc. as you do. Just below the bottle top I think was about 3.5 grams. Last week went back to the same location. You will note the ground is much dryer, a bad water season. I used my Z7000 this time and picked up a 2.07 gram piece shaped like a bent nail. Its on the top of the coil. The location is within a meter from the last find. Would love to have a 1.5 ton excavator to scrape of the soil cover. You can see the hard rock which drops down to the creek level and all finds have been on the top of the rock level and all look long and skinny in shape. Plenty of nuggets still to find I think. The next photos show a find the next day which blew me away. A different creek that has been well worked over and plenty of pieces found over the years. This shows how important to move fallen timber although these branches where not large. The 7000 gave me the reversed signal tone. My settings were high yield the difficult due to the hot rocks etc. Cheers sturt
    1 point
  50. Oh my gosh, that’s a wild comparison! It depends on mineralization. That big coil does not like magnetite, and if there is too much in the beach, you will actually do better with the stock coil. A PI cuts through mineral, and the SDC would help on highly mineralized beaches. But on a huge beach, going to 8” coil....? My answer is either could go deeper, the CTX with 17”, or SDC with 8”, depending on the mineralization. But I like getting ground coverage also, so this is a multiple variable question in the extreme, no good answer.
    1 point
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