Leaderboard

Just sharing an appealing little alluvial worn twinned crystalline nuggie i detected today. (3.6 grams NSW Australia. 7000 with the NF coil)

Got back to the old homestead i have been hunting, and by far the thing i find the most of is shot gun shells, in fact i found a cash of of them buried about 9" deep , I think a red squirrel buried them must have been 15 of them , but today I went over the same spot the ORX went over and just kept finding targets, . I keep digging some nails, because i find so few good targets like silver coins i really do not know the difference from a nail false, and a silver coin so i have dug my share of rug pullers, but the Indian did have a better sound and higher numbers 14-17 and i found it by rechecking a hole the ORX found one in I am using 6.5 khz and 7 gain and 0 threshold and it will hit with a good signal in air a dime at 11 inches so its got some power . the Indian looks like someone went after it with a sharp punch of some kind, otherwise it was in extra fine condition

I have been lobbying for over 6 years - more like a decade - for somebody to produce a replacement for either the White's Bigfoot, or Tesoro Cleansweep coils. These narrow 18" long coils are superb at scanning large areas for relatively shallow targets, making them excellent for jewelry detecting in large fields, and for vacuuming up recent coin drops. They are so efficient at this that some planted coin hunts prohibit them as an unfair advantage. Also great for beach detecting recent drops, relic/coin hunting huge fields, patch hunting for gold nuggets, even meteorites. See my long thread here for details on the subject. The short story is that the Bigfoot was a 3" x 18" figure 8 wound coil, specific to some White's models. This design has advantages, but is very hard to make, pretty much a hand made coil. And to really work best, a detector needs to be optimized for it (see additional post below). Barring some process breakthrough, I expected getting this coil back into production to be difficult at best. I therefore also concentrated on the Tesoro Cleansweep design as an option, as it is simply an elongated DD coil, much easier to produce properly in volume at lower cost, and with no oddball operating characteristics. I tried to get Nokta/Makro in particular to make these, as they are generally open to new ideas, and I thought, and still think, a detector sold with this coil as stock would be a unique offering that would attract attention. That came to naught, unfortunately. Then, about a year ago Detech contacted me on another subject. I used that opportunity to once again bring up the elongated coils as an ignored market, and they seemed enthusiastic about pursuing it. But then nothing, silence for a long time. I pretty much gave up hope. I was contacted by another old detectorist on the subject recently, and said just that. I had lost the original contact info from Detech, and was resigned to these coils never happening again. And frankly, I have one, so I'm covered. I just wanted so much for others to be able to get their hands on these coils, especially for machines that never had them as an option. Well, miracles happen!! I just was notified that Detech is producing a 4" x 18" DD coil that will be available soon (not sure how soon, but they may chime in on this thread hopefully). I do not know the weight or price, but with Detech I am sure that the price will be reasonable. The best part is that it will be for more than one brand of detector. The list I was just provided with: - MINELAB'S EXPLORER / E-TRAC / SAFARI - FISHER'S F75 - TEKNETICS T2, G2, GAMMA / OMEGA - GARRETT'S ACE AND AT PRO - WHITES' DFX / MXT / M6 And so without further ado, let me give you your first look at a genuinely new product for some detectors, the Detech Arrow! One of my favorite all-time coils is the Detech Ultimate series, so I know they make some great coils. This is a niche coil, but one many people crave. I want to give a very personal thanks to Detech for doing this, as it is something I have tried hard for a long time to get somebody to do, and they have granted this old guys wish finally. Thank you!

Had another good month hunting the low tide wet sand slopes at a few local beaches. Some large surf eroded out a few areas, lots of black sand and lots of targets! Spent half the time in "All-Metal" and half in "Tone Mode". For me, tone mode comes in very handy when weeding out those annoying pesky tent stakes when there is an abundance of them on the beach. I ran stock settings for tone mode and it worked out great at one of the beaches I was working that was littered with tent stakes! The find of the month was a nice 14k LeVian ring, the surprise find of the month was another gold tooth crown, which makes my 3rd for the year! Acid tested it and confirmed it's 18k. I see Compass found one recently too. You would think the cremation process would completely melt the crowns into blobs, I guess the heat doesn't reach that point? Anyway it was a fun month. I went out recently after the oil spill for a night time negative low tide hunt, beaches were pretty sanded in unfortunately. I did encounter some tar blobs on the beach, but I always wear muck boots when hunting the wet sand anyway so I had no issues with oil on my feet. I was surprised to see a surfer out in the night time waters and also someone walking their dog on the shore.. So totals for the month were: 10k - 2.1 grams 14k - 15.7 grams 18k Dental Gold - 4.1 grams 925 - 3.65 oz Thanks for looking, GL & HH out there!

Beach hunt # 5 is done!!! Decided to hit a new beach that may drain well at low tide. Got there to a pretty big crowd of people still enjoying the 70-degree weather. Looked fairly sanded in, so I pulled the Equinox out for about 2 hours and got some change and other bits. I didn’t even dare bring the GPX 6000 out here, since this beach is old and loaded with iron. You would be digging junk every 2 feet. Not wanting to waste my only day for detecting, I decided to pack up (something I rarely do, as I hate losing time to traveling), and hit my favorite silver beach. Glad I did. Not much at the beginning, as it was sanded in like everywhere around here. Usually by now, we get some beach erosion. The tides are not pulling much sand away so far. So, I shifted gears and tried to find a section of the beach that I maybe could squeak out a wheat or stray silver. I gambled well, as it ended up producing a lot more than I was begging for. 😄 I started by hitting an old spoon, then some older green/red clad and then some silver dimes. But the finding of old lead always gets me going, as it has been there a long time. So I was at a layer that could produce more silver. But I wasn’t expecting to hit a gold ring. 14K wedding band, probably lost in the late 60’s/70’s. Also got a tiny sterling religious charm and a surprise 1902 V nickel. A much better day than I was expecting. I used the GPX 5000 for this beach for about 6 hours and then called it quits. I was tired of digging through packed rocks. So, it looks like I will be heading back next week to see if conditions allow me to continue. Most of the coins came in the last 3 hours of the hunt. As always, I’m grateful to be at the beach enjoying the sight of the waves and the warmth of the sun.

Got a little carried away posting my dinks lately. This season has been busy trying to add #'s to get some weight with the little stuff. All season until now has been smoke, fires, closures, helicopters, bugs and hot weather so when all that finally came to an end I got a little carried away tooting my own horn and posting as everything last couple of weeks has been absolutely perfect here. Sorry I got a little carried away. Today I found my biggest piece so far this season. Piece has some quarts in it and weighed in at 7.000g and total was 7.683g today. I'll hold off on the pics until end of season unless I snag any nicer pieces.... Thanks everyone for the likes and comments and good luck out there....!!!!!!

Too bad Coiltek didn't make this 18x4 for the Equinox instead of the 15" round. It would have been another home run like their 10x5". Hey Coiltek, how 'bout a 15x5" for the Equinox? Could be another superstar for ya.

Unfortunately, with Minelab controlling coil sales via embedded chips, this is unlikely, a loss for both Minelab and their customers, in my opinion. I’d buy one for my Equinox in a heartbeat. Oh well, can’t have everything, but at least lots of other detector owners will have the option, including the older BBS and FBS owners.

The MPF timings for the SDC, in particular the receive processing, minimizes mineralized soil signals and can help greatly with hotrocks. The 6000 can be quite sensitive to hot rocks and the SDC has an edge IMO in extreme conditions. But overall the SDC is no match to the 6000. However, I still use it from time to time, especially when I go hiking. In highly mineralized soil with fast-timing shallow gold close over bedrock the SDC is hard to beat. It was designed for these conditions.

First off I got the 9" as I like round coils to navigate in the woods better than the long Viper coil I had. I didn't want to get a coil too big or open where it becomes cumbersom. Tried a quick air test but emi is really bad in my house so only yielded 1/2" better depth on the Ultimate coil vs Viper but in the field away from EMI things are noticeably better. Separation seems a little less than the stock coil but overal stability is better with the Ultimate 9. Machine is quieter and pinpointing is better with the Ultimate 9 also. Did a quick run at local school field that buddy and I have hit over the years that has a can line in the 8-10 mark and tons of can slaw. I had hit this area a couple of times with the stock coil so went back and did a pass down the field and back. I was pretty impressed how nicely it picked out nickels we missed as well as the other clad. Cans themselves ran lower on id's down in the 70's with the zincolns instead of low-mid 80. Soil there is rich black dirt with ground balacance low to mid 90's Most the coins were in the 6-8" range and I had no question what they were before digging. So is the coil worth the $170 price tag? Depends how much you love your Apex but consider the Ripper too if your looking for another coil. I will be keeping this coil on for a long time.

Thanks a lot for the news, Steve. Think I'll get one, too, if available. Think it will fit all of my 3 White's.😉👍

Found it: Spur, Model 1859, Federal officer, scroll adornment. Spur was authorized under the Regulation 1859, and was issued to the officer cavalryman, large numbers were used in the 1864 cavalry campaigns. Spur is sturdy construction, exterior bar is rounded, interior bar is flat without strengthening groove, scroll adornment is cast in around the neck, neck is curved, rowel was often removed or damaged from use. Ref: Historic American Spurs, US12. M0901 Spur, Model 1859, Federal officer, scroll adornment. Recovered: Virginia campaign.

The Minelab E-TRAC, Safari, Explorer SE Pro, Explorer SE, Explorer II, Quattro MP, Explorer XS, and Explorer S can all employ the same coils.

Like Prunt I may have to buy a detector to fit the coil...I'm taking it that it will not work on a CTX...I recently bought a big foot for my TDI pro...it's almost un fair to hunt with it...laser pin pointing with the tip of the coil. strick

The place where the CZs really shined was in the salt environment. I'm still using the CZ-20 I bought in 1998 and love how it performs. It is every bit as deep as my Equinox if not deeper. The electronics rival anything on the market today. It just needs to be redesigned into a beach detector. Make it lightweight, ergonomic, and affordable. No screen. No speaker. Just multi-tone ID and pinpoint is all it needs, with the main focus on performance. That is a detector I would buy and use. They should completely discontinue all the present Fisher models and replace them with a new line of CZs to fit every niche and price range. Some models could be digital and others simple and affordable, while never skimping on performance. At the very least, there should be a CZ line of beach detectors. Design the AQ as a super deep, all-metal pulse machine and leave out the discrimination BS. The market is wide open for a high-performance, easy to use pulse detector. The problem with FT might very well be that none of the decision makers are into metal detecting. They are just business men/women selling product. They have a vague idea of what metal detectors do but they don't waste much time thinking about it. All they see are numbers. If playing golf on the weekends is more important than going metal detecting, the company is going to suffer on some level.

Well holy shit / the gpx on a cleaned out beach this pm still learning the machine had a DD coil (standard ML) was in Coin/Relic, mostly standard settings apart from IReject turned up. on the front of the machine I had Mono selected - I guess it still works with a DD? need to buy a waterproof coil!

Thanks. Thought it was going to just be a clad coin day. Yeah, sometimes if they are not in the direct waves, they survive better. Never real good though 😄 The wedding band has a '63 date to it, so 1963 it is. But the design looked older to us too. Not really a style I was familiar with.

And it's a Civil war relic! 🤦‍♂️ Threw it in my truck after I dug it, and totally forgot it. 🤣 No maker's mark, but nearly identical to the one I researched. 😵 Lotta photos. Mine had the spur, the one they show has a plain "rowel". The identification guide is $80, don't think I'll buy it unless I find more.

a few more photos in the first photo the ground was so good you could pick out nuggets in the bank, second photo is the first trommel we built, third and forth photo is the larger trommel , feed hopper, and stacker conveyor we built thanks doug

Some knows I broke a couple of toes a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday is was attempting to put a TV stand with a very heavy thick glass top on it in a dumpster. That glass came off…. and dropped straight down on those toes. Man that hurts like heck. Well I was determined to do a little hunting anyway. Long slow walk tot the water. It was really moving pushing me a round. Managed to check the transition points with some success. If you get there at low tide you can clearly see what the beach has been doing and where the deep cuts are made. Wend was out of the SW and pushing the waves. Good many coins considering the guys hit it last night. One SS, a silver earring marked Jordan and the small 14k gold 3.9 grams. After today …. Man I’m taking a few days off again

I doubt the numbers they see are too crash hot, possibly flashing red 🙂 A rehash seems viable as long as it is not a paint job. It would need to appeal vs the competition to sell to anyone other than the enthusiast or former user though so would need the mod cons like wireless audio.

Ctx seems to be another chipped detector, I can see it in the coil cable which explains it being ignored. I've never seen a company before that people love their product yet are so discontent with it at the same time. Would it really kill them to let us have access to coils? Just release a firmware for all the detectors disabling the security checks and make your customers happy. It's got to the point we are either buying other brand detectors or older models with no chips to get around the problem to use coils like this Detech that supporters of other brands can just use. Even entry level Ace detectors can just throw one on. It's just crazy.

Nice finds. I am not an expert, but I looked up your Chinese coin. I believe it is: Kangxi Emperor (also known as Shengzu - 1662-1722) Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi emperor, personal name Xuanye, was the third Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The Kangxi emperor's reign of 61 years makes him the longest-reigning emperor in Chinese history and one of the longest-reigning rulers in the world.Wikipedia

That’s wonderful news! I had the Bigfoot coil for a while and used it on Whites MXT and MX5. Fun to use for parks and recent drops. X marked the target, no need for a pin pointer. The SEF WSS 5x10 coil works similar on the Whites just not as long a pattern. Hope they or Minelab can come up with one for the Nox!

so am i

we have a 15hp gas motor belt driven to chains and sprockets for gear reduction the trommel barrel has 3/8 bolts 3inch apart sticking out 1 inch the chain is an ag chain with 3 inch centers so the pitch is right it took a little bit to get the pitch right ended putting a 1/8 inch spacer around the barrel . we use to use 5/16 bolts for the drive they would only last maybe one season the 3/8 bolts helped we run it about 16 revaluations per min the gas engine runs about 1/4 throttle the engine uses about 3 gallons of gas a day its a be engine from aih 15 hp its ran 7 years so far with out a problem the trommel barrel is a propane tank 42 inch in diameter 16 feet long the barrel is some times about 1/4 full of rock it still turns fine 24 inch wide sluice 11 feet long we run about 35 yards an hour

Come on man!!, How could you forget that!! That's an awesome find!!🤠👍👍

I have the Bigfoot for DFX, which was what it was originally designed for. The figure 8 winding has built in EMI cancellation properties, making this coil actually deeper in some areas than more conventional coils, as it eliminates "silent EMI" issues. But the big advantage is pinpointing. The DFX cuts out the rear half of the coil, so only the front 9" works when you hit the pinpoint trigger. It works so well you hardly need a pinpointer at all. The Bigfoot coil, being a figure 8 winding, has a reversed polarity front to rear. The DFX corrects for this, but the MXT and M6 do not, so you get reversed signals front to rear on MXT and M6. They work, but this takes some getting used to. But for the DFX, it's a real dream coil. The DD does have a couple advantages over a figure 8. There is a relative weak area in the middle of the figure 8 winding, where the coils cross. The DD does not have this issue, with a consistent signal front to rear. So MXT and M6 users will see an improvement in front to rear signal consistency, no signal reversals, and no dead spot. This polarity reversal would be an issue also for Garrett, Minelab, and Fisher owners also, so realistically DD is the only option for general sales. Fisher, Garrett, and Minelab users, well, all I can say folks, this is a coil well worth consideration, an option you've not had up until now. It is 4" wide so depth is more like a 4" coil stretched out, not like an 18" round coil. Though it's a little better than that actually - in surface area you are getting more than a 4" round for sure. But really the name of the game here is coverage, and if you get used to one of these for walking a huge beach, sports fields, etc. smaller coils start to seem snail like. Jewelry hunters- just get one!

No price yet, of course, but I gotta think it will be reasonable, relatively speaking. The White's brand Bigfoot that was compatible with their MXT was selling for ridiculous prices on Ebay after White's discontinued them. Nice to see the MXT is one of the models that will be supported by this new coil. I don't think that this coil will fit my detecting requirements, but I still see it as excellent news for the metal detecting world. And if I decide I can't live without one, my F75 will get a new mate!

Nice coin with odd marks. It makes you wonder why. On the Tarsacci, I have found that the nail falses will break up/disappear as you rotate around the target in Disc. I have also found Disc 29/30 to be helpful in heavier nails. You can still tell the bigger Iron though to dig it if you want to get it out of the way.

Nice IH! Looks like you're getting the same stuff I do. 🙂 Shotgun shells and lamp parts. Still worth posting an IHP.

If you're thinking meteorite, Um ... No. Rock that big coming in at 70,000mph would leave a crater big enough for a lake, you wouldn't have to dig a pond. Probably a glacier wash or a roller from a nearby hill. Take 'er down to Fort Leavenworth, they're gonna need big rocks to break into smaller ones. 🤔 Here's an article that may be interesting: http://www.virginiaplaces.org/geology/glaciers.html

I buried a 3.7 grams 14k Gold ring at 14" in the sand at a beach on a lake. The ground is mild. I went over the sand with 0 disc to make sure it was clean. Setting were sensitivity 96, recovery 2 and disc at 7. I went over the ring with 3 tone, 4 tone and gold 1. 3 tone & 4 tone hit it very good. I was surprised 3 tone hit good. Gold 1 was a very soft hit. All the frequencies 14 khz to 54 khz hit it. This spring I'll be hunting in the water with it.

No worries here. I think a lot of the time manufacturers think we are just bitchers and complainers. I have been quite critical of all the manufacturers at one time or another. On these forums at least, there is more to it than just tossing rocks. Most of us genuinely love metal detecting, and we really care what is happening in the industry. We first get frustrated, then even angry, when we see these companies making stupid moves. The U.S. companies in particular have been drowning in arrogance. I’ve watched for very many years in frustration, while Minelab, once an unknown upstart from Australia, has eaten all their lunches. They’ve seemed completely blind to what had been very obvious to me for a long time… that Minelab was literally going to put a few of them, if not all, out of business. Then along came Nokta/Makro to add extra pressure. They are lucky the Chinese were asleep forever, but Quest is just the first that will add even more pressure. Tesoro did not even try, just committed willful suicide by doing nothing. White’s tried, but woke up just a little too late, and now they are gone. First Texas is just a mess, but their volume in low end big box product has masked this. To me they are in more trouble than they seem to think. Their mind share with most of us is evaporating, if not already gone. Just like White’s, there are the faithful who stick with companies to the end, but most of us have moved on. If they think cranking out cheap units for Walmart will keep them alive forever, they will learn that never works, never has. The irony is they bought Fisher and Teknetics to try and escape the Bounty Hunter low end trap, but in the last few years they’ve let both those premium brands languish, if anything gutting them to give their best products to Bounty Hunter. It’s not that they have not been trying, but their efforts have floundered, or been misdirected. The marketing is a non-cohesive disaster, almost non-existent. The main efforts seem to go into placing pallets of product at Costco and taking care of their big box customers, not taking care of the small dealer network. The Fisher website, as has been noted, was downright embarrassing in its non-updated, neglected state. It perfectly encapsulated my view of the company… just an ad hoc, sticking fingers in leaking dams approach to the business. Sounds like I have it in for them, but just the opposite. I probably care more about the company than many people that work there. Detecting is my life long passion, and I find it almost offensive watching the U.S. manufacturers run their businesses into the ground through arrogance and neglect. Mainly arrogance. They all think they are so damn smart, and that people like us are just unfair critics or idiots. No, many of us just see what they don’t, brands we know and would love to support, but who simply don’t seem to care enough to engage with us, or listen to us.

You get down in the Leadore area, Scott, I hope you'll let me know. I know that area pretty well, and spend some time there. Would enjoy meeting you. Jim

Rocks are like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get!!😁👍👍

You are making the rest of us look bad in a very good way. Keep it up as you are correct, the days are really limited now, possibly down to hours. Well earned.

Another COLD but beautiful day on the hill. Don't use the 6 much as most my spots are too trashy but used it today all day long on a cleaner re-hunt spot. 54 noogies so far with the 6. Outside of battling aircraft emi, etc. I was once again quite impressed at the depth on small bits I turned up today! Man oh man was it COLD this morn...days are numbered so get out there if/while you can....and good luck!!! 10/3.560g

Mixing Ibuprofen and asperin might not be good, I believe both are blood thinners. Those shouldn't be mixed with some the pain relieving arthitis creams too from what I was told. Getting old sucks...

little bit nicer stuff today.... 5 with the 6 and 6 with the Monster, 8.201g

Before my 17" coil arrived I had already ordered the parts needed to make my own shaft/lock pin extension I used the lower part of a 5000 shaft and the lock pin at the other end, bought some carbon fibre glue and the job is done Total cost (if you have a old shaft) AU$45 and I can have the length I want

Main issue for me was SDC poor ergonomics and hardwired coil. Even if they detected gold identically coil to coil, the GPX in the long run will benefit from a better coil selection, like that 17” mono. Still, for a person wanting a simple to operate, easy packing gold vacuum, the 2300 is a great little detector, and close to half the price of the 6000.

Todays results (thurs.)..........

Todays hunt.... rained on me 60% of the time which kinda made for a sloppy, slippery, and hard to recover the little guys today but had a good hunt anyways. Had plans for the 6 today but the rain kept her sidelined but the Monster picked up the slack once again! We need the rain.....

Saw this while browsing Serious Detecting's pages: Minelab Equinox replacement battery.

I’m 52 and still hard at it. Here are pics through an old loupe.

It's entirely possible something is wrong with it. Mine was defective right out of the box. Sent it back the next morning after it arrived. I was told they have some new ones in box's they would send one back to me now they don't have any left due to defective ones coming in. Now they are telling me they will get my replacement sent out as soon as more come in. Who knows when that will be, a few days, weeks or months. Especially with how things are going with shipping.

I sold my 2300 to help fund the 6000 purchase so my only observation was watching its new owner drive off with it 🙂 seriously I think running the 2300 was easier but the 6000 hits hard on any small metal target where as the 2300 would let you know its there... strick

On the GPX you can put on a DD coil which dramatically reduces the troubles with hot rocks. It also has timings like enhance that allow you to work with hot rocks with mono coils. I also found larger mono coils handle them better than smaller coils. Some light reading.... https://www.minelab.com/community/treasure-talk/hot-rocks-part-2 I found the GPX handled hot rocks very well overall. I should add the SDC is very popular in Australia for a reason, it finds plenty of gold, and is sensitive to the smaller stuff although a GPX with a small coil is pretty competitive on the small stuff I think. If you want to try find bigger deeper nuggets then the GPX is the better choice. If you want to consistently find gold having the smaller gold sensitivity of the SDC may mean you go home more often with gold in your bottle as seeing you have the option you'll probably end up running bigger coils more often on the GPX, something like a 14x9"/15x10" was my favourite size for regular use for quite a while and only used the smaller sizes when hunting bedrock. Often having the extra ground coverage helped me find more gold than having the extra small gold sensitivity of a smaller coil. Your GB2 if it handles your ground will be good for finding your tiny bedrock gold.

I figured I'd try and keep my beach hunts in one thread if I can remember 😶Beach hunt # 2 is in the books. Headed to my heavy EMI beach to try the 6000 there. This is actually my better gold beach too. There were too many people there to try the dry sand, so the 6000 and 5000 stayed in the car. I figured I would spend some needed time with the Equinox. It did fairly well last hunt and I really needed to get some settings down. So, from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, I ran the 800. I was in the digging mood, so I dug a lot of junk targets. Not much change on this beach, as there are a lot of regulars hunting it. I was not alone, there was another guy with the Equinox giving me the stink eye for detecting his beach 😄. Every season I break my spade and yesterday was the day, so I am good for a while now. Not much of a low tide, but it did expose 3 rings. Each one looked good for a short while, but that mother’s ring was deep, and I really thought it was going to be 9K. So, 3 junk rings to add to the collection. I finally hit silver with a nice 925 bracelet. Another odd find was one that was going to burn a hole in someone’s pocket. A BMW car fob. That can’t be cheap to replace. Since everything is sanded in, I may just run the Equinox until I see some erosion happening. This also gives me time to try some new beaches to see what I can turn up. It’s always great to get out and exercise the old legs for the day. Weather was perfect, light breeze, cloudy, and warm – the perfect detecting weather!!!