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If you guys want to have a debate about who stole what from who, or contrast brands, take it over to the appropriate forum. I promise I will delete any more posts here that are about anything other than Nokta/Makro products. So just expect it when it happens. Same goes for the other brand specific forums, all of which are for fans/supporters of each brand. The Detector Advice & Comparisons Forum is brand agnostic, and there specifically to keep brand comparisons off the brand specific forums. I'm serious about this as I have seen brand wars/flaming ruin other forums, and frankly you don't drop into a Ford Forum to talk crap about Ford. It's simply not polite, and I like polite people. As they say in law enforcement, “thank you for your cooperation”

What that says to me is the Multi Frequency technology Nokta have must be decent, they're getting rid of their other detectors because of it. As we all predicted having multi frequency will make their single frequency detectors obsolete, funny that isn't it? 🙂

I just tested two GPX11 coils for different customers who were complaining about touch sensitivity, both coils when tested were perfectly fine. The 6000 is an incredibly sensitive high end metal detector and in both cases the first thing I did was take a look at the skid plate and sure enough both showed large amounts of wear damage from hard scrubbing in highly variable mineralised dirt (especially deep contact scratches/gouges), both coils were also used when the ground was damp and just as another huge weather front came through which has now drowned the surrounding area. Both coils when tested could be bashed and knocked about with NO touch noise, so the noise being heard was from the variable ground signal not from touch falsing. In variable soils that have saturation signals the particles in the gravels that cause the saturation along with clay particles become worse when wet so getting the coil right onto the ground will cause more than double the noise that was heard when the ground was dry, you combine that with high temperatures (36C and higher prior to the rain) where the coil cables become very soft the combination of increased salt signal and conductive signals in combination with more EMI from approaching weather and the constant ground signals created by scrubbing the coil will make the detector sound like it is touch sensitive. Best bet when the ground is wet and the ground is conductive is to keep the coil up a bit and not actually contacting the ground, this will allow the Ground Balance to function correctly and more than halve the variable signals created by close to ground contact. Keep the coil lead a little loose on the shafts to prevent stiction especially in warmer weather to avoid cable noise, try to avoid rapid coil change of direction movements as this will exacerbate cable wobble noise (left right rapid signals as the shafts flex, but also up/down salt signals because the ground is wet). Lowering the Sensitivity on the manual mode will not remove these problem signals, only good coil control and not contacting the ground will do that. If you actually want to reduce “actual” sensitivity then you need to use one of the two Auto modes, my recommendation when the ground is water logged and the ground is variable ect is to use the Auto mode and allow the sensitivity to measure the ground you are working without all the constant ground feedback, this especially helps if you do not have precise coil control. Auto and Auto+ are the only modes that actually change the ‘real’ sensitivity on the GPX6000, so in quiet soils the Auto+ can increase the actual sensitivity beyond the manual modes preset, whereas Auto mode is more conservative but in situations like we have here in Clermont at the moment it can make a huge difference to your ability to continue detecting after BIG rain events. Right now because of the conditions I have three choices if I want to go detecting with the GPX6000, I can either use manual mode on a conservative setting and maintain very precise coil control, or I can use the Auto mode if the manual mode is too fatiguing (especially if I have to lower the manual sensitivity control to below 1/3) or lastly I can revert to a DD coil and use Salt mode in extreme cases. I suggest the salt mode option last because it has the biggest impact on outright depth compared to the 11” Mono coil option so is best used in extremely salty ground where the mono coil is just too noisy. Hope this helps JP

And ... Why does it not corrode easily? It is all explained by Einstein's Theory Of Relativity. https://www.livescience.com/58245-theory-of-relativity-in-real-life.html Most metals are shiny because the electrons in the atoms jump from different energy levels, or "orbitals." Some photons that hit the metal get absorbed and re-emitted, though at a longer wavelength. Most visible light, though, just gets reflected. Gold is a heavy atom, so the inner electrons are moving fast enough that the relativistic mass increase is significant, as well as the length contraction. As a result, the electrons are spinning around the nucleus in shorter paths, with more momentum. Electrons in the inner orbitals carry energy that is closer to the energy of outer electrons, and the wavelengths that get absorbed and reflected are longer. [Sinister Sparkle Gallery: 13 Mysterious & Cursed Gemstones] Longer wavelengths of light mean that some of the visible light that would usually just be reflected gets absorbed, and that light is in the blue end of the spectrum. White light is a mix of all the colors of the rainbow, but in gold's case, when light gets absorbed and re-emitted the wavelengths are usually longer. That means the mix of light waves we see tends to have less blue and violet in it. This makes gold appear yellowish in color since yellow, orange and red light is a longer wavelength than blue. Gold doesn't corrode easily The relativistic effect on gold's electrons is also one reason that the metal doesn't corrode or react with anything else easily. Gold has only one electron in its outer shell, but it still is not as reactive as calcium or lithium. Instead, the electrons in gold, being "heavier" than they should be, are all held closer to the atomic nucleus. This means that the outermost electron isn't likely to be in a place where it can react with anything at all — it's just as likely to be among its fellow electrons that are close to the nucleus.

I have had a play with this and I am impressed. Very loud, feels great in the hand, good depth. Only received one demo unit and two for stock, and the two stock units went out the door. My demo is out on loan. Battery meter on start up is a nice feature.

Picked up my GM1000 from Gerry on Friday, then after doing chores up at the cabin got it out yesterday and today. Used the larger coil for scouting out a new spot and after a couple hours of no decent targets yesterday, went over the same area with my GB2. Still nothing, so at least I didn't miss anything in that area, but I wasn't real comfortable with the Monster yet. So today, after yacking with VA Nurse Paul last night and Scott T today...both singing its praises, I put the small coil on it and went to my "old reliable" bench to see if I could squeak out another baby nugget. Moved rocks and dug up some sagebrush....initially hunting with trusty GB2 to get a target, then compare it with the Monster. Wow, it could hear the Fly-poo AU I find up there, and the disc was pretty reliable! I found 3 pieces using the GB2 first, then once I was more comfortable with how the Monster responds, it sniffed out 6 more! I noticed on some "iffy" signals that the Goldbug heard, the Monster picked them up a bit better. I was using manual 10 sensitivity and All Metal/deep, and as others have mentioned, it does false if you hit a rock etc. Not using headphones and having no threshold hum was actually nice for a change too. Pretty cool machine....tomorrow I'm going to hit the hard rock gravels and see how it does. :-)

I’m glad things are looking up. And it’s no big deal, just me being anal trying to keep walls around various forums and what they are intended for.

Yes, you're probably right although the Ace 150 is long discontinued replaced with the Ace 200 which is normally priced around $199 USD, the same price you can pick up SMF Vanquish 340. The SMF's will penetrate the entry level market soon enough, the Simplex replacement I am betting will be a SMF just limited like the Vanquish was vs the Nox. I think the Ace series will end up being the Apex, the other Ace models will be phased out over time or dropped back to just the Ace 400 at the Ace 200 price. Competition is heating up. The only one pumping out a range of single frequency beginner detectors will be First Texas as that's what they do with what they have and they'll be mostly purchased for kids, adult beginners will tend to favour paying a little bit more for something a bit better like the Vanquish, Simplex or Ace. It's pretty obvious by looking at their packaging and the descriptions on it they're above and beyond a really basic detector. The easier beginner detectors are to use which multi frequency helps with, the more reliable their target ID's the more beginners will enjoy the hobby which means there is more chance of them upgrading to a higher end model. I've never understood manufacturers limiting features that make the detector more enjoyable to use on beginner detectors as they just turn people off the hobby. Having 4 levels of Target ID or something like that is just crazy, make a beginner dig tonnes of junk is a great way to turn them off the hobby. Give them a Vanquish where they can cherry pick targets like a particular coin and they'll love it. I don't know if it's just because I live in a country where nobody lives more than two hours drive to a beach and most live significantly closer but beginners here always think of a beach as a place to go with their new detector, and up until detectors like the Vanquish this wasn't really the ideal place for a beginner detector so it's good these SMF beginners detectors have beach capability.

Now guys if you really want to go cheap for hunting on the inside of old houses and it works great. Drum roll please! You can get this from Harbor Freight for about 36 dollars. For running it across beams works great. Remember you heard it right here on Steve’s H. forum. Chuck

I’ve used this pack mule for a little over a year. I actually just washed it last night. I keep my pinpointer in the main pouch in one of the slots made for a digger, it’s fast to grab and I started doing this because my tek-point wouldn’t fit right in the spot made on the front of the bag. I poked a hole in the original pinpointer slot and added an eyelet, this is where I attach my lanyard for my pinpointer. It seems to work better with the buzz Wilson sheath and not get wrapped up under it. I use the water bottle holder for a small finds box because I carry a water bottle on the other side along with a ready shovel holster sometimes. I have a relic elite pouch too but prefer how the pack mule hangs lower.

I’ve heard of the Sierra Madre detector, but never heard of a “Sierra Madre” program for the XLT. If there is such a thing, it would probably be a variation of the Relic program.

I don't own any single frequency detectors anymore. The deus is all I have at the moment til the 2 comes out. So yeah I believe ML was right and I hope Nokta Makro hit a home run with this.

I received this a few days ago from my Distributor: KRUZER & MULTI KRUZER WILL COME TO END OF LIFE AS OF DECEMBER 31st! GOLD KRUZER WILL STAY IN THE LINE UP!!! ANFIBIO 14 AND 19 WILL ALSO BE DISCONTINUED AS OF DECEMBER 31st BUT ANFIBIO MULTI WILL STAY IN THE PRODUCT LINE-UP. Thanks! Walt

I don't think this 2 pounder will fit. I actually found this one with the White's MXT

I was really fighting with mine in the beginning. Read a few posts about the external speaker possibly causing some emi type issues? Started using both wired and the supplied wireless phones and the machine settled down considerably..... It's just a wild sensitive sob but very effective and good at what it can do..... jmo

If you have an Equinox and 6" coil why not just put it on a telescopic shaft, plenty of options available then you don't even need a special detector or coil. Just use what you've got and the added bonus is you can pop it out to full length in a few seconds and carry on detecting elsewhere.

"Is pure nickel sometimes used in inexpensive jewelry? " I think it's more likely to be nickel-plated, probably with a decent thickness, and the underlying metal is brass or bronze. If the plating is substantial enough, a magnet will be attracted to it.

I've sold more than most dealers in the US as I also offer 3 Days Field Training, so my Staff/I get to see, hear and handle many customers units. Thats why I have seen more than most dealers. It goes that way with all the detector brands and models as when we are in the field for 3 days we hear/see and know a good running unit from a bad one. Here are the 3 issues, I know of. 1) Dead out of box and not powering up is one issue. That will be easy to figure out. 2) Detector turning off when set down or bumped. I think 1 and 2 might have to be with the length of pins on the batteries? 3) Error message on LCD Readout, sometimes coil error. Here is what I know of so far. The majority of people are not having issues and love their detectors. A few of the folks are getting bad units. The good thing for what I've seen is the bad units are right away or really close to being new. It's almost as if the majority will be fine and then those select few are bad and you find our pretty fast. In the US Minelab is offering a 30 day replacement policy so if you do purchase a unit, make sure to get it out in the field and use it a few times. I probably have 100+ hrs on mine so far and dug 100+ nuggets with no issues. Of my 5 Field Staff, none of them have had any issues that I am aware of. Hoping you get a good one as you'll love it.

A few notes regarding the metal conductivities: The 60% IACS figure for Al is for pure, or near-pure aluminium. Everyday kitchen foil is near-pure, as are the thicker foil types that are used for food containers, pie trays etc. They have the distinguishing characterisitc of being very soft. All aluminium alloys that are created for strength, such as beer/drinks cans, and their ring-pulls/tabs, have noticeably lower conductivity, a typical figure is 37% IACS. Likewise, pure gold is rarely found used in jewellery, it's too soft. Alloying it with copper/silver and sometimes nickel to change the hardness/colour/carat significantly lowers the conductivity. Figures in the 5 - 20% IACS range are typical. For example, 0.900 fine gold, as used in older USA coins, has conductivity of 15% IACS. Cupro-nickel is widely used for coins, and 5% IACS is a typical figure. Your 1986 1 Baht coin will likely read low down, about 10 on the Vanquish ID scale. Here's a decent table of conductivity for many metals/alloys: http://eddy-current.com/conductivity-of-metals-sorted-by-resistivity/ You will soon have plenty more older coins, it's not usually hard to find coins over 100 years old. You have a good machine, it will soon reward you with some great finds. Don't forget to show us, especially the silver ones.

Dilek said she is pushing for the 5X9.5 coil because it has been the best selling coil they make.

I'm not much of a sluicer. I'd rater be looking for nuggets with my detector. I like gold I can pick up with my fingers lol. My wife bought a small Keene sluice box several years ago and we set up a recirculating system at home where we could run some dirt at our leisure just for fun. I never really liked my home made set up. Although it worked it was slow..It was like a mini high banker made with stuff I got at the local hardware store. I was wanting something more efficient. In my search I found Gold Fox USA. There is also an Australian version that is the same company with a dealer who distributes for them in Oz. I wont go into a lot of boring detail...you can go to their web site and face book page or youtube for that...However I would like to say that so far I am very happy with this little set up. I can run unclassified material through this sluice extremely fast. The trommel is five inches in diameter. I've only used it three times so far and time will tell on how durable it is but it seems to be very well built. The company has many different sizes and options available. They are fast and get the product to you when they say they will. If you have a question Kelly the owner will get on the phone and answer it for you. The Lil Monster Deluxe comes with a 12v 2000 GPH pump. You supply your own power. I am using a RV deep cycle battery that I had laying around. I also bought a 700 GPH 12v pump and am using the two pumps together. The reason being is the material I am running is mostly clay and I wanted more water to help break it down. The only thing you have to watch is that the jets that supply the trommel will get plugged with organic material. They are easy to clean. In fact if you turn off the water supply to the hopper so it feeds the jets only...the water pressure is enough to flush them clean most of the time. Give them a look. https://www.goldfoxusa.com https://www.facebook.com/goldfoxusa/ strick

After a brief encounter with a Mental Detector, I came to my senses and got Vanquish 440. Trying to learn what it does, I think I figured out what the actual correlation between the target ID values, notch segments display, and the audio tones is. Perhaps it could be useful to others: The target ID scale on this detector is non-linear, with the middle range between 0 and 20 stretched and both ends compressed. The break points between tones, except for one case of Low-Med in Jewelry Mode, do not correspond to break-points between notch segments. The yellow values, below the target identification guide graphics, represent the standard response (+/-1) for modern (Rama IX/X, 2008+) Thai Baht coins, when the target signal is strong.

When gold is used for visors on space helmets it is so thin as to be transparent and is green in colour. It is used to screen out radiation.

I for one have no intention of debating anyone. I apologize to all parties if my post of Nov. 19th offended anyone. I was going through some stuff and I'm sure it colored my posts around that time. I am better now and hopefully back to normal and I am going to keep an open mind about the Legend and everything else that comes along. Whether I buy it or not, I hope it does well as more good detectors being offered to the hobby is a good thing for all involved. 😎

It's easy to get lost in the conversation. 🙂 If Nokta are discontinuing detectors around the same time as the Legend release, that must be because they think those products will no longer be viable to sell, not enough buyers. This is a massive positive for the Legend as they're confident in the product's performance. I'm starting to have remorse for telling my dealer I'll wait for his second batch whenever that maybe. If it turns out good I may have to wait months while everyone else is having all the fun, I just didn't need another detector! If Dilek reads this I have one question that will be my decision maker.... Have Nokta done anything to prevent companies like Nel and Detech from making coils for the Legend? Something weird happened with Nel and the Simplex.

Wondering how many dogs broght some bones home to chew on LOL.

Out of the box mine was shutting itself off when it was set down or otherwise jogged a bit. After reseating the battery the problem went away and has not come back over maybe 40 hrs of use.

Who me?

I've seen a number of people on Facebook with abnormally bad EMI like problems in a way, just a really unstable detector even reacting really badly to the ground, a few have put videos up of the problem They get it replaced and the new one is much more stable. A few people have had faulty 11" coils too where just replacing the coil solved their issue. Most of the reprots are on Facebook more so than forums, a larger pool of users. There seems to be a range of problems, not just one.

Is pure nickel sometimes used in inexpensive jewelry? Recently I found a chain & pendant which was easily attracted to a manget (chain, that is) but it sure didn't look like iron alloy nor plated iron alloy. I suspect it is nickel, or an alloy which has a very high nickel composition. There are other ferromagnetic elements, cobalt being a common one but also some 'rare earth' elements (which aren't especially rare) such as neodymium -- well known because its a component of 'super magnets'. For the most part, though, if a magnet attracts a metal it likely is iron or an iron alloy (e.g. various non-stainless steels).

First of all, you can’t necessarily lump all “digital detectors’” behavior together based on the Vanquish 440 implementation. But in the specific case of 440, you get a target ID and the detector bins the applicable TIDs into one of 5 fixed tone groups for audio tone ID target identification to the operator or if it falls into a segment notch bin, the applicable IDs are silenced/suppressed. Other higher end models such as Equinox can provide individual TID tones and notches or (two-tone ferrous/non-ferrous configurations) as well as the ability to adjust the bin breakpoints. HTH.

Well done Rob and thanks for sharing some knowledge on the tools you guys are using. Interesting to see that chisel tool. Vert nice chunk of Au as well.

Land Matters is not up to date on it's mining claim mapping. There have been no updates since April 1, 2021. Those maps are being updated now and will be brought up to date a little later this month. The Diggings is not up to date. There have been no updates since January 22, 2021. Mine Cache is not up to date. They state their last update was July 2020. The MLRS is not accurate currently. Many mining claims have been closed inadvertently(?) this year and the BLM has a ways to go before those errors are corrected. Be very cautious with BLM claims information now. Check the serial register page for each recently closed claim (since January of this year) many of them will be changed back to ACTIVE status in the next few months. None of these mapping systems show the claim's actual boundaries. Most claimants are only required to locate their claims to the nearest 1/4 section with the BLM. Follow afreakofnature's advice to ALWAYS check the claim locations and claim amendments at the County Recorder. Also it's imperative that you discover the land ownership/management and any closures or restrictions before you put boots on the ground. Just because someone located a claim somewhere does not mean the land is open to location. When I am researching an area my first step is always to check the land status first. There is no sense in pulling location documents if the area can't be prospected or claimed. Good luck on your adventure!

Bones and fake teeth 😮....what were your settings ?? 🥶

Not that I need the stuff listed above but you're a great resource Phrunt, kudos to you 👍

https://www.livescience.com/metal-detectorist-finds-dagger-ancient-roman-battle shame theres no id on the coil size if its oval

It is a let down thats for sure...The big ones are notorious for being fake...I got one a few years ago stamped 14k...maxed out my scales...I could see a couple suspicious spots on it but it was real heavy so I kept up the hope till I could get home to test it.....after the let down of it not being real I decided to have some fun with it so I put it on and pretended I was a rapper while the wife snapped a photo...happy hunting strick

But,,,Is that the best you can do ?🤔 Skuh kuh kuh kuh kuh ,,, if not , post a pic . You already beat my best dreams. Turning green with envy now......

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Relic Elite makes the best pouches. You can get them with and without belts if you want to add your own belt. The guy that makes them actually lives over the hill from me but never met him. Strick

Nice work, Rob. Glad you are still out there kill'n it. 👍

Wish I could say what's going on but I have no idea. I'm as much in the dark as everyone else.

I have to hope you are joking, especially since you posted a picture I took of my Impulse a year ago. This machine has basically already come and gone, and there is a ton of information on it, with these forums being the number one source. Here are nine pages of threads on the subject: https://www.detectorprospector.com/tags/fisher impulse/ The AQ Limited was released as a prototype build of a yet to be released finished version of the detector. It’s discrimination features are overhyped, and I found it to be basically a very finely tuned TDI type machine. I loved the electronics, but was not happy with the prototype physical design and high failure rate, so I sold mine. A new version that fixes the issues revealed in the prototype release is in the works, and will likely be available in 2022, though at a higher price than the $1500 the AQ Limited sold for. It's already way overdue however, and FT has gone silent on the machine, so hard to say what to expect at this juncture.

Despite all of this, isn't it brilliant there are now going to be a range of multi frequency machines from various brands competing against each other, it's fantastic we aren't going to be limited to one brand and even if you don't intend to get any of the new ones it still benefits you as it encourages competition and may just hurry your preferred detector up to getting a new model, or even make them think again about their build quality. Nokta may have duplicated many features of the Nox, but they've also added their own touches like their torch and vibration, not to mention their enhanced build quality... name the last time you heard someone complain about a drowned Simplex or coil ears snapping off their Anfibio. Sure the detectors are NOWHERE near as popular meaning there are far fewer of them out there... that means less breakages and drownings but the numbers are high enough we'd hear of coil ears breaking by now. The Simplex not being an ideal salt water detector probably doesn't spend much time in the water, fresh water hunters may use it but I'd imagine a large percentage of them are swinging something else. The more popular a detector is the more likely you'll see failures, that's pretty obvious. I think the Ferrocheck is a good idea, if it works as well as they say it sounds like a good idea although it reminds me a bit of the Fe304 meter on the Gold Bug Pro and other First Texas detectors. Seems to do a similar thing unless I'm misunderstanding it? You get your target ID and check the Fe304 meter to see the chances of it being iron. Obviously the CTX and Etrac seem to have another version of it with their Target ID's. I was reading Detect-ED's website with his information about the Legend where he pointed out Nokta testers are saying it's far better at identifying iron targets with ID's that suggest they're not iron. Either way, I'm pretty excited about the Legend, not so excited I'm going to rush in and order one, I told my dealer I'd be more interested in going in on his second batch after I've seen and read some user reviews rather than Nokta information as I don't trust marketing and don't need anymore detectors unless they genuinely add something I don't have already.

Well, you may remember some time ago I said I was going to go back and see what the girl lost, she did spend virtually a full day at this spot under the ski lift trying to find whatever it was she lost, by half way through the day she had an army of helpers trying to help her find whatever it is. She must have lost it the day before as she came back armed with a metal detector. Well today was the day I finally decided to go see what it was she lost. I waited until the snow had melted enough to get up there in the first place and I picked a day where it was overcast as I hate heat and climbing that far up the mountain I'd overheat, I'd be like some guy trying to drive a little mini car up the mountain full of people, the thing would explode from overheating before it gets to the ski fields base building, well that would be me walking up to this spot on a sunny day 😛 This is the poor girl during winter trying to find whatever it was she lost. She dug a huge hole. I never did work out what detector she was using but at the time it was making a hell of a racket, I think I know why as now when I had my Nox up there it was going crazy too, it turns out on that lift directly between each of the lift poles is an underground high voltage power line, it goes up into each lift pole. It was making my Nox go crazy. I had to run the sensitivity really low in a frequency of 10kHz for the Nox to even be usable. No idea what her detector was but it was likely confusing her completely as she seemed very frustrated with it and I think she'd borrowed it off someone for the task and had no idea how to use it. Her recruits, just people that saw her there all morning and by afternoon felt compelled to help, there ended up way more than that by the end of the day. 🙂 My wife and daughter decided to tag along as they wanted to go for a walk to the lake, there is a cool lake up on the mountain, this lake is about 1800 meters (5905 feet) above sea level so remains frozen all winter and well into summer, in winter you ski across it, people even camp on it that are climbing to the top of the mountain as it's nice level ground. She took some happy snaps of us walking up to the lake area. We are walking a cross a creek here, the creek disappeared under the snow, was a bit scary as I wouldn't really want to fall into the creek, the snow was still thick and firm enough it wasn't an issue. and the lake.... slowly starting to melt A lot of it was still thick enough to walk on, one side must get more sun and melted sooner. Anyway, after that I had my mission to find the spot the girl was searching, I knew she didn't find whatever it was as she was there until the ski field closed. This was taken from half way up the walk, I had to get to where I've marked in the photo. A lot harder without ski lifts 🙂 It's a lot steeper than it looks in the photos. Off in the distance there is the base building where my car is parked. I got to the spot, you'll notice in the earlier photos with her doing it she was just past a lift pole. Now to find whatever it was, I expected a ring or something with her motivation to try find it, something very important to her anyway. And I found it, a phone! It's sitting just above the center of my shaft in the photo, to the right of that is a little bit of a creek, and the phone was in-between those grasses in the creek, hard to eyeball, easy to find with the detector screaming on it. I doubt if I went up without the detector that I would have found it. A couple of photos of the area from up there Looking up from where I found it. The lake is straight ahead in this photo, you can't see it in the photo though as the little grassy ridge line is blocking it. I did a little more detecting on the way back down, mostly just under the lift cable and found another phone much lower down. People drop phones on the lifts all the time as they rip them out to take photos and drop them and they instantly sink into the soft snow under the lift never to be seen again, until it melts 🙂 I found a couple of $1 coins, ended up giving them to my daughter who bought a block of chocolate with them. So my tally for the day wasn't all that good, it was mostly hiking and climbing in the end, only about an hour on the detector I'd guess and we left at lunch time as the ladies wanted to go shopping 😛 The Nugget Finder solid skid plate was awesome on the 11" coil for sliding on the snow, perfect for the job. It just glides along. I think that's a bit of broken gold jewellery, 2 NZ $1 coins and a weird Asian coin of sometype. At first I thought it was a washer. The phones.... hers is the black one to the right. Inside a secret compartment was her credit card and drivers license, so we'll be able to track her down and give it back, a girl in her 20's, she has a NZ drivers license so must live in NZ, I doubt a Queenstown local or she'd likely have gone back up to try and find it by now. My wife's going to track her down on Facebook to get it back to her, it might have important photos on it's SD Card as she was obviously desperate to try find it. If not we will hand it into the boys in blue or ski field and they can track her down. The ski field will have her details from her buying a pass. Well, all in all a bit of fun, and at least now I'm not constantly wondering what was so important that she lost that she'd spend an entire day trying to find.

I don't care what you own, like or swing. I know who the King of detectors is at Rye Patch. Over 60 nuggets on my last trip there and part of the time was even after record 100 yr rains saturated the soils. The Minelab GPX-6000 owns Rye Patch for Success and no other detector made (including the GPZ-7000) can get these results. I just love the characteristics of NV gold.

Out for the first time in a couple weeks, Water was calm but up and it was good to get wet! After the big flood tides a week ago It was interesting to see the result. Not great but was able to score a couple keepers. One 14k Cameo ring and 4 Silvers.

Great results Gerry! Though truth with me be told, it’s all about the gold. The other stuffs a bonus, that I can generally get better other places in my life. When people say the gold does not matter, I ask, “why not go detect for copper nuggets.” Or coins in the park? You can get all the same adventure, camraderie, etc. doing many things. No, me, I like finding gold, plain and simple. It can be gold jewelry, that’s fine, but gold is what I like to hunt, and nothing else really floats my boat like digging a gold nugget of any size. If it’s by myself eating beans from a can, I’m loving it. Camraderie, good food, no gold… that sucks!

For me it's all pretty simple. Equinox hits on more of my detecting needs across the board than any other single detector. The big defining issue, for me, is an ability to work very well in saltwater, while also being top of game for finding gold nuggets. Before Equinox, those two things were always mutually exclusive, requiring two detectors. That is because tuning out saltwater tunes out part of the gold signal, and detectors made for saltwater use never were any good at gold prospecting. Equinox changed that, in that it is both a top tier saltwater detector, and one of the best gold prospecting VLFs made. The fact it's top of class for coin and relic detecting is almost a bonus for me, but something I also desire We all have our key criteria, but mine is fairly simple. Just be as good as an Equinox, but be better balanced, or better waterproofed, or both. The same capability, in a better quality package, is all it would take to sell me. Access to more coils faster, via third party support, would be a huge plus also. I have a Simplex, and frankly, I don't find the Simplex to be any better in the ego department than the Equinox. Both are straight shaft, whereas I prefer a S shaft on detectors weighing under 4 lbs, straight shaft on models over 4 lbs. Deus sets the standard there, so the XP offering has promise for me just based on that. I prefer Equinox tones to Simplex tones, so hopefully the NM model is better there. XP on the other hand, would have to go waterproof and wired coils to suit me. Long story short, it will not be easy to make me switch from Equinox, and I'm not inclined any longer to just buy and try. Either they look like a serious replacement for what I already have, or I'll just sit it out and wait. I'm not going to get sucked into any "it goes deeper" nonsense either. I've done this too much, and am tired of splitting hairs in that regard. Again, this is just me, but I'm looking for an Equinox in a better balanced, more waterproof package, whether it is from Minelab, or any of their competitors. Anything else, and I'll pass. The truth is I am almost at detecting perfection with just two detectors right now, the GPX 6000 plus Equinox 800. The 6000 is my primary detector, with Equinox for everything it can't do. I do have a 24K as it has a slight edge for small nugget detecting over Equinox, mostly via it's coil designs, which are more made for nugget detecting than the Equinox options. But that's a quibble, and I could live without the 24K before I'd go without the Equinox, if I had to choose. The only real lack I'm feeling right now is for a PI detector that will handle hot rocks and beach conditions where the 6000 struggles. Something GPX 5000 or even just ATX class, but in a better, lighter package. Impulse Gold maybe? So the only detector I am really in the market for is another PI. I'm quite happy with my Equinox, and it can only get replaced by something at least as good, but which also improves on the Equinox weak spots. So I'll follow all this with interest, but I have no plans of getting any of these new multi models just to try them out and report on them. I'm pretty well done with all that, and it will be up to others to do that sort of thing. I just don't have time for it any more.

Terry, So good to see you again on DP and hopefully things are going well back in NC. Last time we chatted I think you met me at Atlantic Beach and I showed you a water detector? Those that don't know Roughwater (Terry), he's a long time ago client of mine who drove out to NV and took one of my classes, this had to be early 2000's, maybe 03/04? Is this your rig you drove across the USA Terry? During the training Terry scored the gold he selected as his name on DP. Those were great days and it's amazing we still find stuff out there. As for the EQ-800 and seeing gold targets the bigger detectors do not. YES that's a fact and something I now share (have been for the last 10 yrs) during the 3 Day Field Training. Yes the Equinox 800 is a capable detector than can find smaller bits of gold a Pulse Induction or the GPX can not see. Also, the 800 can find high grade ore from hard rock piles the SD's, GP's, GPX's (including the new GPX-6000) and the GPZ can not see. The pic below is over an ounce gold Au after crushed (13 pieces) and my GPZ-7000 did not hear one of them. The EQ-800 found them all. Pictured below is an Idaho Specimen (1 of many) the bigger detectors can not see. And finally here is a nice wire gold specimen the big detectors don't see. Yes I get people who will down me and think I'm trying to talk down a GP, GPX and GPZ, but when I offer a friendly bet for their bigger detector, they back down. So many know it all snowflakes on the forums and social media these days, I get to the point it's not worth wasting my time. In actuality for me and those of my customers who know, it's just more gold for us as we realize the importance of still TODAY needing a quality VLF gold detector and because of the features on the EQ-800, my staff and I prefer it. Are there other VLF's that can see these types of gold better than the big machines? Most certainly and the new named Garrett GoldMaster 24K model (previously White's detector) is still one of my favorite "Gold Only" VLF detectors. So which ones is best? I wish the answer was that easy and some people think it is, but since I spend so much time in the field in many states and 2 other countries on occasion hunting a variety of kinds of gold with so many different detectors, it's kind of silly in fact, but the knowledge gained has helped me understand more than the average dealer and or customer, what the capabilities and or lack of the different detectors and what they see and or can't hear. By no means does this make them a bad model of detector, it's just the facts. There is not one detector that does all the gold, but there are a couple that do the majority of gold and that's what's most important. As those who have taken the training know, we enjoy comparing detectors, technologies and coils to targets in the ground and as we remove soil and get closer each time. This allows us to see when and or how close a certain detector or coil can start hearing a real signal. See pic below. What do my Field Staff and I enjoy most for our gold hunting detectors? The Equinox 800, the GPX-6000 and the GPZ-7000 in no particular order. Yes I still have staff who are using the GPZ-7000 but only for the certain situations. If I could only afford 2 detectors, then the GPX-6000 and EQ-800 would be my 2 choices. Hopefully this helps everyone as I realize most folks don't have the means to test the majority of detectors and on many variations of gold nuggets, specimens and ore dumps. The reality is in the US, there actually is quite a bit of gold left to be found. Just need to make sure you have the right detector (tool) for the task. Later this summer/fall I'll be doing some serious comparisons and testing of my specimens to see how much better than GPX-6000 is vs the GPZ-7000 as I know the GPX and it's improved technology will outperform the almost 7 yr old technology of the GPZ. But by how much is another question. In my opinion who cares? The other benefits of ergonomics, weight, and such already spoken about of the new GPX-6000 are already proven.

I am sure you could contact the manufacturer via their website link above for answers to your questions Tom. Having used, sold, and eyeballed a lot of devices over the years this looks to be a quality well-designed product that I have little doubt functions well as a gold recovery device. There is always a basic trade one is making. At low volumes, in this case hand fed, you can get superb gold recovery. However, you have little volume. Other devices offer more volume, but retaining high recovery rates is difficult at higher volumes without adding undue expense and weight. Good designs usually have to be customized for particular types of soil, clay, rock, and the type of gold sought. Usually one will sacrifice some gold recovery as an absolute percentage in order to process higher volumes, because in placer mining volume is usually what pays the bills. But high volumes at poor recovery rates are counterproductive so it is a balancing act. Due to the small volumes processed a lot of genuine miners would consider this more a cleanup device than a primary mining tool. For us folks with 5 gallon buckets of material it may however be just the ticket. Like strick I prefer a detector these days but were I to lose my mind and decide to move dirt again I'd be considering this. If you are not using a drywasher being able to recirculate water is almost mandatory for many locations these days.