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Found today at another beat up park. This was only 4 inches down. Was my second dig. I can’t believe this was missed. Possibly, the other detectorist thought it was a modern coin that’s why it was left. There’s a ton of old circular dead grass plugs all around this area. Lots of iron and nails. This is in amazing condition being 184 years old, and a first for me. Thanks for looking.

Every now and then I find some cash. I'd like to return it. Can you guys help? Maybe it is yours? Where did you lose it? How much cash did I find and what was the exact location? (Be CREATIVE Klunker!)

Found this capped bust dime at a park 2 miles from this one. Same thing, about 4 inches down in a well hunted area. Worn to crap.

True, but still silver. You should see what the soil in my area does. 😵 To start, black stains and such. Good stuff you're finding! 👍

I've been waiting on NF for too long. I borrowed Stricks 10x5 goldhawk for the 6000. I'm loving that coil and having a ball with the 6000 also. So I got a new coil coming for Strick since I'm wearing this one out.

"Flumes were the artificial water ditches that moved the precious liquid to more useful places; places where water powered nozzles blasted away cliffs of gravel, where water washed through sluice boxes to expose nuggets, or drove the machinery of underground mines and sawmills." Looks like the box side boards rotted away or salvaged at some point. Depending on age that may have not been mining related, hard to say as I dont know the history there. Maybe someone else here knows. Neat history all the same!

This would be my "workout plan" if I had to swing an Etrac or CTX regularly for long hunts without a harness.....

With all of the talk about the Manticore, Deue II and Legend, I thought I would take out my old Equinox and see if the poor outdated detector could find anything. Son of a gun, it still works. Yes that's sarcasm. I hadn't been to the parks in many many months with my Equinox so I decided to hit an old LA park Sunday morning just for fun. While I didn't hit anything great, I was reminded of what a truly exceptional detector the Equinox is. Its separation with the stock coll in high trash is just astonishing. I hunted a slope by an old merry-go-round in Griffith Park, a spot that has been hit and hit and hit and hit for many years. It is literally a carpet of low conductors. If you want do dig 15's through 18's all day let me know and I'll send you the GPS coordinates. Despite all of this trash i was able to pull out over two bucks in long-burined, dirty clad, including a 1951S Wheatie. It was really fun and I just love the way that the Equinox can see through the trash. The only downer for me was that I couldn't pull one single nickel despite digging a ton of 13's. This slope had a lot of a certain type of old pull tab that read a solid 13 with good tone and they fooled me every time. Anybody else run into these buggers? In summing up, I'll just say that I'm interested in these new machines just like everybody else. But this hunt reminded me of what a special detector the Equinox is and personally I am in no hurry to send it to the closet. Bill

Minelab gets my finger wag of the month award for poor business ethics here. I'm glad there is a fix, but that took like a year of some stressful hair pulling, and I'm not sure Minelab would have done anything at all if not for the continual posting by some of us bringing the problem up, not letting it drop off the radar, and not normalizing it. What I'm curious about is if this fixes the stability issues in the places that seem location specific (I posted a video of one of them a while back). My theory almost from the start is that the 6000 can only deal with so much EMI. Call that max amount X. Right off the bat, the speaker takes up like 80% of X. So, if you encounter a location with local (radio, cell, wifi, aliens, whatever) EMI levels above 20% of X, you've met or exceeded the total 100% amount of EMI the detector can deal with, and it looses stability, whereas the same detector running headphones would be stable still as it's only dealing with local EMI. It only has resources to deal with so much, thereafter it bogs down, confuses itself, and loses stability. Thus, both a speaker and a location specific problem, and something not everyone would see unless they detect enough different places. I've been to enough places that I see a definite pattern though, and it's related to the speaker somehow, I've been sure of that since the start. In other words, my gut feeling up to this point is it's more than just a speaker/EMI issue. It's an issue with EMI in general and the 6000's ability to cope with it past a certain amount. The speaker just adds so much EMI at once that it makes the problem more readily obvious. And that's what I hope they have fixed. Hopefully I can get my machine back in time before snow socks those locations in, so I can see if it's allowed it to run stable in those previously undetectable locations. If not, then they still have a problem IMO.

I have to agree with Bob/350, Your location is really important. Having hunted first hand with Bob and the D2, I would have to say other than the weight of the detector the 600/800 will hold its own on the beach with the D2. I would say the 800 is the way to go. It has a few coil options and has a pretty good track record. Also I believe Minelab is offering a discount on those machines. Your observations of battery and coil charging would be a concern of mine also, BUT XP does have a huge range of consumer available parts for there machines. Look do not go down the rabbit hole of best, because there is just no such detector made. Here is my two cents, If I wanted one of your choices I would pick the 800. Not saying the D2 is bad but for the extra money you do not get that much more in performance. As for the Manticore it's a complete unknown, I wouldn't risk it. Not to discourage, but you need to learn a few or at least one middle of the road detector (money wise). Remember that new, shiny and expensive do not equate to finding stuff. I run older detectors that hold up well against more current machines, including the 800. Is that a fluke? No. It's a learn from learning mentality. You can have the best machine (whatever that might be) and be in a spot that has no good targets, will it make you find more? No. I would suggest you take a step back and evaluate your area, ground and your available time to detect. These are the ways you should choose a detector. Remember in 5 years all the detectors you mentioned will be old school and not new, shiny and the best. Ultimately it's your choice and your money, when it comes down to brass tacks the 800 is solid. It's just an uncomplicated versatile machine and will find a lot of stuff in MOST areas.

It rained for 4 days, got in a couple hrs detecting for about 1 gram. It stopped raining on Monday and I got in a full day for 7 grams, biggest 1.4 grams about 14 inches deep. Tue we did some exploring on some old leases, nothing but trash. We still got in half day back at the local patch for just shy of 4 grams, all crumbs. Yesterday a full day on the patch looking for deep targets. I got the lunker of the trip so far, 3 gram nugget close to 18 inches deep. Ended the day with 9 grams, the photo includes the half day finds. I would have to dig a moon crater without the 6000 for a pinpointer. The 17" Xcoil concentric is my go to for deep targets and it doesn't miss much of the fly specs either. We're packing up and moving 200 miles to some 40e ground today. We're hoping for an opportunity at bigger gold. The first photo of 14x9 coil in the dig hole was the 1.4 gram gram nugget. The 2nd with the scoop beside it was the 3 grammer. My photos always end up sideways from my phone, but you get the concept. So far I'm just over an oz for the trip. I have about 4 more detecting days left.

Welcome. We don't know where you're from (generally). That would aid quite a bit. I'll tell you straight up (I own an Equinox and a Deus 2) that if the store offers a quick and fairly painless transition to the Moneypit (Manticore) if you buy an Equinox 800, get the 800. That will let you hit the ground running pretty quick. You can get a ton of accessories for it fairly cheap in most cases, including a printed hand stop that makes it much more comfortable. Geography is everything though, if you're in a place with lots of EMI, say a city, and only get out in the boonies a bit, the Deus 2 might be a better option as it's a bit less sensitive to EMI, not saying that you can't work around it with the Equinox and single frequency. The Deus 2 is awesome if you're a geezer like me, it's ridiculously light. It is also great underwater (so far), I use it a lot for that. Buying a carbon fiber shaft for the Equinox will get you halfway there in weight. I don't think anything is wrong with your pro/con list. The Equinox is definitely less hassle to keep charged - grab and go. You have to think a bit more with the Deus 2. There are lots of cool headphones available for the Equinox other than stock, some cost only about $40 so if you trash them you won't cry. The WS6 headphone is about $300. That hurts. I love the Deus 2/MI-6/WS-6 for many of the reasons you posted, but if I'm just gonna go out and pillage a place it's the Equinox and a Garrett Carrot. The Deus 2 did not replace my Equinox (I have the lowly 600), it merely complimented it. Good luck with whatever you choose. Many more will chime in.

This was some of the "hand-crafted" Sweet Home touch the ladies in the coil department had to do to tune these. With the initial prototype coils, when heated to 120 degrees F they would go out of tune. Without modern epoxy dispensers, plastic housings, or better yet software ability to compensate for different X and R null drifts, I started experimenting with different materials since we had only a few months to launch the 24k. The initial tuning was done with a small circle of copper wire placed where you see the foil strip. But this wire would change its electrical characteristics with temperature swings. Ever touch the bottom of a copper pan after it's been on the stove? Copper conducts heat! Add to that the epoxy having some thermal changes as well, and it was a recipe for lots of coil failures. As an avid cook, I remembered using foil on my smoker to finish off briskets and pulled pork. Even if the meat was 200 degrees inside the foil, the actual foil did not get hot. So we tried using foil and the coils were much more stable at different temperatures. However, it's still a redneck/jerry-rig fix. I am sure Garrett uses better than 1950s technology to produce and tune the coils for the 24k, but at White's we were very limited on what we could invest in manufacturing. Stabilizing the foil should help, but moving it even 1mm will throw the coil out of tune.

The only country that can see that notice is Australia, even though AU/NZ share the same website I can't see the notice without using my Aussie IP address. It will be because they need to build up stock of whatever hardware they need to replace surely, why else would they be hiding it from everyone? They don't want the flood of EMI machines all coming into service agents that don't have the stuff required to fix them.

If I learned one thing from my time at White's it's that trying to keep issues under wraps results in the Streisand effect. But change is hard and companies are slow to whip out the mea culpa. Anyways I will try the machine out when it gets back and maybe post an update.

Hey guys, I sent my GPX6000 in last week to the repair shop in Alum Bank PA. Arrived on Tuesday (yesterday) and on its way back to me Wednesday. Repair tech says "audio update has been performed" (along with a note "Coils is heavily worn" heh heh). I think 24hr turn around time is pretty damn good, but once they get flooded it will likely slow down. Pays to be early I guess!

It sounds like my 5000 does when I am using twin speakers on my chest and lean too closely over the coil while checking scoop contents.. but I was willing to live with it cause it still screams when it is on a nugget i didn’t want to say anything about my experience because I’m so shy and afraid to be confrontational….. 🤠

Nice early one!! Odd it was only 4" deep. I once hunted an old town square on the east coast, and three quarters of it was practically sterile, and the other square, err rectangle actually with a band stand in the center. Anyhow one quarter was hot, several old coins and relics. Like someone had hoovered clean the first three, and saved this one for last or moved or who knows. I'm sure all those parks have dried up since I was there over ten years ago.

I agree... if you could get one right now. But you can't. Anyway, the weather will be what it will be, but I'm not holding my breath for any of this stuff, and I'm advising people, as usual, by way of hints and suggestions, about stuff that I maybe just might possibly kinda sorta know things about.

My research is more focused on finding British pounds from the 2nd world war, in this research in addition to metal detectors, geophysical machines are also required to locate caves and warehouses used in those years. by no means can I say that I consider any of my machines as a backup, I can say that I have a mixture of machines that cover each other depending on the occasion. The machines I work with are as follows. Ground Penetration Radar 1.MALA GX 160Mhz... 2.MALA CUII RTA 100Mhz. 500-200Mhz... 3. impedance tomography. 4.4 point light 10W... 5. Proton magnetometer. PPM Mark VII...6.Pulse inductive metal detector.7. lorenz deepmax Z1. MINELAB GPX 5000...8.vlf metal detector. DEUS 1..

I would agree that the Equinox 800 is hard to beat for starting out or getting back into detecting. That's what I did. It is so easy to use right out of the box and it is advanced enough to grow with you as you learn the machine and want to customize settings for your areas. I got the Deus 2 later and it is a more complex machine, but also comes with turn on and go preset programs that work great for starting out. The Nox's tech is not out dated, in fact it the one that caused all the other companies to spend years trying to copy and have just got theirs out to buyers this year. The Manticore is not a newer tech Equinox, but a higher end detector with tech from the Nox and CTX in it. And as dogo pointed out, there really is no best detector, so concentrate on what will work best for you in your conditions to find the kind of targets you are looking for, will be easy to get going with, and for a price you can live with.

I have to agree with dogodog. If you have serious interest in the Manticore and you have little to no experience using intermediate to high end metal detectors, the best preparation for the Manticore would be an Equinox 600 or 800 or even a Minelab Vanquish model if you want to save some money. They all use Multi IQ technology, have similar audio features and have easily understandable user interfaces. I also would not for one moment ignore the Nokta Legend since it is a very fine detector with similar performance to the Equinox where I detect. Naturally occurring iron (magnetite) mineralization is only a problem when the concentrations are high enough to seriously effect depth and target ID accuracy. This poor performance is mostly seen using single frequency VLF detectors and with detectors that have selectable single frequencies. Detectors with more recently developed simultaneous multi frequency technology that were designed to handle a wide range of soil conditions will work much better in high iron mineralization. Deus 2, the Equinox and the Legend all have very good to excellent iron mineralization ground handling capabilities.

Here's an old thread that may be of interest while you're waiting:

Yup, I'm confident its a mainboard replacement. It could also be why they're quite tight lipped about it and not making it an easy thing to find out about. The cost of the repair for them would be quite high. They're not really making it obvious which detectors need it, date ranges or anything. I would not be surprised if its a year or more worth of detectors and they're just hoping most people think the problem is normal behaviour and don't contact them for warranty repairs on it.

Like F350Platinum said, your location/ground conditions and target choices/variety are the keys to picking the best detector for your situation. These are my opinions after hundreds to thousands of in the field hours with the three detectors mentioned next. Where I detect, the Equinox, Deus 2 and the Nokta Legend (why aren't you considering it) are so close in performance that the differences can be measured in fractions of an inch EXCEPT on small low conductive targets and in ground with higher iron mineralization. The Equinox and Legend pull substantially ahead of Deus 2 from my field experience and testing of these three models if small low conductor targets like small sub gram gold nuggets, micro sized gold jewelry and high iron content land or beach mineralization are a factor. Right now the only reasons I would pick Deus 2 over these other detectors and possibly Manticore is for hunting man-made iron trashed sites for mid to high conductor coin sized or bigger targets, for use mostly as a submerged or diving detector and for its exceptional ergonomics for users that need a really lightweight detector for whatever reasons they might have. Otherwise, the Equinox and Legend are both outstanding alternatives to Deus 2 for coin sized coin, jewelry and relic hunting from my experience. As far as the Manticore.......who knows.

May 29 1937 Part Two John told me not to worry. We were armed with revolvers and everyone at camp was well armed. He said if there was any trouble we would be able to handle it. Against my better judgment we led the brokers to our camp. When we got there we parked just south of camp and we all walked up to where the treasure was located. We had to walk right past Sarge with his BAR and the brokers and buyers could see we meant business out here. Will and Hudson were sitting at the site and holding rifles and Ben came over with the Thompson. John and I pulled out our revolvers as well. I took the offensive and told the buyers we had been through wars out here and we were not to be messed with. I told them that if anyone tried to screw us we would take care of business. They looked surprised and assured us they were not here to screw anyone. I told Collins that they were free to look over the treasure now. Then I told him that if they thought they were going to lowball us on a price it would not go well for them and that we didn’t like having our time wasted. With that out of the way they went to work evaluating the goods. They were amazed and said so. Collins said this had to be Cortez treasure but it would be difficult fencing it. After an hour they called a meeting amongst themselves to talk. After another fifteen minutes had passed Roger and Collins came over to talk with me. I asked them what they wanted to do. TO BE CONTINUED .................

@Kostas 13That is an interesting type of prospecting. I assume many of the caves remain hidden The Spaniards did the same in the New World.

I made a translation of Kostas' contribution.... My research is more focused on finding British pounds from the 2nd world war, in this research in addition to metal detectors, geophysical machines are also required to locate caves and warehouses used in those years. by no means can I say that I consider any of my machines as backups, I can say that I have a mixture of machines that cover each other depending on the occasion. The machines I work with are as follows. Ground Penetration Radar 1.MALA GX 160Mhz... 2.MALA CUII RTA 100Mhz. 500-200Mhz... 3.resistivity tomography.4.4 point light 10W...5.Proton magnetometer. PPM Mark VII...6.Pulse inductive metal detector.7. lorenz deepmax Z1. MINELAB GPX 5000...8.vlf metal detector. DEUS 1...

Thanks, strick! I'm feeling more confident it is a location problem. With the exponentially higher concentration of detectorists in my area these days, I just need to search outside the box and find some better locations. 😉

Well that's a more positive feeling than I was having 5 minutes ago. Thanks for that news Tom.

OK, so what does that mean? Only available to Australian users? No service in U.S.? If I have to have an Aussie IP address to even see it, then as far as I am concerned I am being actively blocked. Why nothing on the US website?And what about sales of older models sitting on shelves - nobody telling buyers about this? Not a good look. I have to admit I have a beef with all these companies. They want our names, addresses, emails, etc., but apparently it's only to try and sell us stuff. When do we ever get an email or a letter from any of these detector companies telling us about product issues and updates? Not just Minelab, all of them. Not just metal detectors either. I saw it big time in the powersports industry.

Too many. The 14x13 without shaft I believe is 1250 grams or so. With the shaft I think it was 1360 grams, so you could subtract the shaft weight from that if you want it exactly. I don't have the 19", but online it gives the weight as 4.03lbs - or 1828 grams. It doesn't say if that's with or without the shaft, but I assume it's without the shaft.

Finders is back, but who knows for how long.

I guess the goats in this video will be very much like the coil purchasers that finally get their coil delivered by UPS sometime in 2025

I just want to know what settings you used and what machine was it. Also what did it show up as for an ID.

I'm eagerly waiting for the manual, the getting started guides available, I've attached it to this post. 4901-0315-1 GSG, MTCR EN_WEB.pdf

Wow, your soil is nice to a coin that old. Really nice shape, it must have been dropped that long ago. 👍 Great find, hope you find more!

That's a sweetie of a seatie and good shape too! I've got a seated half and some seated dimes but that seated quarter has eluded me...... Good job!!!!!

Love the 6k but if I was not an experienced detectorist already I would hate it. I get phantom target sounds, bad emi, cant tilt the coil to detect slopes, and had a bad aftermarket coil. On the plus side if I take it out at night the EMI is greatly reduced and I don't need sunscreen..lol So I am hopeful some of these issues will get resolved.......eventually...lol

Late in the year🤣... Heck this cooler weather in the Northern Hemisphere is just prime for detecting. Nevada and Arizona detectorists are getting out in full force for the whole day now. Us California detectorists will start having to go to some lower elevation soon with the 1st snows. The southern Hemisphere detectorists are out detecting most of the year. The 17x13 NF elliptical for the 7000 is out in Australia in limited quantities. This world is crazy and a meteor can end it all at anytime. I want the best coils possible out for my machines now! 🤣

Are you saying you got a bone to pick with nuggetfinder ? Chuck PS I say old boy you don’t look your best! I seen this ad about weight gain pills 💊 that I do believe you need to try.

Looking at your targets it appears you are doing everything right but you just have not got the coil over it yet. I would say the detector is not the problem but the areas you are hunting may be the reason... strick

I got a call a few days ago from my detecting buddy, Richard, who got a call from the Parks Dept asking for help to find a gold wedding band lost by an army officer playing football in one of the parks a few days before. The game had been played in a relatively smaller area of the park so the two of us started gridding it off but ended up getting rained out. The officer met us out there a few days later to show us exactly where they had played hoping to make it a little easier so we hit it again. As Richard continued gridding the main area, I searched my way to where the officer said he had parked his car. Pretty close to that area I got a solid 94 on the Deus 2 and since we had been told it was a "beefy gold band" I though that could be a good number. I pinpointed the target and when I opend the hole I could see the side of a wedding band. I thought I had it, but it turned out to Silver. Close but, no cigar! There were surprizingly few targets for the area's size and we didn't find the ring. I feel like the park had detected before we got there as I could see evidence of digging in someplaces and think that unfortunately the ring was probably found by someone else. That got me wondering if I was missing gold somehow, then I realized that I haven't found any gold jewelry since last year. I began to wonder if people just aren't wearing their good stuff to the parks anymore. I know there are a lot more detectorists now, so maybe that's it. Anyway I went out again yesterday to a park I hadn't searched yet and doubled down on the low conductors. Normally I don't pass on good sounding low numbers but I was digging everything this time just to see if I was missing something good. I hit a loud 91 and thought it was a stack of dimes or a can, but came up with a copper and onyx ring. So again, no gold, but I'll take Silver and Copper as consolation prizes. The search continues. 😏 Note: These photos don't show the grocery bags full of trash, foil, and can slaw that I threw away.

First let me mention I'm a total newbie (except playing with cheap "toy" metal detectors in my childhood). I want a good (or the best) all around detector, mostly for treasure hunting (finding old coins/jewelry and maybe some small gold nuggets if possible). I want to choose a detector that I can live with for many years without outgrowing or having to many technical issues with. I only want one, and I'm not planning in investing in another one for at least 8-10 years. I have read about all the models above and came up with these three as they seem to fit the bill. I actually went to a shop and tried the Equinox 800 and the Deus II. Ergonomically the Deus II felt way better than the Equinox 800, but the Equinox 800 seems easier to operate and maintain (magnetic charger, only one device to charge). Battery replacement when/if the battery goes bad is easy on the Equinox. Not so much on the Deus II. To me it seems a hassle to charge both the main unit and the coil. And it seems a little iffy to change battery in the coil (involving knife and glue). I don't know about the main unit. Is it possible to swap the battery in it by yourself? In many videos I have watched, the Deus II seems to react quicker and also have better depth than the Equinox 800. I am a bit confused now which one I should get. Then there's the upcoming Manticore (a little too pricy, but if it's that much better than any of the other two I'll still consider it). In the shop I actually got an offer to swap in the Equinox 800 for a Manticore when it becomes available without loosing too much money if I choose to upgrade. Didn't get that offer on the Deus II. To summarize it: Deus II: Pros: 1. It felt sooo good in the hand - like driving a fancy expensive car 2. Seems quicker, might go deeper? 3. User upgradable firmware adding modes and fixing things Cons: 1. I'm worried about the batteries life span and charging hassle 2. Doesn't seem to find as small objects as the Equinox? 3. Seems harder to configure if you're a newbie Equinox 800: Pros: 1. Easier to maintain. One magnetic cable to charge it. Nothing more. Easier to swap out the battery if it goes bad. 2. Better at finding smaller objects? 3. Easier to configure for a newbie? Cons: 1. After testing the Deus II, it didn't feel right in the hand. Like going from that fancy expensive car to an old used cheap car. 2. It's older tech than the Deus II I guess, might still be as good or better? 3. Read about leaking water and cracking at the charing port. Is this a real problem? And the Manticore isn't released yet, so I guess it's hard to know how it performs? Will it solve all the cons I've listed for the Equinox 800 and get some pros from the Deus II? So right now my choices are: 1. Get the Equinox 800 right now and play around with it for 1-2 months, getting a feel for it. If I like it I'll keep it. If not I'm upgrading to the Manticore and hoping it will be a better experience. 2. Get the Deus II and be stuck with it (not gonna even check out the Manticore as I won't get a good deal upgrading it). Which route should I go and why? Am I wrong about my pros/cons list?

I think WesD is right. There is a similar thing in Colorado called "Hanging Flume" which looks pretty much identical. It was used to get water above the terrace gravel levels so they could be hydrauliced. The boards in that case were salvaged (the ones easy to get anyways) for other projects after the flume shut down, likely happened to the flume in your pictures too.

Thanks, that's good to know. I have a little break right now, so I was really hoping to send mine in now, but didn't want to waste the month that all my friend's GPX's took to get returned if no fix was available here yet. I guess it's up to us customers to both discover the problem, discover the hidden fix, and discover if the service center has the ability to perform the fix.

They didn't bother posting it to the US Minelab site. You can only get it on the AUS site with an AUS IP address. It's under the "updates" tab on the 6000 page there. The US site doesn't even have an "updates" tab for the 6000. At least, I assume it's still there, I saw it myself posted by using an Australian web proxy, but that proxy has stopped working for Minelab's site now so I can't check anymore.

Hello, Just wanted to ask you guys about trail which I found on the recent hike along the South Yuba River. This wooden trail located along the river and built on a cliffs and rocks. It looks like trail has several miles and some places is damaged. Just wondering if you know history about this trail and maybe do you have information or links to share with me? Pictures is attached below. Thank you.

Looking forward to it, Steve. 🙂

I live quite remote from any services. But when I do go to town, I like to get a breakfast there. Twice I have left home, got halfway there and realized my teeth were still at home. Nothing left but to turn back and get them. I live an hour from town, so it adds another hour to my trip. It's hard to think of anything good about getting old other than you are still breathing.