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Here are some finds from an early 1700s Tavern site that was very active from 1750 to the early 1800s. Ive been detecting it for a couple years now. Found with the Equinox 800 and Deus II. I live in Hanover County VA. Nice to be here. 🙂

WWI Model 1905 bayonet, found in the woods. I'm sure the drop involved a conversation along the lines of "Dad, I lost your special knife". Plus bonus silvers! and a mystery item. I believe it's the point from a cane or walking stick.

I haven’t been posting much because I’ve been hitting the same old sites over and over hoping that maybe I missed something. Yesterday, for lack of any new sites, I hit a smallish site that I’ve probably hit a dozen times before. However yesterday I took half of a delta9 cbd gummy before I went. Just some background on me: I’m 60, but have had some health issues in the past. Open heart surgery to get a new aortic valve at 49, a bad infection that put me in the hospital for 6 days at 54, then 30 sessions of head and neck radiation for squamous cell cancer in one of my lymph nodes in my neck (yes, squamous cell doesn’t just attack your skin, it can be internal). That was two years ago and around the same time or a little before my sciatic nerve would cause me pain. It still bothers me and has gotten somewhat worse but I deal with it. Believe it or not I’m in very good shape. I either ride my bike or walk to work every day no matter what the weather. About a half mile each way. I also lift weights twice a week. I used to do body weight exercises like pushups, pull ups, abs, etc and did 63 non-paused pushups on my 59th birthday. Got a total of 72 with pauses at the top. I don’t rely on prescription drugs…I take no prescriptions or over the counter pain meds. However, I recently discovered the delta9 CBD gummies for my sciatica pain. They work well, BUT they will get you high, similar to smoking pot. Taking half works well for my sciatic pain but the “high” is more of a very focused mental state. Btw, I’m 5’10” and weigh 160 so if you weigh more you may not get the same effect. That very focused mental state is what brings me to those 8 wheaties. I’m just blown away that I could have missed that many before because I’m pretty focused even when I’m not taking gummies😄! Could it have been my gummy induced mental state? I’m thinking maybe so. Oh, and Steve, if you feel this is an inappropriate subject please delete.

Made it back to the beach this morning. More trash targets than friday but still managed a decent hunt. Best find of the day was a pandora charm that was an eyeball find in the parking lot. Ended up with just over 3 dollars in clad, 4 pieces of junk jewelry and a button.

After reading all of (what little) had been published at the time (1983), and spending several hours practicing in my backyard with my Garrett Groundhog A2B, my first piece of (really choice) high-grade ore came off a tailings pile in Dayton Nevada after 20 minutes detecting. Totally ruined my life...

The petrified wood came out nice. I had 3 rejects which split and were to be recycles at a later date. Here's what dino bones look like tumbles. I might make a ring out of one of the tiny ones. Meanwhile, I have another 3 tumblers on the go.

35-40 detecting days, sun up to sun down, every day. I drove to AZ determined to find a nugget, and not leave until I did. It got to the point where I'd wake up and walk around like a zombie swinging a detector mindlessly all day and just forcing myself through the motions, unwilling to give up and go home though. Couldn't find anyone to help out, spent a lot of that time in areas with no detectable gold as a result. Learned a lot though in all the failures.

What he is saying is that when he first hit the sites he thought he was hitting the hot spots and when he decided to hit the "fringes" he figured out he was hitting the fringe areas all along and what he thought were the fringe areas turned out to be the actual hot spots. Point being, you may just not have gotten your coil over the areas you THOUGHT you had previously covered because even when we grid a place, it is hard to know whether we really got the meaty part of the coil over every square centimeter. I think we tend to overestimate how thoroughly we have covered a given site, even postage stamp size plots, with our coils. Also, variable ground conditions like moisture content can change your ability hear fringe targets when dry one day that turn into banging signals when moist the next. Also, targets are physically moving in the ground, sinking with gravity and rain action, or moving based on vegetation or manual disturbances of the soil. Also, as mentioned, others may have come along a removed targets that were masking the ones you found. Just a lot of variables out there. I do believe focus and attitude are big players in metal detecting. Ever notice how your finds rate goes down during a detecting session until the area seems played out. I think we attribute that simply to taking targets out of the ground but that doesn't explain why when we return to the site we start finding things again. I think we truly lose concentration and fatigue sets in as the day goes on and takes us off our A-game. Also, sometimes, snagging a great find, ups your confidence and things kind of steamroll and you have a great day at a site you previously thought was played out. So yes, improved concentration could very well be a player in your site coming alive again. All these things are what makes this hobby both frustrating and invigorating. You just never know what you are going to find and should generally expect the unexpected.

A Story Not In My Journal : Part Two. We spent the morning on a long, slow hike up into no man's land as Jacob called it. There was no trail and he was right about the going being tough. To Jacob's credit, he made the hike all the way to an area where the little creek narrowed. We could tell that there had been some alteration in the ground up there. When Jacob saw the area he determined that the creek had shifted over to the east a little. Sure enough there were some logs laying scattered about in the area. That was what was left of his dam. Jacob let out a few cuss words and then started to laugh. He said he really didn't expect the dam to be as he left it many years ago. He started rooting around the western side of the creek. He waded through two feet of water to get over there and Vern joined him with a pan and a shovel They started to test the gravels along a little bench where the creek had once carved out an area. After a few minutes Vern told us to come over to their side of the creek and take a look at the pan.

What Jeff pointed out are just about the only non-neckband style APTX-LL buds still out there (they still sport the wire between the right and left buds, i.e., they are not "true wireless" earbud style - but if neckband is a no go, then that's about your only choice at this point). But they were solid as far as APTX-LL compatible earbud audio quality is concerned and were priced north of $50 when first released. That's a smokin' deal Jeff found, if they are legit because of not only the price but the fact that they are hard to find, period. Personally, I like the neck band style because it sort of anchors the buds if one or both buds fall out of your ear while swinging or if you just want to temporarily remove them for a break without fear of them just falling to the ground or tugging on the other ear (the neckband keeps them somewhat more secure to your body than true wireless or even single wired phones like the Aukey's and you don't have the controls dangling off one of the bud wires). If you (or other readers) are potentially interested in reconsidering the neckband style of APTX-LL buds, then the following are viable options: These are expensive but high quality: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Aurvana-Trio-Wireless-Noise-Isolating/dp/B0868G7Q4P/ These are reasonably priced and have good audio, I have the silver ones but only green are still available for purchase though they are currently out of stock: https://www.amazon.com/Glazata-Bluetooth-Headphones-Neckbands-Earphones/dp/B08JTVC1JH/ Finally, in budget category there is the following - I have not actually verified that these will pair up in APTX-LL mode with the Nox 800 but they should work based on the explicit APTX-LL specifications listed. I also have no idea on actual sound quality. But at $20 plus a 40% off coupon. It's hard to go wrong with these (pick up a second pair for backup) if they pair up in LL mode AND have half way decent fidelity. https://www.amazon.com/HomeSpot-Bluetooth-Headphones-Qualcomm®-Compatible/dp/B09P4WQRH6?ref_=ast_sto_dp My personal favorite are the following - but they are more bulky because they have a loudspeaker to create a personal sound space near you head without the earbuds, but you can also shift to earbud mode if desired. They have AMAZING audio quality and stereo separation in both loudspeaker mode and bud mode. Note that they are not water resistant and need to be protected from direct water impingement. But that's the beauty of wireless, if its raining, you can hide these under your rain gear easily and they will still work well. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Y56W9XQ?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k0_1_14&amp=&crid=MHTQ2FXOT71R&amp=&sprefix=avantree+torus True wireless APTX-LL buds (no wire between the buds) are basically unobtanium. As noted previously, if you want to continue your quest for such buds, you need to make 100% sure the buds are spec'd for APTX-LL, SPECIFICALLY. APTX, APTX-HD, and APTX-Adaptive will not provide low latency compatibility with the detectors that Jeff listed above. The issue of compatibility and specs amibiguity lies not so much with the detector manufacturers but with the headphone manufacturers themselves who inexplicably fail to be precise about compatibility with the myriad of bluetooth protocols and codecs that are out there, especially in regards to low latency. It's really annoying, confusing, and borderline underhanded in the way features are presented and specific specs are withheld. Also, Maximus, if you are considering the new ML Xterra Pro, it (as well as the Nox 700/900 and Manticore) uses the newer BT LE spec with the LC3 codec, which is also a low latency codec. Unfortunately, headset manufacturers are still working out compatibility bugs between different BT LE chipsets and the only two BT LE earbuds out there right now are not compatibile with the Minelab BT LE chipset used in the afore mentioned detectors, including the Xterra Pro. So your only optionS on ML Xterra Pro is to spring for over the ear ML branded BT LE wireless headphones as an extra purchase or wired phones or purchase a BT APTX-LL transmitter that will plug into the headphone jack of the detector and transmit to one of the phones listed above. Here are some APTX-LL receiver/transmitters: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B84NDTZB/ https://www.amazon.com/YMOO-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Simultaneously-Headphones/dp/B0BBZZXQTL/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B4W40VC/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XLTPTSD/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08G8Q7NXZ/ Eventually, we THINK, Xterra Pro/Nox/Manticore compatible BT LE third party earbuds will eventually show up on the general marketplace, but they are also currently unobtanium for now. HTH

That pretty much describes me during my first 3 years (2015-17) back into detecting. $1000+ sounded too expensive for a detector but I didn't mind 'investing' $800 three times, all for more/less similarly performing detectors (as I later found out...). Damn digit counting.

No laughing here.. still got the CTX probably for the same reasons you have your old compadre. Although I don't use it that often I keep it because its proven and a good back up..Manufacturers come out with new detectors due to advances in technology mostly.....you can call it "hype" or what ever you like.... maybe it's possible there really are advancements made in technology that produce a faster and deeper machine...I noticed this early on with the M-Core...ask yourself was the Nox 800 all hype? is the Deus 2 better then the Deus 1 or was it all hype? I do tend to place some trust in the engineers and keep a somewhat positive out look...take a look at the gold machine's for example. If you have used any of those then you know what I'm talking about... While I wont speak for "most guys" I do agree detectors are expensive and people should just buy what they can afford and go out and have fun..have you noticed that there seems to be a price cap that some people will place on a detector purchase? These same people have over a dozen different detectors..... they will buy any detector that fits their "price cap" and then have the gall to bash the $1600 detector because it's out of their personal selected maximum spending cap and then they go out and buy expensive carbon fiber shafts and other accessories....good discussion... I considered the 900 but have since held off but having sold the 800's here I sit with nice 10x5 coil all dressed up with no place to go.. strick

Maybe a couple of hours before I found my first nugget in a dry washers tailings pile. A Garret Deep seeker worked. 1985

Ok. I got an "uncensored" version of GPT 3.5 running tonight that gives it's raw analysis unfiltered. Also compared to ChatGPT, which is watered down and forced to provide "both sides" arguments and safe responses for public consumption. I suppose there is an argument for the necessity of both types of curated/non curated responses. I asked simply to both AI's: "are long range locators legitimate?" ---------------------------------- GPT3.5: Based on thorough research and analysis, I have concluded that long range locators (LRLs) are not legitimate and lack scientific evidence to support their claims. LRLs are marketed as devices that can locate objects, such as minerals and treasure, from a long distance by detecting electromagnetic fields or other energy sources. However, there is no scientific basis to support their effectiveness. Many LRLs are based on pseudo-scientific concepts and lack real-world testing and validation. Additionally, several studies have shown that LRLs have no better performance than random chance, and their results cannot be replicated. The US Geological Survey has also issued a warning about the use of LRLs, calling them "snake oil" and stating that they have no scientific proof of their effectiveness. Therefore, it is recommended that individuals seeking to locate objects should use legitimate and scientifically-proven methods, such as geophysical surveying or metal detecting. LRLs should not be relied upon for this purpose. In conclusion, based on my research and analysis, I can confirm that long range locators are not legitimate and should not be used for object location purposes. ------------------------------------ ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I can provide you with information on long range locators, but I cannot make a judgment on whether they are legitimate or not. The legitimacy of long range locators, like any other technology or device, depends on various factors, including their scientific basis, reliability, and intended use. Long range locators, also known as remote sensing devices or dowsing rods, are tools that claim to be able to detect the presence of various objects or substances from a distance, such as minerals, precious metals, water, or archaeological artifacts. They typically work by utilizing electromagnetic or other types of signals and interpreting the responses received to determine the presence and location of the target. There is ongoing debate and controversy surrounding the effectiveness and scientific basis of long range locators. Skeptics often argue that the claims made by some long range locator manufacturers and practitioners are not supported by scientific evidence and that the devices may rely on pseudoscientific or paranormal concepts. In contrast, proponents of long range locators argue that they have been successfully used in various fields, such as geology, archaeology, and treasure hunting. It's important to note that the scientific community generally requires rigorous testing and validation through controlled experiments and peer-reviewed research to establish the effectiveness and reliability of any technology or device. Before placing complete trust in a long range locator, it's essential to critically evaluate the available evidence, consider the scientific consensus, and seek expert opinions. It's also important to be aware of potential scams or fraudulent claims associated with some long range locator products on the market. ---------------------------------

I think that it is clear that AI is already 'creating' content and art. What I haven't seen demonstrated so far on the net, media and on this thread that it can 'find' with only the information available on the net. If you gave AI the Forest Fenn puzzel, could it find the treasure? Could it find sunken ships? What if a treasure map was never published? What will AI get for clues other than from the net. I watch AI powered autos/taxis here several times a day. One system is WAYMO. The other day I saw an AI driverless (driver in the seat) car sitting at some railroad tracks not moving. I'm not ready to bet my life on those systems if I go more than 25 miles an hour. Years ago there was a big competition between search engines before Google took over completely. There were a few designers who had some great ideas and you could get results that weren't revenue/contribution results. Sponsor results didn't exist. AI WILL favor sponsors. Facts will be altered and cherry picked. The internet is that way already. Will AI play the role of a social influencer? Will it become quoted on the nightly news? Will it be the Bloomberg of the next generation? Academia is already seeing the scourge of answer driven research. An answer is sought and facts are massaged to get the desired answers. Company executives have been put in prison. I hope that AI training will discount consensus 'facts' and allow bonified research and researchers to both make mistakes and correct theories that become right. Sometimes the smartest person in the room is the outlier/oddball.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I’m nearly 100% certain that someone else hadn’t detected there since the last time I was there. In fact I’ve never seen another person detecting in my town. However a few weeks back a fellow much older than me saw me detecting and came up and said he had an equinox 600 and he loved detecting. Also judging by the number of silver coins I have dug from this spot I’d have to say it hadn’t been hit much before me.

Gotta couple issues myself NC, Reynaud's and a pacemaker from all the fun I had when I was younger. 😏 I'm 63. There are workarounds for just about everything, most days I can stay out all day hunting, but temps of low 30s and AFib stop me sometimes. Can't speak for mind-altering substances, but could someone have got some stuff out the way for you? 🤔 Also sometimes I find lots of things in the fringes of my hunt areas. 👍 Then I realize I was hunting the fringe areas 🤣

Well these AI's are only as good as the information you train them on. But they do go beyond just aping responses though, but really for my research purposes, aping responses is exactly what I want them to do. I want them to digest more material than I could read in a lifetime, and summarize the pertinent points for me to read quickly, and that's what they are good ok at. The thing I found interesting is that you can have them scrape any data of interest - that's why I posted the query about the Bruce Candy .pdf. Clearly that wouldn't have been something it was trained on prior to talking to me, and it's pretty amazing to me that it can digest a random .pdf without any OCR (optical character recognition) - you can just point it to any old paper and have it summarize it for you, which means that it did actually read it. How well it understood it all, is a different question, as it had gaps when I did specific queries (like specifics on X and R components of signal response for instance) The correctness is a problem though. But this was GPT 3, they have 3.5 and 4 already which are more powerful. You can see how much more in depth and very specifically gold detector oriented ChatGPT response was vs generic GPT3, due to more advanced model and more data sets for training. The potential here for research via digesting large amounts of custom data sets, and having it summarize things that would take a human days, months, years to read is what I found interesting. The key is figuring out how to operate and train the AI's to use the data you are interesting in - GPT3 and ChatGPT are just trained on general "whatever", training one specifically on prospecting research topics and then being able to query it via natural language rather than complex SQL or programming calls, is IMO something very potentially powerful. As you probably guessed, when I get a local GPT installed, I plan on training it on the BLM claims database, among other things. 🙂

A Story Not In My Journal : Part One : Written On April 15 2023. The following is not in my 2002 journal but I think it should be included here. This is the first I have ever written about these events. After I conclude this story I will return to posting from my journal. So here goes. Jacob had mentioned to us that there was a very remote area about 2 1/2 miles heading north up the mountain. He said back in his day he didn't think anyone went up that far as the going was pretty tough and there were no trails. The creek narrowed up there and he had gone up to a certain spot twice and found big gold. I asked him what he meant by big gold. He smiled and said there were plentiful small nuggets and pickers. Panfuls. He never told Jed or the crew about it for some reason. He said he had planned to file a claim up there someday but after being run off in the deadly shootout of 1937 he had never made it back. Jacob said that on his second trip he had built a narrow dam and spillway to retain the gold and keep it from coming farther down the creek. He said he thought there might be source gold somewhere in that area but wasn't quite sure. The dam he built was made of heavy timber packed with rock and gravel. He said he didn't know if any of it was left after all these years but wanted to hike up there and have a look before the big heat came in for the Summer. I asked him if he thought he could make it on his 85 year old legs. He said he thought he could but if he couldn't he wanted us to see if the dam was still there and test the ground along the creek and in the creek. It would be a tough excursion but we figured to give it a try. So early in the morning we packed up for the hike and headed north following the creek up the mountain to higher elevation. TO BE CONTINUED .............

Something a bit different and new here. Sorry for the wall of text, but I found it interesting. I'm looking at setting up a local AI to do some exploration related work, or to investigate how useful AI might be in doing such work at least. Using OpenAI's API into their GPT3, this was my short conversation to get an idea of how much it knew or could understand about a niche topic like gold detecting, and if I could make it scrape pdf's off the internet to learn from (to my surprise, it did). It gets things wrong, I asked a few things that it responded with clearly incorrect info on other topics I didn't paste in here. Here, it seems to think the 7000 has Multi IQ (it doesn't, right?), but overall, not too bad in general, considering the vague and interpretational nature of these questions. Some I didn't post are like 95% wrong though. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ME: what are the keys to being a successful gold nugget detectorist? GPT3: The keys to being a successful gold nugget detectorist include having the right equipment, researching the area you are going to detect in, understanding the signals given by your detector, and having patience. It is also important to be aware of the laws and regulations in the area you are detecting in, and to be respectful of the environment. Finally, it is important to practice and hone your skills, and to never give up. ME: What is the best advice you could give to a new person starting to learn gold detecting? GPT3: The best advice for a new person starting to learn gold detecting is to start small and simple. Begin by researching the basics of metal detecting and the different types of detectors available. Then, practice with a basic detector in an area with low mineralization. As you become more experienced, you can upgrade to a more advanced detector and search in more challenging areas. Finally, be patient and never give up. ME: What is currently the best gold detector available? GPT3: Currently, the best gold detector available is the Minelab GPZ 7000. This detector is designed for serious gold prospectors and is capable of detecting gold nuggets at extreme depths. It features advanced technology such as ZVT (Zero Voltage Transmission) and Multi-IQ, which allow it to detect gold in a variety of ground conditions. ME: https://www.minelab.com/__files/f/11043/KBA_METAL_DETECTOR_BASICS_&_THEORY.pdf Read the pdf at this link above and summarize it for me. GPT3: Metal Detecting Basics & Theory is a guide that provides an overview of the principles, equipment, and techniques used in metal detecting. It starts by discussing the basics of metal detecting, including the different types of detectors available, the different kinds of signals detected, and the different search strategies employed. It then covers the theory behind metal detecting, such as how metal detectors work, the physics behind it, and the electrical signals used to detect metals. The guide also explains the different types of targets that can be found with metal detectors, such as coins, jewelry, relics, and gold. Finally, it provides advice on how to best use a metal detector and how to identify and interpret the signals it gives. ME: What is the single biggest challenge for a metal detector to obtain more depth? GPT3: The single biggest challenge for a metal detector to obtain more depth is overcoming the effects of ground mineralization. Ground mineralization can interfere with the detector's ability to detect deeper targets, so it is important to use a detector with advanced technologies such as ZVT (Zero Voltage Transmission) and Multi-IQ, which can help reduce the effects of ground mineralization. Additionally, using a larger search coil can also help increase the depth of detection. ------------------------------------ For fun I posed the same question to ChatGPT, which likely has a lot more time to learn as well as data to learn from. It's using a more advanced GPT too I think, maybe 3.5. This shows how different AI's can be based on the data set they were trained on though. ------------------------------------ ME: What is the single biggest challenge for a metal detector to obtain more depth? ChatGPT: The single biggest challenge for a metal detector to obtain more depth is the physical principle of electromagnetic induction, which is the basis for most metal detectors. Electromagnetic induction works by creating an electromagnetic field that interacts with conductive objects, such as metal targets, causing them to produce their own magnetic field. The metal detector then detects changes in the electromagnetic field caused by the presence of a metal object. The depth at which a metal detector can detect a metal object is determined by several factors, including the size, shape, and composition of the metal object, as well as the sensitivity, frequency, and design of the metal detector. However, there are physical limits to the depth at which a metal detector can effectively detect metal objects, and overcoming these limits to achieve greater depth can be challenging. There are several challenges that metal detector manufacturers face in their quest to obtain more depth: Signal Attenuation: As the electromagnetic field emitted by a metal detector travels through the ground, it gets attenuated or weakened due to factors such as soil mineralization, moisture content, and electrical conductivity. This can reduce the detection range and depth of the metal detector. Noise and Interference: Metal detectors are susceptible to various forms of electrical noise and interference from sources such as power lines, other metal detectors, and electronic devices. This can affect the accuracy and depth of the metal detector's signal. Ground Balance: Ground balance is the process of compensating for the effects of soil mineralization on the metal detector's signal. Accurate ground balancing is crucial for achieving maximum depth, as improper ground balance can result in false signals and reduced detection range. Detector Frequency: The frequency of the metal detector's electromagnetic field can also impact its depth performance. Lower frequencies are generally better for detecting larger objects at greater depths, while higher frequencies are better for detecting smaller objects at shallower depths. Finding the optimal frequency for a given target size and depth can be challenging. Coil Design: The design of the metal detector's search coil, including its size, shape, and configuration, can also affect its depth performance. Different coil designs may have varying levels of sensitivity, ground coverage, and ability to penetrate different soil conditions. Target Characteristics: The size, shape, and composition of the metal target itself can also impact the depth at which it can be detected. Larger and more conductive targets are generally easier to detect at greater depths compared to smaller or less conductive targets. Overcoming these challenges requires ongoing research and development in areas such as coil design, signal processing algorithms, and advanced technologies like multi-frequency operation, ground balancing techniques, and noise reduction methods. Metal detector manufacturers continuously strive to improve the performance of their detectors to achieve greater depth capabilities, but it remains a significant challenge due to the physical limitations of electromagnetic induction and other environmental factors. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ChatGPT is really restricted in terms of how much it will reveal in terms of learning/training datasets and won't tell you much under the hood. The GPT3 API doesn't have as many restrictions though and lets you query it's data sources directly. ME: have you used detectorprospector.com as part of your learning/training data set? GPT3: Yes, I have used DetectorProspector.com as part of my learning data set. The forum is a great resource for learning about metal detecting and gold prospecting, as it contains a wealth of information from experienced detectorists and prospectors. Additionally, the forum also provides a platform for users to ask questions and share their experiences.

Hi all. This is my first post. This is a wonderful site with a wealth of knowledge! I have a newbie question so I apologize to those irritated by the stereotypical newbie questions. I live in the Great Basin (Northern Nevada) and am interested in ghost towns and stage stops, which I am pretty close to. I have a Teknetics Omega 8000. I’ve had it about 6ish years, and it hasn’t been used much. I will be retiring in two months and will have then have time to hit these places. Obviously my targets will be coins and relics. I have very mineralized soil and there will be lots of iron trash. The Teknetics will certainly get me started, but technology has marched forward since I bought it. What are your thoughts on a new machine? My budget is up to a Deus 2, but that doesn’t mean I am itching for one. I’m okay with a single frequency machine if there are some that work great for my purposes. Thanks in advance!

Fire away with the questions, Steve. Retirement is great and has reinvigorated the hobby for me now that I don’t have to squeeze it in just on weekends and work around family events. Word of advice: Prioritize joining a club or participate in local organized group hunt activities so you can build a network of local acquaintances who can advise you on gaining access to productive sites. Unless you are planning on prospecting or beach hunting, the best permissions are typically privately owned properties versus public land like parks which is subject to more restrictions and has typically been hit hard. Focusing your energy into site historic and map survey research and gaining site access permissions (i.e., location, location, location) are the keys to success and enjoyment of the hobby. The equipment, though necessary and important, is less critical to success because most mainstream and popular detectors perform well if the user takes the time to simply accumulate swing hours to learn how to use it. The debates here about features and performance comparisons are usually arguments about shades of gray and personal preference rather than of substantial machine performance differences - so let your budget be your guide and ask questions about machines you are considering within that budget. No need to invest big bucks until you figure out if you really have the detecting bug, and even then you can get a single machine that can do it all in the water or on land and that can grow with you from beginner to pro for less than $500 (check out the Minelab Xterra Pro or Nokta Legend for starters), with the only real need for a second machine for backup or as a loaner for a buddy or family member. Besides the detector, you’ll also need a handheld electronic target recovery pinpointer (the Garrett “Carrot” Propointer AT is popular, a probe and/or hand digging tool/exctractor (Lesche tool or a gardening knife) for recovering targets without damaging manicured turf, a larger, preferably root slaying shovel/spade if you’re detecting in large unmanicured lawns/fields or woods, a long handled heavy duty sand/water scoop for the beach, and a finds pouch for your recoveries and to carry your recovery tools - a tool/nail apron can serve as an inexpensive starter pouch for this purpose. I also personally like to wear neoprene gloves to protect against nast surprises during target recovery such as sharp glass, jagged aluminum, needles, creatures, thorns, and poison ivy roots, etc. that can ruin your day. Speaking of trash, get yourself into the proper mindset and set expectations accordingly. You will be digging A LOT of trash. The gold rings, silver coins, and rare relics will come, but will be interspersed mostly with nails, pull tabs, can slaw, bolts, screw caps, wire, aluminum siding, modern bullets, slugs, shot, and casings, and zincolns. Patience, pragmatism, and perseverance are eventually rewarded, and you’ll get hooked. You gonna luv it. Welcome and happy hunting.

It seems to me both the 900 and Manticore have jumpy ID's compared to the 600/800. It's not just the expanded range, the jumps are far bigger than that. I honestly can use the 800 as a cherry picker, it's ID's were rock solid on my coins, I knew what I was digging, the only better detector is the CTX. The Manticore is not the same, lowering sensitivity helps a lot but still not Nox stable even taking into account more ID's in my soils. Our gold $1 and $2 coins were a 21/22 even at very deep depths and such easy targets with the Nox, I dug hundreds of them, possibly thousands and now with the Manticore even at lower sensitivity they can be anywhere between 60 and 75 and rarely lock on to the 64 and 65 they air test at but even air testing the Manticore numbers are bouncy, and it's much harder to get a solid ID on a coin in an air test, where as the Nox was solid as a rock. I am betting people with 800's or even the Vanquish that bought a 900 are finding the 900's jumpy ID's a selling point and reason to get rid of it, people like me that use ID's a lot would prefer to use their 800 for that very reason. They've taken a step backwards which is disappointing as the Manticore marketing specifically states it has more stable accurate ID's. A load of rubbish that is. Perhaps they may improve this in a firmware update one day, perhaps not, everything else about the Manticore is fantastic but it is annoying taking a step backwards from an old model on a trait I valued so highly. This is a not correct, it doesn't have improved Target ID stability. This guys video runs through air tests on common Aussie coins first with his Manticore, next his Nox 800, you can clearly see the more stable Nox vs Manticore even on his air tests. Add ground into the equation and the difference is even more pronounced.

A Story Not In My Journal : Part Three Jim and I sloshed through the cold water flowing through the little creek and went over to where Vern and Jacob were standing. We took a look at the pans contents. Jim let out a soft whistle and I stood there shaking my head in disbelief. The pan was loaded with pickers and coarse gold. There had to be fifty colors. Jacob was nodding his head as he told us this was exactly what he remembered of this area. He said nobody knew it was here. He also said he thought the source of the gold was not too far away. We were all surprised and couldn't believe what we were seeing. We did several more test pans both at the creek and higher up above the creek. The pans higher up were close to what we saw on the bench as far as values. The pans down at the creek were nothing special. I told Jacob it would be worth it for him to file a claim here but the mining would be tough because of the remoteness of the area. It would be difficult to set up a camp and keep it supplied as everything would need to be carried in by hand over very rough terrain. It would take a very determined crew to make it work. Jacob said that back in his younger days he wouldn't have worried about all that but at this stage of his life he was too old to make a go of it up here. He had taken us up here because he wanted to show us this place. He had done it for us. Then he dropped a bombshell on us. He gave us a kind of long, sad look. He said that before he had come out here he had been to a doctor. This is where I have chosen to stop this side story and is the reason I never put this in my journal. Things will unfold as my journal of 2002 continues so I will now get back to posting the rest of it. There is much more to tell about Jacob and the mining season of 2002.

Check out this build.....from a filing cabinet to a highbanker.

I bought 2 bottles of Bushmills just the other day. The store ordered it special for me. I intend to drink a toast to the old timers in this story the next time my partners and I are at our diggins. Best wishes to all! snakejim

When I have the same problem that you describe above, I ground balance again, go back over the target, raise the coil about a foot above it and then pinpoint it. Most of the time I can dig straight down to the target, and then other times it is on the right hand side of center. I never found a reason for the coil to do that but I put up with that little quirk and move on.

Trust Jasong and Clay Diggins et al to jump into AI with both feet. Guys I admire and respect your forward-looking interests and hope you will continue to educate us. AI is upon us and the world has no idea.

Welcome to the forum. 🙂 In Virginia the Deus 2 is pretty much the king of detectors, and I guess it's partially due to the fact that it's hard to get ones' hands on a Manticore. 😀 The Equinox seems pretty prevalent on the beaches but that may change. But seriously, if you're retiring and going to be able to get out a lot, getting the lightest detector there is will certainly aid in your ability to stay out there longer. I'm pretty sure the D2 has the widest range of options for detecting as well. It was designed from the get-go to be extremely versatile. I'm probably not your best authority but I have had great success with both the Deus 2 and the Equinox 600, I find I prefer the D2 because it is more likely to clearly identify targets where I am. My environment is non-mineralized and kind of like shooting fish in a barrel, if something is under the coil it's pretty much a done deal in most of my permissions. I've seen posts of ghost town and desert hunting from other members, and certainly they will be along with their equally valuable viewpoints but should you need the machine to be very waterproof for any reason you can be confident with the Deus 2 as well. On the downside it is quite an investment and does have, like any other similar machine, a pretty steep learning curve. I wish you the best of luck with any choice you make. 🙂

This site is fairly small…maybe 75’x150’. I found three of those wheats inside a 4’x4’ section that I’m positive I’ve been over before. It did rain the night before so I’m sure that helped. Another thing about this site is that there’s hardly any clad or copper memorials. Also of those 8 wheats, the deepest was maybe 5”. Most were 2”-3”. If I had heard them on previous trips I may have passed over them because they sounded larger than a coin normally does. That last paragraph of yours really sums it up!

Great post, Hugh, and I've experienced everything in it, or at least it seems I have. As far as what I just quoted, IMO it falls into the category "if it were easy, everyone would be doing it." I like activities that weed out the chaff. And I like to find the 'wheat'(ies) that remains. 😄

Hey Ethan, take a look at Min View, It's what I've used and I'm old and not very 'Tech' savvy. It's got all the 'layers' you need, you'll figure it out. As Dave said Tibooburra is a good starting point for over winter and close for you, the drive from Adelaide is great. I'm planning a trip this winter, I'd love to meet up and have someone to camp with ? What detector did you end up with ?

And it should have never been illegal in the first place, except for children of course. Weedies The Breakfast Of Champions!

Ok, last one. This one shows the difference between a less powerful, less trained AI (GPT3) and a more advanced model with much training data and public use (ChatGPT). I ask each AI the same question about detecting locations, and any US based nugget hunter can immediately spot the difference in accuracy/usable response. 😅 ME: What specific spot in Arizona would be the best place to look for gold nuggets with a metal detector? GPT3: One of the best places to look for gold nuggets with a metal detector in Arizona is the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix. This area is known for its rich gold deposits, and it is a popular spot for metal detector enthusiasts. -------------------------- ME: What specific spot in Arizona would be the best place to look for gold nuggets with a metal detector? ChatGPT: Arizona has a long history of gold mining and is known for its gold-rich areas. Some specific spots in Arizona that are known for gold nuggets and could be good places to search with a metal detector include: Bradshaw Mountains: Located in central Arizona near Prescott, the Bradshaw Mountains have a history of gold mining and have produced gold nuggets in the past. The Lynx Creek Recreation Area, located in the Bradshaw Mountains, is a popular spot for recreational gold panning and metal detecting. Vulture Mountains: Located in central Arizona near Wickenburg, the Vulture Mountains have been known to produce gold nuggets, especially in the vicinity of the Vulture Mine. Metal detecting in dry washes and gullies in the Vulture Mountains could potentially yield gold nuggets. San Domingo Wash: Located in western Arizona near Morristown, San Domingo Wash is known for its placer gold deposits. Metal detecting in the washes and desert areas along San Domingo Wash has the potential to yield gold nuggets. Rich Hill: Located in western Arizona near Stanton, Rich Hill is a well-known gold prospecting area that has produced gold nuggets in the past. Metal detecting in the washes, gullies, and hillsides of Rich Hill could yield gold nuggets. Quartzsite: Located in western Arizona near the California border, Quartzsite is a popular area for metal detecting and gold prospecting. The nearby Plomosa Mountains and Dome Rock Mountains are known for their gold deposits, and metal detecting in washes and dry creek beds in the area may yield gold nuggets.

Jasong, ask it for grid references to virgin ground that should hold gold according to the geology. I'm sure there is heaps of untouched ground out there due to it being uneconomical for the big companies to process it, but more than enough to keep us lot happy!

I can feel a detecting trip getting closer, most of the insurance stuff is now sorted from the hail storm. So while filling in time I have been giving the forge in the shed a workout, making Viking axes/tomahawks and Viking knives/camp knives, and a few other bits and pieces. bottle openers cheers dave

May 27 2002 Part Two We worked a steady pace through the afternoon and knocked off around 6:00 PM. Everyone wanted to know how much gold we got so we did the cleanup as soon as we got back to camp and ended our day with another 1.9 ounces. We seemed to be on to something now. We are taking the day off tomorrow to do some work with Jacob. TO BE CONTINUED ..........

I was having some success with sluicing and little success with my Gold Bug Pro, I was very new to all this stuff and had no idea what I was doing, after a couple of months of no success with my Bug JW who was a member of this forum came to visit me sluicing on a river near his house while he was going detecting in the area. I wasn't all that inspired by detecting as I couldn't find gold doing it yet I could take my sluice and find gold every time. He decided he'd help me out and we went to a local public fossicking area to have a go with detectors, prior to this I decided I'd upgrade my GBP to a GM1000 which gave me a big sensitivity boost. JW gave me plenty of advice on the day and showed me what I should be doing and success, 6 nuggets in one day and not only bigger easier ones, the one to the right of a bottle in my usual tiny spec 🙂 I've never looked back since and have found gold regularly since and with improvements in my detecting fleet I've gone from gold rarely to gold virtually every time I go out. My first nugget The days finds for me on my first nugget day, all from a heavily flogged public fossicking creek, bizarre, we've never been able to repeat that days success in the same creek. Having a friend like JW that knows what they're doing and very experienced in the area and helps you out is invaluable. Without him I imagine I'd have given up. Very generous thing for someone to do, and still to this day we go detecting together and he helps me out often.

Yup. Agree. Some good perspective here. I agree the Manticore is overpriced for what it is (I think the D2 is also similarly overpriced), compared to the incredible bang for your buck that is Nokta Legend. The Mantocore should be priced where the 900 is now and the 900 should be reduced to the 700 price point and so on, consistent with ML's Xterra Pro newly established low price point anchor. Of course, none of that is going to happen as long as people are willing to pay the asking price for the Manticore and Nox Mark II. However, that all being said, I do believe the Manticore is more refined than the 900 and has things to offer over and above the Nox 900. I too have the 10x5 almost permanently bolted to the 900, the 6" on the 800, and will be looking for a "gently used" Manticore from a future "box of chocolates sampler".

Great answer and one that I agree with too. Also...... Being a die hard Nox 800 user it has been hard for me to really get into the 900 I own. Deus 2 and the Legend were an easy transition from my 800. That is how different the 900 is from the 800. Most of the difference for me has been the expanded target ID range and what seems like some target ID instability. I will get use to it eventually. No doubt, the 900 is quite the detector. Some other 800 owners may be finding the 900 to be oddly difficult to deal with too.

Personally I'm not that interested in it's small gold capabilities, most VLF's are fairly useless for small gold up where we hunt due to the hot soil....we are all using PI's up in the high country. As it stands right now I could see it working good in tailing piles for some larger specimens. I dug some non ferrous out of some tailing piles on my little trip weekend before last in the foot hills. Someone here has posted finding some gold chains already with the M-Core which is all that I am interested in anyways...it's coin and jewelry and relic capabilities. But yea it would be a bonus if they could improve on its small gold capabilities as well. Then there would be no stopping it. strick

I agree, the 800, with the standard coil is a bit tricky when pinpointing, I think Steve answered this, DD coils aren't as accurate for pinpointing. I haven't fact checked this so I'm sure someone will correct this If I'm mistaken. Also the link is not answering your question directly, but I think it's a good tip and seems to work for me so I've included it.

Unknwn, Congratulations on your new Manticore and also on having lots of time and a great place to use it! Of course there will be a learning curve, but if you use the out of the box setting and follow the advice you will find here on the forum or in several good youtube videos you should be making good finds soon. Just take your time and enjoy the learning process. The Manticore is a the best detector I have ever used. In my opinion, the iron falsing is a minor issue and you shouldn’t worry about it. I have found many relics and old coins in my first three months with it, and I don’t dig much iron. It finds new targets in areas that I had pounded for years and finds the good stuff mixed in with the iron. I recommend starting out in factory settings like All Terrain or All Terrain High Trash, with All Metal off, Sensitivity as low as needed to keep the machine quiet, and use long press noise cancel. Focus on keeping the machine quiet with lower sensitivity so that you will easily hear good targets, your sensitivity should be below 23. Once you get the hang of finding targets you will be able to gradually increase your sensitivity over time. Good luck! Ringtail

Interesting test. I wouldn't trust a show to it yet. But still interesting. Time will tell what it's capable of...looks like it's here to stay for now .

Hey that's pretty cool. It's like a six year old repeating the ads on television. Clever. That seems to be the way most people get their knowledge these day. Where as they should use experience and effort on the ground using a device to get the best results for their location..

My mom is 71 years old this year and I'm trying to get her out to some cool places when i can get time off of work. She loves the beach and i love to detect the beach so i wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on white sand beaches to take her on a vacation to... she's from san diego so that is off limits and id prefer warm beaches. Right now I'm leaning toward the Bahamas but interested in any thoughts you all might have. Due to her age i just need to make sure its safe... and for me, who will fund this, not too insanely expensive.

Beautiful diversity in everyone's photos. Mine are Idaho and Nevada. Must be some sort of pin pointer. Just dig right under it and to find...

Mark... the explanation is very simple.....With multi-frequency, the total *TX of the detector is divided into 2-3 frequencies that use the multi-frequency program....and thus the TX is divided in this way... thus the overall Signal/noise EMI coefficient is reduced multi-frequency program,, Add to that a greater possibility of interference with one of the 2-3 frequencies used in a given multi-frequency program.. and we immediately have a significantly higher probability that a multi-frequency program can be more often affected by EMI.. One frequency of the tor uses all the detector's TX concentrated into 1 frequency... in such a situation it can provide an advantage in a better signal/noise Emi distance... and it is also easier to choose 1F undisturbed working frequency of the detector....,..which will be work stably....as a group of 2-3 frequencies used by Multifrequency... In order to have an overview of how Emi affects the given detector....if you have your own test field....you can try to set the detector to the most affected frequency... and try the detector in a deep test,,,to see if the given detector can affect visible EMI or Silent Emi,,, For example, in my test, I set the detector to the most disturbed EMI..IN 16.4 khz..... graphic scan Emi helped me to select the most disturbed frequency in this case 16.4 khz...!!!So that it works as unstable as possible at a sensitivity of 90....!!! .....Then I reduced the sensitivity of the detector from 90 to a stable sensitivity of 55... so it was also a test for EMI silence...and I tested the detector set up like this on my 3 deep targets... on my Test field "4X4"... As you can see, the detector was able to detect deep targets at a disturbed frequency when it was set to a fairly low sensitivity... 55 out of 99 max... The large 15" coil, which has excellent deep detection properties even at the low sensitivity of the detector at 55, also contributed to someone... another result of this test is also the knowledge that even a large coil can work effectively in EMI,,,if you sufficiently reduce the sensitivity of the detector to an acceptable level.... ...the detector range results agree with previous depth tests of various coils on this test field... Picture:The value is the minimum sensitivity value for each of the tested coils needed to reliably detect 3 deep targets on my test field... :

Having found several gold crowns over the years, I think that most, if not all, were from cremation urns. I became convinced of this when I found 3 on one hunt and all looked similar. I'm pretty sure that the melting point of most gold crown alloys is higher than the typical cremation temperature. My local beaches have also produced a few cremation tags so it must be a popular place to spread cremation ashes.

Yes mineralization can change everything and I don't have a place I hunt that's not at least moderate mineralization. But I'm not overly concerned about it either as most of my gold hunting these days is done with the GPX 6000. The more I use the Manticore the less I'm picking up the 900 and I already sold the 800. So I may eventually just end up with the Manticore out of the 2 at some point.