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I've been busy with some other detecting lately out in the deserts. I like those nuggets and meteorites. You can kind of target those and know what you'll get. When you go to the beach (just like a park) you can get coins, relics and jewelry. Today's best finds were a couple of rings. The first was a stainless steel ring found after a couple of hours of mostly nothing except those tent stakes. My beaches have been very stingy the last few weeks so I was glad to get it. I slowed down with the 11/800 and began to find 'patch' stuff. I like patches. I grid them and just enjoy having a few targets together rather than long walks always. My clues were that I was out on a pretty low tide and things were seemingly deep for the 11. I'm normally a 15 user but the 11 was on and I didn't expect much and was back to where I started when I got the stainless steel ring. It says 316L and weighs 6.7g. I continued on just above the black sand line and found other coins and stakes and then I heard a faint 'penny' or it could have been. I made it down a full scoop (6") and it was still in the bottom of the hole. A couple of more scoops, around 10" I got it out. It was a nice shine for the early morning. This is a 10K with lots of little diamonds. It weighs 7.8 grams. My first gold ring in quite a while and first one with the 11" in even longer. I'm ready to take the 3030 out this week with the 17" and see if I can renew a liking for it and look at some of my old find points.

Well, two of my claim partners and I headed up to obe if our claims to see how close we could get to it with the UTV's. We made it all the way in to it. We had to hike about a quarter mile of the last stretch as we always have to but we made it. Still a lot of snow in our dig area but the four of us made it work. I picked up in the spot I stopped last fall and since I could start at the face of the bank, I decided to move rocks on the surface and cut and dig straight down through the grass. I worked my way towards the bedrock and my hard work was rewarded with five nuggets. My hole was about four feet by three feet and right around three feet deep. It is very hard to see the accurate depth in the pictures. It was very muddy at first but then I broke through the wet layer and it became a little dryer. Three pieces of iron and five nuggets. Not bad. The first nugget weighed 1.39 g and all total 2.35 g. Not a bad day as this gold is selling for $100 a gram. Video will be coming very soon.

Your tone selection will not affect your discrimination breakpoint (the point at which the lowest multi-tone or pitch converts to an iron volume grunt). However, on full-tones, iron volume is only heard up to about a TID of 1 regardless of whether disc is set higher. For example, if in full tones with disc set at 10 you will hear iron audio for all targets registering a TID of 1 or less. Targets between 1 and 10 are silenced regardless of the iron audio setting, whereas in multi tones or pitch with disc at 10, all targets registering a TID of 10 or less will give an iron volume grunt. It's a quirk only in full tones and hopefully will be addressed in a future update. One you've saved your multi-tones tone breaks and notches in a custom program slot, you can change tones to pitch or full tones on the fly and your notches and disc will be preserved (and the notches will translate over when in full and pitch tones). If you subsequently switch back to multi-tones, your custom tone breaks will still be saved from when you last saved them. I like to save custom variants of a favorite custom program (e.g., Deep HC) with different tone setups like Deep HC Pitch, Deep HC 5 Tones and Deep HC Full Tones in adjacent custom program slots so that I can toggle between them using the plus/minus keys while "interrogating" an iffy target. The differing way the target audibly responds in full tones vs. pitch can give me some insight on the nature of the target and can sometimes help differentiate between asymmetric junk like can slaw vs. round brass buttons or gold rings that all have similar mid-range target IDs. HTH

I believe I'm alive today because of metal detecting. I have been single for a long time now. "My Time Machine" takes me to another world. I reach into the hole and go back in time 100, 200, 300 years. At my age I could have been setting in front of the TV, 300 pounds, depressed and ready to pass on. I'd never consider going to a Gym, I'd never just go for a 3-5 mile walk for my health. When I detect I go till I'm about finished, Then walk a mile or so back home, A real workout. What did I find? Well I jumped deer, seen the birds and the trees, got my lungs full of fresh air. Then the bonus of traveling back in time and pulling history out of the ground... Thanks to the Detector Gods.

Yes, but that's about the only change since 1965. (Half dollars were clad starting in 1965 but those early years still had 90% silver outer layers. Starting in 1971 their composition was changed to be identical to dimes and quarters. Dollars -- always unpopular -- have changed from cupro-nickel clad to brass.) But other denominations (5,10,25 cents) should degrade similarly in the 1965-1989 era as the 1990-present. The above mentioned zinc pennies (aka 'Zincolns') have an especially bad problem due to the galvanic process that causes the copper coating (only ~2% of the entire coin) to chemically react with the zinc interior somewhat like what goes on in a common battery.

It brings a new meaning to the term disposable income…😁

This is an excerpt from the old Gold Fields TV show, now being posted on YouTube over six years later by the GPAA. Fun little gig. I have not seen Kevin in years, guess he has a new show chasing Aztec Gold. Geez, I look like a fresh faced youngster - gained a few pounds, wrinkles, and gray hairs since then! “GPAA's Kevin Hoagland meets up with detectorists Steve Herschbach and Chris Ralph at Rye Patch, Nevada searching for gold nuggets with their Minelab metal detectors.” Here is the full episode which actually features Chris Ralph a lot more than me:

I live in Northwest Arkansas and found an old park that is over 100 years old. I got permission to hunt it, and have been using an Equinox 900, and a Deus 1. I have found a lot of coins, the oldest from the 60's. Something that I have noticed, coins from the 60's to the 1980's are in pretty decent shape, but coins from the 1990's to the present are literally dissolving in the ground. Must be the soul mineralization, or maybe moisture in the ground, we get a lot of rain. We don't get inches per year, we get feet per year. When I lived in Arizona, most coins that I found were in really good condition, maybe because of low moisture in the ground.

THE JOURNAL HAS REACHED ANOTHER MILESTONE. IT NOW HAS 300,000 VIEWS. MANY THANKS TO ALL THE READERS.

60% chance of rain.....I got 100% of rain, hail, strong winds, lightning and thunder. I came prepared, brought a raincoat. I was out in the rain for a little over 3 hours. My boots were full of water from the raincoat runoff. Too funny! Half the trip was spent mossing and washing roots and half the trip was digging gravel. I did get some of that vitamin "G" too. Drop riffles sluices work great for mossing and washing roots. The roots just flow over the drop riffles and don't get caught like they used to on my inverted mesh.

Relative battery drain/run time differences fo the various modes and configurations is spelled out in the user manual on ~page 37 (see this link for the latest online edition of the manual). See the excerpt below: These appear to be conservative estimates as I've seen higher battery drain with Deep HC, but not necessarily 1/3 less coil run time (i.e., 8 hours vs. 12 hours as stated) but it is noticeable. I also believe I have gotten more than 8 hours of run time out of a single coil charge running exclusively Deep HC. As always, on these types of things, there are lots of real life variables so, YMMV. HTH

I found this iron bar in a Confederate camp in Rockingham county Virginia when it first came out of the ground I could barely make out the x marks on it through the rust after soaking in electrolysis overnight this is what I found. Could this possibly be a CSA made iron ingot there are several Old Stone furnaces in the area that supplied iron to the South during the Civil war. But they produced pig iron not such a well refined bar to the best of my knowledge. What do you guys think?

I am a 64 year young man from Norway, and I have been metal detecting in about 47 years. I bought my first detector 1976, a whites. Now my grand children is using that one. My other detectors is Troy Shadow X5, Detector Pro PI, Sovereign GT, Equinox 800, and very soon a Nokta Legend. Happy hunting from Norway to all of my detecting friends all over the world..

I too have had failure to connect when turning on the MI-6. I keep my MI-6 on my pouch on the left side of my body and I detect right-handed. One thing I've noticed is if I grab the pinpointer and turn it on too fast I think my body blocks the connection to the remote and it will either not connected or do a delayed connect. So now I make sure the MI-6 is clear of my body before I hit the on button and it connects every time. This may not work for everyone's case, but it's worked for me.

So, I went back to a club claim that had been pounded for years with virtually all detectors imaginable, including countless times with the GPZ 7000, and that was essentially left for dead. It was a beautiful day, around 60 degrees but with fairly strong winds. There was not a soul out there, something that made the majestic landscape even more impressive. I decided to use my GPX 6000 with the NF 12 x 7 and to do some slow scanning of an area where I recovered quite some gold over the years (mostly by using the GPZ). My settings were: Auto +, normal, threshold on, with ML headset. I was pleasantly surprised how stable the machine was with these settings, something I would not have expected in this area. I should mention that I did the audio fix as well, which I now believe contributes for sure to the overall improved stability of the detector, even when just using BT. One of my first targets was a thin flat piece that was obviously pounded by the force of moving mass including lava rocks. Always nice to see it at first all dirty in the scoop, a feeling of joy that never seems to go away, doesn’t matter how many nuggets you have found before, small or large. After some "spit cleaning", the shiny yellow came out. I am actually surprised that this nugget was not picked up previously. I would certainly expect that most detectors would have been able to see it, also considering that it was fairly shallow, about 2-3 inch deep. So, the day started good, and I continued to scan the close vicinity around my initial find. One thing that I noticed was how incredible sensitive the machine is, something that I was of course aware of having used the 6000 quite a bit, but that again came to my attention. One challenge is that the whole area is littered with bird shots, and I must have recovered at least 20-30 within just a few hours. This is clearly less of a problem with the GPZ 7000, even when run at full bore. I then decided to change tactics and once a target was heard to remove about 1 inch of surface material with my Hermit pick (one end with wide blade), and to only recover if the target would then still be there. This actually worked quite well, and my next “piece” was a super small, tiny flake at about 2-3-inch depth. The flake was so tiny that it was almost impossible to pick it up with the fingers, and of course it did not register on the scale. But the fact that the 6000/NF12 x7 picked it up with a clear high/low signal at about 2-3-inch depth is truly remarkable, and shows once more the power of the 6000, combined with the excellent performance of the NF 12x7 coil. Would the 11-inch stock or the Coiltek 9-round have picked it up, perhaps. But I did not make a cross comparison of all three coils, as I wanted to focus on detecting. But I really have to say I am super impressed by the NF12x7. It is highly sensitive, not a bit less than the 11 stock, but with a more balanced response signal, smoother and it also appears more stable. All targets that I recovered that day were high/low signals, with only some hot rocks or areas of high mineralization giving a low/hi response. I picked up two more pieces, always by using the “1-inch scrape/discard technique”, something that really worked well for me and that I can recommend using for bird shot infested areas. Can you see the one in the next pic? 😊 I picked up four in total that afternoon, and I am sure there is more on this claim, considering that I only focused on a small area around my initial nugget and thoroughly scanned only in the close vicinity. Overall, a great day in the desert. There is something magic about being out there, and every time I come back from it I feel I have been on a meditative retreat. Finding gold is an added bonus to me, and even without any I enjoy my trips every time! Here is the general area where I hang out. Go get some. 😉 So long, guys! GC

Great job Kevin, Steve and Ralph. Always great to watch some good footage when we can't get out and swing ourselves. God Bless good times, good gold and good friends! 🙂 Rob

I actually sold my Manticore was not impressed and felt it was very much work in progress. In the cold light of day not much of an improvement I felt for the high price tag. Its to sparky and to noisey meaning that you have to constantly monitor the screen. More tiring than relaxing. You shouldn't have to lower the sensitivity down to much in normal situations and the max limit of 35 is useless in most situations and I feel was just to help with better specs and a selling point. The headphones are useless in windy conditions and you have no module to help enhance your audio experience. The screen suffers from screen glare at certain angles,battery run time isn't that good and the torch and vibration mode I would suggest most people wont use. The short noise cancel is not needed as the long press is a must in most situations. I may purchase again in the future but things will need to improve. Deus 2 seems to be the best upgrade at the present time. So thats my feelings at the present. The nox 800 is my preference at the moment and seriously looking at the 900. But Jeffs issues have me holding back to see whats what.

And here are the other two fancy dress buttons that I found the same day in very close proximity to the N.Y.L.eagle.

I've lacked that confidence in my ability finding gold as it's so much harder than coin and jewellery detecting, it's been a hard thing to overcome and has taken me quite a while, the more I find over time the more that confidence is building, it helped I got my equipment to the level I could not blame my equipment so the only thing left in the equation was me. It probably didn't help the guy I often go detecting with (JW) is some kind of gold freak, I have no idea how he does it, it's extremely rare he goes home empty handed, laser focus on the goal and many years of experience I guess and the guy can dig, all day you hear the chink chink of his pick digging. Great person to learn off that's for sure. When I was running my 4500 and JW his GPZ with X-coils I had an excuse especially as our gold areas are often small deeper gold, once we had the same equipment the excuses were gone, I had to focus and improve. Good videos, I'd watched them previously but it was a good refresher. One of the most important things when looking for gold is confidence, if I go out expecting to find nothing I often do, if I'm full of confidence before arriving I often come home with a grin on my face and a rattle in my bottle.

Hi, I would like to preface my comments in that I am very new to metal detecting. I think we all have interests that can be both fascinating and time consuming but unless you committed crimes so you could get a metal detector or assaulted a family member to go out detecting don't beat yourself up too badly. Being human means we will make mistakes along the way. Unless those mistakes were based upon actual malicious intent the decisions that trouble you are no more than a bad judgment call. My wife likes golfing. I have no use for it. If I divorced her because she spends time doing so with other people then chances are I was already looking for an excuse to get divorced. Because I still love her I bought her a new set of clubs and encourage her to enjoy her activity. Not my thing but if it makes her happy then all is well. I went and bought my first detector only a short while ago and I did not tell her what I was buying. When I arrived home and showed her the machine she remarked that since she wanted me to walk more she was glad I bought it. She didn't call our lawyer or move out. The point is that having interests in life, even if different than your spouse, is healthy in my opinion. Another thought is since this hobby seems to be slewed towards us slightly older people I am really happy that I can look forward to yet another interesting activity when I do retire. I used to have a small business and the people I felt sorriest for had no interests after they left the workforce. Once they retired they fell apart or descended into a sea of anger and self pity. I don't think that will happen to people reading this post or on this forum. Can you imagine living in a world devoid of mysteries, miracles and magic? I can't think of anyone who metal detects or partakes of some of my other hobbies that suffers from a complete disinterest in the world. Those that are afflicted with such apathy towards life not only are miserable but usually make everyone around them equally miserable. One last thought. Dick Stout mentioned moving his family from NJ to TX. I wouldn't see that as horrible. After all, maybe staying in NJ would have been disastrous for them. No one knows how things might have been but for the move. The fact that you feel a bit guilty says you are a stand up guy with morals who cares very much for his family. I apologize for my lack of eloquence to make my points better but in summary don't feel bad about having interests such as metal detecting. There are far worse things you could have done.

My family suffered because of my addiction, and moving them from New Jersey to Texas back in 1988 was something that bothered me immensely back then and still does. A monumental change, a whole different world. It's too late to go back now and change things but I will never again neglect those I love the most for a hobby, no matter what it is.

There are worse addictions, and at least our hobby doesn't make our teeth rot away and our skin go funky, it's possibly quite the opposite, good for our health.

George, Like you, I've been at this a while (since 1972 to be exact). I also have a departed wife by divorce. And adult kids. I like to think of metal detecting to have been "my time" which I think we all need. While others may like clubs and group hunts and all of that stuff, I've always enjoyed the solitary existence of me and my metal detector out looking for things. Here in 2023 that hasn't changed. It clears my head and relaxes me and in the world today there isn't much I can find to do that does that for me. To answer the question of your subject line "At What Cost Did My Family Pay For My Addiction?" I would say that there was no cost whatsoever. Rather there was the benefit from your detecting that allowed you to be more of who you are in those special moments with your family. Bill

It's nice to see Garrett at their marketing finest, and they do appear to have a great following in Italy, this event seems to be a yearly thing and Garrett are right behind it every year, they've already got their 2024 date of April 28, 2024 locked in. Looks a whole lot of fun. I couldn't find the official Garrett video on Youtube, they only put it on Facebook it seems, so it's posted above. And this is the Detectorshop.it video of it, they're the importer of Garrett into Italy. I wish we had events like this in New Zealand, we are just too small of a market to get any attention. Heaps of prizes with all the detectors given away, they even gave away Axioms!!!!!!!

I just sent a email to the powers that be if we can plan on a new updated Tarsacci coming out soon. I also ask the question if maybe we could see a elliptical coil coming out in the not so distant future. I myself would like to give the Tarsacci a try at nugget hunting and I can’t do it with the stock coils that’s available now. If and when I do hear something back I’ll pass it on here. The Best To All! Chuck

June 4 2002 We had 2.7 ounces of gold out of the 60 yards we ran yesterday. I guess it’s ok but none of us are getting rich after a four way split. We had a quick meeting and discussed a way to process more yards per hour. It would require a large trommel or multiple toms. That would require more water and we’d have to deal with triple the tailings to move. The excavator was capable of digging all the pay we could dream of running in a day so I made a few calls to see what was available. Jim and I decided to go to Reno to look at a couple of trommels and Jacob and Vern stayed at camp. We ended up buying a real nice rebuilt 40 yard per hour trommel. At least that’s what it was rated at. I figured even with a worst case scenario of processing 200 yards a day that would triple our production and hopefully the gold weighs. We also bought two brand new pumps and an old skid steer. We will have everything up and running in two days. The equipment will be delivered to the mine tomorrow. Jacob said he is going to miss seeing the tom processing gravel but is very happy to hear about running three times the gravel. Tomorrow will be a busy day. TO BE CONTINUED .................

Hey Reese, Great to see you are back home, away from this Arizona heat .... LOL A few guys purchased GPX 6000 and were hoping to see you in Gold Basin, but I told them I thought you bailed out for the season. Believe it or not, you got me fired up a few months back to get back out with the GPX 6000, so I did. I rounded up 197 nuggets in 5 trips, will post some pictures, but wanted to make sure I cleaned the spot up first 🙂 Wishing you much success in Montana this season. God Bless, Rob

I remember when the designer of this machine was touting it on the forums. He CLEARLY stated that he had two advanced platforms above what the first Impulse was to be. Anything other than an entire new platform will be a disaster. I suspect this is already a disaster.

Nice HONKER!!! Question> Equinox correct? Can you not tell those stakes are ferrous?

The connection issue seems to be tied to individual PP/remote combos also as well as environment/EMI and timing. Also, just because EMI doesn't show up audibly on your detector doesn't necessarily mean there isn't EMI from cell towers or WiFi sources even in rural situations without obvious line of sight sources of radio interference. I have a PP that seems to connect reliably >99% of the time and a backup that has issues much more frequently. This PP connectivity problem has been an issue for years dating back to the first release of the Mi6 in 2017 and there have been several updates to attempt to address the issue that have shown incremental improvements. Definitely got better for me going to the D2. Hope they finally figure out a way to make all the Mi6 PPs connect reliably not just a fraction of them. Finally, if you are suffering from frequent disconnects or unreliable connections with the Mi6, make XP stand behind their product by contacting them and demanding warranty support. They may just swap out your PP for one that connects more reliably. Like I said, there appears to be some variability in pinpointer connection reliability due to manufacturing differences or a marginal antenna design. Mi6 warranty is 2 years.

This happens to me sometimes as well, I've found that it occurs when the detector is "busy", or detecting something. Not so much recently as I probably have subconsciously changed the way I do retrievals to avoid the pinpointer not connecting. It tends to connect better when fully charged as well, but these are speculations only.

I'm up to 26 silver coins for the year. All dimes except for 3 quarters and one half dollar. All with the Manticore. I got mine Jan. 10th. I only really get to hunt weekends. I don't live in a part of the country with endless rows of houses that are of the age to produce silver. All of my silver is from previously hunted places or public spots I know have been hit pretty hard before due to there just being deep silver dimes left. The silver I do find at these places being either in pretty heavy trash or close to edge of detection deep. There is a less of a fine line between my digs and no digs compared to the equinox. I don't know yet if the Manticore is giving me more positive dig info than the Equinox did. As of right now I expect it is because it seems I have more confidence on the ones I do decide to dig. I do have to scrutinize more falsing iron with the Manticore. I have a lot more great sounding one way targets with the Manticore. Only to turn and it go either straight to an iron tone or jumping up into the ferrous line underlined in red. I still feel I have a lot to learn about this detector.

Very nice gold ring, it makes it worth digging all the trash

A wife of 41 years departed. A son growing up while Dad spent most weekends detecting. Missed a few of his home runs. I found it all ,no doubt. But at what cost? There is a silver lining to every dark cloud. We are still connected as a family and I have 2 grand children .I will spend every minute to be happy with them. If I could only go back 41 years................

Yep……and everyone else’s opinion too. Who knows, Fisher may surprise us all and release a properly revised version. The bugs on the Limited model are well documented on this forum…..the ball is well and truly in Fishers court. The way I see it is either Fisher do the job properly or don’t do it at all. Joe (OBN) makes a good point…..he and other Beta testers have invested a lot of time and money using the AQ Ltd and have provided Fisher with all of the necessary feedback needed to progress this model to the next stage.

This is currently the best option that discriminates ferrous/non-ferrous available but it can only dive to 10ft/3M. https://www.questmetaldetectors.com/xpointermax-pinpointer-discriminate

Don't second guess yourself George. I was the model husband and father and after 31 years s*it happens. Be happy every day because it's not your responsibility to make everyone around you happy. I would have preferred to stay together with my love, but I couldn't take another garage sale, or chihuahua growling at me when I wanted a hug. Keep digging if that makes you happy.

Wait, you're in Cali where they have had the best beach erosion/cuts in years. Other projects? What could possibly be more important than to get out there and get you're fair share of all the rings that are being reported? You need to cut back on your honey-do list strick. Learn to be a better negotiator. 😆

That's me too. Keeping Vibrate in paired/remote would be a great feature addition. Not sure why they excluded it, but it might have something to do with preserving run time as I've noticed that in non-pairex standalone mode, run time is significantly decreased.

I'm not in Denver, but shovels are not allowed in my local parks. I use the term "dug" very liberally. It's more of a surgical extraction. I use a 12" version of kac's Park Probe for most of my city targets. If I have to go deep, I cut a small slit in the grass and pry it open a bit to remove dirt. I put a small towel down and put any extracted dirt on it until I get the target out, then I pour the dirt back in and pinch the grass slit closed. No trace, no fuss. I have a pair of 12" hemostats with rubber coated tips if I can't get the target out with the Park Probe. Any target larger than my fist has to stay in the ground, but I'm not looking for big targets in the parks. 😉

I guess moderation is the key to any hobby. Everyone needs time to themselves…some more than others. I’m 60 and have three kids aged 13, 13 and 15. It’s a balancing act getting my alone time in along with time with my kids. (My wife and I are separated so we alternate weeks with the kids. We actually get along better now.) Every other weekend I’m free to do whatever I wish.

Don't beat yourself up because you had a hobby George ! I saw many in the music biz throw it all away just for a stupid buzz.......

GOD gives us the Present to deal with the Past. He is in charge of the Future, where everything comes together. Thankful for this Today..

I just got a perfect closet queen MXT. Absolutely like new. On a whim, I decided to try it with my Bigfoot for DFX/MXT. air test only, coil lying on a table. MXT in relic mode with full boost....shock. ID on a dime at 7"+, nicely audible threshold break at 9"+. Whatwhatwhat??? OK, so I try the 14" elliptical DD. 2 to 3 inches less... So I power up my OK DFX in its deepest mode - prospecting...with the same Bigfoot. a bit less than the 14" ... I have searched the forums a bit for experience with the Bigfoot and the MXT. I have found no such results. Need to get in the dirt with it.

Dancer I’m like you in I have other detectors with coils that will work but I’d still like to have one for the Tarsacci. For what it’s worth I haven’t heard back yet from anyone from Tarsacci company. Chuck

I see others beat me to the punch. Yes, it's the highly coveted N.Y.L. button. And as caprock points out, one of their bivwac assignment locations was Monterey, CA (where I live) I've found 2 so far. And I've seen 3 or 4 others found by buddies in this coastal CA area. And they get found in G.R. sites , and are highly prized. They were only here in Monterey for a short time , before the gold rush broke out, and they all headed to the gold rush 🙂 Not sure of a value, but way-back-when, when I had found one, was offered something on the order of $300 for it, if I recall. Others have been found since then, so I'm not sure of what current collector demand ($$) would be. But just that : They are a niche-unto themselves to find, amongst button enthusiasts and CA history buffs. Congratz !

Now getting back to posting here about what Jacob had told me about our minesite being cursed. Of course we all know what happened to Jed back in 1936. He was murdered for his gold and that story is completely true. His brother Jacob was run off the claim in 1937 and was lucky to escape with his life. Others in the crew were not as fortunate. And Whisky Jack died from a rattle snake bite to the face. That is probably enough to get you thinking about the place having bad karma. As far as my own experiences go, I have witnessed some things and some of the people that have worked there have had some problems. One group next to our claims at the lower area of the mountain had a really nice gold strike one season. However, they got themselves into problems with the law and were arrested. I used to visit this crew now and then and they were a rough bunch of outlaw types. But they were good to me and I learned lots about mining from them. The fact that they got arrested did surprise me though. Curse? I don't think so. There was a really good guy that worked with us on several ventures on the claims. He was very smart and was a good miner as well. We had many long conversations about our claims and gold mining both in person and on the phone. One day I got an email from one of his partners. He told me he had died but I won't say how on this forum. He was 50 yrs old and I was shocked. Curse? I don't know. There was a crew who worked on one of our claims, hit it big, then lost it all on another venture on another area of our claims. Curse? I doubt it. That's just gold mining. High risk. I've heard voices out of nowhere and so have my partners. This kind of thing you can't explain. One of my partners was run off Jed's digsite of 1936 by gunfire. He had his young son with him. I don't think anyone was shooting at them but just trying to scare them away. It worked. Is that a curse? Doubtful. We've had our share of highgraders or what some would call claim jumpers. I look at that stuff as just a part of mining on a gold bearing claim. Cursed? Nope. So there you have it. There is always something weird that happens every year.

All gold rushes eventually end, and it looks like the metal detector driven part of the African Gold Rush has collapsed. That's normal. Easy surface finds by individual prospectors always play out quickly, and then the big boys come in and consolidate the business of mining the harder to find gold. For Minelab though this means real trouble, as it will be very hard if not impossible to generate the kind of numbers that they saw with 6000 and 7000 machines. High price detectors with huge margins. No doubt the market there is flooded with used detectors and Chinese knockoffs making it even worse. Then add in the fact that anyone ignoring the goldfields playing out in Oz and the U.S. is just whistling past the graveyard. Add it all up and the gold prospecting juggernaut that Minelab rode for so long is now over, and no new whiz bang nugget machine is going to change that. They are instead trying hard to fill the gap with coin and relic, but $1500 detector sales will not replace $8000 sales. They face growing competition in coin and relic and so can't just name the price, but instead are pumping out low cost machines to compete. The real answer for Codan will be to continue to diversify away from detectors into other areas. The future is not bright for growth in metal detecting, more like a hard fight for lower margin sales with stiffer competition. There very well might not be a CTX 4040 as the ability to sell very high priced detectors may be at an end. What could another $2500 model realistically do that would get people to shell out the bucks? Will people really line up for a $8000 GPZ 8000 like they might have done in the past? I won't be in that line personally, and I'm not sure I'll be alone standing on the sidelines when the time comes. It's just too much money to dump into what I am sure will be a very marginal improvement at best. More ergonomic? Sure. Better on small gold? I doubt it. Maybe another inch on a 6 ounce nugget? Maybe. But are there really that many of those at depth that have been missed as people imagine? Not in my locations. I'm glad I'm not in the metal detecting business anymore, and sure won't be buying Codan stock.

Glad to 🙂 The arrows always point in a decision you make. For instance, "Park/Urban" will point to "Park Mode", which means that in case when you go out hunting in a park, you select the Park mode. The colors also have a meaning : Brown : where are you hunting? Field/park? Blue : what are you hunting for? Coins, relics, ...? Red : what are conditions that can impact your search? Wet soil, iron trash, bottle caps, ...? Green : Modes/options you select or change on your Legend. There are 3 groups : Mode (park or field), Frequency (M1 - 3) and filter/discrimination settings (Iron Filter, ferrous off, Single Frequency, ...) The reason I started working on this flow chart is that when I started to use the legend, I was simply copying the settings of youtubers that worked well for them. In my case however, they often didn't perform as I would have expected to. So I started to adapt the settings myself starting from the default settings from Nokta. And now, after months of hunting and testing with the Legend, I made this flowchart. In the future I will be updating it as my experience with the Legend improves.

Well, I plan to buy an X-Terra Pro because they did justice to the X-Terra concept, but instead of buying a flock of separate coils at different Frequencies, they are giving us a selectable SF detector in a more proven package that is well balanced and waterproof. And instead of using round tube-type rod system they are using the really good Vanquish rod system, and even better, the Vanquish coil design with the thicker, threaded left rod-mount 'ear' and not that hokey-looking new system for the Equinox units. I have owned SMF's from just bout every brand since the '90s, and while some do have some strengths for certain applications, I have still favored a Single-Frequency unit most of the time. And seldom do the SMF's show an overall improvement in performance. Just the opposite on occasion. With the two Equinox 800's I had, a SF was used perhaps 40% of the time, especially where I had improved performance. I really enjoy my two Vanquish 540's, including a lot of Beech Hunting on dry or damp sand at the lakes and reservoirs near me. but I have been hunting freshwater and saltwater beaches for a long time using some chosen Single Frequency models and, when properly tuned, I kept pace with those using a CZ or DFX or Sovereign on the Oregon coast I was hunting at the time. I have no doubt the new X-Terra Pro will provide even better performance. There are a lot of avid detectorists who prefer a SF unit to an SMF, either all-the-time or part-of-the-time, so I know there is good market for this new model. Also, for those with a Vanquish Multi-IQ detector, the new X-Terra Pro just might make an ideal 'companion' detector. Monte