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Went back out to a spot where I dug a nice 1/2 oz nugget last year , had to go home a couple days after so never got to finish the dig anyway got back out today and dug up the rest of the rock and dirt a got another 6.25 grams out of the hole the small speci piece on the right came from a spot further down the wash. so all in all 7.87 grams today , a good day out in the desert today.

I have had mining claims for 33 years, and it's not possible to check my claims every day. My corner posts seem to fall over and hide in the bushes on occasion and the paperwork seems to evaporate from time to time. Claim jumpers? Properly staked? I place corner posts on my claims and the paperwork at a designated corner that is noted in the documents that I file with the County and the BLM. However, if the posts and paperwork disappear afterwards? Then what? The claim is still valid. I do replace the posts and paperwork, but it may be 6 months before I get back to that claim. I guess you pay your money and take your chances. Good luck! snakejim

Here we go! 🥳 We had a big rain yesterday while the rest of the Northeast got a big snowstorm. The last few years we have had mild winters here, I'm hoping the trend continues. Yesterday I rolled my brand new remote and one pair of WSA II headphones back to V0.71 to prepare for this test, I ended up using my old Relic Reaper program that was very successful on V0.71. I put it on the older remote that is on V2, it was difficult because I had to turn off any parameter that didn't exist previously like Audio Filter and Offset Full tones, I set them to 0, so the program was as close to the same as it could be. My methodology was fairly simple, I grid searched a portion of the field out in front of my house. My first pass was with V2, I flagged every target that produced a tone other than mostly iron and recorded the IDs. I then went back with the other remote and a second pair of headphones on V0.71, digging each target and noting its ID and depth. The soil in this field, like nearly every other permission I have, has no mineralization. There is little sense in telling anyone what my settings were, it was my old successful relic program based on General, today I needed moisture subtraction especially because it rained yesterday and the field was muddy. I will give up a couple settings however, Sensitivity was at 98 and Reactivity was 0. Maybe extremes for some places but here the machine runs quiet, both remotes ground balanced to 78. There is no EMI. I flagged 9 targets, and got tired of it. I figure that was a pretty decent sample and it wasn't getting any earlier in the day, rain storms passed by frequently. Ok, here's the spreadsheet of results, and then I'll give my impressions. Here's the stuff I dug: All junk at least to me. Tack studs are everywhere, as are percussion primers, shotgun shells, lead and can slaw. I know how old this area is. 🤣 My post in another thread mentioned that Id be looking for ID changes, increased sensitivity overall, and bump sensitivity. Previously I tested my new unit and my old unit with the same V2 program, so I'm confident that no hardware was changed perceptibly, and I used the 13" coil both times on the same shaft made by SteveG, just swapped the remote. ID CHANGES ID changes can be seen above, IDs are definitely tighter on V2. The scale is different, observations of myself and others here are that some coin IDs changed, but for this I noticed/noted a difference overall. It's right there in the table. 🙂 ID is a hard thing to nail down, with V0.71 there were way more unstable spreads, I took the spread that was repeatable - what any detectorist would use to decide whether to dig or not. INCREASED SENSITIVITY I'm very sure sensitivity was increased across all programs, again the table reflects weak and unstable ID's. Sometimes the target at the same sensitivity (98) was strong with V2 and not with V0.71. the next observation takes this a step further: BUMP SENSITIVITY The last thing I noticed between the two versions is a definite increase in bump sensitivity. I'm detecting in corn stalks. Under V0.71 it was barely perceptible, I found today I could hit the ground and stalks, and barely/rarely hear bump tones, either high or low. Under V2 bump sensitivity is much greater. At Sensitivity 98 which is what I used to use all the time here, you'd be like "well, duh", but it's there all the way down to 87 which is about as low as I'll go. CONCLUSION I am really glad I have borne the slings and arrows of upgrading to V2. With the addition of High Square Audio, Audio Filter and Offset Full tones, Frequency limiting, expanded range on Audio Response and other improvements, there is no reason for me to hold onto the past or my old programs for that matter. The bump sensitivity may be a concern to others, but with increased overall sensitivity and tighter ID's I'm sure it can be worked around. I don't bury coins in my yard, so someone else will have to bear the depth mantle. The D2 has always hit stuff as deep as a VLF will go. These are live objective results in a live environment - my environment. Take this report for what it's worth to you. 🙂 What did I get for all this work? When setting up my grid flags I dug this snappy button: Cleaned up: HTH, GL, HH 🍀

Not so sure about my ability to be too technical 😊 but in essence conductive signals are salt signals created by moisture in the ground. Even in the desert there is sub soil moisture and particularly in goldfields because gold weathering from host rock involves a lot of clays being formed. The rocks on the land contain minerals, those minerals get absorbed by water after rain, the water then flows to the sea and evaporates leaving the minerals behind, that is why the earths oceans are salty. During rain events in the goldfields the weathered country also has concentrations of minerals on the surface of the ground this is due to oxidation just like rust on your car, when those concentrated minerals get damp the conductive signal increases dramatically and in some instances to the point that a metal detector is unusable or a coil that can handle conductive signals has to be used (like the DD coil supplied with the GPX6000). When conductive signals are present the response they create masks or hides edge of detection deep signals, the detector also becomes very swing speed dependant so a slow Motion filter becomes problematic (called recovery on a lot of coin machines), the GPZ 7000 has a Motion filter called Ground Smoothing when applied you can hear the threshold becoming more erratic and unstable but depth is lost so I never use it and instead focus on my coil control. Conductive signals are made worse by larger coils, this is because the conductive signal is seen from a very long way away from the coil. In wet conditions you can see this for yourself by lifting/raising the coil from ground height to above your waist, you will hear a loud long drawn out moaning sound as the coil is moved through an arc. So a smaller coil is recommended when the ground is damp which does not help ground coverage when patch hunting in wide open spaces. The other issue is damp mineralised clays, those can have a complicated effect on a metal detector, especially a highly sensitive machine like the GPX 6000, or GPZ 7000. They produce a combination of conductive signals and another effect on micro magnetic particles in the soils which are impossible to ground balance out, these signals can sound very target like both sharp and shallow sounding and also broad and edge of detection deep sounding. The wetter the ground the worse they are. A key to identifying these is coil control and sweep speed. There are a few immutable things about a motion detector, if using a consistent range of motion relative to the depth of a target (that’s the amount of distance the coil needs to be swept relative to the ‘lead in’ and ‘tail out’ positions of a target, basically from the point the threshold starts to change from the left to right and the other point going back the other way from right to left), then two factors have a bearing on a “real” target over a ground generated one. One is the height of the coil relative to target, in other words the closer you get to a target the louder it should get (very dependant on ground effect (for another discussion another day)) and the speed of the sweep. If the range of motion is maintained but the sweep speed is halved then theoretically the target response should effectively double. A conductive target like response will not do this and will get quieter not louder. In other words, in damp conditions slow down. The reason we move the coil is because the detectors are motion detectors (coil needs to move relative to the target to generate a response), the coil movement is all about the receive aspect not the transmit, moving the coil allows you to investigate any weak fields created by a target, the receive coil of the detector needs to move through the field created by the target, these fields will be thousands of times weaker than the transmit so require careful coil control to manifest properly. Hence why it’s so important to have good coil control, being prepared to vary and control the sweep speed and maintain a good range of motion when investigating edge of detection targets. Accurate ground balance, consistent coil height, good range of Motion and constantly tweaking the swing speed are all vital skills for working successfully with a metal detector, especially in conductive areas. You get all these things into alignment and deep targets jump out at you. Hope this helps JP

I really like the versatility of the small ear pad with puck setup. The puck itself is capable of being used many ways when it isn't attached to those $12 back of the neck ear phones. No, ambient noise reduction is not good. Those ear phones are fantastic in summer if your head likes them. My head is huge so I have to bend them to fit me and I glue a thin felt layer on the part of them that touches my head just above my ears so they won't create blisters. I mount the puck on Quest aftermarket over the ear headphones when its colder, I sometimes stem mount it on the shaft system, I have worn it in the watchband configuration and often just put it in my pocket with the horseshoe audio adapter and use the wired earbuds or over the ear headphones of my choice. So the WS6 puck is actually a standalone mini remote that doesn't need the big remote to fully operate Deus 2. The Quest headphones that have a receiver for the WS6 puck are priced very reasonably and are well worth it. I have used the XP WSA XL over the ear headphones. They are nice. They are just an audio controller and cannot control any other Deus 2 functions.

Thanks, I appreciate the nod. 🙂 I've dug 2 gold rings now over a year in massive expanse of farm, the first on V0.71 and the second small one on V2. I've also found a couple in brackish water with some black sand and other minerals when I decided to get serious and put the waders on. Each one caused an unquestionable and solid response. I wish I could describe it. It's no accident I found them because they were there. 😏 If I get a faint 89/90 while on the beach, I am 90% certain I am going to dig a US clad dime at anywhere from 6" to 12" deep. 91 to 93 and it's going to be a US clad Quarter. I have found probably 30 or more this past year. 94 and up is a toy 🤣, but I've seen this response for larger silver coins too. The best and probably sometimes frustrating setting on the Deus 2 is Audio Response, they widened this parameter for V2. As a low setting it will indicate depth, and as a high setting it will increase the volume of a deep target. It can also increase EMI sensitivity, it's a value that commands attention from time to time. From my perspective having a detector that is reliably waterproof is a bonus, and I have used the WS6 in water as well. Some of the best "rural engineering" is well documented here on DP Forum. 🙂 I do not mind switching the detector from "relic mode" in the fall to "water mode" in the summer. That's how my year is. A couple zip ties and off I go, they get clipped off in the fall. Since I purchased the machine I have knocked the remote off maybe twice, and since I bought custom remote locking devices and a custom shaft from SteveG, I have little to no problem with the detector falling over or rolling down a beach slope even with the 13" elliptical on it, or remote issues if I'm careful to attach it properly and leave it on when charging. When an attachment knob or shaft lock wears out, I'm ready with spares. They are cheap and plentiful. I'm aware you are in New Zealand so some aftermarket items and replacement parts may be hard or costly for you to get. I don't do any prospecting nor generally care about tiny stuff, but Colonel Dan has reinforced my claims about that. 😀 I'm hoping my test will influence a depth investigation, personally I prefer to be out looking for real stuff in real places, and mostly finding as much as I can is a bit more fun than disciplined documentation. 🙄

Hey Bud, Thanks for the kind words. I also know how important it is when someone is leaving for a trip and needs a product. We have always, and always will support our customers 110%. I'm not the biggest nor smallest dealer, but I will always answer phone calls, text messages, PM and such ASAP. Let me know when the new coils arrives and hope you have much success with it! Rob

Two hunts, two 18K rings-this could become habit forming!!! It is hallmarked 18K and 14K. The yellow gold test 18K and I assume the white inlay is 14K as well as the sizer that is soldered on the inside. The inside of the rings is nice and smooth, but the outside has clear signs of being in an active sand movement area of the beach. I just thought that this one was interesting enough to post. It also rang up a 53 on the Manticore (15 X 12 inch coil). It was one of 11 rings yesterday. Three silvers, one titanium and the rest junkers.

I haven't been on here in a little while. I got talked into leaving Meadview and Gold Basin for Franconia Wash area by Havasu City. This area is far worse off than Gold Basin and Meadview for hitting on gold. My first week there was a solid skunk. Just 50 cal. and 30 cal. bullets. I had a trainee come down for some training and I took him out to show him what I do at times to get onto gold. I led him out into an area that was heavy on my mind every day when I got back to camp and we stopped to give an area a swing. My hunch payed off as I found us a patch of nuggets. Video of that hunt will be in the works a few weeks away. We went back the next day and only one nugget was found a little ways away from the patch. The next day after we hit a wider area and couldn't get onto any other gold and then I went up a short feeder wash and found another patch with my Gpx5000. I had my trainee (Gold Dozer) come in with his 6000 and showed him how I work a spot like that with a dig and detect operation. I had pulled 3 nuggets out of this wash and he got 2 nuggets. It was a great time. We had three F-35's fly over us at very low altitude and that was way cool. The next day an F-18 Hornet flew over at very low altitude for another spectacular show of fighter jets. My time here is done and tomorrow morning I am pulling out and heading down to Quartzite to detect there until the Gold Show. I will have a table at the show again and possibly will be sharing a booth with Dr. Eric Melchiorre - Geologist, again. We will see what gold I can squeak out of the ground there. Jan 1, just before we headed out for Gold Dozers second day of training, I had gotten a call that my father had passed away at 10:27 that morning. It was not good news right before training. If anyone is down in Quartzite and wants to say hello at the Gold Show or before get ahold of me. It was good to get out and do some detecting with BMC as well. He is in the picture with Goldie the Roadrunner.

made a mistake with my order I knew he was on it and wanted to correct my mistake he got in touch and sending me the right one and the other letting me send back my mistake no extreme fees a spot on guy and you won’t go wrong with him he cares enought and cares respect over buisness a real trooper thanks for making my mistake pay off and deal with it like a trooper not many left like that these days Thanks Rob for stepping up to the plate and shine thanks

I have never owned the 11" FMF coil. I did own an 11" X35 so I compared its weight against the FMF 13X11" coil. Using the stock shaft system the 11" and 13X11" make it very nose heavy and just heavy in general in my opinion compared to the 9" FMF coil. There is a weight difference between the 11" and 13X11" for sure but the ergonomic result using either is just not good. So I skipped the FMF 11" and went with the 13X11" and I am super glad I did. I have never used the 13X11" with earlier software versions. I bought mine in the last 6 months and have only ever used it with v1.1 and v2.0 software. I did buy a coil centering adapter to center mount the coil on the lower shaft. That has helped some. I have swung the 13X11" for 2 to 4 hours straight with no lasting shoulder damage plus I switch hands. Your idea about using the 13X11" on certain areas is a good one. I have deliberately taken it to sites that I have gridded with Deus 2 9", the Legend 11", Manticore 11" and Equinox 800 11" and found numerous small US coins that were either poorly oriented or just a bit too deep for the other setups. I have also used the Manticore 11" and Deus 2 13X11" simultaneously on wild targets. I have not found one that the Manticore misses but the target responses are notably better on Deus 2 with the 13X11". Like 350, I have been shocked by the outstanding target separation of the 13X11" coil.

Dug my first gold of 2024 today. It is 7 in one with one being slightly whiter and one being slightly rose than the others. I did a Google Lens search and hitting high on the list is the Cartier Trinity Tri-Tone Rolling 7 Band Ring. This one is NOT a Cartier but it does have a maker's mark. The mark is shaped like a two-story house. On the bottom floor is 750. On the top floor is a heart with what look like a 3A on one side near the bottom of the heart and an OE on the other side near the bottom. I am adding a hand drawn picture of what I think I am seeing as the hallmark is smaller than these old eyes can see very well. In the sunlight I could see the three colors of gold much better than the pictures show. It weighs 6.13 grams and test 18K. Normally when I see 750 on any gold pieces I find, they are foreign in origin. Some help on IDing the maker would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Joe

I just got through posting here recently that I'd never top some of my finds of 2023, but I guess I did. 🤯 I dug something so unique and interesting, and got such a rush from its discovery I feel I have to share it. I waited until today to see how I felt about it. Please forgive the lack of specific detail and understand I'm detecting in a place I have permission to and have the current landowner's permission to appropriately preserve the relics I find taking into consideration their significance and potential ties to the original landowners or local area history. It was supposed to be a fairly warm and windless day yesterday, so I decided to go to one of my permissions and detect parts of it that I have not been over. Deer Hunting season is almost over, and it was really quiet, I didn't see a single hunter anywhere. Ground conditions are perfect, enough moisture to keep the ground loose and easy to dig. I first hunted the "beer zone" and "turn zone" of the field, and in almost 4 hours I got some small bits of aluminum, a Zincoln, and a very nice button with a shank as you'll see. Then I decided to go a little further into the field, got another button, what I think is a lead weight, and some odd piece of metal with a loop in it. Upon finding that odd piece of metal, it occurred to me to circle around it, and I'm glad I did. I want to preface this find with some advice, don't ever think you're cool bypassing buck balls, on the Deus 2 the ID is about 55-62 depending upon composition. Just like pull tabs at the beach, you will miss some incredible stuff if you're not digging buck balls from any century. Most of the balls in my area come up white indicating they are really old. So are some other things, like the ~300 year old gold ring I found. It was a 58 on the Deus 2 with the 13" coil, about 4-6" deep. It came out as a ball of dirt with a shiny gold strip in the center, at first I thought I had found a gold coin because the edge looked reeded but it was much more than that. I carefully picked the dirt away, and when the dirt fell out I was shocked. Upon closer inspection and help from friends, the ring is likely a Lost Wax cast with names and dates, the stone is missing but from researching history (and listening to my wife 😀) it was quite possibly a black stone called "Jet". I looked through the dirt and could not find it. The setting is mangled so it could be anywhere, sadly lost forever. Turns out it is a "Mourning ring", a classic way to memorialize relatives dating back hundreds if not thousands of years. The dates on the ring put it at about 300 years old and the inscription ties the find directly to some of the original Colonial landowners of the permission. Here's the total haul, 3 buttons, a lead weight, a few tack studs, and the metal thing with the loop that prompted me to look more next to the weight. The coin next to the Zincoln is a wheat, too crusty bother with finding a date. Here's the trash, not even a handful. Even got a Revolutionary war Pull Tab! 🤣 This is truly saving history and I am taking the appropriate steps to preserve it for the benefit of future generations so the local history of these properties won't be lost or forgotten. Good start to the year!

Thanks Jeff, the Deus 1 shaft has to be one of the biggest failures of all time when it comes to shafts, if not the biggest so to see they carried that over to the Deus 2 doesn't give a lot of confidence, but then again it appears to simple things often get forgotten by metal detector manufacturers of all flavours in pursuit of performance so falling over detectors and twisting shafts are part and parcel of a modern detector. One's slogan is performance is everything, and it truly appears they don't care about anything else 🙂 The Deus shaft should be great, all fantastic with one fatal flaw that really makes no sense they could make that mistake I don't measure targets by the centimetre, millimetre or less accurately inch as American's do, I measure by my own rules which include shallow, OK and deep, I'm not near as accurate as you are with my targets, some detectors surprise me with depth, others don't, some surprise me with sensitivity, others don't. I really have no idea of any accuracy of targets I dig and in no way can I dig a hole to accurately determine depth especially when using a pick gold detecting in rock hard ground nor do I want to spend the time doing so, I just know sometimes I'm happy with detectors and their depth, or their sensitivity, and other times I'm disappointed. Plenty of people I know have no motive such as yourself and F350 like the Deus 2 and are happy with it, and that's good enough for me. I'll give one a try. I wasn't overly impressed with the Deus 1 but I also understand the differences environments can bring so I just have to accept it may not suit me or my needs but it clearly was a popular hit with others with their needs and ground type, and targets available to them. The funny thing with detectors it's often not that people are wrong with their opinions, they're solid as a rock right in their ground, put them somewhere else in the world and they would be shocked, what they thought was absolute fact suddenly becomes questionable. I will never say someone is wrong with their opinions on detectors as unless I'm in their shoes I can't possibly know. I just take all trusted opinions and average them out and hope for the best 🙂

Yep. Even tried using concrete on a couple of markers and the hooligans ran a truck over them. Unless you can patrol them on a regular basis there's not much to stop them from pulling them out or knocking them down. I also use lots of metal signs high enough on trees so they can see them but can't get at them without a ladder. A lot of work.

Found this a couple of weeks ago in my farm yard, about 100 feet from the house, where an old fence line used to be. I've been ignoring the big old iffy iron signal for about a year, but decided to dig it up and get rid of it, thinking it was farm junk. WW2 era, judging from other finds in the same spot. Gave it the reverse electrolysis treatment. I'll probably sharpen it and buy a nice handle for it. I'll put it in my 1947 shop, with the other vintage tools I've found around here.

A ¼ of an ounce plus for the day. Keep that rate up and you will been in the top income range. 🤑

Your best source of information and help will be the Geotech Forums Coil Basics (PDF-506K) - This article describes a variety of induction-balanced coil methods. Coil Parameters - Database of coil parameters Coil Winder - How to make a device that will wind coils from 3 inches to 24 inches in diameter. Construction of Coplanar Search Coils - An easy method of making coplanar-concentric search coils. About Search Coils by Dave Johnson Search Coil Field Shape by Dave Johnson

My original post was in Prospecting Page as that's where I usually hang, I'm a gold hunter. But after much thought, I'm deciding to put part 2 in the appropriate section. You can find write up part 1 (days 1 - 4) in the Prospecting page. Warning, long detailed read, with a few good pics. Day #4 As the wife/I stepped out of our room and headed for breakfast, we both noticed change in the weather, and it was already cool and breezy. I decided to hunt in the deeper waters in the morning before the stronger winds show up, usually afternoons. After some time of bobbing up and down with the rising/falling waves as they roll in and past me, I tried to keep my spirits up. Getting only a few targets here and there, I did happen to manage some bling, 2 rings, a bracelet, couple pair of sunglasses and a few coins. The one ring is a white gold 10K with a decent weight of 5.5 grams. The bracelet is stamped 18K, hopefully real and not one of those fakes? Once home I ran it through the tumbler and it cleaned up very nice, actually a stunner bracelet. The above pic shows links are all thin and or hollow, so it does not have serious weight, coming in at 19.5 grams. With the price of gold around $2000 an ounce, I’m also seeing more gold pendants, bracelets and chains that have hollow links to save on weight and cost. I am still not 100% certain it’s genuine 18K and need to get it tested. I’m pleased with my efforts and time for a bite and fill up of water. While enjoying lunch and viewing across the ocean, my wife commented how rough the seas and shores were getting. The pic above shows the palm trees blowing sideways and the white caps on the waves. Water is still mostly clear now. She’s always worried about me. As I get older, I also become a little more cautious of my activities. It’s not necessarily because I’m getting wiser, but more of me worrying about a broken leg, hip, ankle or other long lasting ailment. I know from personal experience how powerful a wave can be. I’ve been slammed a few times and once even took my scoop handle to the gut and knocked the wind out of me. Luckily I didn’t faint as I would have drowned. On a trip to Bahamas once, my video guy got slammed and blew his knee out. It finally took surgery for his knee to be right again. Waves are no joke and need to be respected. A quick kiss with “good luck wishes” from the wife and I’m heading back into the dunk trying to catch a bright and shiny ring. Well, the weather was really getting right down rough, and I only lasted a couple hours before I decided to call it a day. It’s not worth getting hurt and ruining the trip for a couple blings to already ad to what I have discovered. Heck, I’m already quite happy anyway. Finds for the afternoon only included a few coins, a crusty sterling ring and 2 pair of sunglasses. That crusty sterling ring tumbled up really well and it even has an "A" that's gold. Sometimes you don't know until you get home and start cleaning up the treasures, That evening while viewing over my dismal recoveries for the day, I realized…at least I managed a piece of gold (which on some trips is much better than my gold nugget success) for the day. At the end, it’s just like the small nuggets of the desert, even a thin gold band or charm find, it all adds up. Sure, I’m not scoring rings like I’ve done in the past, but there’s many factors and sometimes it’s just the times and generational changes. One of the other elephants in the room, the weather…. has a lot more to do with ones Success than we usually realize. Remember, the crusty sterling ring with the gold A was not even known at the time. Day 5.. Time to take a break. It became a body recover day and mind/soul relaxation. Indeed, a perfect idea as it was also the roughest winds and surf so far. I couldn’t have timed it any better. I spent time with the boss at the poolside enjoying a few drinks and occasionally walking over to the beach and seeing stupid people get tossed around in the back of my mind I’m thinking, you're certainly helping me for my next hunt. Dinner for the evening was interesting. We wanted to see a show, so did dinner a little early. The special was Pork of the Pig. They should have actually called it “pork of the pigs head”. I had to catch a quick pic for memories/proof. I so much wanted to put that big ring on the pig's snout for a quick pic, but I had not enough drinks yet and besides, the ring was securely hidden in the room. It would have been a hoot though to see such a pig/pic. Day 6 started with strong breeze which was frustrating to my mindset. Notice the shallow water is much murkier and starting to see a few shells/small rocks being exposed. As I walked to my intended location, I started doubting myself a little about being able to swing a good day's hunt. Getting into the rough water where the waves were cresting, I usually desire to get beyond them, so I’m not tossed around as much. Plus, in the wave breaks and another hurdle is its very time consuming trying to recover the target. My military mindset says to “march on Marine”, and so I head out. As I’m walking through the rough, half-hardy pushing my detector ahead as I’m working to the deeper less ferocious wave activity, I actually get a low tone signal…. Now what??? I’m thinking… as I realize the importance of low and mid tones, but also the thrashing my body and equipment will take while trying to recover target. I decide to chase after the signal anyway…. and just as I go to retrieve, a wave slams my backside and thrusts me forward totally out of control of the situation. Mistakenly my body lands on Manti and I can feel the coil stuck between my legs. As my 230 pounds is trying to recover with my arm strapped into Manti arm cuff, I feel something give….and I know it’s not well. Getting my bearings and my arse with Manti to the beachline and out of the wave crash zone, I see with my eyes what my arm and mind were feeling…what the give was. SNAP…The coil is dangling by the cord of the end of Manti shaft. In total disgust I realize nothing I can do but head back to the room and get the backup. In the room I realize my backup is a brand new Manticore and so I really don’t want to use it. I decide it’s best just to take the lower rod from the backup Manti and use it on my original unit. Besides, I didn’t have the coil cover to the backup unit all zip tied together. Side note. For you water hunters. I highly recommend you zip tie the coil cover of the Manticore to the coil in 3 or 4 places as they easily fall off. I actually know a few folks who remove the coil cover all together when water hunting. Now up and running after a half hour delay, I’m determined to get at least 2 or 3 hrs swing time today. Taking the previous day off, I get this “must do it anyway” in my head. So off to the beach I go. This round (I lost round 1) my plan is to immediately walk through the wave break zone and out to the semi calmer waters at depth. Yes, I realize it’s going to be a tough day but troop on. Again, if I had not taken the day before off, I’d probably call it done. In the deeper swells, I swing, bob up, come down and swing, was the pattern I did for the next 15 minutes or so before I’m rewarded with a ring for my efforts. 1st target in the water was a thin sterling ring, followed by a nice 18K yellow gold 6.4 gram band, and surprisingly another 10 feet away was a 2nd yellow gold band of 14K weighing 2.6 grams, followed by a monster ring from those cartoon figures. Interestingly, that one small area seems to be some kind of trough or settling zone. Why I think so, well 6 targets and 4 of those were rings, which the other 2 larger heavy coins. Day 7, I awoke to the evil winds a howling and realized my day was going to be a tough hunt. I decided to walk quite aways to attempt at finding a calmer section of water. On occasion I even take a tax to a couple well known areas that have built in wave break. My walk paid off and I noticed a resort down the way which had a section of semi calmer waters. This beach I usually don’t hunt as it seems to produce more coins and trash than some of my favorites, but at least I get to hunt. As I walk out into the water and look back, down a hundred yards, I see a sand cut and also notice much sand movement has occurred in water as well. This scenario can be an indicator that I could have a banger kind of day at his location. I’m excited for what my mind starts racing to expect. Well, my finds didn’t exactly overflow with Gold as I ended up with mostly heavier targets and unfortunately only 2 rings. Luckily one of them being an 18K yellow gold. The other is a crusty sterling ring that’s been in saltwater for quite some time. Yes, I did manage more coins and trash than usual, but that’s the breaks when leaving my favorite areas for stretches of the beach that are not on my high points list. I shouldn’t complain at all (I did get gold) but honestly, I was a little disappointed. Notice above, the coins and items recovered have been in the water for some time. This is good indicators of some potential great finds, if you are willing to take a chance in the water. I recommend you have a buddy...just in case. Day 8/9 were some of the strongest winds I’ve encountered at Cancun. Again, my wife mentioned the potential hazards and events (broken shaft) I already experienced. Hinted that I should spend time with her and to be thankful for what I’ve already recovered. Actually, she is correct because some of my finds were really top notch. Even though I didn’t get a high-end diamond ring on this trip, I managed some brand name designer piece. The beach was red flag both those days and to the point they kept asking folks to please stay out of the surf and to only use the pools. I’m not the hard-core Marine I once was when I first started going South some 15 yrs ago, so I took the bosses advice and called the detecting part of my job of this trip, an end. Just out of curiosity and the morning we left, I walked to the beach to get an idea of what was happening, quite a bit more of sand movement had taken place over the last 2 days of extreme winds and tidal movement. I was sure there had to be more gold for the taking. Oh well, there always next time. Wrap of the trip finds I brought home. Missing one sterling ring and one small 14K gold band my wife tipped herself. Total of 25 rings were recovered. My gold counts. 10 gold rings and one sterling ring with a gold overlay “A” letter. Another gold item is a very thin 10K box chain type gold necklace. Still need to get the dentures tested as it could have value. Weight of the gold, 1.620 ozt, not counting the bracelet. Not knowing todays trends, brings me to another point. On previous trips, I have had 4 or 5 sunglasses days. I only know Ray Band as having value. Well, I was giving some away to the lifeguard one day when someone was telling me how expensive a couple pair were. I have since learned to look them up on google before giving away for free. After all, I do give aways most of the coins, most of the cheaper nonprecious metal jewelry and even on occasion a tungsten or sterling ring. I try to help those at resorts who make my trip more enjoyable. Update on the dentures and BVLGARI Ring. After getting home and in contact with Cooperate, they assured the resort would contact me. They did. I emailed a pic of the dentures and also mentioned finding a BUGARLI ring. They replied back saying that nobody had reported them lost. I find this quite strange as I have had issues in times past as well. Honestly, I don’t trust the folks that deal with the lost and found at these resorts. One particular time, I just left the resort and got to the airport, while in the restroom, I realized my $140 electric razor was sitting in bathroom at the resort I had just checked out of. I immediately called and told them my room #. They put me on hold for a bit, came back and told me that no such item was found in the room. Another time at a different resort, I accidentally left my dress shoes for evenings out with the wife, under the bed. When I returned from the trip, I realized they were gone. Again, $100 shoes and nobody knows anything about them. Well, if and or when I decide to sell, at least I know I did contact the resort and tried to see if they were that important to someone that they would report them lost. Not reporting a ring, ok I could see that as some folks don’t even know they lost one. The dentures though, how could someone finish a trip without them? I’m most certain they would have reported, unless so embarrassed, they decided not to. That's the end of my 2023 season hunt in the Caribbean. Manti never leaked and that's great news. So far, I'm pleased with its results but still feel a CTX 3030 has better depth on man's gold wedding bands. To be fair, I do not have even close to the number of hours in saltwater with a Manticore as I did the 3030. I know, it takes time and tuning to get dialed in and eventually that will come, I hope.

For anyone who may be interested. Thanks, George.

I would go for the XL phones. I only have my Deus2 for a few weeks now but those headphones are fantastic.

I used the puck before the XL II became available. As soon as the XL II hit the market I bought 2 sets(one for each of my Deus IIs) and never looked back. Now keep in mind 99% of my hunting is on a noisy beach....wind, surf, people etc. The full cover of the ears is a very functional and comfortable set of headphones. They turn on an off with the remote and the tone quality is really excellent. I've used nothing else since I bought these. Just the view from my foxhole....

This mirrors my experience of owning all three coils - the 9" and the 13" are the two I actually use, with the 11" as a backup/spare.

@palzynski, I hope I'm not misunderstanding your question for Jeff above and hope he will answer. I've had the 13x11 coil since it first came to the USA, I was literally one of the first to use it. I bought the 11" while waiting, didn't like it much then, and honestly save for it being a blessing while recovering from a shoulder dislocation, I still don't like the 11". It allowed me to stay out there longer and stays a bit more rigid on the SteveG shaft coil yoke, but that's where it ends. Who knows, I may have bought a defective 11", it finds stuff just fine and is slightly more accurate locating a target, but it is characteristically not as good as the 13x11". I can say with almost complete certainty that the 11" gives false high tones on iron far more than the 13x11. I will also assert that the 13x11 separates targets much better than the 11". I'm not a scientist so I can't tell you why. Again it could be that I have a defective 11" coil, but I'm seeing this posted more lately now that others have invested in the 13x11. Depending upon how I have audio response adjusted, I've hit US dimes (17.91mm) at depths that seem ridiculous for a VLF, 5 scoops or more on the beach which is about as deep as I want to dig. In the field my 11" long Ranger digger takes a big plug out, and I've found them in the bottom of the hole. If I recall posts from engineers regarding coil size and shape with respect to depth, I believe there is a "sweet spot" in coil size and shape where depth is at maximum and my results in the field and beach tell me that other than the Xtrem Hunter, XP isn't going to give us another coil. 🤣 Were I to do it all over, I'd have just the 9" and the 13x11", I'm keeping the 11" as a backup if I forget to charge the larger coil and often bring it with me on another lower to use if I get tired. At US $400 each no matter the size, the 13x11 is the best value for the money if you already have the 9".

Deus 2, 9" coil FMF Goldfield will hit 0.01 gram nuggets now at 1.5 to 2" air test. Before v2.0 software it struggled to hit 0.1 gram nuggets at 2" air test. Deus 2 with the 13X11" coil has made all the difference for me as far as hitting deeper silver US dimes which are 18 mm, 2.5 gram coins. With that coil it is beating the Manticore with 11" coil by an inch on in ground wild targets. Target IDs really are very stable but that is after doing a ground balance at least in the dirt around here. So, target IDs can vary one or two numbers from day to day depending on ground conditions. That has been going on since the original software version so I am use to it. I really no longer have anything bad to say about Deus 2 aside from the water antenna and the design build which marries a remote that is too bulky and heavy for the shaft system connection point that was not much of an issue with Deus 1 and the ORX with their smaller and lighter remotes. My Deus 2 remote is constantly falling off and the shaft cam locks are already getting loose and the entire detector is ridiculously unstable when on the ground and is constantly falling over. You already know this since you own a Deus. So, great performing detector that needs a thoughtful shaft upgrade/

Remove as much rust as possible by hand before starting. I attached the negative lead to the axe head with a piece of heavy solid wire and a small vice grip. It's important to get a good bite on the object being cleaned. The positive lead was attached to a section of galvanized pipe (available from farm supply stores). The zinc coating on the pipe transfers to the object being cleaned, giving it a black protective coating. I like the finish. The two metal objects mustn't touch each other. The process is a line-of-sight reaction, so I had to replace the mixture and flip the axe head over several times. Replace the section of pipe with a fresh one as it corrodes. If you can't find washing soda, heat up some baking soda in a saucepan on the stove top, and shake it around until all the moisture is removed from the baking soda. It'll turn from a lumpy texture to a fine powder (about 10 minutes on medium heat). Mix it fairly thick with the water. I teach Motorcycle Mechanic Apprenticeship in Alberta, and I've been using reverse-electrolysis to restore the insides of rusted gas tanks for decades.

Nice hunt and some good gold, now get back out there and get their bigger brothers. That area seems to be a great area to find some big gold and even the small stuff. Hope you keep hitting it and bring home the mother load.

Unfortunately i was away for christmas and missed the crazy surf. Came back the 30th and stopped by the beach on my drive up. Got a gold ring right off the get go, then nada. Came out on NYE and got 5 gold rings! New years day i got 2 more gold rings. Then got out today and got a gold pendant. I doubt I'll ever have a streak like that again but it was fun. In all i had 5 additional rings, 2 silver and 3 junkers. Also got around 15 silver dimes, one silver quarter, a clad half dollar, and around 200 clad coins, mostly dimes and nickels. Gave a few of my silvers to a kid who was detecting with his trusty bounty hunter.

I'd go back to a hole like that also! Well done. How did you keep from telling 'someone' about the spot for a year?

I guess you were armed with your 7000 for this? Fantastic gold, huge in fact, makes me embarrassed to show my recent efforts 🙂

That's a great way to start out the new year, very nice specimens. WTG! 👍

Thanks Jeff, I'm more talking about very low end 0.0X and more importantly 0.00X gram size gold which in your tough soils are probably a bit out of the question, the 0.XX stuff is considered big gold to me 🙂 the really tiny stuff is the only reason I can really justify using a VLF these days and I find it really fun finding those micro specs, a real challenge. Either way, it's great they've done such a good job improving it to make it a genuine all-purpose detector, I will add one to my arsenal in 2024 sometime when I get sick of trying to justify another detector I've recently purchased. It seems the general consensus is the Deus 2 has a very stable tight target ID and that's only improving, and that's what I want in a coin detector.

Nice, he's not going to miss any coke cans with his modded 5000. Someone should give the man a 17" CC, 22" CC or the monster 32" CC to try on that 7000, if he's willing to mod a 5000 by heavily changing its main PCB you would think he would be willing to give a coil cable a snip and join 5 wires. It'd be interesting how well then he does at finding coke cans. I have no idea why he's surprised an 18" Mono does better than the 25" DD coil, it's rather obvious the 18" is the bigger coil when it comes to depth of targets. That's where the GPZ is impressive, it's DOD coils often keeping up with or exceeding large monos on this big deep targets. I find these mods very interesting though, they're expensive but I guess it's not easy to mod the PCB and the research that's gone into making a detector better than Minelab could at the time. I might give one a go one of these days, the new generation of mods seem far superior to the early ones.

That's a beauty for sure. I used to live in upstate NY and there are plenty of old areas to hunt. Open fields, woods, etc. Really miss that now that I'm full time in Florida but do several trips a year to visit family up north and return to the old areas. I always cringe and shake my head when I hear someone say, "That's the find of a lifetime or you'll never top that". Don't believe it! Around 1990 I found a 5 oz nugget in AZ. A lot of people said that's the find of a lifetime! It actually depressed me a little thinking... Wow... That's it? I've reached the pinnacle already? Nothing better for me?? About 6 years later I found a 15 oz nugget containing 12 troy oz of gold. So don't ever think that something you have found no matter how spectacular it is can't possibly be topped by you again...someday. I think it keeps the lure of the hunt strong.

I have the 16" mono and DD both and really don't use either of them, as they ruin the superb ergonomics my making the machine nose heavy. If I was on ground I was pretty sure had a 1 ounce or larger gold nugget I'd run them, but for smaller gold the gain is negligible to none depending on the ground. The DD in particular is quite heavy, but the mono you can run without the coil cover and it's actually lighter at 766g than the 13" DD with cover at 906g, so there is that. 16 DD Coil 948g SC 188g = 1136g (2.504 lbs) 16 Mono 766g SC 188g = 954g (2.103 lbs) 13 DD 750g SC 156g = 906g (1.997 lbs) 13 Mono 598g SC 156g = 754g (1.662 lbs) 11 DD 518g SC 74g = 592g (1.305 lbs) 11 Mono 424g SC 74g = 498g (1.098 lbs) Coil Bolt + Two Rubber Washers = 10g (0.022 lbs) Garrett Axiom 16”, 13”, and 11” search coils, both DD and mono

I saw rocks AND boulders not to mention some great jewelry. Interesting and fun read!

Thanks, Okara. 🙂 Yep only 3 years, but I've found more than I ever thought I would, and it seems to get better all the time probably because I'm getting better at it. 😅 I'm also getting great places to look. I mentioned in my original post I thought I'd never top a 1607 hammered silver, but I did. 🤯 Wish I could show the detail but out of respect for the family and caution, I can't. It is really unbelievable. If you look at 18th and 17th century cast mourning rings you will get an idea anyway. There is a band of land through the state that has gold, but I'm not anywhere near it. I'm on the Eastern side near the Chesapeake Bay, one of the first areas in the country that was settled by the English. This peninsula has many endowments to prevent development, so it's still mostly farms. This is the second gold ring I've found in a farm, the first was over 150 years old and looks like it was made yesterday. Gold jewelry does very well in the ground here but some silver and lesser metals like bronze and copper do not. Almost 400 years of farming will do that. 🙂

You may want to snag Inside the Metal Detector found here: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Metal-Detector-George-Overton-ebook/dp/B01N8WAG7L/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3B20YBN072KAW&keywords=inside+the+metal+detector&qid=1704764653&sprefix=inside+the+metal+%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-3 Should have some very helpful info and math needed for designing those coils.

What an absolutely awesome find. You say you're fairly new to this but certainly are making some stellar finds. Virginia is gold country too, so I wouldn't be surprised if you come across a nugget someday. Years ago, I had permission to camp and dredge for gold in Goldvein, VA. Stayed there for one month and left with 1/4 oz. Best to you and your future hunts!

Nevada claims must have corner stakes / monuments. They must be maintained. California claims do not require staking but it is wise to do so. All claims must have an up to date location notice on the claim. Don't trust any of it. I would get a blister on my typing finger if I tried to explain it here. If you have a specific target area to prospect, this is the perfect time of year to do your research. But be aware It appears BLM mistakenly closed nearly 3,000 claims and still hasn't sorted the mess out. There are folks on this forum that are much more adept at this aspect of prospecting than I so I'm sure some will reply. Lotsaluck.

If you can do that every day, you'd be living the dream. Nice finds. Congrats on your success!

Busted ! I thought the same thing Gerry ! It's OK VL . You're still young and have priorities .😏 Nothin' wrong with that. But you DID miss the rock's tale.

The streak continues today! 🤩

Good for Rob. Integrity is everything.

Great pic, thanks. Tungsten Carbide is also slightly magnetic but it's very resistant to scratching. It's a custom ring, still really nice. Here ya go, found it: https://www.ccforlife.com/LifeMates_with_Channels_8_5MM_Band_p/3ccmate85wr.htm They call it "Jewelers Stainless", not an especially cheap ring. 🙂 I think I'd get a new bottle of Jagermeister to celebrate 😀

I bought 2 coils from Rob about a month ago, a 12x7 xceed and a 10x5 goldhawk for the 6000, love them both.

The hard copy documentation actually included in the WM 09 package appears to be updated from the above and makes no mention of the WM 09 module being waterproof. That highlighted bullet text above does not exist. Based on that, the statement on the web page, and the fact that the WM 08 is also not waterproof, I conclude the WM 09 neither waterproof or weatherproof.

Biggest issue with going larger coils with an extremely sensitive PI is the conductive signal. Open areas like WA are really bad for conductive signals and will punish an operator if they go too big. You can use a GPX 5000 with a large coil for prospecting which is less prone to conductive signals but then you lose that tiny nugget sensitivity of the GPX6000 which can be the on;y clue to a good patch or gold being in the area. The GPZ7000 has the same limitation which is why NuggetFinder built the Zsearch 17x13, a good compromise between sensitivity and coverage in vast open spaces. I’ve used one of the early proto 16x10 Nugget Finders in WA and found it to be a very nice blend of quiet running and good coverage with very good depth, it’s like a plumped up 12x7 Xceed. It’s still a work in progress and had to be put aside all of last year due to a number of factors. There are only so many hours in a day, the demand for the 12x7 was off the charts and still is by all accounts. JP

Whites Electronics M.E.T.A.L D.E.T.E.C.T.O.R.S...

A few updates made to the original post. I indicated that the SignaGraph display was originally developed for the White's XLT. Not quite. White's was a genuine innovator in digital metal detecting, with the first true digital model, the White's Eagle. As shared in Mark's notes, the original Eagle models had a very basic display. The SignaGraph first appeared in the last version of the Eagle, the Eagle Spectrum, the first White's detector to bear the Spectrum moniker. The SignaGraph was thought of as a "Phase Spectrum Analyzer", and that is where the "Spectrum" part of the name derives from. The Eagle Spectrum had the old larger control box powered by four C cells. The Eagle Spectrum was very short lived however, as this is when White's was making the move to smaller control boxes powered by eight AA batteries. This set the stage for most everything else that followed, and the White's XLT was one of the first beneficiaries of the new design. The slimmed down Eagle Spectrum powered by eight AA batteries and with a better LCD display was renamed the Spectrum XLT, and then simply XLT. Here is the ad for the new Eagle Spectrum touting the new SignaGraph display. Click for a larger version. And here is the Eagle Spectrum owner's manual, where one can see the basics of what later became the XLT, then DFX, and the V series.