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Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/28/2024 in all areas

  1. Wondering how many out detectorists here while out looking for gold also pick mushrooms, berries and such when in season? I'm always looking. I look for Morels and Bolet mushrooms, goose and elderberries. What do you look for in your neck of the woods?
    6 points
  2. Andy emailed me today. Great guy. They are sending me out a replacement coil. Andy is the real deal. He has helped me tremendously with this issue. If Andy knows about something he will take care of it. Thanks to everyone who posted. I can't wait to get the LG24 and try the legend out some more. Think I will go turn it on and do some air tests with different objects and see how it behaves in different modes. It's raining here so going outside is just not happening. If you ever have troubles get in touch with Andy. He gets the ball rolling!
    4 points
  3. Clue in every post I make. There's a DETECTOR in my signature. First Letter DALAS - D = Detector CLUE #1 These are the parts included to get the DALAS perfectly adjusted to you. Adjust once and you never have to do it again. CLUE #2 The DALAS will fit is a PIZZA Box perfectly in fact that is probably how it will be packaged. CLUE #3 Up the creek without a PADDLE. Any of you that carry a weapon know that a PADDLE holster is extremely comfortable. Why not incorporate that into the design for the DALAS? CLUE#4 The second and third word in the acronym DALAS A and L is AIR LIFT. If you had observed carefully you would have seen the helicopter had the words, AIRLIFT on it. CLUE #5 Detour signs redirect you. What happens when you redirect weight? What happens when you redirect weight like in a block and pully system? The weight becomes barely noticeable. A 500 lb load feels like 5 lbs. CLUE #6 It's Green! Well it is! You will see tomorrow when I have pictures. Clue #7 A young man attempting to ASSIST an old man who is using a STICK, (cane) and wearing a STRAP. The second "A" DAL -A- S stand for ASSIST. CLUE #8 Is a Circulatory SYSTEM. The final letter in DALAS, has multiple meanings. SYSTEM. STICK, and STRAP. CLUE #9 STRUT. The DALAS, among other things consists of a PADDLE and two STRUTS. SO let's look at the history of how people have tried to make metal detecting more comfortable and enjoyable. I don't care how much research you have done, how many detectors you own, what detector you own, all of that means nothing if you get fatigued while swinging your detector. Fatigue is the biggest detriment to finding goodies. I don't care if your detector weighs 2 pounds or 20, when you start to feel the effects of detecting in your neck, arms, back, you lose focus. When you lose focus you lose focus you lose concentration. When fatigue sets in, your gold take drops precipitously. So let's start with Minelab back in the days of the SD2000 SD2100 SD2200. They gave you a little bitty bungee cord, with no ability to adjust the cord, you were just supposed to tie it to the detector, attach it to the backpack carrying a 5 b battery, and off you go. Next of the horizon was the ol' Swingy Thingy that I developed. It actually allowed you to adjust the length of the bungee at the rod, so changing terrain was no longer a challenge for you to instantly adjust your bungee. Next came the Hip Stick, a very popular item. Some folks absolutely love it and some people are lukewarm about it, but it never seemed to catch on here in the U.S. while in Australia thanks to Jonathan Porter who made some important modification to the design it is very popular. Next came an upgrade to the Swingy Thingy from yours truly, the Ultra Swingy. A dual strap padded version with the QWEEGLE Bungee which allowed you to adjust at the rod and also at the shoulder "D" ring. Then some attempt was made in Australia for an over the shoulder "Sky Hook" device to hold the detector up. Alas it was cumbersome, and it had a lot of bounce to it as the over the shoulder device was a piece of bent metal which flexed under the weight of the detector. Next Minelab introduced the Pro Swing, which in my mind was actually sort of a hybrid of the Ultra Swingy Thingy and the Hip Stick. Minelab did some very interesting things with the Pro-Swing, instead of direct weight transfer, like the hip stick, they redirected the weight which made the weight of a detector even less noticeable. HOWEVER, while the concept was fantastic, the execution left a lot to be desired in the mind of users. There had to be some modifications done that many people were not willing to make. People complained that it was too confining and made them feel claustrophobic, they couldn't get it adjusted right, and it kept coming apart. On top of all of those complaints, users said they didn't feel it really took the weight off as much as they would have liked it too. Also it didn't work on every detector. Personally I love the Pro-Swing but I had to do several modifications including how it is worn to make it work as it should. I have written before about how to simply modify the Pro-Swing to make it worked as designed. I would be happy to share those tips with you and I guarantee you will love the Pro-Swing. So for four years I have mulled this concept of a device to make a detector float like a feather, but I know you guys and you have many requirements that need to be met before you would consider using such a device. I worked very hard on making sure the DALAS™ checks all of those boxes. I hope you will agree I resolved all of those things that needed to be resolved. The new QWIPPLE ambidextrous triple point adjustment bungee was my first big step in this project. So here is the manifesto I wrote to myself that gave me the mandate to invent the DALAS™. Common Metal Detector Support Devices, what they attempt to do. • Claim to redirect weight to alleviate stress on arms, shoulders and neck. • They attempt to do this by redirecting the weight to a larger area of the body, usually the waist. Why Common Metal Detector Support Devices fall short of their intended purpose. • Some units are too bulky and constricting. • Some systems attempt to mitigate the weight by directly transferring the weight to your waist without re-directing the weight. This means you have to wear a tight belt to keep your pants up. • You have to select a fixed size with no ability to adjust the length if it is not perfect. • Some adjustable systems do not give you enough of an adjustment and are too short to function properly. • Some adjustable systems pull apart even when they are adjusted to the longest adjustment. • Some systems require an adjustment to switch for right hand to left hand use, which is not secure and tends to come apart when used. • Most systems are designed to attach to the “D” ring of your harness or are dependent on being fixed to the harness “D” ring in some way. If you are unable to adjust the device to the perfect length, the system pulls on the “D” ring. This then transfers the weight to your shoulder instead of your waist. This completely defeats the purpose of the proposed advantage of the system which is to transfer weight to stronger less injury prone body areas. • Some “Over the Shoulder” devices are so large, heavy and cumbersome, most users find them unusable. In addition to which the “Over the Shoulder” device puts the bent metal support strut with “D” ring over your shoulder and right next to the side of your face. Not only is this distracting, but it could cause serious injury and a severe laceration if you were to fall and your face landed on that metal support strut. • Some systems do not come with a fully adjustable bungee cord or any bungee cord at all. How should the perfect Metal Detector Weight Support Device be Designed? 1. Unit should be easy to wear. It should be lite weight, minimally intrusive, and not make the user hot. It should be able to be used with the users favorite backpack, or hydration pack without additional straps of any kind if they are not needed. The device should compliment the user's rig instead of trying to be an additional harness that has to be added. 2. Unit should truly “REDIRECT” the weight NOT just transfer the weight “DIRECTLY”, so it is unnoticeable and very comfortable. Unit should be custom designed from concept to execution using parts specifically made for the intent of the support device. Using parts made for other purposes that are "jerry rigged" to adapt to the proposed use never achieves the ultimate design goals. 3. Unit should be fully adjustable for all size individuals without compromise, for a perfect fit. 4. System should be firmly secured at any joints or areas of adjustment to prevent the unit from coming apart when being used. 5. System should be easily adjustable for right handed or left handed use, with the adjustment point being totally immune to separating when in use. 6. Support device should be completely able to move freely even when attached to a harness or “D” ring. It should move independently. There should be no impediments to unrestricted movement from the point of ORIGIN, where the weight of the bungee with the detector is attached to the “D” ring and where the weight is redirected to an unnoticeable area of the body where the weight redirection is TERMINATED. This design should prohibit the device from ever pulling down on the harness and transferring the weight onto the shoulder, neck, upper arms, or any part of the body other than the weight redirection termination point of the support device. 7. Support System should not pose a significant risk to the user. System should not be made of metal. They should be free of sharp edges. It should not be necessary to wear the system close to the side of your head. Direct weight transfer systems using a strait support rod should be avoided. If the weight is directed straight down. In a fall the force of the fall could drive the rod straight up causing injury to the user. 8. Support System should come with a fully instantaneous “On the Move” adjustable bungee support rig with multiple ways to adjust your detector to the perfect height. Bungee should be adjustable at the attachment point of the detector rod and at the shoulder clip and be ambidextrous. Bungee cord should be of superior material, Dacron Polyester UV protected Marine Grade with a 50% stretch. Either end on the bungee should be able to be attached to the detector. The bungee cord should be easily detached or reattached with one hand to either the “D” ring of the Weight Support Device, or to the attachment device on the metal detector rod. Introducing Doc’s Nugget Stalker® Brand The DALAS™ • Detector Air Lift Assist System Features 1 through 8 listed above! CHECK! Tomorrow pictures of the first prototype. Thank you for all of your support! Doc
    3 points
  4. tekkna works very well in heavily littered fields where there is a lot of modern garbage. Harry did a great job, he picked up the settings so that the wrong targets remain in the background, and the right signal hits your ears like a shot.
    3 points
  5. One of the things that I haven't mentioned about farms is that there are so many conditions and stages happening that it is difficult sometimes to choose where to go. When Chase comes down I try to think of a spot (or let him pick, saves guilt 😏) that will almost guarantee some decent finds to make the trip worthwhile. Personally I can go to any of these places, hunt all day and not find much. Unless I get some interesting item or many, I might not post. It is still fun and does not bother me. Posting a crap hunt sometimes does keep it real though, and makes me more credible. 🤔 Here farmers plant mostly corn or soybeans with either winter wheat, barley or "cover crop" after harvest. The cover crop they don't care about. Some farms are so big that they rotate two crops. With corn, if they don't knock the stalks down with a bush hog or tiller it is almost impossible to hunt, so a field with corn can be a two year wait to revisit. Soybeans are preferable as if conditions are good they will cut them short. This field was not so good, but we toughed it out knowing it would be a two year wait if we didn't. Not only is it fresh but also putting it off might make the aged owner forget he gave permission. Add to that other strategic difficulties, some farms have very little to offer or are extremely trashy. I have one really big one that has literally nothing on it despite its age, or at least I found nothing while scouting it for a whole day. Others have hotspots, some of which have been wiped out and I am awaiting some sort of tilling to refresh the place 🤪 But yes, having a lot of places to go does lead to getting still more. If I pass a farm of interest and it feels like the time is right and the farmer is out there, I'll stop and ask. Most are curious as to what I might find, and thankfully appreciate the desire for some reward for me should I do all the work to dig it up. Establishing a friendship of sorts goes far, they will try to think of other places to look, or even ask someone else for me. There are 2 rules for getting permissions: 1. Start out with a question about the history of the place and a compliment about how nice it is, then Listen to the farmer after asking to hunt it, no matter how long they talk. It's the most important thing, if you act hasty or impatient, you're not doing to get it. If they say no, be prepared to calm their fears of leaving holes and damage. Make them say no more than once. 2: See rule 1. I guess you could just say it's complicated 🙄 but I do hope to inform as well as brag 😎 information is a bit more important here.
    3 points
  6. Aye a man can`t live on gold alone, wild field FNQ Au mushrooms on cooking, sliced up with a sprinkle of salt, a good amount of pepper and cooked with butter......... mmhhhhhh it don`t get any better.
    3 points
  7. Thank you. Also approaching the 500,000 view mark. More to come.
    3 points
  8. For anyone keeping score that makes 85.8 ounces of gold out of that cut so far. Will it hold up or get better? Stay tuned. The fun is just about to begin.
    3 points
  9. September 11 2002 Bound For Glory Jacob was already up before dawn and eventually the entire crew was at the morning breakfast meeting and having coffee. We all took a minute in silence to remember those who had died in the Twin Towers attack last year. We had breakfast and Jacob and Clay went up to the dig site while Conor and I started the cleanup process. We were done just after 1:00 PM and I radioed Jacob and Clay. They came down to camp and I showed them a jar of gold. It was from this morning's weigh. It was good. The jar contained 56.8 ounces of coarse gold with some fine mixed in as well. I figured somewhere around 11 grams to the yard. Even old Jcob got excited. He stated that the further down he went the better it got. And it also was widening out to the west. Conor was nearly out of control and Clay was almost as bad. Jacob spoke softly and told everyone to calm down. He said it was bad luck to get too excited. He also told everyone to keep their mouths shut if they went to town. News of a strike could send all kinds of hooligans and prospectors out here looking for gold. We had dealt with enough of that kind of thing. After lunch we all got back to work. Conor and I washed another 40 yards of material by dusk and we called it a day. When Jacob came down the mountain with Clay just before dark he went straight to the sluice and grabbed a small scoop of the concentrates with his pan. We all followed him over to a water tub and shined flashlights down on the pan as he worked the black sand away from the gold. The pan was heavy with coarse gold. I think Jacob just wanted us to know we were still on the streak. We went back over to camp and I heated up some canned hash and fried up some Spam. Jacob uncorked a bottle and we all filled our cups. We did a toast to the mine and all the miners who had worked here before us. Then Jacob did a very somber toast to his brother Jed and the crew of 1936 and 1937. I saw a tear run down his face. Then he turned to us and flatly stated “Boys, we are bound for glory.” TO BE CONTINUED ...............
    3 points
  10. Morels, corrals and bolet mushrooms. Blackberries, elderberrys and Huckleberry's. Have a harder time with the "Gold berry's" here is pic showing the contrast between hucks and the Gold variety.
    3 points
  11. Oh, and Valens Legacy will be getting a nice gift because he used the word "STICK" in one of his posts. Like Groucho Marx, "Say the Magic word and the duck will give you a prize." Doc
    2 points
  12. As many people has said so many times on here " It doesn't hurt to ask unless they have a shotgun pointed at you". So the more you ask permission and interact with them the better your chances to get their permission.
    2 points
  13. You've collected so many permissions it boggles the mind.🤯 You can actually cherry pick the locations instead of just the targets..👍
    2 points
  14. April Fools is coming real soon. Chuck
    2 points
  15. My detecting mate and I have been working a dry gully for quite a while using our 6000’s with 10x5 Coiltek coils attached. We had been finding a bit of small gold but lately our returns diminished and we had almost decided to move to a new location. In a bid to squeeze out a few more pieces, we decided to detect the ground with our 7000’s and try to uncover a few deeper nuggets. We weren’t expecting much as we had spent a considerable amount of time working this area on the short gully and thought that if we could come home with a piece or two we would have achieved our goal. The Six with the small coil really suited this area as there were many potential gold traps and hiding spots for the tiny pieces that inhabited this location. The Zed’s were fitted with Nuggetfinder 12” Z search coils and after a ground balance and tune were running exceptionally well. The hot rocks and noisy ground that played havoc at times with the 6, were ignored by the 7’s so we knew that we had a bit of potential to find that really subtle signal. We moved slowly and tried to get into difficult areas and hopefully jag something for our effort. After about 20 minutes we added a couple of small pieces to the rattle jar from steep banks on the sides of the gully. It was agreed that the shallow pieces would have been picked up easily with the 6000 but were now happy that we hadn’t been “skunked” for the day. Joe was working a stretch of ground that had produced well for us in the past so I decided to move upstream about 50m to give him some space. I started at a rock bar that had given up some treasure about a month or so ago. We had pulled about 6 very small pieces on and around the outcrop and made a concerted effort to cover all the ground in that area very well. Every subsequent trip resulted in a repeat of that process just in case we missed something. The same region was detected today with the Zed and to my surprise, a very faint signal was heard. It was in an ideal location next to the rock bar on the inside section of a bend. You can see the hole in the photo. We had hoped to find a piece of gold at a depth that the Six couldn’t see and it finally happened. It must have been on edge as the signal was initially very soft and only increased during the dig. What popped out was a pleasant surprise. The 6000 has dominated our detecting for a couple of years now and the Zed barely gets pulled out of the cupboard. It was good to get its coil scraping on the ground again and put through its paces. We had forgotten how quiet it could be when the ground suited. We had also forgotten about digging deep holes until we were quickly reminded of its power. Rusty nails and bits of steel with soft enticing signals generally resulted in ugly growls and swimming pools being dug half way to China. We moved upstream and continued to detect some old ground looking for that deeper target. I was lucky enough to get a really faint signal behind a large rock. After digging a deep hole, a small, shiny nugget surfaced. I could see why the Six would not see a piece of gold at that depth. When the hole was inspected with the coil, another break in the threshold told the story of a surprise awaiting inspection. When a piece of gold ended up in the scoop, I called Joe over and we started moving rocks and detecting a small area thoroughly. A bunch of small pieces resulted. We had a lot of fun working that area together. Joe finally moved 20 metres upstream and found another patch of deep, small pieces of gold. The river worn gold was often visible in the scoop or in the ground like the piece shown in the picture. Joe pulled a couple of pieces on the walk back including one that was in a pool of water. Boots and socks came off and a slow and frustrating recovery followed. It’s great to see a prize for all the effort put in. The final picture shows the result of our day out. Quite a few of the pieces were so small that they wouldn’t move the scales but they all added up. It is pleasing that the Zed can still earn its keep on the tiny gold. Most of the pieces found would still be in the ground if we had used the 6000’s on this trip. Having a combination of machines has proved to be a winner in this area.
    2 points
  16. this works a treat Avantree Relay 20 hours battery life, then whatever aptX LL headphones you like, You can just use your Equinox headphones to save some bucks.
    2 points
  17. So now I'm thinking back and remembering that season so long ago. Seems like yesterday but they're all gone now.
    2 points
  18. How these Russians always get the information to leak first is a surprise. If he is right, it sounds like it will be awesome. $1200 USD for the headphone's version, $870 for the basic. The headphone version must come with more coils or something to be so much more money, unless the translation was incorrect on the pricing. Looks like some Whites V3i technology has gone into it for the screen display. GPS mapping, waterproof, more control over used frequencies, a triangle flashlight to let out more light, vibration, 19 hours battery, I guess we'll find out on April 5th if he is right and if he is, I think it's going to be very popular.
    2 points
  19. They are good finds Doc. You are right about its ability to sniff out deep targets. When we were onto the small gold, we just got into the zone and forgot about getting the phone out to do some filming. As things slowed up a bit, we finally drew breath and took the time to take one small bit of footage. It’s just a raw, unedited clip so apologies if it is clumsy. It is what it is. We had our machines running in sensitivity 15, high yield, difficult. Except for the really small pieces, they were banging through really well.
    2 points
  20. Translation: "I love tekkna. I don't know what it is, but I'll take Gary's word for it that there's some magic going on with it! Lol some kind of witchcraft! Lol,,,,🙂" Alexnov, Can you identify the objects you found and the age of them? Very interesting. They look very old. Do not do so if it is not in your best interest. 🙂
    2 points
  21. I just came back from a trip to Gold Basin. As we know there are meteorites there. I found one about 80 grams. When it was washed off and brushed I could see some tiny yellow shinny spots. I've found lots of Gold Basins but I don't remember and of them with gold in them so I did a search. That search introduced me to a concept that many have that much of our mineable metals, including gold came to earth with meteor showers. If true this could explain a lot of unexplainable patches in different areas. Here is a primer from one of the AI tools, Copilot. This is new for me and might take a while to have my brain wrap around it after all of the info about gold being molten and coming up with eruptions. Someone help me understand this. Did meteorites bombard Earth with gold? | EarthSky https://earthsky.org/earth/did-meteorites-bombard-earth-with-gold/
    1 point
  22. In general advertising detectors is something I offer as a service to good members in long standing. I'll let this stay as maybe it would be a good deal for somebody, but as abenson notes, maybe not. It does provide the service though of my asking in the future for members to defer from posting anything other than their own detectors for sale. Anything else is circumventing the intent here, which is to offer members a way to sell their own detectors without extra fees to a select group. Thanks
    1 point
  23. I went with a friend who is quite knowledgeable on mushrooms. He did pick some chicken of the woods. I'm just not confident enough yet on identifying it to eat them yet.
    1 point
  24. The evidence is in....Your permission system sure does work ! You have become one of the locals. Everything found has a story to tell , even the pulltabs ........
    1 point
  25. The way I see it SMF is 6 year old technology and most agree that its peaked. To throw just another SMF machine in the ring this late would not make sense. No it needs to something special and I hope it will be. I will buy one. Mark
    1 point
  26. Although there used to be quite stringent rules for dealers on selling instruments and accessories outside the allocation area, lately it is possible to find several detectors of any brand on Amazon or eBay and buy them from another country. Having just sold a coil of my old Deus2, the new owner does not know what to do in case of service. Since the coil came from France, is it possible to get service from a dealer in another country? Should one send it to the dealer who first made the sale to initiate the service procedure? Thank you to anyone with information on this matter....
    1 point
  27. ... And sometimes we just get a "goose" from the duck... 🤣 Sounds interesting Doc, yes even with the lightest of detectors fatigue is noticeable. Nice of you to award Valens Legacy, he is a prescient individual more than he knows sometimes.🏆
    1 point
  28. Almost every time I get a chance to get out there, I have to get some berries, but mainly get some chicken of the woods mushrooms. They grow year round and if you know how to gather them up you won't hurt them and they will continue to grow.
    1 point
  29. I just got permission to detect a large piece of land in a well known gold bearing area. It is private land that nobody has been prospecting for many many years. Everything around it is claimed up tight. It's hard to describe how excited I am about this permission. I will have miles, not acres to hunt. 😁😁😁
    1 point
  30. You must be in Arizona ! we got the “Snaddle Rakes” !
    1 point
  31. You have to use the closed caption button and use the gear icon to change your default language. He didn't mention any specific frequencies.
    1 point
  32. The four copper coins are United States wheat cents. The dates of those four are: 1930, 1934, 1945 and 1953. The silver coin is a Japanese coin. I’m not sure of the exact date but most likely pre world war II…probably from the 1930s era. So they’re not very old. But thanks for your interest.
    1 point
  33. Dutch oven baked fresh blackberry cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream on the Klamath River. Salmonberries you pick from the edges of the trail while hiking in the Olympics. Those were some of my favorites. But that was before detecting. Now that I mainly desert detect when I can go, the only berries I pick are the little round lead ones that I mostly keep finding. Don’t eat those!!
    1 point
  34. Jeff, Great job! You are killing it for sure 🙂 Like you, I think the Manticore is an awesome machine. John
    1 point
  35. I picked up one of these F70s even though I already have an F75 (and a Deus 2, lol) just to see what it's capable of. As others have said, the all metal mode should be excellent. There's also a lot on the forums about its nuances, from Dave J's posts to Digger27's extensive experiments and experiences. I've only gotten out one time with it so far but it found me some three-ringers at a place I'd gone over with more expensive machines. For $199, it's fun to pick one up and see just how it stacks up to machines that cost several times more.
    1 point
  36. If I get a faint signal with no TID or trace, I'll change settings to try and get a better signal. Usually I'll start by increasing sensitivity, then adjusting recovery speed and switch between modes. And if that isn't helping I'll dig some dirt and check if the signal gets better or worse.
    1 point
  37. We ended up doing good on this low cost plan. At one of the trenches on the operation we hit a honey hole that we got pretty excited about. I was at a creek about half a mile away running concentrates through a spiral wheel (Gold Magic) while my partners were running gravel. I saw my partner pull in with his truck and told me I needed to come check out the area they were digging. I had him stay with the cons while I drove up to the the dig site. They were test panning from the trench and were pulling pans of coarse gold like I hadn't seen there before. This stuff ended up being in the ounces to the yard. We all thought we had struck it rich but as soon as it started it faded away. It was a hot spot but it didn't last long. Mining can be cruel. However, sometimes I think running the small and inexpensive plans are the best ways to go. You have little to lose but your time and if you have done your homework on the ground you should make some money. For me it's not a fever any longer but a business. I like to get paid for my work. So do my partners. However, it will always be a thrill to see gold in the pan. It's something that never grows old. I just got smarter about how much money I spend to get it.
    1 point
  38. My Manticore is always full of water even days after being submerged. Every so often I will loosen the 4 screws and dump the water.
    1 point
  39. That's about all I get most times when I hunt a very small beach nearby, but paying attention to the tides and going when they are the lowest possible can turn some stuff up. Of course my beach is on a big sandy river, and the only rocks I encounter are the imported rip rap they use to keep the parking lot from being swept away. 🤔 Forgive me for kidding ya, but congrats on the gravity-defying photo and the sidelight to bring out the detail. At least you won't wonder where the hemostat is now. 😁
    1 point
  40. Thanks Doc, A lot of people use fast, I tried one version of it but they blanked out iron, which while relic hunting is useless to me. I'll have to mess with it some. 🤔 I like the Tekkna program and am excited to see what they will do for it with beach hunting, but it is specialized and too soft in the clean places. I use it to get a break from the harshness of Relic. 🙂 Relic makes a distinctive sound when passing over something good, even with low reactivity. With the 13" coil battery it lasts all day, I don't think it was as good in versions before V2. I rarely find Indian stuff, here they didn't use copper before the settlers arrived unlike some lucky hunters out west. I hear many tales of arrowheads everywhere but have yet to find one of them either. 🫤
    1 point
  41. Super copper trade piece Bob. Or who knows possibly an ancient Indian made artifact that predates the other finds by many years?Gotta love that relic program! It's been pretty much exclusive for me the last few months. I use it until I get plumb worn out or when it's not practical then I switch over too fast and cruise along.
    1 point
  42. I will check more of my iffy signals to see where a lower sensitivity finally cannot pick them up. Your buttons sure get a workout! 😆
    1 point
  43. We actually ended up using a Kubota 80 on this plan. We got a deal from a guy who owned it. They are good machines & fairly powerful for their size. Normally I would not go smaller than a mid size but the big mini was all we needed. Bedrock was only 6 - 10 ft in depth and there weren't any huge rocks to worry about.
    1 point
  44. Thanks VL, relic season is almost over, maybe a couple more weeks but I have to start yard work and getting my RV ready for beach season. I'll miss the quiet of hunting the fields. We have no parks in this area that can be legally hunted so I won't be getting out as much. This has been my best relic season ever. The problem with people at the beach is people at the beach. 😏
    1 point
  45. More Aussies are starting to do videos, this one with the 12x8" EVO, that coils always intrigued me, never enough to buy one though.
    1 point
  46. So here is a small scale plan executed in 2020. It was a 3 month operation involving 3 - 5 people. It used 4 separate plans of operation so as not to trigger SMARA (surface mining and reclamation act. SMARA is triggered when surface disturbance exceeds 1000 yards and requires much more detailed and expensive permitting. We do our own plans of operation at no cost by using federal and state agencies to do the proper environmental evaluations. Average time for plans to be approved can vary depending on how busy the agencies are but 4 - 6 months should be expected. Our bond was moved from one site to the next as each plan was finished and reclaimed. If you want to run multiple sites at once you would need a bond for each site. Our bonds vary from around $3500 for a small plan like this upwards to $10,000 or more for larger scale operations. The bonds are refunded as reclamation is finished and approved and all equipment removed. I am posting a very small scale plan here first. We did this plan after several years of hand prospecting to ensure success by proving the ground as best we could. One word concerning mining in California now - I noticed on Dave Turin's new show when he was up at Happy Camp he kind of clouded the issue on mechanized mining. Mechanized mining can still be done in California but you must be at least 300 ft from the creeks. For our claims this is not an issue as our commercial grade ground is anywhere from 600 - 2500 ft from any creeks. If you are planning to mine with equipment closer than 300 ft to a creek in California you may as well forget that plan for now. Perhaps it will be changed someday. Here is the small scale plan with the gold values conservatively adjusted for today's price per ounce. I will be posting a larger scale mining operation here as well. MINING PLAN FOR 2020 Equipment & Starting Expense : Super Hog Highbanker $ 2033 Custom built hopper/grizzly 500 Small 2 Yard/Hour Highbanker (Vern) 0 Semi Trash Water Pumps 2000 2100 ft 3 inch Lay Flat Hose & Fittings 2267 300 ft 2 inch Lay Flat Hose 149 Extra Fittings & Clamps 100 Bobcat E85 Excavator Rental (one month) 4667 Delivery & Return Fee 500 Porta John (one month) 300 Storage Shed 2000 Fuel 500 Misc & Shipping 500 Total : $ 15,516 Production Estimates : Run Time (8) hrs/day Monday - Friday Saturday/Sunday make up time & gold cleaning & processing. 7 yds/hr 56 yds/day 280 yds/wk 1120 yds/month $ 50/yd gold value after refining $ 2800/day $14,000/wk $56,000/month Operating Cost : $ 5467 1st month (fuel & excavator rent & misc) Net Revenue : $ 50,533 per month Would be scaled up to the larger operation Description of Operation : At Site #3 the north bluffs at Upper North Mine have 300 ft of baseline gravels that will provide 37 cuts or trenches into the base to bedrock. From each trench 45 yds of pay gravel will be processed. At Site #2 the west facing bluffs at Upper North Mine there will be 250 ft of baseline gravels that will provide 31 cuts or trenches into the base to bedrock. From each trench 45 yds of pay gravels will be processed. Site #2 Production : 31 cuts 1395 yds @ $ 50/yd $69,750 Site #3 Production : 37 cuts 1665 yds @ $ 50/yd $ 83,250 Total From Production : $153,000
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  47. "Not a lot of iron targets in my life"? --------- You truly live in paradise! 🙂
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  48. I think people get this impression as they buy a new computer, use it a few years and then it's really slow and clunky and they think age caused it when really, it's just bogged down with crap from the years of use and loads of updates, wipe it and fresh install Windows and it's like new again. Run benchmarks on it when it's new, and after being wiped and reinstalled years later and the results will be the exact same, many years apart as long as its not developed any hardware issues, most likely the hard drive being the mechanical component being susceptible to wear causing it to slow down or have performance and reliability problems, fortunately our Nox's don't have hard drives for their software 🙂 I can't imagine a 5-year-old Nox performing any different than a brand new one unless it's developed a fault or the battery is failing.
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  49. Introducing the Makro Gold Kruzer metal detector, new for 2018. The Makro Gold Kruzer is available now from select dealers. The 61 kHz Gold Kruzer breaks new ground by being the lightest weight highest frequency waterproof detector on the market. Be sure and read the detailed review by Steve Herschbach at the bottom of this page below the specifications list. The Makro Gold Kruzer comes standard with a 10" x 5.5" concentric coil plus a 4" x 7.5" DD coil and has one optional coil available at launch. The Gold Kruzer has proprietary 2.4 Ghz wireless headphones included. The big announcement of note however is the very high 61 kHz operating frequency, making this one of the hottest machines available on tiny non-ferrous targets, and the only one waterproof to over 5 meters (16.4 feet). There are already a number of detectors on the market operating in the over 40 kHz region and the basics of this high frequency detection have been covered well for at least twenty years. In other words, if all a person wants is a detector running in a high frequency threshold based all metal mode, there are quite a few options to choose from. What makes the Gold Kruzer interesting is that as far as I can recall, nobody has made a detector before where the primary design intent is jewelry detecting. More to the point with the Gold Kruzer - detecting for micro jewelry. Micro jewelry has no exact definition but basically just means very small, hard to detect jewelry. Things like thin gold chains, or single post earrings. Most standard coin type detectors are weak on these sorts of small targets, if they can even detect them at all. Up until now people had to choose between coin detectors that have the features but are weak on micro jewelry targets, or use dedicated gold prospecting detectors hot on small targets, but very limited in features. What that usually means is little or no discrimination features. Makro Gold Kruzer for detecting jewelry, gold nuggets, and more Makro has gained attention as a company that listens to its customers. The new Gold Kruzer model is the perfect example of that, creating a unique machine based almost solely on feedback provided by customers in the last couple years. The Micro Mode on the new Gold Kruzer is a direct nod to those who want a detector for hunting micro jewelry and possibly even for gold prospecting, but who do not wish to give up the features available on most detectors today. In fact, Makro goes a step beyond, with the Gold Kruzer sporting features not included on many detectors today. These would include being waterproof to ten feet of more (16.4 feet with the Gold Kruzer), built in wireless headphone capability, and the ability to receive firmware updates via the internet. The result is a new detector with a unique feature set. There is literally no other detector made right now operating over 40 kHz that is fully submersible. Built in wireless and internet updates are frosting on the cake. Official Makro Gold Kruzer Page Makro Gold Kruzer Full Color Brochure Makro Gold Kruzer Instruction Manual Forum Threads Tagged "makro kruzer" Makro Metal Detectors Forum Makro Gold Kruzer Technical Specifications* Internet Price $636 Technology Induction Balance (IB) Frequency 61 kHz Autotune Mode(s) iSAT Intelligent Self Adjusting Threshold Ground Rejection Grab, Manual, & Tracking Soil Adjust Yes Discrimination Visual ID & Tone ID, Tone Break Adjustment Volume Control Yes Threshold Control Yes Tone Adjust Yes Audio Boost Yes Frequency Offset Yes Pinpoint Mode Yes Audio Output Speaker & Waterproof Headphone Socket Hip Mount Shaft Mount Only Standard Coil(s) 10" x 5.5" Concentric & 4" x 7.5" DD Optional Search Coils Yes Battery LiPo Rechargeable (optional external AA pack available) Operating Time Up to 19 hours Weight 3.0 pounds Additional Technology iMask noise suppression technology, backlit screen, save settings Notes Includes 2.4 Ghz wireless headphones, waterproof to 5 meters (16.4 feet) *Notes on Technical Specifications - Detailed notes about the specifications listed in this chart. Detailed Review Of Makro Gold Kruzer by Steve Herschbach I was asked to review a new gold detector in the fall of 2014 from a company I had never heard of before then – the FORS Gold by the Nokta company based in Istanbul, Turkey. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Nokta FORS Gold to be a very capable 15 kHz VLF detector that could serve well not just for nugget detecting, but almost any detecting tasks. The FORS Gold did have some odd design quirks, like the use of mechanical rocker switches instead of touch pads. I listed a few of these things, expecting that would just be the way it is. I was almost shocked when within a short period of time Nokta fixed or changed every item I had mentioned in my review as possibly needing improvement. This was unusual as normally once a machine has gone into production manufacturers are extremely resistant to design changes, especially changes in the physical design. It was a sign of what people have now found to be fact – that this company is serious about listening to their customers as a prime driver for product improvement. New Makro Gold Kruzer It was revealed that Nokta had a sister company called Makro, and the two officially combined forces shortly after I made my review. In other words, both Nokta and Makro now share the same ownership and management, but continue to be marketed separately under the two brand names. The detector models that each sell are unique, but there is an obvious sharing of the underlying technology between some models that the two brands sell. I had commented at the time that I would prefer a more standard configuration for a LCD based detector rather than the non-standard configuration as presented by the FORS Gold. By the fall of 2015 I was using the new Makro Gold Racer, which incorporated many ideas I had lobbied for over the years with detector manufacturers. I had been trying for some time to get somebody to create a metal detector that ran at nugget detecting type frequencies over 30 kHz but with a full target id system. It seems strange now but at that time nobody made such a detector. The Makro Gold Racer was quite unique in 2015 by offering a detector running at 56 kHz that also offered a full range LCD based target id system and dual tone based audio discrimination modes. This made it a detector useful not just for nugget detecting, but low conductor hunting in general for relics and jewelry. It is even a halfway decent coin detector for regular park type scenarios. The versatility and well thought out control scheme scored points with me, and I still have the Makro Gold Racer even after selling most of my other detectors. It seems that the moment the Makro Gold Racer hit the streets, that everyone else was working on similar ideas, as other detectors running over 30 kHz but with a full feature set started to appear on the market. High frequency detecting is suddenly in vogue for more than just gold nugget detecting. The one thing obvious now about the Makro / Nokta partnership is that they never sit still, but continue to work on and release new models at a pace that puts all the other manufacturers to shame. The companies are also big believers in seeking public feedback and then implementing the suggestions to create better products for their customers. This is readily apparent in the progression I have personally witnessed in going from that original Nokta FORS Gold to the new 61 kHz Makro Gold Kruzer just now hitting the market. In less than four years the company has gone from “catching up” to meeting or surpassing detectors made by other companies. ads by Amazon... It should be obvious that the Makro Gold Kruzer is all about gold. This explains the shift from dual tone to monotone audio in the Fast and Boost. Dual tones as employed in the Makro Gold Kruzer can be problematic when hunting the smallest gold targets, especially in highly mineralized ground. It is hard for a detector to get a clean separation of ferrous and non-ferrous targets when the targets are very small. This is because the actual dividing line between ferrous and non-ferrous is not a line at all, but a zone. The Makro Gold Kruzer uses a fairly standard discrimination scale that ranges from 0 – 99. The range from 0 – 40 is considered to be the ferrous range, and 41 and above non-ferrous. Yet the discrimination default for both the Fast and Boost modes is 25. This is because if you bury small gold in highly mineralized ground or large gold extra deep in mineralized ground, the ferrous ground signal can overwhelm the very weak non-ferrous signal. It really is not about the object size. A deep large nugget is a very weak signal just the same as a shallower small nugget, and either can end up reading as a ferrous target. The solution is to lower the discrimination setting into the ferrous range and accept that you have to dig some ferrous items to get all the gold items. This actually applies to any metal detecting. If you dig absolutely no ferrous trash, you are almost 100% guaranteed to be passing up some non-ferrous items reading incorrectly as ferrous. This can be acceptable of course depending on what you are doing, but passing on a deep six ounce gold nugget because it reads ferrous can be an expensive mistake. The Gold Kruzer default discrimination setting for Fast and Boost is 25 instead of 40 for this very reason. Dual tones have issues for this same reason, with decisive results on the weakest targets difficult if not impossible to obtain. The difference is quite small, but monotone is slightly more stable and proficient at working with the tiniest and faintest of signals right at the dividing line between ferrous and non-ferrous, wherever you have set the control to tell the Gold Kruzer where that line is for your particular situation. There is no pat answer as the where to set the discrimination control. It is a judgment call based on experience, but when in doubt, use less discrimination and dig more trash. Welcome to gold detecting! Makro chart showing gold occurring in 0 – 40 ferrous range The Makro Gold Kruzer has a new control that relates to this overlap between ferrous and non-ferrous readings. The Extra Underground Depth (E.U.D.) control acts to directly impact the tipping point between ferrous and non-ferrous readings. The E.U.D. control only works in one of the three discrimination modes and when used on a suspect target that is reading ferrous may reveal by a different tone that it is actually non-ferrous. It is noted in the manual that it can reveal some targets misidentified as ferrous, but it will also give more false positives on ferrous targets. I was unable in the time allowed to figure out just how efficient this control is. In theory you can just set the discrimination lower, digging more ferrous but getting those missed non-ferrous items. Or set the discrimination a little higher, and now examine suspect targets individually by engaging the E.U.D. control momentarily. Finally, you can run E.U.D. on at all times. Is higher disc with E.U.D. on at all times going to get better results than just using a lower discrimination setting? Sadly, I just do not know at this time. I do know it is no magic bullet so the efficiency of employing the E.U.D. control will have to be determined over time by users around the world What? You say you wanted tones? Well, the Makro Gold Kruzer has you covered. The new Micro mode is a three tone mode similar to that on other company models, but running at that hot 61 khz. The 0 – 40 target id range produces a low tone. The 41 – 66 range produces a medium tone, and 67 – 99 range a high tone. Micro mode allows the “ferrous break point” to be adjusted. This is that magic point where you decide what is going to read as ferrous and what reads as non-ferrous. Note that unlike the Fast and Boost modes, the default ferrous breakpoint is set at 40 instead of 25. This is good for coin type detecting but again may be too high for other types of detecting. While in Micro mode you may use the Tone Break control to vary this all important setting. You could mimic the other two modes by setting the Tone Break at 25. Now 0 – 25 will be a low tone, 26 – 66 a medium tone, and 67 – 99 a high tone. Tone Break can only be used to set the ferrous breakpoint. The upper high tone region of 67 – 99 is preset and fixed by the factory with no adjustment possible. You may use the Ferrous Volume setting to control how loud the low tone response is. The medium and high tone responses are set with the main volume control. The discrimination control still functions in Micro mode, with a default setting of ten. Hot rocks and ground responses occur this low on the scale, and so having at least some of the low end blocked or rejected with reduce the number of low tone responses generated by the ground itself. The control can be set as high as you want and will override the other settings, blocking all targets below the desired target id setting. The Makro Gold Kruzer does have a tone control, but it does not allow the tones to be changed in Micro mode. Those are factory preset, with the Tone Break between ferrous and non-ferrous plus Ferrous Volume as the two adjustments you can make. The Tone setting allows the tone of the audio response and threshold to be changed in Gen, Fast, and Boost modes only. Micro was designed first for hunting micro jewelry. Micro jewelry is a loose term that applies to all very small jewelry items, like very thin chains, single post earrings, tie tacks, etc. Micro is perfect for hunting tot lots and beaches and focusing on the “gold range” targets represented by the mid tone reading in Micro mode. Many jewelry hunters consider digging coins a waste of time, and so ignoring high tones can save digging pocket change when the real goal is a woman’s diamond and platinum ring. The Makro Gold Kruzer has a nominal non-ferrous range of 41 – 99 which is a 59 point spread. Normal U.S. coin responses are 63 for a nickel, 83 for a zinc penny, 84 for a copper penny, 86 for a clad dime, and 91 for a clad quarter. The high 61 kHz operating frequency acts to push target id numbers higher and most coins will respond at 83 and higher. I was surprised a zinc penny and copper penny for all intents read the same. The good news is the low conductor range is expanded, which offers the ability to help discern different pull tabs and other trash items over a wider range. This in turn may help eliminate at least a few pesky trash items while hunting gold, although ignoring gold range items of any sort can be risky. Still, with a U.S. nickel reading at 63 and most women’s rings reading under the nickel, you get the 40 – 63 zone as a 23 point range where much of the most valuable jewelry will turn up. The default high tone breakpoint of 66 – 67 is clearly focusing the Gold Kruzer mid-tone on this very important gold range. Do note that large men’s rings and nearly all larger silver jewelry will read above 66 and therefore give a high tone reading. The Gold Kruzer has some obvious applications but there are a couple catches. First, it is running at 61 kHz, which means it is very hot on low conductors, but that it will have just adequate performance on high conductors like silver coins. Second, its extreme sensitivity to low conductors means it will not work well if at all in saltwater or on wet salt sand. Saltwater is a low conductor and will respond quite strongly on the Gold Kruzer, and getting it to not respond to saltwater gives up all the sensitivity to small gold. The Gold Kruzer will work very well around freshwater or on dry sand, it is not intended as a detector for use in or near saltwater. I would suggest the new Makro Multi Kruzer as an alternative to those who want to hunt in and around saltwater on a regular basis. Makro Gold Kruzer with optional 5” x 9.5” DD coil There are many features I could delve into but at over six pages this report is getting long, so I will again refer people to the User Manual for the details. Suffice it to say that the Makro Gold Kruzer has a full set of features like frequency shift for reducing interference, temporary audio boost for the Gen all metal mode, adjustable backlight, and the ability to save settings when the detector is powered down, and more. I got the Gold Kruzer prototype during a period when I was quite busy and the weather was not helping. I did have time to do a few tot lot hunts plus make a trip to the goldfields to evaluate the machine. The Gold Kruzer is well behaved in urban locations, with only a little static from electrical interference sources. I found the new Micro mode to be just the ticket for quickly blasting through a tot lot recovering prime gold range targets. I dug everything as is my practice when learning a detector, and ended up with the usual pile of aluminum foil, junk jewelry, and coins. Nothing special found but no doubt in my mind that the Gold Kruzer acts as intended in this type of setting. There were no surprises in the goldfields. At 61 kHz and in Gen mode the Gold Kruzer is a real pleasure to run, with all the response and nuance one expects from a great threshold based all metal circuit. Boost Mode also works very well as an alternative for small nugget detecting. I had no problem at all finding a couple little bits of gold weighing under a grain (480 grains per Troy ounce) on my first and only nugget hunt so far with the Gold Kruzer. Two tiny gold nuggets found with Makro Gold Kruzer To sum up, the new Makro Gold Kruzer once again ups the ante at Makro. It comes standard with two coils and is fully waterproof for about the same price as the Makro Gold Racer so I would have to assume the Gold Racers days are numbered. The one thing I am not sure about at this time is that the Gold Racer has a 15” x 13” DD coil option. The Makro Multi Kruzer has the 15” coil option, but no such accessory has yet been announced for the Gold Kruzer. This is probably not a concern for very many people, but it bears mentioning. May 2019 Note: The Makro Gold Racer is still in production but the price was lowered to $509. Nokta/Makro have also produced a 15.5" x 13" coil option for the Gold Kruzer. I have no problem at all recommending that anyone interested in a detector with a focus on gold take a very serious look at the new Makro Gold Kruzer. It’s performance on low conductors of any type means that the Gold Kruzer is not just for prospectors and jewelry hunters but may also see favor with some relic hunters who focus of low conductor targets like buttons and bullets. This is a solid detector with 21st century features at a very attractive price. Makro Kruzer Color Brochure ~ Steve Herschbach Copyright © 2018 Herschbach Enterprises
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