Steve Herschbach

That's exactly what you see in fire melted glass also, bubbles and enclosed carbon, bits of dirt, etc.

The U.S. website stingerdetectors.us was registered 5/20/2022. Does the email look familiar?

Location does not exclude glass. Hunters and prospectors have been everywhere the last couple hundred years. I have seen stuff just like it in high Sierra burn areas in California and elsewhere, even old campfire sites. Fulgerite though, maybe.

Weathering Rind basic description https://sites.wustl.edu/meteoritesite/items/rinds-and-coatings/ tons of photo examples and lots of emphasis on how these are often mistaken for meteorites

Looks like glass melted in a fire to me.

You mean the device sold that shamelessly rips off an old Garrett model name? I won’t help them by linking to their website, so people will have to Google it. Simply trying to Google the old Garrett model brings this thing up, no doubt what they intended. And only $2499! Be interesting to know exactly where this is made, as the U.S. is claimed and made a big deal of in the advertising. It seems to be sold far more outside the U.S. than in this country, and got here last. It first appeared on Middle eastern websites in early 2021. The U.S. website is newer than the foreign based websites. I literally never heard of it until today. I'd like to say more but I don't need to get myself in hot water, so I'll leave it at that, and let people figure it out for themselves. Do yourself a favor and stick with the name brand detectors discussed on these forums. The original Gold Stinger: The X5:

In theory we have had just such an affordable device for many years in the ATX. It is a better performer than it gets credit for, but it is severely hobbled for many people by the weight. Then there is a ridiculous coil system that makes you buy an expensive telescoping lower rod with every coil, doubling the carry weight and the price of the coil, for a rod you don't need. But at just over 2K there is absolutely nothing wrong with the price/performance ratio. Really the main thing killing it is you can buy a used Minelab GP for the same or less, and frankly get a better system. Long story short as long as a person can scrape up $2000 then you can get some top tier GBPI performance, as long as you don't mind going used. You can pick up a GPX 4000 or an ATX used in good condition for $1700 - $1800. If I had nothing but either of those detectors I would do just fine.

There are two parts to the equation. First is the development of cutting edge tech. For PI that pretty much means Minelab, and they pour many millions of dollars into development. Those costs must be recouped. Then there are simple hardware manufacturing costs. Something like a GPZ 7000 really does cost more money to make than a simple PI , though that alone does not account for the price. There is that development cost, plus the fact that they can charge extra for cutting edge product. It might surprise people, but making new coils and housings can be very expensive. So a brand new from the ground up design like the Axiom has a lot of costs going into designing the housing, then getting all those new parts made. Putting a new circuit in an old box costs far less. Nokta can take out of copyright designs, for instance Minelabs older GP type circuits, and tweak with the latest hardware and microprocessor designs. They could also use something like the existing Impact housing. If they do that, both development and hardware costs are kept to a minimum and a very good product can be made at a very low price. Even the Fisher Impulse models are nothing new, just old circuits tweaked and tuned for maximum effect. No new copyrights at work there. There is no shame, and none of the shadiness some people like to imply, in using out of copyright designs and making them better at lower cost. Do any of you buy generic drugs? No difference at all. So yeah, there is no reason we can't get my desired near 4 lb under $2000 high power ground balancing PI. It will happen, it is just a matter of time, and who will do it first. But there is also room at the top for another $10,000 GPZ 8000 design. If it can genuinely make played out gold patches come to life again, gold prospectors around the world will line up to buy them. Most of you approach this from a hobby perspective. People who literally find gold by the pound look at it differently. I'll easily spend 10K on a new detector if I think it can put an extra 5 ounces of gold in my pocket in reasonably short order. But blah blah blah and yes, I agree with Carl, it's mostly the market that sets the price, not the outright manufacturing cost. Especially given my last point. Minelab churns out many millions of dollars in profits, and that all comes from the spread they are making on the product.

Great response Andy, spot on! The whole saltwater beach debate gets kind of silly at times. It's actually simple and my mantra in general. "Use a VLF when you can, and a PI when you have to." You will know when you have to, and until then, will question why people use them. VLF is the way to go until they do not produce any longer. We saw this first on the gold fields, and now with the relic areas. Once VLF has cleaned out what it can find, it's either go PI, or go home.

I can only say they actually work much better in highly mineralized ground so many times. Yes they are better, and yes, it’s the hardware. It cost over $10 million dollars to develop the GPZ 7000. If anything allows for higher prices it is probably the fact that just one company has dominated this area for so long, and so can to a large degree dictate the prices they want. But these machines are not cheap to develop, and those costs must be recouped, and fair shareholder value delivered. As time passes and the tech becomes available from other manufacturers the prices will come down, That has already started. But proven top tier performance will continue to demand top dollar. The GPZ 8000 will not be a cheap date. It’s not even close. We are talking twice the depth or more. VLFs excel at finding small surface gold, but for larger gold at depth there is no comparison at all. Frankly, I’m surprised this is even a question. The evidence is obvious by examining what detectors have been making the bulk of the gold finds for over 20 years now. You can’t just wave a magic wand and “add PI to VLF.” That displays a lack of knowledge of the technologies involved and is why I attached a link to a document above, so that people might educate themselves on the differences. You can find many more free books and articles at these links: https://www.detectorprospector.com/magazine/steves-guides/metal-detecting-and-prospecting-library/ https://www.detectorprospector.com/magazine/steves-guides/steves-guides/

VLf costs less and has better discrimination, but can't even come close to top PI performance in very bad ground. That's why nearly all the top gold prospectors use PI detectors. It's not because they like spending lots of money. How Metal Detectors Work by Mark Rowan & William Lahr - Originally published by White's Electronics as a booklet P/N 621-0395. Basic but rather technical information on how induction balance and pulse induction metal detectors work.

I have come to realize that in metal detecting we largely find what we look for. If we focus on small gold, well no surprise then it is small gold that fills the vial. I also have decided to turn back towards hunting trophy gold instead of tiny bits. Yeah, it means digging more deep junk, and days getting skunked. But at my age a few more small nuggets don't matter. Another one ounce plus nugget - now that would brighten my year. To find them you do have to hunt for them. It's one reason why I'm content with the Axiom as it and the 13" coil in the California nail pits has as good a chance as anything at finding a nice nugget. Just dig soft low tones all day. Yeah, they will be mostly nails, but sooner or later.......

Somebody is looking for a big nugget Should be able to get this much maligned coil pretty cheap, as Minelab had to literally give them away with the GPZ at one point to get them off the shelves. It's a better coil than most people think however. I think the weight and cost is what caused people to really not like it more than any lack of performance.

Don't be a drive by poster, one post, then gone. Did you figure out what the problem was? Letting us know what it was might help other people, as you yourself sought help from others.

Let’s not bash on absent parties. This forum is about metal detecting and gold prospecting, it is not about people. Quite specifically not about other people. I’m just a bundle of flaws myself, so no need for me to look afar to cast stones. If you don’t like Calabash just change the channel.