Steve Herschbach

Wrapping the control box in a bag is about as good as anything for splash protection. Genuine waterproofing is a whole different ballgame though. I have seen MXTs and other detectors made truly waterproof with custom control boxes, but in my opinion unless you are into modding it's not worth the effort. You are better off getting an MX Sport if you really wanted to go full waterproof.

Sounds like a wonderful time, thanks for sharing guys! I doubt I’ll ever get south of the border to hunt gold so nice to live vicariously through you all. 

A great addition to the mapping and research resources! 

5 hours ago, Nokta Detectors said:

Hello all... yes, the name has been chosen and the machine is in the works. Cannot confirm the release date as of today but hopefully I will be able to share more info further into the year. Hope this helps....

It does Dilek because I revived this thread fishing for information and hoping you would respond.  Just confirmation that it is still in the works is good. Thanks! 👍🏼

12 hours ago, Carolina said:

At the risk of being beaten up again, if the foot print has nothing to do with coverage, how does my 8” DD coil give better separation than my 18” DD,  when the center dimension is roughly the same two inches wide ?

Sorry for the drive by post perhaps adding to some confusion. Certainly when it comes to covering area walking down a beach it's the side to side motion that matter for covering area and therefore the length of the coil. An 18" long coil is going to cover ground a lot faster than an 8" long coil.

Separation is a different thing. When I mention the myth of the DD blade I mean this....

Referring to Carolina's post, if a DD coil truly only works down the middle as a blade, and 18" DD coil should separate targets as well as an 8" DD coil. It would be like swinging two coils shaped like this, and both would see between the bottle cap and nail as in the picture above to see that deep coin in between just as well, as long as no other targets are present.

If that were true a 10" round DD coil would separate adjacent targets just as well as a 5" x 10" DD elliptical. Does anyone believe that? More to the point, do you think those pictures at the top of this post are accurate? Bury a bottle cap and a nail 4" apart and a coin 6" deep right between them and give it a go.

Anyway, that's all I meant by the "DD shooting laser beam" myth. The side windings and what is under them does matter. DD coils do better than a concentric on shallow targets but not nearly to the degree the ads like to make us think, and certainly not anything like shown in the pictures above when it comes to targets in different planes.

Because the DD blade only down the middle is a myth. Total coil size matters and the full electromagnetic field is nothing like the blade shown in the promotional pictures. That’s an artifact of the discrimination “beep mode”. Running a DD coil in a genuine all metal mode reveals the truth.

I would not discard any quartz without examining it, especially the larger chucks. See this post for some ideas.

You and your detector are both in tune with each other I’d say! Congratulations Brian!! 👍🏼 

It was a great machine in the day but realistically not worth a lot as Fred mentions.

Minelab GT 16000 Manual

Notes On Older Minelab VLF Models

Good for you Mike. I always wanted to get a Cortes with a Cleansweep and if I did not have a V3i/Bigfoot combo I'm sure I would have, but never could convince myself I needed both. Just curiosity - you know how it goes. And the light weight package does appeal.

Snow is invisible to a metal detector. You can’t ground balance to it. If you are getting a signal, it’s not the snow.

French speaking with english subtitles.

Nice finds but wish he showed more of the detector in action.

11 hours ago, PPP said:

Live in Sweden.The beach i hunt have moderate black sand,but a lot of iron pieces.Have no problem digging iron,just want more depth.

Here is how I go about deciding what to use. Since you have and Equinox and a Sea Hunter I assume you know when you want to use a VLF for discrimination and when you want to use a PI to dig it all. It sounds like you lean to the dig it all for more depth mentality that leads to using a PI.

So for this discussion I am assuming you have decided to use a PI. The question then is whether you need a ground balancing PI or not, which is why I asked about your beach conditions. I have not used the Sea Hunter but have a lot of experience with the White's Surf PI, which is similar. The Surf PI and Sea Hunter do not ground balance. The TDI has a ground balance option, so that is the difference we are exploring.

In general with a ground balancing PI you will get the best depth with the ground balance off. Most PI detectors for saltwater detecting like the Sea Hunter therefore have no ground balance. There are conditions you will encounter however where this presents problems. First, in heavy black sand you will find that if you raise and lower the coil off the bottom the machine will signal due to the mineralization. This is a particular problem in heavy waves or when working a very uneven bottom. If you can keep the coil at a perfect distance over the bottom it is no problem as the autotune will smooth the signal, but if you raise the coil off the bottom the autotune can't keep up, so you get a false signal.

In heavy waves where you can't keep steady footing raising the coil causes these false signals. If the bottom has lots of troughs and depressions, passing over these areas creates a false signal. The only way to deal with this if you have a Surf PI or Sea Hunter is to detune the detector until the false signals from lifting the coil off the bottom go away. But now you lose depth. Or you can leave the settings more for depth and try and sort the false signals out mentally, but this is very tiring.

You can also run into hot rocks, typically basalt or rhyolite rocks embedded in less mineralized beach material. These will give a nice gold ring signal. Again, with a Surf Pi or Sea Hunter, you either detune the machine until they go away, giving up depth, or try and sort them by ear.

In either of these situations a ground balancing detector allows you to eliminate the false signals I have described while retaining more depth than would be sacrificed by detuning the detector. The ground balance is basically just a ground notch setting that let's you eliminate troublesome ground signals. Gold rings that read close to the ground balance setting lose some depth. It also creates two tones, one for objects above the ground balance setting and another tone for those below the ground balance setting. Generally on the TDI if you ignore the low tone you will pass on most high conductive coins, large ferrous junk, and possibly very large or exceptionally high purity rings. Digging the high tone only gets the vast majority of rings, aluminum, nickels, and zinc pennies plus small ferrous trash. The dividing point is around zinc penny but it depends on the ground balance setting. See this thread for more details.

So if you have having problems with false signals from heavy beach mineralization and hot rocks a TDI may be your solution. If not, you probably won't see much benefit, unless you think you understand and can apply the weird discrimination properties for some advantage. That's just my take on it. I'm perfectly content to use a Surf PI and dig everything in a lower cost more waterproof package than a TDI. Unless I run into conditions like I describe above, which for me were common in Hawaii. Than a ground balancing PI like the TDI can be a good alternative.

I’ve never detected Southern California beaches. In general west coast beaches are full of black sand magnetics derived from the coastal mountain ranges, and so a good place for the TDI.

The other factor is trash levels and your desire for digging trash.  In general places with lots of ferrous rusted stuff are a pain. PI detectors love ferrous stuff. Think hair pins and wire tie wraps.

What region are you in? The TDI as a ground balancing pulse induction detector shines in mineralized beach conditions. Volcanic islands for instance. Not so much on coral derived white sand beaches.

8 hours ago, Mike C... said:

Hi Steve is the small elliptical dd coil available yet? Thanks Mike C...

As a separate item? I don’t know. No mention of it on White’s website. Obviously they are making them since they come with the GMX so maybe all it takes is a phone call to the factory. Which I have not done. 

You are having as much luck getting your coil as I am getting a 6” x 10” elliptical for the Equinox. Wish in one hand and %#$# in the other, and see which fills up first! 😄

Ok, it’s February.... where are the coils? 🤷🏼‍♂️

The two detectors are neck and neck for gold finding capability. The 48 kHz White’s 24K at $729 is lower price out of pocket, but the 45 kHz Gold Monster at $849 comes with two coils and a rechargeable battery pack.

If tuned as hot as possible but for stable operation the machines have almost identical performance. It is possible to overdrive the Gold Monster sensitivity to get a slight edge over the 24K, but it comes at the price of the coils becoming unstable and knock sensitive.

I like both machines a lot and when I weeded out my collection they both stayed longer than most as I had a hard time deciding which I liked best. After a year of using both I finally sold the Gold Monster and kept the 24K. Why?

Ergonomics had a lot to do with it. The 24K comes with an adjustable length rod, the GM a three piece screw together rod. Yeah, you can replace it, but why should you have to? The 24K “S” rod is counterbalanced by the battery pack under the arm, and is more comfortable than the nose heavy GM. The round handle on the 24K fits my hand better than the squared off GM handle. Finally, the 24K stays put when set on the ground and does not roll over like the top heavy GM. Each of these is a small thing in practice but all together add up to a solid ergonomic win for the 24K.

The biggie for me however is enhanced options and control. I won’t make a list, suffice it to say the GM was designed for simplicity and as few controls as possible. The 24K on the other hand has a full suite of tuning options including full target id capability, which the GM lacks. I’m a control freak and more than anything else that’s what tipped it for me. The 24K is more versatile.

Finally, coils. The GM you have the 5” round DD and 6” x 10” DD. The 24K has the 6.5” round concentric, 6” x 10” DD, 4” x 6” DD, and very soon 8” x 14” DD.

To sum up I look at the machines as being a push when it comes to gold finding capability. Give me either and I will do fine and be happy. I recommend the GM for somebody who is control adverse and won’t read manuals. It’s as near automatic as you can get, just don’t overdrive the sensitivity. The 24K offers more versatility for those who thrive on that sort of thing, and along with the ergonomics out of box and extra coil options now I believe White’s has produced an excellent offering in the 24K. In my case at least it’s the one that stayed when the others went away.

White’s Goldmaster 24K Data & Reviews

It’s nice to have choice. The 24K is a great detector and if you want lighter weight and don’t need waterproof, that’s the way to go. If you want waterproof you have the GMX as an option. The GMX is actually almost weightless underwater, and should be a superb fresh water jewelry detector. Different tools for different jobs.

My only advice to White’s is to get with the times and include Bluetooth aptx LL wireless capability built in.

Welcome to the forum! Check and see if you have any local metal detecting clubs... always a great place to start.

For those of you more inclined to viewing instead of reading, Chris Ralph has put together an impressive collection of videos here. He is working hard at it adding a new video every week. Chris is very knowledgeable on various aspects of prospecting and mining with in-depth knowledge on geology. Take a few minutes and check it out.

Also check out Chris’ book, Fists Full of Gold

You are a true inspiration Joe, thanks! 👍🏼

I’m not too worried about the name.  It just seems like this would be the next detector on the list at Nokta/Makro, and a reasonable target date might be Detectival in September for an announcement. Availability next year. Just guessing.

Welcome to the forum!