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Steve Herschbach

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  1. Good to see the post is still helping all these years later. High sensitivity/low volume settings are how I run all my detectors, and basically…. It works. Main thing is you found a setting to handle the volcanic rocks. I have some places where the Z hits on rocks no matter what I do, but they are rare and I just go someplace else. ‘Nice gold, and Happy New Year to you also!
  2. I like small coils and large coils. No 5x10 for D2, so I got the 9”. Hoping they make the 11x13 or larger, I’d probably get one of those. Much as I would have liked the 5x10 I doubt I’d spring for another $400 to get one if I already have the 9” round. Not enough performance spread there for the money. I like my coils to be quite different and distinct from each other, and small, medium, large basically does the trick.
  3. sounds like a great year, and a lot of really nice coins. I’ll have to do more of that this year… if I found a silver coin in 2021 I don’t remember it.
  4. I spent years doing this, but no more! https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/190-ice-cold-gold-dredging-at-crow-creek-alaska/
  5. I got an email inquiry and wanted to share my reply here….. Hello Steve, What's your thoughts on cold weather winter metal detecting, I'm thinking of trying it....... i.e. lowest temperatures for metal detector use, best metal detector for cold weather, etc..etc... Thank you There are no particular limitations around cold weather detecting other than your comfort, and target recovery. The last is why I stop detecting in winter. If snow is in the ground I can’t get to what I want to find, and even if not, the ground is frozen. Frozen dirt is like digging in asphalt. Some very dry desert areas are detectable in frozen conditions, but anyplace with moist ground you may as well just forget it. You can detect snow, like recent drops in playgrounds under equipment, or ski/sledding slopes. Jewelry would be the main goal for those doing that. A small pick or digging shovel works well as long as the device can chip/dig in snow compacted into ice. You don’t detect fresh loose snow, but well traveled packed snow areas. Any detector will work. Some LCD displays may grow dim or even blank in very cold weather, but no way to know which machines are prone to that short of trying them. So in general it would be best to be set to dig more by ear than eyeball. Use low temp batteries like Energizer Lithiums. Some newer models with built in NiMh batteries may get shorter run times due to cold batteries, so replaceable batteries would be more reliable. But not something I’d worry about too much initially. Personally after living a lifetime in Alaska I’m over cold weather, and simply choose to detect when it’s more comfortable. Hope this helps, Steve H The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee. Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows. Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole, God only knows. He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell; Though he'd often say in his homely way that "he'd sooner live in hell." On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail. Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail. If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see; It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam MCGee. And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow, And the dogs were fed, and the stars o'erhead were dancing heel and toe, He turned to me, and "Cap," says he, "I'll cash in this trip, I guess; And if I do, I'm asking you that you won't refuse my last request." Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan: "It's the cursed cold, and it's got right hold till I'm chilled clean through to the bone. Yet 'tain't being dead--it's my awful dread of the icy grave that pains; So I want you to swear that, foul or fair, you'll cremate my last remains." A pal's last need is a thing to heed, so I swore I would not fail; And we started on at the streak of dawn; but God! he looked ghastly pale. He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day of his home in Tennessee; And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGee. There wasn't a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror-driven With a corpse half hid that I couldn't get rid, because of a promise given' It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: "You may tax your brawn and brains, But you promised true, and it's up to you to cremate these last remains." Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code. In the days to come, though my lips were dumb, in my heart how I cursed that load. In the long, long night, by the lone firelight, while the huskies, round in a ring, Howled out their woes to the homeless snows-- O God! how I loathed the thing. And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavy and heavier grow; And on I went, though the dogs were spent and the grub was getting low; The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in; And I'd often sing to the hateful thing, and it harkened with a grin. Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay; It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the "Alice May." And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum; Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum." Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire; Some coal I found that was lying around, and I heaped the fuel higher; The flames just soared, and the furnace roared--such a blaze you seldom see; And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal, and I stuffed in Sam McGee. Then I made a hike, for I didn't like to hear him sizzle so; And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled, and the wind began to blow It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled down my cheeks, and I don't know why; And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak went streaking down the sky. I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear; But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near; I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: "I'll just take peep inside. I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked";. . . then the door I opened wide. And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar; And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: "Please close that door. It's fine in here, but I greatly fear you'll let in the cold and storm-- Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it's the first time I've been warm." There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee.
  6. Hardware actually does stuff, and not everything can be just a software patch. So basically - no.
  7. Yeah, the SDC is a better gold nugget finder, few people would dispute that. On the other hand, if snorkeling in the surf I’d pick ATX over SDC every time.
  8. The last few detector releases from Minelab were all foreshadowed in the corporate annual reports, and so far nothing on that count. I’d not be holding my breath.
  9. Just had to say I really like that photo. Congratulations on the gold - sounds like you really earned it!
  10. Hopefully nobody takes offense, but I’ve deleted multiple links posts, good and bad, and just placed one link to the draft manual in the post that starts the thread. Even this post will go away by tomorrow.
  11. I’d have to disagree about Apex vs Vanquish performance. A Vanquish is basically a stripped down Equinox, and rivals or equals Equinox performance in many situations. The Apex really is not in the same league when it comes to actual performance, especially the ability to retain depth and a good target id in bad ground. I could nugget hunt effectively with a Vanquish and small coil in bad ground, even lacking a manual ground balance, while the Apex falls far short.
  12. If you kept going I was going to combine all your threads into one. If you overdo posting item after item without doing the most basic research yourself, don’t be surprised if people start to tune you out. In general it’s wise to be sparing with the basic “what’s this” types of posts. We get so many “what is this rock I found in my driveway” posts here and on the meteorite forum that I’ve considered banning id requests.
  13. Really great review and perspective - thanks! I did think the Ripper coil was the only coil to use on my Apex while I had it. Like you, I enjoy poking around at a slow, methodical pace, and smaller coils help rein me in. And what a great feel on the arm! Performance aside, it’s a great design, just a couple changes I might make in the menu, but well thought out overall. Certainly nobody matches the Garrett Z-Lynk system when it comes to sensible integration across the product lineup.
  14. An Ace is an Ace is an Ace….. The Garrett Ace Apex slots into the Garrett lineup just above the Ace 400, and below all the AT models. It’s priced and positioned where it is in the lineup for a reason, and makes perfect sense when looked at in context. There should be zero expectation it will satisfy people demanding top tier performance. The real question is how it compares to the Vanquish, or the Legend, and it’s here that Garrett has come up short. That’s the real problem, not how it does compared to Deus or Equinox. It’s a great physical design. I like the integrated wireless headphone and wireless pinpointer compatibility, something you only see with XP and Garrett. But horsepower wise the Apex is more akin to my White’s old DFX than any current generation multi detectors. For the money the Vanquish, and I have to assume Legend, offer more bang for the buck. Too bad though as more horsepower in the exact same package really would make for a great detector.
  15. That’s a lot of digging. I have to say I really enjoy your use of PI detectors to hunt for coins, something rarely seen. And the realistic presentation of the trash dug. Not seeing that would give a totally different impression. Thanks for posting.
  16. A coil reads all the items that are under it at the same time, and delivers a single target id number. Not only various metal items, but the ground itself. Two nickels stacked together do not read like a nickel. So a dime in bad ground next to a piece of trash can read very different than a dime in the air. The more you learn about target discrimination, the more you will see that simply digging all non-ferrous items is not a bad approach in some locations.
  17. Good question, lists as 150 grams with battery in manual, but no dimensions. Rather unlike XP as they do love their specification listings. Maybe you can talk calabash into breaking out a ruler.
  18. Since you never even took your Equinox out of the box, and because this IS the Nokta/Makro Forum, I’d say get the Legend. No point in spending much on stuff you may not use anyway.
  19. Or find a hobby you enjoy enough to make time to take part in. Maybe detecting is not your thing. I can’t imagine buying a detector and leaving it in the box unused. Just not going to happen.
  20. Full tones can be too much if you are not used to it. For me though my detector is like my buddy that talks to me. I just pretty much always use full tones even when in theory there is no reason. If I’m digging all non-ferrous, two tones is fine in theory. The detector talks to me in full tones, all that information being imparted via the language. It’s a vocabulary, like my little friend knows 50 words. Then I tell the detector it can only use two words, yes or no. And it works. But I miss the conversation we were having. It’s like I gagged my little buddy, and for me, the detector no longer sounds “normal.” I’m not knocking what anyone else does, or advising anyone do what I do. But basically I always run full tones because, well, that’s what I’ve been doing so long now that anything else seems off to me.
  21. The coil/rod combo is horrible. Extremely heavy due to the fiberglass rod. And very expensive because with every coil, you must buy the same rod you do not need over and over!! First thing an ATX makeover needs is new rod and coil combos.
  22. I’m a big fan of contrarianism in my detecting. If a place is getting hit 95% with one model, a certain class of target is cleaned up and essentially gone, but another class is also being completely missed by all those same detectors. Being the oddball person sometimes really pays off. And if I’m anything, I’m an odd ball
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