Steve Herschbach

I tend to still think it was some tiny fleck of mineral making the signal, though I am not betting on gold. The only way to know for sure is crush it and pan it (dollying) but unless I could eyeball something that looks like gold under a hand lens I doubt its worth the effort. Still, it would answer the question when everything else is basically guessing. Gold In Hotrocks! Bring Your Hammer Crushing Quartz Samples

Beaver dams. Whole series of old ones there, and this is the newest. I am not seeing the dredge tailings (looks natural to me) but that might be a trail or ditch line angling down from upper right.

I run the ground balance off unless the ground requires it. TDI Air Test & Battery Notes TDI SL Battery Pack Up Grade Batteries And The TDI SL

Good going Steve. I figured you would like that 6” coil

The short story is that ground balance is a form of discrimination that discriminates out the ground signal at any particular setting. The issue is that there is some overlap between the ground signal and certain desirable (or undesirable) targets. An accidental side effect of this is that the ground balance setting and pulse delay setting do determine whether the detector makes a low tone or a high tone. All targets over a certain setting make a high tone, and all other targets under that setting make a low tone. The conductivity switch suppresses one or the other of these tones, creating a simple discrimination system. However, right at the setting itself the detector wants to make neither a low tone or a high tone - it is balanced! The signal right at the ground balance point is simply eliminated, and certain targets can get very weak or disappear if the setting overlaps how they respond. People use this to create discrimination schemes by purposefully mis-adjusting the controls. How TDI Settings & Tones Interact White's TDI Coin Settings

Here is a possibility from Advanced Nugget Hunting With the Fisher Gold Bug Metal Detector by Pieter Heydelaar & David Johnson, page 36: "DIAMAGNETIC MINERALS Most minerals which contain absolutely noi iron exhibit a very weak "negative" magnetism known as diamagnetism. The Gold Bug is probably the first metal detector sensitive enough to "see" diamagnetism. QUARTZ. The only common mineral you are likely to encounter in gold mining regions which will exhibit noticeable diamagnetism is white or clear quartz.The compensation point of quartz is between 7.0 and 8.0 but its effect is opposite in polarity to that of magnetite. Since diamagnetism is a weak effect, it will usually be masked by the effects of iron-bearing minerals and will not ordinarily be noticed except perhaps when crossing a vein of "clean" quartz. In this circumstance you may notice a very weak "positive" signal which will be broad and impossible to pinpoint. You are not likely to confuse it with a signal from gold, which is usually more distinct." I have encountered this myself exactly as described above. I was detecting on a dark rock and came across a nice white quartz vein in the bedrock. It signaled faintly. This can be diamagnetism but is more likely that the detector is ground balanced to, in this case, a different rock type. The quartz then stands out because the ground balance is way off for the quartz, which is tuned to the surrounding rock mass. This would not normally occur just with a quartz cobble, but I thought i would mention it just in case.

White's has always made the most stable detectors . That's another advantage to rear mount battery boxes - low center of gravity. John, thanks. I figured I may as well put my newfound 24K knowledge to work showing the detector to people at the Rye Patch hunt. Some forum members were also inquiring about whether I would be there and so I will be there. I don't show my face in public often these days so it is a rare opportunity to chat with some folks.

All will be known in just a few days!

Well just speaking for me personally but yes, I would give it a good hard smack with a crack hammer.

It's an important point. Equinox is a very high performance detector being sold at mid-range pricing. That being the case many people who are getting it may struggle with both the multitude of settings and the fact the Equinox is so hot. Not saying anyone on this forum but watching some posts out there on the internet it is obvious some people are in over their heads. Number one tip - stay with those factory preset programs, and do not be afraid to lower the sensitivity!

Kind of where I am. I have the Delorme Inreach and am happy enough with it, but I have not used it for almost two years. But I can't make myself sell it yet because I keep thinking a crazy remote and halfway dangerous trip might come along. If not for yourself, do it for those who care about you.

In my opinion long range locators are dowsing devices. If you believe in and think dowsing works, then they might be worth your consideration. Otherwise stay away from them. Geotech Long Range Locator Page

Any Minelab GPX with a 36" coil White's TM-808 or Fisher Gemini 3 More Information Here

I have had several forum members contact me wondering if I would be out for the event. The truth is I have done countless numbers of these things as part of my job over the last 45 years so it's not something I dream about! Still, it would be nice to put some faces to names and so I just volunteered to be a helper for Tom all day Saturday. I will be helping demo White's detectors and answering questions about them and nugget detecting in general. I do know the coin machines also so whatever you want to know about White's detectors, I am sure you will find answers at Rye Patch! Just posted - My Detailed Review Of White's New Goldmaster 24K White's Goldmaster 24K

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-10/rich-gold-seam-half-a-kilometre-deep-in-kambalda/10219576?pfmredir=sm Truly a stunning and historic find. We have many accounts of true bonanza ore finds, but almost no photos documenting what real bonanza ore looks like. Almost all the stuff in the old days was crushed and smelted with no photos taken.

ResQLink Emergency Locator DeLorme InReach Satellite Text Communicator Personal GPS Tracking For Safety Avoid Getting Lost

I did not have a GMT to compare directly, and so can’t answer that question with any degree of confidence. Things get real hair splitting when detecting 1/10th grain nuggets. I still know people who think the Goldmaster 3 is better than the GMT. I have been getting lots of messages from people who seem to think I have secret private information regarding which over 30 kHz detector is best. The truth is not much has changed since the 50 kHz Goldmaster II came out around 1990. I can drag a half dozen of these “over 30 kHz” nugget detectors out and spend hours trying to figure out which one I like best. They basically all get the job done, and none so well as to make the others not worth consideration. It very much does boil down to what feels best on my arm and sounds best to my ear. Most importantly, which machine is best depends a lot on the exact mix of ground, hot rocks, size and type of gold, the amount of trash, and level of operator expertise. This being true I might prefer one model at one location, and a different one someplace else. This is actually almost guaranteed. I just don’t see how anyone can make decisions like this based on anything other than getting and using the detectors in question. Sure, I could pick one for you, but you might hate it for reasons that matter not at all to me. I think the 24K is a fine machine but my gut feeling based on memory is no, it does not automatically blow the GMT away. It’s just different, that’s all, and I have no idea whether a die hard GMT user would consider this an upgrade or not. From my perspective going from one 48 kHz detector to another 48 kHz detector is a side step. To really add capability you need machines to be as different as possible, not the same as possible. Will switching from a GMT to a 24K make a giant difference in gold getting capability? Not really. Would adding a TDI SL to a GMT extend a prospectors capability in a significant way? Much more likely. So if I was going nugget detecting tomorrow and had to pick one, the GMT or 24K, which would it be? I honestly do not have a preference. I tend to trust the GMT more as being the “old reliable” but I did like the concentric on the 24K. Yet I have never used that coil on the GMT and it might do just as well. Gun to head I would probably go with the 24K just because it’s new and I do like the new toys. But if a GMT owner gets a 24K and says they prefer the GMT I am not going to argue with them either. If I can barely decide which machine of four I like best when they are sitting in front of me then I have to really, really sympathize with those trying to make these decisions just based on reading reviews.

Well, Andy asked for the low down, which I take to mean somebody that really knows. I don’t, but my guess is before the end of the year. Minelab Equinox 15" x 12" DD coil

There is an embed function in lower right that has to be pasted using the "source" button in upper left of the forum editor.... Really amazing find and good on you for saving that marriage!!

Thanks Gerry - this was a quickie guide. If you liked it then here is the magnum opus ....

Pulse induction detectors are basically dig it all detectors, so expect more trash, not less. The GPX series has a ferrous discrimination function. It is notoriously unreliable but better than nothing for the really trashy areas. The GPX 4500 in my opinion is the best bang for the buck going in a pulse induction detector at this time. Reintroduction Of The Minelab GPX 4500 Minelab GPX 4500 Information Page Minelab GPX 4500 Color Brochure Forum Threads Tagged "minelab gpx" Minelab GPX 4500 Metal Detector

Welcome to the forum John!

Usually when nugget detecting I do prefer a threshold sound that is giving me constant ground feedback. This feedback varies but falls within a certain range. My ear tunes to any sound that stands out beyond that ongoing background feedback. So basically you could say I am listening to the ground, and digging everything that sounds different. Some signals are whispers so faint it is almost like I imagine them, but then go back and check and yes... something there!

Truly stunning and historic find. We have many accounts of true bonanza ore finds, but almost no photos documenting what real bonanza ore looks like. Almost all the stuff in the old days was crushed and smelted with no photos taken.

Fabulous story and photos - thank you very much for sharing them RedDirtDigger! For a long time it was stories and photos like that that drove the dream of finding gold in Australia. Unfortunately such stories are becoming rarer and its is nice to see it can still be done. Congratulations, as I am sure much effort went into your success!