Steve Herschbach

It's been a slow go this year as I explore completely new locations off the beaten track (which usually means a skunk) or finding the last few nuggets in well pounded patches. Get them fast or get them slow however - they still add up. This hunt was almost entirely with the GPZ19 as I had a large area to grid with minimal chances of gold plus I wanted to get more hours in with the large coil. It has gone from a coil I thought I basically would never use to one that I will be using more often going forward. The coil seems to run slightly smoother with my Insanely Hot Settings as it reacts a bit less to near surface mineralization and hot rocks. The coil does have more issues with alkali ground than the stock coil, but the new Patch Mode (Locate Patch) seems just right for the 19" coil at a lot of places I hunt. The GPZ19 is great for covering large open areas where I think nuggets will be few and far between. In other words, I am looking more for ground coverage than depth - extra depth is a bonus. The Gold Monster 1000 was a great aid in pinpointing. Not so much for when digging a deep nugget (though it is helpful for that) as for making short work of the ever present surface ferrous trash. Nothing like a 19" DOD coil for chasing tiny brown ferrous bits in brown dirt, and that GPZ19 coil will hit little trash far better than one might think! Anyway, just a few nuggets adding up to almost 3 pennyweight (4.4 grams) this outing. Largest nugget 2 grams. The four on right were found with GPZ 7000 and two on left with Gold Monster 1000 (10" coil). Click photos for larger versions. The larger Gold Monster nugget has some nice character in closeup....

Probably! All I want at this point is a 19 kHz F75. Looks like the F19/G2+ is as close as I will get. That being the case I just wish that big number while in all metal mode was the target id number instead of the ground phase. Now you would think a 19 kHz F75 would be easy and changing the F19 ground phase number to be the disc number instead would be even easier. And that 19 kHz F44? That would be great! No breath holding going on here however. I just got my new G2 and that will tide me over until FT takes the wraps off something new. If not then eventually it will get replaced by the either the F19 or G2+.

I believe BS equals Black Sands and not what you are possibly thinking it means.

I easily hit gold under a grain with the 10" coil. It is hot enough I see no need for the small coil unless I was in real tight quarters or trying to get that last flyspeck. The 10" coil is more stable, covers twice the ground, and gets better depth on larger bits. I have not used the small coil in months.

There is nothing official. Bill Southern has inquired with Minelab directly but so far reports no response. I started this this thread in an attempt to get a handle on the issue - how real is it and how widespread? You have people reporting no issue and people reporting severe issues and some in between. My unit is relatively knock immune, only getting there at manual sensitivity of 9 and 10. Since I am normally running sensitivity 6 - 7 - 8 or one of the auto settings I am not normally encountering it as a problem. I get no sensitivity to touching grass also and others report this as being an issue. The GM1000 also lights up hot rocks as you run over the ground at high sensitivity levels in a way that mimics touch sensitivity, and I am not sure how much of what is being reported as touch sensitivity is this instead. The bottom line is I think this is still in a "collecting information" stage at most.

Here are some rumors... Link deleted since Findmall Forum update broke all old links Link deleted since Findmall Forum update broke all old links http://md-hunter.com/minelab-announces-sensation-new-2017/ http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,129405,129412 http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,130332 http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,130667 http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,130692 From https://www.minelab.com/usa/go-minelabbing/news?article=315332 "We are very excited to announce that our newest metal detector will be unveiled at Detectival UK Rally on Sep 16th, 2017. Detectival will be held from the 15th to the 17th of September on 1,000 acres of undetected land close to the medieval market towns of Burford and Charlbury, approximately two hours outside of London. This event, proudly sponsored by Minelab, will also be a great opportunity to learn more about our new technology, meet with Minelab staff for product demonstations and participate in token hunts with other metal detecting enthusiasts from across the globe! Best of all, all proceeds from the event raffle will be given to two charities: Asthma UK and the Lullaby Trust."

On Tuesday, August 29, 2017, History Seekers welcomes guest Thomas Boykin, project manager, of White's Electronics, Inc. We will be discussing what detectorist want to see in the next generation of metal detectors. This is a great opportunity for loyal listeners from all experience levels to have input. Get your questions and suggestions ready, due to call volume time will be limited to approximately 30-40 seconds. Tune in live on Agust 29 at 9:00 PM Eastern / 8:00 PM Central directly from our web page under the media section (historyseekers.net) OR directly via www.spreaker.com/historyseekers How to win the White’s MX SportBe sure to like the History Seekers and White's Electronics, Inc. Facebook page to stay up to date on this show! Thomas Boykin from White’s Electronics will be on the show Tuesday, August 29, 2017 to talk about your suggestions as well as to give away an MX SPORT! Here is how to enter to win: 1. Go over to the Whites web page and request a free catalog. Be SURE to enter a valid email (must be the same email used to submit step 2). Request here: www.whiteselectronics.com/request-catalog 2. Submit your suggestion for features/abilities that you would like to see on your next detector. You must submit a brief suggestion to info@historyseekers.net . You must also include your correct shipping name/address/telephone number (contact info in case you win) 3. You can make multiple suggestions but only ONE entry is counted for the drawing. 4. All entries must be received at least 3 hours prior to the start of the History Seekers Show (9:00 PM EST) to be entered in the contest. We will be talking about suggestions made and taking callers to discuss your thoughts on them on air. A winner will be announced by White’s at the end of the History Seekers show. If the announced winner did not properly qualify a runner up will be chosen later at the discretion of White’s Electronics. In the event that the show must be rescheduled for any reason, the contest would be rescheduled and announced later. This contest is not connected with Facebook. It is free to enter with no purchase necessary and void where prohibited. If you would always like to see these types of contests be sure to click on History Seekers and Whites Facebook page then click the follow and select see first. This will ensure that you always get notified of events on both pages.

I do that sort of stuff all the time and sure would enjoy hearing your report. All single frequency detectors struggle with salt water. Little known fact is salinity levels vary at different beaches around the country. I get the impression the AT Pro is borderline, and works ok at some beaches but not well at others. One goal in the AT Max was attempting to address this issue. Were it not for the Minelab announcement I would lean AT Max myself. However, with the AT Max now delayed until sometime in September it would be nuts to not wait and have Minelab show their hand before making any decisions.

Got yo love those plain 14K gold bands - I am wearing one right now I found detecting, one of many. Just goes to show though that the real secret to detecting is patience and getting in the hours - now go find some more!

That's awesome Peg. Great gold and great photos - you are living the dream!

Welcome to the forum! There are plenty of people using VLF detectors to find gold. I have found several ounces of gold with the F75 myself http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/finds-Steve-Herschbach.htm The F75 is a close relative of the Teknetics T2, which has been sucessfully used to find gold nuggets around the world, especially in Africa. The fact is I can find gold quite well with any modern VLF detector running at over 12 kHz that has a ground balance setting. "This VLF versus that VLF detector" is not as important as learning the VLF you have well and putting yourself on gold bearing ground - and getting in the hours. I have found significant amounts of gold with the following VLF detectors: Compass Gold Scanner Pro, Fisher Gold Bug, Fisher Gold Bug 2, Fisher F75, Makro Gold Racer, Minelab XT 17000, Minelab Gold Monster 1000, Nokta FORS Gold, Tesoro Lobo, White's Goldmasters/GMT, White's MXT I suppose I should go find some gold nuggets with the Nokta Impact and post them just to show it can be done. Maybe next trip. Anyone choosing to use a detector not made and marketed specifically for nugget detecting has to get used to being lonely on the forums. It's not that the machines are not capable, but that people are just naturally going to tend to use detectors made for coin hunting to hunt coins and detectors made for nugget detecting to hunt gold nuggets. In general however you will get an edge gold prospecting by using detectors made specifically for the task. The most important function on most coin, jewelry, and relic detectors is some sort of discrimination capability. Nugget detectors focus purely on finding low conductive targets in highly mineralized ground. What discrimination they offer, if any, is usually a secondary consideration.

"We will begin building and shipping the new AT Max detectors after the Labor Day holiday. Please be aware that it may take several weeks to completely fulfill our backlog of orders both internationally and domestically, but the wheel is in motion."

The GM1000 should handle all but soaking wet saltwater sand. Auto sensitivity is your friend!

Match made in heaven... .... GPZ19, Insanely Hot Settings, Patch Mode, and GM1000

Nice nugget - anything 1/4 oz and larger is a significant find these days! The big ones are fewer and farther between.

Metal detector models are years in the pipeline, so companies are responding to each other far less than people imagine. Things more often than not appear simply because they finally got done enough to release, nothing more. First Texas has a large engineering staff, and if you add Bounty Hunter, Fisher, and Teknetics up they have not been lacking for "new" detectors. Admittedly however most seem to just be older models under a new label i.e. Fisher F70 rebranded as Teknetics Patriot. 2006 - Teknetics T2 2007 - Fisher F75 2008 - Fisher F70 2010 - Fisher Gold Bug (Digital) 2014 - Fisher F19 Most models since 2006 seem to be variants of these and other existing models.

The SDC "limited depth" thing is simply because it has an 8" hardwired coil. However, that coil should punch up to between one and two feet depending on the size of the target. Larger target equals more depth. The SDC should hit a 1/4 ounce U.S. nickel size gold nugget at about a foot. Don't expect anything but a fairly large size nugget (or beer can) in excess of a foot.

That's a shame. Seems like I just got my Gold Monster and it's already obsolete. The Nokta Impact is also "the most powerful all-around metal detector ever made!" Nothing like over the top marketing Timing is everything however and there is no doubt Fisher being late to market has left room open for the Garrett AT Max and whatever Minelab has up their sleeve. There appears to be nothing else on the horizon for the fall.

White's has always had coupons for various package deals. They have however become more aggressive about directly contacting customers via email etc. offering various discounts and deals.

Looks like Jim's original notebooks with secrets of Bigfoot manufacture are for sale... http://www.ebay.com/itm/BIGFOOT-COIL-WINDING-ASSEMBLY-Instructions-25-MAGNUM-FORCE-WHITE-METAL-DETECTOR-/372054409056?hash=item56a02bbf60:g:8jcAAOSwr6xZngrr

That is very odd, that you would have problems with coil sensitivity at one place and not another. The only difference bring ground mineralization, and therefore presumably the ground balance setting.

Sadly, no. I have bumped this from the "hopefully in 2017" to the "hopefully in 2018" column. There is however still a possibility of a late announcement in time for Christmas. The window is closing fast there however and if nothing happens by October then its probably game over for 2017.

That might be true of larger coils but there is not enough weight here to matter Del. That and the Deus lower shaft connection is quite firm. The only way to move that coil is to do it intentionally.

I wish I had known more about this six months ago. I may have made the trip myself since a return to the U.K. seems to be on my to-do list. And it would have been a great opportunity to meet you Dilek!