Steve Herschbach

We all love photos and it is easy to upload them to the forum - just look for the "Click to choose files" link above the "Submit Reply" button when you post.

I was comparing to other machines with the same size coil on smaller gold.

The Nokta Impact firmware update page is at http://noktadetectors.com/onlineupdate_impact-metal-detector.asp Manufacturers take note - this is the way it should be. Detector fully tested and released with update capability. Put in hands of many regular users, small issues or great suggestions come to light. Implement change and issue update.

You have version 1.13 of the System Software and version 1.11 of the LCD Software. They are separate things and that's what the two numbers are indicating. Here is a video showing a machine with an older version of the software.

The GPX 5000 may be too sensitive to small items for your purposes, most of which will be trash. If you want to avoid small surface trash, then something like the Pulse Star with large coil might be what you want. It will not detect very small items. Previous thread on treasure detectors

A few inches at most. Simply finding tiny gold like this is an achievement for any detector, but depth will always be near surface. That is why good coil control keeping the coil on or as close to the ground as possible is so critical. If a tiny piece can only be detected an inch deep and you are a half inch off the ground you miss them.

It looks like a stream polished magnetite pebble to me; I have a couple myself. Meteorite Identification 101

Absolutely. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees, and so the main draw should be the experience itself - an Alaskan adventure!

Welcome to the forum! How large will the largest treasure be and how deep? How small are the smallest items you wish to find? How much trash/junk/garbage will be in the area you detect? How mineralized is the ground? These factors all help decide what detector might work best for you.

Thanks Mike - it's good to hear the Impact handles tough Australian ground conditions so readily. It is always a battle, trying to get more sensitivity on small gold while struggling not to make ground conditions worse. The ability to change frequencies when using a VLF can certainly aid in dealing with tough ground and is a plus in favor of the Impact. Here is my Impact with the small elliptical coil mounted...

Twenty-three pages packed full of photos of items found by Garrett users from all over the world. Download the color 15MB pdf here

"After 51 years in the workforce and eight months into retirement, I left Inverell in NSW on February 1 with caravan in tow. My final destination was Victoria’s Golden Triangle but the route I was taking is not recommended if you want to get there fast." Read the rest of the story here

If they are not artifacts they could be layered sedimentary rocks with alternating hard and soft layers. The softer layers erode faster, creating rocks like you have pictured.

PLEASE link to information information of interest to forum members no matter where it is. It saves me time as I end up adding the links myself as I did in your post. One reason I started this forum was the silly rules on other forums about links to other locations, etc. Welcome to the forum and thanks for the great info!

Welcome to the forum Mike - nice informative first post!

Akau Gold Alaska 2015 AKAU 2014 Akau Pay-to-mine Operation At Nome, Alaska 2012-2013

Me either Jim. People often assume agendas where none exist. All machines serve somebody in some way whether it be in features or affordability. I am convinced anyone with any decent detector can do well as long as the machine is appropriate to the task. The goal then is to just figure out how to get the best out of the detector. It's all about sharing information and helping each other regardless of brand and model. I wish everyone could just put brand loyalties and such aside and focus on the sharing and helping part. Thanks for confirming John is not smoking old kangaroo hides!

Hi Jim, Thanks for that. Again, I am puzzled why this information directly contradicts the TDI SL Owner's Manual. My own recollections of what I remember using the TDI SL I will just consider out of date. I will leave the whole issue of TDI SL and ground balance on or off to better minds than mine except to note that according to what we are hearing from you and John, that there is no advantage to be gained with a TDI SL by turning the ground balance off. The goal always on this forum is in just trying to help people get better performance out of any detector they own regardless of brand or model. I appreciate you guys helping achieve that.

To be announced mid-September..... 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."

Jim, again, are we talking about a modded unit? Or a factory stock TDI SL? What you appear to be saying is that on your detector disengaging the ground balance cuts performance across the board in air tests. What I have trying to do on this thread is illustrate why under very low mineral conditions people may want to experiment with shutting the ground balance off or reducing its aggressiveness to get better performance. There would appear to be no option for this on the unit you have, and the option to disengage ground balance may as well in itself be removed. It serves no function on your detector except to decrease performance. That being the case beach hunters would be wise to stick with the original TDI and TDI Pro because with ground balance off they are one of the best straight PI options available for beach detecting short of the Eric Foster Deepstar itself.

The technique used to ground balance a TDI so that it can ignore or cancel the ground mineral signals is done by taking multiple signal samples over a period of time. The later signals are amplified such that the signal from the ground in the later sample equals the main sample and the latter sample is subtracted from the main sample. The result is the ground signal appears to go away. What also goes away is part of the signal from many targets. If the main sample is the full signal, and the basis of results for ground balance off, and then you subtract from that by engaging the ground balance to subtract the results of a later sample - how exactly is this subtraction of part of the signal adding signal strength to targets like a quarter? Perhaps long time constant targets like a quarter have not decayed appreciately by the time the later samples are taken, and the amplification process is boosting the signal for long time constant targets over what was achieved in the original sample? Jim, the TDI SL comes with a 12V battery. Do you have a modded version of the detector? I sure am not going to dispute what you guys are saying. I admit a nickel is my standard test item and so I have not observed what happens on a quarter on the TDI SL with GB both on and off. It just highlights to me that there are multiple versions of the TDI in play and their performance characteristics are not consistent across all versions.

Well, if your machine is defective using it as an example to others of how a normal TDI SL should behave is not very helpful.

All of the three or more TDI SL detectors I have used all gain depth in air tests by turning the ground balance off. Considering the subtractive nature of how the ground balance works I fail to see how it can be otherwise. What you are saying John also directly contradicts the owners manual, page 14: Ground Balancing One of the key features of TDI is its ability to balance out ground mineralization while maintaining pulse induction depths. This is achieved using a differential technique whereby two decay samples are compared; the Ground Balance control is adjusted until the two samples have the same response, thereby canceling the ground signal. Targets below the GB point produce an overall positive response, and targets above the GB point produce an overall negative response. Broadly, the two ranges of targets depend on conductivity, which gives TDI some ability to discriminate. In rare cases a target might fall so close to the GB point that it gives either no response at all or a double-tone response. Because ground balance is achieved using a subtraction method, there is a slight loss of depth any time ground balance is on. Some ground, notably neutral beach sand, is mild enough that no ground balance is needed. In such cases, Ground Bal- ance can be switched off and TDI will run in straight PI mode. This will slightly improve depth, but loses the ability to distinguish between low and high conductivity targets.

Some GM1000 tips and commentary by Bill Southern and others http://www.nuggetshooter.ipbhost.com/index.php?/topic/30778-few-more-gm-1000-tips/