Steve Herschbach

Well Mike, if that is not a motivator for me I do not know what would be. I always enjoy your knowledgeable posts on jewelry detecting. I will have the new forums up and running in a couple days.

There is a good deal for somebody Tom, along with some other refurbs, thanks for posting. As I said, I will not be looking at the MX Sport again unless a physical change is made to the unit to differentiate brand new machines from existing units on the market. I am glad to hear it is selling well for you guys - Merry Christmas!

A modified version of the original post has been posted on Minelab's Treasure Talk blog.

I admit to worrying about legions of kids getting turned loose on parks with detectors, most with no supervision. I doubt I need to worry much though as you will never pry most kids these days away from their video games and cell phones. Detecting requires patience and everything now is instant gratification. If I ever see another detectorist in a park it is always just another old fart like me.

This forum is the prospecting forum - nothing changes in that regard. Though perhaps a Gold Panning, Sluicing, and Dredging Forum is possible. Like I said though, for people who like how things are now, just keep doing what you are doing. Nothing will really change on this forum and I expect it to continue on as is.

There would be no additional log in requirements.

Interesting way to launch a product Adjustable to fit most kids 7 and up 5 Segment Target ID Selectable Sensitivity PinPoint Mode 1/8” Headphone Output Lightweight Construction Waterproof Search Coil 2 AA Batteries Included $119.95 with Free Shipping

Here is all the latest along with the new instructional video.... Video Review... Specifications and pricing.... Garrett has released a new set of headphones with built in proprietary wireless capability, the Garrett MS-3 headphone. These headphones can interface directly with new Garrett models with built in wireless, like the new Garrett AT Max. They will not work with anything other than Garrett Z-Lynk compatible detectors and accessories. Garrett MS-3 Z-Lynk™ Wireless Headphones PN: 1627710 MSRP $119.95 Built-in Z-Lynk receiver. High-fidelity audio. Volume control. Adjust signal levels to suit individual hearing requirements and to enhance weak signals. Comfortable headband and ear cushions. Folds down for easy storage. USB charging cable included. Speaker impedance: 8 ohms Frequency response: 30-18,000 Hz. The new headphones can be purchased alone or as part of a system with a transmitter box that can work with any detector. Garrett MS-3 Z-Lynk™ Wireless Kit PN: 1627720 MSRP $189.95 Includes: Garrett MS-3 Z-Lynk Wireless Headphones WT-1 wireless transmitter 2-pin AT connector to Micro USB cable—connects AT detector to transmitter ¼" Jack to Micro USB cable—connects detector with ¼" jack to transmitter USB charging cable Mounting band For any style metal detector with 2-pin AT connector or ¼" headphone jack Garrett Wireless Pro Pointer AT Information

You are looking at the Archives which are not active forums - you can't post to them. The Archive is a collection of old threads from this forum that get moved there when I do periodic housecleaning. It makes it easy to find old threads collected by subject. You can see the overall structure at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/ What I will be adding is several more active forums open for posting at the top along with this forum and the classifieds.

Thanks to all the great members I think this has become one of the best gold prospecting/metal detecting for gold forums on the web. However, I am certain now that when people drop by looking for information on, for instance, coin detecting or jewelry detecting, that they see nothing going on here and move on. There are posts on these subjects but they are scattered few and far between prospecting related stuff. I have decided therefore to add just a few more active forums (as opposed to the Archive). It would not really change anything going on here as this forum will just continue on as it is. It could be the other forums would never really take off. Then again, they might so may as well give it a go. I think the same basic desire exists out there for people who want to have forums on other subjects that are information oriented and as drama free as possible. The forums I will add for sure are: Metal Detecting For Coins Metal Detecting For Jewelry Metal Detecting For Relics Rocks, Minerals, Gems & Geology I am open to suggestions but I want to keep it as limited as possible. I am not too interested in manufacturer or model specific forums at the moment as they exist in plenty elsewhere. Models come and go and for me at least it is more about what I am looking for, not what model or brand I happen to be using at the moment. People have done a good job here being able to talk about different brands with minimal conflict. For now model specific stuff will still get moved to the appropriate archives as time goes by. The only other one that really comes to my mind is Metal Detecting For Meteorites but Bill Southern already has a great meteorite forum and I don't know that enough people here are interested. Thoughts? Another might be Metal Detecting in Australia for Australia specific information since we have so many Aussies here. One real advantage of having just one forum is just one place to check for latest posts. I will probably add a "new threads" sidebar to help in that regard. If you look at the menu bar up top you will also see the "Activity" tab. There is not only an unread content option, but a lots of ways to create your own custom "Activity Streams" to monitor multiple forums, etc. That is it for now. I just wanted to give you all a head's up first looking for suggestions. One thing that will never change here however. No drama. My fuse is shorter then ever in that regard! Mutual respect and politeness is job one.

This thread is well over a year old and John is no longer a member of the forum. You can find him at Tom Dankowski's forum.

I am not surprised the MXS gives the CTX a serious run for the money in the worst ground. A well designed single frequency generally has a bit more punch, which is why nearly all prospectors use single frequency units. My ground is similar to Daniels - some testing with various VLF detectors in the last week were getting about 5" depth in the "good" ground and in one of my "bad" locations a measured 3" depth to get a bare signal on a dime! I may get another MX Sport if White's changes something on the machine physically (new decal?) to differentiate them from existing units.

The CTX is a killer beach machine and I find the 17" coil very easy swinging - although that may be due to all my hours behind a GPZ!

All I see is a buy here with one click button, so it is a regional thing. I am a big Kindle fan myself. Nice to take my library with me while prospecting.

The book is available on Kindle here but maybe not in Oz?

Volume Limit is just a blast limiter - it chops off high end responses without changing low responses. In theory lowering Volume Limit while increasing Volume will boost faint signals but it will also boost ground noise.

A couple more...

An inside look at the manufacturer of Bounty Hunter, Fisher, and Teknetics metal detectors, based in El Paso, Texas. You can also take the Garrett Tour, Minelab Tour, and White's Tour

Two years later he is still in jail, being fined $1000 a day! A treasure hunter found 3 tons of sunken gold — and can’t leave jail until he says where it is

The Nokta FORS Gold is actually a very good general purpose 15 kHz detector. The Nokta FORS Gold+ is a more gold specific 19 kHz nugget detecting machine. The FORS Gold+ would in theory be a step up in that you would get manual ground balance and a variable Self Adjusting Threshold (iSAT) control. In reality however I think what you would basically be doing is trading a capable mid-frequency VLF for another capable mid-frequency VLF. That being the case it is more about how many hours you use a detector to prospect every year and how proficient you get with your detectors. Most people only get out a few times a year, and never really put in the hours to become truly expert with their machines. If that is the case I don't see any real advantage to making a trade like you suggest unless you are just wanting something different. However, if you put in hundreds or thousands of hours a year detecting, then any small advantage can be leveraged and does add up to be worth it. The $499 standard Gold Bug is an incredible value and overlooked by most people because it lacks the "Pro" moniker. The only difference between the standard and Pro models is the Gold Bug Pro allows you to tweak the ground balance manually. The truth is the ground grab function on both is very good, and most people hardly use the manual ground balance if they use it at all. Personally I prefer the compact light weight (2.5 lb) design of the Gold Bugs. The FORS at 4.3 lbs although very well balanced is obviously quite a bit heavier and does not break down near as easily or as compactly. And while some people like it the handle on the FORS models is one of my least favorite. I guess the main question I will end with is - what coil do you have? The 5" round DD? If so a 5" x 10" elliptical coil would be a great investment to improve what you have. I always hate to imply that there is any real advantage to making lateral trades. Going from one mid-frequency VLF to another rarely makes any significant difference, whereas going from a VLF to a PI is a huge change. Or going from a mid-frequency unit to a very high frequency unit, also a significant change. That is why I sound a bit negative on the idea. That said, I think the Nokta FORS Gold+ is about as good as it gets when it comes to mid-frequency VLF nugget detectors. If I wanted to prospect for gold and could only own one VLF detector to do it with, it would definitely be on my short list.

Draft owners manual available for download at http://www.goldsearchaustralia.com/media/qed-operations-manual.pdf Odd that ground balance is labeled as delay, which in a PI is normally associated with pulse delay. It always confuses people when manufacturers break with convention. This is a draft however. It does appear that small targets are hi tone and large targets lo tone, and that the tones are reversible via the pitch function. From the manual above: "Increase for a higher pitch and decrease for a lower pitch. This usually only need to be done once the operator is happy with the setting. Take note of the number as a “load factory defaults” will reset the value. If PITCH is an ODD (factory default) number i.e. 25, 27 etc then small targets will produce a rising pitch. If PITCH is adjusted to an even number then large targets will produce a rising pitch. Please note that the Ground Balance and BIAS adjustment directions will be reversed."

Sorry to hear that Jim. Picks are easy to lose. I had a dozen at Moore Creek I supplied to people and every one of them was lost. People would sometimes find one also but eventually I had to replace them all. Though I always suspected that perhaps a few went home in people's luggage since I was supplying expensive Walco picks on the first go. They got replaced with cheap Walmart picks. Good luck finding yours.

Hi Reg, From http://australianelectronicgoldprospectingforum.com/new-board-109/qed-update-8893/msg41078/#msg41078 "Ground Balance is about creating a null for the ground. This is achieved by using an electronic equivalent of an old fashioned balance beam or scales. This was used by Eric Foster while hand held PI detectors were in still in their infancy. When the signal from the ground is broken up and put on different sides of the balance beam then the ground is nulled or cancelled. There are certain targets that have a characteristic or Time Constant that are similar to the ground and the response to them will be greatly diminished. These targets fall into what is called the "Detection Hole". The function on the QED called BIAS is used to raise the signal that is either side of the detection hole. An OZ 5 cent piece is on one side of the "hole" and the OZ $2 coin is on the other side." The ad copy also states "A single channel design resulting in a low component count, smaller size, less weight and repeatable performance" which granted, is kind of vague, but this just sounds to me like an improvement (possibly) on Eric's design. It is also possible part of the agreement with Minelab was to stay away from multi channel "timings". In any case you can guess and I can guess but guesses are not firm answers.

There are no settings per se that everyone should be using. It is dependent on the ground and the gold. That is why the adjustments exist. Experimentation on found targets with varied settings should be just part of the routine. What is working for me running a Z14 coil in mild ground on smaller gold is unlikely to work well for somebody in Oz in bad ground on different gold. I swear I am no authority on how to get optimum performance anyway. I just get close, that's all. I rely more on sheer hours and patience than anything - I am the blind squirrel detectorist.

Absolutely JP, your advice and opinions are not only respected but highly sought after. I was talking about metal detectors in general and not the GPZ specifically, and should have said so. Anything you have to say about the GPZ I am all ears! I suspect also you are talking much larger deep nuggets than I would be thinking about - mine measured in multiple grams and yours in multiple ounces.