Steve Herschbach

Typical contrived test in that a gold ring is a near perfect target. Still, I am noting that the Gold Racer at 56 kHz is different than most machines and does have some unique ferrous handling capability. The only problem is the machine is very hot, and can produce some really sparky responses on flat steel that will fake you out. The response time as shown however is near instantaneous and quite impressive in some locations.

I am glad the MXS is working out for you Chuck. If anyone has earned it I would say it has to be you!

We did hear this about the Garrett ATX way back in January, and nothing since: "Garrett additionally released details of two new, larger 11”x13” closed searchcoils for the ATX pulse induction detector. Available in either a DD or mono configuration, the new ATX coil will be lighter weight and offers increased depth versus the standard ATX searchcoil. The new closed style provides more resistance to scrubbing of the coil against the ground and allows gold prospectors to use the upper coil deck to sift/find tiny nuggets easier. The new ATX searchcoil includes an exclusive Garrett design slide-lock system that creates a center-mount style while still allowing the ATX to collapse into its soft cover carrying case. Designated for a mid-year release, the new ATX coil will be available as the new standard offering on ATX detectors and can be purchased as an accessory coil by existing ATX customers. More details and pricing on the new ATX packages will be forthcoming." Note the part about mid-year release. It sure would be great if a new ATX package did include a repackaged lighter weight less expensive version. I am not holding my breath however.

Nice nugget Chris Ben!! I have found stock coil to be best overall and use 8" mono for surf detecting. The 15" x 20" mono had so little advantage over the stock coil I sold mine. About all it is really good for is ground coverage and an edge on very large targets. In my opinion. Well, at the time the ATX was released the SDC 2300 had not appeared yet, and the GPX machines were still at much higher prices. The ATX circuit in my opinion is second only to the Minelabs as a ground balancing PI detector. If I can't use my GPZ for any reason the ATX is a credible backup, and another reason I own it. It actually does better than the GPZ in salt ground and in basalt hot rocks. My tests of my ATX vs my old GPX 5000 left me sufficiently impressed that I was able to sell my GPX 5000 without fear of being caught out were my GPZ to fail. Garrett had one heck of an opening and I think they blew it. The SDC 2300 was introduced and if money is no object, is a better gold prospecting machine than the ATX. Then Minelab lowered the GPX pricing and we are now where the ATX does not look so great by comparison. If Garrett came out with a Garrett LTX tomorrow there is still room in the under $2K market for a better alternative to the TDI. I think Nokta/Makro knows this and is hard at work on an under $2K alternative, and probably Fisher also. The TDI is what it is and it is the only real option under $2K. Unfortunately it lacks a bit of punch, and I would go head to head with my ATX gold prospecting against anyone with a TDI of any type and feel I have an edge with same size coils. Where the TDI smacks the ATX is on coil options. An ATX styled and priced more like a TDI SL would be a great little machine and I would have one in a heartbeat were one available. If Garrett waits much longer however somebody will beat them to the punch. The wildcard is always Minelab. Their old discontinued machines still beat the competition, and a repackaged SD 2200D or better at under $2k would beat any alternatives. Something like that could really take the air out of any attempts to unseat Minelab for PI gold prospecting primacy. Don't know, just an early morning ramble really. I do know if all I had were the two detectors below I could do pretty much anything anywhere as far as metal detecting goes and be quite happy. My First Year With The Garrett ATX

I did a bit of Google searching for posts in the last year to see if I could get a feel for how much use the Garrett ATX gets and what people are finding with it. Not much to see though. The Garrett Australia Facebook page has some gold nugget finds https://www.facebook.com/GarrettAustralia/ The Findmall ATX Forum would have you thinking the ATX is strictly a beach detector Link deleted since Findmall Forum update broke all old links and other than that a few relic hunters out there using it. The ATX is one of my favorite detectors and quite a capable nugget detector, but after some early nugget detecting it now only gets used seriously as a beach and water detector. The problem is with ATX at $2120 and 6.9 lbs, limited coil selection, it is a tough machine to recommend for prospecting with a Minelab GPX 4500 running only $2699 at this time. I still consider the ATX to have been a missed opportunity. At $1699 in a lighter weight dry land package and sporting less expensive dry land coils the machine could have made a real impact on the prospecting world. Instead it is a rare sight on the goldfields.

Wander in over to Rob's at http://forums.nuggethunting.com/index.php?/topic/11991-big-deep-gold-nuggetspecimen-found-with-a-gpz-7000/&do=findComment&comment=83576 to see what the nugget looked like out of the ground.

Nice gold Randy! How was the weather? I heard it got quite warm in Nome not too long ago. Gold is non-magnetic so all you get is the conductive effect. Iron is both conductive and magnetic and a double whammy for detectors.

Wondering about that token or button you found? There is of course Google but this site has links to over 150 websites specializing in this kind of information. Check it out at http://exonumia.com/links.htm

All the more reason to take the time to get Version 4.0 right. Too many botched releases are giving metal detector manufacturers a bad name these days.

Thanks for that comment Nenad. I had myself half talked into buying the universal WR setup. Then I realized the only two detectors I have that do not have wireless capability built in are the ATX and DFX. The ATX gets nearly all its use underwater, and so making the purchase came down to something for only one detector and so not really worth it to me. I see the next unit out for Deteknix will be a Deteknix Quest Pro MK II which is basically a Quest Pro with suggested improvements incorporated. At this rate a Deteknix Quest Gold will probably be next year.

I posted this back in April http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/1368-xp-deus-goes-high-frequency/?do=findComment&comment=22257 "earliest late summer 2016 possibly longer" I am guessing you were too busy digging gold nuggets at the time to see it! Personally at this point I am just figuring the V4 update by end of year... I hope. I do have a Deus 11" with WS5 phones that is waiting patiently for a new coil.

"Three years ago we introduced a cloud-free mosaic of the world in Google Earth. Today we’re rolling out an even more beautiful and seamless version, with fresh imagery from Landsat 8 satellite and new processing techniques for sharper images than ever before. Satellite images are often cloudy, but not always over the same place, so we looked at millions of images and took the clearest pixels to stitch together this cloud-free and seamless image. Landsat 8, which launched into orbit in 2013, is the newest sensor in the USGS/NASA Landsat Program—superior to its predecessors in many ways. Landsat 8 captures images with greater detail, truer colors, and at an unprecedented frequency—capturing twice as many images as Landsat 7 does every day. This new rendition of Earth uses the most recent data available -- mostly from Landsat 8 -- making it our freshest global mosaic to date." Details at https://maps.googleblog.com/2016/06/keeping-earth-up-to-date-and-looking.html

Anyone can use ATVs on BLM and National Forest lands unless those lands are specifically closed to ATV use. So I assume you mean using ATVs in areas closed to ATV access. BLM The BLM is legally mandated by the Architectural Barriers Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and 43 CFR part 17 to provide accessibility in its programs and facilities to all people with disabilities. The BLM works closely with its permittees to ensure that disabled veterans can experience their own unique adventures on America's public lands. Learn more about the BLM’s Accessibility Program and find facilities and qualified BLM outfitters offering trips for the disabled. For more information about events for disabled veterans in your area of interest, please contact the local BLM Field Office. For information about BLM's accessibility programs, contact a BLM Accessibility Lead. Accessibility Leads National Accessibility Coordinator - Tina McDonald, (202) 912-7251,tmcdonal@blm.gov Note: The use of permittee names on this page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement of any of the businesses or organizations listed. Alaska - Mark Paprocki, (907) 267-1314, Mark_Paprocki@blm.gov Arizona - Chester Gawin, (602) 417-9438, Chester_Gawin@blm.gov California - Paul Fulkerson, (916) 978-4439, Paul_Fulkerson@blm.gov Colorado – Geoffrey McManus, (303) 239-3921, Geoffry_McManus@blm.gov Eastern States – ELynn Burkett, (202) 387-5711, ELynn_Burkett@blm.gov Idaho - Cynthia Kowalczyk, (208) 373-3952, Cynthia_Kowalczyk@blm.gov Montana/Dakotas - Lance Brady, (406) 896-5339, Lance_Brady@blm.gov Nevada – June Loreman, (775) 861-6400, June_Loreman@blm.gov New Mexico - Elaine Lopez, (505) 954-2175, Elaine_Lopez@blm.gov Oregon/Washington – Todd Curtis, (503)-808-6103, Todd_Curtis@blm.gov Utah – Trent Duncan, (801) 539-4090, Trent_Duncan@blm.gov Wyoming - Jim Honn, (307) 775-6233, Jim_Honn@blm.gov The Forest Service Accessibility page is at http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/accessibility/

25 color pages of metal detecting finds - free download here

OK, I am an Alaskan and so no stranger to foul language. This video is great just because it is real and yes, you do not want to watch if cuss words bother you. Me, I have to admit I just smile watching it. You have been warned!

The first rule about product development is - YOU do not talk about product development. That is what makes it better being on the outside looking in sometimes. It can be more fun to speculate about what I do not know than having to keep my mouth shut about things I do know!

Thanks for the clarification Tom. That kinda sorta confirms something I have been thinking. The Beachhunter ID has always been an odd duck and many people were disappointed when the MX Sport turned out to be single frequency, which frankly is poor for salt water. So my guess is new multifrequency machine stuffed in MX Sport housing for the salt water guys is in the works. Only makes sense really, as the company will want to leverage the development cost of the new housing by using it for multiple models.

Available for online viewing at http://www.flipsnack.com/Whites/whites-summer-2016-catalog.html Here is the included specifications/price list: Note that the base MXT model that had an MSRP of $799 is not listed in the catalog. The M6 and Beachhunter ID are also missing - all three were listed in the 2015 catalog. The GMZ nugget detector and TDI Pro PI detector are not in the catalog but were not in 2015 either, perhaps because they are niche units? They all still appear to be available online in some locations. I am not sure if they have been officially discontinued but leaving these models out of the catalog sure sends a message. Here is the Fall 2015 specification/price list for comparison:

Well, I have never used an Omega so I do not want to claim special knowledge, therefore the lack of detail. However, machines running under 10 kHz are designed for coin detecting and nobody wants to dig hot rocks in parks and school yards. On many coin machines hot rock signals can be eliminated without much fear of losing coins and can be factory set to do just that. On White's higher end coin detectors hot rocks get dumped into a special +95 VDI category and simply blocking that blocks the hot rocks. The Omega could be factory set to do the same. But yes, there are always trades to be made and there will be corresponding holes in the detection capability that usually would be detrimental for detecting weak signals/low conductive targets. From the DFX Engineering Report http://www.whiteselectronics.com/the-hobby/knowledge-base/field-reports/dfx - Hot Rock Rejection Setting or clearing +95 in the DISC Editor (on the XLT®) can have a pretty dramatic effect. So, we have provided an adjustment to allow for more "shades of gray" between the extremes of simply accepting or rejecting this number with the DFX™. A setting of 20 with the DFX™ does the same thing as selecting +95 to reject regarding XLT® models. Turning it all the way down to 0 makes it a "hot rock accept" control, like making +95 an accepted target did previously with the XLT®. A setting of 10 means that the detector will neither accept nor reject the target; it does nothing. Other settings give greater or lesser degrees of acceptance/rejection. +95 in the disc editor controls whether the number is displayed, but has no effect on the audio response." Remember that +95 in the DISC editor now only controls the Visual Discrimination of those readings. Audio Discrimination response to +95 readings is controlled by HOT ROCK REJ. A setting of 20 is the same as setting +95 to reject in an XLT. Setting to 0 is the same as clearing +95 to accept. A HOT ROCK REJ. setting of 10 means that the reading will have no effect on the audio Ñ it will neither accept nor reject the target. Other settings give various degrees of acceptance or rejection.

Both but mostly the lower frequency.

I added the direct link to the Yreka page which is a bit easier to get too. Thanks Bob!

Yeah, the year is sneaking by fast. I was pretty much betting on 2016 but my sights have now shifted to 2017. Personally I would prefer they take whatever time it needs to get out the door 100% right. It would however be a nice Christmas gift from First Texas to us!

Hi Ray, I am happy to help but it may be tomorrow morning before I make a detailed reply. Thanks!

I thought it would be interesting to revive this thread in light of the release of the GPZ19 coil to see how close Minelab came to the suggestions. I tallied up the numbers and averaged the large dimension for both small and large suggested sizes but all the info is there to draw your own conclusions. Next up - I want that small coil. I do think larger first was best for most people but sooner or later a small coil for the rest of us would be appreciated.