Steve Herschbach

Most of my nuggets are much, much smaller, and most can be relied with the GPX to produce very clean, pure tones. Not so with the GPZ as anything close to the coil produces some complex responses. Even then working hydraulic pits I can identify most ferrous targets in advance versus small nuggets based on the response, which tends to be cleaner with nuggets. A risky strategy for sure but one I have used when I just get too tired to be digging it all. The last hour or two may I start cherry picking. The GPX is a much better machine for cherry picking targets, especicially considering it actually has a discrimination function. Even beyond that however the tones were much easier to read. The GPZ can produce some very strange responses and there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to them at times. Some gold detects much deeper than I would expect, other gold not as deep as I would expect. A very different beast indeed.

Good stuff, this and more at the Detector Prospector Reference Library

There are real advantages to being the first bloke on the ground with new technology!

The warbly response this nugget makes initially should be just another warning that not all nuggets give a clean, pure tone, especially in the GPZ 7000. Most do, but not all.

The MXT Pro is just an MXT when it comes to depth and sensitivity. They added a few features, the most important being a multi-tone option, backlight, and ground grab button. There are also a couple different coil options when you buy the machine. Jeff Foster put together a comparison chart at http://forums.whiteselectronics.com/showthread.php?50692-MXT-MXT-Pro-Comparison-Chart

I will second Chris' book....... http://www.detectorprospector.com/gold-prospecting-equipment/book-fists-full-of-gold.htm

I really do need to make time to go hunt for meteorites. It is on the to do list but gold always seems to get top billing. Some day. I am studying up however and a really good book on the subject is Rocks from Space: Meteorites and Meteorite Hunters by O. Richard Norton, Kathleen Ort (Editor), Dorothy Sigler Norton (Illustrator).

Wow, that is an amazing number of rings to score on dry land. I wish more people here in the United States would use the $1 coins!

Hi Darren, Welcome to the forum! I can only offer an opinion. I think the MXT and V3i are different at a very basic level. I have read about attempts to get the V3i to emulate the MXT and I do not recall anyone ever being totally satisfied with the result. Page 39 of the V3i Owners manual has a program for emulating the MXT but I have not tried it myself. Mixed mode does for me provide that direct "coupling" with the ground and target responses that I enjoy but in a way very different than the MXT. You hear everything and have to hunt very slowly. In too much trash it would be overwhelming. It sounds like you want to get a V3i but I can't honestly recommend getting rid of the MXT hoping the V3i might happily replace it. You say "I had a V3i for a couple years and sold it and went to the MXT and couldn't be happier." There is no reason to doubt that history would not repeat itself. Having said that, if you are like me, you probably want one anyway! I am on like my fourth V.

I deleted a post that advocated exactly what the owners of this mine are trying to avoid - an escalation and extreme confrontation. I am a full supporter of miners and prospectors rights but this forum is set up to avoid political arguments. I welcome informational posts about meeting and issues, but inflammatory rhetoric should be taken to other more appropriate forums. Barry did a good synopsis of the situation at http://forums.nuggethunting.com/index.php?/topic/11385-blm-now-after-miners/?p=79470

This one gets funny near the end as the detectorist gets a bit frantic trying to find that nugget!

Keith, it was great meeting you and the rest of the team yesterday! Too bad the weather and my head cold were not cooperating. Thanks for your contributions to the forum, they are appreciated. Now get back out there and find more gold before you have to head home!

That's really great Scott. Welcome to the club and I am glad to hear you are taking to the GPZ. I am discovering that the less a person has used a GPX the easier the transition to the GPZ seems to be. Longtime GPX users try to make the machine work like a GPX and the GPZ despite similarities is a whole different ballgame. Good luck and hope you score some big gold on your outing!

I tried to get my Racer with 5"x10" coil out for some nugget detecting recently but the weather did not cooperate. I got ran out by snow squalls! I do hope to give it a spin soon. I gave no idea on when the Gold Racer will be available. Hopefully this year.

Ok everyone I just ask you stick to the subject and leave out the character references and other back and forth that could get the thread locked. Thanks!

I would like more posts of coin and jewelry finds. The full forum description - Detector Prospector Forum A forum dedicated to prospecting for gold and other precious items using metal detectors, suction dredges, sluice boxes, gold pans, and more. Metal detecting for coins, jewelry, relics, meteorites, etc. Great job returning a list ring to its owner!

JP has commented a couple times that in his opinion the GPZ with 13"x14" coil gets about the same depth on large nuggets as a GPX 5000 with about an 18" or even 20" mono coil. That tells me if the ground has been hunted hard previously by an operator using a GPX with large coils than there is little chance of the GPZ going any deeper. The solution there will be the larger GPZ coil. However, this assumes the gold is reasonably solid stuff that both machines would do well on. The GPZ has a real and distinct advantage on specimen type gold regardless of the coil used on a GPX.

Yes, this is the fast walking and swinging what you do after you go to the quick start menu, do noise canceling then squeeze the quick-track button. The walking and swinging is going on while the quick-track button is being depressed for the initial ground balance required during quick start. I just tossed the video in to help illustrate JPs blog post that started this thread.

I was a die-hard headphone guy. JP tried to convert me to external speakers in Austrlia but I did not want to do something new on such an important trip. Now that I have converted I wish I had done so sooner. It really is nice being headphone free. The only issue is external noise, and you still need headphones around running water or wind in the trees. I am going to check into fitted in the ear phones for those really windy days as headphone earphone cups seem to do as good a job picking up and amplifying wind noise as anything also.

I am now wearing a belt with a non-metallic buckle. Good for being around the GPZ and for air travel. http://www.amazon.com/TRU-SPEC-Mens-Security-Friendly-Belt/dp/B00FNR2FOY

Bonus post by JP with pinpointing tips http://golddetecting.4umer.net/t21485-gpz-my-rating-4-out-of-10-and-thats-being-kind#208623 I am glad people are finding the information useful. I have to admit in my case I simply am putting in hours detecting with the GPZ. I run at stock settings with just a couple changes and basically just use the Quick Start procedure and go detecting. The machine seems very easy to understand and operate compared to a GPX. People reading all the posts would think the GPZ is far more complicated than I think it is.

I am adding a bit to my answer just for general readership. 90% of my decades of metal detecting in Alaska I wore headphones. These days I tend towards external speakers. The sound would help alert a bear to your presence, which usually is a good thing. Or would they come to see what's making the funny noise? Don't know, but it is nice to be able to hear what is going on around me. How to handle bears in Alaska is Alaskans favorite subject of debate. Many old timers don't carry a gun. Some go nowhere without one. Pistols are great for convenience but all government and business interests looking to protect people use 12ga shotguns. That was my favored choice for many years as a camp weapon. It is more about comfort level than reality in most instances. In a lifetime of traveling from one end of Alaska to the other I never had to kill a bear to save my life. I rarely packed a weapon and if I went back up to Alaska tomorrow I would go without. I have sold my bear guns. Be aware if driving no guns allowed through Canada. If I was all that concerned about it I would get a can of bear spray mainly due to logistics. Just easier to get while up there and leave behind if need be. That's just me though - some people feel they need a gun. Again, you have to do whatever makes you comfortable. I do know it would be very difficult to have a gun of any size of your body using a GPZ 7000. Even a can of bear spray would be problematic. Safety in Bear Country http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=livingwithbears.main The issue is just as important in California and elsewhere as in Alaska. Plenty of bears in the western states. They keep eating Chris Ralph's apples!

The Garrett Recon Pro AML 1000 is a mine detector version of the Garrett ATX and lacks many of the ATX features. It is locked in non-motion mode and so very slow hunting/site specific. Paul (CA) has an ATX and a Recon but I have not heard of anyone with a Recon and an F3. The military compared battery times at http://www.arl.army.mil/arlreports/2010/ARL-TR-5282.pdf

Going off subject , but battery weights and more are at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/680-minelab-ctx-3030-and-gpz-7000-weight-comparisons/ Running the GPZ without an incorporated battery would indeed ruin the balance. The existing battery is fine - we just need more of them!

Congratulations! Oddly enough it is that it is so hard to find gold that makes it rewarding when we do find it. So keep up the good work!