Steve Herschbach

The Fisher CZ-21 is one of the best VLF underwater detectors on the market and can double as a good dry land detector. Waterproof to 250 feet, it is the real deal when it comes to diving and built like a tank. It is the only serious competition to the Minelab Excalibur with the main difference between the two the basic physical design and control layout. Performance is too close to call. I personally prefer the CZ-21 due to the easy hip mount capability, more distinct tone scheme, and true all metal mode. You can get it in 8" or 10.5" coil sizes but the coil is hardwired so be sure and get what you want. Big coils are better on the beach but if you are also thinking parks and such on dry land the 8" is the better option. There is a huge price increase coming that will put what you see it currently for sale at as not too far over the new dealer cost! I literally almost just bought one myself just now but veered away before hitting the buy button because - well, you know it - I have too many detectors already anyway. Still, it is almost an investment at this price as used prices are going to take a big jump also. Anyway, just a head's up for forum members in case anyone was on the fence about the CZ-21.

It will get more interesting yet. If it is depth I am after then PI is the way to go. With a VLF depth is only a partial consideration and in many cases not the most important.

This coil is identical to that on the Fisher Gold Bug 2 but a little heavier since it is a DD coil. It was introduced last year with very little fanfare and most dealers do not even seem to know it exists. Yet it would be a great nugget hunting coil for these detectors, less prone to hanging up on sticks and a bit narrower profile. I have a shiny new one sitting in front of me to try on my F75 up against the F19, which has the same coil stock. This one feels heavier though - epoxy filled? I will weigh them both when my F19 shows up.

Just my personal opinion but when it comes to sluices just give me a good old aluminum box with carpet and remove able steel riffles. Good old Keene A-52 is still the standard as far as I am concerned.

Bedrock was easy for a good VLF 15 years ago. First place anybody looks.

Ah, the heck with it! I am on a mission now, so got the F19 coming, should be here in the next week what with the holiday and all.

You did not know Minelab is handling the marketing for Makro? I'm joking! I copy a page and modify it to get consistency in the tables and oops - that slipped through. Good catch Paul, thanks, I will fix it.

Those are all very nice finds - congratulations! I like that little bottle also.

2015 is going to be a VERY interesting year! The Racer is getting all the air play but do not forget there will also be a Gold Racer. I have already got an information page to collect new information as it arrives at my new Makro Gold Racer page.

Nokta will let us know directly on this forum the moment pricing and release date are set. Very soon. In the meantime I am collecting all official information on my new Makro Racer page.

Wow, very nice looking detector!

Hi Mike, It is my own test that happened by accident running the show on the retail floor. I needed a good simulated small gold nugget that was always the same and always available. Somehow I noticed that the cheap pens we always had around were perfect. The basic cheap Bic or Papermate, all plastic barrel, brass tip and medium (1mm tungsten carbide) ball point. It turns out it is near the tipping point between ferrous and non-ferrous on many detectors and became my own standardized test for what I considered minimum nugget detecting capability. It serves the same purpose as a micro jewelry test. The main advantage is anyone anywhere can get one so it does provide a standard of sorts, like a dime or US nickel. In all metal it is just a way to test potential depth on a small target. What has become more instructive is the disc results though, in whether the detector reports ferrous or non-ferrous and by how much. Good way to compare coils also on a detector for weird responses. Like a DD will often sound in several different places where a concentric may get a more consistent centered reading. Kind of an eye opener at times.

Not sure that I will. The camo was supposedly a "Limited Edition" and I figure we are paying $100 extra for camo. And I am not a big fan of camo, I would be happy with gold and black. Gold and black, $100 less, I would already have one. It is in my thoughts however. I asked Keith to do the test with the pen so I could compare to the F75 I currently have, and he tossed the F19 video in for free! I already knew it would nail it so no surprise there. I have had a Gold Bug Pro for years and the F19 is a tweak of the Bug. When I sold the Bug I kept the small coil and 11" DD coil "just in case". But I am hoping the latest version of the F75 will make me happy enough that I do not need to go there. The problem is the F19 is hotter on small stuff but loses a bit on larger stuff. The F75 is better on larger stuff but loses a bit on small stuff. Direct frequency trade off. I have a Gold Bug 2 for tiny gold so I am more interested in a VLF with good depth on larger gold and good ferrous discrimination. That is why I am leaning F75 or Nokta right now. The F19 is more the fallback position. I am really also waiting on the Teknetics version, which will be an upgraded T2. It has a rod/handle like the F75 and will hopefully not be camo but other than that will be the same as the F19. Maybe the 11" coil instead of the 10" coil so we will see. Throw in the fact I am first in line for a Makro Gold Racer and the F19 and G2 will just have to wait. Having said all that, I think the F19 is a sleeper due to Fisher's lack of interest in promoting it. Never saw a company less interested in their own new product release. If I were in the market tomorrow for a Gold Bug Pro there is no doubt I would get the F19 instead. It comes with my preferred coil, the 5" x 10" DD and has numerous extra features I like, like the backlight and ferrous volume adjustment. The unit is probably the best compromise of having both the F75 and Gold Bug Pro in a single package, and if nothing else keeps me happy for the next few months I may ditch them all and get the F19 or G2. I promise anyone that gets one for as an all around machine good on gold you will not go wrong. In a way it is my machine to beat. More information and specs on Fisher F19

Here is something most of you have not seen. A small Alaska pit. It is on an old channel above the existing creek, and I am sure never been seen but by a handful of people. I only found a couple nuggets on the bedrock area on right side but it was only lightly detected. No doubt we are looking at a few nuggets waiting to be dug. All we have to do is travel 3000 miles, charter a little bush plane to land on a small mountain strip, hike a few miles, and we are there!

I have worked a lot of small pits and they are pretty much like funnels. The area near the bottom of the funnel get the most attention. But the bigger the area the more diffuse the target. If it has been hunted before the less likely spots may now be the best! I have had a bit of luck tossing stacked rocks off spots trying to find gold they buried and it has actually paid of a few times. I look for a spot where tossing the least rocks uncovers the most bedrock. The more I detect the less I know it seems so these days I just try to put my coil over everything. Just a blind squirrel looking for a nut. Seems to work for me though.

Hi JW, Welcome to the forum! Just one question. It seems like you did most of you detecting with the GPX and then compared the targets it found with the SDC. Did you put a really good effort into to hunting with the SDC and finding targets first with it, then comparing with the GPX? Over here lots of guys are running small coils on the GPX. The Sadie is very popular. It comes down to timings. With an 8" mono a GPX should punch as deep or deeper on most gold than the SDC. The GPX is still the flagship. The SDC has timings that do allow it to more easily light up small gold, especially prickly or porous specimens that the GPX may find difficult or miss entirely. It also excels in highly mineralized ground. In areas with that combination of conditions the SDC shines. If the gold is relatively solid and the ground relatively mild I would expect the GPX to outperform the SDC and I would say you are doing well proving that. Conversely, many people here and in Australia are proving the SDC does very well cleaning up in areas pounded by GPX detectors. Do not forget however, the GPX detectors pounding first got a lot more gold in most instances. A lot. There is a remote possibility your SDC is not performing to the max but I prefer to take your results at face value. In your ground on your gold the GPX proves that it is still the Minelab flagship gold detector for a reason. It would be instructive to hunt only with the SDC first and check with the GPX to see if it can find any gold for you that the GPX cannot. That is the only way to really answer your question. I guess the good news is that if the SDC is just not worth hanging onto for you there are people lined up looking for used ones right now.

Soon? I am impressed. MSRP of $149.95 and Garrett normally allows for a 15% discount so should be going out the door for $127.46 That is only $17 more than their regular model and check out the extra features in the ad.

That is very sad news on many levels. My heartfelt condolences to Jerry's family and friends.

It is all relative Gary. Garrett was nice enough to make my ATX weigh 6.9 lbs, so now when I grab my 5.7 lb SDC it feels light! I suspect if you poll people most do not use a harness or bungee with the SDC. I know Chris and I do not. That is not to say it is not a good idea. I am one of those guys that thinks for $3750 you should get the harness, headphone adapter, and the carry bag. And a hat!

I use the Velcro wrap around with hook that comes with the Pro-Swing. Problem is I want to leave it on several detectors instead of switching out all the time. Let me post a good picture of it so we can figure out how to make them. I will see if they can be purchased separately from Minelab also.

"Those are my favorites. Right now I'm enamored with the F75. I'd pay a premium to get a Cleansweep/Bigfoot style coil for my Fishers." Ain't that the truth! Why is it so hard to get these coils? For those who do not know these 3" x 18" coils are superb for covering large areas quickly and cherry picking targets. They are so good they are usually banned from organized treasure hunts. But they are only available for a few models and hard to find even for them. I have a Big Foot for my V3i. Or should I say I have a V3i for my Big Foot?

Guess the info was out all the way back on December 16 if I had been paying better attention http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/497-nokta-announcement-makro-acquisition/ "In addition, we developed a new Makro branded coin & relic detector called ‘’RACER’’ and a gold detector ‘’Gold RACER’’ which will enter the market very aggressively with its performance, design and price very soon!" In the case of the FORS CoRe and FORS Gold the two models are nearly the same with the same price. The Gold simply lacks the additional COG mode that is included on the CoRe. This is intended for salt water beach use as it extends the ground balance range into salt. It could also be useful on salt flats gold prospecting and since both are the same price, I now recommend the CoRe to everyone. Hopefully the Gold Racer is more than a feature limited version of the Racer, unless it sells for less, in which case that would be acceptable. Unless the Gold model really has some compelling feature for prospecting the standard model is lacking chances are I would prefer whichever unit has the most features. I coin and jewelry detect in addition to gold nugget detecting. I guess we will know when full product details are released.

That is the blue one - the GPX 5000. You probably mean the other blue one, the SDC 2300. Truth is I have more hours on the GPX this year but the SDC got all the airplay for being new. This is cool though, kind of like making the cover of the Rolling Stone but better! However I have only made cover boy once. Chris has probably lost count of the number of times he has graced the cover. Thanks Chris!!

Great post Gary, I obviously agree. Just to keep the record straight though the White's TDI came straight from Eric Foster and the original TDI is basically nothing more than a Goldscan 5 is a White's box. No Minelab patent's involved. http://goldplacer.com/goldprospectors/eric-fosters-goldscan-5/ You are right - it is an old design and Carl Moreland while still at White's stated there really was nowehere left to go with it. White's did actually obtain a license from Minelab to develop the Beachhunter ID and then DFX so you may have been thinking of that.

Price it the same as both units purchased separately. It would cost them less to make since the body of the detector is much of the cost. They would make more money than me buying each one separately. I would without hesitation buy such a machine, as would others. In fact, I might be willing to pay more than the combined cost of both machines purchased separately. Think of how useful it would be to be able to hunt with a PI and then on getting the target, switch to VLF mode. You would get an immediate id on most targets. Deeper ones you would have to start digging, but at some point that target id is going to kick in. The efficiency factor in time not lost digging every target would be worth it to me. I have carried both to do just that, and it works. But who wants to carry two detectors all the time and switch between them? It only works if the capability is in a single unit.