Roughwater

I wasn't that lucky Chuck but I did find a Barber Quarter and a Barber half dollar in the same hole. I still have them and will edit this post later with pics of them but I'm still gainfully employed to got to get back to my homework for now but just 2 more days and I'll be down to one paycheck a month be it not so bad of one. Terry

I'm a slightly experienced novice Tom. So my take on the best is the best you can reasonably afford. For me, It's the GPX 5000. I had a GP 3500 at one time and at the time it probably was the best at that time. Had my income allowed, I would probably have gone with a GPZ especially if I lived much farther west than what I do. Of course if your talking a theoretical detector that does not yet exist or at least is not yet available, it would be something like a GPZ that has the discrimination capabilities of the best VLF detectors if not better. It would weigh 3 lbs or less. It would have a host of different available coils at a reasonable price and the battery would not be 500 dollars unless it was guaranteed forever. Wireless would be nice too since that seems to be the trend anyway. I'm not that concerned with GPS capability either. Terry

I'm in Ridge Runner. We could do a bit of scouting while they are open and maybe hide a waterproof pinpointer in our shots and do a little snorkling? I best not say more than that or I'll be in the Forum jail if not a physical one. Ok Steve this will be my last post on this thread. I gotta say though it's not as educational but the side posts here have sure been more fun than the talking about the firmware. I much appreciate this great website. It does have the effect of bringing lots of Detector users together for the better I believe.

OK, this is a explanation to my Explanation.LOL I feel like my explanation didn't convey my original explanation. I don't think I used the work "bothered" the way I meant to convey it. To put it in other terms: Like you Steve, I didn't understand why it would be a problem for some folks if their detector has digital tones instead of analog tones nor do I understand why it would be a problem for some if the detector has options you may not choose to use like 4, 8 or 20 tones. Like I said, I go with what is available with the product. I'd rather have that sunroof on my car even if I don't think to use it (long as it don't leak). When I sell that car the next person might like having that sunroof so it could be a dealmaker in the end. But for me the real meat of a detector is things like depth, sensitivity, response time, If I get it over gold and it goes boing, pop, bang or who-who or says, "hot dam". It don't matter to me so much as long as it lets me know there is something there I should dig.

Appreciate your comments. Since you took the Minelab battery apart did you happen to try to salvage the built in Amp? Terry

Hey Steve, I do use tones to hunt. I use tones more than #s. 2 of my 3 detectors have no screen for ID' numbers. Tones are all I have to go by on those detectors. I didn't explain myself very well with my comment but what I meant was that I didn't understand why some would be bothered by digital VS Analog tones or why someone would be bothered by having a detector with more available tones than they cared to use? I never really assumed much about a detector. I have always adjusted to a detector and not required a detector to adjust to my likes and dislikes. Variety is usually a good thing with detectors though some prefer to keep it simple. I just go with the flow. I will learn the basics first and over time figure out the other available options once I get the basics down.

Jasong, What do you use for an Amp with that set up?

I took my 5000 out in the back yard for a few minutes today. I already had the 8" Minelab commander mono coil on it. I turned it on and did the auto-Tone which quieted it down some then adjusted the threshold, signal volume and volume on my Killer Bee Hornet headphones to where it wasn't blasting my ears. Messed with the GB some both fixed and tracking walked it around the yard a bit. Then I replaced the coil with the 14X9 NF Evo. After doing the auto Tune and using the same settings as with the commander coil, I walked it around the yard. If anything it seemed a little quieter. It seemed to work fine! I don't have the experience many of you have yet with the 5K and I may never but in my brief check out I could find nothing wrong with it. Use in the field will be a much better test but that won't happen for a few weeks. Terry

Hey Chuck looks like things finally took a turn for the better for ya! Except maybe for the rain. We've been getting lots of it too lately. Problem is you can't use the rain for an excuse so much now with a waterproof detector. Ya just need to get you a good rain suit and make yourself waterproof too! I think you doing some testing in the rain would be an attractive element for your testing. A few lightning strikes in the background etc might bring in millions of views? But seriously we all know why god made a rainy day, so we could all sleep real good of course. Once I get retired (in a bout 3 more days) that's how I plan on spending rainy days if at all possible. I saw the depth testing on the Sport that Steve posted. Looked real promising. Not sure why folks get hung up on the tones so much. It's not a Stradivarius it's a metal detector. Anyway, I know you get all that. When you get to your testing I'll be looking forward to it and maybe doing some of my own in the future. I thought it would be good to set up a test garden in my yard. Much better than doing air tests for sure. The very best Regards Terry

I won't get anywhere near real gold till July but I will take it outside here in North Carolina ASAP and see what it sounds like. For it's size it don't make a lot of sense that it would be noisy unless it's bad or a design flaw. Will compare it to my 8" minelab mono and let you know. I will be using it on a GPX 5000. Terry

Appreciate that info Steve. I don't really want to spend another 1/2 a grand right now anyway if I don't need to. Maybe when and if I earn some of the money back with finding gold I will invest in another battery of some kind.

Thanks again. I may go with this depending on the shipping charge. Not sure if there is a hazmat fee for batteries or things having batteries but I'll find out. I do know right now our currency goes farther over there so the difference in value of our dollar could offset the shipping cost. I recently bought a coil from Oz and even with a 50 dollar (AU) shipping fee the coil was still cheaper than if I had bought it over here in the US. Terry

Nice work getting all those many bits of gold!

Thanks BB. How long can one prospect on one battery charge?

Thank for the input goldbrick. In my search for alternatives I have seen some negative reviews about the screamer set up. I have seen some smaller minelab GPX batteries on OZ websites but no one seems to sell them over here?

If you own a GPX I'm sure if you don't already have a battery back up you are probably wanting to get one. Well, that's where I am at. Problem is buying a 2nd battery is some 400 dollars or more. I know Doc's has the Screamer kit with the amp and a couple smaller batteries etc which don't sound bad but it's still over 400 dollars for the complete set up. There may be some other similar set ups as well, I don't know. I could see the option of buying the Screamer amp for 135, the little pouch that goes around the detector for 50 and another 50 for one battery cutting the cost a bit. But then you need a different charger for this battery so probably another 20 or so bucks. So with shipping your probably better than 250 for the set up. Some say the screamer amp is plastic and can get cracks in it easily? I'm assuming too the screamer has a built in regulator but I don't know. Anyone have experience with using the stock minelab set up VS the aftermarket one's?

Sounds good but I don't suppose they are taking pre-orders Yet?

Nice gold. If it was a video It didn't work at least not on my computer anyway.

We detector users do yearn for a new better thing but we also don't want the manufacture to jump the gun on it's release and then we all have to deal with the aftermath. Personally, I don't mind so much as I jumped on the prospecting boat late in life and am just catching up with what's already out there. But you in the detector choir who have been at this most of your lives and especially with VLF detectors haven't seen real gains in that area in the last 15 years would like to see something really new and innovative. The Nakta/Makro folks did put some nice very feature packed, packages together and there is the 3 freq Deus and Minelabs 3030 which is the reigning multi-frequency champ. So there is a group of us out there who have just invested a good deal of money and I am actually pretty content with what I have but if I live long enough to join the detector choir I am sure I will think different. Terry

A pick without metal would be a good thing. It's hard for me to imagine anything that would have metal's durability. Maybe make pick head with reduced metal. Maybe a metal spike on one side and on the other side of the head a carbon/plastic or ceramic scraper? Use the spike side of the head for the heavy work and the other side for clearing the debree/scraping? You could make both the spike and the the ceramic side detachable and replaceable in case of breakage? The spike alone would create a much smaller metal profile than today's pick heads. Terry

My Nugget Finder 14X 9 Evolution coil just came in the mail today. Seems a very hard to find coil right now. I like the looks of it, Thin and fairly light with a nice taper on the sides to help it slide past things. This completes my search for coils for a while and a little closer to my chance to use them.

Looks like you are plenty proficient enough to go back and find gold you missed previously. You were just saving it for another day but didn't realize it at the time.

Appreciate the information. Will give them a wide path except for Killer bee headphones which I really like.

I agree with Steve and Gregg but I have heard also that your ground can be very mineralized. So check with your local forums for your area and double check to see that whatever detector you choose can deal with the type of ground you have locally prior to purchase.

Both look like good choices. Just depends on where you plan to use them. You might want to follow the MX sport threads going on right now at this website. Terry