DanK

Greetings. Placer Pete is a shared claim with GPAA and several other SoCal clubs and can be found in the "properties" of GPAA, California, in San Bernardino county and have been featured in the GPAA magazine. I have talked with Phil and Steve, the owners numerous times and there are pretty good size GPAA and other club functions on the property. I know they are in a section that doesn't allow expanding mining operations beyond hobby mining. This is considered the Coolgardie area northwest of Barstow on BLM land. This area has a lot of military activity out of Edwards Air Force base, Fort Irwin Army base, and even jets from China Lake Naval base. I've been surprised numerous times with low flying jets and occasionally the B1 and B2 fly overs. My detector of choice is the Minelab Gold Monster and it has gone a little screwy from the jets once in a while. At night no jets. As for night detecting, I never saw another person detecting at night but I did drive by Phil and Steve's tent and shared my night finds after they were up and about after sun up. Winter was different because I rarely saw anyone because of the damp soil and cold. I also worked three 12 hour shifts so I was always there on week days only. To further clarify, I also only went when my wife was working and I was always home before she got home and had dinner and all chores completed. Priorities! Placer Pete has decent phone access and I would text here pictures of each piece and its number when she was at work, after 7 AM. It was funny because the other girls she worked with would hear her phone beep and ask to see the gold. So it wasn't only addictive for me but my wife and her coworkers. There was a bit of excitement when I sent the picture of an 8.3 gram piece (found in the daylight). I never realized that you could find that size of gold in that area. Placer Pete has numerous old dry washer digs and that is where I found three quarters of all the gold I found there. If I found a piece of gold I would rake down the tailing pile a little at a time, moving the dirt back to where it was before the old prospectors got there. A little dust and flying bugs makes for another challenge at night. Then make pass after pass from two different directions. With night detecting you really need a good magnet on your pick because it's loaded with old screening material and pick shards which are really hard to see in the scoop in a headlamp. Thankfully no bears in the desert. Have a wonderful day.

I know there are many that probably detect at night, so this is nothing new. I started night detecting because of poor sleep cycles and summer heat and my favorite claim was the GPAA, Placer Pete, in the Mojave Desert. I usually had boots on the ground between two and three and knocked off around ten unless the gold was good. I started this habit at the tail end of summer and continued this into the winter even when it was really cold. I probably woke up the claim owners, Steve and Phil, several times when they camped out and I was the only idiot driving by their tent at two in the morning. I always knew the general area I wished to detect because it’s really easy to walk in circles at night in the desert: the washes look similar and you can’t see that Joshua tree as a landmark. Also, I would park the truck on a high point incase I got turned around. The Minelab Gold Monster was my tool of choice, always wore a headlamp with fresh batteries, carried a flashlight, wore snake proof boots, and always double checked before kneeling and pulled the dirt and target out and away from under bushes. Recovering the gold is not as easy as daytime because the gold is dirty (unless it’s obvious) and looks like everything else in the scoop. But I did find numerous pieces and small nuggets; Placer Pete was always good for that. Don't forget that you are the only light for miles and attract all the flying critters. Don’t learn the hard way to not leave your equipment on the ground when nature calls at four in the morning, not that you worry about other people but it’s the animals that will surprise you. I never encountered the usual Mojave Green in the dark but met very curious and playful Kit Foxes which bit the cable for the headphones and hauled it off—I did find it later. You can see how close one little pup got just before he snatched a glove that I dropped while taking his picture. Your senses are hyperacute in the desert at night and gold targets sound extra sweet. But I always remembered that I was the intruder and many animals in the desert are nocturnal. If you detect at night to beat the heat or get hooked on it, I hope you find lots of gold and no rattlesnakes.

Greetings Steve. Thanks. I'm actually using the detector now with the 10x14" coil. I just squeaked this project under the wire with the 10x14 coil. There are no 5x10 DD Infinium coils available, new or used, and I've checked other countries and have switched my search for the 3x7 without success. Used is the only way now so the search continues but having fun using the ATX now.

Greetings Ndplumr. Yes, I would be very interested. I tested the setup today and it works so much better but I need a couple minor adjustments. Honestly, the ATX is military grade and a heavy machine. I was in the process of selling it but held off. Let me know. By the way are you a plumber? I had my C36 plumbing license in California before going into the medical field. Have a nice day.

I recently posted an ATX for sale because I rarely used it and it sat in the closet most of the time, and when I did use it, it was only about an hour because of the weight. Then I saw a Steve Herschbach’s post on this site, Garrett ATX Accessories, June 30, 2018, on modification accessories for the ATX, and it was just what I needed. But, as the title of this topic states, “Almost five years too late”; I almost had to scrap the project. Steve said the only non ATX coils that would work on the ATX is the DD Infinium coils (Infinium was the precursor to the ATX) and he had a 5x10 DD on his set up. The 5x10 DD coil was discontinued in 2016 and is no longer available, I didn't want the 3x7, so that left only the 10x14. Detector companies list Infinium coils but most are out of stock and I purchased one of three coils I found ($152). I purchased an aftermarket Garrett shaft of all places on Poshmark. The shaft and coil were less than three pounds and the 3.5-pound control portion fit neatly in a 4x6x12 four compartment pouch by cutting an X on the inside of both end compartments. The coil cable ran through the end compartment by the control arm and with a chest strap faces the coil to give you extra cable for mobility when kneeling or digging. I swing the new coil/shaft setup with my left arm and operate the ATX control with my right hand. Bench testing showed improved depth with various nuggets and all controls functioned as they would with an ATX coil and very stable, as Steve had mentioned. I use an "H" harness and had 1" webbing to run up both shoulder straps and around the neck with clips to support "D" rings on the pouch, very comfortable. I bought the detector used so I wasn’t too concerned about the warranty or underwater use. I took it one step further and used an S2 tamperproof bit to remove the rear portion of the ATX to access the proprietary phone jack, scraped just enough off the speaker and jack wires to find the "common" wire (blue is common) and installed a 1/4" jack for my right-angle tip on my Nugget Buster Headphones. With the headphones plugged in you can zip up the compartment and it stays clean. The large center compartment has access to the batteries and coil connector but I leave it connected because it's too hard to disconnect and reconnect each time. Everything works great and I plan to test it in the field. I have read many posts by Steve and have learned a lot of tips and techniques that I use and really appreciate. I know there are really good new detectors out there but I have never given the ATX a real try and that is what I intend to do and for less than $200 it's like having a new PI detector. If anyone out there has a used 5x10 Infinium coil let me know. My go to detector has been the Gold Monster and I scored 1-1/2 ounces of gold in California but I'm relearning now that we are living in central Arizona. Thanks Steve.