WesD

In the CA motherload belt there is a virtual continuous gold deposit some 200 plus miles long. Some creeks and hills have more gold than others, but basically there is some amount if you stay within or near the belt. Then there are some real hot spots the old timers worked hard which became famous. X's were marked on maps, reports written, and rumors still float about to this day how rich the area was. Well I aint never done very good in those so called hot spots. Its usually been some no name side job nearby that has no record or reports, and produces the goods.

Yep I'd try the earplugs. Your hearing will be sharp when you arrive and not all droned out from the road noise.

The margin calls gotta be paid...

JP, I have been running almost those same settings on a patch here in CA Motherload, but I max sensitivity to 19. At the lower settings I just dont seem to hear the deep targets. Do you ever run your sensitivity up higher in Hy/Difficult? Just wondering why you prefer the lower setting. Thanks!

Sounds like you pick it up around the 5 second mark, and then swinging over the target about 4 times.

Hi Mitchel, You just need to live closer to the gold. Eventually you would get on a fresh patch. No need to struggle listening for whispers then. Thats the secret of most these consistent guys. They live on it, or near it, and get out every week hiking the hills. You are a great detector operator and more experienced than most.

I had that yellow one and the teeth broke off. We were pretty aggressive though. I ended up with one made by red rooster with concave stamped teeth, which has held up very well.

Go Gold!

Good stuff!! Man Klunker, You are a lucky son of a gun! Not even a hint of surface rust either. Good thing we have that dry air in the Sierras that preserved it so well! Now I just wish I had paid more attention to my arithmetic teacher!

This aint a pick, but how about that "prybar" in the lower right.

Chase has good advice. I haven't touched a Garmin for ages. Once you start using the other apps you wont want to. Just Download the maps you need at home or when you have tower connectivity. For claim research before heading out, Mylandmatters is a great site.

For a smart phone US Topo maps works well. It will show your gps location on usgs topo base maps, or other maps can be selected.

I know of a couple coils that went bad / bump sensitive. The control box electronics seem pretty solid though.

I hear you Jason, I don't see just a repackaged 7000 being a big hit unless they have a price drop comparable with the Equinox. But that just doesn't seem like Minelab style for their big gun gold detector.

I dont find tailing piles necessarily any more trashy than bedrock, in Californias Motherload country from Mariposa to Downieville. If in a super trashy site, I move on looking for something more detector friendly. Old diggings have trashy areas and less trashy areas. Find those with less trash and party on..

Gravely smaller tailing piles that were shoveled out at the end of Long Toms and Sluices, can be great.

Sounds like you had a good mod job. Our sdc cleaned up behind the 5000/sadie patches. Just as deep and smaller gold. Sensitivity on 4 or 5, and the little ones sing out.

If you're hunting creeks, you cant go wrong with the sdc.

I sure hope only half that rumor is true.

sometimes you gotta use a little powder 😁

A grade stunner piece! Thanks for sharing Lunk

Probably more like California, Alaskan, Russian, or Oz gold

Id go with that theory Flak. This beast of a 7000 was fun for awhile, but I sure look forward to a lightweight edition. Our backs cant take this much longer!

Hope they make a small coil, or an elliptical in the 8x12 range would be great for bedrock/creek hunting. I personally wouldn't buy a 12" just because it' is too close in size to the original Minelab coil.

I saw some of the guys in Australia make a Trumpet to deflect the sound upward from the speaker on the sdc. Great idea, but shipping was a bit much, so I cut a 90 pcv fitting in half and used velcroe to attach. Cheap little project and does add a noticeable increase in sound coming up from the speaker.