snakejim

The antenna looking thingy is a stud and there are two of them. The lower rod had two holes instead of the swivel like we have now. The studs went through the lower rod and fastened the coil to the rod with wing nuts.

It fits an early White's detector that had an all metal ground balance feature that White's called GEB (Ground Exclusion Balance). https://garrett.com/sites/default/files/pdf/2020-12/G.E.B._All_Metal_en.pdf

Maybe platinum or aluminum? If it was lead or silver and in the ocean it would be coated black due to oxidation.

I use one of these and it can pick up gold that you can hardly see. http://falconmetaldetectors.com/

Jim, I don't remember what year it was. I was with Woody and met you there in the Dale. Woody and I also came across Dowie on another trip there. Good times for sure. Lots of good memories and nuggets there. snakejim

The BLM here in New Mexico accepted the old Maintenance Fee Waiver form. Also, I never use their other forms. I have written my own forms for years and have never had any problem.! Best wishes to all! snakejim

I had one of those back in the day. I'll see if I can track it down and get back to you.

I was there at Crow Creek in June 1980. Gold Nugget detectors weren't really a thing yet. You and your dad were working the bank as a small trickle came down from above. I think they call it puddling or something like that. You and your dad had a few small pickers to show for it.

https://rockseeker.com/largest-gold-nugget-found-in-wyoming/ https://wyprospector.blogspot.com/

Someone found a large nugget several years ago in those dredge piles. Was that you?

Neat place! Had some friends in Lander. I did some prospecting there about 25 years ago. I found a nice vein in an open cut and took out some nice gold in a pocket.

Jim, I hope all goes well and you are back here soon.

My neighbor had a 1961 Corvair Loadside. A very rare one, and all original. I got in touch with a Corvair club nearby. One of the members picked it up and it is being restored. snakejim

I'm with Gerry 100% on this topic. Back in the day we dug it all, and only had a magnet on a pick as a discriminator. Digging a hole 3 foot deep for a rusty can was a total waste of time and effort. Today, I use all the features of the detector I'm using as a time saver and it works well for me. snakejim

Why would you want to? Everything is balanced tuned circuits on the original Gold Bug. I sent Steve H. the shop manual for it. It takes special steps to tune the circuits for max performance with each different coil. If it's working, best to leave it alone.

I bought 2 bottles of Bushmills just the other day. The store ordered it special for me. I intend to drink a toast to the old timers in this story the next time my partners and I are at our diggins. Best wishes to all! snakejim

Maybe a couple of hours before I found my first nugget in a dry washers tailings pile. A Garret Deep seeker worked. 1985

Jim, that sounds like a plan. Weather is still bad here also. Best wishes! Jim

Jim, I have one and it's black with a white label. The label says Razorback Professional TDI Mono 5 x 10. I need to compare it to the JIMMY TDI Dual Field Mono, that I have. Also, maybe I could send the Razorback coil to you, so you could compare it with the one you have since mine says for TDI and yours says for Minelab? Jim

Steve, you done good!

Wow! Your store has really grown since I was there in 1980!

Great story! Happy Birthday!

This is a HEATHKIT GD-48 metal detector in this picture. I built one from a kit in 1968. It was my second detector. The first detector I had was a homemade unit that I built from an article in Popular Electronics magazine. It used a transistor radio as the receiver, and the transmitter and coil worked with a simple single transistor circuit.

Joe, I detect in Roswell. Come on down and we will look for space junk. I tried years ago to put a hunt together here, but couldn't get access to the Crash Site near Corona because it's on a private ranch. snakejim

Wilma Beaumont in Henderson Nevada was the US Distributor for Minelab when the SD2000 came out. I was a dealer at that time and received one out of the first shipment. I paid $2800 + shipping and it sold for $3495. I was probably one of the first to use one at Rye Patch. It was amazing to say the least. Sorry I don't have photos. I was way too busy to think about taking photos. What an improvement it was over the VLF detectors. snakejim