snakejim

I wouldn't recommend it. If a claim owner sees you detecting on his claim and digging, he's going to assume you are hunting for nuggets. That won't be a good scenario. Most claims are on BLM or Forest Service administered land and the Antiquities laws say you can detect for gold or other minerals, but anything else over 50 years old is off limits. There were several folks cited under the antiquities laws at Greaterville, Az. for a pocket full of rusty nails and old junk. They were just going back to their truck to throw the junk away. It cost them a fine instead. If you want to hunt relics, you'd best stay on private property with written permission from the land owner. Of course it's your life and your money. Your equipment and vehicle could be confiscated under the Antiquities Laws also. It's illegal to even pick up arrowheads on public land.

Gold Bug 2, Gold Bug Pro, GMT, TDI, Sierra Gold Trac, and X-Terra 705 GPZ7000??????????

The operating frequency is selected by the manufacturer based on what he wants the detector to do; and on several things such as the conductivity of the items being searched for and in how mineralized the ground is to be searched. There is all ways a trade off as low frequencies go deeper on high conductive items in bad ground; but they lose sensitivity to low conductive items such as small gold nuggets. Early detectors built for coin hunting and some early gold detectors were 5khz to maybe 7 or 8 khz such as the very early White's Gold masters. Then there was the 15 khz Garrett A2B Nugget detector which worked pretty well until the original Fisher Gold Bug came out at 19khz, which was even better. Then came the newer White's Goldmasters at 48 to 50khz and then the Fisher Gold Bug 2 at 71khz, which is still today the highest frequency nugget detector on the market. I just received a new Gold Bug 2 yesterday, as a matter of fact. Not all coils running at the same frequency are interchangeable on other detectors. Each coil is tuned to the specific circuits of the detector it is designed for. The frequency may be the same, but the resistance and or impedance will be different. Even though the original Gold Bug of 1982 was 19khz and the newest Gold Bugs of 2009 are 19khz they are not the same and the coils will not interchange at all. Coil designs have changed as well as the move to digital circuits, and away from analog circuit design. Here's a link to essays written by a friend of mine who has been a designing engineer of metal detectors for many years. http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/dave-johnson-essays.htm Another good link: Steve has used more detectors than any one I can think of for gold hunting. http://www.detectorprospector.com/gold-prospecting-guides/steve-guide-gold-nugget-detectors.htm Hope this helps. What do hope to gain with this knowledge? Are you thinking of buying a detector?

Strick, thanks for the post. I sure miss that pretty country. As azblackbird said, "Not a single fricking cactus in sight... must be nice!"

Nugget Bob, Thanks for the post. I have several claims in pocket country. I was working on a pocket a few years back. It was where the old timers had dug one out. I was headed for the second pocket and was getting close, but a hanging wall stopped me. If I go at again, I'll have to shore up the hanging wall with timbers so it doesn't fall on me. Anyone want to help? Jim

OK Got any character references? What do you need in addition to the GPZ7000? What's my cut on what you find?

Send me your resume!

I stopped putting bumper stickers on my vehicles a couple of years ago for the same reason. Why advertise stuff that tempts thieves.

I sure doesn't cost anything to dream and wish. LOL

Very nice Steve! Great memories for sure.

Gary I used the radio shack amp on an old SD2000 and it worked just fine.

Good one! LOL

I just checked out the Sprinter 4x4 vans. Cargo model is $49,900 Passenger model is $57, 300.

Check out Steve's "Guide to Gold Nugget Detectors". http://www.detectorprospector.com/gold-prospecting-guides/steve-guide-gold-nugget-detectors.htm

Scales to weigh gunpowder weigh to 1/10 of a grain, and can be found fairly cheap in the balance beam configuration(non digital). 480 grains =1 troy ounce. 20 pennyweights = 1 troy ounce. 1pennyweight =24 grains. 1 gram =15.434 grains. 31.1 grams =1 troy ounce

Very reasonable prices. Thanks!

Way to go !

Thanks Scott! It's about time for good news on dredging in California. A couple of friends of mine have been out of work because of the moritorium.

It looks to me like the Treasure Mate uses a similar circuit to the Falcon MD-10 and MD-20; but, at a lower frequency. In other words, kind of a pain to tune before you use it.

I go with "None" also. If I can't find free milling gold in a vein, I look for another. Leaching is usually not profitable or worth the risks for a small miner. Sometimes a rich sulfide or telluride ore can be roasted and then crushed and panned. Cost is only fire wood and no chemicals to buy. However, "Don't breathe the fumes coming off the roasting ore."

My condolences to Jerry's family and friends also.

That's neat! Looking good!

Amazing. Thanks for the video! RSJ

Early nugget detectors like the original Fisher Gold Bug had no discrimination at all. You had to dig everything. We used a pick with a magnet on it to pick up the boot tacks, nails, and other iron junk. It wasn't any problem, and we didn't leave gold behind for the next guy. You all ways take a chance of leaving gold if you depend on any discrimination. The GMZ does not have any discrimination. No problem for me. The thing that Steve and I dislike is that the GMZ runs silent without a threshold hum. We both are used to hearing the machine running and we listen for the fainest changes in that hum. They work, but we are not confident with a silent search detector. We feel that we might be missing the fly speck gold. Rattlesnake Jim

Thanks Trev! It made me laugh again. Rattlesnake Jim