Northeast

That's keen oneguy. Keener than I would be in the snow. All the power to you

Thanks Steve. You are right, the pictures under the "Detecting Mode" heading do indicate an approx 50% loss of depth which seems accurate to what we found on the weekend. I had never given much thought to the accuracy of the pic, just thought they were trying to indicate that it lost 'some' depth. Certainly we knew the SDC would lack depth Vs the GPZ but were again just surprised how close the SDC had to get when the nugget was quite solid and had a reasonable surface area - although it may have been sitting on its edge making things more difficult. It think it makes Elusive contemplate what he may have walked over with the SDC - and it makes me wonder what I walked over when I had an SDC Just another educational session and display of the 'power of the Z'

Spent a productive few hours with Elusive yesterday chasing some yellow in a spot that he found a little while ago. We had tried previously and got frustrated by EMI - the day that we got the little piece in the picture with the key on the first page of this thread. Supposed to be 40 degrees C here yesterday so a 5.30 a.m. start was decided on to beat the heat. About 5 metres from where we got the 'key piece' last time we picked up the little one in the photo below. Up in the edge of the creek in a crumbling bit of rock. Only just a signal with the Z and pinpointed in the small hole with the Monster. A note to be made here - we originally could barely get a signal on this piece even with the Monster within 2-3 inches. Then realised it was in Gold Mode rather than All Metal. The difference when changed to All Metal was amazing - probably get it at 6-7 inches. The amount of depth lost with Gold Mode was an eye opener for us. Continued on for another 4 hours for a bit of crap and no more yellow, until.... I had taken all my stuff back to the car and was really just playing around waiting for Elusive to get back. Thought there was a bit of a signal. Scraped a bit...maybe that improved a little? Scrape...maybe a bit better? Maybe ground noise - I'd dug a few ground noise signals already Elusive caught up and I scratched a bit more off. Definite improvement and could just see a bit of clay coming through. Off with the Z and on with Elusive's SDC so I can dig and he can pinpoint. The SDC - nothing!! What? Z back on and a signal - bugger, maybe it is just the clay? Dig, dig, signal improved. Z away, SDC and now it was giving 'just' a signal. Dig, dig, getting better. Dig, dig, now it's screaming Don't need to measure these bits against the echidna's nose on the coin Elusive kept the little tacker - about 1.87 grams. We found out the hard way that it is a bit hard to split gold. It's Elusive's spot but it was simply the power of the Z that got the big bit. Well over a foot down and very strange that the SDC couldn't hear it until it was about 6 inches from the coil. Hopefully there will be more to come and the ledger can be evened. Big one all cleaned up - woohoo! And a few hours this morning in a totally new spot for Elusive, Outback 54 and myself. Back to the standard sizes again unfortunately, but gold is gold.

I agree. But it is what it is. I believe the only way around is to go back to the old version and then it will work. It may be cumbersome but maybe... 1) download the old software. 2) import all of your finds onto exchange 2 which should save them??? 3) download the newest software again and away you go? Smarter minds will advise if this is doable

Hi Steve. I'm slowly making my way through the links you put up to my other question. They have all been interesting and I am learning!! So, your thoughts above were disheartening for you. Has that ALL changed with the Equinox or is it just a decent step in the right direction? Thanks

I have no idea why this has popped up as a recent thread but I like it - maybe you thought it was pertinent Steve and brought it to the top of the forum? The first paragraph at the bottom of the Q & A page describes how high frequency detectors are perhaps not the best at discrimination. Is this perhaps why the discrimination on my Gold Monster has not been as accurate as I was hoping? I was expecting miracles of course Due to the fact that high frequency is not as good at discrimination is that perhaps just one of the reasons that the multi-frequency Equinox is going to be better at discriminating targets - it has the lower frequency range to assist. Obviously Multi IQ, processing speed, etc is probably having a greater influence but...? And the second paragraph at the top of the page where it is talking about positive and negative signals. So non-ferrous can ONLY give positive signals whereas ferrous are mostly negative but can be positive. So that made me think that if something is giving a negative signal at all it can simply be dismissed as rubbish - yippee. But then I imagined a beautiful big chunk of gold that had a heap of ironstone attached and assume that it might give positive and negative signal responses?? When responding please take into account that I have never used a VLF with TID numbers or visual displays other than the Monster with its simple Ferrous/Non Ferrous read out Thanks.

I'm guessing you have had a look here already http://www.detectorprospector.com/gold-prospecting-guides/steve-guide-gold-nugget-detectors.htm Good luck with your search

Very nice work Steve, thanks. I'm really looking forward to what people experience with the Exuinox on quartz piles, gold fields, trashy goldfield camp sites - hopefully JP can soon share some experiences. Near the keys in the photo - could almost be a Bitcoin Shame about the frozen ground - maybe you need an Oz trip

Evening Outback. I would do a full 'Reset to factory settings' just to make sure there is not some wayward function that is upsetting things. Difficult and high yield to start with. I find difficult and general slightly more jittery. Make sure the ferrite balance and ground balance procedures are followed for all ground/gold mode combos that you are using. Put it in semi auto to lock in the ferrite balance. If still noisy drop sensitivity. Make sure volume not above 8. If you've got a booster even turn volume to 2 or 3. You could always try 'locate patch' to try and smooth things a little. Keep audio smoothing off. If all that fails send me the coords and I'll try it out in about 3 weeks when I get a day off!! Good luck PS:. Have you been getting a decent bit of yellow?

I'll take a best guess Cabo. Based on the Gold Monster saga when a release date was provided and when it was actually available - I wouldn't put money on the Eq being ready. I hope it is but might not be. Physical production of units is the housing, electronics, etc, etc. The software uploaded into that - the final version may not yet be available. All the physical units can be made and the software uploaded into each individual unit as it is boxed and shipped. I would think this won't be the case but you never know. The manual. The gold monster 'manual' was almost a single A4 page that was in the box with the machine. I expect the Eq manual to be a little more complex but it may just come with a basic start-up guide like they all do and for further information "Please download the e-manual from Minelab.com or request a copy from your dealer when you order". It is quite possible that the e-manual simply isn't set in stone if the final software version isn't set in stone. And until that final software version is set and the manual is uploaded then Steve, JP, Derek and whoever else has held one are just a little hamstrung on what they can say. But...this is only me guessing

Some good prezzies there Gerry!! A merry Christmas to you from Oz. The unwrapping is done and dusted here already

Yep, especially about the junk in the trunk.

Dang-nab it, I thought there may have been a cheap 19" coil up for sale Nice work old boy, very happy for you. And good work on the nuggets too. Any size? Any pics?

GPZ 7000 simply because with the tech and the 14" coil you have very small to very large and all types of gold pretty much covered. And the Gold monster for different tech, tiny gold and discrimination abilities. (Perhaps soon to be superseded in my line-up by a Equinox). And thanks for popping the racy sheep picture in there - makes the New Zealanders feel more welcome (just kidding JW )

Not working in Oz, Mark. 2 hours until business hours start though

How many days behind Australia is Ireland?? It's the 17th of December here

Just possibly Matt

That's an interesting image JP. I assume it is one of your pics? Can you tell us more

The rumor mill is going to go bananas But possibly with good cause

MT - they actually won’t insure bullion though - that’s the issue. And bullion includes unprocessed gold when you look at their definition. The only other option is to call it something else - a $600 computer micro chip or something that they will insure.

Michael in Tallahassee

A pretty good comment I reckon

Hi Jin. I've sold a bit on eBay but remember the fees - they are a little prohibitive. Have also sold on the Prospecting Australia forum which was fine. Easy, no fees, good price. Pieces under 5 grams I just ask for the gold price. Bigger bits I have asked for a bit more - depends on if they are plain or pretty. Just a note on sending them. Australia Post do not cover 'bullion' by insurance. I didn't know this when I sent mine and the lady at the AP desk in Myrtleford even knew that it was gold and said it was fine There is a good thread here https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=23319 #9 post by Secret Squirrels in particular is very informative. Good luck with your sales

I think you and I are thinking the same thing Shasta. I have a Z for the dig everything areas and I bought a monster for gold in trashy areas - and that's working O.K. But I'm wondering what benefits the 5 frequencies will provide in that same trash? More depth to targets large and small? More than just ferrous/non ferrous discrimination? Will it handle the same ground that a Monster can - not just in 20 and 40 khz single - but also when in multi frequency mode? Steve, you probably can't answer those sort of questions yet, but they're the things I'm wondering

It's certainly interesting where Minelab are putting the Equinox in their line up. I thought it may have been just below the CTX.