PeterInSa

Good One Klunker, I have probably walked away from similar after digging so much rubbish. Talking to acquaintances some years ago while driving thru the bush, we came across them detecting, they had picked up 32 Ozs from a big rubbish area.

Never came across a Rokon in Oz, in the late 90's, I considered getting a Postie Bike ( Honda CT110 ) which was popular in the WA bush, but since my detecting friends did not have one, I gave it a miss. These bikes were sold quiet cheaply by the post office after x years of use, probably the reason why they were so popular. In the last few years have not seen one in the bush. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_CT110

Hi Rob, Thanks for the vid, Was that a 14x9 NF Evo that you were using?

Interesting Product Overview Video: https://www.thermofisher.com/order/catalog/product/XL3TGOLDDPLUS#/XL3TGOLDDPLUS

A bit Similar to Jin's post above. SVMBO, found a nugget that looked Like a Boomerang great I said, I'll join a club and weld a loop on the top and get a gold chain so you can wear it around your neck. Well, I did and I did and I did, it turned out looking like a bent stick, because I welded the loop on one of the ends not in the middle and the heat changed its shaped. She never wore it and it went to a dealer a few years ago.

Re (but still find people tend to stick to High Yield because it offers more regular gold finds.) people.... That's me..... I run HY/Difficult with Locate patch Have read that I should run HY/Normal with Locate Patch for best results (and I should try other combos prior to digging up a signal). JP any comments re HY/Normal with Locate Patch and..... HY/Difficult with Locate patch Ditto General with Locate Patch Thanks Peter

Reg, With the set up I saw years ago, 2 guys rode on the quad bike, 1 drove the other had a scab-id of spears, when they had a signal, the non driver thru a spear in the ground to show the site of the signal, when they ran out of spears they got out their detectors to detect near the spear sites. Is that what you did? ( If this is illegal in Oz don't comment)

Hey Reg Noticed your Tow Coil, in your profile, have seen a 4x3 coil behind a quad bike in WA ( No gold found while I was there, so no spear throwing) could you give us your experiences say on another thread. Thanks Peter

Re (Iron Bark so can be considered a HARD WOOD) I remember in the early 90's went for a Gold Prospecting Information session with John Tully out of Dunolly in the forest ( Vic Golden Triangle) on likely Gold Prospecting areas, and he mentioned Iron Bark Trees along with quartz around the bottom of the trees along with local indicators. Still have a copy of his A3 maps of the areas around Dunolly, he has gone on to have Gold Maps for most areas in Vic, sold at detector shops around Oz.

Great Video Chris, Thanks Liked your Chain Crusher, have given up taking likely rocks back home, have not used my Dolly Pot and sold my 3 different size gold pans at a Garage sale. Will stick to detecting otherwise I could get the rock breaking fever like this Husband/Wife Team in WA, Oz..

Jw, Re Faint Signals, you probably do not have this issue in NZ, but I find travelling from SA to Northern WA doing 600Km to 700Km a day for 4 days with a break in Kal for shopping, with the road noise from All Terrain Tyres, it must take me 4 days for my hearing to settle down so those faint signals can be more easily identified.

Jw, Great Vid, great find from the faint signal, though I am not into carry a small pick and then going back to the vehicle for the big Iron, so carry a big pick all the time, its quicker removing the top soil.

Kw, Thanks for the Vid Clearing the Ground. Would have liked to hear see the results of some of those very very faints signals. Re Clearing the ground in Vic Triangle, ditto have done the same with open ground and diggings, putting back stones/tree limbs and leaf litter afterwards, because its the thing to do and doesn't give the Greenies a chance to complain. Peter

kiwijw re ( Keeping the coil virtually scrubbing the ground, as you can't get any closer to gold than that), I understood when I purchased the 7k that the coil should approx 2inches off the ground when detecting, unlike my years of close to the ground detecting with the 4500. Only last year have I moved to a close to the ground approach recommended by a friend as keeping the weight of the coil off the ground was killing my back. I wonder did I get the wrong info back when I purchased the 7K years ago, or when did the detecting method change. I have found very small gold in WA with the off the ground approach and not so much in the Vic Golden Triangle mainly because I have not spent the time there with the 7k.

Re ( life seemed purer and more simple in the VLF days, every little nugget counted and had immeasurable importance and meaning, I truly miss those days) Yes I remember, when 6 detector operators could work in a 3m Square patch in Vic Golden Triangle with their Minelab 15000, 16000 and Eureka Aces.

I use the wide Velco Tabs (see pic on JW Vid )on either side of the pro swing belt buckle to hold in my bum bag and pick holder belt along with the minelab belt, this to me with the extra weight, helps to keep the pro swing 45 harness belt in position

Have seen a number of setups like what I will try and describe, the idea being to put the weight back on the belt ( my comment). Basically a flat Al strip ( maybe thinner steel) about 2 inchs wide 3/16 thick is bolted to an AL strip on the belt offset say 2 inches from the minelab fabric support that goes up your back. This AL strip goes right up your back and from memory about 4 to 6 inches above your shoulder, then right angle about 6 or 8 inches to the front that the occ'ie strap/7k detctor is connected to. Where the Y section is on the Minealb back strap, another AL strap is bolted to the Minelab fabric at the Y section then bolted to the vertical AL or steel Strip. You, like myself maybe skeptical of this arrangement, but this setup is in use by a number of 7000 operators. Peter

Erik, I am pretty sure he visited the location, as he all but guaranteed me finding gold, but that could be just to get my motivation up, we did not discuss the location, eg Dry Blow Heaps, Shedding downhill from a reef etc as I was more wary of the boat trip, the location may also have been on the East side of the Island ie a longer boat trip.

Erik, around 30 + years ago, wife and I in our LandCruiser and Caravan were west of Townsville. We stopped to ask an isolated house off the main highway, about the owner of a Farm down the road, because it was a site of some historical significance, Turns out the farmer was away and the house owner suggested we detect where his children had found some old pennies at a long gone railway station or an old long gone Cobb and Co station 100m away. We opted to leave the kids the railway station, and at the CanC site I think I found an old penny and threepence, later as it was starting to sprinkle rain, wife comes up and shows me a shiny Dollar only it wan't a dollar but a 1890 Gold Sovereign, we later showed our finds to the house holder who turned out to be detector operator interested in Gold. He claimed thru his research he knew where gold was on Magnetic Island, but it was'nt legal for us to be there (In hindsight it was probably in the National Park) and he wanted me to accompany him in his Tinny with our detectors to go prospecting there. (The sea trip, approx 8Km of open water in an open boat, with a bloke I had just met and outboard motor of unknown capability). I was still working and had our FNQ ( Far North Queensland)Travels planned out, so declined his invite. What started out as a detecting episode ended up in a long coffee break, sharing detecting experiences with him. Sorry I did not take more interest in the potential detecting site, I wish you all the best in your research and detecting. Peter

Reading this thread, in Summary…. Gold finds go up with the introduction of new technology and after a while gold finds taper off until new tech arrives eg the 2300 and the Z. Now gold finds are tapering off again. But rather than new tech via a machine, its the X Coils for the Z and as JW above says: "Whack on an X coil & it will be game on again". I recently went to the Victorian GT with a group, to me it was more of a social outing rather than serious detecting, with the Z, I found countless small and very small shot, the ones that are around 1mm in diameter, sometimes 2 or 3 to a mullock heap, along with an 1853 3d, and then its those deep targets 60cm + down and the hole xx cm wide for a rusty bolt/piece of brass. 2 such holes in the morning and ditto in the afternoon for someone who is on the wrong side of 70 is my limit. Friends with Z machines do not have the X coil, so I really do not know what I am missing, is it deeper holes/more lead shot, or.........? I am very happy with the Z in WA, more of the yellow stuff in Vic would not go amiss. And like others, am not keen on a Non Minelab modification, so maybe I will miss the game. Peter.

Re (Not sure of your Question) I can use Google earth on my Laptop to research potential 40E sites, Can I open and look at the Hi Res Birdseye Google Maps on my Laptop or can the Hi Rs maps only be viewed on a Garmin GPS after Transfer. ie all I want is to access/look and store Google Hi Rs Maps on my Laptop. ( 3 years ago reasonably close to a mine my 40E using Google earth turned out to be a sandy swampy location. Mates suggested I could do better using a blindfold/pin ) Thanks for the Link... Have not come across it B4.

Re (remember the maps can be stored on your PC with no limit.) Background...... I use a Magellan GPS if needed purely to get back to the vehicle after detecting SWMBO uses a Bushnell D Tour Backtracker, if needed for return to vehicle. I use Google earth and Australian Geology Travel Maps ie AGTM ( similar to Happy Prospector) along with other notes for WA 40E's Research (have a copy of AGTM on my smartphone when detecting showing me the limits of my 40e on the lease.) Question...... Can the Hi Res Birdseye Google maps downloaded to my laptop be accessed on the laptop for say 40E research if I purchase say a low cost Garmin etrex10, that I may never use but documented as a condition of the Garmin purchase agreement? Thanks Peter

Steve What about the Nox 800 at 40Khz, 2 weeks ago I got tired of digging up lead shot in the Vic Golden Triangle (OZ) with my 7000 and ended up with the Nox finding an 1853 3d. Then again a friend found a 14gm'er with his 3030 so how far/wide a selection do you go.

Ah...., I remember in the good old days, 5 people could detect in a 3sq m area on a small patch with ML 16,000's and Eureka Aces, this is of course prior to the ML 2000 GP, GPX etc. ( Nox 800 and GPZ owner)

Re ( I have friends who detect in exactly the opposite manner, they range out covering huge areas, moving quickly.) To me this was the way in the 80's and 90"s. 2 of my friends always came up with big nuggets, because they covered so much ground and had fast swings, with the easy gold/big nuggets found, I think its the slow method now that gets results.