Rob Allison

Hey Condor, Thanks for all the reports and at least you have done it and experienced it first hand. For the last 20+ years I have dreamed of giving Australia a run, but due to limited time off, the business and family, it hasn't happened. I also know, beyond just the experience, the gold is not always greener on the other side. I guess this was always the struggle, do I take all my time off for the year, travel to OZ, give it my best shot and find out I only found a few ounces of gold if I'm lucky in 3-4 weeks. That being said, it would be more for the adventure and saying you at least done it. You have done this and gave it a great go. I'm sorry to hear about the issues with the X-coils and detector. That would just downright suck. Let me know if you need help with Minelab, I will do my best as a dealer to help you get back up and running. You have always been a close friend and loyal customer. I still remember our hunt in Yuma with Bill Southern. Wishing you safe travels back home my friend. Rob Allison

Hey JP, Like always, you're a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the Minelab metal detectors. I guess I'm still a bit old school with the GPZ 7000, as 99% of the time I'm using the Quick Start button to start the day out and running my settings - High Yield Normal Sensitivity 8-14 Auto Smoothing -OFF Ground Balance - AUTO Ground Smoothing - OFF Always use Ferrite Ring during Quick Start (normally in the morning when I start detecting) I have found a lot of gold I missed with the GPX series running similar sized coils, small, medium and larger gold. For the most part, I'm in a certain zone is Arizona so the mineralization is similar and don't drastically change a whole bunch. I don't believe I have ran into any Salt conditions where I hunt. I have played with the Semi-Auto mode a few times and didn't notice anything really different. Any suggestions? Rob Allison

Hey Guys, Jasong - I should have clarified this statement a bit more - I was referring more to the person who found it, meaning they wouldn't care what number it was, they would be just so excited they found a big piece. When it comes to gold collectors, the big money is in crystalline gold, not sluggy big nuggets. I can buy huge gold nuggets from overseas right now at 85-90% of spot. These big sluggy gold nuggets don't sell well anymore. Maybe collectors are not interested in them as much, as they are slow sellers. Just like Mn90403 mentioned. He has a beautiful piece of gold, but when it comes to selling, if it's not real unique it will just go for around current spot price of gold.

Hey Andy, I think the finders of the big nuggets don't talk about them. You almost have to be in the loop with the finders. Another question is, do we include specimens in this? You can have a 100 ounce specimen with 5 ounces or gold. Does that mean you found a 100 ounce gold nugget? When someone says a nugget, I think of a solid piece of gold or something that might have less than 10% quartz, iron or host rock. I know for a fact, this piece is not the "second largest gold nugget found in Arizona." I know it's easy to market it as that, as I'm sure it will help with the sale. That being said, does it really matter if it's the first, second or one hundredth large gold nugget? Also, in my opinion, the size of a gold nugget find don't say anything about a persons detecting ability. I have seen absolute beginners hit very sizable gold nuggets, while seasoned nuggetshooters with 20+ years are still searching for their first one ounce find. Just my thoughts,

Hey Guys, Definitely not trying to take anyone's glory here, but it's far from the Arizona's second largest gold nugget. I have seen many nuggets over the last 20+ years that were 20-30 ounces solid from Arizona. Bud Guthrie did find that larger 70+ ouncer in Arizona, but it was back in the 89' - 90' era. I seen many pictures back when I first started swinging of it. I believe there was also at least one or two articles in the early prospecting magazines about it. P.S. There are also a lot of guys that say they found huge gold nuggets or specimens, but never seem to kept a picture or have any proof.

Hey Guys, I have known Jim since the early 90's, no doubt one of my mentors when it comes to Geology and Gold Prospecting. Without Jim and I writing letters back in forth from California to Arizona, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. Jim was a huge help when I was studying Economic Geology when I was in College along with his books were a wealth of knowledge when I was searching for gold. Jim Straight is truly an Icon in this hobby of gold prospecting. His book, "Nugget Shooter's" Bible was in my opinion one of the best written book and top sellers of all times. I sold thousands of those books, up to the 8th edition which is now really sought after. We still sell the "Advanced Prospecting and Detecting for Gold" and "3 Hours to Gold," both great books. I even have a bunch of his older books, but I'm not sure if I'm going to part with them at this time. God Bless you Jim, you memories will live forever.

Hey Guys, I was pretty much positive that we were originally told a Minelab 11" GPZ coil would be released. I understand that it didn't, but I thought I might be going crazy .... ? I think the stock 14x13 is plenty sensitive to very small gold, down to a grain or so on the surface. I have also found specimens with just a trace of gold showing. That being said, a bit smaller would make it easier to work in tighter and smaller areas. JP - Great to see you on the forums. I think to many of us, you're an Australian mentor when it comes to electronic prospecting.

Hey Guys, What ever happen to the 11" GPZ coil that Minelab promised? I'm 99.9% sure when the unit was first released they mentioned a future 11" and 19" coil release, beyond the stock 14x13" inch. Correct me if I'm wrong?

Hey JP, That for your knowledge on the detectors, as always it's great to hear what you have to say. When you mentioned about myself and other dealers promoting other units, we then get into another issue - MONEY. I'm sure everyone would love to own a SDC for backpacking, exploring and finding the small gold and then having a $8000 GPZ 7000 to punch down deep. That being said, that investment is nearly $12,000 US. The majority of the prospectors out there have a limited budget, so maybe the GPX 5000 is the best overall investment for someone looking to chase all gold types and being able to use a handful of Minelab and aftermarket searchcoils (NF, Coiltek, Detech and more).

Hey Jasong, I have emailed my Rep, so I will let you know what Minelab has to say about those questions. It's very possible they will not answer the questions, beyond anything done to the SDC or GPZ to accommodate aftermarket coils could or will void the factory warranty. I will definitely let you know what I hear back and hopefully it's able to be posted on the public forums.

Hey Steve, I have to agree with you on your statement about the GPZ. I doubt Minelab will promote any aftermarket coil on these units, which in a sense is unfortunate. Many customers since the day the GPZ was introduced were hoping for a option of a few more coils, such as a smaller and larger. They eventually introduced the 19" Super DD Searchcoil, but never anything any smaller. It's always been a debate of mine, as I have found such tiny gold with the GPZ using just the stock 14x13. However, it's not the easiest sized coil to work tight areas, pinpoint in tight locations, or just be a coil that you run on bedrock all day to pick up small gold nuggets (dinks). I personally think a smaller coil would have sold well on the GPZ, maybe something even as small as a 11" Round. The Coiltek/Minelab debate on the SDC is kind of weird. Since the early 90's Coiltek started designing aftermarket searchcoils for the first SD 2000 and on. I was one of the first Coiltek dealers in the US, working under Doc. I still remember the times where I couldn't keep enough coils in stock, the demand worldwide was super high. Doc, in my opinion did an amazing job as a US Distributor and I couldn't see anyone else filling that shoe at that time. Coiltek in my opinion, has always represented Minelab to the highest degree and their coils and detectors always worked great together. I understand the warranty issue on the SDC and maybe the GPZ, as it requires you to do more than just unplug and plug a coil into a connection. The SDC 2300 requires you to remove a side panel, unscrew the cable, remove the cable through the shaft and such, and do the same steps to attach a new aftermarket coil. I do feel anyone that has a SDC 2300, these new coils will give you more performance and options on the SDC. I have sold a good amount of them, mostly the larger ones as customers are looking to achieve more depth and coverage vs. the stock 8" round Mono. I have done some testing to prove this is the case, the larger 11" Round and 14x9" do in fact get more depth, especially on larger gold Gram+ size. I don't recommend anyone buying a larger coil for the SDC to get the same performance on small gold as the 8" Round. I think it has always been a old "rule of thumb" as you increase the coil size in length and width, you will loose some sensitivity to small gold, but start getting a bit more depth on larger gold and move coverage per swing. Just my ramblings ....

Hey Goldseeker, Ya, I had a batch of them for about 2 weeks now. They are selling well and are really good headphones. I'm using them on my Gold Monster 1000 and they have great audio. DetectorPro has always built great, quality headphones in my opinion and always taken care of their customers on any warranty or repair issues. Ronnie is now one of the new owners of DetectorPro now and he's a great guy also! Other options are the DetectorPro Gray Ghost Amphibians for the Equinox series, which are 100% waterproof. If you already have your favorite pair of DetectorPro headphones that have a standard 1/4" jack, then you can just purchase Doc's new adapter I posted above and go that route for under $30 with shipping. Hope this helps a bit. Wishing you all a Happy Easter Day.

Hey Fskafish, Gerry is a great dealer and a wealth of knowledge. I can say he truly loves this hobby of searching for treasure and gold.

Hey Reg, I have heard of them and been trying to follow the field testing and reports on them. Keep us updated if you hear anything more about them. The aftermarket coils sure do give us more options on the metal detectors.

Hey Guys, Moores Creek was always fun. I sure miss taking groups of electronic prospectors up there to see Steve and others. I think I did 2-3 years worth when it first stated. Here are a few pictures to share, unfortunately I never got a real big one up there. The last picture was from Gaines Creek.

Hey Flakmagnet, Minelab Americas has been really good on getting warranty items back to the customers pretty quickly. I remember years ago it would take 4-6 weeks to have something fixed and returned. Thanks Minelab for the great Tech Support.

Hey Reg, Thanks for the question. Yes, I'm a dealer, but I think you might know I have been swinging a detector for 25 years now around the Southwest US, Alaska and Mexico with good success. That being said, I have used just about everything when it comes to detectors and coils and have my preferences. The larger 19" Super DD searchcoil is heavy, but then again I'm not a bungee cord or harness fan. I have always tried to detect without them, but over all the years my shoulders and lower back are starting to feel the strain. I guess I'm not spring Chicken anymore! There is one spot here in Arizona (old nugget patch) that I test almost all my detectors on, including new searchcoils. This spot I ran over very extensive with the GPZ 7000 with the stock 14x13 coil. I worked this spot back and forth a handful of times, always picking a few bits up deeper than what I found with the SD/GP or GPX series with moderate sized coils. Most of the nuggets I found were in the range of 1-3 Grams at deeper depths. I figured this spot would be ideal for the 19" coils, as it was pretty open and minimal obstacles. I worked this area for approx. 4 hours the first run before my arm just tired out. I ended up with 4 nuggets, biggest was 6 Grams and it was where I found 2 small pieces with the 14x13. I just flat out missed this piece by a few inches in depth. My first attempt with the 19" GPZ coil yielded about 10 Grams of gold that was missed. There is no question it will go deeper on nuggets 2-3 Grams and larger from my testing. I have only used this larger coil probably 4-5 times, maybe 20 hours worth of detecting and have well over 1 1/2 ounces of gold from it. I can say it has at least paid for itself and some. If anyone is on the fence about a GPZ 7000, I would honestly say this is the time to jump in. You have 3 days left to lock in and get the FREE $1500 coil. If anyone is interested in doing business with us, Rob's Detector Sales, I will promise you will get the best customer service and support beyond the sale. Keep in mind, Minelab has awarded us the "Customer Care Award" & "Customer Care Champion Award" a handful of times over the United States. We didn't win these awards for overall sales, but taking care of customers like we would personally want to be taken care of. We would love to earn your business! Rob's Detector Sales 623.362.1459

Hey Steve, The GPZ 7000 Promo has been a pretty good hit since you get the free 19" coil included. I recommend you reaching out to your local dealer when possible for anyone interested in this great deal. We also offer a money down will hold the deal plus we are including the "2019" Prospectors bundle package along with the FREE 19" coil. Wishing you all new GPZ customers much success out there swinging. Rob Allison www.robsdetectors.com

Hey Jeff, There are many options now for Minelab Equinox and Gold Monster users. The cheapest fix is Doc's new adapter for anyone that already has a favorite pair of DetectorPro headphones 1/4" such as Black Widow's, Gray Ghost series, Nugget Buster series and so on. You then have the new DetectorPro Gold Series that I posted above that come already with the 1/8" in jack, so no adapter is required with these new high end headphones. Keep in mind, anytime you use an adapter cable or adapter you do place more strain on the detector plug. The weight the headphone cord going back in forth while detecting will in fact place strain on the headphone jack on the detector. I highly recommend anyone using a adapter cable or adapter to make sure it's secure and eliminate any movement if possible. Doc's new Adapter cable - $23.95 + S/H - https://www.robsdetectors.com/docs-adapter-cable-detector-pro-headphones-1-4-to-1-8th-gold-monster-or-equinox/

Hey Flak, Just a quick note, not sure how old it is, but you might want to give Minelab a call and see if it's a warranty issue. I haven't heard of many issues with the WM12 wireless remote system, but I'm sure there are some out there like yours. Rob Allison

Hey Don, I have been testing the 11" Round and it gets more depth. Just from quick testing on 1/2 gram and better, it's getting that inch. The 3" larger 11" Round over the stock 8" SDC coil does give you more depth, and then even more with the 14x9 (which is about a 11.5 to 12" round equivalent). The general rule of thumb on all coils is when you increase the diameter of the coil, you will gain in overall coverage and depth on larger gold. This means at some point you will loose some sensitivity to tiny gold in hopes of finding something a bit larger at a greater depth. For the most part, electronic prospectors that go with larger coils are not looking for tiny 1,2,3 grainers anymore, but in hopes of Gram or Pennyweight plus pieces at greater depth. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison Rob's Detector Sales

Hey All, Just a FYI, we now have the new DetectorPro Gray Ghost "Gold Series" headphones in stock for the Minelab Gold Monster 1000 or Equinox series. These are high end headphones and will give you the best audio available out there from metal detecting headphones. We snapped some quick pictures of the headphones below for you. Your Price - $125 plus S/H Rob's Detector Sales www.robsdetectors.com 623.362.1459 - office line

Hey Guys, Here is what I can tell you, as I have had all the coils now for 3 days. I'm hoping some of my customers will get some reports out on my forum and here by the end of this weekend. The conversion is really easy, but once you convert you really can't fold up your detector like you can with the stock 8" coil. I think for the most part, customers that are buying these new coils are looking for more depth and coverage and a bit more sensitivity and easier pinpointing with the 10x5". The 10x5 is very easy to pinpoint with and seems just as much, but probably a tad more sensitivity to small gold vs. stock 8". The 11" Round is getting more depth overall on at least 1/2 Gram and larger from quick testing in the field. The 14x9 Elliptical is also getting more depth for sure, best gains on larger gold (2+ Grams) at depth and more overall coverage per swing. From what I have sold, it's about equal on all the coils, not really all larger or smaller coils. I have been testing the 11" Round for some time and it does get more depth than the stock 8" searchcoil. The 11" is a bit heavier along with the 14x9 if you arm is conditioned on the 8" stock coil. I'm positive if you own a SDC 2300 you will get benefits from one of these new Gold Extreme Coiltek coils. We would love to earn your business if you don't have a local dealer you're already dealing with. Support your local dealer when all possible. Accessory Pack - $67 + S/H - Order Now here ---> https://www.robsdetectors.com/coiltek-gold-extreme-accessories-pack/ Coiltek 10x5 Searchcoil - $295.00 - Free Shipping & Handling - Order Now here -----> https://www.robsdetectors.com/coiltek-10-x-5-gold-extreme-searchcoil-for-minelab-sdc-2300/ Coiltek 11" Round Searchcoil - $315.00 - Free Shipping & Handling - Order Now here ----> https://www.robsdetectors.com/coiltek-11-round-gold-extreme-searchcoil-for-the-minelab-sdc-2300/ Coiltek 14x9" Elliptical Searchcoil - $315.00 - Free Shipping & Handling 0rder Now here ---> https://www.robsdetectors.com/coiltek-14x9-gold-extreme-searchcoil-for-the-minelab-sdc-2300/ Wishing you all much success. Rob Allison Rob's Detector Sales www.robsdetectors.com 623-362-1459 - office line

Hey Guys, Just a FYI, the Minelab GPZ 7000 Metal Detector with the FREE 19" Super DD Searchcoil Promo will end in just a couple of weeks. This has been a huge hit here in the US. The Promo end date is April 15th, 2019, so anyone looking to get a FREE $1500 coil in their GPZ purchase, this is the time to buy. Thanks for all the customers that have taken advantage of this package through us here at Rob's Detector Sales. Contact us or your local dealer for any questions or further details. Rob's Detector Sales 623.362.1459 www.robsdetectors.com - website

Hey Guys, That is correct, the new Coiltek coils for the SDC 2300 are not waterproof, but water resistant. You can get them damp, work in the rain, but don't submerge them in the water. I hunted for weeks with water resistant coils in the pouring rain, just didn't submerge them in water. We are also taking pre-orders on these 3 new searchcoils. We have a pretty good list going right now, so anyone looking to purchase from their loyal dealer I would recommend giving them a call soon. I'm sure there will be backorder on these coils for a bit, so I wouldn't wait too long. To contact us - Rob's Detector Sales rob@robsdetectors.com - email www.robsdetectors.com - website 623.362.1459 (o) 602.909.9008 Cell or Text