Deft Tones

Congratulations on the nice ring! Athletic areas can be very productive depending on who is using them. For example, I wouldn't waste effort looking for gold at a children's field on the field, but the sidelines to curbs where adults spend tons of time are prime areas for that kind of park. Parks that are used to host community events are potential producers. I particularly like the "after 5" drink fests the many Jaycees in the area put on. The "movie in the park" nights are worth a look too. You got it, 5-6 inches max in clean areas, most of the time. Moderate to heavy trash at older parks worked in layers. The really trashed out parks in layers of depth and discrimination. In both cases working high to low. When I've found a patch worth working bare I like to pull all the clean repeatable signals first.Then second pass take those signals I think are trash but hard to positively ID as such. By the third or fourth pass it's mostly trash, sometimes junk jewelry, but never gold jewelry yet. You need to test your unit on deep/fringe signals (whatever that is for your soil). You may be shocked what happens. V3i will ID low or as iron. Deus tends to drive tone higher before dropping out, ime. You want a unit that runs 12Khz at a minimum, IMO. Earrings and thin chains bang harder with higher frequencies. 18khz is an excellent frequency for most jewelry hunting. I don't feel I need anything more than 22.5khz for a park. If it's that small I need a 45khz unit to find it, I don't want it.

Um, Sputnik 1 launched Oct. 4 1957. I've said that before too. Pretty sure those images were photographed by aliens and fell into human hands back in 1947 at Roswell

Fake. Argernomic? Not a word in any language. And who would trust XP to waterproof your phone? They going to replace it when it drowns? Look at their current waterproof solution... I regret buying that POS accessory. A glorified Ziplock baggie to protect an $800 dollar controller. Trust them with your new $1K Apple? Wireless underwater... think they worked that out without a wire antenna? I doubt that. I'm not the worlds spelling bee champion, but multiple spelling errors smacks as totally amateur and not professional ad copy. Mobile capitalized in mid-sentence, control with 2 lower case letter l's, and then carbonix...wtf material is that non-word? Honeycomb texture arm cup on a water unit? The French ought to be engineering speed boat hulls. I'm sure they'll win every competition with that sweet looking low drag design. Colors all wrong. Company logo errors...never! But for me, the nail in the coffin is the font is atypical of XP marketing literature and style. I can identify both fonts with enough comparison and time, but off hand, this one has poor/almost zero kerning (the space between letters), and compare the lowercase a and e... not the same! There's no way this font is XP's standard font used across all their official marketing material I've ever seen. And it's certainly not as slick as typical XP graphic design. I pay attention to this crap. So, perhaps I'm wrong, but I call this - bullshit to stir the pot. To the creator... Go back to graphic design 101. Do not pass Go.

Jacked around at a parking lot edge with the 4x6 shooter coil yesterday. Been there many, many times for fast 30 min hunts using larger coils.This time I slowed down to 1 foot per second sweep speed and went for co-located and masked Dug two nickels and a dime. They were stacked and nearly on edge at 3-4". V3i read them as 64-62 depending on sweep angle. Nickels normally read 19, Dimes 72-74 (can't recall...lol) I find lots of targets like this and the read/soundsolid, generally. Found a ringpull with no tail at about 4" - 2" under a medium sized bent nail. I could clearly hear a non-ferrous down there...again, depending on sweep angle. Solid ID coming from one direction, choppy from the other. I used to analyze alot, but not nearly as much anymore. There is an intuition that comes with experience for sure.

Nice side shot. I appreciate that. Thanks, Sir!

I wonder how robust the connection between the handle and controller are? I wonder if a guy falls in the muddy field if it might snap at the top of the handle. Would like to see a detail image of that area from side view and on plane.

Nonsense. Upgrade the digging equipment.

I'd sell it and sit. On paper, the Equinox looks mighty good for the money. Even if you were an early adopter of the Nox and there happens bugs, you still have 4 detectors, like me, so I wouldn't be disgruntled by it as I might if it were my only unit. The reality is I usually just keep whatever I buy even when I should return extra items purchased, so I doubt I'd get around to selling anything I currently own. Someone else can deal with that. My kids can just have it or sell it when I die. It's likely going to be my 5th unit, so in my case, bugs? Pshhhht!, who cares? I mean, really.

Opera, FTW!

My crystal ball says, "Yes".

Not me. It's Not me. I use my tools and it shows. I never consider resale value, only my own entertainment value. Scratches and dents, to me , are like scars that tell stories of adventure.

Minelab would clean house in the market if they produced a wireless discriminating pinpointer to pair with the Equinox. Then keep the whole package under a grand. Pick up the ball XP dropped with their pinpointer. That could be a potential knockout combination punch. Can you imagine? Maybe they're working on it.

Thanks. I'm still waiting on rain. We had a few inches recently but it did little to to soften things up. I haven't seen my own sod crack so badly before. I haven't had to mow the grass but only twice all summer and it's been 3 weeks since I last mowed. I'll update when I have another go at it. Good hunting to you.

I know, right? I made the purchase with an underlying feeling that the Deus has a shelf life, like fresh produce, use it before it spoils.

If Minelab undercuts themselves and gains market share, they win. Every dollar not spent on a competitor's product is a win. Another point, perhaps the expense to produce (and support) the higher end and older units are greater than the Equinox's. Imo, it's got a modern simplicity in design. Shaft, coil, and then the handle controller assembly. Case in point; I'll bet it's way easier to change a battery on the Equinox than jacking around butchering the coil on a Deus! IMHO. And another Tnet member pointed out the limitations and work-arounds Deus users deal with for underwater use - gone in the Equinox! I personally would feel better taking this Minelab underwater than the Deus with the lame factory waterproof kit. But that's just me.

I wonder if the control box is detatchable from the grip? And all the power supplied by the control box and whatever batteries are contained within? Will be interesting to know more. Although not a deal killer, I'd like the coil connection to the control box a bit less exposed. Perhaps lower on the handgrip at the connection point with the upper rod, if it's not detatchable from the grip, and with a easily removed plastic protective shroud to prevent accidental damage in a roll-over incident, or while in brush and branches. Looks like it might be modded for an internal coil cable if it were on a one piece shaft.

I absolutely love my V3i. White's is a great American company, so I'm biased for that too. If we were family, Whites would be my mother-in-law and the V3i my wife, until death do us part, but.... BUT...why White's has done nothing for real improvements to the V3i in all these years...it's confounding! My WifeV3i is outstanding at satisfying me, but she doesn't quite meet all my needs all the time. This is why I've strayed to begin with. At a minimum, my MIL should have prepared her for the water! Tisk, tisk! Then the Equinox comes along - I'm probably going to stray again after getting a closer look at her specs.

NICE! Yesterday I was not really in the market for a new unit. Then this comes out. A waterproof multi-freak unit from Minelab! So today it looks like I'll be putting some skin back in the game. The waterproof multi-freak unit I've been waiting on to replace both the ATpro and XP Deus appears to be almost reality! I hope the recovery speed, depth, and coil selection is on target, Minelab. Get that right at this price and the hit on XP will be felt beyond France... far and wide. I'm actually excited for the new technology, for once. Thank you Minelab for listening to us consumers. The Sun is shining a bit brighter today.

A few things that are mandatory in boots, imo, are one, perhaps two piece leather uppers, a vibrum stiched sole, quality hardware, goretex. I've tried alot of backpacking and hiking boots over the years and almost any other construction is garbage unless your primary criteria is they should be lightweight.

I have 2 pair of Danner boots. Made in Oregon, they're not cheap, and one pair I wore daily in construction for over 8 years. (I used to go through leather boots every year, at least) Never a problem with the Danner's except I wore out the soles, so I bought another pair to wear while I waited on Danner to refurbish my original pair. Dropping $200 on a pair of work boots wasn't easy the first time. It was no problem the second time. They're worth every penny, in my experience.

I'm going to sweep it again, but waiting for some rain. Still want to hit the shelter and tot lot edges at least. Gold is where you find it, so who knows? Perhaps platinum lives there! Hope you're comfortable where you're at.

Budai in various poses, each with its own symbolism ( not sure what they mean) and 8 in number. 8 is significant in Buddhism and these likely represent good luck on the noble Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path is also known as “The Middle Way”. This is the way Buddhist followers go to achieve Nirvana and the end of suffering. 1. Right understanding 2. Right thought 3. Right speech 4. Right action 5. Right livelihood 6. Right effort 7. Right mindfulness 8. Right concentration It's a very beautiful piece. I love the color. No, I've never spent time in the East, but it's on my bucket list. I've studied Mandarin a bit and can get my basic point across, but I can't read it at all. I have a particular interest in indian, chinese and japanese forms of buddhism. Most of my knowledge of Buddhism comes from studying them. My cultural knowledge of the East primarily comes from knowing several Vietnamese immigrant families and Chinese families through the language school.

Budai. A laughing monk from the Liang dynasty whom symbolizes happiness, wealth and prosperity. Often revered as the future Buddha yet to come whom will replace the current Buddha, Goutama Buddha, after his true teachings are once again lost. Cool find. I keep a similar one carved out of tiger's eye and about the same size and pose. A gift from family purchased in Branson, Missouri...lol, of all places. In some families from Viet Nam there exists a fertility myth associated with rubbing the belly... did you rub it, daddy? I'd keep that one if I found it.

I wanted to hit the tot lot surround and shelter areas, then perhaps the parking area, but too many cars also. These kinds of places are best hunted in inclement weather. If it's cold and wet I'll have it all to myself. Hope we get rain soon.

I came up with this crazy idea to attempt finding gold in a public park chosen by another detectorist, MontAmmie, and do it within 24 hours total hunting time. MontAmmie chose a park called Northcreek Park in an affluent section of Ankeny, IA. I've done no research on the park yet, but I know it's relatively new. I'm familiar with the area, so I dressed to fit in so as to draw the least attention...dark blue polo style collared shirt, nice graphite grey pants, new running shoes, sunglasses...not my normal detecting attire at all. Seeing the housing all around the park and all the windows, I know I'm probably going to be under somebody's eye at all times and so I need to act accordingly, like it's my neighborhood park. Today I had a bit of time to scout the park but the timing was totally awkward. I arrived at 2:30, was swinging and walking by 2:35. Immediately I was on the radar of two younger mothers at the tot-lot. I wasn't sure if they were on the phone with the police but it felt strange when they kept starring and making calls. I expect to meet Ankeny's finest before this experiment is done. The really awkward part came when school let out at 3pm, or just before. Elementary students and more than a few parents were, by the dozens, filtering through in waves. Had quite a few odd looks and very few smiles with no wave-backs. This ought to be interesting as we go forward. The soil conditions today were extremely dry and hard. This is high, well draining land and we're still struggling at the tail end of a drought. Screwdriver only because of drought conditions and curious eyeballs. I wanted to take pictures, but that too seemed awkward. I'll pass while kids are around. So I avoided the tot-lot and shelter area by a wide margin, crossing a playing field to the rear and hunting mostly at the soccer field. I recovered 5 targets total in 45 minutes. Foil, foil drink seal, a zipper, two canslaw pieces. There was very little surface trash but I went out of my way to pick it up and making it obvious while knowing that people are watching. (I picked up more trash items than I recovered today) Perhaps that'll help keep the non-emergency calls to zero. I did some probing of targets below 2-3" with the screwdriver and without attempting recovery. Large hunk of metal and canslaw. Seems the whole area has been heavily graded. There are few shallow signals and greater quantities of deep signals. Scattered iron bits in places and vast areas with no signals whatsoever. I had a 10 minute stretch where I couldn't hear anything but ground noise. This is like farm field hunting, because that's likely all it was before being developed. The most common signals were in iron to foil range. I heard a few coins down there while near the soccer field, but too deep and dry for my small screwdriver. The areas by the bathrooms and trash cans were also remarkably clean with very few signals around them. Totally different from my normal park hunts. I stepped back into the parking lot at 3:15 concluding todays scout. Today I used the Deus to move fast and feel out the place. Next time I'll bring the 15x12 sef coil mounted on the V3i to move fast and clean up the top 4-5 inches. This combo is ideal for large portions of this park, perhaps all of it. I'll do a little research on the land's history before then too. MontAmmie thought there might be sledding hills making for a good lost jewelry location, and the sledding hills can be good areas, but the reality here is less than idelal in that the largest sledding hills at this location are about a 15 foot drop over 40 feet. Those are on the East/NE border of the park. There may not be any gold here at all, and my expectations are low, but I'll keep trying because it's early in the challenge and I still need to hunt at a more low-key time. I'll get some images up after the next visit.