auminesweeper

Spot On JP, great post,

people often comment when talking small coils how sharp the signal is but seem to forget about that effect when going larger and they appear to be a bit down hearted when the signals don't boom out, They seem to confuse sharpness and depth increase and because the larger coil is not as sharp they seem to think that the depth is not as described.

John. 

9 minutes ago, Jonathan Porter said:

There's a key issue to think about when using larger coils which is mainly why you don't see Minelab going much above 19" and I notice no one has mentioned it here in all the dialogue. 

SALT

JP

Most VLF's see very little effects in using coils bigger than 15", At one time large coils could be used but at the cost of sensitivity to small items, Alas now this is not the case, My 15" Concentric is as sensitive as my 6x10 (5x9) and the only coil I have for my  VLF that is hotter than the rest is my 5.3 (6") Concentric and it can go down to 0.006 grams with surface targets, where all my other coils only go down to 0.03 to 0.02 grams.

Ok, thanks for that, can you just delete this thread, I never saw the other thread,

Thanks again.

A good prospecting colleague  posted this elsewhere, Where some very rare welsh Gold sold for a very high price breaking the record of past sales,

John.

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/prince-harry-gold-nuggets-auction-13968136

18 hours ago, Norvic said:

That coil reminds me back in the A2B days the large concentric coil made by Dtex (spelling may be incorrect) was the coil for depth and was no slouch in sensitivity. It would be great to see these aftermarket coil manufacturers be given the green light for Z coils, I think they would do what they`ve done to the PI coils and by now maybe we`d have a selection of coil sizes and performance gain coils that push the depth boundaries even further.

Hopefully whatever it is that stops these innovative people doing so is overcome.

I bought a few of their coils back about 12 years ago and was not overly impressed with them but this last 5 or 10 years their coils are about as good as it get, Right when I had all but given up on  my quest for more depth I was doing the Ebay Tango and saw the one coil I was told not to buy back in the day so last year I bought it, Not only is it a delight to swing but it has added 2 or 3 inches on coins and close to 12"+ on larger items, So I ordered a second one just in case, It can see bits weighing 0.03gm within an inch or so and it has the power ta boot.

I have come to a point where I now believe that the extra horsepower now lies within coil technology because my detech has really opened up my machine and the other 8+ coils have become more like accessories and I am more than happy with depth on a daily bases, to the point where although my machine is getting on in years by design although it is only 2 years old I just don't want another machine and I think that this is bought on by my choice of coil/s.

I truly believe that the future lies in coil selection and design because my VLF now whoops my SL by a fair margin.

John.

34 minutes ago, Redneck said:

Earlier in this thread, someone mentioned that VLF  depth  hit its peak depth years ago.  I have to disagree with that. Look at the depths the VLFs coming out of Eastern Europe are attaining.   This past summer I did some depth testing with my Rutus  ALter 71 on a freshwater beach.  I buried a silver half dollar  20 " deep in the dry sand , but the detector in deep mode (  not the super deep mode), close to max sensitivity,  disc at 40, one tone, 11" dd coil, and I get a repeatable signal.    How many VLF detectors from years ago could hit that?  No visual ID , but the audio gave a nice repeatable signal.  The Detech Chaser looks like its even deeper than the 71.  However  some of these machines are very fussy to set up,  and have their quirks also. But that comes with the territory.  The Russian AKA  machines are also very deep, but challenging to balance to  higher mineralized ground.  But if you spend a lot of time using these depth monsters , you will dig deep!.  

 

Sorry to burst your bubble but (Almost) any modern machine with an "All Metal" threshold will signal on a large coin at that depth, No ID but you will know it is there. depending on the current EMI.

One thing I'd like to point out is that detecting in dry/power sand is comparable to doing an Air Test and as such has no real world benefits/Value

Why not give James a call at Whites UK in Scotland, He should be able to answer any of the things Steve highlighted,

You can get him on 01463 223456.

hope that helps,

John.

I love the 4500, I guess these many soil timing are to fill in the holes where certain types of nuggets fall through the net, I kind of hope ML bring out a 5500/6000 because the GPX series have been hugely successful and it would be a shame to phase them out in the end,

J.

Jin, you will see many people post that nobody gets it all and that is very true, I have gone over areas that have been used for rallies that have been hammered to death for over 40 years and I still find stuff, With your 4500 it is just a matter of getting the settings right and the right coil and with the right ground conditions you could find what others left behind,

If you are unsure of your skills, carry a note pad and write down your settings and ground condition etc then you will have something to go back too, even after all these years I still log the important things, But don't be afraid to try something new, like settings etc, just because someone gives you their hot settings does not mean they will work for you or where you detect. Knowledge is a major part of it but being able to adapt to the current conditions is a big part of a good prospectors arsenal.

J.

I hate FB and twitter with a passion, nothing but waffle to Air dirty laundry in public,

I prefer to talk to users via the forums,

This popularity thing is a double edged sword, It can happen because a machine is good and it can also happen because of issues, The forums have a bigger impact than the 2 sites above, the forums can make or break a machine but at leased they keep it honest and a fair playing field.

J.

Having spent a few months this past year testing coils for my VLF I think the company who can get a VLF to put all that wasted power in to the ground will turn the detecting world on it's head,

One Coil I regret not buying sooner is my Detech Excellertor 14x10,  I was going to buy one back when they came out and the dealer said they were **** so that was the end of that, Now I have one it has become my must have coil for a couple of reasons 1) it is the same weight as my factory 10"DD, 2) it has the depth of the 12" Concentric and 3) being a DD it does not loose much depth compare to the 12"c. and 4) the size of it covers just the right amount of ground in open areas, 5) and it can see bits down to 0.03 grams on the surface.

During testing I was digging a hole using my pick and I kept hearing what I thought was faint EMI and every time I stopped digging the noise stopped then I realized it was signalling on me swinging the pick, I always point the detector away from where I am digging, anyways I measured how far the coil was from the hole and my pick is like an Aussie Walco Pick but the blade is only 10x3" and this coil was seeing it at a measured 5 feet away.

It is only a matter of time before this coil finds a deep target but when it does I hope it is a life changer,

J.

Some of the results we see only happen when all the planets align and can not be repeated on a target to target bases, I have achieved extreme depths with both PI's and VLF's but I have never had either of them do it on demand,  The deepest small target I found was with the sovereign GT with a standard coil, Yet my 3500 with the 11"DD could not see it, Move on 10 years I found the Iron subway tunnel supports with my TDI SL at over 6 feet deep using the standard 12" DF coil,

Neither machine was/is outstanding on a daily bases but some targets seem to do the impossible when you lest expect it, The down side of that is that it give you false hope because just because they do it once or twice does not mean that is what is happening under the coil all the time,

I have air tested my machines till the cows come home and in doing so I except that I am getting 30% of that depth on a daily bases and anything deeper is a bonus, the real depth is a bit deeper but to avoid disappointment I set my expectations low, using this as a base line I look at the ground and think "Coils" as in do I go large and drop the sensitivity or do I use a smaller coil and crank it up, Knowing how deep the soil is in relation to the sub base has a lot to do with my coil selection, there is no point in using a big coil if the soil is only 10" deep, I tend to look at the ground as layers depending if I am coin shooting /relic hunting, If I can get down to the sub base on a few targets then I know I am not leaving much behind, but If I am trying to find Gold then coil selection to ground depth is a lot more critical that's when I start to second guess things, Sometimes it has worked and a lot of times it has not, this is another reason why I stopped chopping and changing machines, As point out we reached the max depth back in the 90's, My old 5900 is an 1989 model and it is the deepest VLF I have ever seen,

J.  

It's been getting chilly here this past week or so, It's been below freezing at times so I started wearing my extreme fishing boots and I made a good discovery, I noticed that even if I wore them indoors that I could still feel a slight chill around my toes, then by accident I decided it was lunch time So I grabbed a tin of baked beans and chopped up some franks and threw them in the pot, I soon woofed them down and a few minutes after I noticed my feet were warm again even to the point of being quite cozy,

At the end of the night (about) 6 hours later I noticed I was starting to feel cold toes again, So I threw some chilli and pasta in the microwave that I had cooked up a couple of days ago which I spilt into individual packs and put in the deep freeze, 5 minutes after eating it my feet got all warm again  

So what I have learned from this is if I am going detecting then a good feed of something with the consistency of the above chow will fend off the cold for about 6 hours with my metabolism, Others people may vary but with me the timing was so accurate that you could set ya watch by it,

So if you are heading out on a cold day give it a go and eat something like that, I am sure you folks will feel the benefit of it too,

good luck hope that helps.

John. 

My everyday Coil is a 14x10 DD, It weighs a few grams less than the factory 10"DD but it adds a few inches more depth and is very sensitive, The 14x10 DD is a better option to the 12" Concentric because if the ground hots up it does not loose depth and it is way lighter @674 grams, I also have the 15" MXT Max Concentric Coil but it is a bit unbalanced weighing in at 1047 grams,

I don't think it will replace the MXT, I think it is more of a modern souped version of the MX6 based on the Treasuremate design, I am sure some will get a kick out of it.

I have all my cold weather gear at the ready

It was -4*c/24.8*f in Scotland during the early hours Trouble is they had 90mph winds /144.8kph, That bought the wind chill effect down to -18.1*c or 0.5*f.

Just an average balmy day compared to Iditarod or Yukon Quest weather but not good for a country that is not prepared, as always, lol. Baffin and CG to the rescue, haha these people never learn 

Comfort food at the ready, Bring it on 

J.

https://www.weather.gov/epz/wxcalc_windchill

Even with the older machines out there, There are now enough coils to bring an SD/GP/GPX close to the performance of the ZED, and dozens of them will whoop the ATX's A$$,

Due to the time I have had on my hands this past year being unimpressed with any VLF detectors that have been release I decided to try and improve upon what I have and how I use them, I since found more depth and more sensitivity,

Like you I use to bitch about the stupid cost of certain machines but on the other hand I did nothing to give the machines I have a fighting chance, Once I stopped blaming other companies and got my backside in to gear I found depth and I found sensitivity and I also taught my self to focus on one type of signal,

Most people buy a machine and swap settings with others and then find a mid point between the two and leave it at that, But this is where the winter months come in to their own using that time to exploit every setting and try out new coils or you could get under the Wife's feet and spend the days complaining about the Weather.

As for ML and their $7000 machine, Some see value in it some don't but the R&D that has gone in to that machine has to be paid for, You are not just buying a box with bits inside it, You are buying 2-3-4 years + of research and development and production cost and the list goes on, You could put the price down to greed ?  But this whole hobby is about Greed, Companies want to make money and "We" want to make finds,, We ask these companies to make certain type machine and then slate those companies because of the price involved, As humans we don't work for free and we should not expect them to do so either, and if you want more depth etc from a machine then learn how to use it better and do some of your own R&D with Coils,, That ATX deep seeker coil will give you a bit extra depth and yes it is expensive but as said before you are paying for the extra bits that come with it,

The major issue I have with the ATX is like the SDC they come with limited coil choices where as one of the GPX range the sky is the limit, A 4500 might be a little more costly to start with but the coil choice and versatility is only limited by the mind of the user, And any of the most successful machines out there where there are dozens of coils made for it almost has unlimited uses and never really go out of fashion so to speak, hence the re-release of the 4500.

We can't blame ML or Garrett, because we asked them to make this stuff so the blame lies a little closer to home.

J.  

I already have the next episode set to play on my TV when it is aired, The notes say that we are going to see some good things happen in this series,

Most people don't realise that Lance is the Voice of Dobby the Elf from the harry potter series and that the woman who plays Andy's Mother In law in the series is none other than Diana Rigg who played the part of Emma Peel in the 1960's UK TV hit series The Avengers.

Also the Lady who plays the part of Andy's Wife is in real life Diana Riggs Daughter, which is why she looks similar to the lady in the picture below.

J.

It was quite funny, Very dry humour, It seemed a bit more alive than the first two series,  It was on BBC 4 so maybe it will get put on YT soon,

J.

They have just Aired the first episode of the (New) 3rd series of The Detectorists here tonight in the UK.

J.

It was -6*c 40 miles north of me on Sunday night and some places saw temps of -8*c, Due to the lateness of the cold weather I think we are in for some cold spells this winter, Yet today it's back up to 11.2*c,  In the past I have detected in the Snow which turned to Ice, keeping warm was not a problem but once I stopped detecting walking back to the truck that's when you really notice how cold it is,

J. 

Steve thinking about you move to NV, I bet your first summer there must of knocked you sideways, I don't think you could find two more opposite climates, from one of the coldest places on earth to one of the hottest, Alaska is one place where you have to plan your activities by the seasons even in the towns and cities.

This one is their composite Toe version,

https://winterboots.com/baffin-derrick-mens-composite-toe-extreme-cold-work-boots.html

3 minutes ago, Bryce said:

Dress for success ;) Insulated Carharts and a Canada Goose Parka, oh and Baffin -100 Drillers boots. But the boots have steel toes and yeah... 

I am trying to find a set of Carlhart Bibs over here but that is proving to be a bit of a pain.

I think Baffin also make a Safety Toe Boot that is "Not" made of steel, here are some of them,

https://winterboots.com/mens-work-and-safety-boots.html?gender=Male&act=1002

John.

You have my sympathy having to work in those temps, The Yukon is no place for inferior clothing and any weak links will show up very quickly,

I bought mine back in 2012 because I refuse to go through what I did a few years back where I had Ice on my coat covering my chest and I could not get my hands to work so I could not remove my gloves or my coat and the pain was something else, I have avoided catching colds or Flu since 2002 and I only got it back then was because of the Kids,,  Can't say they never give me anything,  

I wear mine in temps of -12 to -22*c, I found that if you open it up it makes a wicked bed cover on chilly nights to, Lol

It was about 2 or 3* here last night and my weather doodad says it's dropping below freezing next week, Winter is my favourite time of year because all the silly people wise up and stay home and the Air is fresh,

There is a Company I found that makes Beaver mitts, they are not cheap but I might buy a pair just to see how they fare.

John.