Gerry in Idaho

Oy my!!!! Very nice. "Unknown Location", no more... Hats off to you.

Norm, That is what I love about gold, is the uniqueness. So many different textures, shapes, sizes, matrix mixed in or around and overall characters. Keep us posted on your prize find.

In my memory of detector manuals, most wanted you to keep the coil off the ground and there are different heights per model of detector, but 2" was mentioned many times. Now I know for a fact when my staff and I train customers, we want them to keep it as close to the ground as possible. The reality of it is, the ground type/structure I am sweeping over. If really rough ground with many rocks and cobbles, I'll keep the coil just above. If it is smoother ground, I like to let the coil slide across the ground. Now on occasion extremely hot ground is encountered and when GB'ing, I notice detector won't keep up, then I adjust the coil height to stay in the "happy medium". Another issue I run into with the 7000 and others. If it is really hot temperature outside and I don't want to wear headphones, then I'll lift the coil and set my bungee just above ground level, so I am not hearing the coil skid across the ground as the noise it makes does not allow me to hear the faintest of potential signals. Most folks who know me, will tell you, I prefer to wear headphones when using a GPZ, as the coil is usually making noise as it scuffs the ground quite regularly. Now when using other machines or chasing bigger gold or new ground, my mind is more in a cruise mode trying to find the indicator nugget. Then my coil is usually a little higher (1/2 to 1") off the ground. Like others have said and I feel the same way. In most ground I hunt with a 7, the 2" off is a loss of 2" in depth. But in reality, just like settings and threshold level, there is no right and wrong, just more of a what do you feel comfortable with. If you are happy with your results, then I'm happy for you. As for different coils and some other detector models? I have had units, that could not even be used scuffing the ground because the detector and coil would make to much noise. I myself attribute that to a bad coil. The Fisher GB-2, small 6" ellip coil had had a change when they moved from Los Banos, CA to Texas and for about a year, the coils being made, had a high % bad coils. I think I was on their shit list for a while, as I would send them back multiple coils telling them they were bad. They would argue with me saying the tested just fine. Now the coil has changed design, so that goes to show there was some issues, plus a few other things inside, but they have a handle on it now and those small gold grabber 6" ellip coils can be used on the ground. Bottom line: If you're not wearing out your coil cover, you are missing gold.

Norvic, You are getting a collection going there, very nice. Glenn, I have a set of scales, but did not find them. Cool pics. RedDirt, I love that style of weight and have only found 2 but I seem to have misplaced one of them. Here are some of the others I have recovered with my biggest as being 2 oz as well. Wonder if they had anything larger than 2 oz?

Flak, Not only are you dialing in your detecting skills and technique (with golden results), you are able to spend quality time with your son. That tortoise story and photos will be remembered, shared and talked about over many Thanksgiving dinners. The true gold in this post, is the time with your son. Now the gold bits....is very impressive. I always tell folks, I judge ones ability with a gold detector on how small of gold they can find. Heck, hearing it is half the battle. Then you have to try and pinpoint it with the 14" coil and try to get it in the scoop. Job well done to the both of you.

Well at least you have slimmed up some since that year. Do you still smoke those fat stogies? Boy were those the days at Moore and Ganes. Wonder how well the Equinox and 15" coil would do?

Time to shine your nozzle. I know there are many ways to do it. I used to like to buff the crap out one with my hands, but that took to long and my hands would get tired. So know I use a tumbler and they come out shiny...but sometimes takes more attempts. This collection has taken me a few years of detecting old yards. Most houses had one in the front and one in the back. In the winter time I use the tumbler and fish aquarium gravel to clean up many of my old brass items.

Went to Oregon on Saturday and scored one of these babies. I don't find them often (less than 10 in 40+ yrs of MD'ing) but when I do, it puts a smile on my face. Pay attention to those little odd finds so you don't throw them out. I'd love to see some of the ones you other hunters have saved, so please show some pics. I'm sure the Aussies have a few as well. Last pic shows the weight.

I'm surprised you never found at least 1 earring or earing post? No bits of a chain and or clasp either, tells me to step up to the Prospect #1 Mode. Yes, please go back when you get a chance and give us the details from Prospect Mode. I've never hunted a VBall Court and not found at least an earring post/back? I also seem to find my share of lead pellets (bird shot) in our area, as I think they get the sand from the Boise River banks and sand pits and there must be quite a bit of dover hunting going on. I think the small lead shots in our sand is a local thing though and big inner cities probably buy their sands from beaches? Nice Buffalo for your efforts too. Thanks for sharing.

On most genuine gold and or platinum with diamond stud earrings, the Xcal and the CTX 3030 will not respond to them, but YES the Equinox does. As for the pinpointer I prefer selling to the folks who hunt micro jewelry and or small picker nuggets in bedrock, YES it is the White's TRX. SO many people just assume their detector and pointer will pick up the diamond stud. Why do they think so? Because they have found small items and sometimes even stud earrings, but I assure you those are sterling, or brass or other metals. Here is how I learned about my pointer preference and which ones did the task best: A few years ago an older wealthy gent called and asked if I was interested in making $500 to find a 1 karat diamond stud earring. Well that certainly peaked my attention and before you know it, I was on the road with 2 detectors (CTX 3030 and GM-1000) and my trustry pointer. When I arrived he took me to the back of the house into the Master Bedroom. This room was huge and all I could remember was the gorgeous view looking down onto Boise, just stunning. He explained his girlfriend lost the earring when taking off her sweater. Well ok that sounds logical, heck my wife has had earrings get caught herself. Then my feet and eyes see one problem as I walk into the room. I immediately notice there is really really really long shag carpet. In fact, the longest I had ever seen and he mentioned it was custom. Boy... is my easy money thinking starting to dwindle, but I still have my hopes up. He informs me they already vacuumed the carpet with no luck and they rented a detector with no luck. He even used a flashlight at night to find any possible glimmer from the diamond and still no luck. I was the last result before the carpet was to get pulled up and burned? Boy this earring must have some serious ties is what I was thinking? Who pulls up a custom carpet and burns it just to get a 1 karat diamond? I found out, it was a very sentimental family heirloom and needed to be recovered at any and all expense. My 1st attempted produced 1 penny, a few bobby pins, a couple small staples and hearing a few nail tacks holding down the carpet with the CTX 3030 and small coil. But no diamond. My 2nd attempted was with the more sensitive Gold Monster 1000, but it was to powerful, I kept finding every little tack and staple holding the padding under the carpet and the metal that was holding the carpet too. At least the Monster was finding what the CTX 3030 missed, but I needed to make some fine tuning. I had to use a trick I use when hunting for a recently lost ring in a park, turn the sensitivity down so I am only getting targets near the surface. After 2.5 hours and no $500 in my hand, I was starting to wonder if it was in fact not there, but maybe in the bed, her scarf, sweater or somewhere else. My $500 payday was dwindling as hopes were fading. Sometimes you need a change of scenery. An attractive young lady shows up and I assume it is his daughter. I tell her all the items my detector has found and that I gave them to her dad. She then grins/smirks a little and tells me, he is not her dad. OK...I sure messed that up. Long story short, I realize now I am speaking to the Secretary/receptionist/mistress who lost the earring. I ask if I may test her other earring with my equipment. She happily takes off the earring and lets me test. CTX 3030 would only hear it if touching and from 1 certain angle. GM-1000 had no issues and I was most certain it wouldn't, but I was too sensitive. My orange carrot was the real shocker as it would not hit the diamond stud unless touching and in the 1 exact same angle as the CTX. What is the chances of finding it now? At this point, I am lost, but I do decide to ask if I could go get some other detector tools from my place and come back? No worries, he she tells, me as it needs to be found and I was on a "Only get paid if found" mission. I arrive an hour later with my TRX pointer. I ask the lady again if I could test the earring and felt I might have a better chance this time. Sure enough, the White's pointer responded and I had new hope. What I ended up doing in the end, was grid a small 2 foot area and I ran the pointer from left to right at the same width and started working down as if painting the side of a barn. When getting a hit, I'd then use the pointer and separate the shag carpet (like looking for a needle in a hay stack). After about 45 minutes I'm starting to get an idea of signal strengths of the tacks used and how they are differ from the stud, which was a softer hit. Well another 10 minutes later and many more false hits, I finally open some shag to see $500. Yes I did in fact find that 1 karat diamond stud. What was even more rewarding than the money and the hugs I usually get, was that I learned more about the tools I use for my favorite hobby. To this day I have found 2 additional diamond stud earrings and both of them were using the NOX-800 and TRX Pointer. I'm not saying other brand of pointers won't work, but I know what the major sellers of pointers can and can not do. I have not tested them all and that is why I wanted to see results from other folks and what pointer they use. Now to be fair. My favorite pointer overall for most coin/relic hunting is the Garrett Carrot followed by Minelab ProFind-35 with the DISC mode...provided it does not break. Seems the ProFind 35's have the most issues of the major manufactures. My White's TRX is my nugget hunting pointer as well as Micro Jewelry. Just like our detectors, the pinpointers have certain tasks they shine at and some task they are not as useful. After all, that's why some of us have more than 1 detector right? So hopefully some of you learned from taking the test and or at least reading this post. Good luck everyone.

Silver is better than nothing. On a side note, I think that sand dollar has a pot leaf design on it, at least in the pic. That is an interesting one. Nice saves and thanks for picking up the trash too.

Well that is certainly a great way to start the season, gold and seated silver. Are you in fresh water?

Dog, Glad you were able to test the gold link and see its response. Now when you do get to test a gold or platinum diamond stud you'll even be more shocked and or upset. The shape of a stud is not round enough for many detectors and especially if it's of gold or platinum as their metal base are both low conductor metals. The link you used in the photo is low conductor but with the design, allows a detector to see it easier. If the carrot and the Nokta did not respond to your link, not much chance they will do any good on the diamond stud earring either. Your testing helps you learn your detector and even though the hunt for a gold diamond stud is seldom, at least you know. As for the pinpointer I use in this case? I'd like to see more folks testing input and as soon as that happens, then you and everyone else will have their answer. On a side note, it is also the same pinpointer I use when sniffing small gold nugget out of bedrock crevices. I'll be offline for a few days, so everyone please be patient and when I get back online, if nobody has found the best pointer for these needs, I'll let you know.

Joel, Thanks for taking the time to do the test. Now you know for certain, one of your tools is worthless for this task. Hopefully you are happy you actually took the time to do it and learn? I started a new Thread and am asking for others to give their results. Please add your testing and input to help others. Thanks again.

I found them at a flea market years ago. Now on occasion if possible, when I find and return a ring, I get it cleaned and then present it back the owner in one of these cases. The fancier it looks, the happier they are.

I prefer rougher water and waves for most hunting but after a few days of getting tosses around, it is nice for calmer waters. Since I am on a trip, I don't worry about the tides and or lower surf... I just hunt 8 to 10 hours a day. To me, rough water causes more treasures to get lost. I watched hundreds of people one day in about 3 to 5' of water do body surfing, wave riding and just enjoying getting their bodies tossed around. So many people have no clue the power of a wave. Girls get their tops and or bottoms ripped off, guys loosing glasses/cell phones and some of them have no clue.

My detector is submerged more than most other hunters do. I like 2 to 4 feet depth of water to do most of my hunting.

Part of this fine DP forum is sharing finds, stories and MD'ing knowledge. So now you get your chance to help others and yourself. On a recent post started by GB, I was helping educate some of the people asking questions about certain finds at a Volleyball Court. I then realized it might as well be it's own thread, so here it is. We (most of us) are stuck indoors right now, so what better thing to do, than self educate on your favorite hobby and the results will help you for the rest of you MD'ing carrier. I have 3 tasks for all of you who want to learn more about your detector, your own capabilities and your very important pinpointer, all in the attempt to find the elusive Diamond Stud Earring. #1. Try to find your wife/girlfriend gold diamond stud earring with your detector. Be sure to tape it to a plastic poker chip 1st so you don't lose it. Many detectors (even some in the $2500 and or price range) will miss most of them. It might take some adjusting, but eventually some of your units might get it. Listen to the signal width, see what it reads on the ID screen and notice how far off the ground your coil is (better have proper coil control) and then the target is no longer registering. Once you teach yourself the capabilities of your detector, it will help you down the road at the beaches, volleyball courts and tot lots where some of these sparklers get lost. #2. Use your very important pinpointer to find the diamond stud. If you have different models of pointers, test each to see which one perform best/worst. This will help you down the road knowing which pinpointers are useless (for this task). #3. Post your results. That's right, even you newbie hunters get you be an expert this time, because you actually took the test and not only learned from it, but are helping others who may not have access to a diamond stud. I've found my share of gold diamond stud earrings in years past, but it took many attempts before I got it right. What's nice, is when you get a call to find it and there is a reward. On 3 of my diamond stud finds, I was the 2nd person with a detector to look for it. One of those rewards was $500, so knowing my detector and what is the best pointer for the task, sure helped. Why did the others not find the stud? They never practiced to find out how it responds to their detector or pointer. Don't just assume it will beep like a coin or ring or even foil. I look forward to reading your results and hoping you'll realize the importance of detecting knowledge you just taught yourself.

Joel, Pinpointers are like detectors and each has strong and or weak points. Do me a favor please. Get one of your wife or girlfriends diamond stud earrings and do the test on your 2 pointers and give us the update. This will help you, me and many other people as some folks feel since I sell detectors, I have a bias. After you provide your results, I'll then mention mine. Hope you understand and thanks for respecting my input on other subjects and or posts.

GB, I am so fortune to have the job I do. Over 25 yrs ago I started selling metal detectors and as the industry has shifted from small Ma/Pa shops to Mail Order, Big K warehouses and Amazon, I realized the need for personal touch and trying to build a relationship with my customer. Since I use, sell, test and compare so many brands and models...and travel all over the place for many styles of detecting, it gives me knowledge most of the mentioned sites do not have. Plus, it is me who actually answers the phone each day and me who emails answers to the questions I get all the time. Yes it's time consuming, but at least I know I tried to offer more detector knowledge than the average dealer. If my customer is Successful with the detector they purchased from me, then I usually have a customer for life and they are willing to refer folks my way. By no means am I saying I'm the best know it all dealer and I would never say that. But not many dealers went on 15+ individual week long hunts to 7 states and 4 different countries in the last year. After all, I get to swing, use, and talk detectors for a living and I also realize some of my input will help others in the hobby I so much love. In reality, how many people know what the average diamond stud earring sounds like or reads on the NOX? I do, and I also know what pin pointer works best when trying to find that tiny gold and glitter in a grass soccer field.

Yes. The reason I call it Prospecting Mode and not Gold Mode.... I've sold over 200 NOX units across the US and many folks wanted the 800 model so they can hunt GOLD RINGS. , but there is no raw natural gold in their region. The NOX 600 does not have the Gold Mode and so they felt the 600 will not find rings. So wrong they are, as a gold ring is just as easy to detect with both models. So with many folks not realizing it, I call the Gold Mode what it is meant to be...a Prospecting Mode. Here are some NOX 600 gold jewelry finds as it does just as well for ring hunters as the 800. Part of why I get so many referrals on detector sales, is I try to get the customer what I feel is the best bang for the buck detector. When comparing the 600 to the 800 and you live back East with no natural gold, why pay $250 more for wireless headphones? Yes I realize there are some advanced fine tuning and I know most folks never go there...let along even know how to get there in the detector. Minelab did a stunner job of making great adjustments and settings for the Factory Preset Modes which will suite the majority of users.

JP, If I may... Do you feel the urge to turn your threshold up (just a little) even higher in the later afternoon or on really windy days? I do and it seems to help as I am always splitting hairs trying to keep the threshold smooth enough to hear those faint ones. I have also found sites that the detector runs even more smooth when I night hunt. My experience in summer is.. As the soil heats up from the rays of the sun, the ground seems to come more alive with unwanted sounds and my threshold will not be as smooth. I seem to do best, when 1st hunting in morning and then late hunt just as the sun goes down. Plus the night hunts were always good, but I did not know there were literally hundreds of scorpions out at night at Rye Patch. For most certain at night your ears become even better tunes for slight change as the brain adjusts your senses and capabilities. Thanks in advance.

That's an easy one to the trained ear but many people do in fact walk past those. You are helping folks all over the word JP, so Job Well Done.

Need a big PI to find high $$ gold? New customer on 1st voyage with his little VLF Gold Monster 1000 just dug some incredible, amazing, beautiful & highly collectible gold/quartz specimens. Largest quarts chunk is 27 grams Au. 2nd flat one 9 grams & 3 more rough pieces. Paid for GM1000 1st time out. I want most folks to realize, this isn't normal results, but with a geology background, it sure helps you read terrain & decide best ground to swing. Thanks bunches MH for allowing me to share your success.

I recently returned from a MD’ing trip to Cancun and the 3 of us used Minelab Equinox detectors. Finds included 100’s of coins, probably 10+ pairs of sun glasses, with 1 of them being Ray-Bans, 2 cell phones, numerous ear rings with 1 of them being 14K gold and another was a diamond stud. Chains, bracelets and metals, some broken and others hole. Over 30+ rings with many sterling, a few of the modern Tungsten and Stainless wedding bands and even gold rings (both white and yellow gold). 2 rings really popped out that were both 14K gold. One was the blue sapphire with diamonds and the other a wedding ring with a nice 1+ karats of diamonds. Even the 1st time lady digger scored a nice 14K white gold wedding band with a couple cool sterling rings. I managed 21 of the 30 rings so I won't complain but the amount of gold was certainly off my standards. Pic of rings on my hand were the ones I found minus a sterling that broke when being tumbled. We all enjoyed the warm weather, water and experience. The Equinox detectors performed as hoped. Used Beach Mode #1, GB on, open screen by pushing the Horseshoe, SENS around 17 to 19 and Threshold so I can hear it. All other settings were FP. What amazes me is the gold to modern metal ratio. The resorts I hunt used to produce more gold than modern metals and now it has flipped. in years past, I'd come back with 15 or 20 gold rings on a weeks hunt and never a modern Stainless or Tungsten. Now it seems I'll get more of them than I actually do the gold ones? Well the wife still likes going down there so I might as well get used to it and realize 5, 6 and 7 Gold ring days are long gone at those places. Guess I'll jump into a lake and follow BeechNut around as his gold ring counts are still good.