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Reg Wilson

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  1. beatup, nice mate, nothing wrong with that. I'd be happy pulling gold as pretty as that. Lovely color.
  2. Any idea of purity? American gold can vary quite a bit in this regard. Looks good .
  3. Steve, I have no bone to pick with Minelab, as a matter of fact I have a Minelab detector, and purchased a 7000 when they first came out. I was one of the lucky ones who got a good machine which found me a lot of gold including a 27oz bit. A couple of mates were not so lucky and had constant problems with their detectors. These detectors were sent to Minelab for remedial work, but were no better upon return. My friends were told that there was nothing wrong with the machines, and it was suggested that they just didn't know how to operate them. These guys were not novices and had been successful prospectors for years. With the introduction of the ring one of the detectors improved and became usable, however the other showed no improvement even after the software update. I never noticed any difference in my 7000 after using the ring or the software update. It performed quite well. I mentioned the fact that Minelab manufacture in Asia as I believe that quality control would possibly be better if the detectors were built in Australia, not to mention the employment situation. I know full well that my friends problem is not an isolated case. The 7000 is a very expensive machine and the last thing a buyer expects is to have purchased a less than perfect detector.
  4. Yeah, thanks Norvic, but the question remains unanswered, and our Aussie company manufactures in Asia. Do Whites and Garret manufacture in Mexico?
  5. Thanks Geof. That better? Would still like to know why the ring came on the scene some time after the 7000 was introduced, and then treated like it was always a part of the plan. Was this a 'patch up' tactic to rectify some initial shortcoming?
  6. Dolan Dave, good question mate, I'd like an answer to that one as well. Why was the ferrite ring produced as an afterthought?
  7. Since the QED does not come with headphones I have been experimenting with audio systems. Some headphones seem to lack volume while certain cordless systems suffer from problems such as signal lag and interference. Early Bluetooth cordless suffered from lag, but the newer ones seem to have overcome this problem. Some cause interference with the electronics, and some have a background cycling noise, causing rising and falling in the threshold. Experimentation has eliminated a number of products that are just not good enough to be useful on a detector. Rather than list the failures, I shall give a report on those that get the 'thumbs up'. The Seinheisser R-160 Kleer TX and headphones are great, with volume control on both the transmitter and phones with clean sound and volume. Rechargeable and replaceable batteries in TX and phones. Garret Z-Link TX and RX (volume control) paired with Bose noise cancelling ear buds. (expensive combination but great) This setup is better for the hot weather as a wide brimmed hat can be worn. This combo is dirt cheap, but surprisingly good. Generic (tiny) Chinese Bluetooth TX (unit can be TX or RX) paired to Bauhn (Aldi) Bluetooth headphones (with volume control). The TX needs to be mounted on the shaft as interference does occur if mounted on control box. This combo is crisp, clear, and has no cycling or background hum. Great value as this setup cost less than aus$60. Thats around us$40. Will be experimenting shortly with noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones, and Bluetooth speakers.
  8. Jin, I have puzzled over the position of large pieces for years and have come to the conclusion that there is no rule. I have found large pieces both close to a reef and some where no proven reef existed in the area. Gold that is traveling from a reef from where it was expected to have shed is known as colluvial gold. It can be shown that gold can reach a point of rest (gully, creek, river) only to be moved again and again. A large nugget that I found many years ago had three different ages of cement or conglomerate locked in the hollows. This suggested that at least three times this nugget had reached a point of rest, become conglomerated, and by erosion had been moved on. Over how many millions of years this had taken place is beyond speculation. Just how far this nugget had traveled is just as big a mystery. Locked in a boulder of conglomerate one could speculate that it could have moved a great distance down a stream before the conglomerate broke down, leaving that slug some way from other gold. In many cases the reef that produced big gold has been depleted and eroded away, and there are no visible signs of its existence. It once may have shed gold from a position several hundred (or more) feet above where you stand, scratching your head over a geological puzzle. The amount of erosion that has taken place is hard to get your mind around, especially in an old and worn down continent like Australia.
  9. Donnie, buy a gold pan if you want small gold. It's a lot cheaper.
  10. Matt, totally agree. My prototype balances much higher than my production model, but rarely can I balance my production model much lower than 100. 89 also seems a bit low to me.
  11. Whitbey, the outlet for QED in Australia is Detech Australia. Your search engine will soon turn that up for you, and the price in Australian dollars is $1,850. The exchange rate at the moment I think is probably around one Australian dollar equals 75 US cents, so that would mean a QED would cost less than US$1,400. You will find Pete at Detech a very helpful guy who knows his stuff. If I can be of any further help please let me know.
  12. goldenoldie, like Matt I am not into making videos. Got better things to do with my time, and there are always people who just like to pick holes in such videos. As to the 'spurious' sounds you refer to, I thought the QED in the comparison video was quieter than the other machines. If you are referring to the demonstration video, then it was stated that it was hot ground and any detector will be noisy on hot ground unless it is detuned to the point of being almost useless.
  13. AussieMatt, a very good appraisal. I use a plus or minus 5 and like your experience, have found that this procedure works well. I used to use this system with the SD, as the ground balance could be manually reset up or down from the ideal GB. Any obvious difference in a slight change in GB told you to walk away.
  14. Notice it says 'made in Australia'. You won't see that on Minelab products any more.
  15. Phrunt, the developments I have mentioned in regard to the QED have been mainly cosmetic, with improvements to the battery compartment, exterior wiring, and the stem and handle. A couple of improvements have also been made to the functions, the model that Steve has been kind enough to show is the current model, with the Detech carbon fiber collapsible handle and stem. When first introduced in early 2017 the QED was available in a DIY format where you could purchase just the control box and add your own choice of battery, stem and handle, and coil. The QED will operate with any Minelab or aftermarket (Coiltek, Nuggetfinder etc) PI coil, giving you a great range to choose from, and operates well on all sizes provided they are mono. If you use a DD it will operate only on one D. Electronic updates have been provided free, with a charge only for freight. The control box is quite small and light, and is all that is required for updates, with turnaround times being very fast. The QED has auto ground balance, but not auto ground tracking. It is a manual GB machine, but in saying this it is quite forgiving, requiring only occasional re ground balancing. It does not have discrimination, and is primarily a gold hunting machine, although recently tested on a beach in Nha Trang, Vietnam where it performed really well. Howard has added a beach function in the current model, and you can detect from dry to wet sand with no problem, and no change in performance. Several coins were found in only a short time of testing. I hope this has been informative, and that the QED will soon be available to gold hunters in the USA. In closing I would just like to state that I have no financial interest in the QED, but would like to see it get the recognition that it and its inventor deserve. Cheers, Reg.
  16. Thanks Steve. Although the QED is not yet available in the USA it is now available in South East Asia. Interest is being shown from Europe to Africa. Howard, the inventor and developer of this hand built detector is continually coming up with advancements, and I have to say that being involved with the testing of these developments is reminiscent of the early Minelab times when I tested for them. I find it exciting. Just like the early Minelab days, this is a business in its infancy, and I can see that if barriers and hurdles can be overcome, this detector could have a big impact in the USA. An opportunity for a smart American entrepreneur like you Steve?
  17. This machine was very similar to the early Whites detectors. I became involved with Bruce Candy with the introduction of the 15,000 which one had to pay a deposit on, and wait in line for your machine. It was a very small outfit in those days with guys like Rob Wylie and Craig Hughes being some of the early players in that company. Some of my finds were used as publicity for that young "fly by the seat of your pants' company. Bruce approached me to test his new ground breaking 'auto ground tracking' detector, which later was designated the GT16000. I prospected a patch of over 300 ozs using that prototype, the largest bit being 98ozs. MInelab, as they were then known used the resulting publicity to sell thousands of detectors, and Minelab became the new kid on the block. I later went on to test the first pulse induction detector developed by Bruce Candy, but that is another story.
  18. Lanny, there is a super light weight PI built here in Australia, at a good price. I use one and love it. Unfortunately it is not yet available in the USA. It is called the QED. It is being constantly improved by the dedicated inventor. Hope one day you will be able to get one.
  19. Well Steve , I've got a few years on you and the Kiwi, but I can still put in a good day despite the odd ache and pain. A cannibal complained to his friend how he had vomited all night after eating a missionary. Just proves, 'you can't keep a good man down'.
  20. kiwijw, it has nothing to do with being a pussy or not. What it is about is about is companies that take it for granted that they can produce products with little consideration for the well being of their consumers, confident that whatever ergonomic nightmare they dish up will be gratefully accepted because of the technological advance achieved. With a bit more thought a machine that weighed a lot less could have been achieved, avoiding the need to be trussed up with leads, cables, and 'cripple stick'. If you are happy to look like a Christmas turkey while detecting, then good for you. It's not everyone's idea of detecting bliss.
  21. DZ, so is this your idea of ideal detecting? A bit like having a car that does not handle, has no brakes, seats like an upturned beer crate, BUT will do 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. Not everyone's idea of great.
  22. Well done. It should have looked more like that in the first place. I would love to see what you could do with a 7000. PS You could have shortened the coil lead. The shorter the better.
  23. 47 grammer, Thanks Dave, glad to have been of some help. Doing research on drones. Seems there are many to choose from, and great price range. I guess like most things, you get what you pay for.
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