Reg Wilson

Shhhhhhhh.......Don't mention the war!!!

Will be most interested in your analysis Elijah.

The Australian list of nuggets only refers to pieces of twenty troy ounce or better. So in earlier times a lump of gold had to be twenty ounces or more to be recognized as a nugget. The largest nugget recorded was found at Moliagul in central Victoria and weighed approximately 2,200 troy ounces.(The Welcome Stranger) The Hand of Faith was the largest nugget found with a metal detector at KIngower, also in central Victoria, and weighed in at over 800 troy ounces. It is on display at the Gold Nugget casino in Las Vegas.

Now that is a coil that could unlock some deep secrets. I'm already thinking of some of my special spots.

One thing that I do agree with is just how good the Bose earbuds are. Expensive but brilliant. My other option is the Aldi Bauhn noise cancelling headphones. They work better than many of the more expensive options. (AU$40.00). I use both these audio systems in conjunction with Quest WiFi (not necessary with GPZ of course). The Quest Rx has a volume control, so I have not found the need for a booster, but for those with reduced hearing this could be an option. Quest is not the most expensive WiFi, but the best that I have used so far. Add an X coil to these, and you're 'cooking with gas'.

19 ounce is not a monster nugget, although these days it probably seems to be for some.

"I think you have some private tanks".......... Sssshhhhhhh. Neither you nor Beatty can keep a secret.

Well Mitchell, some don't seem to have the 'luck' and others have been 'kissed on the member by a fairy'. There always will be some who could fall into a tank full of breasts, and come up sucking their thumb.

Well Mitchell, you did seem to rush all over the place when you were down here. But I guess that is understandable when you only have limited time.

More bulldust. Whoops sorry, I meant golddust.

Not only do I enjoy seeing the perseverance involved in detecting and then recovering those bits that hide in bedrock crevices, but the scenery is spectacular to say the least. It is a totally different ball game to detecting here in Australia. You tell it how it is, and if you swear by X coils, then that is part of the story. Don't be intimidated, just keep doing what you do well.

I take offence at 'Jonathan come lately's' post about me having no experience with X coils and the GPZ. Although I no longer own a GPZ does not mean that I do not have access to one through the use of such machine via friends that do. "Pretty sure"; how pathetic a statement from a guy who was in 'shorty pants' when I was first digging up gold that he has never seen the likes of. Unfortunately Minelab pumped this bloke up to the stage where he believed the hype.

I think that I have been swinging coils for longer than most who post here, and have found more gold than many, so it is with some experience that I can honestly say that X coils are the most impressive coil development that I have yet seen. Full stop. No bull.

Yep, I've been approached too. These mobs are about as real as a three dollar bill.

Considering that a cubic foot of gold weighs a ton, that Russian guy must be the strongest man on earth.

JW. Pete was Jesus' middle name. Didn't you know that?

With my collection of vintage mining picks I have used gun blue to get an attractive finish followed by a wiping of linseed oil applied with a soft cloth.

Flakmagnet, for Pete's sake. How confusing can it get? I just can't help but react with humor, because it is just so damned humorous. I never got involved with all this rigmarole, just turned the machine on, ground balanced, and got on with the job of finding gold, which the GPZ was quite capable of, if one does not mind toting the weight. My 'sour' comments were merely an attempt to lighten up an otherwise boring and over technical lot of guff that merely confuse the hell out of most people. I'm sure many people would be put off buying a GPZ after trying to wade through all the jargon.

See, there you go. How easy is that? Point your detector at the stars, circle it around a few times, forget about the quick start advice, then wave it over the ringy thingy and if it makes a noise then it is your fault because the X calibration is OUT. Can't you get anything right? Make sure you have warmed the ringy up in your pocket, because if you don't then the whole exercise could be a complete fizzer, as temperature is critical. If you get in a fuddle try turning it off then on again. If that doesn't work, send it back to where you bought it. When they tell you; 'tough titties' throw it in the river. It all seems pretty straight forward to me.

madtuna, it's only satire, with a touch of reality.

I don't understand why you guys are so confused about the little 'ring of confidence'. When I bought my 7000 it worked just fine, although I had friends that had all sorts of problems. Dumb drongos. Poor old Minelab had to then bring out this little ringy thingy gadget so that these poor folk could get their heavy expensive wonder toy to behave. They patiently explained that all you had to do was a little figure eight spider dance about the magic ring while reciting a prayer to the Great God of Nuggets and being careful not to get your coil 'saturated'. Using the 'cripple stick' would also give you coil control, an absolute imperative in nugget finding success. Still not happy, with such an obvious solution to a problem that the manufacturer insisted did not exist, Minelab with infinite patience provided a plug in software update that made their super gadget even better, but screwed up some of the earlier features. Full marks to Minelab for not being blunt enough to just tell all those complaining pains in the butt to go whistle dixy.

A new patch beats flogged ground any day. These days I tell no one about my 'spots'. I have had claims put on spots that I was foolish enough to have shared information on. PS No doubt about you Adam, you are a bloody optimist. (an important part of being a prospector) PPS Beatty can't keep his mouth shut about 'spots' (I told you I would never let you forget it)

Has anyone had experience with the SP01 on a QED?

Well John, in ten or fifteen years you may have found enough gold to break even on your investment. Of course if you take into account petrol and other overheads you may never make it. Yes, yes, I know; it's not about money, but enjoyment, time in the open air, quality of life, etc. etc. Many people spend more on golf clubs, fishing gear, or various other hobbies that provide no financial return. Whatever turns you on I guess. I for one could never persevere in country that is a challenge for mountain goats, with only tiny gold for reward. I take my hat off to your dogged determination.

Fred having owned a 7000 I can say for sure that although the Z may not have caused Simon's back problem, it sure would not have helped. The weight of the 7000 can be alleviated to a certain degree with the assistance of a bungee cord, however such a heavy machine builds up inertia in the swing and wants to keep moving in one direction. You have to stop and then reverse the direction of swing. This requires reverse muscle pressure at the end of each swing, leading to fatigue, and in some cases actual muscle damage. Having tested prototype detectors since the 1980s, many of which were heavier than the machines that made it to production, I have suffered wrist, elbow, shoulder and back problems from some of these 'beasts'. One can only hope that Minelab's next top of the range detector is half the weight.