Cal_Cobra

I don't really run "programs" I set it up as appropriate for the site I'm detecting. Iron? Salt water? Ultra coin depth? Plowed field? Prospecting...oh not on the 600, but you get the idea, learn the various settings and you can set it up optimally for each environment you enjoy detecting at. I see too many people try to run someone else's "program" that was made for THEIR site and not be successful, because your site is different. And to be honest, the default modes are setup pretty darn well IMO, Minelab and the field testers put a lot of thought into this machine and it shows, it'll make a newbie look like an expert in no time. GL&HH, Cal

Given I'll never send the 1863-S in for grading, I decided to try a little Ezest for a few minutes, and she cleaned up nicely. Looking at the PCGS Photograde guide, I'd say she's a solid VF25, which puts her right @ $450, not bad at all Yeah those roofing nails are a PITA, but I just dig them anyhow. It's fun to try to ID them before digging, but I just dig them. I figure if I keep stripping the junk out, it'll reveal some squeakers masked by the junk.

Yep it's the best cuff I've ever used, I like the adjustability. Just need to cobble together a stand that would work with it and I think you'd have a great setup.

Yeah I looked at it, no stand, but I think it's doable, just would need to cobble together a stand. F75 cuff and the optional kickstand from Makro?

Would definitely be fun to meet up. We need to research something interesting between CA and OK....hmmm....I'm sure there's some interesting fort sites or something between here and there we could research 🙂

Hi GB! I learned long ago not to rub silver and gold coins. I carry water with me in the field so I can do a quick rinse to get a better idea of what I have without having to rub them. I've seen Tom scratch two gold coins and numerous silver coins with his "stabbing" recovery technique. I probably make my holes larger then necessary, but I try to avoid damaging my finds in the the field during the recovery process. The 1863-S dime doesn't actually look too bad. Short of using Ezest (and maybe that's the way to go), any suggestions on how to properly clean it? Thanks for the kudos on my improving detecting skills. Ironically I started off park hunting and was pretty good at sniffing out deep old silver in Golden Gate Park and others, but the past ten years or so have spoiled me with some great relic sites, and now I'm afraid if you put me in a trashy park to cherry pick deep silver, I'd be lost. Tom's very good at that, and is always pestering me to hit old parks when we go on our road trips, but truth be told, it's the same amount of effort to spend all day in a park busting your tail to dig a couple of mercs as it is to work a relic site and have a chance at a seated, cool relics, or maybe even a gold coin. There's still plenty of trash at this site. Ration cans, iron of all types from nails to large pieces of every nature, and the .22 shells and shotgun shells, can be punishing. There's also an area with those old roofing nails, not sure what their made of, but they can sound pretty good if oriented the right way, and they TID around 22+ on the EQ800, so I dig them. I think the bottom line is that I was guilty of trying to cherry pick a bit, but a few years ago I did an Experiment with my Multi Kruzer and started digging all the .22 shell signals, and was rewarded with some nice buttons and other interesting relics, so it's turned into a dig all site. Still nice feeling to get a mid to high 20's tight zippy signal on the Equinox there 🙂 I always enjoy this site, even though I only get there once or twice at best a years, but I suspect there's more treasures awaiting for future trips, Tom or no Tom 🤠

Thanks Strick! That territorial gold coin your friend dug is a find of a lifetime, amazing find. Need to hit the springs again before the grass and the summer kicks in and the grounds like cement. -Brian

Thanks Steve. I didn't ask my friend to look at the dime, only the $1 coin. There are a few other sites somewhat close to this one, but their in cow pastures, so the silver coins from those sites are typically victims of cow urine, which really does a number on most metals (particularly silver). I've dug a few semi-key date seateds at those sites and they'd get hammered with "environmental" damage if ever sent in for grading, which is a shame. Although we don't have largies and Colonial coins jumping out of the ground out west, what we do have going for us is a high propensity of San Francisco mint coins, which tend to be the lions share of the higher value coins from the 1800's, and gold coins seemed to be used/lost out west much more then back east for whatever reason.

Dew you're killing it! Do you sell your gold? I know some keep it all, and others sell it as fast as they find it, just curious. We have a local beach hunter here that exchanged all of his broken gold he'd been hoarding (broken rings, rings with no stones, things like that) and he had so much that the smelter traded him 68 oz of gold, 6 ten oz bars and 8 one oz ingots, so he must've had a heap of scrap gold to trade.

Nice digs there Steve, not many five silver days popping up these days! Still would love to see you and TomCA go at it in an EQ800 vs Exp2 deep turf hunt some day 🙂

Nice finds, love the turquoise and they look like quality pieces.

Tom I wonder if the F75 cuff would fit? Always liked that one because it's made of some kind of bendable metal (aluminum?) you can adjust to your arm. I'll have to dig mine out and see if it fits.

I've had my iPhone 8+ in my right pocked and noticed my EQ800 was erratic, and switching it to my left or rear pocket settled it down. Haven't noticed an EMI handling improvement since upgrading, but the area I tested the upgrade at I've never had issues with EMI, will have to see how it acts the next time I detect in the city.

Thanks Steve. I feel like I've clicked with my EQ800 better than just about any other detector I've owned, with the Racer2 and Multi Kruzers coming in a close second, as they've also been great machines for me with a significant uptick in keepers since using them.

Yep, can't get him to go there any more, so I guess I have this particular site all to myself for the future 🙂