oneguy

The 6 going wild when changing angles, going wild when jets fly over, or just going wild when it gets a hair up it's ass is why I parted with mine. Had another nice stable threshold day again today with the SDC and grabbed 4 more... No flat ground here and always changing angles and the 6 doesn't seem to like that. I will say that 6 will wake up some old areas and it's good at what it was designed to do...just a little too wild for my liking and area.....jmo

Not doubting anybodys issues with faulty Minelab products and I feel your pain. So far all 5 of my Minelab tectors have had no issues from the factory, personal dislikes about this or that...yes. Just saying

Mine was also one of the first...no factory issues.

Too bad about an issue with the 6. It's an impressive machine and great at what it was designed to do. I also really really wanted to like mine but after 108-10 nuggets I got tired of factory re-sets, lots of noise cancels, and hate wearing headphones, dealing with constant air traffic, too large a coil for my brush work, etc. that I've decided to part with mine. It was such a pleasure last Thurs. to use my SDC once again with the 5x10 and a STABLE threshold all day long plus a few nuggies, and that day made me decide to just quit fighting with the 6 and sold it. I could be very wrong but I think a person's location is gonna have a lot to do with how wild the 6 gets? I'll sacrifice some depth, tinier bits, and some ergonomics for a constant STABLE threshold. Thanx Reese for lining me up on the sale. JMO's........

Had a similar experience with the SDC last season. When I got my 6 I figured I no longer needed the SDC as I figured the 6 would cover anything and more than the SDC so I put it up for sale. Nobody was interested at the price I wanted so the SDC didn't sell. I had a spot I struggled with the 6 full of wet clay, lots of air traffic, and constantly changing coil positions detecting flat then vertical slopes, etc. The 6 was going bonkers and running wild the way it sometimes does and driving me nuts after awhile. A few days later I just wanted a nice easy day and didn't feel like doing battle with the 6 and thought I'd see how the SDC handled this particular spot. The SDC remained calm during the entire hunt like it always seems to do, found 3 nuggies, I wasn't mentally exhausted like I get sometimes using the 6 doing noise cancels, waiting on aircraft to pass, and having the 6 run wild on occasion? Had a nice calm enjoyable hunt. The SDC runs smooth as silk in my areas and it'll stay in the arsenal for those days I just don't feel like using the wild 6.......jmo's PS....How did you attach your stand to the SDC?...I like it

That's kinda cool. Only thing interesting I've found in the goldfields so far is 2 V nickles (1905,1896) and an IH 1881. Some prospectors I know had a real nice seated half, 1850's if I remember right, come thru their trommel and I was blown away at the great condition after it bounced around through the big trommel....

Think I finally got my Monster just where I want it? I've added a Minelab EQ800 shaft and hacksawed some of it off. The shaft will still extend the full length and fits my personal length for normal upright hunting. It will shorten up for PP type purposes and also be able to shorten up for some "jungle" type on my hands and knees super brushy hunting (and I have lots of that to do). Last season I tried a fixed strap with the idea of throwing the Monster over my shoulder as I hunt with the 6. That didn't work too good and the tector would flop around, etc. This time I attached a light weight strap to left side of machine that is adjustable so it can be tightened once I get the machine over the shoulder and basically on my back. This seems to work good and machine is on my back and out of the way. The strap also tucks away real nice when not needed and won't get hung up in the brush when tucked away. The one improvement everybody with a Monster I'm sure can use it is where I extended the stand ears with some plexi-glass and duct tape that adds about 2" width and will help with the way the Monster likes to always fall over. If you don't care for the Oneguy sloppy tape job you can bolt some ears on. The way I like to hunt with the 6 currently is to locate 6-8 targets with bright pink markers, run back and grab the Monster to chase the targets. This works for me because I waste so much precious time PPing a tiny bit with the 6 and 11" coil. It also allows me to take advantage of the ferrous/non ferrous meter on the Monster (big time saver). This is why I tried to add a strap to have the Monster either on my back with me or very close for recovery. Kind of a PITA using 2 machines but it saves ME valuable time/ more gold at the end of the day.... Anyways, I'll know more in a week or two when I get back out in the brush.... Hope somebody can use some of this... Good luck out there guys... bring on season #5 (for me)....

call it a half dime....and nobody could argue with you

been swinging for 30 years now, 22 of them coin shooting with Tesoro (golden sabre II & Tejon). Switched over to an Etrac and trash to treasure ratio did a complete 180 degree flip. That put a lot of "fun" and success back into hunting. Got tired of coin shooting mostly because of having to deal with the public, etc. Decided to chase gold nuggies for the last 4 years and very happy with that decision..... If I could only have 1 machine, it would definitely be that Goldmonster..... second to last coin shooting season of "keeper" coins with the etrac

Yeah, I've had that same feeling for a couple years now? Possibly that much (if not most...??) of the gold is traded in the futures market on speculation where most the contracts bought/sold never actually take possession of the physical gold. Possibly kinda manipulating price back and forth, flipping? That's just a guess on my part. Myself... bullion and dug gold allows me to sleep at night with no worries, unlike watching stocks like a hawk. First time in 30 yrs I've been completely outta stocks, made a lot and lost a lot, don't miss it one bit. Gold been a store of value for 6000 yrs., recognized around the world, and will never be worth zero. If it gets real bad, most likely only ammo, food, firewood and fishing poles could replace the yellow stuff....??? jmo's A guy came by my place looking to buy a quad I had for sale. He was a realtor, gave me his card, asked if I wanted to sell my place, etc. Asked him what he thought it was worth and I about shat my pants... about 5.5 times what I paid for it 28 yrs ago. You've got a point about real estate......

That's nice to know! Your local guy(s) might be worth a shot also? Keep us posted as to how much "discount" from spot you end up with? My local dinged me $25/ozt. under on the gold.... can't remember on the silver. good luck!

Understand not wanting to mail your gold. With that said, all my bullion was sent to me by mail from 2 sources and never any issues. Provident Metals outta Texas for most my stuff and also a couple ounces directly from Golden State Mint. Provident has a buy-back program that I've never used. I would call up Provident and inquire? I also sold 2 ozt. along with 100ozt. silver/200 silver dollars and the local outfit (Grizzly Gold & Silver) had no problem scribbling out an 8K+ check.... Once again, maybe check out Provident, they've done me well over the years and usually the lowest prices if buying...... jmo

The "war nickels" from the 40's used 35% silver to save nickel as the nickel was needed for the war effort. Anybody know what or why we needed nickel for the war effort? I've got coffee cans full of pre '82 copper pennies from my coin shooting days. About 5-6 months ago I tried to off the coppers to a recycling joint "on the sly" telling them " do what ever you want, I know nothing"... Anyways, they wouldn't even touch them. So I guess they'll go back into circulation. Think price then was about $4.50/lb....

yeah, I watched the price climb these last few years. Average price on my bullion is 1160 so it's been a great hedge so far. My wild dug gold possibly even better even after expenses? Recently did a quick flip on a gold stock for 2K+ profit in 2 weeks. Completely out of stock market as of 2-3 weeks ago. Gold has been best overall investment and hobby to date (if I sold today)..... Gotta luv the yellow stuff.......

Simon... I didn't read all your responses to your question. I will add this, Back when I was coin shooting with my etrac (same as ctx for the most part)the gold rings I found were all by accident when I thought I was digging a nickel signal. I believe a large portion of the gold rings might fall right in the nickel range but not all depending on purity, size, etc? If I was going to target gold rings specifically I'd probably make a pattern around the nickel range and maybe open it up some? 11, 12, 13, 14 (if I remember right?) but then you'll scrim out other good stuff. I'm not familiar with the ctx but do know there's some fancy ways to set it up. Personally when I coin shoot with the etrac I generally hunt open screen to hear all targets and dig by the #'s. Whatever you do, I'd leave that nickel range open.... good luck

That's a lot of LC's......!!!!!! Cooool.....

Did the "dance" on my 1st big nuggie (25 grammer), I was all alone. Next big nuggie a year later (3.55ozt.) all I could do was sit there on my knees a LMAO then try and detect a few more minutes, then fall to my knees again and LMAO more. etc. etc. Now when I find a nice one I just start laughing...

I'll take a wild guess without checking the link ok? let me see.... thinking here... still thinking... Could it be to possibly mint coins? Could it be...? (oak island phrase)

so true....

Using a PI....by all means, dig it all. My time is VERY valuable, I try and manage it to my advantage as I've only got so much time and squat/digs during the hunt. The disc/TID capabilities are there for a reason and it's wise to learn to use them as best as possible to increase your odds and help you decide to dig or walk on to another better target. If you dig everything with a disc/TID machine you're wasting some very VALUABLE time digging trash and probably NOT gold. It's a #'s game and an odds game in the end....jmo

I also try and have the Monster close for PPing when using the PI's..... if the ground isn't too steep and/brushy. I'll mark 6-8 targets with bright flouresant markers, set the PI down and chase targets with the Monster... can be a real time saver (for me anyways).

Only concrete advice I can give on that Monster that may help you is to always check your target in manual 10 (2 quick clicks from auto plus), this will give you a bit more accurate info on the target and target won't balance out near as fast as in auto. Many things, too lengthy to go into, can trick the semi reliable meter. In time you'll understand the meter better....but do understand the meter is an aid only and not highly accurate..... Keep in mind that the closer the coil gets to the target the better that meter "thinks" it sees. Sometimes a quick boot scrape and/or maybe a couple quick inches off with the pick will help for a better meter reading. Nice gold btw! Just to ad.... I LOVE that Monster...!!!!!

Look at that big assed Doug Fir you're standing next too! Pine in background looks juicy too.....

IMO.... I don't believe you need to send it in. Just the nature of the high strung wild SOB the 6 is? I have also noticed about everything you, Wes, and Jasong mentioned above while learning the 6 (still learning btw). In my area(s) the 6 was always very wild first thing in the morning it seemed, then maybe settle down. I'd move to another area and things would go pretty smooth, then wild, and I really couldn't pin-point "why" things changed although I could come up with a bunch of maybe's? Finally I tried some corded Senhieser phones and things really settled down for the most part? Next day I tried the wireless 6 phones and once again the machine ran much more stable with way less noise cancels. I'm in the using headphones camp now as that seems to have really helped in my areas for a more stable threshold and enjoyable hunt? I've dug exactly 100 pieces with the 6 so still have a lot to learn but imo the 6 is just a wild super sensitive sob that is very good at what it was designed to do...just takes some getting used to the nature of the beast..... jmo's

You just gotta love hydro pits....!!!!! Enjoying the story also, helps us get thru the winter months.... big THANKS!