SteelPhase

Hey Al I can only speak from my personal experience within the Victorian Goldfields. We have some of the most mineralised ground in the world. The honest truth (IMHO) is that most, if not all, VLF machines will struggle. The likes of the Minelab Goldmonster, Fisher Gold Bug etc will get gold but you have to pick your ground. White pipe clay, mullock heaps and quartz piles are the usual targets for those machines. They certainly don't punch as deep as a PI machine and are harder to work in our soil. But they are cheaper. As for PI machines - not all are created equal. Although the basic technology is the same, the way they handle mineralised ground, emi etc is very different. Basically you get what you pay for. For my way of thinking, for a beginner who wants an intermediate machine thats easy to use and a proven gold getter - a Minelab SDC2300 is the way to go. The Whites is an ok machine but I have yet to see one perform as well as the Minelab (down here anyway). I have only seen one in use down here and it has found gold but not much. The user was struggling to get the depths of the Minelab due to having to dumb it down to handle the mineralised ground. Now I do admit that I am a Minelab fan so I'm probably a little biased but if I am always open to other machines if they prove themselves as capable as the Minelabs. In other countries where soils aren't quite as hot, I'm sure I'd certainly have more of a choice. Disclaimer:: I am only speaking about how the machines work over here in AUS (especially down in Vic). So please all you guys based in the US, dont jump down my throat because another machine may work better over there. ?? regards Pat

I found the same thing. I always scrubbed my coil except in very hot ground (some areas near Stuart Mill/ St Arnaud and some areas around Maryborough)- I just lifted coil a little and it worked perfectly. I find exactly the same thing works with flat wound coils on the GPX.

Having grown up in QLD and consumed my fair share of XXXX I can honestly say that along with VB and Melbourne Bitter, it is the worst tasting beer I've ever had. Whereas Tasmania produces some of the better beers - Boags and Cascade.

Look who I bumped into over the weekend...

Boost is unique among MVNOs in that it’s the only one to use the full Telstra network. Others use only parts of it and may not offer the same level of coverage, especially in rural regions. However, where Boost differs is that it does not use Telstra’s full ‘4GX’ speed capacity, and has a speed cap on the 4G network – 100Mbps.

The only problem with some of the cheaper off shoots is they do not use the full Telstra infrastructure in all areas. Most will have a map showing their coverage and what type of coverage in different areas. Plus look at the data vs call rates. As you will want to be downloading map data from Google etc, you'll probably want to make sure the plan has plenty of data available.

Telstra is the only way to go IMHO. Best and most reliable coverage of all the telcos.

Sort of. It takes the waveform and shapes it so signals are more recognisable.

1.20am means low tide will also be around 2pm that afternoon. Be a warm road trip though this weekend. Lots of people will head that way to the beach. Due to hit about 37C (98F) today and 34C (93F) tomorrow. I live within walking distance of the beach at Ocean Grove so will probably head to the water myself.

Not sure where you are parking but around my way the parking is terrible. Same as infrastructure. We have issues where developers are allowed to build big estates on old farm land but then the roads, shops etc can't cope with the extra people. But I suppose its all relative to what you're used to. We are nice though (unless you take all our gold....)?

Australia is full of things that bite and sting but all jokes aside, if you got worried about every little thing , you'd never leave the house. You have more chance of being hit by a car than getting seriously hurt out in the bush (as long as you use common sense). I wear snake gaitors sometimes, especially if wearing shorts. Not only for the snakes but they give protection against some of the undergrowth.

You forgot the 'soul destroying' bit ??

Cane toads are nothing. Probably the only thing that freaks me a little while out in the bush is walking into a golden orb weavers web. They're not a little spider and their web is fairly strong so you tend to spend the next 10 minutes looking to make sure the spiders not in your hair or on your shirt. Although I do think they are relatively harmless. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_silk_orb-weaver The big inch ants are the other thing to watch out for. The suckers have big nippers that they use to hold on while they sting you with their tail. And they really hurt! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrmecia_forficata

Image for reference:

You mean to say I wasn't supposed to mention them????? I don't want to be held responsible for any US injuries on Aussie soil so I was just giving a PSA. For those that don't know - drop bear: https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/mammals/drop-bear/

Most of the time its from the added weight of the drop bears waiting to pounce....?

I drove a 2wd Mercedes Vito Van around the goldfields for a few years without issue. You just have to be aware of the cars limitations with regard to ground clearance etc. and use common sense. Nearly all the tracks I go on are suitable for 2wd cars. Of course if we get a lot of rain some tracks may become difficult but not impossible.

I have a DJI Phantom 4 Pro - is there a small Lidar unit I can fit to that?

I've been looking for coverage of the Victorian Goldfields for ages but haven't found any available publicly. I had been watching a doco on people surveying South America years ago and thought it would be a great tool to use. Many need to get a few people together and fund some private surveying

Nerrina is ok but its close to Ballarat so gets hammered. Despite what he says, most are accessible using 2wd as long as you use common sense. Plus I never feel safe being too far from my car when near Ballarat. Too many idiots who love to steal stuff. The maps don't really give a feel of how big and diverse the goldfields are. This is just a small selection of different goldfields all easy driving from Melbourne

The audio design isn't bad. It just not as good as I think it can be. I dare say that Minelab probably have several engineers working on the project with each assigned a particular area. Plus the focus is probably on the detection side of things as well as cost vs overall advantage. Like with the auto industry, there are plenty of add ons that manufacturers don't have on their vehicles that can, and do, increase performance and usability.

Not really. An EQ just either amplifies or cuts a set of frequencies. My idea is to basically squeeze a broad faint signal from the sides making it more pronounced and having more of an edge. More of a compression style of circuit rather than EQ.

I wasn't going to make any comment on this post out of respect to JP as it was his post but someone asked so here's my take. I totally agree with Northeast and his analogy. I look at it like waves on the ocean moving a small boat - just as the threshold is a carrier of the target signal. Too little threshold and the target wont be carried/moved efficiently. Too much and its swamped. As for boosters/enhancers - I've always maintained that faint targets transmitted electrically via audio to the headphones/speaker, may not have enough electrical energy to change the way the coil in the speaker/headphones is being driven i.e. to change the sound from the threshold tone. All speakers and headphones need a certain amount of voltage/current to physically move the coil to produce sound. Same way you need an amplifier on a microphone. The microphone is putting out and electrical signal. Its just too small to drive speakers/headphones. This is why you use a booster/enhancer. And as JP said - the GPX battery amplifier and WM12 module amps are way to coarse and rough. Now the difference with a booster/enhancer - a booster will just amplify the signal as a whole, threshold included. An enhancer will perform some form of manipulation of the signal. Yes it can only work with what comes out of the detector, but ask any audio engineer - lots of techniques are available to manipulate an audio signal. There is no need to 'colour' the audio - this implies addition of unwanted noise. The main idea is to try and make target signals louder in respect to the threshold so that faint deep targets (as well as the smaller shallower ones) stand out over the threshold tone. The threshold/target signal ratio is the all important one. I've managed to work out a technique to achieve this, and while its not perfect, I feel it works quite well. While the designers of modern detectors certainly know what they are doing with regards to detector design and engineering, and after examining quite a few of the audio designs in the current range of detectors, I can safely say that the audio side of things does not seem to be a big priority in their design.

The GPX battery is technically contained with in the device. I think they mean loose cells or packs. The GPX battery is fine to be shipped by air freight so should be ok to travel with.

The Victorian Goldfields aren't too far from Melbourne