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

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I almost never took my GPZ coil off the ground and wore out several skid plates. Lifting off the ground is to deal with extreme ground. Generally not required in the U.S.

 

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. 

22 hours ago, goldrat said:

We live in Dunolly and chose to purchase " Boost " from Australia Post . This is a Telstra Company and you get their full coverage . You have a choice of plans from $20 per month which covers everything you will require . Google boost and you  will find all the info you require . Hope you enjoy your trip to Australia and keep safe .

Cheers

goldrat

 

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.

7 hours ago, Rivers rat said:

Hi yes I have been tol Telstra  too,bought an Oziie phone and a Vodafone card was bad so  bad I got lost many time as I didn't know where the f....I was and we aren't talking nomans land we are talking:Maryborough and Dunolly

 

 

 

RR

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

14 hours ago, 1911Colt said:

So is it safe to say the SP01 takes signals that are likely target signals and specifically amplifies only (or mostly) them?

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

13 minutes ago, Rivers rat said:

I usually ride motorbikes so i dont have the same issues as car drivers.Madame wasnt keen on that so i rented a 4x4

Melbourne last week 20 bucks a day was the cheapest i found.Traffic is chaotic but drivers are nice than i London.GOR this week end,took a detector with me just in case but low tide is early hours of the morning (1.20am) so i gave it a miss?

 

 

RR

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.

11 hours ago, Rivers rat said:

If i hit the motherload i am moving down under.Minelabs are cheaper peeps are nice and parking space are well designed.......not mentioning the feeling you got that people money is invested into infrastructures ....

RR

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.

13 hours ago, kiwijw said:

You Aussies....you keep all your nasty bitey, stinging, poisonous, creepy crawly, man killing things over your side of the pond, & I am just talking about your women.....

JW  

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/

12 minutes ago, vanursepaul said:

They normally wait to drop until some invading Yank shows up. 

????

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

18 minutes ago, mn90403 said:

Ok, about a car.  I see I could get an AWD Hyundai Tucson  for $23 a day.  Is that enough to follow a few prospectors if I avoid the deep holes?  haha

One website says I'd have to pay a surcharge if I am over 65 and another ones says the surcharge is over 70.  This is the first time I've see either one.

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.

14 hours ago, DolanDave said:

 

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

13 hours ago, Norvic said:

Yeah, save you some time Lidar coverage of OZ has been carried out from 2001. 

Eg.  https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search?node=srv#/metadata/89644

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

31 minutes ago, Northeast said:

Isn’t it funny that this does seem to be the case when (from memory) Reg has said on this forum about Bruce Candy’s real passion being all things sound and audio. I would have thought Minelab audio should be at the cutting edge?  

 

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.

42 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Thanks for joining in on the conversation, I was hoping you would.  Is the enhancer doing a job a bit like a graphic equalizer where you can adjust what you do and don't want to hear in it's design?  Obviously a lot more complex than that but just to get an idea how it's working.

 

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.

On 2/18/2019 at 4:55 PM, phrunt said:

Yup, JW's right there, it seems to depend a lot on airline, here is a basic guide from Airsafe.com

http://www.airsafe.com/issues/baggage/rechargeable-batteries.htm

Batteries are best left in the device, which is an issue for something like a GPX ?

 

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. 

11 hours ago, Rivers rat said:

Update .........we will be based in Melbourne..........................so i guess i will prospect beaches,and train for half marathon at night......i google a few shops and ready to do some shopping

 

 

RR

The Victorian Goldfields aren't too far from Melbourne