Cabin Fever

Very nice! Can't pick a favorite out of the relics. Any one of those finds would make my day for sure. Thanks for sharing. Bryan

The self contained (possibly removable pod?)and being more weather proof is what really interests me about this detector. You could possibly make a shorty out of it like I did my Vaquero. You could detect with your main detector and have this on or in your backpack to use If you run in to an area you need it for. Bryan

I agree. I plan on running an add but I'm guessing since it was about 7" down its been lost for quite some time, although it looks like Gambler in post #8 might be the owner. Now all he has to do is show me what tree he lost it under for the return. I want to thank everyone for their kind posts and links. I'm going to continue work on the identification of the ring. No luck so far. 2016 is starting out good as far as rings for me. After only a few short park hunts I have found one gold, two silver, three junk and then a gold plated with stones yesterday. Bryan

Thanks! Looks like Gold Racer electronic specs. Are there any difference in that regard? What is the weight and is it more weather resistant than the Gold Racer? Are coils between the two interchangeable?

I was beginning to think I would never find a gold ring. I have been coin and nugget hunting off and on since the early 90s with some pretty big gaps in between. 2015 was the first year I got real serious about detecting and actually looking for rings while out coin hunting. It came unexpectedly. My CTX conductive numbers were all over but holding tight to the FE 12 line so I thought maybe I had a war nickel under the coil. First thing out of the hole was an old scouts button. After rechecking the hole with my probe I find this ring about 3" further down. The only mark on it is a K with a star next to it. Acid test 14k or better. I'm thinking its early 1900s. Most coins I pull from that depth in this park are that era. Any help on the markings would be appreciated.

Ya I had one for a short time but I couldn't gel with it. I had a brain tumor removed a few years ago and it affected my memory. Even though the menu set up on the AT Gold seems simple to most I struggled with it. The layout of the Racer and Gold Racer is effortless for me. What's odd is the CTX 3030 seems to be complicated for a lot of people but was easy for me to pick up on as far as scrolling around and selecting modes and settings. Luckily I can set up several different hunting patterns at home and just select them in the field. Bryan

I see. When it said Weather Resistant and All Terrain I thought it was maybe sealed up better. It would be nice to know how "Weather Resistant" they are. Nugget hunting is a dirty and often wet adventure.. I would like to be able to hunt in the rain or near a creek without worrying about getting the control housing wet. I don't like rain covers on the the control box. Just a pet peeve of mine. Bryan

Looks tough! I like that it's Weather Resistant. That's the only thing I feel the Gold Racer is missing. Bryan

The amount of aluminum that my CTX sees at the park doesn't bother me. I run around with an open screen. The amount of foil the Gold Racer sees at the park is a whole different story for me. Every swing is rapid fire multiple hits.. I didn't play around with the settings much in the park but I'm sure it could be tamed somewhat. It picks up amazingly small targets.

If you have the patience for micro jewelry hunting I think the Gold Racer is up to the job. Like the first time I took the Gold Racer out I was amazed at the targets in the ground that other detectors just don't see. The small charms, earning and the other tiny finds were from a beach that is hunted so hard that it's almost silent when hunting it with my CTX. I also pulled a small pile of foil gum wrappers. The copper gold plated ring, coins and the other bigger things were from the park. Micro jewelry hunting in a park would be almost impossible. The amount of foil in the ground is staggering. Someone is going to learn how to dial this detector in and kill it on micro jewelry on "cleaned out" beaches. My finds aren't great but I think they show how sensitive the Gold Racer is.

I think the Nel was in the $120 range. They were back ordered 6 weeks at the time. You don't have to cut up your silver Sabre. The Tesoro divers rod is $12 You can also buy a Tesoro upper handle assembly for only $21 to cut down and attach your control box to it. Just one screw. The control box is the same one they use today so it fits. Bryan

Yes! All they have to do is start making the little elliptical coil again. I just put one up for sale on your classifieds. It was made for the original Lobo. They already make the short diver pole and the Vaquero is a surprisingly hot little detector with a smooth all metal mode. There's a lot of power and control tucked inside that tiny uMax housing. Bryan

Finally got all my parts together to make my custom Vaquero nugget detector. Bought an extra upper shaft and a shorty divers lower rod so I can convert this back to stock any time by just removing the control housing (one screw) and put back on the stock shafts. I'm very happy with how it turned out. The 6.5 X 3.5 inch Nel Snake coil is very sensitive! Sub grain nuggets that don't even register on my scale are a piece of cake. Standing straight up its about 17 1/2" and just under 20" if you lay the coil flat. Weight came in at 1lb 11.6 oz. Before I built it I was worried about it flopping over from not having an armrest stand, but as you can see, you can either lay it on the ground with the coil flat or just stand it straight up and It holds its own. Bryan

Thanks for the info. Steve. I will order those books. I understand what your saying about bang for buck on coin vs jewelry hunting. I'm not sure what draws me to the old coins. Maybe it's the challenge or history. I don't think of making a profit when detecting and it's funny if you think about how excited you get finding a stupid silver dime that's only worth a buck or two. Although I did find a couple that were worth around a hundred bucks this year. Same with nuggets. Even the tiniest nugget can put a smile on your face. Who knows. When I do find my first Gold ring it might fire up the fever and change my whole perspective.. Thanks again for your insight and time. Bryan

I would like to hear some good book recommendations on inland jewelry hunting because Gold rings have not been "an easily found subset" for me. My main focus is usually old coins, particularly silver but I would like to do some dedicated gold jewelry hunting. I'm embarrassed to say that I have never found a gold ring! I have been detecting off and on since the early 90s but never took it serious until this year. I did well on the old coins this year and dug a lot of aluminum hoping for the gold ring but it didn't happen. Found quite a few pieces of silver jewelry though. Bryan

I should have probably kept my mouth shut until I get more time on the detector. When I got my CTX 3030 I liked how it locked up on gold rings and I thought when I was Out coin hunting in these old parks and school yards that I was going to be able to use that clue to grab a gold ring now and then while coin hunting without taking time from my hunt for old coins. Turned out the CTX will lock up on a lot of foil and pull tabs as well. In my very limited time and testing between the two detectors my Gold Racer noticeably locks on to gold rings better than my CTX but gives bouncy ID numbers on all the tough aluminum targets that fool my CTX, so that surprised me. Way to early to tell of course.. Real world testing will probably bring me back to reality. This is not what I bought the Gold Racer for anyway. I do think it's going to be a good gold nugget detector though. Very unique machine. Bryan

I drove by the local elementary school today and noticed a small strip of grass out front with no snow on it. I couldn't resist.. I brought my new Gold Racer over along with my CTX to play for an hour. I didn't expect to find much since I hit this last fall.. It was an eye opening experience. Running my CTX with an open screen except for one line of discrimination across the bottom the area is pretty quiet. Fire up the Gold Racer in disc 2 mode, stock settings and the ground came alive! The amount of tiny pieces of foil is disturbing. This detector is extremely sensitive! Even though the Gold Racer is hyper sensitive to foil I have hope it still could be a good gold ring hunter. What I noticed is that all these tiny foil signals were in the upper 30s low 40s and the numbers jumped all over the place. Doing some air testing at home I noticed the Racer locks on to rings hard! You can't shake the number. Several gold lady's rings from thin 10k to med. 14k with diamonds each had their own number. 48 50 51. Different numbers for each ring of course but it locks on hard to those numbers. The Gold Racer numbers would bounce around on the foil and even on the little flat round peel off tops from the plastic juice bottles that give nice steady solid numbers on my CTX. If this holds true to in ground real world hunting the Gold Racer might turn out to be a ring cherry picker when park hunting. If not it would be near impossible to hunt gold rings in a modern trashy park or ball field. The Gold Racer locks on to coins hard too. That's not what I bought it for though. Nugget hunting is what it was designed for and this detector should do that very well. Again I was impressed with its very smooth behavior.. Really easy and fun to run. Feels light and balanced with the stock 5x10. Menu is a breeze just like the original Racer. Bryan

I sent you a PM

Just got my Gold Racer today and I am extremely pleased! Out of the box it seems even better built than the original Racer. I don't have my original to compare side by side because I sold it earlier this fall in anticipation for the Gold. The finish has a very nice feel and look. Little details like the coil cables, connectors, bolts are better quality. Coil ears are very beefy. The rods, connectors and even the paint finish are just real nice. Fire it up and the first thing I notice is smooooooth! Threshold is very nice and the signal is nice. Did some quick air tests and this thing is extremely sensitive. I'm not sure how it will act in the dirt but I got VID #s on sub grain gold in the low 40s. I didn't expect to get any VID on gold that small. This thing sees flake gold in the air with no problem. Did I say smoooooth threshold? Dam I'm excited to get this thing out nugget hunting. Bryan

Just got tracking # for my Gold Racer! This will guarantee the snow will never leave. Might get desperate and go snow pile detecting for lost rings. Bryan

Same here. Two very short trips and one little nugget. Only got 5 or 6 hours nugget hunting time this year. Hope to get up to gold country much more next year. New Gold Racer on order! Cabin fever already! Can't wait. Bryan

Big silver will read up in the top right corner in the High Trash and Ground Coin mode. It should read closer to the 12 line in Ferrous Coin. Bryan

Great choice and congrats to Paul! I don't know any of the forum members personally but you start Imagining personalities by reading posts and Paul always comes across as A positive nice guy. Bryan

Steve. Did you get a chance to try out the concentric coil for the Gold Racer? What kind of scenario would you use this coil on the Gold Racer over the stock DD? Bryan

I'll help out with that and post an AT Gold in the classifieds. Bryan