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Skate

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Everything posted by Skate

  1. Thank you and I agree. My plan is to participate and pay for training. I know the value of quality education and the price of not getting one. I’m putting a plan in place as I write this. Your story should be a lesson for everyone.
  2. Here I was thinking this was an average size paperback. The book is solid enough that if you didn't find gold you could beat someone pretty good who was trying to steal it. Exciting times getting into gold!
  3. Good to hear. I usually run the 15" at 17-19 sensitivity so being able to up it a bit with the M8 sounds like it could brighten up a beach a bit. I've been waiting for some global warming to come to the left coast so I can get some depositors out there but we have a couple of inches of rain forecast for Easter weekend and every day has been primarily 60 degrees at the beach so not many are needing sunscreen. The Post Office ruined my plans today as I was scheduled to get my M8 tonight but it was rerouted to Hemet which is about 4 hours SE of me so now I may have to wait until Thursday to get it out there. I'm excited to swing it. Hope there is more gold in your scoop!
  4. I'm hopefully getting my M8 in the next day or so. My question is why do you think it's so good on the wet sand? I've read where several folks are finding a lot of success with it on the beach where usually depth and coverage is king and a smaller coil usually brings disadvantages. The 15" on the beach is what I usually swing but maybe with the Manticore less is more? I'd love to hear what you think.
  5. In an old park you dig them and you begin to catalog them mentally looking for similarities in ones that were trash and those that were treasure. Older parks usually have layers of sediment where coins and jewelry have settled over time. A coin lost on the surface 100 years ago could be 10" down if the park was mowed regularly over time. As you log more hours on the Manticore you will begin to know better what is possibly under your coil with or with out the 2d or TID. Everyone has their personal threshold of what it is worth to them to dig. I'm primarily a jewelry hunter so I mainly dig trash when I'm in a park and a ton of it but that's what drives me to detect, the hope that the next 29-30 is finally going to be a ring instead of a pulltab. I'd rather dig and discover than not dig but thats just me.
  6. It's ironic that in the years I've been on this forum I have never really gone into the top prospector one, just headed into coins or jewelry or one of the detector specific forums, I didn't know what I didn't know. I want to thank everyone who has contributed as there has been a bunch of great information and advice. I've already bought a couple of books and me and the dogs are waiting for the Amazon truck to get here. I've got to sit the wife down and make some promises I may not be able to keep. I'm sold on getting one on one training so that is my next thing to research and plan for. Thanks to all
  7. Excellent advice and I thank you all for helping out. Looks like I'll be joining GPAA, buying Chris's book and getting some one on one training. Best to all
  8. After all these years of detecting I'm considering adding gold prospecting to my game. I've never started just because my location did not make it seem like a fruitful thing to do given the beach and parks are always close by. It also hurt because the wife refused to allow me to put a wash plant in the backyard so I could pretend I was a miner. So that being said where to begin? I have my Manticore and Equinox but beyond that I have no clue how to read the ground or tell if something is going to be gold bearing. If you were advising someone just starting out what would the path be? Would you advise them to join and organization like GPAA? Pay someone like Gerry to take you into the goldfields and get a crash course in prospecting or take a more cerebral approach and digest as much of this forum and books as possible? I have time and in no hurry at the moment. The current economy has put a damper on some of my pursuits so funds are not unlimited. I gotta be smart as to how I get going on this and I figured this was the place and the group to ask. I'm located in Ventura County and I know at one time there was gold in our hills but maybe not so much anymore. Thanks in advance! Skate
  9. I love the Gold Rush series and I'm thinking I will feel the same about this one because it's the lure of treasure that got me started into metal detecting nearly 45 years ago. I know they're made for TV and the drama is likely cooked into the show but it keeps me digging every pull tab thinking I might have a story of my own under that sand or dirt. I may have to take up looking for gold now as I've never been out prospecting or detected for raw gold. Circumstances have just never lined up for me to do it. I need to find me some treasure so I can buy one of Gerry's machines and 3 days of his expertise. You just have to believe the next swing is going to be the one.
  10. No regrets at all. The Manticore is a great machine and I have gelled with it which is what makes a detector for me. I had the D2 and it's a great machine as well but I just never connected with it. Fun to date but not a long time relationship. Best of luck to you
  11. I agree. People who create things like that are sick and twisted.
  12. https://docsdetecting.com/categories/swingy-thingy/ I believe Doc probably has what you need. Happy Hunting!
  13. So I'm going along yesterday working this park looking for some gold rings. 2 to be exact. One of the groundsman approached me the other day and asked if I could look for his rings. He was riding on the mower and he had placed his rings in the cup holder(I didn't know these things had cup holders) and while he was speeding along mowing the grass they fell out. I embraced the challenge of looking over 10 acres of grass as I truly had nothing better to do this week except detect (tough problem I know). I had pulled a few junkers out as well as a silver ring when I got this absolutely great signal. The 2D plot line was creating a picture of this incredible gold ring and I just knew that I had located one of the rings. I dug down removed some dirt and saw this: I immediately jumped up, began my happy dance and looked around for someone to hug. I had found one of the rings. A 10 acre it could be anywhere blind search! I had done it! I had done it until I got back down on my knees to pull the damn thing out of the ground when I noticed there was a problem. This was the problem: An "H" button, gold in color, and metallic in nature. Well I can tell you where I think Mr. H Button can go. It starts with an "H".
  14. I try to use context when hunting to decide if I'm going to dig a signal. When I hunt a large sports field I will dig all good signals in the field of play itself as that is usually the cleanest in terms of trash because most trash is going to be located on the sidelines or where spectators are. I do dig these areas too but I try to have a purpose with each hunt. On the sidelines I will turn the sensitivity down low so I'm only going down 2-3 inches in depth. Recovery's are quick this way and I can clean out an area rapidly of all targets. Then the next time I come through the area (after a weekend of games) everything is surface finds and this includes, rings, coins and trash. I'm usually at a trash to gold ratio of 100/1 on the sidelines/spectator areas and 40/1 out on the actual fields of play. There is no way to truly tell gold from aluminum but you can increase your odds by being smart about how and where you hunt. If somebody does ever invent a machine that can tell the difference our hobby will be destroyed because anyone with a detector and time will recover it all. I love it when people say they hate digging trash because that just means there is more of the good stuff left for me.
  15. I have both and it's the manticore all the way. I'm not a technical kind of person i terms of being able to tell you all the different ways one works better than another. I have a different way of looking at things and the manticore is simply a better machine. I have a tendency to "date" metal detectors and over the years I've had them all. Here's a way that I look at the latest models. Equinox 800- definite marriage material. In the right environment and if you take care of it will last you for years. Equinox 900- pretty much the same as the 800 so why get divorced and have to pay to get married again? XP D2- high maintenance. If she were a woman you would eventually get tired of all the effort it takes to just go out and you would look for something without all the noise. Manticore- the epitome of the girl next door. A combination of all that is right in the world. Now I know that many don't like the way Minelab treats it's customers in terms of updates, coils etc., but at the end of the day Minelab the company is like an in law, you only see them when you have to. Buy the Manticore and you'll be happy. At least for a few years until the next beauty queen comes out.
  16. some of these can companies are making their pull tabs gold in color which should be a crime. I dig, see the gold edge and of course I'm thinking we got a bingo only to find out it's from a rockstar can pull tab. There is a special place in hell for these people.
  17. Just when I had put to bed the 30-32 TID bin you go and bring in a ring at 31. More pull tabs please! Great hunt in the rain. At the very least it allowed you to detect in peace. I look forward to hearing about the next trip.
  18. You will spend money but the good thing is if you don't gel with a machine you can often sell it for close to what you paid and then move on to the next machine. Some folks see the cost of machines and they immediately say this hobby is too costly. It may be expensive but if you plan accordingly you will only buy once. A good scoop should last you on the west coast beyond your expiration date. Pinpointers last a good long time of you take care of them. Shovels need a new edge put on them once every 3-4 years (at least mine do). I love buying new machines and I rarely use the price as a deciding factor because if a new machine will help me to enjoy myself more than it's money well spent. Other than that it's like going to the casino and sitting in front of a slot machine. Every next swing is a gold ring or a silver dollar, at least that's what I keep telling myself. I pretty much only hunt for jewelry now so I dig a ton of trash but you can't beat the feeling of seeing a ring in the scoop or a plug. Only drawback is my family loves it when I find rings too.
  19. If you're a jewelry hunter I have found three men's 14k wedding rings that were a solid 36, never strayed off that number. I even air tested my wedding ring (it's 14k) and it also came up 36. Every single 30-31-32 has been a modern pop top. I still dig them because they sound so good and the 2D line presents them as a beautiful target but it's always a pop top. Women's wedding rings have all come up 22-24 with 24 being the most frequent target ID. You can hear every bottle cap so after digging 5-10 of them you should be able to walk over them going forward. The key as everyone says is to just log hours in many different conditions/environments. I'm having a blast currently hoovering a local park that is less than 20 years old and has a bermuda thatch grass that keeps everything no deeper than 3 inches so I have the sensitivity at 10 or less and it's like a coinstar machine blew up in the middle of the field. I know there's a bunch of rings and chains out there amongst the clad so I'm just taking my time as I have the park to myself. Have a great time as there is no better hobby in the world.
  20. sold- Thank you Steve Herschbach and Bill!
  21. I'm currently in my "if I haven't used it in 6 months" sell it mode so rather than just let my trusty 800 hang in the garage I'm going to move it on. I'm selling with it the 11" that came with it and to unused coils, the Minelab 6" and the 5x10" coiltek coil. I'm asking $725 shipped for everything. The 800 has never been dunked in the water. I take care of my stuff and shaft and coils always gets rinsed after any exposure to salt or if I'm bored and just feel the need to clean things up. There is no warranty left on the 800 and I've never had an issue with it.
  22. Yes I was threatened with arrest as I walked the beach detecting back in 2020. As a matter of fact it was just on the other side of the jetty where the big wave hit Seaward. The sheriff's department and Ventura PD were the worst in terms of overreaching. There were literally officers stationed every 100 yards between Marina Park and seaward Ave making sure that no one stopped or sat. They even hassled a young mother who had brought her daughter to the beach to share lunch by themselves. She had sat down and they hassled her and threatened her until she got up and walked away. I know you like the role of wise sage but you should maybe sit some of these out once in a while.
  23. The nanny state here in Ventura has taken the steps of closing down access to the beach out of an abundance of caution. I'm sure it'll be like it was in 2020 when we were threatened with arrest if we stopped for more than 10 seconds while on the beach. The main problem for me during events like this is the amount of debris that gets washed up on shore. Last weeks heavy rains put a ton of broken branches and trees at the ready to be washed out and then back into the beach. Just being able to swing and walk can be an issue due to the volume of sticks and logs. The rogue wave that hit Seaward Ave yesterday is a perfect example of why the Darwin awards were created. It's because of these people we can't have nice stuff.
  24. I have 6 hours of beach time with the 15" coil. It was mostly dry sand/towel line and all I can say is it is deep. Deeper than any other non PI machine I have used. I think I have figured out whether or not something truly is iron and worthy of digging but if you are going to use the 15 on a beach you must dig everything. I dug a quarter in the dry sand that had a non-ferrous tone but red numbers in the 40's and 50's. It was down at least 18" in that the dry sand was no longer dry but wet. The key to dig was the tone and by no means was it good or clear, rather it was just not iron. You cannot go by any of the basic signs like you would if digging in the dirt, you have to dig everything. The 15" is the real deal. I have a job tomorrow to try and find a couple of gold bracelets. I took my wife's gold bracelets out and compared my 800 with the Coiltek 10x5 and the Manticore with the 15 to see which machine I would use to find them. The 15 identified each different bracelet/chain by tone and TID, the nox and the 10x5 never even saw them. The manticore represents a new day in detecting capabilities. It's a game changer.
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