BigSkyGuy

Joe, Thank you for the excellent post! I think most of the time i will be in less than 15 feet. I think I will order Anton's phones and report back on them. Hopefully there will be no issues shipping from Ukraine.

Thanks again!

Kent

Many thanks Joe! One more question for you. Would you recommend speakers or piezos for diving? A guy in Ukraine sells end caps with CTX fittings and headphones created from Peltor Optime 1 and 65mm piezos on ebay. Has anyone tried these? Could be a bit dicey getting shipments from there right now.

Thank you for this Jeff. What do the two rows for each coin represent? Oh I see one is for an audio hit and the other for a number ID. Looks like dP is the secret sauce that made gold mode so deep on the Nox 800.

Thanks

The gray bands look like chert, but hard to say for sure without doing some tests. The other bands look like sandstone.

I am interested in changing out the headphones on my Excal. My intended use is diving down to a max of 30 ft. Would you all recommend a hardwired connection or a CTX-style connector? I can see advantages to both. With the CTX connector I can try different types of phones for underwater, but the hardwired connection may be less likely to leak. Any advice? Thank you!

Greetings from Montana and Merry Christmas! It was -34F here on Thursday, but has warmed up to 40 today.

Nice!

Gerry,

How is it that target IDs showed up in your photos, but no target trace? Does the TT fade away faster than the TID? Just curious.

Kent

For me, the main advantage to the older analog detectors is the lack of a meter. It is much easier to be more disciplined to dig all nonferous items when you do not have the option to cherry pick or to pass up "obvious" pull tab or foil signals, especially when tired. I have found more gold rings with analog machines than with digital.

Someone should set up a poll to see how many have had leak issues, and among those who have, where did the leak occur. Personally, I have had one Nox leak, my replacement has been fine so far, but I am reluctant to submerge very deep or very often. On the first mahine, a bead of water appeared under the screen near the edge, so I assume the water came in from around a side button or from the seam on the edge of the control pod. I inspected the charging port on mine and it appears fine, but I appreciate Gigg's video and Jeff's post for the heads up on this possibility.

I think that NM has a great opportunity to make a waterproof, light weight, reasonably-priced, ground balancing PI that can be used for either prospecting or beach hunting. Currently there is no other PI that meets all of these criteria. ATX 2 of 4, White's TDI Beach hunter 2 of 4, Axiom 2 of 4, etc.

Coil sizes -  ~5x10", 12" round.

GPS - No need

Color Screen - No need

Coil wire - external

Also, if it does not add too much to the cost, a pulse rate above 4,000 pulses/sec.

Thanks for asking.

Kent

I think that NM has a great opportunity to make a waterproof, light weight, reasonably-priced, ground balancing PI that can be used for either prospecting or beach hunting. Currently there is no other PI that meets all of these criteria. ATX 2 of 4, White's TDI Beach hunter 2 of 4, Axiom 2 of 4, etc.

Coil sizes -  ~5x10", 12" round.

GPS - No need

Color Screen - No need

Kent

May be specular hematite, limonite, or magnetite. If you have a porcelain streak plate a simple test will help to narrow down the mineral. Simply drag the speciment across the plate, forming a "streak" of fine powder from the mineral. The color of the streak, believe it or not, is oftern different from the bulk color of the specimen. A few possibilities;

Red-brown streak = specular hematite

Yellow-brown = limonite

black = pyrite or magnetite (magnetite will be attracted to a magnet)

Hope this helps.

I would like to see XGB-type ground balance. I think the currently excellent ability to handle mineralization could be made even better by factoring in variability of the mineralization. XGB gives the White's/Garrett Goldmaster 24K the ability to handle hot rocks and bad ground. According to Tom Boykin, who headed up the 24k project at White's, the technology is not patented. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/17797-is-there-something-special-about-the-garrett-24k-ground-balance/#comment-185656

As a coin/relic/jewelry hunter in an area with mostly moderate mineralization, my list would be:

1. Equinox 800

2. Tarsacci MDT 8000

3. Deeptech Vista X (have used it only a handful of times, but looks promising)

4. SeaHunter M2

5. Excal

I know, none of these were introduced in 2022, but they will be the machines I use in 2022! For higher mineralization sites with relatively low iron content I will use the MDT, high iron sites the Vista X, and for moderate mineralization moderate iron sites the Equinox. Finally, the Excal, SeaHunter and MDT for water hunting, with the choice depending on mineralization (I don't trust the Equinox in the water).

George,

How does the Q30 handle mineral in your area? Does the Q30+ overload on cans like the Q60?

Thank you

What I like about the TRX is it picks up foil! Also turns on/off quickly.

Interesting that the cartridge is a Henry, but it does not have the double square hammer marks typical of the Henry rifle. I have not seen the single circular hammer mark on a Henry before. I have heard that some 44 caliber revolvers could accept the Henry.

Does it get better depth than the stock coil? If so, by how much? Thanks. Appreciate the advice.

Sven,

I ordered the Super 6, which I believe is a 6x8" butterfly. I may consider the Demon if I like the machine.

Kent

JCR; I will let you know how it works for me, but it will be awhile. The ground is frozen here and will likely not thaw until spring.

Kac; Is it the high salinity of the wet muck that causes problems at high frequency? I have a site that is flood irrigated and the salinity causes problems with all of my detectors except the Nox in Beach mode (have not tried the Tarsacci there yet).

I believe the first detector that had target ID, or the first one that I saw, was a Teknetics. The ID was displayed on an analog meter. I was using a White's 6DB at the time.

I just ordered a Vista X (I was on the fence, but JCR helped me decide). Richard a Backwoods just got in an order of the new 6 pin design.

Strick,

Love the old tools and pad locks. Here are a few things I have accumulated. The small spikes I believe to be ore cart rail spikes. The item in the middle, next to the ox shoe, is a mystery. It looks like half of a cannon ball with a groove through the middle.

It was 1976, I was 12. My dad bought me a detector with green stamps. In 1977 I was able to upgrade to a White's 5000-D using money I had saved doing odd jobs.