Chase Goldman

The DP thread that points to that discussion in the Dankowski forum is here. Don't know if Minelab is really interested in that "new technology", but it was actually Tom Dankowski's reach for the moon idea. It's nice to dream but not something that is likely to be able to be accomplished using the induction balance principle alone. Lunk explains one method for doing it here. We've really just about hit the top of the curve of what you can do with induction balance (more commonly called VLF detectors as differentiated from the Pulse Induction principle). Perhaps you can continue to tweak signal processing and bring in some of the target ID and discrimination sophistication of the FBS2 detectors. But once everyone starts releasing their own flavor of simultaneous multifrequency (first Garrett, next Nokta (?)) then there really isn't that much more that can accomplished with the technology short of bringing in some sort of hybrid technology device that incorporates induction balance and say...ground penetrating radar. In other words, something that can sense target density would really not look anything like an Equinox or any other VLF detector because the technology required would be radically different.

Apples and oranges - Bluetooth 5 has higher data transmission rates which just means it crams more audio information in the data stream resulting in better audio fidelity (not really something that makes a huge difference on the relatively narrow bandwidth associated with detector audio versus listening to high fidelity music) but that does not have anything to do with latency (other than the processing time associated with the higher data compression needed which tends to INCREASE latency/delay). But I totally agree with you that having a multitude of audio options/choices like they provided on Equinox is a good thing.

Every BT headphone does not support Low Latency BT transmission - it has to be supported on both ends - the detector transmitter and the phones themselves. APTX LL the low latency bluetooth standard transmission protocol Minelab has adopted for incorporation into its Equinox and Vanquish detector BT transmitters - is kind of a fading standard. Hasn't really caught on with the general marketplace and manufacturers of BT headphones seem to not be willing to play to licensing fees to incorporate the chipset and firmware in to their products as a result, unfortunately. APTX LL would at least be better than yet another non-cross compatible proprietary wireless/Wi Stream variant. They now have at least 4 proprietary Wi Stream variants, none of which have interchangeable hardware (WM08 for Equinox, WM10 for the CTX 3030, WM 12 for the GPZ 7000, and the Pro Sonic standalone unit - totally ridiculous.) See above. Bose does not support any sort of low latency BT standard protocol, definitely not APTX LL. Low latency is pretty much a necessity for detecting with wireless audio otherwise your coil swing does not sync up with where your coil is when you hear the target audio. It is pretty noticeable with non-low latency bluetooth headphones and pretty annoying. I definitely sympathize. There are BT headphones that I have that would be much preferable to those that I am forced to use that comply with the BT APTX LL standard. I've pretty much switched over to proprietary wireless audio solutions for everything but the Equinox because they allow me to use headphones with optimized audio characteristics for my hearing and comfort.

I guess my point was not so much whether the GMT should/could be used for coin shooting, of course it will snag some coins under ideal conditions. But whether any further investment should be put into the GMT by buying a new coil to do so (Ron's question). That is throwing good money after bad IMO. The stock Twin D 6 x 10 should be fine for coin shooting with no money put of pocket, I don't really think another coil will do much better for the amount of money you would have to lay out. If Ron is keen to spend money, however, it would be better spent on a general purpose detector and coil IMO.

This is an important point. One I forgot to make in my previous response. You apparently are doing well with whatever settings you are using so don’t mess with success by over tweaking things. If my recommended iron bias setting doesn’t help (with falsing) or makes things worse, dial back to your previous settings.

My advice would be to get a more versatile and affordable detector. Namely, an Equinox 800 and possibly the 6inch coil for max micro target sensitivity. If there is small gold near the surface, you will find it and that would clue you into whether it makes sense to drop serious coin on a PI. If you don’t find any natural gold, at least you have an excellent coin, relic, and beach machine too. That 10 acre site might not give up nuggets but it could give up relics or coins, perhaps even of the gold variety. GL

Problem is when you've been implying it is imminent for multiple years, you kind of lose credibility. They've been saying that about the Deus companion app for years also. It's always just few months away. A few months later, its still a few months away. That's how XP has done things since they announced version 4 SW is imminent 1.5 years before it was actually delivered. I've been seeing photos of their 2-box coil since 2015. Bottom line, I'll believe the XP rumors when I actually see some hardware and not just whispers or even glossy marketing brochures.

Ron - Welcome to the forum. Do you have the stock 6x10 on there now? Whites makes an 8 x 14 coil, if you can get your hands on one, that will eek out some additional depth. But it can set you back about $175 to $250. Also, with the GMT operating at 48 kHz, it is really not going to give you much high conductive coin depth (general purpose coin detectors usually run at 4 to 14 kHz). The problem with high frequency is that it does not penetrate as far into the ground as lower frequency machines and a bigger coil will only marginally help depth at that frequency. You can get a lot of detector for $250 to $350 today. I would recommend instead considering a general purpose detector such as the Nokta Simplex+ or Minelab Vanquish in the $300 ballpark if you want to do coin detecting rather than investing in a new, expensive coil for a gold machine that is only going to give you poor to mediocre depth on coin shooting. The GMT is a great gold detector, one of the best in its hey day and can still get the job done on nuggets But it is optimized for gold, micro jewelry, and meteorites, while coin shooting (unless you are talking gold coins) is not really in its wheel house. Right tool for the job. HTH

Advice: Don’t overthink it. If you are not having issues with noise or detection, leave it be. Don’ts: Don’t wrap it so loose that it flops around, don’t wrap it such that it constrains your ability to position the coil at the desired angle with respect to the shaft to keep it parallel with your desired swing plain and to lie it flat for transport. You want to minimize strain at the coil cable to coil interface or at any place else along the coil cable that could cause wire breakage due to repetitive flexing at stress points. Otherwise, other than certain special cases with certain coils and detectors, a properly shielded coil cable should not care from an electromagnetic standpoint where you start the shaft wrap.

Park 2 is no better or worse than any other mode in hot soils. All the modes become limited in depth in hot soils. Theoretically, lower frequencies penetrate further overall but I have really not found any mode on Equinox that is preferred in hot dirt. so I set my mode based on my target objective - which is typically relics, so I am usually hunting in Field 2 because it is higher weighted in frequency and better suited to mid-conductive relic targets like brass. lead, and the occasional gold coin or nickel. But I have also found plenty of old silver in Field 2 as well. Park1 theoretically hits silver better (than Park 2) because it is weighted towards lower frequencies, but the fact is that since all the modes are multifrequency, they can all theoretically hit targets across the conductivity spectrum. The deepest mode from a silver perspective should be 4 khz single frequency but it comes with a lot of other baggage like EMI susceptibility and the iron bias feature is disabled in single frequency. I would stick with Park 1 for silver slaying or 2-tone Field 1. Regarding Iron Bias - I prefer F2. I usually just run it at the default of 6. It can help reduce falsing, and tests by users have shown little risk of inadvertent masking of non-ferrous targets even at higher settings, so give it a shot if you are really having falsing issues. HTH

It's an advantage only to increased dry or wet sand swing coverage. You will not gain any appreciable depth as it is only 1" wider than the diameter of the 11" stock. You might lose some sensitivity on micro targets, but I have still been impressed with its ability to pick up tiny targets. Using it in the water just increases coil drag compared to the 11" so it is somewhat counterproductive. I've used both the 15x12 and 6 inch round coils and except for vary rare detecting situations where the other two coils might be advantageous, find the 11" is the sweet spot.

Excellent info. Thanks, Dew!

Somewhat surprising - the machine setups matter and no clue on how this guy 's machines were set up, his proficiency, and ground coverage strategy or discipline. If he switched around on all those detectors during a single visit, sounds like a classic skunk desperation death spiral move (been there, done that). When your confidence is shot, believe me, every detector you grab for is probably going to disappoint. Not necessarily a reflection on the machines' capabilities in that case. But if your buddies were indeed not picking up the signals on your targets before they were dug, that is saying something, again, as long as those detectors were properly set up. I assume your buddies are experienced and know how to set up their machines properly, those machines are relatively complex, especially in regards to disc, and you can easily set them up in a manner that would degrade their performance if you are not proficient. Barring that unlikely situation, silver depth in the absence of high junk and mineralization is not something you would expect an eTrac or CTX to struggle with, especially if the Equinox is doing just fine. Nevertheless, great saves and congrats on the finds and the bragging rights over your buddies' misfortune.

4 is probably as low as I would personally go because I usually hunt with no disc to avoid disc clipped non-ferrous tones. Much lower and sweep speed becomes an issue as you cannot slow it down enough to overcome ground feedback (even with a sat GB). Probably a non-issue in "0" soil conditions such as at the beach, but then again, you don't really gain a raw depth advantage by lowering recovery speed, just a better ability to hear blip iffy tones associated with lower modulated micro or edge-on targets at depth. I really mostly just stick with the recovery speed defaults for any given mode as a decent starting point, and find I rarely have to (or want to) tweak it in the field as most of my sites are heavily mineralized. If I do, it's at most a one click tweak from the default.

I second Pimento's call out of the Geotech forum as a tremendous resource for detector DIY'ers.

Fantastic find!

One word of additional caution regarding videos - editing makes any hunt look like the targets are just repeatedly popping out of the ground. None of these you tubers are going to keep the clips of digging junk and pull tabs. Videos seldom reflect the reality of typical detecting session - hours of nothing but dug junk, punctuated by a few seconds of pure elation. However, just digging the finds is not the end all and be all of detecting IMO. Meeting new people with a common interest in history and the stories behind the strange things we do pull out of the ground (trash and treasure) and enjoying the sights and fresh air or simply the feeling the history of the place you are detecting are all part of the adventure. Regarding test and comparison videos - always be skeptical of the motives of those posting the videos (lack of knowledge of the settings/nuances for the detectors being tested, personal bias, or having a vested financial interest in the detector(s) being tested). You tube is great place to learn techniques and to learn about equipment but I would not look to it as a realistic depiction of detecting in general or if you are really seeking the truth about any particular detector. That takes first hand experience and testing.

See my response to your identical post in the Equinox forum here.

Tony - welcome to the hobby and to the forum. I wouldn't say your lack of silver finds is coincidental - more like expected. You did manage a merc and copper and all the other targets (which are much harder to detect) suggest your machine is working fine. Silver does not just pop out of the ground at old home sites, especially nowadays. You see posters here with their 100+ silvers for the year etc. Usually, they are prolific hunters with probably 25 to 50 sites (schools, house sites, old ball fields, parks, etc.) and a lot of swing hours and they are the exception rather than the rule. So do not use that as a benchmark for whether your one site is productive or your detecting methods are sound. The thing is, most new detectorists do not stumble upon a site like your 1890's boarding house as a first-time visitor. That site has more than likely been hit by multiple detectorists over the years and silver, copper, and clad is the first thing that comes out of the ground as it is typically the easiest thing to hit with any vlf induction balance detector because it 1) has high conductivity and can be easily detected at depth and 2) it has relatively few junk targets that have ID's that fall in that range to compete with (even falsing iron). The fact that you dug a lot of older copper is promising - but it may be just a matter of those that got there before you cherry picked the certain silver signals. Gold and nickels on the other hand, compete with aluminum junk. Many folks give up on those targets after they have dug a couple pouchfuls of pull tabs and aluminum can slaw. You did really well to recover all those nickels. Coil coverage is also key. You need to be disciplined about covering every inch of ground you can with the center line of that coil. Just as in golf, a put will never make it into the hole if you don't give it enough momentum to move past the hole ("never up, never in"), you will never detect a buried target that you don't get the coil over. You are also still learning your machine, you will start to understand the nuances of iffy signals and how to coax a more definitive signal through coil control, interpretation of the audio as well as visual ID, use of different modes to interrogate the target etc. That will increase you keeper to trash ratio. If you are digging selectively right now, then you are doing a pretty good job especially with those nickels and the ring. Even if you are digging every repeatable signal, I would say you are doing great. At extreme depths, the Equinox will still hit on targets but soil mineralization and other effects may result in a ferrous ID. The only way you can see those targets is to hunt with no disc and dig all ferrous signals. You will also eventually learn how to exploit junky areas with the superior separation of the Equinox. That is where many keepers lie masked for years because detectorists did not have the detectors that could separate the keepers nor the patience or ability to clear out the junk. Regarding your detector setup - I would avoid straying too far from the defaults. The trade off on lowering recovery speed is more ground noise, but that is not noticeable when using normal discrimination settings. You really are not gaining so much in depth as being able to hear perhaps those edge on targets better that might otherwise give short clipped tones at higher recovery speeds. I prefer using F2 - it is very effective at the default of 6 keeping ferrous falsing in check and seems to have minimal adverse impact on separation and masking compared to FE based on testing Steve H. and others have done comparing F2 to FE. One trick up your sleeve if you want to go for sheer raw depth, is to try single frequency at 4 khz or 5 khz, especially if you encounter an iffy target. With the 800 you have the ability to store a "custom profile" that can be accessed with a single push of the user profile button. I like to store my target interrogation mode of choice in that slot. For example, you could store a single frequency (4 or 5 khz) Park 1 setup in the user profile slot while searching in Park 1 default multi. When you encounter an iffy signal, hit it with the custom single frequency program to see how the target responds. Single frequency can pull deep silver, especially on-edge silver, out of the muck. The drawback to single frequency is it tends to be subject to EMI (so be sure to do a noise cancel and ground balance on whatever custom mode profile you store in the user profile slot before you first use it at a new site) and is less forgiving of a non-optimized ground balance. Also, in single frequency, you lose the iron bias feature. It is for all these reasons that I tend to shy away from using single frequency as a primary search mode unless absolutely forced to do so. The key to more silver is really simply getting access to as many potential silver bearing sites as possible and spending a lot of time carefully gridding the site to ensure you covered every inch of ground or hit junky ground (iron infested sites and aluminum infested sites) that may be hiding shallow non-ferrous keepers. You have the tool in your hands to do it because their are few other detectors that can separate as well as Equinox. So - get more sites (location, location, location), continue to learn the language of your detector and what the settings do (but avoid the tendency to over tweak the settings - in other words you should have a good reason to stray from the defaults not tweaking for the sake of getting a different result), get as many swing hours as you can, be persistent, dig as many target hits as you can, and most of all, be patient. HTH

It is lithium polymer so it has minimal self-discharge effect. You should basically see no notceable change in charge level after 3 months of storage. Lithium cells should be ideally at 60 to 75% of full charge if stored for 3 months or more. You probably would not actually have any significant issues (i.e., reduced service life) if you stored it at 100% charge, just avoid storing it with less than 50% charge. The things that kill lithium battery service life (the life at which the battery retains only about 80% of its original capacity after a full charge) are frequent charge backs of greater than 80%, frequently taking the battery down to its shutoff voltage (e.g., running it empty - which also results in the large charge back cycle I just mentioned), storing it empty, and avoid attempting charge a battery when ambient temperatures are below 32F/0C (so be careful about using an onboard charge bank in the cold) or charging at elevated voltages that cause self heating. Store the battery/detector at reasonable temperatures, especially avoid high temps (see p. 2 of the Simplex manual). While charging under freezing ambient temperature conditions can be harmful to a lithium battery, storing or operating the detector in below freezing temperature conditions is not harmful but battery capacity will suffer. HTH

Dew, to be clear, above I was speaking ONLY about hot dirt hunting for the Deus, Tarsacci, and Equinox. I did not make any recommendations regarding salt beach hunting for those detectors. I definitely do not recommend Deus for anything other than dry or damp sand.

Dew will answer you as well, but excelling at salt beach hunting and high mineralized soil hunting are what it is designed to handle. I can say it handles mineralized soil pretty well vs. my other "go-to" vlfs for that situation, Deus and Equinox (I would say it is "on par" with those detectors, each having advantages under those conditions the other two may lack - in other words no one of these detectors performs head and shoulders above the other two in hot soil - but of the numerous detectors I have used, these three stand out in hot soil - PI's like the GPX still rule depthwise in hot soil). Haven't done any salt beach hunting with it yet.

How do I get replacements for the proprietary headphone jack adaptor and replacement battery compartment o-rings for the Tarsacci. I bought it second hand and not from a dealer. Thanks.

Wonder when the non-prototype units will be on the street?

...and almost 2 months later no deliveries have yet been documented or announced. Scratching my head to see such anticipation for what is likely going to be a mediocre deisgn from a performance standpoint. Form over substance. I wonder what the makeup of the people waiting in line for this is? Serious detector geeks have to know there is nothing special here from a performance standpoint and it is hard to believe casual detectorists or newbies would latch onto a crowdsourced startup vs. going to their local walmart for an impulse buy on a bounty hunter for 1/3 the cost. I just don't get it. That leaves those with a combination of a curiosity factor and 200 bucks buring a hole in their pockets. (That sounds right up my alley )