schoolofhardNox

I use this for my Marshall amps. They get the dirty crackly pot sounds, so I just bought something specifically for electronics. If it's out of warranty, then I spray it. But back to the Minelab's newest PI? Only Minelab really knows if there is going to be one or not. But if it's going to be a simplified machine with not much user input, I'm waiting to try one first before I bite this time. I like to have more control options at hand then just some basic setting changes.

I love any weather that keeps the public off my beach😄 They probably make a fiberglass one, but I usually wait until it's too late, so I buy what I can get.🙄 Each shovel lasts about one season, so it's not so bad. I use it as a pry bar for some deep rocks too. The weather is starting to get to the 60's, so not beach clearing weather by any means. Hey, remember what I'm swinging already 😄 That GPX with a 12.5" DD coil fully extended has got to weigh about 6 lbs. Although a 5 lb shovel on the other shoulder may just about balance me out 🤔 I tried a heavy duty shovel and it's just like having my Xtreme scoop - way too heavy for this light weight. 🧍‍♂️

My 3030 leaked a lot. I lost 3 rechargeable batteries with it and I finally had the machine rebuilt so that I could use it. I have not tried it since I got it back. I just don't trust that little gasket design on it. I would have at least done some kind a 2 gasket design to maybe saved a couple of drownings. My personal opinion is that a gasket change isn't going to solve that issue. Mine leaked when I laid the machine down near the water's edge. The waves crashing into it made it leak.

If I lived close to a beach, it would change how I detected as well. I would be more inclined to scout out a section longer instead of just wandering, knowing I could go back tomorrow. Driving 2 hours puts some pressure (self inflicted 😄) on me to find an area that produces or go home empty handed. The long ride back is much more palatable if there is at least some silver kicking around my finds pouch. Last year Joe, I had the same situation when a patch for silver opened up. Lucky for me it was in an area that did not get covered up fast. I enjoyed it for many return visits, but each visit was a week apart. If I lived close, I would have hit it every day for a couple of hours and really cleaned up.

I dig way more than I need to. I could have spent more time on the iron targets and probably not dug the larger targets. But those small pieces of lobster traps can fool you almost always when they are at depth. I do it mostly to see what this beach is made of. This beach is different from my other beaches. It has a lot more lobster trap pieces, a lot of small melted aluminum globs, and some kind of zinc remnants. I need to know what's there before I pick and choose my targets on sanded in beaches. In prime areas I dig it all, even knowing the iron targets. 15" in some areas, but the EQ was having a rough time even on dry sand. Not sure why, maybe I had the sensitivity up too high at 22. I can relate to seeing a gold chain dangling. The same thing happened to me while digging a deep iron target with the CTX a couple of years ago. Mine partially fell out of the sidewall when I was digging. Takes a minute for the brain to catch up with the eyes 😍 Who knows how long any of us get to detect before we can't do it anymore. I just started to use a scoop when I dig close to the water's edge. I always use a small spade and dig from my knees. That's either building my muscles around my knees or ruining them. I'm betting on the first part, but if they go, I'll be cleaning all the crap I have found for over 50 years 😬

Beach hunt # 3 is done. I tried a location I have not visited for about 3 years now. A newer, small beach that I was hoping would have been ripped up a bit from previous storms. It was fairly sanded in, as the 1980’s coin layer was sitting at about 15”. This beach did not fair well for the Equinox, since targets were out of its range. I used it for only about 1 hour. Another long hunt, 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM and a 2-hour ride home. Used the GPX 5000 for most of the hunt. A bit more EMI here and the 5000 was a little noisier than I would have liked it to be. A decent amount of clad, a 1937 British three pence coin, a small .925/CZ ring from China and that’s about it. As always, still good to be digging and walking the beach. I did my fair duty of cleaning up some beach trash…… So, now where is my GOLD ring???

Yeah but, a GPX 5000 "D" has a nice ring to it. Just think of how many more silvers can be had if they just add the letter D. 😄 So far I have not had any salt issues that have surfaced. I'm sure there is damage happening inside but no issues yet. I did have one knob freeze up on me so hard that I could not change settings. From then on, I use electronic contact cleaner on them and they work fine.

I would think there would be a market for one if it had full discrimination attached 😄

Awesome number of silvers. Considering how long detectors have been pounding parks, you did extremely well. Your wife is a Saint!! 👍

Nice set up. I hope you can figure out how to keep it upright and still be comfortable enough to hunt. I don't know about you, but for me I never do well at detecting if I only have a couple of hours to hunt. It takes me a while to get into a good groove. I do hope your obligations don't press too hard on your soul and everything works out well for you in that respect. Detecting is how I rid myself of stress. Without it I would be in divorce court 😄

Surely there must be an buyer's outlet for old astronaut suits???? That would solve everything....no modifications needed. From the pictures, you are half way there anyways. It would be nice to have something that you could never feel the cold no matter what the temperature of the water was. Also those rings are sweet looking. I'm gold-less so far for 2 hunts, so I get to stare at your gold to make me feel better. Nice hunt there Joe.

I got a better idea.... sell your house, buy one in New England on the coast and then trade for my house. 🥰

Thanks. The beaches are hit fairly hard by locals, so the deeper, better stuff comes later as the winter takes its toll on the beach. Once we lose all that sanded in effect, the deeper targets start to appear at depth. That's when the PI reaches just deep enough to get the goods before the beach erodes some more and the VLF's can cherry pick it. My dream is to live 5 minutes from a couple of beaches, so I can detect all week.

Most of the time if you get to talking with them, they end up being OK, but from a distance you get the stink eye. 😄 I think the problem was that I was detecting an area he already covered. There were two holes on this little island spot that emerges as the tide recedes, that he dug. When I left there were another 10 holes dug there. I think he was worried I found some great stuff. But I was digging it all, so mostly deep pull tabs and other junk. Thanks. If I lived closer to the beach, the hunts would be shorter. But driving all that way, I have to get the most out of it. Once a week is not enough but that's what I get, so I maximize my hunts. Usually my body tells me when we're done 🙄

I figured I'd try and keep my beach hunts in one thread if I can remember 😶Beach hunt # 2 is in the books. Headed to my heavy EMI beach to try the 6000 there. This is actually my better gold beach too. There were too many people there to try the dry sand, so the 6000 and 5000 stayed in the car. I figured I would spend some needed time with the Equinox. It did fairly well last hunt and I really needed to get some settings down. So, from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, I ran the 800. I was in the digging mood, so I dug a lot of junk targets. Not much change on this beach, as there are a lot of regulars hunting it. I was not alone, there was another guy with the Equinox giving me the stink eye for detecting his beach 😄. Every season I break my spade and yesterday was the day, so I am good for a while now. Not much of a low tide, but it did expose 3 rings. Each one looked good for a short while, but that mother’s ring was deep, and I really thought it was going to be 9K. So, 3 junk rings to add to the collection. I finally hit silver with a nice 925 bracelet. Another odd find was one that was going to burn a hole in someone’s pocket. A BMW car fob. That can’t be cheap to replace. Since everything is sanded in, I may just run the Equinox until I see some erosion happening. This also gives me time to try some new beaches to see what I can turn up. It’s always great to get out and exercise the old legs for the day. Weather was perfect, light breeze, cloudy, and warm – the perfect detecting weather!!!