Alluminati

I got out for a bit of a water hunt today. Using Gold 2 in freshwater as a reverse pinpoint essentially works as expected. -The good. I forgot all about peripheral targets until today. Running in the all-metal audio of the Gold 2 mode located me targets off to the side of my swing that I would have otherwise walked past. -The bad. I have to run the sensitivity about 3 clicks lower then I would in Park 2, to help smooth out the threshold. Example 23 in Park 2 but I could only handle 20 max in Gold 2. I'm not sure how much depth I'm giving back if any. It was nice having that threshold back to listen for faints. I usually run the sensitivity just high enough that I can hear the ripples across the top of the sand.

Sometimes I think of Saturn when I look at it. I was just looking at star symbols. Those could be "Nautical stars". Wikipedia says the symbol is associated with the sea division of the US armed forces. (Marines, Navy, Coast guard) It is supossedly a mixture of the 5 pointed star of the US flag and a compass rose. Could it be...a red herring?

Ya really just delete this thread I don't want them reading it yet. lololol

Hmm, I will put it in the ultrasonic cleaner later tonight, to see if there is something solid inside. Promotional consideration will be provided by Ridge Runner again, a big thank you. -3 vintage treasure mags to the winner. (Or 1 each if there are multiple winners)

It will be easier for my to say that you misunderstand. If you want to say a lone resistor in a box is neither analog or digital, until you hook it up to something fine, but in the practical world "digital" is not much more then an information protocol that uses two discrete points instead of a proportional relationship. The whole shebang is still analog at the component level. The all-metal pinpoint mode on the Excalibur removes the filter that bins and generates tones, it doesn't "change it to pitch". Based off the quick test this morning and based off of what we have learned in the past, the Gold mode also removes the filter, the pitch isn't added or generated, its the almost raw audio of the induction balance being disturbed in the coil. Once you pass over the target the two haves of the coil balance out and go silent again. It would be simple to implement Gold audio into the other modes, but they will not add tones to the Gold mode barring a significant breakthrough in tech. They are not the same or just as effective. The point of the audio in Gold mode is to detect smaller signals. (Small nuggets) If your nuggets are the 1 gram and bigger then just run in Park 2.

Here is another one for you guys to figure out. I haven't the slightest clue, this one makes my head hurt. It was found in the water. This old bay has an insane asylum built on it dating from the late 1800's. It is also has a ghost town, a failed colonial type trading settlement dating from around 1825. Before that it was a native village but I think it's safe to say this is not native American. It has three stars, or starfish? and a small hole on each side. It measures about an inch across. It weighs about 17 grams but has at least some sand and clay remaining inside. There is no way you guys are going to guess what it is.

Remember its just used for locating extra targets off shore. When you find a target, take some sand off the top and check it with discrimination, dig it up or move on. Totally worth it. About 1/3rd of my gold is discovered this way. It is useful in the summer months when the sand is deep. Ultimately 100% of the targets are discriminated. The Equinox is fast, but all digital devices are made from 100% analog parts and analog parts suffer from losses of signal during processing.

If you run 50 tone, you're running an audio filter. That is the specific filter we want to turn off. Small an deep targets aren't strong enough to generate a response, think targets beyond "iffy." You can run a true all-metal audio while running a parallel process to generate a TID number or to mute the audio over a rejected target. That is most likely why the Equinox has the all-metal audio in the Gold mode. To hear small and faint targets that the 1/5/50 tone filter would ignore as apart of the noise floor.

Ya being a freshwater hunter I think I'm in good shape. What I (and others) found attractive about (All-Metal / Pinpoint) audio of the Excalibur is the added depth and real time feel it gives when you remove the filter that bins the signal into tones. It is used to locate extra, deep targets in the sanded summer months. Whatever the coil size, you expand the range the machine can locate. Minelab is the best at signal processing, however my quick test this morning easily showed the added depth and real time feel the Gold modes all-metal audio gave when you remove the 1/5/50 tone processor. The easiest thing would be for Minelab to add the all-metal audio as an option to all the modes, as well as the ability to toggle the Multi-IQ weighting from high to low.

Ya the numbers really just reinforce the audio anyway. So when you detect at the nudist beach do you have to take your cloths off? Or do they tell you its OK to wear shorts so they don't have to look at your nuts every time you dig a hole? I guess you're not shy about door knocking. ?

I can report a bit of progress, in the basement at least. So I compared Gold 2 with Park 2. I had to reduce the sens a bit inside. Park 2 was set to a 4 recovery speed to match Gold 2. Most of the other settings are the same I think. (Global) There was a big difference, I could easily swing over a silver dime in Park 2, raise the coil until the target disappeared, then switched into Gold 2 and the target and heard the targets again. A pretty good response too, easy to replicate. I'll admit I don't see why you can't use the Gold modes in the salt water if they multi frequency like the beach mode, as you say you may have to tame it a bit to somewhat emulate the Beach modes. So now I just got to set it up so I can switch between the two modes easy. Otherwise I think this is what we are after, that "All-metal" analog type audio for locating extra targets in the deep sand. If it throws up a good TID number, that will be a bonus.

The nice thing about Newfoundland is the old relics. The closer you get to the East coast of Canada, the more older stuff there is. You said exchange so that means you have a Newfie headed your way. I said the French are funny but Newfies are downright hilarious. Better get a translator. ?

An ideal situation has about 3-4 or more targets per square foot. I have been going back to an area the size of a living room for years and still get old gold there. I've pulled 14 gold rings from there so far. If you believe that Tom Dankowski article from a while back about approx 70%-80% of targets being masked, how many gold rings are left in that swimming hole? About 85. As high as that sounds, figure "modern" people have been swimming there for well over a hundred years, losing 1 gold ring a year and the numbers work. Realistically only bits of these ideal areas are exposed on an average day, so the 11" serves as a allarounder. Work the shore until you get frustrated, then go offshore, rinse and repeat. If you are so sanded in that you need to hunt with a 15", I would just go somewhere else or look for silver on land until conditions improve. Remember you still have to dig those targets, a hole twice the size is 8 times as many scoops, not counting the sand you will scoop multiple times as the hole collapses into itself. The 11" can find smallish stuff, however we can all see those targets have something special and alike about them. You could fit probably 6 - 8 individual links from a bracelet just across that earring back. I found lots of earring backs with my 11" Excal too, even on the shoreline from time to time. That doesn't have much to do with chains, the smaller, not round, broken ring, no-hole, irregular shape, lower conductors. Not that it mattered because the 11" coil could only see iron. Lets say that the targets in the picture satisfy you, great. Now what happens if everything else in the picture is iron besides the turtle? Do you still want the 11"? I bet you do because you don't know what you're missing, literally. (No offense, just a well placed pun) I'd be surprised if the 6" could hit it. I'm open minded that not everyone conditions are like mine, maybe some are always having to dig in deep sand, however I would bet money that they are more similar then you think. Water hunting for me is about detecting for good conditions. Picking coins and jewelry off the surface is the easy part unless I'm swinging a coil too big for the target density.

That would be awesome. Those frenchman can be pretty fun dudes to work with. Its funny you mention that because I have always wanted to go into one of those mines and detect the bedrock before reclamation. I envisioned bring along a little side by side vehicle to carry a small pump, vacuum brooms etc. Seems to me there could potentially be some pretty good gold that the excavators just cant pick up from the surface and in the cracks.

I just know those tailings piles hold potato gold. Dawson is a good suggestion, I guess it would be nice to have some spots tourist spots to visit as well. I'd like to check out a steamship too. I can do the claimsmap online from here, but it will be a bit like throwing darts until I can narrow down some area that might be worth staking a or even buying a claim. Thanks for the suggestions.

Thanks for the link, I knda forgot about GPEX. I suppose that the geology is so similar, I can still gain some insight by reading the threads here.

The pinpoint mode on the Excal is more like a All-metal mode. This is an interesting question, I'll be watching to see what you guys come up with. I was thinking of trying gold mode and maybe saving that so I can quickly switch between the two modes.

The shorelines are loaded with targets. That 6" coil would certainly yield more targets then a 15" would on my local beaches. I know there are hundreds of targets on the shore that I just can't separate vs there might be a deeper target off shore that a 15" hits that the stock 11" wouldn't. If I happen to walk over it. If the conditions are ideal, the 6" is the best choice. Coverage is your enemy because conditions are ideal. If the conditions are realistic, the 11" is the way to go. 11" is versatile. If you think the 15" is the best because it is bigger, stick with the 11" and 6" combo. Unless you want to look for boat anchors, don't use a huge coil unless you are willing to give up the sensitivity to smaller items. Are you sanded in, desperate to hit anything, would be happy with a high inductance ring? A 15" is a good choice. I sometimes use a 5x10 because its not all about depth, for good conditions a 5x10 finds you way more then a 15" coil ever would. WAY MORE, IN BOLD EVEN. It can be a night and day difference. Tennis bracelets, little chunky 22K earrings with rubies and diamonds etc are the types of things that you can get with the smaller coils. A smaller coil can actually be deeper on smaller targets, on edge targets, without even addressing the unmasking. I've bent over and picked up rings right off of the bottom that a 11" coil would not make a peep on due to masking. I couldn't see anything but the rings both times, it still nulled out/iron farted. This is at zero depth, on the surface. (Underwater) A real eye-opener, its one thing to suspect it, but when you see it you all of a sudden feel overwhelmed. What can we do with a 15" coil in this situation? I tell you what you do, walk offshore and hope for a fresh ring drop in the clear sand. Maybe get a quarter or a tall boy can. If you're real lucky maybe try to scoop up a chain connected to a block of concrete, that's a great way to kill 20 minutes. Like most settings on a metal detector, its a compromise, not a linear equation. If the answer seems easy we're probably wrong. That is why 90% of detectorists get 10% of the good stuff. ?

You are right Daniel Tn, the CoilTek I had was pretty crappy too. The ears seemed like they were hollow, they were too far apart to tighten down without a home-made plastic shim. It was also assembled with tape and had the explicit warning that it wasn't waterproof. (Unlike every other coil ever made lol)

Oh ya, the machine is way to popular to not have a football for it. They have one for the Xterra series and I would bet there are a lot more serious prospectors using the Equinox going forward then using the Xterra in the past. They probably didn't have one for the FBS machines because they weren't really suited for those types of targets but the Equinox is in a big way. The 6" is a hot coil, but I think I would prefer to hunt using a 5x10" for the coverage.

Yes, to clarify, I am a freshwater hunter.

Anyone detecting on the Canadian side of the border. I would love to hear about it, I'm not looking for locations specifically, I get that just wondering about the plausibility and your successes stories and failures. For example they did a show here a few years back, I think it was called Devils Canyon. Anyhow they dropped these contestants off in the woods for a month to find some gold. So some of these characters did find a bit of gold, decent gold, that is neither here nor there, what struck me is I am pretty sure I could have found more gold then they did if I had metal detector at those sites. I'm in Ontario so I kinda have to do my research online as much as possible. Our gold is essentially locked up in hard rock. We have a the odd river a few hours north that could potentially yield a bit of flour with a pan, but that doesn't really interest me at this point, I can find a lot more weight in gold alloys locally. The plan is to get my old man out there in a RV for a bit of prospecting. He has always wanted to take a prospecting trip somewhere, but frankly I don't really want to leave the country to do it (Unless I KNEW I was getting gold lol) and his health isn't the best so if we could just drive a RV out there to have all the comforts and amenities I think it would be doable.

More then likely.

It was typical of the Excalibur to iron out on the deepest targets while running discrimination, particularly targets with already lowish conductivity or small in size. Typically offshore targets were located in all metal mode, then some sand would have to be removed to get a good sweep with discrimination. I don't know what the Platinum should behave like, but having a bit of nulling out on deep targets isn't a huge deal as Minelab multi frequency machines typically hold numbers deeper then any other brand. I haven't tried a All Metal mode with this machine in the water yet, I assume I'll be using one of the Gold modes. (The horseshoe button probably doesn't increase depth like running a more traditional all-metal mode would)

1. A bad days detecting - Trying to find a spot away from Joe Public, wasting time driving around to find a place with minimal people, only to find I forgot something important, like a metal detector etc. 2. A moderately good day detecting, - Got out detecting, the few people that are around show little interest in what I am doing. Didn't forget anything. 3. A good day - A bit of silver. 4. And a outstanding days detecting. A gold ring or sometimes two.