rumblefish

Surely there must be a dealer in Cape Town or Johannesburg?

I can hear that beach now: "I can breathe! I can breathe!" Just staggering the amount of crap people leave behind.

Casual thieves, yes. But when the detector in question costs $10,000 you may find a different class of thief operating. It happens with expensive cars. The thieves have buyers already lined up and seek out specific cars to target, because they know they can sell them on immediately. They track the cars to the owners home/work, then at an opportune moment they steal them. Be careful not to be to obvious when using your detector in open spaces. A tracker or "invisible" marking system would be a good idea, as you said.

It would be interesting to see what an SDC 2300 could do with a bigger coil. I can't see Minelab providing it though, since the detector is hardwired to its coil. It would need a DIY hack on a spare/old unit to see if it works.

Diorite and Granite are both intrusive igneous rocks, which means that they were formed when magma flows into spaces under the earth's surface and cools. Their mineral composition varies somewhat - the type of feldspar they contain is different for example. But they are both formed from the flow and cooling of molten rock, a geologcial event which could also bring gold up into the region. You won't find these very old rocks (or the gold around them) unless they have been exposed by erosion or a major earth movement. So if you see them, it could be a good indicator of exposed gold in the area.

Seems to me that phrase should be: "Gold is where everyone else finds it".

If you're in a place with no sand scoops available you could try a kitchen/garden supply shop. I bought a huge plastic strainer spoon from a kitchen store that is perfect for digging and waving over a detector. Maybe you could use a flour sieve, a colander, a garden sieve.... you'll have to improvise. Something might be ideal that has nothing to do with beaches or digging! Maybe a poop scoop or a plastic shovel for a cat's litter tray...

I do most of my gold hunting in and around water, so I use a pair of these neoprene boots. They work pretty well on land too, but they are not that breathable. You may have to shoe goo (glue) some areas of the seam back together occasionally, as they tend to come apart after a few hours in the water. They won't keep your feet dry, but they are good for protecting your feet when rock hopping in and out of water.

That's a really nice gesture, Paul. I'm sure Driller Dave would also be very happy to know his detector was still going strong.

Steve, have you run a side by side test with the regular Garrett Pro-pointer? How much better is the AT? Up to 40% better? haha!

I'm working on something for my SDC 2300 that might be interesting for you. Once I have tried it out I'll post it. The idea is basically to turn the audio signal into a visual one that you can see on a smartphone.

So I dropped my Garrett Pro-Pointer in a lake and now it's totally useless. Can't turn it off at all using the button and it just bleeps like crazy when it feels like it. Does anyone have any real world experience of the waterproof Garrett? I recall that our friends from Nokta also have a new one out, but it's hard to say which is better without someone running a comparative test. Update Well, I actually managed to fix it. The water had rusted up the spring mechanism inside the tiny switch button on the circuit board, so I blasted that and the battery terminals with WD-40, cleaned it out and then reassembled the switch. I re-seated the rubber button on the outside of the pin pointer also, and now it works just fine (actually better than before it got wet). I will have to find a way to seal it around the speaker vent so I don't have to go through all that again!

SDC 2300 and a shovel that's 40% longer.

Never knew about this. Thank you Nugget Bob! There is a small abandoned gold mine close to where I live. I have been meaning to go back inside with the SDC 2300 now the weather is getting better. The floor is covered in white quartz shards where people cut into the walls to find the gold and other minerals, I guess. Previous rock hunters have found some beautiful malachite samples there. All I found was huge frog! It's at the bottom of a steep ravine and I thought previously that I'd seen signs of ancient digging/tailings in the hill above the mine entrance. Perhaps there are other smaller pocket gold deposits above the mine that were never found.

When I first came to the site, it was to ask Steve's advice about the Garrett ATX which had just been released, as it seemed perfect for my situation. After weighing (literally) up the pros and cons against the new (then) SDC 2300, I went with the latter and am very happy with it. Maybe the ATX would have served me better, who knows. I'm more of the opinion that you don't miss what you've never had. That was about a year ago when both Garrett and Minelab had two similar, innovative detectors out at roughly the same time. I guess the big question now is, with people considering selling their GPXs, SDC 2300s and maybe even ATXs, just what does Garrett have, to go up against the GPZ 7000? Or do they go for a different market altogether, with a detector such as Steve's much requested lightweight, terrain ATX at a lower price?

Looks like a well designed pinpointer. I like the accessories. The big question is how well it performs, especially up against the new Garrett Carrot.

Sod the GPZ 7000. I want one of those little white Minelab dogs!

Of course, Steve. I wasn't disputing the all-in-oneness of the GPZ. Only pointing out, from what I saw and heard, that the GPX hasn't suddenly become awful overnight. But since I don't have one anyway, I'm not really worried!

Just be sure she isn't standing behind you with a shovel and a large sack when you start pulling up those nuggets, haha!

I'm not so sure the GPX doesn't pick up something here. If you look closely, JP runs the coil of the GPZ 7000 over a small white stone when he gets the signal. When he runs the GPX over the same ground the white stone is only close to the coil at the very beginning and end of the footage and there is a faint sound. At other times he moves well away from it so of course there is no signal. Would also have been interesting to see the GPX signal once a bit of ground was cleared with the pick. Anyway, it's clear that the GPZ has a stronger signal, but I'm not certain that the GPX doesn't catch something. I also agree with something Steve said in another thread, that just slowing down and taking your time to sweep properly is a major factor in picking up a signal. This will probably happen with people using machines like the SDC 2300, ATX and now the GPZ 7000 where they are going over ground that has seen many detectors before and there is a will to want to find that missing gold (whether it's even there or not!). It could be that just sweeping the coil better and listening harder is what is finding the new gold, not just which detector it is.

I'm still breathing! I love my SDC 2300. I'll be happy with any gold I find with it, and if I want it to go 40% deeper, I'll just dig a deeper hole!

And the TRX has a slightly longer range than the regular Pro Pointer, from what I have read/seen. Did you find the same?

If it's with the standard ATX coil, then probably pretty close to the GPX 5000 bars I would imagine. But since the ATX is waterproof it would have an advantage in that respect.

Bump! Anyone bought one of these or have experience of it? Is it better than the original?

Hi Fred (and anyone else who might know), I have a question that came from your question, and sorry to split the thread.... Are you actually allowed to take gold out of the country that you find it in? Imagine that you find more than just a few small nuggets. Won't the authorities stop you? I live in Europe and would love to go to some of the gold bearing areas in other countries such as Australia, Canada, the USA, maybe even Russia or China, but I always had a doubt about whether I would be allowed out again with the gold. Thanks, richard