Off Grid

Being a data-junkie sorta guy I put together the attached comparisons for my GB2 versus my ATX. Hope it helps. I think the "Buried" data is the most useful. The rig is a PVC conduit pipe buried at a 1:10 slope in slightly iron-stained dry quartz sand. I push nuggets down it until I achieve whatever threshold signal I'm looking for. The depth is a tenth of the distance down pipe. I bought the ATX because it's cheaper than a Minelab and I was really surprised that the ATX really didn't give me more depth than the GB2 but I was a newbie on the ATX when I did all this. In the field I've yet to find something with the ATX that the GB2 doesn't sound off on too. That may be because conditions are perfect for the GB2, low mineralization and dry as dust. Where the ATX scores is over hot rocks (siltstone with magnetite) and in rare clay patches that the GB2 hates. It also covers more ground per swing than the GB2. The downside of ATX is the weight, the weight and the weight! Detector Comparisons.xls

Steve Thanks for the links. I liked the tow coil post. Basically an airborne system flying at zero feet! My ground is too rugged for that but I recall that an early base metal EM system had the operator wearing a 5-6 foot coil like a giant hula hoop. One for the back-burner.... Next trip I'll blow the dust off my GB Mk1 for which I have a 14" aftermarket coil, pay attention to ground balance and give no-motion a shot over a hammered patch.

My first post here, coil-related, so I hope it's not too off topic. Two more spanners... First off I hunt residual gold mostly, not transported alluvial stuff and until I started nugget hunting a lot two years back I always thought that the term "gold patch" was just that, a term. To my surprise I've found that nuggets cluster really tightly. Although the district is a few square miles patches are no more than a hundred square yards with a whole lot of nothing between patches. So I tend to visit a patch multiple times. 1st pass-discovery, 2nd pass- move all the rocks, 3rd pass buy a PI and try again! Question 1 Is there a really thorough article somewhere on using no-motion mode? Both Garret and Fisher kinda cough and shuffle their feet on the subject saying it's best left to experienced users. Well, thanks guys that's real helpful! Question 2 (Full disclosure - I was an exploration geologist for many years and came up against EM systems) Has anybody ever used a relatively large, fixed transmitter loop and a roving receiver for nuggets in known patches where the soil profile is way, way thicker than even a GPZ's range. It's a standard technique in metals exploration and the large tranmitter and the ability to put more current through it would seem a no-brainer to get more depth in great patches that have been hammered? BTW I really enjoy this site and the discussions on it. Thanks.