Lunk

Beau, it was great working with you and your GPZ 7000 at the training class...glad you were able to dig a couple of yellow souvenirs!

Rick, always good to see you in the Nevada outback...I know there’s a brand new nugget patch just waiting for you out there somewhere!

Great to hear the Zed is treating you well, Dave; it’s amazing how a little knowledge and a good machine can open the door.

Yes, as well as the revised settings I posted earlier in this thread.

4 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Hopefully I can get back down there 1 more time before the weather sets in.

The weather is beautiful right now, so come on down!

5 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

If there is a tuning wizard out of the three of us though I vote for JP. Lunk and I are more the outliers. No offense meant there Keith! 

No offense taken, amigo, and I totally agree with your assessment: JP is the wizard!

8 hours ago, flakmagnet said:

I was wondering why you use Audio Smoothing on High?

Simply put, in combination with my other audio settings, the target response is the most distinct with High Audio Smoothing. If you switch back and forth between High and Off, you'll hear what I mean.

1 hour ago, cobill said:

Great nugget and video Lunk! Can you share the settings you ran on the GPZ in NV?

Bill

The settings I use are well suited for the current dry soil conditions. They may seem counter intuitive at first, but, as you can see, the proof is in the pudding.

Gold Mode: High Yield, Ground Type: Normal, Sensitivity: 8, Volume: 20, Threshold Level: 27, Threshold Pitch: 25, Volume Limit: 3, Audio Smoothing: High, Ground Smoothing: Locate Patch.

I love every minute detecting with the Zed, Phrunt. We let the dog smell and taste the nugget, but for some reason she seemed more interested in flushing out a nice jack rabbit from the sage brush rather than digging up a piece of gold. 🤔

Hi all,

It’s been awhile since my last post, but I’ll be sharing some knowledge and anecdotes more often, now that my summer job is a thing of the past and I’m free to once again roam the desert southwest, wielding the power of the mighty Zed to unearth nature’s golden treasures.

I was carefully gridding (or - in deference to Gerry in Idaho - crawling) an old nugget patch during a recent trip to the far flung reaches of Nevada’s golden triangle, when the hypnotic drone of the threshold was suddenly broken by a sharp, double “wee-ooh, wee-ooh”. This type of response typically heralds a small and shallow target, usually within six inches of the surface. “Most likely a boot tack or bird shot”, I thought to myself as I crouched down and scraped an inch or two of the dry and dusty desert soil away from the target zone with my pick. Another swing of the detector coil indicated that I had moved the target, and a quick sifting of the material with the hand scoop revealed a small yellow nugget...the first catch of the day! A few more of these shallow pickers were dug during the the next couple of hours, and then I heard a faint, single “wee-ooh”. Knowing that this meant a bit larger target at depth, I went to work hacking into the densely packed soil with my pick until...well, I’ll let this short video tell the rest of the story:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zzmm1pgdrpaswe7/Nugget dig.mov?dl=0

The actual weight of the nugget turned out to be 5.6 grams, bringing the total for the day to over a quarter of an ounce of the good stuff!

2 hours ago, LuckyLundy said:

Gerry, great to finally meet you and always good to see Lunk’s smiling Mug!

Good fun b.s.ing out there with you guys, Lucky! Hope you got a poke full this trip.

Nice haul, amigo; always a pleasure chasing nuggets with you.

When I first got into nuggetshooting, I learned a great deal from Jim’s publications. And a few years later I was fortunate enough to hunt with him in the northern Nevada goldfields. And then several years ago I ran into him in Randsburg, where he graciously took me on a geologic tour of the area. I will always remember his sense of humor and passion for prospecting. Rest in peace my friend.

WTG!

WTG Oneguy! Hopefully the tick population was decimated by the cold weather this winter...I could do without the little blighters.

Nice finds, Dave!

18 hours ago, mn90403 said:

Over the weekend I saw someone take a new 2300 and place on one of the new coils.  After using that coil for a bit of time he switched back in about 15 minutes.  The new coil found a tiny little nugget.  I don't remember which one of the 3 he used but he ended up buying a second coil by the end of the weekend.

As I recall, he was using the 11-inch round when he found his first nugget, and dug 2 more with the 5x10-inch elliptical.

Sweet finds! Glad to hunt with you this trip!

Gerry, I’m excited about being one of the instructors during the upcoming class. Folks, this is an excellent opportunity to learn and grow your nugget detecting skills, master your gold detector and experience advanced instruction unique to Gerry’s field training...don’t miss out!

I’ve purchased from Gerry’s Metal Detectors for many years before he asked me to join his team of detector training staff, and he always went above and beyond with exceptional customer service. No matter what type of detecting you have in mind, whether it be coin, relic, jewelry, cache, beach, gold nuggets or meteorites, Gerry will quickly find the detector that’s right for you...he’s like the custom tailor of metal detecting!?

No worries mate!

On 3/14/2019 at 5:01 AM, strick said:

me thinks Wade needs a GPZ...but what do I know 

He was seriously thinking about it after that dig, Strick!?

On 3/14/2019 at 12:43 PM, phoenix said:

ah but there`s the thing Lunk.

Actually that post was made by Klunker and not me, but I have been a huge fan of the Rubik’s cube since its debut in 1980! ?

On March 18, 2019 at 2:23 PM, mn90403 said:

Does anyone have a suggested 800 setting for meteorites?

I have a suggestion, Mitchel: stick with the GPZ 7000 for hunting those GB space rocks! And take advantage of the 19" coil...maximum ground coverage is key when detecting meteorites. And with ZVT, you'll be picking up far fewer hot rocks than with a VLF, which means you can move faster, not to mention the significant depth advantage.

And who knows? You may even swing over a golden lunker lurking in the depths...?

2 hours ago, afreakofnature said:

But what I really want to know is if you can put the orignal 8" back on and have the coil or the entire machine waterproof again.

Ask, and ye shall receive:

ctmenquiry@coiltek.com.au

My old friend, the late great Smokey Baird of Lovelock, Nevada, knew Ben Thompson and said he used to live out at Barrel Springs, working his claims there. I got into the northern Nevada area just after T-Bone was killed, and I knew "two-pound" Dick Bailey before he found his big nugget, back when he used to work as a tire repairman at the Burns Bros truck stop at Mill City.