Aureous

ah, sorry....nowhere did you say it was for offshore work, i just assumed it was for your normal task of digging monster nuggets lol. yeah the Nokta should be the best choice for the money i expect <rubbing chin, eyes skyward>

The Fisher F Pulse is the only waterproof Pulse induction pinpointer that has seen a heap of actual goldfield use, that Im aware of. For less than AU$250, I reckon it should be on your list. The Nokta one could be a good'un too but Ive heard nuthin about its use in the goldfields.

The true PI-IB hybrid would potentially give us the 'holy grail': actual iron ID or discrim at full or near-full depth. Write up some decent code to deliver actual high coil energy saturation with low'ish sample delays and you could have an amazing deep iron ID relic detector or deep nugget hunter that should give the GPZ a run.

This topic has been championed by Steve for a very long time, nothing new in this subject at all..... None of the manufacturers have 'come to the party'...Yet. But both Nokta and Fisher have just such PI detectors in the works. Perhaps 2023 is the year.....

Yes that could work....I dont think any company has trialed a DOD coil for Induction balance design yet? It still uses twin windings...but will depend on if there's a benefit to doing that or not.

Any CC or DD coil can function as both PI or VLF, provided both sides of the circuitry matched the specs of the coil. Mono's cannot work though coz VLF (Induction Balance) needs two coil windings for transmit and receive.

All pics, tester samples and discussion has been related to a solid coil.

Searching for that kind of treasure, a GPX5000 would be the best option using the 25" NF coil. In General/Normal setting, it would beat the TDI with a quite noticeable margin. BUT, the price difference is 3X. If you can find a good TDI for $1,000, you can expect to pay $3,000 for a GPX5000. It all depends on your budget.

The selection of detector is entirely up to your intended use of it. What purpose is it for??...Gold nuggets? General prospecting? Deep old coins or relics? Hidden hoards of caches of treasure? Of the 3 Whites TDI's, the original TDI Pro (or 'Oz Series') will have the extreme depth benefit due to the higher voltage. They are also much cheaper than the GPX5000. All Whites products are available on the used market because the company no longer exists. Once we know what you are looking for with your new detector purchase, the advice will be more specific.

The same thing is avail on Ebay (where I got mine) and can attest to its use-ability, its awesome. Whomever at Minelab thought that the twist-(not) lock was a good idea, needs a good slappin'..... Yeah, the dramas re the chip wiring and programming (another totally stupid idea) are well known and I can only shudder when considering the amount of time, effort and money lost getting the whole shamozzle fixed. Whilst anxious to get the product we paid for, we can empathize with Rohan and Co, given the details. By all accounts, the 12x7 is first off the rank (within days/weeks), followed by the 16x10 (perhaps in March) and then the 8.5x6.

I owned a 24K (Whites version) but sadly had to sell it to afford the GPX6000. I still think that the 24K is the best HF VLF out there. BUT, I will always need a backup detector and I occasionally spend time detecting for coins/relics around old gold rush townsites and will eventually take some time off and head to the beach now and then. So, ideally a detector that is capable of ALL that is what I need. The true 'multi-purpose' aspect of the Nox800 fits the bill better than any other detector currently.

Yes, there is....BUT the Nox 800 and 900 (and maybe Manticore) as you say certainly stretch that boundary. My next purchase will prob be a discounted Nox800 wholly due to the fact that it is such a great VLF prospecting unit. As you know the 24K and the Gold Kruzer both have discrim/target ID options and can be used as a basic coin/relic hunter, but mainly the design of these focuses on faster threshold retune and mineral filtering with more purposeful coil options. From my limited use of a Nox800, the designers have certainly made almost the perfect multi-purpose VLF detector. As Gerry said, its a great machine for gold prospecting in its own right!

I agree, nuthin negative about it....definitely in the top 3 HF VLF detectors out there. I think what splits the 24K, Gold Kruzer and GB2 is personal preference and coil selections.

An actual smooth VCO threshold instead of that woeful pop, fart and click attempted digital processing non-threshold that the 'Monster' has now..... at least as an option...

If you have a multi meter, try selecting resistance (ohms) and see if you get any numbers. The fact that its not magnetic would suggest it aint a meteorite. About 75% of all meteorite types are magnetic, at least weakly.... The silvery exposure could be a metallic ore or hydrothermal graphite. If you tap it with a hammer, does it flake away or crumble into tiny crumbs or powder?

I think the 24K is already the 'Apex' of VLF nugget detectors..... although I love the GB2 also. Being an 80's era detectorist, the manual ground balance is something I miss (prob only for nostalgia reasons). Sure the ergonomics could always benefit from a re-design, but the only way I would add a H/F VLF to my prospecting arsenal is if technology was created to eliminate/reduce the ground signal better and without losing the H/F sensitivity (the whole reason for using a VLF for prospecting). I will purchase an Equinox this year, but thats mainly as backup or multi purpose (coin/relic/tiny gold) use. Top of my list for H/F VLF's would easily be the 24K or a close second is the Gold Kruzer. I think the GB2 could benefit from better coils though and be a contender also. BUT, the 'next step' is always gonna be new technology for ground signal reduction, not ergonomics.....but that will no doubt be included when ML, NM or Garrett take that step.

In case anyone's wondering....it was deep iron. A large pry bar split in half 😞 Only 2 foot down and a liter of water drank.....

I've stuck to a term 'bits' where the gold is under a gram.....after that, the 'N' word is applied 😉 Good start to the year Simon <huge thumbs up> I'm off to a flying start as well. I'm heading back to the same spot today, just to dig up 2 big, deep targets that my old 1990's era pick can't reach. Probably deep iron, but ya never know....

There is a feedback effect in the audio circuit which many have noticed but are you actually hearing the coil without the speaker or headphones supplying the noise? I am one of the lucky ones, with an actually useful 11" mono coil. Seems the Malaysians are/were completely out of their depth in regards to coil building, compared to the Koreans. Once I finally receive my NF 12x7, I suspect it won't ever be removed except for when I need the AI benefits of the 14DD.

Yeah the 6000 is a beast on small gold so the physical numbers were always gonna be higher. Yeah, love the lower weight of the 6000, my shoulder is very weak from surgery and punishment from 40+ years of swinging heavy detectors lol

Thanks, hope your year was a good one too

I didn't get to the 800 mark like I was hoping this year. The 6000 certainly improved numbers quite a bit but the overall weight was down slightly. Only 774 pieces for the year. 5.25oz. Better than the 608 I got last year with the 4500 and 24K, but weight was slightly less (6.1oz). Still pretty good considering I'm hitting the same areas as previous years (mostly within 10km of home) and only spending an average of 16 hours each week detecting. Biggest was the half ouncer, with a big specie containing 9 grams and several 3 grammers and 2 grammers. Love to know how others have done for 2022. Posting some gold pics for future inspiration..... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

True story.....a guy I used to know in the detector club I was in back in the 80's, was also a keen beach detectorist and got sick of people wasting his time also......so he painted with white-out the words "F%#K OFF!" on his huge headphones! Worked equally as well as having a pet monkey throwing sh*t at them.....

Best way to lighten a 7000 is to remove the coil, control box and stems and buy a 6000!