okara gold

I have the M8 and have used it solely at the salt beaches in and out of the water. You can certainly boost the sensitivity in the wet sand and completely submerged. I am hunting at a sensitivity around 27 in Beach Low Conductors along the water's edge and up the slope with not too much background noise but there is chatter depending how fast you swing, sand anomalies, etc. But... I always push the noise limits which I am used to by now. In the water (4 times now), I can hunt around 26 or 27 Beach Submersed and sometimes Beach General depending on the bottom contour. It is much easier to swing than the 11 inch. It seems as deep as the larger coil and is more sensitive to tiny bits of metal. One problem I have are tiny bits of metal falling through the scoop. I am hunting salt beaches with hardly any mineralization. 

Way to go Skull diver! You work hard for the gold!

On 1/16/2024 at 8:09 PM, TampaBayBrad said:

You are absolutely correct, not much to be found unless your name is okara gold. 😄

I'm going to try again Thursday. Very nice score on the Tiffany. She's happy!

Hey Brad!! I'm glad someone remembers me! 😂 Things have been slow here. I went back to work all this past week so no hunting for me. I have been a painting contractor for 32 years and now do just a few jobs by word of mouth. So, the only thing swinging lately is a paint brush. 😭Stay tuned!!

On 1/16/2024 at 7:54 AM, fishersari said:

What does this mean? that recovery speed of 4 gives the best overall responses of what's in the ground?

Yes... Apparently, Tom is saying that a recovery speed of 4 is the best "marriage" of the Manticores electronics and a wet-salt environment. I have tried switching between a 3 and 4 speed on numerous targets as a test and for me, the recovery speed of 4 is sharper in audio and also lets me run my sensitivity higher. 

On 1/14/2024 at 7:45 PM, fishersari said:

I am wondering if sensitivity of 27 and recovery of 3 is equal or better/worse than sensitivity of 30 and recovery of 4 as I conclude regarding sensitivity/recovery speed relations to depth (correct me if I'm wrong) the recovery speed have more mmm how to say.. 'impact' than the sensitivity.. 3 to 4 level of sensitivity equates to 1 level drop of recovery speed to achieved same depth on my beach .. of course the lower recovery speed,  more skewed the targets and ground responses but its still manageable/understood with proper/much slower coil control/swing.

I guess what I'm wondering is what do I gain/lose if I am using 30 sensitivity with all the amplified falsing/ground response etc with the recovery speed of 4 vs sensitivity 25-27 with recovery speed 3.

I know you using 30 and recovery speed of 3 which is my dream setting to run if I can.. 

 

This is what Tom D said about using a 3 or 4 recovery.

I would much rather you keep Recovery Speed on '4' ((than 3)). If conditions are allowing/authorizing you to drop your Recovery Speed....... I would much rather you bump up Sens by a point or two. , . , . , . , rather than deviating from a Recovery Speed of 4. ((( In most places around the World........ a Recovery Speed of '4' creates a electronic symbiotic harmonious quescense balance between electronics VS wet-salt ))).

Sweet looking ring and 18K. Nice!!!

Nice going on the clean-up that the other guy missed!

A few years ago, I was hunting in the water in the Adirondack Mt's in NY State. The area is known for having deposits of iron ore. This is a picture of the inside and outside of my scoop that I have a magnet attached to and is covered in black sand after just a few target digs. This was with the Nox 800. 

Before that, I was using the Excal and it struggled to pick up a nickel several inches deep along the shore. The shoreline was covered with black sand and literally shut down the Excal. That prompted me to buy my first PI and those areas were never a problem again.

6 hours ago, fishersari said:

We want in the ground test~~ we want in the ground test~~~ 😁

• Recovery at 3
• "Prospecting" audio

man... I wish I can  run the manticore at this recovery speed for the m11. For now the lowest I can do is 4... when I'm on 3.. the ground/target response is much different for my ears.. cant make sense of it.. with m8 I can run recovery speed of 2/3.. don't know why..

 

99% of the time I'm running recovery at 4 on the salt beaches with the M11. I have tried 3 but the ground response is way too broad and reacts to the salt too much. If I slow my swing speed to a snail's pace, I could possibly hunt on 3 without too much background noise. Coil control is also so, so important. I'm looking forward to getting the M8 as it should enable me to run a much higher sensitivity level, thus punching deeper and hopefully a better response to chains. Also, with the M8 the salt response will be less.

Nice hefty ring with some 18 and 14K thrown in just for fun! Congrats! 

That's a beauty for sure. I used to live in upstate NY and there are plenty of old areas to hunt. Open fields, woods, etc. Really miss that now that I'm full time in Florida but do several trips a year to visit family up north and return to the old areas.

I always cringe and shake my head when I hear someone say, "That's the find of a lifetime or you'll never top that". Don't believe it! 

Around 1990 I found a 5 oz nugget in AZ. A lot of people said that's the find of a lifetime! It actually depressed me a little thinking... Wow... That's it? I've reached the pinnacle already?  Nothing better for me?? About 6 years later I found a 15 oz nugget containing 12 troy oz of gold.

So don't ever think that something you have found no matter how spectacular it is can't possibly be topped by you again...someday. I think it keeps the lure of the hunt strong.

I saw rocks AND boulders not to mention some great jewelry. Interesting and fun read!

What an absolutely awesome find. You say you're fairly new to this but certainly are making some stellar finds. Virginia is gold country too, so I wouldn't be surprised if you come across a nugget someday. Years ago, I had permission to camp and dredge for gold in Goldvein, VA. Stayed there for one month and left with 1/4 oz. Best to you and your future hunts!

Great story of your 2023 hunts and very nice pictures to go with it all! Good luck in this new year! 

Congratulations on your first gold. It will be something you will always remember. That ring now needs some company. Go get some more. 

That sure is some nice looking gold! 18K is hard to beat and always a welcomed sight.  There have been a number of times I found a gold medallion of some sort that came off a chain and I keep forgetting to search hard around the area for the chain. Next time we won't forget. 

14 hours ago, TampaBayBrad said:

Thanks, I'll check it out. Not sure I'm ready to commit to the bother of suiting up just yet. Our cold water season is really only a couple months long and there's no depositors going in the water during that time anyway. I may get the urge....

Hey Brad. Maybe this will give you the urge to get wet. 😀 I was in the water a few days ago after the gulf calmed down enough for me to check out a trough that formed running parallel to shore. 
Hunted 3 hours… 2 gold rings. The thin tarnished ring is 10k and had been there a long time. The other is 14k. You’re right about no one getting in the water now so I’m watching the passing cold fronts causing big waves and hopefully sand movement in the water. This time it paid off. I broke the thin 10k when cleaning it.

I'm wearing a 3mm full wetsuit but sometimes that isn’t enough for me to stay warm on windy, cloudy days. I’m looking for a heavier one now. 

She’s a beauty!!

Looks like a good size pond there. A nice place to spend some time on those hot summer days. I’d pay some special attention around that area too. Good luck!

Looks like a beautiful place to search. Congratulations on those early finds. More and more yet to come!

Here is the best Minelab bag I ever owned. It is thick, heavy and really durable. I can’t remember how long I’ve had it, or how I got it but it was Made in Australia! That probably says a lot. 

That’s probably why it was free. 😊 

Gave a quick look at the new website. I didn't know they made such a large assortment of specialty products such as all the night vision gear, even underwater nighttime vision good for 20-meter submersion. If I'm ever 20 meters deep... they'll be dredging for my body. 💀

I'm wondering about the slow release of the coils also. Could it be that Minelab wanted to wait about 1 year since the first release of Manticore to see how many would be sold in that timeframe, and then start the manufacture of say... 1000, 5000, 10,000 coils? The more they have made the cheaper is their production cost.  

I've been using the same settings that Tom suggested, Brad uses and CJC just posted for a long time now. I pretty much hunt exclusively on the wet beach or in the salt water. I am more than pleased with these settings as I feel the sound in prospecting audio is very sharp and telling about depth, size and sometimes composition of the target. By composition I am referring to aluminum pieces that are irregular in shape and produce a sharper cut off sound than gold or copper. I have tried 5 tones, etc but keep going back to the prospecting audio. Tom has also just recently suggested trying Beach General IN the salt water as it is the second most sensitive setting (next to Beach LC) for gold. I have tried it twice now and am able to use a sensitivity around 19 / 20 comfortably in the water and am sure I can use more sensitivity once the Gulf water smooths out some more. He has changed the ferrous limits and type of GB with this approach, so more time is needed to tell if it is better for my location.