Hi Mike
I have heard many great things about the Panning Championships and I would like to go so maybe next year :-) Detecting here is really unclear as it seems everyone does it, they do it without permission from anyone and they just avoid protected sites. As I understand it you are allowed to use a metal detector but anything you find belongs to the state and you could be rewarded 10% of the value. I have been on a few hunts with archeologists and everything was handed in. The Slovak Republic has recently changed the laws and it is now forbidden to use a metal detector there. Regarding the Tele-Knox stem please have a look on the detecting-innobvations.co.uk site.
Let me know when you come to CZ and I can give you some advice.
Regards,
Scott