GotAU?

One of my friends does a lot of underground work in mines doing bat surveys and uses a net to catch them (permitted and all to do it). One time she said a bat, so she thought, flew off a ledge by her face and she caught it mid-air with the net. Her net began to buzz and she dumped out not a bat, but a rattlesnake that had been sitting up on the wall of the mine adit, probably climbing up towards the ceiling to get to roosting bats! Be careful in mines, and watch out for rattlesnakes not only on the floors, but jumping out from the walls as well! 😧

My buddy and I used to save lizards and snakes that would get trapped in a long concrete lined drainage canal near where I lived as a kid. We’d collected more than a dozen sidewinders one time and released them on a nearby sand dune in the desert, but unknown to us, someone was camping near where we released them. Boy, was he freaked out when he drove by us saying that he saw a bunch of snakes in the area and was leaving!

Ugh, glad you got out 😅 People tend to think their vehicles can drive through moving water but don’t realize the amount of force it receives against one side when crossing perpendicular to the current. If in a emergency and deep water, diagonal as much as possible heading downstream is better- at least thats what my swift water rescue class instructor said- you may avoid hydrolocking the engine and can’t flip as easily as sideways to the current. But then getting out safely as fast as possible like you did is the best thing! Stay safe!

Google for 5% off code- it works… 🤫

That makes sense for beach detecting, there was no salt in the ground I was detecting which I think may make a huge difference- I was in a dry freshwater creek bed with very loosely packed decomposed granite alluvium.

If an Equinox 800 can detect a .01g aluminum pull-tab using the 11-inch coil at almost 2-feet, a 6000 better be able to pick up lunker nuggets like that one at least as deep because I know a Nox sure could! 😉

Thanks for sharing a nice day out there! Miss seeing desert foxes out there while camping. They are not shy, once had a pair come right up to us during dinnertime!

Well, you better hurry then! 😁 Naw, I really just have a Nox and GM, and a Thompson. I made a promise to myself, and to my better half, that I’d only replace a detector if it paid for itself or if it was hopelessly broken. The later is my caviot to getting a 6000 - “oops…. honey, I ‘accidentally’ ran it over and I don’t think it can be fixed!” 🥲😔 After reading and hearing about the area, I realize it is heavily claimed and worked. Jim Straight certainly wrote a lot about it to peak my interest. Having never worked the El Paso’s before, for my first trip I’d just plan to bring topo and geology maps and tour the area first to get an idea of access roads and the geology of the area. Then maybe I’d try a bit of detecting or sample drywashing on the club claims or remote open areas that look interesting where I can legally go.

Gerry in Idaho has a lot if experience with using a Nox on tailings- this is a good read too: https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/15207-why-ive-found-more-ounces-of-au-with-sub-1000-detector-when-i-own-an-sdc-gpx-gpz/?tab=comments#comment-155676

Sounds like you know the place well! Are there any claims that far in?

Thanks, thats a kind offer I’ll take you up on! I am a new Taft member, but haven’t been able to go there yet. The SDMA also, their claims are closer to Red Mountain and Johannesburg. I’ll PM my contact info for you. Thanks!

I recently picked up a Falcon MD20 detector to help in sampling for possible ore, but its coil is very small though, about an inch in diameter, so it would take a lot of time to cover any area and is best used as a pinpointer.

Curious, did anyone test the differences with a Nox and the stock larger coil vs. the 6-inch?

KDOCOC- I’m still new at the Nox, but I do know that it may be exactly what you need for the type of area you described. The 6000 and the 2300 can’t discriminate iron, so if you are in a trashy area you will be doing a lot of digging. A Nox with a 6-inch coil or the larger stock coils will do you well, it will report some negative numbers for non-ferrous, but if your time is limited it can help you concentrate more on positive number targets with the highest probability of being what you are looking for.

Phrunt did a comparison video between the 10x5 and the 6inch, have you seen it? Seemed that they were both equally sensitive, the 10x5 mostly towards the front and the 6-inch across the middle. Overall, it looked like they were both equally good and the main difference was detection area. I asked anout getting one, but stuck with the 6-inch after getting recommendations that the 6-inch was just as good for finding smalls. That’s a nice nugget! Did you find it? I’m about a two hour drive from both the El Paso’s and 29 Palms, but only really spent most of my time in the Dale Mining District (29 Palms). It has very small gold mostly, so dry washing is more productive there. I will have a better chance now to detect over in the El Paso’s as I recently joined a club with several claims there. I certainly like the area, Randsburg is a interesting place to visit.

Great comparison report, thanks! I was planning on going to that training as well with that new updated detector in hand, but I decided it would be best for me to stick to a VLF and went with Eq800 instead from Gerry. So I am curious, and did you find the initial setting recommendations that Gerry eMailed to his Eq800 customers useful as is or did you guys tweak things a little, especially for the smaller stuff? If he did any updates to settings in the field, would love to hear how that went and what was done!

Simon, you seem to know an awful lot about this unit, almost as though you already bought one...😆

Just a friendly reminder to anyone who wants to go there- It’s a really neat area where you can still see Sherman tank tracks and rows upon rows of neatly aligned rocks marking where roads and camps were set up 80 years ago, and there are many cool other things to see left over from that era from our nation’s history. I know it well as I worked alongside of an archaeological survey in that area for several months. It’s a land worth visiting and exploring, but people wanting to go there need to know that metal detecting, disturbing of and collection of any historic artifacts is prohibited within Patton’s and other related sites and camps at the Desert Training Center on both National Park and BLM managed lands of the DTC. The area is part of the Mojave National Preserve, and has been designated recently as a nationally significant historic site. Honor their service by protecting their memory for future generations. https://www.deserttrainingcenter.com

About 8%, didn't worry about getting taken at all as all the dealers here have a very good reputation and besides, we know where they all live! 😉 But seriously, they are well known by many here, and they’ve been customer first whenever I needed help. I wouldn’t buy from anyone else.

Thought about it, and even put down a deposit, but then went with an 800 instead. We’re just not that close to the kind of places where a 6000 could do anything more than what a high frequency VLF can do with a small coil. I’ll wait a few more years for retirement when I can spend quality time with the thing out there where it can do the most.

Wonder if something sticky like powdered rosin (music store) or a spilled coke would help? Is the lock losing its grip due to the shaft getting glazed and too smooth under the lock through lots of use?

I’m going to go watch reruns of She Detector on YouTube, you guys sound like a bunch of old bird watchers and mailmen at happy hour!😆

Ugh, I am pulling the reference- found a review that said it doesnt sync well with video so it may not be aptX compatible and probably not low latency. Sorry!

I have to check on that, good point!

Edit: this model looked good when I first posted it but it may not be low latency or aptX compatible so it may not be useful for detecting- sorry. This model is waterproof-just a speaker without ear buds, will try it out and post a review: BUGANI waterproof wearable bluetooth speaker: Edit: pulled reference , it wasn't low latency- always check! Sorry if I wasted anyone’s time.