1515Art

After a little cleaning the quartz looking Juicy under a display light.

30 minutes ago, delnorter said:

This guy, Glen, has some great DIY recipes for taking on outingS. With a some time and effort you can bring along your favorite home meals and snacks.

https://www.backpackingchef.com/

Mike

Cool tips, thanks

11 hours ago, Gold Catcher said:

That looks awesome. For how long does it last?

I don’t know for sure, I guess it depends on how much fresh food I bring along and how many mouths. Originally the pantry was just to supplement the fresh food but it was nice this last trip out not worrying about ice and keeping things cold. 

Ready to feed a any stray miners, organizing my pantry and adding a few suggestions from this thread the sardines were a good addition this last trip There’s lots of good ideas and some fine looking fresh game being served up out there from the looks of things, happy eating all.

I made it out to Gold Basin for a couple days of hunting until a high wind advisory chased me out on Saturday with a wind gust forecast of it hitting 50mph in the Arizona desert on high ground. The wind started to pick up around 7pm by morning it was buffeting the trailer pretty good. I picked up camp and found a spot protected enough from the wind I could unlatch and drop the top on my a-frame without a strong gust hitting at the wrong time ripping off the roof. Luckily all went without incident and the drive home was uneventful. 
 

the couple pieces I picked up were found on a low bench above the wash at the beginning of the transition from the hillside the larger specimen 19.8g total (tested around 1.5g gold) down about 8” gave a soft deeper mellow high-low, the small piece at .3g with a bit of quartz attached a similar signal down a few inches. 
 

the little meteorite also in the same area and down a few inches hit really hard on the GPZ, a small window shows a high concentration of Iron nickel specks.

1 hour ago, paradiceau said:

Clark,

Glad it worked out to your satisfaction, done is done....

Ever onward through the fog!

Happy Huntin,

Jeff

Incentive to go find a bigger one...

5 minutes ago, madtuna said:

He’s also ripped you off 3 grams

He’s a good guy just an honest mistake on his add, he will make good.

I just want to say thanks to everyone for the comments, I had no doubt the seller would make good I just needed to accept it and move on, thanks for the opportunity to think clearly out loud. As was said “what’s done is done” it’s not bad just different and I wish every problem in life was this simple.

2 minutes ago, geek4gold said:

What a shame. It was FAR nicer in its natural form for sure. I would have been gutted. It would have been nicer wrapped in 22 carat gold wire. The silver tarnishing doesn't look right to me.

G4G

Yep, now it’s a hard act to follow tough to beat what nature gives us. 

9 minutes ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Glad Dave was able to make it right with you.  Yes the before pic was stunning gorgeous and what you received was...aye....gold.

He's been around a long time, so he understands the importance of keeping customers happy.

Yes, silver wire wrap really highlights gold.

I agree silver and subdued the gold is so bright and shiny it needs contrast, we’ll see what she comes up with.

The earnings...

4 hours ago, afreakofnature said:

If you don’t get what you paid for I would send it back. I mean you didn’t even get the pendant part of it. You just bought a nugget not a piece of jewelry. That’s just my two cents and if you say the guy is good and reputable he should do what is right for his customer.

3 hours ago, strick said:

Seems like there was a misunderstanding or something? I dont see why the dealer would have sent you just the acid washed nugget without an explanation...adjustment needed...

strick

I talked to the dealer this morning and found out what happened, apparently he had this up for sale in its natural state for a year with no buyer so he cleaned it and forgot to update the listing, the mount accidentally lost in the process. Replacing the mounts no big deal my wife’s got a 10g’er I found a couple years ago she eventually going to make into jewelry now she can make a matching set using this one for the pendant, the one I found in a ring. Hmmm, guess she’s gonna need earrings a few more out of my poke for each ear, lol... happy wife, happy life.

Anyway I completely understand and they made every offer to make things right from returning it or cash back what a pleasure to buy from. I’ve bought from them a couple times sending paydirt as gifts and the claims they make on the quality of the dirt is accurate as are the customer reviews posted on the website. 
 

GoldBay is the dealer and I highly recommend them, honest as a mid summer day is long and Dave is genuinely a nice guy that stands by on his words and his guarantee. Along with giving you what he promises and great customer service he’s got great prices too.

Oh, paydirt... I asked him to send me some paydirt instead of cash back, so he’s sending me something unusual??? More fun to come.

1 hour ago, mn90403 said:

What arrived is not what you bought.  I know you can't tell everything from a picture but I don't think you would have bought it if it looked the way it is now.

Raw is better to me.

I would ask for a price adjustment for sure!

Mitchel

I’ll talk to him and see whats fair, can’t get to upset his prices are good and while it isn’t what I bought, I can only say good things about this dealer. I’m sure he figured he was doing me a favor and it’s still nice, my initial disappointment has subsided and sending gold back seems like bad mojo I only want it going one way...in my poke.

7 minutes ago, GoldTree said:

Dang...

He oughta just re-work some silver around it just like before! 

What's done... It did look spectacular before cleaning...

That’s the truth “what’s done is done,” but gerrr... 

So I was killing time eye shopping gold nuggets, I like looking but never buy any until now when I saw what I thought was a really beautiful 29.32g gold nugget pendant. This one was full of character and had a variety of color and texture, the simple silver wire mount cleverly wrapped to hold it securely without solder or permanent attachment the perfect gift for my wife’s birthday. Well, it came in the mail today and for reasons beyond comprehension he decided to clean it. The silver mount I guess melted in the acid, it looks I think much less interesting and the weight is down to 26.2g from it’s natural state at 29.32  a little of that lost fine gold. I’m sure I could return it the seller is very reputable but still like it just not nearly as much, what do you think am I wrong thinking it was much prettier before it was cleaned...should the seller have even done this after posting the pictures in his add?

before cleaning 

after cleaning

I’ve tried running the 7000 a number of different ways and will still make a second or third pass trying different setting over an area I’ve hit a nugget, but most of the time have my best success running it conservative. I’ll run the threshold at 27, sensitively around 8 to start depending on soil as low as 5 or high as conditions permit, high yield, normal ground, smoothing off and locate patch filter on with volume set to 6 or 8, g/b semi auto. These settings give me fairly quiet running yet still plenty of feedback on ground noise while sensitive to very small targets. This tiny gold basin meteorite is an example of the sensitivity at these settings found down a couple of inches. 

5 hours ago, jasong said:

It's definitely getting worse out there. Meth, cartels, rampant unemployment, criminals looking for a hideout. And it attracts a huge contingent of "Mad Max" style sorts from the cities who don't really take law and order into much consideration after being out there for a year or so.

I still have professional business down there which I need to attend to occasionally otherwise I'd skip it and look at moving on to better places, but I have to say that for the first time in my life I'm going to have to start carrying my pistol with me for some other reason than being in bear/lion country. It makes me sad beyond words that this is the reality there now as it shouldn't need to be that way. This place used to be so vastly empty, calm, peaceful, and beautiful. We shouldn't have to watch over our shoulders constnatly while detecting in nature, in a civilized country. 😞

Does make me question going out there I may stay at the trailer park in Meadview if I’m going overnight just to not attract the attention of any dirtbags thinking there’s easy pickings, might be time to move on and check out Franconia and A few other places in Arizona... Damn I was getting to know my way around the Basin.

3 minutes ago, Gold Catcher said:

Well said, Dave. Bringing a weapon is no solution, and where would you even carry it with all the gear already on your belt for the detector. I often go alone in remote areas and I mostly worry about bears and mountain lions. But I guess I have to add this to my list as well. Recently, here in the Sierras a father has been shot and killed while hiking with his daughter.

I carry my Glock in a Kenai chest holster, despite the size of the long slide 10mm it is even out of the way if I have the compensator on and keeps it far enough away from the coil the 7000 doesn’t pick it up.

One good reason I’m packing the 10mm... , but geez talk about the Wild West, problem is I don’t want to use the damn thing, puts the guy packing in self defense at a big disadvantage. Jason,  thanks for posting, the fact that one of the perps and victim were mining partners makes it not exactly random be interesting to find out what the hell went wrong out there, you just can’t ever let your guard down and seems things are getting worse not better.

I take my pinpointer to the shoe store when I’m looking for a pair of boots to use metal detecting and always come home with Keene boots.

Well, I’m out of likes so for the record l likey.

and Steve, sorry if this is difficult to categorize and as always I’m never offended if when all is done if it’s just easier to delete, for the short term it’s relevant as a discussion on dealing with hot ground and if multi IQ is an advantage over single frequency compared to the other options? 

3 minutes ago, phrunt said:

We are way off topic here....

Yes, you can put it on your own shaft that you buy locally, so all you need to buy is the control box/mount and arm cuff battery mount.  The PL4 model coming out soon has even further improved on portability.

Then you'd need to supply your own 18650 battery's, charger and shaft, speaker if you use one.  I'd just buy the lot as it's not heavy anyway and the shaft is telescopic so good for shipping.

Shipping OZ to US isn't horrendous like it is USA to Australia but if you did want to fly it back for a future firmware upgrade you'd just send the tiny little control box without the handle.  It's very small and light so USA shipping shouldn't be too bad.

If you already have a GPX or GPZ you're not going to see any major performance improvements I don't think especially the GPZ although you can adjust the QED to be more sensitive than the GPX 4500 to smaller gold if the soil you're in lets you, not sure about the 5000 as I don't have one to compare.   One benefit it has over a GPX 4500 is you can disable ground balance which gives it a big performance boost in suitable mild soils/sand, the GPX 5000 has this as Coin and Relic mode which is Ground Balance disabled.  The other big benefit over the GPX series is it's ability to handle EMI far better than the GPX so can be used in places the GPX very much struggles and needs severely dummed down, the QED just putts along like nothing is wrong so if you do detect in higher EMI areas, that's a big bonus to the QED over the GPX and the reason I bought one.

The big benefits are around portability and weight, it is a featherweight detector and so easy to swing without fatigue, I always compare it to a VLF and it even feels lighter than my T2 so if you were going on a trip where you were swinging for days on end you'd get more swing time before your worn out which could increase your gold take.  I know when I get worn out and tired I get lazy and lazy detecting is a setup for failure 🙂

Those with a Whites TDI or Garrett ATX would be the ones to notice a performance boost I would think.

It's had some weak points in past models with some 3D printed parts that can break if treated rough, not sure if they're gone with the PL4 but it appears so.  If there are still some 3D printed parts there and I was buying from the US I'd just get them to put in a spare part just in case, save getting one posted over separately in the future should you drop the detector and break it.  An extra part would not cost much.   I've heard someone say the PL2 control box mount is weak, but they haven't broken it and nor have I and I pick my QED up by it's control box all the time.   I broke my speaker mount as I hooked my speaker on a bush and it cracked the mount from being flexed/bent, it was my fault obviously and I broke my stand/feet as I dropped it on a rock and it cracked, again my fault.  Super glue would have fixed either as the 3D Print separated but had it been molded plastic it probably wouldn't have broken as 3D printed stuff is a bit more brittle/weak.

Nothing here off topic, all great information for anyone in the market for a detector.

20 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

That gets you in the game, but servicing becomes an issue.  Simon reminds us that the software is periodically updated and that is free to owners but they have to send at least the control box back to get that implemented.  Even before the pandemic that wasn't exactly turn-key (from the USA, anyway).

My impression of the QED is that so far it shares some 'properties' with the made-in-USA Tarsacci.  That is, a small operation strongly if not completely manned by a single dedicated developer.  If you live in Australia the overhead is good, but at least in the USA (don't know about Eurasia or Africa) it's more effort.

I'm pretty sure most detector models never offer software upgrades and most individual detectors never need servicing.  From that standpoint getting a QED control unit shipped from Australia to somewhere else in the world isn't (at least not considering the pandemic effects on worldwide shipping) seemingly a major issue.

And, yes, Steve H. has conceded that it meets his lightweight PI under $2000 request.  But AFAIK he doesn't have one nor has he even swung one, and that says a lot since he likes detectors more than kids like candy.  😉

Getting just about everything with all that’s going on is more difficult, or at least provides an excuse. I wonder how much all this had to do with Whites decision to retire? On that same note just read on another forum Garrett bought Whites?

2 hours ago, Swegin said:

All you need to do is contact one of the dealers in Australia. You probably don't need coils or a shaft so you could ask him to just ship the control box.

The QED would be fun to try, not sure I need one (Simon might disagree 😀) having both the 7000 and 2300 would the QED brung anything to the plate?

2 hours ago, RobNC said:

In my area the red clay occurs. The worst of it has little glitter specks throughout. My Equinox goes through this without chirping. My ORX also works with that same red glitter soil. The bigger problem for both are when you hit iron in that same soil. I don't see where one or the other has a clear advantage. The ORX does seem faster and has sniffed out some good targets for me in heavy iron areas. You lose a lot with the ORX though from an ID perspective vs. the Equinox or Vanquish.

While I do not have any experience with it, some say that pulse machines do better in extreme soils. And again, the lack of ID capabilities with the pulse units make them dig it all machines. But admittedly, I have never owned one and only go on what I've read.

I have a Deus with the 8”HF coil and it has great target separation but the target ID is probably one of the worst.

7 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

in another topic discussing whether the Equinox should be recommended, kac said: 

"Granted MF machines will have more accurate TID's than a single frequency machine but in highly mineralized grounds I really don't think they are that much better than having the right frequency and coil for the area."

 

Anyway, I see that the title of this topic changed a little. 

If you are talking about the Culpepper VA area heavily mineralized red clay, I would want to have a Deus, Equinox and a good PI if I was spending a lot of money to take a trip there so I would have all the bases covered. Basically, if the Deus can't handle the mineralization, I would go to the Equinox. If the Equinox can't handle the mineralization (or maybe a Tarsacci, which I have never used so can't say for sure), then a PI is your only choice.

Some of the other "red clay" areas in the southeast, Arkansas and Oklahoma are not as badly mineralized and the Equinox would do fine, at least it has for me in north Georgia and northwest South Carolina where I hunt quite a bit in red iron rich clay.

From a different perspective, in the highly mineralized goldfields of the SW USA and in the Colorado mountains, the only VLF that I trust to work in those places is the Equinox, with the XP Deus/ORX with HF coils a distant second. The Minelab Gold Monster has to be ground balanced constantly here and most other gold VLFs (including my Gold Kruzer 😩) that are supposed to work in mineralized ground either will not ground balance or go into overload on 1/3 or less sensitivity. I can set the Equinox at 18 to 22 of 25 sensitivity using the Gold Modes and it purrs along as if the ground was mild........

Jeff, I changed it because I’d gotten the answer I needed everyone was a big help and the real question asked actually on glock talk side thread discussion on metal detecting was someone wanting to know if the vanquish would work for him or was he wasting his money, so I wanted to be a little more specific to his question. The previous answers are all relevant and when looking for something new I want to find out as much as possible and encouraged him to join up here and figured making this about his question was in the end more helpful, I hope he follows the link and this helps someone make a choice they are happy with. So a big thank you to everyone this is such a great group of truly helpful and caring members, a group to be proud of.