Norvic

Aye, my daughter in law introduced me to fresh Expresso Coffee 6 months or so back, now I am a full bore coffee snob. Once bitten it is difficult to enjoy an instant coffee. But it is a pleasure that brings enormous satisfaction right out away from civilization, it is not all roses out there chasing that heavy stuff and while I`d have it no other way, a wee bit of indulgence each day just adds to the magic of our bush. Mind you I still take an odd teaspoon of cement to toughen up.😉

Righto righto KL you`ve put your foot in it, now come up with the goods fill us in on your style, SS please do the photos for us and ensure we get the hole story.

I`ve a DeLonghi coffee machine that uses fresh crushed coffee beans it uses the full 2000w which is too much for the AGMs thus start donk to give batteries a kick for the 5minutes or so the coffee machine does its thing, but I have a Makita coming which is not a high pressure machine like the DeLonghi it only draws 550 w but still uses freshly crushed coffee beans, so if the coffee is OK from it I`ll carry it about as is much more rugged. Blends 1 to 42 buh no idea but must`ve been failures MT

MSC and all please post photos of rigs and camp setups plus some explanation of features as it is a topical, interesting and educational subject as diverse as the individual we cater them for.

Nice one JR, say hello to Uncle Reg for me, call him Uncle coz I had an Uncle Reg who would blow hell out of me when I dropped a sinker into the bottom of his wooden boat to scare the fish into biting he reckoned it chased them but I learnt later ya gotta stir em up a bit, fish too. I reckon Reg would do the same, quickly apologize to him if he picks up the axe but tis good fun no....

Tis a stereo/tuner/GPS android head unit with a 12.8" screen I`d imported from China a couple of years back, not using the stereo/tuner as Toyotas combined stereo/tuner/navi is magic, easy to use and tuner with the electric antenna brings in distant AM radio no drama. I think mine is the 2021 model thus the navi standard. OziX I`ve used for crikey must be over 20 years after trying Fugawi, have Tribolite too but love OziX.

Been nearly 40 years since I`ve gone off wide tyres, too much sidewall damage from the sharp slates of back yard. At this stage will probably go for air bellows on the rear otherwise just wait for the usual Toyota sag, long time customer of Superior so will go their way probably after a season or two. As these days I only work in winter, very rarely have wet bogs only water I see is creek/river crossings thus clean water. But it is a bit of a worry that low down alternator, bit frightening lifting the bonnet, got to hope she`s reliable as the days of bush mechanicing are over, just too complicated. Nah she comes standard with Toyota Sat nav, (GLX) but I`ve installed the 12.8 Android from the old girl, that gives me Oziexplorer along with a smart phone means the days of carrying a notebook are nearly over. 60L of water plus 2x 20l jerry cans, days of going a week without a shower are gone also. Get soft in old age and forget to take a teaspoon of cement now and again. Tis a bit of a worry this old age, heading for domestication is frightening after a life of gold/barra, Hinchinbrook hut probably have to remove this year, erosion. Went with Enerdrive DC/DC/MPPT to handle the house battery charging via solar or alternator, with their 2000W Inverter, another Qlder that knows the go and supplies top gear. Until the AGMs die and replace with Lithium I have to crank up the donk/genny to get enough sparks to run the coffee machine, but can live with that. Gerry, Downunders lot of Covid Princesses are keeping our gold safe from invaders😁 Only joking you are most welcome, that`ll teach us not to leave it laying around.

How the hell are you going to get any work out of the lad set up in such luxury......

We are all wacked you folks get it right and drive on the right side of the road but steer from the left side of the vehicle, downunder we get it right and steer on the right side of....... ah..... definitely we are all weird mobs.

Gerry, send us a 6000 pronto and you`ve a deal...........😉 I`ll be out there somewhere for you to collect.................

Basically was a matter of transferring gear, cleaning up with new carpet covering and installing in new Toyota Troop Carrier from the old 1986 Troopy, "Back to the Future" project. No photos of old Troopy setup as took very few photos back in those days. Of interest perhaps old 86 Troopy cost 50 ozs new, was very basic, leaf springs front and back and a diesel motor that couldn`t pull your hat off but will go forever. New Troopy cost 35ozs has coils on front, A/C, Navi Screen, electric windows, locking front and rear diffs, electric winch, V8 diesel that`l pull a CAT etc etc. but fortunately the body is still the same thus everything fitted, holes were in same place. Solar charges 2x125A/hr AGMs, which powers all including a 2000W Inverter for this coffee snob, nothing beats an Expresso as one waits for the sun to come up. Separate Fridge and Freezer accessible from sliding side windows, I camp on a stretcher with a swag and awning sides for when cold or wet. Have a small 11ft off-road caravan but rarely use as is too much trouble getting it into our rugged NQ OZ. I think the below photos tell the story.

Actually JP tis almost the same rig I had way back, you just didn`t see it set up in camp just on the road. Hardly took a photo back in those days, too busy but have taken a few of the new back to the future setup.

Precisely it is perceived as showing off by some, especially those that attack and call it BS eg. we build flash houses with good looking exteriors that too is considered showing off by some, I will be "showing off" (tongue in cheek) my new vehicle and its prospecting setup shortly on a separate thread. I see such as just the fruit of our labors. Certainly I do understand you don`t wish for forum members to be considered as showing off by showing their finds, that adds to their threads. You may be a Yank Steve, but no diff to us Ozies, all individuals for sure, I certainly am not going to judge you by broad cultural differences by many, many are influenced by more of our human failings than just the individual thus is often way off the mark. Come on down and experience more of that hospitality that JP showed you, tis the fruit of life.

You will find when you get to know more Aussies, we are like other societies, we have our passivists, our narcissist's, our bullies, our jealous ones, our achievers, tall poppy knockers etc etc, and sure you get the image from your short view that we speak out, have a brawl and then drink together, personally I prefer to speak out directly when I perceive an injustice rather than bottle it up. We are just huuuumans like all other human societies with cultural differences that varies from State to State as I note you folks vary from State to State. Gold does bring out the worst as well as the best in huuuumans. I have noted as JP has when showing off gold a lot react jealously immediately, you just learn wisely with age not to show off gold, but that all is part of our crazy hobby.

Reading between the lines, which is fun but often way out, the 6000 in MLs pipeline is why they didn`t produce a smaller coil for the GPZ. Which is exciting because going by MLs past of always dependably producing better performing detectors thus those of us who chase gold seriously will want, whoops no no need both. 😉

Wow, if I was a young fella, I`d wow that Gorgeous Lady off you.

Crikey, I always thought my backyard (NQ OZ) was the safest playground in the world until I read this.

Garret A2B without a doubt for me. Mainly small gold sub grammers in my backyard, Bounty Hunter RB7, Whites 6000D, Garret Deepseekers were OK but the Groundhog/A2B with its high frequency 15Khz (for that time). It was the " prelude" for the Fisher Gold Bug 1 & 2 and the Whites GM 1 & 2.

I suspect I`ll join you Trent and get a 6000 too, I`ve never had a disappointing Minelab detector touch wood.😉 come to think of it any brand detector. Got something out of all.

Yes I don`t know when the first DD coil appeared on a detector but the 15000, which was the first Minelab, I believe had one. I recall taking a 15000 owner to a spot the Garret A2B with a Dtex concentric had scored many nuggets around the base of large rocks in a raised old streambed, the 15000 scored many more because the front of the DD had depth over the concentrics, The concentrics had more depth in the centre but that first example of the DDs wedge type coil field showed a strength of the DDs along with their ability to handle mineralized soils better. The 15000 came onto the scene in around the mid 80s.

If it`s a CAT it excretes gold as waste, bloody elementary geologic........

Agree Rick, probably from their early dabbles in PI coils they got burnt thus have become too conservative towards coils, the X coils on the Z along with NF and Coilteks flat winding coils on the PIs have shown this. Obviously coils are not their forte, we know their detectors are because they are without doubt light years ahead of any competition in gold detectors, maybe they have a mental block in place regarding coils or it is just not worth them going that way. Buh when it comes down to sales thus corporate profits I don`t think us enthusiast are considered much, we are just a "side show".

Total guess 30 years back GB, I remember way back on my favorite piece of OZ being told something along those lines, I`m still there and have done only a small % of it, would love to live long enough to justify such a statement. Thus the golden rule of gold detecting....... NEVER take notice of negative comments/negative people in fact go the opposite stubbornly. Applies to fishing and probably every pursuit, oh!😉 and never say never............

From when I started gold detecting in 79 nothing has really changed, in those early days regardless of the sentiment you had to prospect to find gold, sure there was plenty coming along and flogging patches they`d heard/spied of but I suspect only a few of them found much more than scraps left, mostly they were in conversations that basically said "the detecting golds all been got". I`m talking Australia which has detectable gold from the big flats of WA, the massive nugget finds of Vic right through NSW up to the rugged mountainous areas of QLD and NT, and I see from maps similar in area to the US except you have 10 times our population, now as Jasong has illustrated in the US unless you have access to private property your restricted, tis the same here, we`ve messed in our nests and property owners have had a gut full of us. My perspective is from the early detecting days to today. If you have legs that can do the walking and an attitude that doesn`t accept negative thoughts you`ll help prove that I suspect with detector tech advances there is more detectable gold out there than has been got. But does that really matter when nothing beats a day out there although you were skunked.

Aye madtuna and Gerry, seems we go down the same track with time, I have put onto gold a fair few in my years watched with alarm as some have exploited this with bad behavior, but now when I`m asked to put someone onto gold I simply reply "after you put me onto gold". It sorts the genuine out but is a hard cynical stand although I admit in the past it has been very rewarding putting people onto gold especially first pieces, the look on their faces usually says it all. A quandary for sure.