mn90403

I have bought a number of new and used detectors over the years. It is similar to most products. When you add in a dealer network you must increase the cost to keep them in business. Buying directly from the end user will save you money. If I buy a new detector and use it for a year and go back to my dealer and ask him to buy it back he may or may not. The price he will pay me is less than half of what he is going to sell it for used to the next buyer. So, the $8000 detector new has a used value of $5500 and when I go to sell it to the dealer he is going to offer me $2500! If I'm in a hurry I take it. He might quick sell it to someone for $4500 and he is out of it. I sold used and surplus computer equipment for many years. I'd try to get it for 10% of retail value. Detector market values are different but you get the idea if you want to stay in business as a dealer in used detectors. Sometimes the used dealer also has to stand behind it to get the sale. Mitchel

I saw a 'delete me' posting and wondered 'who said what' and now I know even tho I didn't see the post. It doesn't matter. They should have understood the reason for a deleted post. There are 'off topics' and there are 'topics not to be discussed on this forum' in my opinion. The traditional religion, politics, etc in an unmoderated forum would 'bleed over' into your other forums. It would be a disaster. You don't need it. That being said there could be topics discussed which are 'outside' of your present forum subjects. The other forum I frequent has this description for an 'Off Topic Forum' PROSPECTORS LOUNGE This section is a little different and the place to post prospecting questions, birthdays, and talk not directly related to other sections of the forum, but still related to gold prospecting. No Political or religious posts will be allowed please and will be deleted by staff

On the car ... they have their 'shop rates and times' to do certain jobs. As it turns out there was more than one working on it. It was still too much. I'd take it to my mechanic about 2 blocks from where I live and they probably would charge me $100 less? I had no idea the problem and they could have told me the engine was trashed and I'd have no way to test it but then I'd tow it and get a second opinion. I have a 100 mile auto club tow that I could have used. Enough about wheels ... Went back out to the same location today with the 19 and it 'got to me' for the first time in a way it had not before. I'm out of shape for swinging it and after about 3 hours I had to put it back and go to the 14. What a light little coil that is! haha Bottom line ... nothing to add to the poke but I don't have to wonder if I missed something. I'm good.

Well, I had a day. I got up at 4 AM and headed for the nearby goldfields about 3 hours away. My days there have been few recently but today was a chance to do some exploring and 'go overs' on some heavily worked areas. There was a stop about an hour and a half out for gas, breakfast pizza and coffee. Upon my return to the freeway I was greeted with a thump and loss of power on my 4Runner. I had to pull over. No loss of fluids but an awful valve noise. Ah, has it blown up after my trips to Wyoming for the Eclipse and norther Nevada? I limped along the freeway out of traffic and made it to a safe place and contemplated my fate. A long tow truck? Call a friend? Is it fixable? I just happened to have a code reader and it said #4 cylinder was not firing. Made me feel better so I looked up the Toyota dealership only 7 miles away. I made it there about 7:30 AM. I knew it was going to cost me but no choice. About 3 hours later I had my bill and answer. A spark plug had broken. They charged me $650 in labor costs and $200 in parts for plugs, coils and wires and gas cap! I was on my way. I got there about noon and went to the new spot as planned and nothing to be found. It was time for the work over location. This was similar to my Saturday outing. A heavily worked place. I found a .25g then. This time I got a bit better. Just about sunset I finally got that mellow Zeeeeeee sound. I dug and dug and was pinpointing and lost it. What? I went back to the hole and it was still there. Down about 10-12 inches was this nice chunky 2.08g nugget. What a day. I need to go back tomorrow and use the 19! Mitchel

I've ordered an Equinox 800. Bring it on.

What is the availability date?

Late this afternoon and into the evening (about 4 hours on the beach) I searched some of my normal spots. It was awful. I found next to nothing. Why? These are beaches and sub-beaches where I have found dozens of rings and thousands of coins. Sometimes the signals are so dense you just have to stop and come back the next day. Why the difference? Energy I would say. Tonight the few targets I found were very light (3-4 pull tabs, aluminum, partial pieces) and very few coins (less than 10). There were no rings, earrings or partial pieces of heavy metals. There was nothing down in the very low tide area and nothing at the high tide mark (such that it is) and no cut. The waves are less than 1 foot and the intervals are 13-15 seconds. Nothing is moving, collecting and washing up! The energy of the waves has created great pockets for me in the past. A couple of years ago during the El Niño you could go out on the beach at almost any time, any where and find targets that were worth keeping. There was a lot of energy in the water and in the waves. You had many days when waves deposited objects onto the wet sand beaches. The sand didn't build up. There were cuts. I'm using the same 3030, the same 17" coil and the same settings. I read the wave and tide reports. I knew this would be tough. Tonight made nugget hunting look easy! There is a reason why objects are and aren't there on the beach. Keep track of your energy. Mitchel

Lunkmaster! Well done. I know how tough it is for me out there and you continue to bring them up from the dead.

Fred, I went into the store and there were about 20 boots on the shelves. I asked the clerk which ones were metal free. She went and asked a supervisor and she came back and told me ALL of them. That surprised me. This trip I didn't have my pointer so I didn't test them. I'll have it when I go back to this store because they had some clearance items with eyes and loops that looked metal. I know it is a duty store and they are careful about them. I looked for any of the old Converse styles but that was something they didn't have. I'd call customer service and ask them about metal. I think they get that question all the time. Mitchel

I stopped by a store a friend of mine told me about today and I'll never shop at REI again for boots. This place https://www.galls.com/ has 769 entries for footwear. I looked in their print catalog (what's that) and there are 45 pages of shoes, boots, duty boots, metal free, etc. There is much more online and I have to say if you want to save a lot of bucks, get a Galls brand shoe. I recently bought a new pair so I don't need any this season but if you do get some of these! If you can't navigate a website very good go directly to the footwear here: https://www.galls.com/footwear Oh, I'm also going to buy some of their pants and shorts. Mitchel

Picture of a 21 ouncer here! https://thewest.com.au/news/goldfields/detective-work-pays-off-in-gold-find-ng-b88649121z http://www.mining-journal.com/commodities/gold/magnetic-draws-out-golden-nugget/

How many ounces do you think Smokey Baird found in his life? There are stories about a lot of other electronic prospectors who are now passing away that found GOOD pokes in their lifetimes. Chris Ralph must have lots of stories. I wonder how many were in ICMJ? Montana comes to mind but many, many legends I've never heard of and probably never will. How will we ever know if everyone keeps it a secret? Aren't there some good electronic prospectors in Alaska? Africa now ... and of course down under. It just makes me wonder. Mitchel

Update: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/pilbara-gold-punt-the-key-players-and-discoveries-in-was-new-gold-rush/news-story/169b7508b6ca01a17e8ef5980fbefe73

Well done sir Ashley! I hadn't looked in on this thread until now. It begs the question about the masters ... what do you think their yearly or lifetime take could be? Are there many who have detected 500 ounces or more in a lifetime? 250? Those certainly would be huge numbers for over here but maybe a few who started in the 70s and 80s could do it? Mitchel

Reg and JR, This is truly a multi-layered cake. There are enough pieces for everyone to enjoy. Thank you for adding some personality to those things that I swing with a Minelab name on them. Mitchel

Steve, It is time. Can you share with us everything there is to know about the GPZ 7000? Mitchel

Reg, Well folks, I don't think we are quite 'over' unless we make another thread but I want to know more about these machines and coils. The pictures you have shown us include Mr. Candy. I don't feel I have the proper right to call him Bruce but I will for the sake of brevity. Bruce was right with you in the beginning and provided you with some prototypes. Was he ever one to detect with you much? I think we would all like a bit of his personality injected here and then perhaps we can understand better the model changes (based upon your use I would assume) and of course the coils. Did anyone help Bruce with the coils? Would he ever want to comment on this thread? Mitchel

It won't let me put WA

It seems they are still finding a few little nuggets out there Paul. I doubt they will let you detect there but maybe you can go near? http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/gold-fever-in-wa-as-miner-digs-up-big-nuggets-20171102-gzdgmf.html What say the Prospectors already over there? Mitchel

Reg, Let me get you started with this bit of information. It says the nugget was discovered by Murray Cox in 1987. It seems the parties 'involved' can't say much about it. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Big-Washington-Nugget-found-to-have-fishy-origin-2355529.php Mitchel

This album does have a bit of a campfire/bar sort of feel to it. Let me tell you a story ... and back it up with pictures! When you get started you don't want it to end but we know better ... they don't quite end but there can be a finish until the next time you get back together and start telling the yarns again.

JR, Thank you for the honorable mention. I appreciate it very much as I had no idea our initial conversations would lead to a thread like this. Your introduction to us of the Reg Wilson album is truly a find all by itself. His years of prospecting and his words about finding the Orange Roughie nugget are a delight. He has captured in words a picture that I think most of us can feel. I'm glad that Steve keeps a good forum and encourages us all to teach and inspire others. None of us has all the answers and one of the best things we can do is share. You have shared with us more than nuggets. You have shared with us early technology that lead to the detectors that many of us use today. You've shared with us a lifestyle of a true metal detecting pioneer. And of course you have shared with us more than just Reg. Your description and views and finds make for a wonderful format. It is my plan to make it down under one of these days. I might be trying to make plans for next year but they need to be put on hold for a big nugget due to arrive in our life in January. We'll be having our first child, a son and I think that nugget will keep us busy for a bit. (Swinging time is hard to come by now!) There might be a window of opportunity in May/June of 2019. We'll have to see. You've made it seem like a thing I must do. You guys take care of Paul and encourage him to write back more. I'm sure he is going to need Norvic's intuition and wisdom to find those good nuggets. Mitchel

Beatup, You know what I just figured out? It was my Avira anti-virus that was blocking it. It says the website has trackers but I don't care. As soon as I said don't block ads it popped up!! Thanks for the report.

AAA Gold for Sale Gold from Alaska, Arizona and Australia! https://fineart.ha.com/c/ecatalog.zx?saleNo=5324&ic5=CatalogHome-AucType-PrintedCatalogViewer-071515 Just a note: I can't get this site to work on Chrome but it did work on Edge. Good luck.

Thanks Barry. What can we say about sections 17 and 21? Are all of the odd sections under the same restrictions?