mn90403

Here is the picture of one that I made a couple of years or so ago.  As I remember it I had to buy a new handle because it was said that where my broke near the screws was not covered.

I bought a piece of coupling that had a 1.25 inch interior diameter and got a short piece for the 't' and snugged it on in a way that didn't require glue and it was quite comfortable.  If I were to keep it on longer I would have installed the switch.

I had a handle break on me as I was taking it out of the car.  I designed one out of PVC plumbing parts that slid over the shaft so it could never break.  I took it off when I got the replacement handle but I could swing that shaft and handle combo much better than the original.  I just didn't install the button but I should have.

Mitchel

Merton,

You set a good 'tone' for wanting to express doubt and concern about existing products that WE use from Minelab. (There are other threads for complaints about other brands!)

These complaints and concerns are stated to give some feedback to the designers and marketers that will cause them to keep US in mind on future units.  

When it comes to 'insider knowledge' about people, places and things that auminesweeper references it goes beyond me.  I can only try to understand the product that I've bought (just like a car) and not understand the corporate culture and choices they have.

All of us are dealing in a diminishing supply when it comes to gold nuggets (and to a large degree meteorite hunting).  When you take a nugget or two or a hundred ... those can't be found again.  What we can find is what has been missed or patches (strewn fields) that have not been discovered.  We buy our detectors accordingly.  

Relic, coin, park, beach, treasure and hoard hunting also has a diminishing supply and requires improved technology for maximum success.

I use several different Minelab detectors for all of these uses and I'm glad that I do.  I'm glad that they are responsive to my calls in Chicago and I'm glad for what they do in the anti-mine arena.

I wish them success but also know looking at the future they will have their own diminishing customer base here in the United States and Australia.  They must be profitable or they won't remain as Merton alludes to.

What will keep Minelab profitable?  More countries?  Deeper gold finding? 

Mitchel

I agree with you Steve on the upper end market and also find the 'design flaws' of the Go Find series as a 'blow' to their brand.  I don't plan on owning one of those.

One other thing of annoyance on the 2300 was the arm rest.  We had a pin fall out of ours and had a new one sent as a replacement.  That replacement showed up missing a pin and you can't insert them yourself.  We are on our third one. (I didn't have to send the defective ones back.)

Our battery problem was solved by putting tape on the originals and also getting a set from Amazon that fit the compartment more fully without loss of power during use.

No company is perfect but we should point out their flaws also so I stated a couple of gripes.

Mitchel

Thanks Steve.  I like the video and it makes me feel better about Minelab.

I have several Minelab products and after watching this I still don't know how they come up with some of their things getting through all of their steps.  (weight, materials, ergonomics, etc.)

The one I can think of first is the compartment for the batteries on the 2300.  There seems like a 'better way' to have connections for more consistent power.

I'm sure others here will wonder about the features of their products also.

NIce as always ... 1/4 ounce for a trip works quite well.

Excellent job Steve.  I'd like to be hunting down there again.  

You helped change my mind about Yuma forever.

Mitchel

Here is a link:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/27/us/bee-sting-death/

Norvic,

At the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in February there was an Aussie gold company there that displayed a lot of nuggets.  The owner I've met a couple of years and this year I asked him about the Zed.  He expressed very much of a dislike for it saying that the claim of 40% greater depth had been doubted by his other Aussie friends/prospectors and they weren't buying it.

I didn't bother to tell him about the large number of Aussies I read here who had/have a different opinion.

Keep expressing yours.  It has led to yet another interesting thread that gives real information.  The thought of using manual at times is enlightening to me.  

I still have my 5000 and think I could use it better now after using the 7000 but when would I have that luxury?  Should I buy one of the new coils?

Actually research will win me more nuggets now than the machine I use.

Mitchel

Condor,

Good luck with that.  We have purchased the conversion plug for it and it keeps us from having to use the short corded Koss.

Does the audio work without the headphones?

I've gone through about 5 pairs of Koss.  A couple of them were replaced by Minelab and a couple of them were sent to Koss and they sent me a new pair for $20.

I hate the way they break at the plug or the ear.

Fred told me the real secret for Koss for the 3030 and 7000.  Mount the wireless remote in a pocket, on the harness or I sometimes put it on the back of my cap.

Mitchel

I know that most here don't go to the beach often to hunt but for those of you who do ... PLEASE FILL YOUR HOLES!

Today Lu and I went out to one of our local beaches and we saw a guy on the beach I spoke to on Tuesday.  This guy has a hand scoop and he bends and kneels down to dig his targets in the sand.  He makes a very 'sharp' hole without rounded edges and they go down about 6-8 inches in many cases.  If his target is trash he throws it up higher on the beach.  If he likes it I don't know what it is.  When he is done he leaves the hole and finds another target.  I don't know his machine but I can go behind him and find rings and other coins he has missed.

I went to him on Tuesday and told him to please fill his holes and then left.  He is not one of the guys I can talk with about his finds.  I explained to him that someone stepping in his holes would injure themselves. (A jogger had just run by because where he was digging was just above the waves.) He was not receptive to my scolding him or trying to reason with him.  We left and hunted another area of the beach. When we returned he had left and we filled his holes (at least 60) as we found his misses.

Today I went to the same beach and he was already there.  The open holes were everywhere.  I went directly to him without turning on my detector and told him that he was still being dangerous and the lifeguards and city might stop us if someone stepped in his holes.  He was not having any of it.  "I don't have to fill my holes and you go f yourself!"  I told him I had to fill his holes and he said 'GOOD' and I hope you fill more!  I asked him if he thought his holes were safe for someone old (like me) or someone who could not see or someone jogging and he said "The beach is a dangerous place ... those people should not be here!"

What great logic.  Someone fighting for their right to be dangerous and stupid.

He makes a hole.  He is the logical one to fill it and be courteous to others and help prevent injury.  The tide will not fill it for 3 hours or more.  The only possible benefit for him in not filling a hole is that he would save time between finds.  In the meantime everyone who comes by his patch has to avoid his diggings because he is selfish.

We had a number of other choice words with each other before I left the beach.  (This was before the lifeguards had arrived or I would have gone to one of them who knows me and knows I fill my holes and given him an idea of what I was trying to do.)  I want to Police Ourselves before someone else passes an ordinance requiring a permit or posting a sign making detecting off limits.

We did just fine at another beach about a mile away so that is not the point.  Safety is the point. (Sometimes in the desert also.)

Please think a little bit about others and FILL YOUR HOLES.

Mitchel

P.S.  I'm going to post this on a couple of forums to get the word out.

Terry,

With the plans you have stated now you will have a great summer with or without finding a lot of gold.

I wish I would have been in Rye Patch in 2005.  I got some lessons there last summer with Lunk and they were very helpful.  It was also helpful to have someone point at a ridge and tell you how many ounces of gold they had found on it years ago.

The pounding continues so go get your share of what is left.

Mitchel

An article on gold now ...

http://www.newsmax.com/Finance/Markets/gold-fund-buying-invest/2016/05/12/id/728461/?ns_mail_uid=22742939&ns_mail_job=1668000_05122016&s=al&dkt_nbr=hqa2zy6k

Terry,

I think Fred is right.  

Five years ago when I bought my 5000 (It was my first PI) I got it with the 8, 11DD, 11 and 17.  I was 'set' or so I thought.

I hit the Arizona deserts and southern California ... for a year without finding my first gold.  It was getting frustrating.  I had found lots of targets on the beach years ago and the desert should be the same, right?

Wrong.

I know you have more knowledge than I did about your detectors and coils but there were two major things that I did wrong in the beginning that I would do over again.

1. I would practice (as Fred said get to know your equipment) more with targets of the size (small) I was looking for because I was swinging and expecting a response I couldn't get.  I was swinging too fast (never too slow), I didn't understand the whisper that Fred mentioned and I was too impatient. (Now I know many, many places have been hunted out before I get there!)

2. Perhaps more important than the practice above would be to make sure I hunted with someone who TOLD me I was doing it wrong ... or right.  I was going out mostly solo to areas I had read about on the internet or even to club claims.  Now if I was new I would get more than just a couple of lessons (that wasn't enough for me) and I'd pair up with someone (they got to want to share with you) and hunt that way.

If I would have done these two things my first couple of years would have been more productive.

Mitchel

Good finds of what was lost.  I've got a 3030 too.

Now you just have to look where things of 'more' interest have been lost.  That takes some research and luck.

Mitchel

Thanks Steve.

Condor,

Nice story and good writing.  Good nugget.

Go get'em while the days are still cool.

Mitchel

Nice story and description.  No patch lasts forever so time to find more.  It may have been easier in the past but a quarter is pretty good now ... new or old ground.

Thanks for sharing.

Mitchel

Fred,

Better than we did in the Mother Lode but we have to get out and swing in some place other than Gleeson Pit.

Mitchel

I'm going to be there Friday and then the conference on Saturday.

Who knows about Sunday?

There is something else you might be using that will affect your detector.  I discovered a 'problem' with this when using a 7000.

Do you have a keyless remote for your car?

If you have this in the wrong pocket of your pants, near your detector or a wireless remote it will have an effect on your equipment.  It may not be as noticeable as a cell phone or a pin pointer but it is an electronic device and even off our new detectors will sense them and try to ignore them but it may affect your performance.

This is probably not your issue.

Mitchel

Rick,

Thank you.

Mitchel

Thanks for the pictures of GOLD.

Do they let you drive there? (If that is what you call it.)

Mitchel

Nice ones for you!  Onward ...

28 minutes ago, klunker said:

Mr. Goldbrick; Sir.

  I have the same solution for your coil collecting habit as I had for another poor lost soul on this forum that can't seem to stop collecting detectors. Send me all of your coils (and not freight collect). I will the take them all apart and make one coil with the best characteristics of each dismantled coil. It will be a combination of DD and mono and will be called a DoDo. Is will also be supplied with 135 cord adapters so it will fit most detectors. But be warned. It may weigh nearly as much as a GPZ coil.

Klunker  ... your GPZ bashing is so old now ... it's losing its punch.  Time for you to get new material.