mn90403

Based upon what you showed in the video I would think you could balance out the ground and still hear meteorites in a place like Gold Basin. Do you think you would be able to balance out the ground, then balance out the hot rocks at Franconia and still find meteorites?

That looks like an early version of Lunk!

Ok, I've got enough time to respond and give my thoughts on 'Gerry's Answer' to my question. His very basic answer is this: I'll say this. The Axiom can find a variety of gold nuggets the $3400 SDC-2300 can not. It can do things performance wise and ergonomically that a $4000 GPX-5000 can not. It can find gold and ignore rocks/minerals a $6000 GPX-6000 can not. It can even do some things and find gold in situations a $8500 GPZ-7000 can not. Now to be fair (life is not fair), those machines can do things the Axiom can not. Heck, the new improved 24K can find gold none of the above mention can find. That's a fact. When you take Gerry's training everyone gets a chance to test his observations above with their own detector. Air testing targets on these different detectors proved to me that gold is missed no matter how many times you go over it or at what speed. I have to assume from those observations that the same thing would happen if the gold were in the ground. This is an objective test demonstrating a detector's strengths and weaknesses. When Gerry says the Axiom will find gold the others will not find then I know what he means. Gerry has shown us all of the additional gold that a 6000 has found in the Rye Patch area. Last year when it came out many of his students went to a patch around the Burn Barrel that was first discovered by Sonny Baird probably in the late 70s. Everyone has hit that area including me and found gold. It was a fact that it was very, very hard to find gold there in the last few years. Gerry and his students lit that place up again with the 6000. I consider that to be objective. Will it happen with the Axiom? Someone will tell us I hope. Much of the trash is gone and some of the clues but I'm sure it will be one of the places to first try the Axiom. There is another way of being objective in using a detector and that is with a test garden. If I want to know or a dealer wants to know how a detector performs then test it on standard buried objects. It allows someone to test their detector and coil against a standard. You either hear the target or not hear the target. That would include hearing iffy signals. My experience with test gardens is rather limited but useful. I know of a garden in Gold Basin made by Dick Ward. I went to one in Australia put in place by Coiltek in Maryborough (they test their coils on it) and I made one to test my AQ that was on the beach. Each of these gardens let me hear a signal (or not) based on size, depth and a bit of quality. Results are obvious to the user but it places objective limits on our detector's ability. You can always bury something out of range of most detectors. My AQ garden on the beach proved to me that the detector was defective, and I returned it never to use again. I was not able to hear all of the targets in Gold Basin with my 5000 because they were buried too deep in some cases and my settings were wrong in other cases. My 7000 handles it pretty good. We all have seen the VLF tests on gardens between the 800 and ... So, after all of this thought about the new detector and it coming from different engineers and testers, I believe it will have a place in my toolbox. I still just need to find time and the places to use it. There seems to be less of both.

I had to leave and go play a game of billiards. I'll put something together and tell you how his explanation that I linked answers my question. Now it is off to dragon boat races and maybe a meteor shower tonight.

If you haven't taken Gerry's training, then you don't know how well his answer fits my question.

I have. I'm glad I did.

I found an answer to my question(s):

Gerry, I think this is a complete answer and you could just drop this link into an answer to my question. You could use it often for other's questions too. Thanks for using the options and giving your thoughts. Mitchel

I wasn't trying to be challenging but trying to get an idea of the best strength of the detector. You obviously have found some very good nuggets with it. I would say that it may 'excel' at that type of gold. Obviously, it has been stated that ground and hot rocks are reduced in significance. That is probably enough for any detector release, but I was also interested in its 'gold type' strengths. It helps determine where it can be used. The nuggets that Steve found could be a challenge to some detectors also. They were not invisible to the Axiom. When Chris puts up his videos and shows his nuggets, I imagine it will show nuggets missed by other detectors also. You trained me on the reality that PIs will miss certain types of nuggets. That was the purpose of my question. Even though it handles the beaches well, I don't think you are going to be using it at the resorts much where you dive. That is ok because no detector can do everything.

I'm not reading everything on all the threads about this detector at this time so maybe these two questions have been answered. 1. How long does it take to charge? 2. Most of the marketing 'hype' for other detectors has included the idea that you can go back to where gold has been found before and find missed gold with this/that new detector. The new detector technology sees the porous gold better, goes deeper, sees smaller gold, etc. I don't see this aspect yet of the marketing. What I do see is that it handles problem grounds better and that gives you a better chance of finding gold that is still left. Is there a 'quality of signal or settings' that will make this detector see gold that other detectors missed? I think I like this as a beach PI although I don't like digging huge holes. Those digs hurt my shoulders more than carrying a 5000, 3030 or 7000 around all day.

I see that price now on the other thread.

This is a different type of story but there is a tidbit in there about finding a Faberge Egg. One almost got melted down. And the owner of this yacht is in the gold business. Read it fast as this will probably be removed. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rare-faberge-egg-seized-russian-oligarch-yacht-180980471/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20220726-daily-responsive&spMailingID=47155415&spUserID=MTMxNjg2MzE5MzQ5NgS2&spJobID=2282765885&spReportId=MjI4Mjc2NTg4NQS2

I wonder if an Axiom gets a toasted board if they are going to ask if you were using an aftermarket coil?

Mono vs DD ... how do you choose?

We all remember Steve's Challenge, right? He had a price point he wanted a lightweight PI to come in at. How close will this come to that?

I just came back from the GPAA Gold and Treasure Show. I asked a few non-dealer types if they were aware of Garrett's new detector. The response was very tight lipped. It was stated to me repeatedly that they could not speak about this new model. They couldn't tell me if they have tested or handled one. They said it had not been released yet so they could not speak about it. They specifically stated that if they had tested it that would be even more reason why they could not discuss it. They said you will just have to wait and see. I can't add any information to the discussion other than we can't discuss it.

Ok, I think the pictures are up now.

Last night on a better tide I went back to a little patch I had found in the morning. In the morning I had found a few coins but no jewelry but I had a feeling with more beach I could do better. At night the parking lots near this beach are closed so I had to walk in about a mile but it proved to be worth it. Soon after arrival I found coins on the steep beach sides and just kept digging for over an hour. There was much more black sand than the beaches I normally hunt so I decided to change some settings. My first setting change was to move down from 23 on the sensitivity in Beach 1. That helped but then I decided I would try some F2 which is normally at 0 for me. Well, I'm here to tell you it worked like a charm. The 'noise' went away and I could hear the targets stand out. Soon after these changes I got a good clear 9 and was hopeful. It wasn't the 18-21s I had been getting or the 30s for quarters. Out popped a ring and in the light of my flashlight it looked to be golden but a little light. Bag it. Next target 2 feet away was a second ring. It looked like silver but maybe better so I bagged it. (The first ring had no markings and we think it is stainless. The second ring is marked P4SR. It is not a pure precious metal!) The 3rd little ring came along a bit later and it is not precious either. So I didn't have much, right? Well, not exactly. If you look closer at the picture there is a wirery looking chain. I knew it was silver but just thought it to be cheap. I didn't have my light on when I scratched it with my scoop. I was just using the half moon light at the time and just bagged it with the other stuff. I had loosened it a bit but thought it quite corroded. When I got it home and put some fresh water on it it was much more flexible. Then it was time clean it with the aluminum foil/vinegar/baking soda/salt. It blackened quickly and bubbled and then I was able to rub it with just baking soda. I could now see DY. I know that to be David Yurman from previous finds. It is a good feeling .925 chain that weighs in at 22 grams with a 26 inch length. That is when I was able to find the pattern and identify it as the Open Station Box Chain. It reminded me of my previous find so I looked it up here: The tag in the center was found several miles away but on July 22. That was 3 years ago. This new chain supports that pendant quite nicely. It makes for a nice combo.

The Meteorite Times link is pretty interesting itself. Explore the other stories.

That is a really cool find. You know the age of the coin but it could have been dropped many years later while someone was trading or swimming.

You probably don't need a metal detector if you get there at the right time! https://www.meteorite-times.com/a-string-of-first-time-finds-on-highway-98-84/

I don't know exactly where to put this so I'll start here. Maybe Clay has it on his links or someone else has posted it but it got me to some maps I would not have found. I still don't understand most of the nomenclature. https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/mapview/?center=-97,39.6&zoom=4 MapView Betaby the NGMDB MapView lets you explore some of our favorite geologic maps from the NGMDB (USGS/AASG).

I do the same thing because I can't read the writing! I always leave my glasses at home and show it to my wife so she can have the thrill of telling me either way. Silver is good these days. I found a 'junker' with gold/sapphires/diamonds ... gold = copper and you can guess the rest.

A long time prospector in Gold Basin has passed away after a long illness. Roger D was someone I could always count on to be at Gold Basin finding gold and meteorites from 2011-16+. He knew more about it than anyone I knew. Roger was one of the founding members of WSPA and he was always willing to help me when I got started looking for things with a metal detector. I hope if you have a few stories about Roger you will share them with us. One of the things that Roger did was make signs, street signs in his business. One of the places he made signs for was the subdivided area on the North side of the railroad tracks in Franconia. It is in the Eastern part of the strewn field for the Franconia Meteorites. It seems that there were streets cut in but then a deal was made to include those areas in the wilderness. Anyway, Roger found meteorites in that area. Roger was a long time resident of Lake Havasu and there will be a memorial there on July 30. I'll miss Roger. Mitchel

Gold prospecting hobbyists find moving further afield in the Kimberley still pays handsomely https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-07/prospecting-for-kimberley-gold-outback-rise-metal/101209176