RickUK

Its a very good video and of course its more a PR video than anything and it does show you 'the most technologically advanced metal detectors on the market' and no question about it they are in the top tier detector makers,but even Minelab can make 'White Elephants' as well including some of the current Minelab machine they being the 'Go Find' range. Which still come under the Minelab brand name and not sure if they are made in house or what ever,but the reception for the lower end 'Go Find' range has been a total disaster for them as everytone who has bought them in the UK has offloaded them within a very short time duration at a massive loss.So although the YouTube video tries to portray they are the best they can also produce some sub standard detectors as well. Please note i am not knocking the Minelab brand but just highlighting a few facts,the GPX is one of my next machines but not for gold nugget hunting but for deeper hoard hunting,as these machines are superb for that.

This may appear to be a stupid question too most of you folks but i have no knowledge of nugget hunting,i can understand what happens when you find just a pure gold nugget but what happens when the gold is mixed with other items like the quartz that has been mentioned or in veins if that is the right terminolligy with other rocks. Do you crush it or use chemicals to disolve the rocks and just the gold is left,crushing would seem the logic method but most likely miles off on that one. Can some one enlighten me please in laymans language,you can tell i am a total gold nugget novice

John,what are your plans for the TDI ??? is it solely for beach work or deep work say like hoard hunting,i currently run 2 PI machies a Crossbow and a Mirage,the CB is for deep work for say hoard hunting and one roman site that is like a beach but 90 miles inland and a Pulse is the only machine that will cope with those conditions. The Mirage has fine gold timing and is ideally suited for small gold jewellery but also can be changed into a normal Pulse with a flip of a switch,i guess one can compaire them to like having a cooker and a microwave oven.Put a TDI Pro may do all these things from one machine.

I buy a few ready made First aid kits from our local petrol staion when they have them on special offer,they come with all the basic requirments in a small hard plastic case and can fit either in your pack pack or even in a pocket of a coat,i dont think i could buy all the same equipment for the same price and its all ready packed for the job.All ways handy to keep with you in the car as well.Its sods law that the only time you leave the first aid kit at home something happens.

John,same as you i buy most of my stuff from Laura,may give them a ring before the weekend,i all ready have 2 PI machines,but always fancied the TDI pro. Thanks again for your post.

John,did you buy the TDI Pro from a UK dealer or shipped from abroad,as the UK stopped selling them,would love to have bought one but i have always hated those 'S' shaped shafts,the Whites shaft as on most of the detector range including the TDI are the nicest ones going in my mind. If you dont want to post the supplier on the forum you can PM if you like,i think the original reason for stopping the TDI Pro being sold in the UK was the carriers would not carry them due to the potential fire problems of the batteries.

Steve,a very good post,these days i can only detector for long periods of time with a full harness,i do have and use a GPX style full harness as well as a backpack harness like yourself for when i am out on a all day detecting trip,keep the basics just in case accidents happen etc,the toilet paper one is a very important accessory. Only one thing that i am not sure about your packpack is the water bladder,never used one myself so cannot be 100% sure,but do you have too sterilise the bladder and pipework in any way as bacteria can and could cause problems,so i would guess they do have to be cleaned thoroughly in some way ??? If i am just out for a few hours but in-sight of the truck then i dont bother with the main full harness i tend to use a cut down version if that makes sense,no need for waterproofs or any major other gear as it would usually be just a few minutes walk back to the 4x4,but when i am out on say a full days detecting then the fully equiped backpack/harness is used. Of course mine does not have a water bladder in the back as over here in the UK we dont have deserts or gold fields but we do of course have gold coins/artifact so no pick is not used,we of course hunt and recover finds differently to you folks. Must admit i do carry a mobile phone albeit its switched off most of the time to stop problems of EMI with the detector,GPS is carried so we can mark the hoards if we find one. Must admit although we mostly do different styles of detecting this is one of my favourite forums.

Dont believe anything that site prints,everything that it prints is pure hoax and just made up.

That does look like a very interesting wireless setup and will take a closer look,have been using the TDK700 setuo for about 18 months it works fine for me but like most aftermarket wireless headphones some are better than others,the most common problem with Blutooth is sometimes more than often you can get a slight delay,some work on different freq's and have advantages but as yet no set has won the detecting circle over 100%. With my TDK they work fine on my T2 and Crossbow and Mirage Pulse machines infact they work very well,but on some machines they do not sound right audio wise and of course audio is king with detecting,i mainly like using my TDK headphones during the summer as they are light,only draw back with this setup is you nust keep a back ground hum or audio threshold other wise they can cut off after say 2-3 minutes to save battery life.But when using the T2 and PI machines theshold audio is not a problem.

Seems a little odd that this member last posted in March and also last visited as late as 16th June but no updates from him on how he is getting on with his detecting and detector,they say that no news is good news but in this instance something does seem rather unusual.

Has anyone heard how the opening poster has got on detecting ??? he has not been on the forum since April,it seem at the time to gather alot of interest this thread and then just died,no updates from Professor Hester on how his detecting adventures have gone or even how he was getting on with his new detector. Has anyone heard anything and any latest updates ???

I have always said that if you are not sure about anything be it metal detecting or anything else i ask for help,advice or what ever so you have not asked any stupid questions. One thing that i cannot work out and probably not my business,but i will ask it anyway but in one of your posts you mentioned about not having much electronic knowledge but you have the following qualifications. First, I want to thank you all collectively for trying to help a novice. I am a CPA, a Professor of Accounting, CFO but I am not an electrical engineer. What I don’t know about being an engineer would fill a library; however, if I can ever help you with an accounting or finance question, that is what my library is full of. But my question is that you have decided But I could not find a metal detector in my price range of ($300-$350) that met those two requirements I am back to square one and I guess I will not be purchasing a metal detector at this time. It does seem odd that someone with so much knowledge in finance and accounting cannot stretch to such a small amount for a starter machine,of course i could well be missing the point,but it did seem a little odd if that makes sense. I would like to wish you all the very best for the future and hope you find your perfect machine.

I did mention the luck aspect in my earlier post on this thread,luck does have a big part to play with detecting :D But you are correct no one else seems to have mentioned it

Research,location,skill level of the detector operator,the detector that you use and do you fully understand what its telling you and also a bit of luck. All of these items play a big part in your success,it makes no odds on what type of detecting you do i have never hunted gold nuggets but i do hunt for coins and artifact/hoards and we all adapt techniques for our different types of detecting. Folks in Aussie land use mainly Pulse machines but you try using one as a general everyday machine on a trashy roman site,it would drive you loopy. For me detecting is all about enjoying myself,if i ever lost my passion for detecting i would pack up and sell everything.

The bottom line a metal detector is basically just lumps of plastic and some electronic component inside,on its own it wont find you anything and also it makes no odds if you have the most expensive detector on the planet,its the skill of the operator that makes all the difference. Also no one detector or coil combination can do it all,exactly the same as no one golf club can do it all,with a budget of say $300 then the EuroTek Pro would be a good all round starter machine,coins are much easier to find and also the most common due to them being a everyday item but your other request of gold is not that easy. You have mentioned a budget and also the types of items that you are intended on looking for but have you given thought to locations to detect,as that side of things you have not mentioned,you started out getting all technical and requesting a lot of detecting information but left out a lot of basic equipment requirements like digging tools, pinpointers and the other basic equipment. You mentioned about will a detector detect silver or nickel ore,its a metal detector after all so the answer should be yes,trouble is and this is not aimed at you personally but a lot of new folks in recent years have seen these various high profile media shows about finding buried treasure and massive amounts of gold but in the ral world i am afraid its nothing like that.After many years detecting i have found some stunning finds i wont go into specific details but i also still find lots of every day junk its all part of detecting. If you really want to get into the technical side of detector and want specific details then the Geotech forum is the one,and one of the co-owners George Overton is a very good friend of mine over here in the UK. With me its all about getting out and enjoying this wonderful hobby of ours called detecting,although some folks get excited talking about how they own the most expensive detector or how many knobs and whistles and bells they have. As you are just starting out,just get a basic setup and enjoy this hobby rather than getting into the real technical issues of a detector,and learn what its telling you is much more important than any electronic spec. You give a experienced detectorist a basic detector and he will still find items but give a expensive machine to a novice and he will find very little if at all

Never used one of these hydration packs,the main reason we dont have any desert enviroment in the UK,someone did buy one just to keep a drink on hand during the hot summer,but as i understand it you do have to keep the pipe work ultra clean and sterilize it often other wise bacteria can take hold.

I never put my detectors into my truck till the morning of the day that i am out detecting,i use to take 3-4 of them with me at all time,but in recent years a few have gone missing while folks are across the other side of a large field,all it takes is a brick to be thrown through the window and then you have lost your pride and joy detectors. Usually its just young 'smack heads' looking for the next fix and have no idea of the real value of the high expense detectors,these days i try and travel as light as i can to reduce the risk of loosing anything. Did check my insurance and i am covered,but it still does not totally cover all your bits and pieces,and with the GPZ nudging £8,500 in the UK it is wise to go to extra length to keep it from being stolen. I bet if a 'smack head' did steal a GPZ it would be sold for peanuts for the next fix.

Euro,as i understand it the GPX only works with the discrimination circuit if you use the DD coils on it,of course i am only mentioning this as from what i have read about it. Its intresting you have mentioned about the GPX4800 as i can get a brand new one for the same price as a 2nd hand 5K the main reason is that its old stock and folks think its not as good as the newer version. Of course as i wont be using it for nugget hunting and just for Relic/Hoard hunting then having the extra fine timings is not a issue for me. Must admit its very tempting to hit the 'Buy Button' this weekend,but i always do alot of homework 1st prior to buying any detector,out of interest 'euro' what coil do you use on the GPX when digging for relic hunting ??? do you use the stock coil or another larger one. Once again many thanks for the 'Welcome' its a very friendly forum,some forums you go on and after a while i wont go bacvk again as some of them get very 'clicky if that makes sense. Rick

Interesting question,as no single detector/coil combination does it all,i tend to use about 5-6 detector combinations,some are old machines that excel on certain sites and others are newish machines.But i will try explain below on what machines i use and why i use them on specific sites. On roman.saxon and celtic sites that have had alot of activity on them,this inturn will be very trashy sites with alot of say roman hob nails from boots,so to get in between the trash i tend to use a couple of old Tesoro machine with smaller coils,these machines maybe old but the discrimination is super and the small coil allows you to find the silver/gold hammered coins. Fresh water rivers,ponds or infact any water course had been used by the roman and they use to throw coins/artifact to please the water gods called votive offering,so i tend to use a very old Minelab Musketeer on a very long straight shaft and wear the control box around my neck,also i use the very small coil as well as this reduces he drag from the river flow.The reason i use this combination is they are very good at what they do and by wearing the control box high up it gives you alot extra depth when in a shallowish river hunting for these roman coins.Also this combination is a great Mudlarking detector for on the River Thames foreshores. For general everyday detecting i use a Deus,T2 and DFX with a wide selection of coils and these 3 are used for about 80% of my detecting need. If i suspect a scattered hoard is in the area,usually you start finding coins/artifacts in a tight radius and usually as man is going down deeper with more powerful tractors they are taking the tops of the hoard pots and scattering the coins,this then requires the heavy hitters to come out to play,i 1st use the Pulse with the stock 10'' coil on it then once i have taken as many coins wthat i can with that,then i progress with bigger coils till i get to the 18'' Coiltek coil. Usually the Pulse will find me most of my deep targets,but if something i suspect is even deeper then i will bring out my Fisher TW-5 2 box to play and that will nail we hope the really deep targets.Although i must admit it rarely is used but like most things in the detecting world,its nice having the right tool for the job,no single golf club will do it all,its the same in the detecting world. These are my main machines that i use and must admit i really enjoy using them and it works for me,of course if you are in say the Aussie outback or Alaska gold field then you would use different detectors and techniques.

Hi Folks,just a quick introduction,i think its fair to say that i am Rick from the UK Been detecting for artifacts,coins for many a long year,although we dont in theory gold nugget hunt,we do find some stunning Gold items as a result of our history going back 1000s of years. Have been lucky in the fact that have found Celtic Gold staters from 55BC and other gold items over the years and also working on 2 hoard sites at the moment. Currently using a CrossBow Pulse machine with 5 coils from 5'' upto 18'' as this in theory covers most scenarios,i also have a wide selection of VLF machines and the coils that go with them as well. As a result of the new kid on the block ie the GPZ 7000 detector the price of the current GPX detectors are dropping like a brick,so with that in mind within the next month or so i will be the new owner of one of these top flight detectors,not for nugget hunting of course but for deep work mainly locating gold/silver hoards as these machines are ideally suited for the job as not only do they go deep they are also very good on locating single coins as well. Looking forward to posting some of my finds and also some of my detecting adventures from the UK. Rick