bado1

A guy can't have just one, right? Very situational for me. So, to make it brief, of all of the machines/brands that I've owned over the years I've narrowed it down to four which are the ones I still have.Three are ML and a Deus....a GPX 4500 has netted me the most gold, the 6000 just hasn't had the time on it yet though I'm confident it will surpass the 4500, the E-trac the most coins ( non trashy yard and park hunting), the Deus has accounted for the most coins and relics in trashy areas. Garret was/is the least impressive of all for me. Nok/Mak was good but the shine wore off fast for me. I've easily owned and enjoyed more ML machines than any other brands.

I use a hard bow case for my 6000. It easily fits the detector with the 11" coil attached, the DD coil, head phones, charger with room to spare. I haven't tried the 17" coil to see if it would fit in lew of the DD.

I've swung the original Deus with the high frequency coil (not the super high frequency elliptical coil) in the gold program in Quartzite and found gold with it in very shallow trashy areas. Like you stated...not my first choice of detector to hunt gold with (I'm not a fan of VLFs for my style of hunting gold) but it will do in certain situations.

Good work on your nugs!

So far so good for me. No problems and finding gold. 

It does sound a bit warbely compared to the other GPXs but there is no question when there is a metallic target under the coil. Solid, repeatable signals.

Beautiful!

I would have to agree with what has already been said regarding the hot rocks....the SDC handles them better. The 6 gets the tiny nugs much deeper than the SDC though and, I would guess, the bigger ones deeper as well, though, I haven't got it over any sizeable nugs yet. I totally agree with Steve on ergonomics and coil selection...the 6 all the way! I did pull a small flat nug from a patch that had been totally flogged by the SDC with the 6 that was standing vertical in a crack and the 6 just sang out over this nug. It was the only signal left on this small patch. I'm guessing that it was missed by the SDC and every other machine because it was so thin and vertical. 

Very cool, Wes. Most people never get to see a lion....much less up close.

My wife and brother have both been stung by a scorpion. It's just weird that I haven't as much as I am on their turf. I have been bit by a diamondback on the right hand which put me in ICU for a few days....I was in my own back yard no less!

Scorpions almost every trip here in AZ. I haven't been stung by one ....they are just part of detecting here. Rattlesnakes are common as well but my detecting buddies and I haven't had any real close calls while detecting. I believe the reason is because while detecting you are moving slow and making lots of noise (coil scraping the ground) which alerts the snake that potential danger is near and they slither off. We've had much more scary encounters with Rattlers while hunting quail or deer because you are moving faster increasing the odds for a surprise encounter. As for lions, we have a large population here in AZ. They stay away from people. In fact, there is only one recorded unprovoked lion attack in the state's history! I've hunted lions or been on other guys lion hunts numerous times. Very tough hunts usually requiring the use of dogs to be successful. Seeing a lion in the wild is a rare privilege. I've talked to guys that claim that they have had close encounters with lions while detecting....I call BS everytime. Anybody that thinks carrying a side arm as lion protection is just being, to put it mildly, silly. For one the odds of it happening are close to nil and even if a lion did attack you you wouldn't have time to draw your weapon. Side arms are for the two legged predators. Having an accident on a quad or side by side poses a bigger danger than any of the creatures mentioned while detecting.

I've only ever used it with the headphones as I'm not much for speakers and the EMI issue has been only a minimal nuciance thus far. I have had my phone on me every time so I attributed it to that. The interesting thing, thus far, Im impressed with is  the lack of interference from plane traffic. Detecting in the same areas in Central Az (which is a high traffic area for planes flying over in to Phoenix) with the SDC I would literally have to stop detecting for a minute or two until the plane was out of range. On high traffic days I would just quit. Not so with the 6. There have been a few moments of minimal plane interference but nothing like the SDC. Has anybody tried doing a noise cancel when the plane is flying over to try and tune them out? I think previous SDC owners will have a easier time with the 6 as their thresholds are very similar...warbely. I'm gonna keep my 4500 as I think the two machines complement each other....each making up for what the other lacks. 

I'm sorry to hear this news. I enjoyed his vids and his input. RIP, Des.

Dean

I can't wait until I find a nugget that is name - worthy!  Of course, it has to have the word "The" in front of its name as well 😁.

Incredible find!

The Dean

SDC is a great machine...Congrats on your purchase!

I believe that Steve is right on the money....there are places (most IMHO) that VLFs just can't do the job due to the ground conditions. I've seen many guys get frustrated trying to detect (successfully for gold) with a VLF. Yes, there are certain areas and conditions where a VLF can operate for nugget shooting but they are not a good primary tool for use as a nugget shooter. I believe that a guy should have both a PI and a VLF and know when and how to use each for their specific strengths. If I could only have one it would be a PI. 

Good luck!

Dean

Hey Rob,

I hope you and yours are well. Nice nugs! Thanks for posting that up!

Dean

I'm deeply saddened by this news. Fred has been a main stay on the forums for years. I'm meeting up with Chris Gholson tomorrow morning at the Q and I will let him know of this sad news. We will remember Fred with a toast around the camp fire. 

Dean

Yep, what Flak said.

I have found my largest chunks on the fringes of the well known areas. Nenad once posted " take the path of MOST resistance". This advise has paid off well for me. Go in to the well known areas and find the hard to get to, brushy-est areas...do a little "land scaping" and swing away. I once spent an hour removing brush from a small impenetrable brushy gully about 30 feet long and 10 feet wide, in a hard hit well known area, and recovered the nugs that are pictured in my avatar. I went back did and some more "landscaping" and recovered another 6 grams or so.

Save a little more money and get a used 4500. I've seen some for +- $2000. Be patient and get something worthy. 

In my experience, there are quite a few local vendors/service providers that will trade for gold. A local dentist will gladly trade, my locally owned gun shop, a landscaping outfit, and the owner of the gravel yard will trade for gold. I would guess that there are more and that it's just a matter of asking. I need a new a/c compressor for the wife's Tahoe (it's warming up pretty quickly here in AZ) and I'm gonna ask my mechanic if he will trade out for gold...perhaps just the labor part.  

I'm headed out tomorrow for a few days. Good luck!

Dean

Nice nugs, Manny!

I, too, live in AZ. The desert is beautiful right now. I'm headed to the Quartzite area on Thursday for a few days and I'm going to play with the stabilizer settings a bit because of your posts. Having the stabilizer set as high as 1 or 3 ( remember a 1 is a very high setting= more filtering. A 12 would be less stabilizer) seems counter intuitive for those tiny nugs to break the threshold... especially at depth. I have always gone with the conventional wisdom that the least stabilizer ( higher number) that you can get away with the better. Thanks for your posts on the 4500. I love mine. I have been very successful with it and the various sized Evo coils.

Dean

4 hours ago, IDMineralSurveys said:

Defending one's family directly in your home is no joking matter - and having been in that situation more than once where i live, i do not take it lightly and am further thankful I've never yet had to go that last step while protecting my wife/kids (though prepared to if necessary). 

This topic was about claim jumpers... which leads to another slice of the conversation in that claims filed in the public domain and which are not patented are not in the same realm as those that are under current patent. The public can camp on, walk-hike or drive through, cut firewood, hunt, fish, enjoy public legal uses of etc. on un-patented  claims so long as they are NOT interfering with the mineral rights of the current claim holder. An example - I've had many people ask about the process of surveying and filing a claim so that they can "build a little cabin by the cute lake" that they can call their vacation home! Sorry, that's not how that works - it's still public domain and you cannot build such without proper authorization and permits or you are in direct trespass against the public. Hence, 45% of my government surveys were for boundary trespass cases bound for court or SUP's.

Patented claims are not the same in that they are granted and withdrawn from the public domain. Trespass applies here. Some reversions and trades occur also which change the status of rights... thereby the impotance to investigate status prior to prospecting.

Idaho's trespass law did change in 2018 and does affect much of my work process as a public official -- our attorneys are working towards corrections to the language (hopefully) in the future because the pendulum swung way over the point of reason. I am constantly reinforcing access rights these days through agreements and easements - very costly and time consuming. Point of it is that landowners (self included) wanted some clarity in the law regarding personal real property laws.

These are all separate conversations in themselves... very broad subject that can easily get off the track of mineral rights.

Well said.

Nicely done!

Dean

Beautiful! Thanks for posting that.

Dean

I use nearly the same set up as Gold Hound. Lipo battery and wireless head phones...I'll never go back to being attached to the big brick battery. 

Dean

2300- Yes

4500 and all associated coils- Yes

All other Coin and Relic machines - No.

I live in AZ where the nuggets are abundant but the valuable old coins and relics aren't (not like back East or California).

In terms of enjoyment all have "paid" for themselves many times over.

Happy New Year!

Dean

In Field 2, on the 800, I generally keep the recovery speed at 5/6 unless I'm in machine gun iron then I speed it up to 7. At which point, I also bump the iron bias up from 1or 2 to 3 which helps eliminate some of the falsing. It's a trade off. I would rather dig a few falses than miss a keeper hiding in the iron. The stregnth of the Nox is it's ability (speed of recovery) to separate in the heavy trash. Lowering the recovery speed in a trashy area is like putting a two barrel carburator on a Lamborghini. Over time you will be able to hear the "tells" of falses in the faster settings.  Nevertheless, we will still get fooled now and then. Also, lowering the sensitivity a couple of points will help with the falsing as well.

Dean