bado1

Nice chunks! Well done!!

Does camping, hunting, fishing, walking or hiking on a claim constitute "claim jumping"? I'm asking this as a serious question. Again, I can understand that if there is mining going on you wouldn't want people on the claim for their safety and your own liability reasons. What I (We. I'm not the only one) see a lot of here in AZ. is areas where there are claim markers on every ridge line, hill, gully,etc. for as far as the eye can see and nothing is going on (for years). VERY, VERY few actively working mines here anymore. Most of these are old claims that the claimant never bothered to go back and take the pvc markers down. It's a total PITA. Can we detect here or not? Is the claim still active or not? Is an over zealous prospector gonna pull a gun on me because I'm hiking across "his" land? (Yep, it happened. Wonderful "fellow miner"). I don't bring my computer when I go detecting so that I can check the LR2000 every time I see a forest of white pipes. Not to mention that most people don't even know what the little white pvc pipes mean, therefore, they camp,etc.. If we couldn't camp or hunt in AZ. on claims we wouldn't be able to camp or hunt in much of the state. I may be wrong, I don't remember, but the little federal mining claim notification signs don't mention anything other than a person can't remove minerals from the claimed land(?). I'm guessing non-patented claims or the ones after 1955? Most claims don't even post the little sign...just the white pipes. You would think that our fellow miners would have enough respect to remove the pvc when they decide they don't want to re-claim. I'm not anti-mining. Quite the opposite. I want the casual prospector who claims up some ground to know where his rights begin and end. That's not anti-mining. Note that I said "casual prospector" not "miner". Most miners know their stuff regarding their claims and act accordingly. It seems, in my experience, (not good ones) the casual prospector turned claim owner doesn't. Enough said.... Flame away. Dean

Sweet! I hope it goes as "planned"! Thank you, Nokta!!

That is different, Chris. I get that. I think we are talking about different definitions of "mining".

Yes, what level of "mining" are we talking about here? If you are actively mining with heavy equipment and not just detecting or doing a little dry washing here and there then I can see where you would want to try and keep people off. We are talking actual "mining" not "prospecting", right? In Az., seems we have lots of guys making claims and just detecting or doing some occasional dry washing (prospecting) or nothing at all and they think they own the property... and do ridiculous things like pile rocks up, put spikes, or fence across roads that have been there for a hundred years.

How does shooting interfere? Yes, I know, lead, detecting, and all that (I hate digging lead as much as the next guy). But seriously, where does your definition of "interference" end? I'm with Relichunter. Nothing makes me madder than guys claiming up good tracts and then doing nothing with them. In Az. claimants are supposed to file "proof of labor" forms upon renewal. Proving that they are doing something. But nobody checks. I guess detecting a claim a couple of times a year qualifies as labor. I get a bit conflicted on this topic because I have seen the abuse from both sides.

Unless they are illegally removing gold/minerals from your claim there is'nt anything you can do about it. Shooting,fishing hunting, camping, etc. is legal and allowed on claims. Unfortunately some people are idiots and we have to live with it. I see guys quail hunting on claims I hunt and I just cringe. Can't do a thing about it though. Thing is, I hunt too...not in areas I detect though! I can't stand guys with claims that think that they some how own the land and do things that are very illegal trying to keep people off of "their" land. Using game cameras is a great way to have your camera stolen or shot up. In AZ. the Forest Service (don't get me started) is the biggest offender of taking game cameras...if the camera is up for more than two weeks it becomes public property if on public land and the FS will take it down. Good luck

Hoping it's a multi-frequency machine. I see the freq shift selection on the left and then "frequency" on the right. We have the freq shift on the CoRe which slightly changes the freq so the machine will play nice with other things like pin pointers and other machines. Hmmmm. Time will tell.

The menu selection looks great. There are a number of selections that the CoRe doesn't have. Looking forward to this one. Dean

Very nice! WTG! Dean

Thanks guys! I love this time of year. Between prospecting and hunting there just isn't enough hours in a week! Good luck! Dean

Wow! What a process. That guy is truly an artist.

Was able to get out for a couple of hours today with the SDC and added these to the poke. It is still pretty warm in the high desert but that will change this week with rain and cooler temps moving in to AZ. Prospecting season is here! Good luck! Dean

Like Chris said the SDC is the same way and I agree with him...so water can drain out. Once you realize that it also allows dirt and debris in it just becomes routine maintenance pull the cover off and clean it out. It really is pretty easy to do after you do it a couple of times and get a feel for it. A car key and some strong fingers do the job nicely.

I know very little about electronics but from what I know about detectors (or what I understand, anyway) is that they have regulators. So, no matter what voltage battery you put in the processor and coil are always regulated to the same amount.(?) Dean

WTG, Lunk! That's great "off season" detecting. Good luck this winter! Dean

Good job, Condor. Nice gold!

Hi Guys, This post came back to life from way back but a great topic. Jimmy, perhaps I can shed some light on the topic now that I've had more experience and close to half an ounce of nuggets under my belt hunting weekends this summer with the SDC. Go with the Sun Ray or the Black Widows. I went with Black Widows and love them in conjunction with the SDC. I can hear the slightest change in threshold and they are great at blocking out ambient noise, wind, etc. As to the original threshold question...I set the threshold on 3 and the gain on 5 and have found that, in my ground here in Arizona, those settings work awesome (I don't ever change them). Good luck with your new purchase! Dean

SDC 2300

Well said.

Great detecting, Strick! I know that I leave some targets like that behind due to their numbers and tones being close to pull tabs,etc. I dug a ring the other day because I decided to dig those lower numbers just to see what I was missing. I dug lots of foil and tabs but also nailed the ring. You are right, if you want to dig gold rings and things you must approach it like prospecting and be willing to dig some trash too. Nice finds.Thanks for sharing...it makes me a better detector. Dean

Great post, Steve. My set up is very much like yours but after seeing some of your kit I will add some things to mine. Thank you! I don't pack my pin pointer when prospecting as the SDC, with it's small coil, pin points very well. It would have come in handy this past weekend though so I may have to start bringing it. Not for nuggets, but for the relics around the old mining camps using the Nokta. I would imagine it must help with the 7000 and it's large coil? Dean

My buddy Steve and I made it out for a couple of days this weekend with the idea of locating a new patch in Central Arizona. Steve started on Friday afternoon. We both wore out some boot leather but were not rewarded with a new patch. That's not to say that we didn't find some cool stuff and a little (very little) gold though. Friday afternoon Steve found this cool old bottle... Gentleman that Steve is, he graciously gave the bottle to my wife who loves things like this. We wondered over dinner and drinks what could the bottle have been used for? Then, Steve hit on it!..... It's an old Soft Soap bottle!! And you thought that the Old Timers had it rough . By Sunday we were discouraged with patch hunting so we decided to go hunt an area that had been hit hard by the Old Timers. Steve used his GPX-5000 with a 6" coil and I brought both the Nokta Fors CoRe and the SDC. At this place I opted for the Nokta with the little 5" coil. This area has been mined for 100+ years and has the trash to prove it. This is where the Nokta shines! Lots of trash and some relics... Finally found some old, large caliber rim fire cases. Everyone but me seems to find these things...until now . Wanted one for a while. 56-56 Spencer cases. They are actually 52 caliber according to my research. 1860s to 1920s. And the gold... Very little for the effort we put in but we scored one each to keep the skunk away. Steve found the Merc dime a couple of weekends ago out in the gold fields. Proving once again...the GPX-5000 is a hell of a coin shooter . I may ask him to borrow it for my next park hunt! And, of course, no hunt is complete without being surrounded by, and taking notice of, the beauty of Mother Nature... The Stag Horn Cactus is a late bloomer and the Prickly Pear Cactus fruit is ripe for the picking. Prickly Pear jelly anyone? Happy hunting. Dean

Wow, 1515Art you are incredibly talented! Beautiful works. I had to go get my wife and show her. Beautiful guitar, John. When I'm not swinging a detector I'm hunting/shooting. I'm not artistic nor musically talented. Wish I were.

Great advise! Thanks!!