bado1

What an awesome idea. Great conversion. Now you've got me thinking......

Thanks LL. I'm going to make that my mantra whilst I swing! Dean

Great job at hanging in there through the bird shot LL. I must admit that one of my faults and probably why I get skunked more often than I care for is that I dont have much tolerance for digging trash. Especially bird shot. I realize while I'm doing it that it means that the area has been over looked because of the presence of the shot but, man, I hate that stuff. I will usually move. Bad form, I know. Good on you though. Thanks for the lesson! Dean

How would this machine compare to say a X-Terra 305? I'm looking for an entry level VLF to see what the "other side" of detecting is all about...parks, etc. Any idea as to release date? Thanks! Dean

Gold Hound, Man, those are some heavy duty picks! Nice work! I will check out the leaf spring steel. My reality is that I don't get out in the field a fraction of the time you do and at this rate it would take me years to wear out the ones I made. Always looking for a better way for any project. Thanks for the tips and for posting the pics of your picks. Dean P.S.- What is your pipe/ handle diameter?

Thanks guys. Gold Hound- I could not find any curved steel ( like a plow disc). I dont live in an area that has any farming and having a disc shipped is cost prohibitive. What do you use for steel? I am going to ask the guys at the steel yard if they could put a curve in a length of steel. The AR-400 is pretty hard stuff which is why I chose it for this project. I just dont know if it can be curved easily or not. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and cost effective it was to build these . Plus, it was a fun and I learned a few things. So much so, that I will keep doing it until I get it right (if these dont work out for prospecting they can be used in the garden). What you are saying makes sense and I appreciate your experienced input. Thanks again. Dean

Been too busy during the day light hours to swing a detector so I channeled my energy in to making a couple of new picks in the evenings in my and my neighbors garage. My neighbor is a welder by trade and has all the fun stuff...plasma this and MIG that (a good neighbor to have)! He did the welding and I designed them and hand fit the handles. I used 1/4" AR-400 steel and Ash and Hickory for the handles.... Now I have to get out and see if they can take some abuse. I think the AR-400 should hold up well. They are both 11" long from tip to scraping end and 5" wide at the scraping end. Handles are 26" and 30" long. Both less than 3lbs. Dean

You guys made my morning ! Very talented mining poetry. Thanks!!

hawkeye, I run 10 ply on my 2500 diesel Ram.

They are certainly a good precaution. That being said, I don't wear them. I opted for the full leather upper boot. Ironically, I was bittten by a small Diamondback a few years back and I was not out detecting. I was in my back yard doing yard work. Damn thing bit me on the hand...it was well hidden in some weeds. Didn't even rattle either. I'm more concerned about being bitten on the hand/arm while retrieving a target than being bitten on the ankle/leg. My experience almost killed me. Spent three days in ICU. Make sure you are aware of where you are reaching! I learned my lesson the hard way. Be safe. Dean

Piece of mind now with the new tires. You aren't kidding about N. Nevada being tough on tires. When I was there last I had just put new tires on my beast. Drove in to an area and discovered a triangular piece of metal about four inches long sticking out of one of my new skins... irreparable. And we had just got there. Not a place you want to be driving around with no spare! PITA. Congrats on both accounts. Dean

Awesome. Congratulations! Dean

Yes, I did the same as AjR. I took an adjustable bungee (Ace Hardware) and worked it through my Camel pack then tied a piece of para chord around the handle of my SDC. I don't use it much as the SDC is very light and manageable but it does come in handy. I can collapse the shaft then attach the bungy and the machine will ride up under my left elbow (lefty) and then I can really cruise and hike without the machine being in the way. Dean

Thanks for shedding some light on that for me. Dean

My office computer woes shut me down this afternoon. Soooo, I left it to the IT guys and escaped for a short swinging session with the SDC. Found this little .2 subgrammer within 10 seconds of turning the machine on! It was left for me courtesy of a dry washer who, obviously, did not believe in detecting his tailing pile. I walked up to the pile that was maybe thirty yards from my truck turned the machine on performed a quick balance swung over the top of the pile and BANG... Signal! Out came this little guy. There were four piles within a few yards of each other so I kicked them all down and detected them. This was the only one. Climbed back in the truck and was out of there in about an hour. I think this is what they mean when one "turns lemons in to lemon aid". Not huge by any stretch but it beat the skunk. Dean

So, is the whole idea of a booster just to increase the volume? And, if that is the case, will any head phone amp do? There are a ton of them. Some quite cheap and others are very pricey. I read a old post on some obscure forum where a guy said that the booster will help "separate a target signal from the sound of the threshold". Aren't they all just amps? Amplifying ALL of the sound the good and the bad? Thanks. Dean

What is the difference between a head phone amp and a signal booster like the B&Z or the Gold Screamer? Will one of these make a difference on the SDC? Thanks. Dean

Awesome test AjR! Thanks for doing that. I've been super busy and haven't had a chance to get out. Hopefully, we can get together later in the month Azavsfan. I will be looking forward to it! How did you do at Lynx? We are going to a new EHR (electronic health record) in my office (I'm a chiropractor) and it has thrown a major stick in the spokes of our operation. Totally messed up our system today. The IT guy is trying to work the bugs out. It's gonna take a couple of weeks to get everything up to snuff. Totally messing with my detecting time! Anyway, thanks again AjR ...much appreciated!

Awesome! Beautiful gold. I love hunting in northern Nevada. Keep it up! Dean

AZavsfan, Man, thats great that ML is taking care of you like that! I hope it gets here fast. Supposed to be 80 here in the high country today. Perfect swinging weather and I've got to go out of town:(. We will have to get together up here in the cooler country and find some gold this summer. I'm working on some promising ground. Let me know when you and your dad get a free week end and we can meet up and go explore. spencer@wy, The Fors is going to be my next machine. Good luck with the repair. Have you had a chance to swing it at all? If so, what did you think of it? Thanks guys. Dean

Hi Dan, welcome to the site. After much consideration I went a completely different route...I bought an SDC! For the way I hunt in the type of country I hunt in the ATX just wasn't the machine for me. Not saying that the ATX isn't a good machine. It is. Just didn't jive with my style. I'm sorry I can't answer your question directly, hopefully, Paul or Steve can chime in here and give you an experienced answer. Good luck. Dean

Pretty cool. The things a guy can do when he's rich, wow. Great story. Thanks.

Spectacular! WTG.

Thanks Strick! I've never listened to another SDC but mine seems to be very stable. Let us know how it goes.Thanks! Dean

This is a great post! Thanks for sharing your settings and your finds. Dean