RONS DETECTORS MINELAB

34 minutes ago, Dutchman4 said:

So I just want confirmation that some wet or damp soils can increase ground noise, requires lowering of the gain and results in reduced depth and performance.  From your response it appears that you confirm this to be the case and this will be yet another reason for me to plan my prospecting trips so as to avoid wet or damp soil when I can.

yes, some saturated ground conditions do adversely affect the overall performance, sometimes moderately.

All soils can react differently, I would say try lowering the gain and see if you can get a smooth threshold, if no success then try the DD coil.

A large signal should stand out from ground noise in most cases, but not all.

3 hours ago, phrunt said:

 

3 hours ago, phrunt said:

 

Fully automated is great, as long as you can override it and have an advanced menu for those that like to adjust beyond the automatic modes.

You don't have to use advanced settings, but it's nice to have them when you need and understand them.  Fully auto is taking it too far and detrimental to performance for many users.

There is nothing stopping manufacturers having the best of both worlds having advanced menu's on an auto detector.

The 5000 combined with the 6000 would dominate the market with a ergonomic light package and water proofing.

Have a automatic setting and a advanced user setting, then everyone would be content.

I have several customers say that they want the Goldmonster for themselves or their spouse because it is so simple to operate, much like the 6000.

I guess a category for seldom used detectors or beginners would be for GM 1000 users and more professional repeat user for the more user control models even if at a lower price.

My friend had bought a 24k and brought it to me to sell, I said it is a good detector. He said his spouse was not wanting to many controls, so gm1000 it is.

Another customer used a Goldfinder 2000 and also said the same, liked it’s simplicity.

Gotta listen to your spouse.

I have also been completely baffled by what the Google searches come up with on best detector’s, so much misinformation on the internet.

Steve’s guide is professionaly backed from experience and has been a great resource for the community wanting to get started with this hobby.

The Goldmonster 1000 package with only the 5” coil has a new item #3317-0005 and a map price of $799 for U.S…

The Nokta Goldfinder 2000 has a map price of $595, I have not used this detector yet but am curious how its performance is.

Having all 7 available coils at different times, I will say the Coiltek 10 x 5" is a favorite coil for its sensitivity. The 17 x 13 is no slouch even though its not far behind the 11" on multi-gram bits, just have to lower sensitivity to manual 2 or 3 to handle the ground and EMI chatter and get that smooth threshold.

The 6000 is limited to the 17 x 13” as the largest coil option available, so getting the 5000 with a larger Evo spiral wound coil would complement your 6000 on solid multi gram + bits. I would bet the 17 x 13” Evo or 15” Evo would be the starting point where the 6000 drops off. Plus you have the option to use the larger bundle wound or DD coils in more extreme ground conditions on the 5000.

You still have the Goldhawk 10 x 5” and the 6000’s stock 11” for the more porous bits. 

Melbeta,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your booklets, really nice history lesson and definitely a great article on Colorado's minerals. My friend used to do chip sampling in Cripple Creek and had some nice and unique mineral specimens from there.

Ron

The best thing to do is have a lat/long on the notice on one of your claim corners with boundaries and distances measured out from this point, so you can prove where the boundaries were if someone takes or moves the corner markers. Problem solved legally by basically having it surveyed on map. This well also help the new locator in avoiding your claim.

I not big on a lot of hype, but love the comparison testing side of performance detectors and tips on settings, so it's

testing side;

Phasetech Nenad

Brass Medic

Benny Prospecting

Complete Prospecting

Smithsgold/TwoToes -- Outback Gold Fever -- Bill Southern, fun to watch their adventures.

Minelab SDC-2300 for the rivers is a great choice for it's underwater capabilities and the ability to handle medium mineralized ground, also the one with probably the least price. Only thing is it's not very ergonomic in handling, but is compactable for hike-ins. 

Minelab is quiet on any new releases, so never know. 

Dilek from Nokta says there working on one, no telling what the performance might be though, but Nokta usually have a good and very competitive price point.

The CT 5 x10" has more sensitivity on the smaller nuggets verses the CT 9", typically on 1/3 gram and smaller nuggets. Ground mineralization noise and emi noise is usually reduced when going from a very large coil to a small coil so thus being a bit more quiet. But, in the case of the two coils you mentioned, this emi noise reduction is not as noticeable because the coils are still fairly close in size.  

https://www.facebook.com/Coiltek/

Available Nov. 29 for purchase.

Looks like Coiltek is offering up a new 18" Coil for the Equinox Series & Xterra Pro.

Looking forward to the reviews.

The NF Exceed 7x12 is more quiet and handles EMI pretty good but is not going to be deeper on larger targets over the stock 11" mono coil. The cheaper alternative is the CT Goldhawk 5 x 10",  not as quiet as the NF coil though, but does better on really small targets, more so than any of the other coils available to date. We are still waiting for NF to release hopefully this year the Exceed 10 x 16 mono coil which could possibly be deeper on larger targets and more quiet; verdict is not out yet though.

I attached a chart I put together to show the other details. The bigger coils hit better on larger deep targets and are not as sensitive to smaller targets. The smaller coils do better on sensitivity to smaller targets but with loss of depth on larger targets.

22 hours ago, phrunt said:

but do you think it is much more stable or just a bit?

I have had several trips out with Pro-Find 40 the last couple of weeks, I only remember it going unstable twice. When this happened I only had to push the stability (on button switch quickly) which fixed the stability immediately without having to turn the pin-pointer off like the Pro-Find 35. 

I'm still on the fence about it only because it's still needs more time in the field to prove it's lasting durability.

Here's a video on the Pro-find 40 on small nuggets. I did not have a Garrett AT at the time of the video. I have only used the Pro-find 40 a little bit, so have not come to a conclusion yet on it's performance and durability.

I do highly recommend the Garret AT due to it's reliability and it's more sensitive than my older Garrett pro pointer used in the video.

GPX & GPZ always use UPC tape.

Equinox Stock covers no tape.

Gold Bug 2 No covers due to the epoxy fill.

Here's the link,

I believe recovery speed of 1 was used in the test.

Lots of people are selling their older model detectors for the newer models coming out. I guess it’s like having packrat syndrome, must have the shiny and new. This opens up a good opportunity to get some good detector prices for people on a budget.

As a dealer and trainer I get asked a very good question by a lot of customers on what prospecting detector would be best for them. My answer is usually what is your price range and how mineralized is the area you planning on prospecting? How much rubbish is in the area your detecting? If they are new to prospecting and not sure where to even go, I recommend them doing some research on the mining districts closest to them. My usual recommendation for their best chance of finding nuggets is to get a PI detector when in medium to heavy mineralized ground or a VLF with a very good target VDI for low mineralized ground in rubbish littered areas. Usually the PI detectors exceeds there price limit. There are options for used PI detectors at VLF pricing, but this comes with risk by not having any warranty. I recommend only keeping a detector that’s under warranty due to the high price of repairs, but do understand there are some really good prices on used detectors also, such as the GPX-5000.

The following list is just a recommendation from my experience using a majority of these detectors on what will work for nugget hunting. I am not saying price always determines the best performance due to many variables in metal detecting. This is not a debate on detector performances as it is more about what price to expect to pay to get into this hobby. All the VLF’s listed here can or should pass the bic pen sensitivity test. There are many more comparable models out there, but these were probably some of the lower priced prospecting detectors I have found for the money.

Just a few Detectors for light mineralization and a low price where a VLF can work well:

$289,00 Minelab X-Terra Pro 3 year warranty. Has ground balance. I recommend nugget hunting in Park 2 15Khz mode for best sensitivity. Also a multi-purpose detector. Great price and also can use Equinox coils.

Fisher Gold Bug newer Digital w 5 inch coil 19Khz.  5 year warranty.

Fisher F19 w 6 x 10 inch coil package. 19Khz 5 year warranty.

Nokta Legend Pro Pack w 6 inch coil package Multi Freq. 3 year warranty. Also a multi-purpose detector.

Nokta/Makro Gold Kruzer w 4 x 7.5 and 5.5 x 10 inch coil package 61Khz. 3 year warranty.

Garrett 24K w 6 x 10 inch coil 48Khz. 2 year warranty.

 Fisher Gold Bug 2 analog or digital w 3 x 6.5 inch coil 71Khz. 5 year warranty. This detector is probably a specialty detector with the most sensitivity for cleaning up the smallest leftover nuggets. If you need more sensitivity then the GB2 then probably recommend the Gold Falcon MD20 pin-pointer 300Khz. 

Minelab Equinox 800 w 6 inch coil Multi Freq. 3 year warranty. Also a multi-purpose detector. Very versatile.

Many other used VLF models can come in well under $500.00, but with no warranty probably better to buy a new model for the price difference.

For medium to heavy mineralization, a PI is really necessary to have the best success: Weight is usually the downside to PI detectors until the last few new releases. So weight is included on the PI list.

Expensive Options!

A used GP 3500 can be found for less than $1,400, ATX for less than $1,500, GPX 4500 for less than $1,700, and GPX 5000 for less than $2,000. Most likely non warranty, but these older PI’s were built pretty solid.

Maybe others can describe the best options for your areas mineralization though.

I am looking forward to trying out the 16 X 10" Spoked when available to purchase. It will be the largest area sized non DD coil offered besides the stock 17 X 13" and it will be a lot lighter to swing also. I'm hoping they use the same wiring configuration as the 12 x 7" though for best all around performance.

I have added a comparison chart to show the comparisons below. 

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Though there is not a whole lot of maneuvering room in price for ML to add such features as the SMF Legend which has as much capability as Nox is looming at $499 MAP and can be purchased for closer to $400.

I am hoping Minelabs next VLF true gold detector has SMF features incorporated into it also. Minelab would also have to offer a more desirable smaller nugget coil that comes stock with the package to help keep it in the lower overall price range. 

8 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

On 3/23/2023 at 3:48 PM, RONS DETECTORS MINELAB said:

If this detector had a small coil and a selectable 18, 45, and 71Khz. frequency option I would call it a Goldmonster 2000.

Yeah but then ML would have to charge $2000 for it.  

If they called it a Goldmonster Pro though the price could be lower than any other single frequency VLF gold detector on the market.

11 hours ago, phrunt said:

It probably does pretty good with it's stock coil on the nuggets too I would guess, that would be an interesting next test for you.

The stock 9 X 12" with factory settings of 15Khz. Park 2 mode could hear the .03 Gram but on the coil only and the .05 Gram could be heard off the coil. With further adjustments I could get a better response on both though. 

My first impression was that this is a completely different detector from the previous 705 model and much more similar to the Equinox 700 pod configuration but without Multi-IQ. I have used the older X-Terra 705 with the 18.75Khz. Gold Pack coil and was curious to see how the new  X-Terra Pro would perform on some smaller nuggets. I also liked that this detector had a manual ground balance and the Equinox 700/900 VDI numbers.

So, the Equinox 6" coil was used for this testing using the 15Khz. Park 2 mode on both the X-Terra Pro and the Equinox using nugget sizes of .03 and .05 Gram. The X-Terra Pro and the Equinox could easily hit on both nuggets. As suspected the X-Terra Pro did have a decrease in target sensitivity when compared to the Equinox when I tried it in the Park 2 multi-frequency mode. Ground handling capabilities on both detectors were as usual for a VLF, no new breakthrough in this regard.

I'll will have to admit I was surprised that this detector at it's price range could be used also for prospecting.

I would like to hear any feedback if anyone else has used the X-Terra Pro for nugget hunting with any success.

If this detector had a small coil and a selectable 18, 45, and 71Khz. frequency option I would call it a Goldmonster 2000.

Yes, it would also be a waterproof fully submersible GM2000.