phrunt

stuck up against a fence, windblown 🙂 pure luck! but if they weren't detecting it wouldn't have been found.

As I said earlier on this post, the methods used to make Xchange 2 work on Google maps were dodgy with a resident memory patch, they've now made a better version just released, good to see them keeping it working, although very likely a necessity by Australian consumer law considering they still sell the GPZ and CTX which are associated with it. I believe this is why they never bothered with an application for Mac computers, far more likely to make it work on Android or iOS than for Mac computers. Operating Systems Percentage Market Share Worldwide - August 2023 Android 39.2% Windows 30.12% iOS 16.48% OS X 8.77% Unknown 1.84% Chrome OS 1.44% Skip back a few years when the CTX and GPZ came out and see the figures and you'll know why they never touched OS X. And the direct link to the program. https://www.minelab.com/__files/f/514407/XChange2-1.8.7-1.4.1.exe XChange 2 Application (PC Only). Version 1.8.7-1.4.1 Released 2023 September. Installation Guide: Download “XChange2–1.8.7-1.4.1.exe” Restart your computer Locate the downloaded “XChange2–1.8.7-1.4.1.exe” file, then double click on the file to start the installation process. Installation will take approximately 5 minutes and will uninstall the current version of XChange 2 that is installed on your computer. Once installation is completed, restart your computer. Open and run XChange 2 as normal

The Nox 800 in defaults is basically the Vanquish which is designed more for beginners, only they've added an option to ground balance which in some situations makes it even easier to use than the Vanquish, most need not trouble themselves with advanced settings, I rarely venture outside of defaults myself and I do just fine, I think. The Target ID stability of the 800 makes it a great beginner's detector, set it in your desired mode for location where is easily set out and understandable how to use and off you go, if you pass over a coin and know it's air test ID you'll likely dig it, even my daughter at 9 years of age was using the Nox on her first time detecting and found it easy to use and found a heap of $1 and $2 coins. I tried to put her on the Go-Find and then the T2 that day, both were rejected so I had to hand over my Nox as she wanted the good ID's and I used the T2 my wife refused to detect using the Go-Find and didn't want to use the T2 with its dodgy ID's so she just didn't detect even though we were in a place loaded with dollar coins. When she saw a 21 or 22 repeating over and over again on the screen, she knew she had herself some money and that's great fun for a kid. It ended up encouraging my wife and daughter to come back with me over the next few days seeing we were staying in the area and we cleaned up real good, all the gold coins are $1 and $2 coins. It's nice to be able to grow into a detector rather than have to replace it upgrading when you feel the time is there to dabble with settings.

The 900’s target ID stability is a fatal flaw for my needs, I’d take an 800 any day, if they keep the 800 alive I hope they put it in a 900 body, if they do I’ll upgrade my 800.

Hopefully he just has a nice dealer that updated it for him.

It's a known issue with early units and a bad batch of speakers, Nokta will certainly look after you.

Game Changer compared to which pinpointers?

Thanks for that video, it does appear the 40 is more stable and doesn't go off in the air all the time like the 35, can you confirm this? You said in the video it seems better, but do you think it is much more stable or just a bit? It's damn frustrating with the 35 that you have to have it in the hole and try not to move it around much or lift it out of the hole or it goes off and you have to turn it off and on again. That's the thing I dislke about the 35 the most especially when I can't understand why they made it like that when no other pinpointer behaves the same, even a cheap $20 Chinese generic one. The sensitivity seems improved too, a little. The 40 appears to be what the 35 should have been and the 35 should never have made it past the testing stage to be released. I may end up with one after all.

Well it's pretty nose heavy but when I mainly swing the GPZ the Bug with Detech feels light 🙂

I often use mine for bedrock cracks which is why I've always been on the hot pursuit of a very sensitive pinpointer, they're invaluable in finding gold inside rock, sometimes we have cracks that can't even be seen like they've healed over so we are left smashing up schist to try find the gold, the detector knows its there but can't narrow it down so you're left smashing up a lot of rock to try find this little 0.03 of a gram nugget, very difficult task, with the pinpointer being able to narrow down right where the gold is can be invaluable and means you only have to break up a small portion of rock. Another instance is when you're smashing rock on a cliff edge, you can't be aggressive as the gold can go by by over the edge, so the pinpointer narrowing it down really helps. The best for the task I think are the Sphinx 03 (near impossible to buy), Whites TRX (also near impossible to buy), Garrett Pro Pointer AT, keep in mind it's only sensitive on the side of the tip to small targets so this can cause problems when trying to locate targets in bedrock cracks, and the XP Mi-4/6 which are not quite as sensitive as the others listed above but is very stable and is quite good on the tip. The new Minelab Pro-Find 40 maybe a viable alternative as the PRo-Find 35 was reasonable except for stability and quality problems, and with its boosted sensitivity over the 35 it may well be able to match the Garrett and XP for small target sensitivity. The Sphinx 03 and Whites TRX are the most sensitive to small targets although the Whites is a bit unstable when sensitivity is on highest and also doesn't handle bad ground as well as the others.

It would be best if it defaulted to everywhere, I'm sure it used to, maybe not but I don't remember having to change it, either way it works a treat if you remember to change it 🙂

yea, I had to find it with trusty old Google as the forum search came up with nothing.

They're a long narrow DD coil, excellent coil too, I really like mine, I bought it for my Gold Bug Pro. A thread on it here

That's an outstanding collection of finds, some hard works gone into that. A real shame your gold nugget natural gold box was empty, but shows you're an honest man as you could have easily put something in there to complete the collection. Very well done.

Looks nothing like the Jade we find in New Zealand. This is what it looks like in its natural form unpolished.

I'd love to own an old metal box Whites machine, especially one of the higher end models like that. Sadly, it's a near impossibility with none being sold into the country so they're rare as hens' teeth and importing one is just far too expensive. Improvements in detectors over time aren't all that dramatic it seems. I wonder if they were everyday devices like mobile phones where everyone has one and there were multiple big players with billions in backing competing would the technology develop faster and better than it has now with them being such small companies with limited budgets. Have they reached their limits, or have they reached their limits with the engineering pool available to the companies making them, that's the big question, I think.

A 4x2.5" coil would be a game changer for the Manticore being a nugget machine. I always assumed if they were to make a great little size like that, they would save it for the Gold Monster 2000 multi frequency machine. My assumption was always if Minelab started to get good competition they would do more with coils, either by making better and more coils themselves or opening their detectors up more to the aftermarket. Maybe we are starting to see the results of competition.

It's always good to see when people are enjoying their detector and doing well with it, and you did great. Plenty of potential at that park by the looks of it.

For me of those available on the market new today the Sphinx 03 (not easily available outside of parts of Europe), the Garrett Pro Pointer AT (only the side of the tip), the XP-Mi4 and 6 in that order, nothing else I've found worthwhile for small nuggets. So, due to the Sphinx being a bit of a Unicorn and very hard to acquire I'd say the Garrett Pro Pointer AT is best, followed closely by the XP. Although, the new Minelab Pro-Find 40 maybe just the ticket, the 35 sure wasn't but the increased sensitivity and stability of the Pro-Find 40 along with its ability to disconnect it's coil thereby not causing interference with the GPZ and GPX detectors near as badly make it a contender. I'm oh so temped to try it but was so disappointed in my Pro-Find 35 it makes it a tough ask to fork out the cash for what could be another lemon.

It was let slip they had plans for a M9 round DD, but wasn't sure if it was going to come out. Not a coil I'd be interested in either way although fantastic if they are doing another coil option, the more the better.

The CTX 17 destroys the Equinox 800 15 in my soils.

Thanks for that, once again more affirmation the CTX is still the top of the line in many scenarios.

The thing he didn't take into account doing that video was camera angle and sun, so the screen wasn't able to be watched in the entire video, only parts of it, so annoying and such an easy thing to resolve. Come at it from a different angle, not with the sun facing the screen, pretty simple.

It doesn't have a phone app, it was suggested it would be good if it did.

One of these might be a cheaper option for me over a Legend, I don't need the fancy features for my intended use. How is coil compatibility, do they support Legend coils or need their own coils?