fredmason

Steve, being old school, I never have used an electronic pinpointer...what is Target ratcheting? Can the auto Gb be set and then turned off? I like the little carrying case-looks cool! fred

Yes, Rick the poor people of the world use and reuse everything, good for them! But, what the minelab guy said is not accurate...he should have said the detector will find any metallic metal but will ignore minerals. It is that inaccuracy that lets shadey dealers mislead the ignorant. I am not accusing Minelab of wrongdoing...but they have an obligation to be correct in their statements...in my never humble opinion! fred

great video...The Minelab Rep should be more clear about what the detector will find...I am sure there is iron and other trash in the ground also...as we all know. Chris, off to AFRICA...what a great adventure. Good Luck fred

Not to raise the dead but maybe they bought some of the NEVER_QUITE_READY pulse-devil design concepts...which at the time sounded like it would be the final answer to prospectors prayers... Sooner or later someone will make these technologies work in the real world...I hope I can still swing a detector when that happens. fred

Steve, you gave many people an opportunity to visit the wilds of Alaska and hunt the big ones, I am still and will always be grateful for that experience. As for Minelabs and big holes all of my deep holes have been trash at the bottom of the hole...but, I know I have a whopper scheduled sometime before I forsake the game. fred

Nice write-up AUgie...to each his own as they say. I often use the little sony over-the-ear 20 dollar headphones they are fine anywhere but at the beach...I can't overcome the wind and surf noise there... So, sometimes it is goldpros or the Koss...whatever tool works... fred

Yes, there were cultural differences too. I have always wanted to visit NZ. During my three trips to Australia I made friends with Ken D, an artist in NZ Jade and couple of guys that ran a museum...all wonderful friendly people! fred

I absolutely love the wireless module on the ctx...I charge both batteries at the same time so no problem...I never step on my hf cord and rip the phones off my ears anymore...free, free at last. fred

Thanks Rob; In this country there is very often gold under stacked rocks and tails...but the chinese were very good most of time...as you say they usually got the worked or lesser ground. Prejudice was alive and well on Americas gold fields... fred

Nice! I wonder how many detectorists passed up on that trash signal???? I would love you see the whole story. fred

One of the members of Mark Hyde'sGold Prospecting Australia tour in W.A. found a sunbaker of approximately 69 Oz back in 2010...of course they were detecting when they found it... fred

the stockcoil should be a choice.... Fisher should let the buyer choose which coil they want...especially when the buyer only wants one coil... in my humble opinion fred

Rick, the 2100 was very sensitive but I think you are asking alot of it to detect a 1.5 Grain bit...especially if you were using the 11 inch coil... it is still a great detector... fred

Steve may be on vacation or out detecting...have you read his list of nugget hunting reccomendations...read through all the posts on this forum and many of your questions will be answered...the final choice will have to be yours...and remember-there is no one perfect detector... good luck fred

Thanks, yesterday I found a 39 and 52 dime... Today I found a 1929 1/2 dollar a1904 V nickel, two wheaties and a pile of tabs and junk money...I certainly have done my part to find more gold rings-but, if they ain't there????what else can I do...except keep beeping... btw, Steve; this is the first half I have found since the one I found at Moore creek...2005, where has the time gone... fred

what size, type and makers are you speaking of? The first test is plug in another coil. if everything works with the replacement coil,than the first coil is in some way faulty... If you are using a Minelab Pi, a mono coil will not work in cancel nor will it descriminate correctly.... I have had two commander dd coils that were faulty...apparently the person doing the soldering was incompetent or sleeping when they did them...fortunately I managed to resolder that connection and they both worked after my less than professional solder-job. fred

Editors note: split from beach detecting thread. I had just commented on returning rings. Fred's responses were so good deserved new thread - Steve H Yes, Steve...some can be but many cannot. I found a classring many years ago and finally tracked the owner down, mailed the ring to her and never heard a word from her...goodness is its own reward...I hear. I just took some pics of the junk and stuff I found the last 8 months...mostly found with the 3030 and some found with the x-70... 19 silver dimes and 6 silver quarters froma very well worked 90 acre park...and one lonely gold ring. a pile of junk money and other goodies and wheaties, silver, and good goodies

Nice job, Steve...you are certainly investing time and energy in this forum. The beaches here in San Diego are full of black sand... I have found gold chain fragments on wet salt beaches with the Xterra-70 and the prospecting dd coil...the stock coil did not seem to deal with the black sand and wet salt water as well. I have been to the bay a couple of times with my ctx3030; it worked ok but I don't have enough time in the salt to really have a firm opinion. I do know several beach hunters that haave switched to the 3030 and the big coil for their beach-ing...and love the results. I know this will sound odd but I feel bad about finding lost rings, etc...but, there is rarely any way to find the foolish losers of said objects... so, I won't throw them back! fred

Just to clarify, it is the metallic nickel/iron that is easily detected by vlf metal detectors in stone meteorites. There are three very basic types of meteorites; stones, stoney/irons and irons...the last two have so much metallic nickel/iron that any pi or vlf should detect them. Stones are usually "ordinary chrondrites" and can have almost no metallic nickel/iron grading up to high percentages... and can as Steve said be seen by the detector as mineralized hot or cold rocks... this is way too technical for me...read any of the books by O. Richard Norton to get a basic understanding... fred

One thing I noticed is his coil wire is loose and flopping about as he swings...there were other things too.. fred

time swinging and the Experience Factor are both relative to success...what is the total? fred

great ending to a sad story... fred

In the ICMJ'S Prospecting and Mining Journal there is a fun article by Steve relating his early days of gold mining...I was amused by his description of his early excitement over itty-bitty gold specks...It reminded me of when I thought I was rich with my first pan near Downieville... And the article by Jonathan Porter relating his Father/Son competition was a reminder of my days with my own father whom I miss every day...we had great times together as does Jp and his family... The subscription is not much dinero. And Reno Chris always has informative articles as he is the Associate Editor. give it a try fred

The trouble is that people will "hear" the parts they want to hear and ignore the rest of the story...especially when someone with your credentials speaks. My first Garret was a Tr/vlf...the Tr mode was useless until some smart person developed the Reverse Descrimination technique. Before that I had to pay attention to the sound and size of the signal which was actually a very good method...now, I have gotten pretty lazy compared to my 1980 detecting days... I agree a PI will go deeper than anyother detector...But, God save the parks when some nubbie gets loose with a pi in them. fred

When the first version of the TDI came out I was able to borrow one from a buddy. I set it up per Reg Sniffs directions and was amazed that i was able to get copper pennys and a late 1800s silver dime without digging pulltabs and iron bottle-caps... I am sure the newest editions are way better... Now I am in love with my CTX3030...Mark;if the 3030 you borrowed did not work in that ground you may have not been setting it correctly...like most detectors experience is key. fred