AU_Solitude

Nice one J.W.! I have a feeling that those of us in California will be having a similar overgrowth problem this year with the crazy amounts of rain and snowfall we have been receiving.

While I like the idea of better ground coverage with the larger coils, what you end up giving up is the huge convenience factor that the SDC offers. The time that it takes to go from 0 to Detect will be significantly longer as now you have to put this adaptive assembly together. It kills the grab n' go. I love my SDC, but If I am ever in a situation I need to swing a larger coil there is the GPX. I say all this now, but if the 14x9 isn't absurdly expensive, I may give it a shot this summer.

I didn't see this linked anywhere else yet - if it has been then please delete this Steve. Anchor from the richest shipwreck in history, supposedly in around 300 ft. of water. I'd be tempted to take a few weeks off and do some technical diving if I was any closer. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/anchor-found-cornwall-fresh-clue-14080977

Enjoyed your write-up thoroughly - thank you Simon! And way to lend a hand to the new blood!

120-150 miles to detectable gold for me.

I thought so as well. I wonder if when they put them on clearance they moved well enough they thought they'd give it another stab? The machine is back up to $400.00, if they'd leave it at the $289.00 I'd wager their volume would be better. Again, to beat a dead horse, if they'd simply put in a little iron disc this machine would sell like hot cakes.

My honest opinion? a complete waste of money. Keep it simple. A few crevicing tools will accomplish whatever the little vac would, with less weight, and with pretty much no operational issues.

Nice pieces! 1.6 grams is a good size nugget in my book, 90% of what I recover sits between .35 to .5 grams. 👍

Best of luck in your new endeavors! Don't be a stranger - I know I am just another one of many who enjoyed your presence on the forums, and your involvement and desire for feedback in what otherwise seemed to be a plugged-ears industry.

I thought about picking one up, but at the price point, all it really has to offer versus similar detectors is the insanely light weight. The VLF market is incredibly saturated, unless you're offering something novel, what reason is there to buy? I don't see any reason to rush out and buy a new detector year after year.

I don't know how large your fire pit is, but something sounds fishy...it should be wailing long before that. My initial thought would be some wacky settings but if the problem truly "comes and goes," like you say, factory reset isn't doing anything, it probably needs to be sent in. Maybe it took one too many knocks and got rattled. Good luck!🤨

Rick, I have played with the VMH3CS extensively as well, and for a non-motion metal detector they pack some serious punch, even with the factory small coil. I would argue they hit even deeper than a white's TDI on coin size targets. They are definitely not a machine for the gold fields. Although they can handle difficult ground mineralization, exceptionally well, in my view the sensitivity just isn't there at depth for small gold. (The tool can be used for the job, but it definitely isn't the BEST tool.) If all an individual is after is larger than gram gold, and/or coins and relics, they are fantastic little machine - as are most of the units that Vallon has produced. The mosquito-esque piezo will wear on you after a while!

That was a very good read. 👍

It's just lead. I was going to suggest essentially what you've already done, lead has a low melting point, put a match to it, a lighter, it will quickly become apparent what it is.

Looks awesome, Jim! That had to be quite the undertaking - do you have photo's of a prototype? Do you have plans to take this to market?