AU_Solitude

I had one of these for a while and I agree they will find gold. My only gripe was that although light, the balance seemed bulky and awkward. A small gripe and obviously easily remedied by chest or belt mounting the control box.

I wish you the best of luck. I think many of us wish we could walk away from the nine-to-five and pursue a passion - prospecting or other. In another life if I was single and didn't have the financial responsibilities that I do today I might do the same. Keep us informed on your success. Fortunes are for the few.

That's definitely strange. Let us know how it pans out.

If someone needed a good deal on an Equinox-800 someone just listed one on E-bay with buy it now of $600. I am tempted but know that I would never use it.

I keep tabs on craigslist and e-bay for detectors and have noticed the same thing lately. That and I have noticed that the resale for gold detectors specifically seems to have gone up. For the last few years a used Minelab SDC has fetched around $2100-2200, over the last few months this has spiked, as have most of the GP-GPX Minelabs. For awhile it seemed like people couldn't get rid of their ATX's for $1,000 and now I see these without accessories or extra coils being sold for $1,600+. Supply and demand I guess. I hadn't started prospecting until after the 2008-2010 recession and gold spike so I am curious as to whether or not this same activity happened then? Definitely not the behavior I was expecting. I thought there would be deals galore with the high unemployment rates. The cheap Russian GPZs and Equinox parts are tempting but I just look the other way - hopefully no one is getting burnt on these. - Chris

Fantastic piece klunker.

It seems like a rather simple request but it would seem your under 4lb PI challenge continues to go unanswered...

That is pretty slick. 👍

Normal issue with some of the battery size variances - I eventually just switched to the lithium adapter kits you can find around. If you need an immediate quick fix just throw in some alkalines.

I approach dry land detecting and diving the same, probably a force or habit from the latter. Key fob stays in the truck with normal keys, I keep the actual key to the truck with me. I usually leave wallet at home and have a small waterproof wallet/sleeve that I throw my ID and a credit, debit, and $20 cash in.

It looks like a Braun Chipmunk? Although I've never seen one operated by hand like that which I thought was pretty slick.

Very impressive Chris. I've been binging on your videos and ICMJ while on lockdown here.

What I am surprised by is that they even managed to last as long as they did. Coasting on 40 year old tech can only take you so far - and they aren't alone in this - hire a decent Electrical Engineer and try and make some real progress. Too much of what you see out there is just a rehash of the same old tech and designs.

There is probably still some equity in the name they've established, you can only get by squeezing the juice out of that for so long though.

I've followed you on Instagram for a while - just put together that you're also here! Just curious Mike, have you had it across any ironstone or serpentine yet?

SDC 2300 - hands down.

I was really hoping that the challenge you had posted would be met as well; I've held off from any major detector purchase for years thinking that what you asked for would likely be right around the corner. The SDC, my primary detector, is close but again utilized a military framework inducing extraneous bulk, and lacks the depth of the said ATX circuit. It's not like you set an unattainable bar - any of the major companies could produce a detector meeting the criteria. ☹️

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

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.