glacialgold

Welcome from Indiana!

1 hour ago, Jeff McClendon said:

I am just going to stay with 1.14 Beta until the final version comes out.

Ditto.

I played around a bit with both the Deep Target settings and Beast mode, but otherwise have been sailing along in the usual Park M1 or M3. Performance seems unaffected by the beta updates.

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

but if you sit down and think about it for a bit are the deals really fantastic or are they about the price the detector should be in today's market, with the various competitors leaving these models well behind, it seems more like they're working out the prices people would be willing to pay and running with it

Solid reasoning, this.

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

now I even have an F19 on its way

Ha, that price was too sweet to ignore, eh?

What kind of detecting will the F19 be for, and/or do you see it filling a particular niche?

That's a heckuva deal on a great machine!

That had to be heartstopping when the first hint of gold revealed itself!

I should add you can skip the beta versions, unless you're the kind who wants a first look at new features that may have a few bugs still to iron out.

Welcome back! It's great hobby for getting exercise and fresh air. 

3 hours ago, Badger-NH said:

I don't see how the latest updates/improvements and the addition of Beast Mode could detract from the performance in any way. Every update seems to be headed in a good direction. I see no reason to go backward.

What @Badger-NH said, all the way.

Each update brings more features and/or bug fixes, so I don't see any reason NOT to keep the Legend on the latest version.

...despite what one might read on the FB groups. 😉

Man, Nokta's keeping us busy with all the news and updates...

Awesome hunt!

28 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

One designed for gold prospecting and another one for relic hunting!

Hmmm, interesting!

What do you more knowledgeable folks in the PI realm think the differences between the gold prospecting and relic versions could be?

Having both the Legend and F75, I'd echo all of the comments above -- no bad advice there -- but I can't speak to the D2.

Besides what's already been stated, I'd also add that, while the F75 is heavier in absolute weight, it's so well-balanced it feels as light or lighter than the Legend. Much has been written about the fantastic ergonomics of the F75, and I can't disagree.

The F75 has a wider range of aftermarket coils including concentrics (if that's important to you), although the Legend's coil range is now expanded thanks to Nel bringing their selection to the machine (hopefully soon?). 

For me, the main downside to the F75 is the antiquated shaft design -- the Legend's collapsible carbon fiber system is far superior. I run with the F75 lower shaft fully extended, and it has a noticable wobble. I'd also say the F75's tones came as an initially unpleasant surprise compared to the Legend and the Equinox, but they have grown on me with time.

While the Legend can be a turn-on-and-go machine if you don't want to mess around too much with the settings, its menu is a bit cluttered with features and takes some time to learn navigation. I'd say that's the trade off, however, for the sheer number of features and options packed into the machine. The F75 is far simpler to navigate, and would be the dectector I'd hand off to a novice user. With that said, the F75 is still wildly capable and has plenty of nuance baked into to a smaller selection of options.

2 minutes ago, Red_desert said:

Nice, ever find any pickers down there?

A few, yes.

I'm just south of the line where the Wisconsinian and Illinoian glaciers halted, and some of the creeks draining that area can yield chunkier gold. I've found three chunky flakes (<0.02g) that ring up on the 800 and Legend in their respective gold modes. 

The young lady below lost her favorite sterling silver ring on a sports field playing lacrosse a couple days ago.

Once she demonstrated approximately where she was on the field and where/how she was throwing the ball when the ring popped off, it look less than a minute to find it. Right on the surface under the unmowed grass, and multi-repeat 42/43 on the Legend.

It took longer to power on and set up the machine than it did to find the ring!

On 4/15/2024 at 2:05 AM, phrunt said:

it's far less of a detector than the F19

Just got an offer email from the FTP ebay store -- $199 for a F19 (listed at $319).

If I didn't already have an F75, I'd bite. Now I'm wondering how low they'd go on a F75 under the new sales model...

Welcome from Indiana!

2 hours ago, phrunt said:

You can pick up an F-Purse for $100 at the Fisher Ebay Firesale, just offer 90 and they'll come back at 100 🙂 

And if you offer $110, they'll accept right away...

Wish I would have waited to read some of these Fisher firesale posts -- I could have saved myself ten bucks!

Anyways, the F-Pulse is a good one. A bit chatty in general and often needs to be ground balanced (which I was prepared for, thanks to this forum), but a good inch or two deeper than the Garret Carrot or the Nokta AccuPoint on coin-sized targets. I'm liking it when using the MXT Pro with the big 18x4 Detech Arrow for quickly pinpointing shallow drops with a quick surface probe.

While the Carrot has a little more depth than the Accupoint, the Accupoint gets my vote for having distinct ferrous/non-ferrous signals, and it's ability to pair easily with my Legend. The Accupoint is also more sensitive on small gold, which @Jeff McClendon pointed out on a different thread -- it'll actually pick up a chunky flake at 1/16",which neither the F-Pulse nor the Carrot will register even pressed against the tip or side. The Accupoint does false a bit (much like the F-Pulse) and especially in certain kinds of EMI.

Can't go wrong with any of those three pinpointers, frankly.

1 hour ago, Digalicious said:

BM also severely up averaged nonferrous targets, but that effect was more pronounced on lower conductors like foil.

100% matches what I'm seeing in limited testing. In BM, what would be 11-13s are upaveraging into nickel range (23-27), but a copper penny at 45/46 in Park M3 swings between 43-46 in BM.

My area has had a bunch of rain late this past week, so what little testing I've done has been in saturated soil. As a result, I've been trying out DT in Park M3, and alternating to BM and vice versa on any hits.

Not nearly enough time or targets under my belt to draw any definitive conclusions, however. I will say BM tone-wise is like a shrill recorder/whistling sound on non-ferrous targets. It really gets ones attention!

Welcome from Indiana!

Thanks, @HardPack! Downloaded successfully without any issues.

Doubt I'll have a chance to take it out today to test out, however -- my town right in center of the line for the totality, and we're supposed to be swamped with eclipse traffic.  

5 hours ago, phrunt said:

as can be seen by the Ebay listing's numbers available.

And their Ebay store is accepting offers below the posted prices.

On another thread, someone mentioned getting an Impulse AQ at a serious discount this way. I hit up the First Texas Ebay store out of curiosity, and on a whim put a $110 offer on an F-Pulse ($149 list price). They accepted the offer within an hour, no counter. Heck, I'm regretting not starting lower, like $90 or so.

I'm a fan of the Accupoint, as well, and for the same reasons @Badger-NH outlined. It charges up in just a few hours, and lasts forever...I think I've charged it maybe three times since I've had it.

With that said, we go through so many batteries in our household (mainly for video game controllers and toys) that I always buy the rechargable versions, so I just pop the 9V for the Garrett Carrot on the charger every couple months.

That's a solid hunt, especially for an area you've pounded before with other detectors.

I get very similar VDIs in my soil, with the main difference being nickels can run a little lower (23-27) and quarters a little higher (49-52). I actually hit a clad quarter the other day that was showing 39/40. No idea why that was the case, and there wasn't anything else in the hole to cause the VDI to be so low.

Nokta's shovel:

https://www.amazon.com/Nokta-Makro-Premium-Stainless-Shovel/dp/B08ZYCZ748

Nice because you customize length to suit your needs. I keep mine fully-extended, and wrap duct tape around the shaft and handle.

But man, they've gone up in price! Mine was like $70 a year-and-a-half ago.

9 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

My 800 with the 10x5 on it has found me good solid gold in a few creek beds that I have been sluicing in.

Hey @Valens Legacy, are you using the 800 for prospecting in the location you have posted to your profile? 

I've thought about the possibilities of using a detector here in south-central(ish) IN for hitting exposed bedrock and shallow gravel deposits, but the areas I work are locked up in state forests where detectors are prohibited. Panning only, no sluices.

It's frustrating because several of the creeks in the state forest are on exposed bedrock, and there are all kinds of promising crevices right in the open. On top of that, I've panned out a few <0.02g pieces that'll ring up in gold mode on an 800 and Legend...and I know there's more just begging to be swept over.

Anyways, I was wondering if your circumstances were similar? Like you were saying, the gold here is mainly flour...but there are pickers to be found.