glacialgold

Excellent narrative w/pics, and congrats on that fantastic nugget!

I hear you re: heat, and I run hot, too -- too hot and I can't labor well. Here in the midwestern US, however, I call it at 85F+ (so 29C?) in dry diggings, and can do 90F+ if in water and not constant direct sun. Those Australian miners, however, man...they can operate in wicked heat, Vo-Gus Prospecting being my favorite example.

6 hours ago, Marblin said:

I am new to Gold Hunting and Gold Prospecting. I started recently in Spring of 2023.

Welcome, Marblin! What part of the world might you be operating in?

Tons of detecting/prospecting/coin shooting/relic advice available in this fine forum, and even if some of us aren't swinging for nuggets, we'd sure like to hit some gold of any sort!

Hey folks, does anybody know of any dealers offering that Nokta deal for existing Legend owners, the one where supposedly Nokta would sell an LG30 coil and bundle in the mid-shaft/cuff upgrade for no additional cost? 

Also, any word on when a new batch of LG24 coils might be landing?

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

I don't even consider headphones as I don't use them 🙂

Hey, I'm not the only one!

Exceptions would be in high wind or close to traffic...maybe in winter. I just don't like the feel of headphones, nor the loss of situational awareness. Maybe for nuggest hunting to focus in on those whisper signals or threshhold breaks, but that's not really the business I'm in.

Thanks for all the good advice, everyone!

I did beat the skunk later last week. Nothing major, but I popped a decent coount of clad (primarily quarters), barely dug any trash, and found two softball tokens/medallions. Those tokens are fun, especially b/c I found those most recent two in the same 50x50 ft area where I'd dug two other ones on separate hunts earlier. So, new finds from a previously-worked area.

My guess is the local league must congregate at that shaded area in the sport complex after the final game for a post-season party, which is where the commemorative tokens get handed out (and subsequently dropped).

32 minutes ago, Nuke em said:

I may well be back there on Monday evening . May well be with the Terra Pro again or the Legend.

Oof, jealous! Nice finds there, and curious to read about your Legend results.

OK, after what I would call a successful detecting week last week where I scratched off a couple minor-league bucket listers (silver ring, Sacagawea dollar, >5 coins in one hole), I've gotten skunked on my last two hunts. (Although I will say I now know where the local high schoolers drink beer out-of-sight on the local playground, based upon the volume of Bud Light cans dug.) Granted, this skunk hit when testing new/low traffic areas on existing public grounds, so my expectations were low anyways.

So, what is your advice for beating the skunk? Anything from your experience, good luck charms (😅), prayer offerings, etc.?

On a humorous note, last time this happened (and after I finally started digging good targets again), I arrived back home triumphant, announcing, "I beat the skunk!" Our twin boys then looked each other, confused, and turned to me and said, "Umm, it doesn't look or smell like you fought a skunk, daddy..."

22 hours ago, bigtim1973 said:

I keep mine set up pretty simple....field, full tones, m2 or m1 and adjust the disc to accept everything then adjust the recovery speed to suite the site.  Just ground balance and take off. 

Same here, although I go the disc out ferrous route. The way I figure it, hitting moden targets I'm not gonna lose anything there and maybe can reduce some noise. Happy to be wrong, however!

3 hours ago, Diggin' It said:

Tried it out for just 15 minutes day before yesterday, to look at/get used to the controls...found only a nail. Got it back out today, for only 30 minutes, and found a 1928 penny! The oldest coin I've found here yet!

@Diggin' It Which unit did you end up choosing? (And sorry if I missed it!)

Congrats on the 1928 penny -- I still haven't pulled anything that old!

I have to say, after a couple months running the Legend on the 1.11 updates, I am experiencing a much better target/trash ratio, and I'm seeing results on a variety of coil sizes. Use is mainly in parks and playgrounds, searching modern clad and whatever weird stuff might live in the ground.  (Granted, some portion of this improvement has to do w/increasing my experience on the machine.)

2+ months in on the 1.11 update:

• Target/trash ratio <=1:3 (all coils)
  • More like 1:10 before.
• Quarters are my new nickels
  • Used to call myself Johnny Nickels, now I'm Quarter Johnny. (all coils)
• Silver ring
  • Yep, but a bit crushed and in need of repair. (LG15 - Weird, but I've hit all of my ring finds on the small coil.)
• 1st $1+ 30 minute run + Sacagawea dollar
  • Yeah, that was tonight ($1.51 total 🙂 ) with the LG35 on the Legend, Field M2, sweeping over an area previously worked on the 1.09 Legend and Nox 800 w/stock coils in Park settings. LG35 rang super-sweet on those good targets. I was shocked by the doller coin result -- I've never seen one in circulation around here, let alone in the ground.

Oh yeah, should tag @bigtim1973 here!

@Diggin' It 

@Chase Goldman's post earlier in the thread is quite literally gold, and effectively summarizes the best options on the market. I can speak from the perspective of having the Equinox 800 and the Legend and, while they have some slight differences in areas of strengths/weaknesses, I consider them almost interchangeable in terms of outcomes. They are noticeably different swings, however, and I mean that in a good way.

If I had to do it all over again and go with a single detector, I'd go the Legend route if price was an issue. If price wasn't a consideration, however, I'd pony up for the Equinox 900 for all the improvements over the prior 600/800 models. And I do like the 800/900 options vs. the 600/700 ones for the higher frequency options. Even if you aren't gold prospecting, the 20 and 40 kHz settings available onthe 800 and 900 can be useful for hunting small gold jewelry. That said, the Legend has those same higher frequency options (as well as multi frequency) at a much lower price point.

3 hours ago, ☠ Cipher said:

I still look for them in the $50 range, play around with it for a while, and resell again.

Oh man, I should have asked for more! I ended up selling the BH Tracker IV for $35 at our garage sale yesterday. The guy who bought it was real excited because he said his daugther has been begging for a metal detector, but they're just too expensive.

I also put up my Garrett Ace 400 for $119 at garage sale. Got a lot of questions, but nobody interested at that price point. AOK by me because I still want it to keep around for the kids to play with, should they get in a detecting mood. I feel like the resell value for the prior generation of entry level machines should be taking a hit per the Simplex and X-Terra Pro models.

Regardless, I'm still happy to support a new user getting into the hobby!

1 hour ago, farshsadg said:

I have a Legend metal detector that turned off during charging and does not work anymore. Really, the metal detector is pointless and useless. I wasted 700 dollars of my money.

Have you contacted your dealer or Nokta about issue, assuming the machine is still under warranty?

On 5/18/2023 at 12:37 AM, John-Edmonton said:

Health advisory out to stay indoors due to heavy smoke from many fires around the area. I went out and purchased a couple of N95 masks so I could breath safely. I shifted gears a bit today. I pre-screened my gold containing gravel down to 10 mesh, which took me about 1 1/2 hours for 3 x 5 gallon buckets. I then set up my California Mini highbanker, ran it with less angle and less flow due to the 10 mesh feed. It was really relaxing for the next 1 1/2 hours to feed the highbanker. I just sat on a bucket and fed the highbanker. It also took about 30 minutes to feed each bucket. I did 3 clean-ups and was really surprised at how much gold I got. Life is good!

 

That's some lovely flour gold! Question: What method did you use to get it so clean and remove all the black sand?

Re-upping this thread per having a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV I'm putting up in our garage sale tomorrow. I'll be curious to see what the level of interest is...

I purchased this one late fall 2017 for just over $60 in an Amazon special deal. It was right after I purchased the Garrett Ace 400 for myself (1st detector), w/the idea the Bounty Hunter would be something our boys could play with. They did play with it a bit, but didn't gravitate to the hobby much...besides the digging holes part. 🙂 

Anyways, I still feel it's a nice machine, easy to work with, and finds targets.

39 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Hope that is what you were asking.

Yes, and thank you! This very much helps in both gereral AND detailed understanding.

16 hours ago, StarVatrex said:

Yes ,It's a little bit heavy...and you need to be in shape for the holes you are going to dig.

This is the best combination I have found:

- Detect-ed carbon upper shaft, and

- Shorten the lower shaft a bit, your shoulder will appreciate it.

An excellent coil.

Agreed -- heavy, but does the trick.

A couple more quick hunts under my belt with the Nox 800 + CT15, and now I'm starting to really feel its utility. Since my hunting time is short, something covering maximal area quickly is a good thing. Trade off is increased time isolated the target. When daling a target in, the main challenge I'm seeing so far is the readings run deep (4+ bars) when the actual target is shallow (2-3") on coin-sized targets. Known issue across detectors, understood.

Granted, this is a depth relic/larger target coil, but it is serving its purpose for me coinshooting in terms of coverage. I just finished a 40 minute session on previosuly worked ground (last summer/fall as a novice, 800 and Legend) which had given up plenty of clad, mainly nickels. Swinging the 800 + CT15, I dug 6 targets and all 6 were coins -- 2 dimes, 3 nickels, and 1 memorial penny. These weren't deep targets, and I KNOW I've hit this same area before-- what I think I pulled out this time around was due to 1) additional experience, and 2) the big coil hitting gaps from prior swings.

On 5/10/2023 at 4:03 PM, Jeff McClendon said:

I like the way Pitch tones (same concept) sounds on Deus 2 and the Legend a lot better.

Jeff, could you go into some more detail re: pitch tones, especially for the Legend? I watched a few videos and have the general concept down (I think), but I appreciate your ability to make these kinds of features clear in writing, which is how I better digest information. 

On 5/3/2023 at 2:26 PM, scotty said:

hi there I'm just wondering if anyone is using the coiltek 15" with the equinox 900 .I've been using it every now and then but I'm still not convinced with the coil .the main trouble is it can be a bit noisey even with the sensitivity turned down to 17 .i have tried some settings that ive found on line but always end up going back to my stock 11 " coil which is alot more settled .any advice guys .thanks .

Same here, albeit with the CT15 on the 800. 

What I've found from about 2 hrs on it is:

1. It's a heavy swing and wears down the arm. But yeah, exercise makes you stronger!
2. EMI hasn't been a huge issue for me, but YMMV.
3. On air tests, it behaves strangely sensitive on small junk rings...like a 10" no prob. That may just be me, however, and I don't possess any "real" jewelry to test against.

Anyways, I'm taking the hog out again tonight for a couple quick swings at the sports complex where one of the kids has soccer practice. Plan is to drop the sensitivity to 17-19 and cover an fairly low traffic area, cherry-picking for coins.

Testing and learning, testing and learning.

6 hours ago, Gold Catcher said:

So long, guys!

 

 

Wait a hot hot second here, b/c I have questions...

Based upon your final pic, GC, you are able to wear headphones over a hoodie, top it off with a hat, and STILL have the headphones latch it all down???

This is a shocking development to witness. Per the assorted sets of factory-issued headphones (Garrett, Minelab, and Nokta) being marginally able to fit my big a$$ noggin...let alone extra head protection.

That said, my melon might just be too big, and YMMV accordingly. 

Cheers! 

Beautiful scenery shots...also, nicely done on the small pickers!

2 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

This seems to be a common theme with 15" round DD's on today's under 4 lb IB/VLF detectors.  I have two of that size (one is a Nel Attack for Fisher Gold Bug Pro; the other is a 3 kHz Coiltek for the Minelab X-Terra 705) and I've hardly used them, at least partly because of their dead weight.

The weight difference was especially pronounced because I'd previously had the Nox rigged out with the 6" coil. Jumping up to the CT 15" was just...wow.

I'm going to keep practicing with it, mainly to build my stength up and get better at pinpointing (if possible). I view it as a useful tool to have in the inventory, especially for areas that are low trash and few and far between on targets. My family also has a farm up north dating back to the late 1850s, so this coil would be a good fit for covering acreage there.

And finally, new toys are fun! 

Bumping up this thread per having acquired the Coiltek 15" for the Nox 800 today. (Cheers to a certain DP forum member!)

All I have to offer is the results of a wildly unscientific and unsexy 40 minute test at one of my kid's schoolyard. Based upon prior advice from this forum and other sources, I dialed the sensivity down on the Nox to 17-19 and recovery speed down to 3 and used Field 2. So, here we go re: first impressions:

1) This thing is A BEAST to swing. Even after shortening the shaft a couple inches, I'd've had to change swing arms if I went much longer.

2) Pinpointing is a challenge. Needs practice on my end, that's all I can say so far.

3) EMI was less of an issue than expected. I was within 100 ft of power lines and houses (w/all the attendant wifi and EMI producing equipment) at all times. Yeah, the Nox 800 w/this coil was behaving poorly at the higher sensitivity settings, but pulling it down to the 17-19 range made it run fairly quiet. 

4) Hits new targets in pounded ground. I've been over the same ~150x75 ft area multiple times w/the Nox and Legend stock coils...and I suspect the ground has been worked over by prior detectorists. I've pulled a buffalo and wheat previously, and 30+ memorials w/o much in-between on the coin spectrum. With this coil this time I dug 4 targets, and two were coins -- a '69 nickel and a 2019 shield penny. Weird thing is both were in the 6-8" depth range. The other two targets were AL trash reading in the 13-15 VDI range, which I thought could indicate a deep nickel target.

Takeaways: Need to spend more time w/this hog to figure out its strengths and weaknesses. I can definitely see its utility when one needs to cover a big area, cut through (or swing above) surface rubbish and still hit targets at depth. Also, I'd consider swinging this coil a mild version of strength training. 

That's my two (or six) cents, at least. Cheers!

1. I have nothing to add here. Still learning, and this is some advanced degree discussion in this thread.
2. Very, very informative to read all the different perspectives.
3. Super-entertaining witnessing what I'd call the "big dogs" duke it out! Yeah, it can get testy at times, but it's fun seeing people energized and pushing the limits.

Hi there, Andy, and welcome!

I love the Equinox 800 -- it's a fantastic machine. I also use a Nokta Makro Legend, but consider the 800 my "sweet swing." And let me say I'm a little jealous of your location for detecting and prospecing...minus all the poisonous stuff! 😄