Gold Seeker

Thanks Steve, I had that site bookmarked but forgot about, it a great site and resource for possibly IDing raw stones when one is out looking for gold, if you start finding some nice gemstones you can do very well, much better than finding gold many times.

LOL, I agree Steve, all of them are bias in their reporting of the news if you ask me!!!

Yes that "news" site does make up all of their articles, usually with a hint of truth as a basis. At the top of the page they have a link to their disclaimer. "DISCLAIMER World News Daily Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within worldnewsdailyreport.com are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental, except for all references to politicians and/or celebrities, in which case they are based on real people, but still based almost entirely in fiction. - See more at: http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/disclaimer/#sthash.uOveaL8p.dpuf"

Steve, you've just said what I have come to know about your agenda, if you will, over numerous years, I though everyone knew that about you, thanks for all you do for everyone with the same interests!

Tom, normal window screen is about 20 mesh, they do make a really small mesh window screen that is for keeping out "No-See-Um" which is a very small biting gnat/fly that we have here in the southeast and also in many other parts of the country, I would say that screen would be around 30 mesh or so, some tea strainers have a very small mesh as well, probably about 50 mesh or so. You can also buy just the mesh online and make your own classifiers for just a fraction of what store bought classifiers cost. Here's a video made by Doc of Gold Hog matting, he takes you through all the steps of classifying and also using several types of equipment to work down the cons, but at about the halfway point in the video he shows two different types of the tap method, he's doing this with -50 mesh gold and blacksands, but both methods work well no matter the size of the gold and material, I use both of these methods when I do my final panning and also in several stages, try to get all the gold and as little blacksand in one area of your pan using the tap methods and then suck it up in your snuffer bottle, don't worry about getting a little of the blacksand, then clean out your pan and dump the snuffer bottle contents into your pan and go through the process again and again, etc, each time getting rid of more blacksand until you have only clean gold. All of this can be done by just classifying and panning, it would be nice to have all the equipment that Doc is using, but it will just take a bit longer doing it all by hand so to speak.

I have a green bowl, but usually just classify my cons and pan out the gold, 20 to 30 mesh and bigger in a regular pan, -30 mesh and smaller in a Falcon finishing pan.

Nice canine nugget Ron!

Yes a Falcon MD20 would easily detect the gold in your specimen, but unfortunately only at 1 inch or so, if you can see free milling gold you wouldn't need the Falcon to known there's gold in the rock, it would only help you detect gold hidden within a rock that's not visible on the outside and then still only within a 1 inch or so of the surface of the rock. I also think a Fisher Gold Bug 2 or a Whites GMT would detect the gold at more depth, but you may have problems with the iron content I see within your specimen, e.g. the black areas of your specimen, both are VLF technology which sometimes has trouble with highly mineralized areas. If I were you I would take a piece of your specimen to a Minelab dealer and test some of their detectors on it, I think the new SDC 2300 maybe your best bet, if the same dealer carries Fisher and Whites products, even better you could test the best of the best, VLF and PI detectors on your specimen.

Steve, I hope you have a safe, fun and productive trip!! I hope you're bringing a camera to take some photos to share when you get back!!

Steve do you know if the adapter connections will be waterproof if you use waterproof headphones that need the adapter?

That is one nice nugget, Jonathan, do you know if the nugget at 14" gave a good signal before the digging began or was it just barely a signal?

Very nice!! It looks like the ATX paid for itself!!

Thanks, I enjoyed reading the as close as you can get ride along on your Alaskan gold adventure, everyone got some gold and the memories of finding the gold will last a lifetime!!

For what it's worth I think a "real life" test on the detectors in question would be to take both into the field and when one hits a on target, check the hit with the other detector before digging the target, you will never get a real life test of a real gold field in a test garden, in a gold field all targets will have a halo of mineralization around it which has the be factored in to a real test of what a detector can do or not do, there is no way to recreate this halo in a test garden, an object/target has to have been in the ground for many, many years for the halo to be there.IMHO The only exception I think would be in tailing piles, and maybe placer gold in a stream.

I know nothing about the Lorenz to be able to make a recommendation, but as far as buying a used GPX5000, make arrangement for you and the seller to go to an authorized dealer, they should be able to confirm or denied if it's genuine or not, Minelab has gone too great lengths to make it possible for a dealer to make that determination. Minelab has posted some very useful info on their website to help determine if a Minelab GPX series detector is fake or real, but taking it to a dealer is highly recommended. http://www.minelab.com/usa/consumer/where-to-buy/counterfeit-update

Steve, in your first post you stated that you booked until July 20th but may extend your stay, how long have you extended your stay up there?

Gary, The site I listed in the above 2 posts also has the V-2229 combo, but it comes with 8 C cell 5000 mah batteries for $55.95. http://www.batteryjunction.com/v2pounbach8c.html

Gary, I have search for a 12 volt adapter for the model you have "Vanson Model V-9688", but no luck as of yet, I also only found a coupe of websites that even lists the Vanson model you mentioned but the chargers I found doesn't do C cells only AA and AAA batteries, I did however find many results for a charger by a different company..."Tenergy Model T-9688", Vanson and Tenergy are apparently linked, at the linked website I posted in my previous post lists most but not all of the Vanson or Tenergy products such as chargers, batteries, etc. as "Tenergy Vanson", but I still couldn't find a 12 V adapter specifically for the Tenergy Model T-9688 or Vanson Model V-9688 . Is this what your charger looks like, this charger is listed as "Tenergy Model t-9688" on many different websites, I believe the differences is only the T and V in the model number depending on which name is on the charger? Here is a link the Tenegry Model T-9688 from the website from my previous post, maybe you could call or email them to see if the adapter I posted above will also work for this charger if it's the same as your's. Also if you notice, even though the caption at the top of the page list this charger as a Tenegry Model T-9688, you will notice that the package says Vanson on it. http://www.batteryjunction.com/tenergy-01127.html

Here's a 12V adapter that is for the BC-1HU charger.... Car Plug Adaptor for BC1HU, TN190, Tenergy RCR123A Chargers

What is the model number of the charger supplied with the SDC 2300? I ask because after a little research if it's a Vansen/Tenergy brand charger, there is and or could be a 12V adapter that will work with the supplied charger depending on the model number.

He didn't have his earphones on for the nickel, he even said that he needed to have them on to hear the signal better, if you turn your sound up you can hear the nickel signal on the SDC 2300. I couldn't tell if he had them on for the necklace, but I think he did, but the ocean noise was too much for me to hear a signal if he didn't have them on.

Steve posted this on the weight of the ATX with the 12" coil on the Findmall forums.... Link deleted since Findmall update broke all old links "The control box alone with batteries but no lower rod and coil and arm cup removed weighs 3 lbs 4 oz. That means over half the weight of the unit is in the heavy-duty rod and epoxy filled coil assembly." I haven't found any info doing a search on the other size coils for the ATX, maybe when Steve gets back from Alaska the can add to the info he posted at Findmall forums.

Congratulations Chris!! Maybe Steve and Tom can replicate your luck!!!

Steve did a review on the ATX for beach hunting in Hawaii. http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/102-garrett-atx-review-beach-detecting-in-hawaii/ The SCD 2300 hasn't been released for sale to the general public yet that I know of, and Steve just got his for testing, but it's suppose to be released very soon, so I doubt that anyone has had a chance to do any testing on beach hunting.