matt

Beautiful! Did you spy it or detect it? I love sunbakers!!!

Sorry to hear about this! Crossing my fingers that you somehow, someway, get your stuff back. I never leave anything of value in my vehicle unless it's the ONLY option that I have available.

Nice finds for only a few hours! It rained so much up in Norther California we had no opportunity to get out this weekend.

Thanks for all the responses guys! It seems he is developing the same passion for prospecting that I have. He's really taken a knack to detecting so hopefully he starts finding gold without my help when we head out to the hills. It sure is a great way to spend quality time together. It will be nice to see him give a presentation about prospecting next year in the fourth grade with first hand experience. We plan to hit the rivers this summer and do a bit of sniping. This winter is sure to move some gravels!

Thanks for the replies guys! Norm-He has adventure in his blood. It's fun to see and makes me realize that I need to work less and get out more often! He really excels in youth sports, but nothing beats being out in mother nature. We plan to spend a lot of time in the mountains this summer. Chris-This summer we plan to spend a lot of time up in Downieville. Not only detecting, but getting the Keene hydro air all geared up to use. I really hope we can spend some time together this season. The high water has already altered some of the gravels. You are always welcome with us. AU_Solitude-He takes to things easily and the only thing he complained about was that his arm hurt. I told him let's get out more and it will feel just fine after a couple more trips. Fred-you are right!

Picked up an SCD2300 for my son from a fellow member of this forum right before Christmas. Thanks Allen! Finally made it out for just a few hours today with my 9 year old son. Third target, a nice little picker! First 2 targets were the tiniest shot I have ever found with a detector. I am amazed at the response from the SDC on such a tiny target. We were working around a small bedrock outcropping and I was teaching him what to listen for and how to retrieve a target. After the first two targets were lead shot within about 12 inches of each other, the third target had to be shot also (within the same area). I wanted to move on and he said no way let's dig it. About an inch into the decomposing bedrock the target had moved. He grabbed a handful of dirt and had the target in his hand. The target was small and he was having a little trouble figuring out how to split the dirt between his hand and the scoop, but when he finally had a few small bits of dirt in the scoop I could see a glint of yellow. Once he realized it was gold he kept saying I told you we should dig that target! Dad you wanted to walk away! I will probably never hear the end of it. Well, he was right! We spent about 3 hours out in the Motherload on an absolutely beautiful afternoon. Temps on my truck showed 60 degrees. We moved to another spot that I found several nuggets at a few years ago to give the sdc a go to finish the day. Steve H. you, Chris R., and Steve W., and Mike G. were there the day I found the nuggets at this spot. First target was the tiniest piece of gold I have ever found with a metal detector. It does not even register on the scale. I didn't take a picture of the tiny piece cause it probably would not even show up in a picture it was so tiny. I am amazed that any detector could find a piece of gold so small. I doubt it will even register on my gmt. We had a great day and my son should be able to really use this detector on his own next time out. He took to it like...on... Funny thing he found some old rusty sardine cans and a broken old flashlight to take for show-and-tell at school tomorrow along with his piece of gold. Looking forward to getting out again!

Condolences to you for your losses. When times are tough, getting out and swinging the detectors is always the best therapy for me. It takes my mind off everything except prospecting, even if it's only for a little while. Nice finds out there!

That's a heck of a fire pit!

Well that's probably why I haven't seen it. Never been on facebook. Never plan to be on facebook. It is pretty darn impressive though.

Holy cow! I have never seen it that high before! Wish I could get up there just to check it out.

Wish I would have made a trip up there yesterday afternoon! The Downie/Lavezzola/Paulie and other feeders to the North Yuba probably rose pretty high also. Hope there is no property damage.

Sacramento rain has been very minimal. Much less than the news reported and less than earlier this week, but hey when do the news channels ever get anything correct? Maybe tonight and tomorrow will be heavier? I sure hope it's heavier after all the hoopla about this being almost as big as 1997. We cancelled our prospecting trip tomorrow because of the storm. We need a storm like 1997 to move some gold around in the rivers and streams.

Did they find all of it metal detecting or was some of it found dredging? That is a nice poke of gold!

Really nice finds! I like the railroad piece. Oh, and I like the gold too!

Thanks for the link Steve. I will get the Garrett wireless system for my GPX and the Minelab wireless for my SDC.

For this to work on a sdc2300, would it require getting an adapter for the 5 pin to 1/4" jack?

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to this. Hope they send it to the US sooner than later.

Thanks Flak! Just ordered the book. Looking forward to reading it.

Anybody know when this will be available? I checked Minelab's website and it still says coming soon.

I found a really nice run of nuggets many years ago. Trying to disguise my holes as best I could I would back-fill the hole and spread grass over it. I gathered all the surface quarts rocks down the gulch and used them to mark only the holes that I found a nugget in. It worked really well to identify the fan of gold as it spread down the gulch. Every so often I would find a nugget outside the defined area and cover that area to see if the run changed directions. It was a lot of fun and I ended up finding a couple hundred nuggets.

A patch is never worked out. Moisture content of the soil, emi, coil size, coil sweep speed, coil swing overlap, detector settings are just a few of the things that can mask a nugget from detection. Even when a patch is gridded, nuggets still pop out every so often. Open fields several acres in size would be tough to work out, regardless of which Minelab detector was used.

Wow! Interesting. After all the rumors and bashing over the years it sure would be nice to see a unit that really works at the price point they have always stated. Good luck to them and let's hope to see it here in the States.

Hey Wes, Let's take that highbanker up to the claim and run some gravel! There should be water in the ponds this year. I am ready to go any time.

Wow! That is really nice looking.

What happened to the posts that were here an hour ago?