GB_Amateur

Which weekend? Many of us are still in winter (or early Spring). Near me they're predicting over 2 inches of rain for Saturday alone. (Sunday looks decent but I don't know if the ground will have recovered -- I'll for sure give it a try.) I think part of the reason many here are suffering the Equinox Angst Virus is because it's piled on top of cabin fever! (Just kidding around..., well, kinda...) Back to your beautiful finds. I sure hope that gouge on the 1849-O half wasn't caused by a recovery tool. It's still a great looking coin but that damage pains me. It looks like About Uncirculated (AU) condition otherwise. I've yet to even find a clad half let alone a seated beauty like yours. (All that's gonna change with the Eqx!) Thanks for your inspiring post.

Excellent video, Mark. Thanks! I like the fact that you showed some common trash items (ring tab missing the tail, square tab, beaver tail) in with the desirable targets. In my experience, small pieces of aluminum foil, especially thin foil such as pieces of gum wrappers, pieces of cigarette pack wrappers, and some candy wrappers, for example Hershey's Kiss wrappers indicate TID's between the top of the iron range and the US 5 cent nickel. Has that been your experience so far with the Eqx?

Good advice (something Steve has recommened in the past), and actually I don't literally throw zincolns in the trash; I put them in my trash pouch and then separate the real trash (like bottle caps and canslaw) from the possible reclaimable items after each hunt. Right now I have a jar of zincolns awaiting future consideration. I keep any copper items (tubing and wire are examples) and even have a bucket for 'interesting' iron objects. Lead is definitely a metal which can be salvaged and we all (?) get that if we're out where either fishing or hunting is common. I don't save aluminum unless it is otherwise interesting. Can you cash in clean aluminum?

Or just dig them all and toss the zincolns in the trash. I found three Indiana Heads in 2016 and (from memory) they were ~4 inches deep. I"ve found Stinkin Zincolns at that depth or deeper in the same locations (that is, same parks, but not necessarily in the exact same part of those parks). Were those IH's left there for me by a previous detectorist who had too strict of a dig/no-dig criterion? I guess it all depends upon your threshhold/breakpoint for digging trash. Everyone has his/her own limit.

Wondered about that kind of thing myself. These Cabellas orders are supposedly to be shipped out of Minelab-USA headquarters in Naperville, IL. I think I heard a shout coming from that direction (over 200 miles from me) about an hour ago: "Cabellas did WHAT??!!"

Ditto, 4-7 days to arrival. I think Cabellas ought to give Thegoldenone a rebate for all the sales he's generating. My confirmation e-mail says: This item ships directly from the manufacturer.

I know what you're saying. When buying/selling/negotiating it's not often that the perfectly fair price can be found. One side or the other is going to get a deal, but maybe it's only a slight misalignment. Still, even that can damage friendships. I'm preparing (next few months) to get rid of my Chevy Cruze (been a great car but it won't meet my near future offroading needs ) and get a Jeep. My sister-in-law said her sister would be interested in my Cruze. In that conversation she said "don't forget, she's family." My reply was "I'm family, too." I'm probably better off just selling to a stranger.

Thanks a ton for that link, V/M Pro. I assume this 'reg' is Reg Sniff who is well known as an aftermarket 'hacker' (the good kind) of the TDI. Pretty enlightening what he says about the (lack of) differences. Glad I didn't run out and buy a Pro after already owning the SPP, especially because I'm a (light)weight zealot. Need to warm up my soldering iron....

An acquaintance has asked if I'd help him find some shotguns he buried several years ago. They are wrapped in oilcloths, sealed in PVC pipes (~3 in = 7.5 cm diameter) and buried about 20 inches (half meter) deep according to him. He says he can show me the approximate location within about 10 m. If all this is accurate it seems like an easy task.... Then again, he also said someone in his family (without him being present) tried to find them with a detector and couldn't. That could be due to a lot of reasons as I'm sure you are already thinking, but my concern is that they may be buried more deeply than he remembers. Which of the following would be your first choice? 1) TDI/SPP with 12 in round mono and 16 V battery pack. 2) X-Terra 705 w/15 in Coiltek 3kHz. 3) Gold Bug Pro (19 kHz) w/15 in Nel Attack. 4) F75 black (13 kHz) w/11x7 in^2 coil operating in cache process. Assuming he has the time and patience I'm going to have all four with me to do a comparison, but I'd like to start with the one that gives me the best chance. Your advice is appreciated.

Kudos on the garage mod, LukeJ. I did similarly when I added a second, smaller external pack to take a total of 12 AA's (~17 V max), but obviously yours is a lot lighter than mine. (I like lightweight!) A bit off topic, but while swinging my SPP last week in Arizona I noticed the power cutting out. It happened a couple times and I had to open and close the battery door to get the detector to start working again. Anyone else experience that problem? (I was only using the standard 8-pack with NiMH AA's so I don't think this has anything to do with something I've done.) Speaking of TDI/SL batteries, I recently bought an rnb-inovations 29 mAh pack but didn't want to take it on the plane flight.... Surprisingly it only puts out a max of a bit over 12 V. I think this unit is marketed for more than just the TDI (works in MXT, I think) so maybe they didn't want to take advantage of the full 14.4 V and risk damaging other models. One more reason to prefer your mod.

I'll start off modest -- Buffalo nickel with a readable date. Given the (admittedly small) number of Mercury dimes I've found, this one should be a reasonable goal, obtainable in the first month after getting an Eqx. And, yes, I'll be going to the same sites that yielded those Mercs. Wonder if my current nail apron is too small to hold an afternoon's finds....

I was 20 minutes from a Cabellas yesterday and didn't even think about making that jaunt until I was well down the road (and tired, having just gotten off a plane from a whirlwind 2 day business trip, where I never sleep well...). As I was finishing my drive home I asked myself "What are the chances they even had one?" 10%? 1%? Now I read some store had 6 in stock (and sold all to the same person)! You guys are making my stomach tie up in knots. Can I sue Steve for maintaining a place of common nuisance?

Well, kind of. The fraction of oxygen in the air is the same, it's just the total amount of air that is lower. Here is a website where you can find for arbitrary altitude: http://www.aerospaceweb.org/design/scripts/atmosphere/ On that site you can enter the altitude and it will calculate the air density. For example, at sea level and temperature 15 C (59 F) the typical density is 1.225 kg/cubic meter. Same conditions at 5000 ft: 1.0556 kg/m^3. Divide 1.0556/1.225 = 0.8617 so only 86% as much air (and thus oxygen) going into your lungs every breath at 5000 ft altitude compared to sea level.

'Coke' has multiple meanings, unfortunately. In the old days in the US, I think 'coke' meant unburned charcoal. The word may still be used in this context, but given the evolution of materials used for generating heat in buildings, it's fast becoming obsolete. In the video it appears that the pieces he's using in his test are burned charcoal. Or are those unburned? When park hunting I frequently get signals from burned, partially burned, and even unburned charcoal that was dumped from a grill fire and eventually worked its way into the ground. Often these read very high on the conductivity scale (above silver dollar) on the F75. Are those analogous to the pieces shown in the video?

I don't think you have any reason to apologize for your finds, particularly silver! How deep were those? Even though it's warmed up (temporarily) here in the Midwest the ground is still too frozen and soggy for easy detecting. I'm envious.

Here's a recent related thread: I think you're on the right track here. Durable, flexible, dry, and warm -- trying to get all of those in a single pair of gloves is probably impossible. One of the things that causes your fingers to get cold quickly is perspiration. Warm gloves wick the perspiration away from your fingers. That wicking requires bulk (but not necessarily a large mass). Various kinds of natural and artificial wool help here. Those materials aren't waterproof, so eventually you need a layer to accomplish that. Put it all together and good luck finding the flexibility needed for dexterity.

So selectable frequency, not simultaneous multi-frequency?

Yes, those are excellent videos on the subject, in my non-expert opinion. Thanks for your reply and filtering of the many pertinent YouTube videos. I've watched the Mike Pung series twice in its entirity and the episodes 2 and 3 several times each. What I really like about this series is that Mike tells the 'why', not just the 'how'. Knowing why something works not only makes it easier to remember, but also leads to modifications and/or inovations in future experiences.

I'm looking to get a plunger style magnet for removing black sands from concentrates when finish panning. I've seen a couple which are labeled 8 lb and 16 lb respectively. Often bigger/faster/stronger means better, but not always. Any suggestions? Does the choice matter if the material is dry (as in bone dry) or wet (as in submersed in water)?

My first (and last) thought while watching the vidio is that he has as faulty unit. I hope that's the case. As an side, and this isn't meant to 'bury' the new Minelab pinpointer, but it is possibly another piece of data: during the first episode of this year's installment of History Channel's Curse of Oak Island (still hate that title...), Gary Drayton is seen using what appears to be the new Minelab 35. Every episode since that Drayton has been on (and that's quite a few this year), he's shown using a Garrett carrot. Initially I figured the scenes were shot out of sequence and the first show had videotaped Drayton late in the (northern hemisphere) season, possibly with a prototype. Or maybe he had a prototype early in the season.

Here's a video interview with Mitzi Wallace, wife of minister Paris Wallace who died this past June searching for the treasure. She has a different view than the "call it off" and "you can't be responsible for yourself so someone needs to do it for you" proponents. http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/06/30/treasure-hunter-new-mexico-paris-wallace/

Good to know. Thanks to both David and Steve for responding. The world of metal detectors is rich in traditions, conventions, and naming/renaming practices. For example, there are two Fisher Gold Bugs (1990's and 2010's versions), which are very different detectors. Then again, there is the Fisher F19 -- different name but just the (new) Gold Bug with a few added features. How many White's Goldmaster (and Coinmaster) models have been made, some similar and some quite different? This is another example of knowledge being valuable. The older MXT's on Ebay tend to sell for quite a bit less (typically $100 or more) than the newer ones. Are the few differences worth the added cost? You're probably tired of hearing that I lost 35 years between my early days of detecting and my current stretch. Thankfully I have all of you here to fill in the knowledge gap. Thanks!

Thanks, Steve. That White's video in the 2+ year old thread that you linked to is quite informative. I probably wouldn't have realized that metal in your pockets, etc. would be picked up and therefore make detecting hindered/impossible. I guess you need to have a partner to carry all the digging tools! (Or just flag the spot and return with the tools.) I can imagine the right application/target/depth (RickUK had a good example in that linked thread) would emphasize how this type of detector can be the difference between finding and not finding a valuable target. You see these (Garrett, White's, Fisher and some older brands) come up used on Ebay for very reasonable prices on a fairly regular basis. At some point it's going to be hard for me to resist picking one up.

Apparently this is my day for questions.... Although this could be a general question, I'm asking here because Fisher has two similarly looking detectors: Gemini-3 for treasure and TW-6 for pipe and cable locating (in their Industrial Division). I seem to recall other manufacturers (possibly Garrett) at least in the past having similar differenced models. My main question is: will the TW-6 do everything the Gemini-3 does? I'm pretty sure the Gemini-3 will not do everything the TW-6 does, but I'm not interested in locating pipes,... While I'm at it -- one more question. I know these are old designs, from back in the 70's or before. With all the new advances in detectors (particularly PI's), have these two-box T/R detectors been rendered obsolete? My guess is 'no' since they are still being made and sold, but sometimes that is a bad conclusion.

I understand some of the differences between recent models (different standard coil means different name) but what I'm asking about is changes over the 15+ years this detector has been made. I may find a great deal on a used one sometime and would like to know how much different that particular model might be compared to a brand new one (other than the obvious issues such as warranty). Adendum: As usual I should have looked at Steve's nugget detector review page where there is quite a bit under the MXT pages. Still not quite sure the info there (including link to Jeff Foster's table of differences) covers all the changes. For example, are there only two temporal models, old one being simply 'MXT' and new one simply 'MXT Pro'? And when did changes in operating characteristics occur (good to know since White's models have a sticker inside the battery compartment with date of manufacture)?