Condor

Last winter Beatup was chased off a promising signal by wild bees that had set up a hive in a rock cairn.   The bees were gone this morning and I found the half dug hole that should have contained a YUGE nugget.  All that was in there was this twisted off screw.   That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I'm  sure glad Brett didn't risk multiple bee stings for a trash target.  Not to mention his masculinity if I saw him screaming like a 13 yr old girl with the those bees on this tail.   
 

29 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Nice gold. I loop the bungee around the handle of my GPZ and I clip the plastic Y-harness to two plastic D-rings on the shoulder straps of my Camelbak pack. Takes the weight off my swinging arm and the detector hangs down the front of my chest. The detector balances a lot better from the handle too instead of if you attach the bungee down low on the shaft. 

I fashioned a hipstick out of a fiberglass tent pole and attached the lower end to the bottom of the pack frame.  I then ran a short piece of cord from the top of the pack frame to the top of the hipstick and attached the bungy to that right above my right shoulder.  It gets the detector further out in front of me and transfers all the weight to the packframe and hipbelt.  I generally like to cover a lot of miles and want all my necessities with me in case its a long day away from the truck.  Tomorrow I'm working on positioning the camelbak bladder to center the weight a little more.   It's not the most efficient detecting style, but I like to keep exploring new ground.  A detecting harness just won't do for all the stuff I think I need out there.

Hey Fred,

The gold is about 10 hrs of detecting over the past few weeks.  Supposed to hit 97 this Sat, so you're not missing much.  See you in Nov.

Biggest piece just a tad over 2 grams.  No chevron gold.

As far as the Deus I didn't use it on this trip.  If you remember one of my previous posts, the Deus struggled in moderately hot ground on undisturbed gold targets.  I really have high hopes for the new coil and hotter frequencies because the machine is an awesome concept, though not designed for gold prospecting.  I have a few areas of bedrock close to the power lines that I want to explore with the Deus.  I believe my niche for the Deus will be as a discriminating pinpointer for the 19" Z coil.  I've dug some massive holes chasing deep targets with the Z.  I can't imagine what the 19" will force me to dig.  My 62 yr old frame can dig a finite number of deep holes in one day.  I'm looking for a way to minimize the unproductive ones. 

I made it home to Yuma by the Sea and put my Rye Patch gold on the scale.  We drug barons like to weigh in grams, so here it is.  A little over half oz attributed in no small measure to the good graces of Lucky Lundy.   Bravo Zulu Rick.  I owe you big time.

The learning curve for the 2300 is practically negligible.  Before the 7000 I sold my GPX machine and used the 2300 nearly everyday for a year. I love that machine and if they ever find a way to add a bigger aftermarket coil I would use it again in a heartbeat.  The 7000 is an awesome machine, but it has its quirks.  It's noisy and loves ferrous trash.  I've used the 7000 as much as 40 hrs a week and I'm still learning its language.   If money is no object and you expect to prospect 20 or 30 hrs a week in decent gold producing ground, then get the 7000.  If you want to dabble in detecting you'll much more likely to find small gold with the 2300. 

If you're near Yuma look me up and you can run both machines and experience the difference. 

This case was never about whether or not suction dredging harmed the fish or the environment.  They chose "preemption" in essence arguing  the state was interfering with miners rights granted by federal mining law.  The historical case law dealing with the ban on "hydraulic" mining killed the preemption theory that a state cannot impose laws and regulations to protect the environment to the detriment of mining interests.  

The only appeal available is to the US Supreme Court.  It is highly unlikely the Supreme Court would grant cert. to even hear this case.

The only avenue I see is a new case that challenges the State's contention that suction dredging harms the fish or the environment.  Their evidence on that is flimsy, but someone would have to spend a great deal of money conducting studies to disprove the State's evidence. 

Dredgers don't have much of a lobby and the reactionary do-gooders will rally against them. 

Fundamentalist dredgers will continue and a few will get caught.  Dredging as a hobby or recreation probably won't return in my lifetime.  Sad to say.   

6 hours ago, mn90403 said:

I have been out there and you have to know where to hunt.  It is not luck Steve.

Mitchel

Hey Mitchel,

You know me, I try to cover a lot of ground and keep swinging.  I was still suffering back pains when we met up last spring so I was giving up early.  My back is now as good as ever, which ain't saying much.  I really found this zone by accident on my way to somewhere else.  The advantage of living 30 minutes from the gold fields and the luxury of retirement so I can get out often to explore.  The weather is killing me, I was out for just over an hour and sweated through everything I had on.  I carry a dry shirt for the drive home.  I'm not all tight assed about my spots, I'll point you right to the zone when you get back down here.  

I went back out this morning to the first area that has far less trash to work on this boot thing.  I extended the detector shaft all the way out and made an effort to swing out away from my boots.  I fashioned  a hipstick out of a fiberglass tent pole to help transfer the weight of the coil onto the belt of my pack.  It worked pretty good as long as I was going slow.  Anytime I picked up the pace bypassing obstacles and such that right boot was giving me a beep.  It's workable, I'm really liking the support and stiffer sole for walking in rough terrain. 

I did manage to find this fellow.  Frankly any detector would have found this.  I think it got washed out of the bank and settled in the upper layer of gravel after the last storm.  

33 minutes ago, N7XW said:

Am I reading that right?  0.83 gram nugget at 14"?  That is impressive.  I seriously doubt any other machine would have found that.  Congrats!

 

No, the 15 gram specimen at 14".

10 minutes ago, fredmason said:

nice job, Steve.

If the eyelets are the only metal you can remove them; maybe get some plastic-type to replace them....if the arch-support is metal the eyelets won't matter much...dragging my left foot over targets sometimes makes that knee hurt a bit...

fred

Thanks Fred,

I didn't think about the arch.  I just ran the pinpointer of them, yep they're metal in there.  No wonder they were sounding off so much.  Shoot, I like these boots.

Just thinking about the possibilities, some assumptions are necessary to further the thought.  Let's assume the Deus introduces the 5X9 coil as expected.  We know the Deus is unique in that the coil is the detector, no control box mounted on the shaft. We know the audio and control functions are wireless and transmitted to a very small pocket sized controller or wireless headphones.  The Deus seems to be very accurate on Ferrous, at what depth I can't be sure.   So, other than something to function as a handle, the coil could be carried in a pouch or belt holster, brought out and switched on as needed to check the dig hole for ferrous targets and pinpoint non-ferrous.  The existing 8" round coil might be a little too cumbersome for this concept, but the 5X9 would be a reasonable fit.   I know there have been a few people who have fashioned the same concept with the Fisher Gold Bug machines with varying degrees of success.  They still have to deal with a wired control box.

I ran the Deus side by side with the GPZ the other day.  All I needed was about 10 ft of separation to avoid interference between them.  The Z reacted if you pointed the Deus coil at it, but otherwise they played well together, both machines switched on at the same time.

Your thoughts?

I got out for a little over an hr this morning.  Went to an old area that had produced in the past, but I forgot about how much trash was there and how hot the ground was.  Guys familiar with the Yuma area know this as the Laguna's behind Adair Park.  Red clay and millions of bullets and bullet fragments.  I ignored hundreds of shallow surface targets and concentrated on finding a deep target or something in the side of erosion cut banks.  Insanely Hot does not serve you well in these conditions.

I've been breaking in a new pair of leather hiking boots and the metal eyelets are a real problem running Insanely Hot settings.  No steel toe, just leather reinforcement.  I've worn no metal lightweight hiking boots of every brand most of my detecting life, but they were leaving me wanting.  I was wearing out at least 2 pairs a year and the rubber soles were not up to the task of extreme cactus or kicking footholds into steep hillsides.  Boot scraping the ground for hot rocks and trying to clean up an iffy target signal was killing those lightweight rubber soles.  I've got a half dozen pairs in the garage with a delaminated sole on the left boot from me scraping ground signals. 

So, I bought quality leather hiking boots with firm Vibram soles and so far I'm really happy with the comfort, support and apparent durability.  However, I really have to change up my coil swing style when running Insanely Hot.  I'm only 5'7" and extended the coil shaft as far as it would go for some relief.    Do they make a shaft extension, for the detector I mean?  I can't imagine what havoc the new 19" coil will bring.

The nugget came out of a cut bank, screaming at about 4 inches.

1 hour ago, PhaseTech said:

Nice gold! Have you tried High Smoothing with that set-up? I think it would work quite well. Threshold 27

I often use low Smoothing to even out some of the jitteryness of the threshold.  I haven't really tried the High Smoothing.  JP's early advice on avoiding the Smoothing has stuck with me.  I remember Lunk reporting he has had good success applying High Smoothing in certain situations.

4 hours ago, vanursepaul said:

i have a passport and I aint shy about begging in to a hunt!!! lolol

Hey Paul,

With your surgery back repairs I think there would be a place for you.  Someone I might be able to outrun if that mountain lion gets after us.  Seriously though, come join us anytime.  We have a good group in the winter down here in Yuma by the Sea.

4 minutes ago, beatup said:

W T G Steve, you are really making me wish is was winter i could be down there in Yuma swinging the 7k and digging gold.

Hey Brett,

You wouldn't want to be here now.  These daytime temps are killing me and I grew up here.  San Diego weather spoiled me.  Looking forward to getting together this winter.  Bring that passport and your big-boy courage and head down to Baja with us. 

Steve H. coined the phrase last year.  Basically, Sens at 20, Smoothing off, HY, Normal.  Sometimes I run the threshold up in the low 30's but it's a noisy bugger.  My last 2 outings I have been running threshold at 5  and up the volume.  Make sure you lower the Volume limiter or you'll blow your ears out on trash.  You have to go really slow because the machine is still pretty noisy.   If you have hot ground or a lot of hot rocks it will drive you crazy.  It's not for everyone and I use it about 70 percent of the time. 

We had another cloudy morning in Yuma so I got out the 7k and went out to the zone I had found the better class of nuggets this spring.  Temps were in the low 90's with about 60 percent humidity so I was forced to slow way down which obviously paid off.  I ran the 7k maxed out with my earphones plugged in and the threshold barely audible.  I had the luxury of knowing the area had gold, very little trash and very few hotrocks.  I was swinging low and slow, overlapping the swings by half.  I investigated any disturbance that made the threshold go steady from its warble. 

The big specimen was out of the main wash up on a bench and just barely registered a disturbance in the threshold.  I kicked out some of the bigger rocks and still barely got a warble.  So I dug off 2 inches about a foot square area and the tone was definite.  The nugget was ultimately down about 14 inches on a layer of old grey clay.  It makes your heart beat a little faster when you dig down and see that clay layer, not much trash makes it down that far.  I seriously doubt I would have heard that nugget in my normal prospecting mode relying solely on the external speaker.  Crappy weather has made me slow down and be satisfied with covering less ground thoroughly.

The second nugget was up in the side bank of a cut in the main wash.  With maxed out Insanely Hot settings a nugget that small screams at 6 inches. 

4 hours ago, beatup said:

Nice pair of small ones Steve,good luck up north in Nevada

Hey Beatup,

These came from within 30 yds of where we parked the trucks when we met up for the first time last year.  I knew it was a hammered area, but looking to find something without busting my butt.  It's a different kind of gold hunting, just looking for a dink or two. 

I woke up to a fierce thunderstorm, rained for about 30 minutes at my house, so I decided to take advantage of the cloud cover and swing the old 7000. A balmy 84 degrees with a decent breeze.  The 7000 hasn't been fired up for about 6 weeks and I was surprised at all the noise she makes in the Insanely Hot settings.  I eventually took the threshold way down so that I could tolerate the reorientation.  I knew it was too hot and humid to do any real prospecting so I concentrated in an area that produced a bunch of small stuff this past winter.  I maxed out the settings and plugged in my earphones, swinging low and slow, just looking for a repeatable threshold break.  I found the first one about 20 ft from the truck.  After I concluded that it wasn't surface trash I went back to the truck and got out the XP Deus to see how it would do in hot ground on an undug target.  I used the Goldfield program with no discrimination.  The Deus couldn't find the target at about 4 inches deep.  The 7000 was quite definite on the target, so much so that I thought it was small iron trash.  I kept digging and scraping and running the Deus over the hole, still nothing.  I dug out about 6 inches and ran the 7000 over it, the target was out, so I went back to the Deus.  It sounded off on the nugget  in the pile, but needed a pretty brisk sweep speed to get there.  The reactivity was at 2.   No low and slow for something this small.  The 2nd nugget was the smallest and maybe 2 inches down in an old Dozer furrow.  Again the 7000 signal was quite definite, but the Deus got nothing on the undug target.  I dug out the signal and the Deus hit on a Hot Rock in the pile, but had real trouble hitting on that tiny nugget.  I'll remain cautiously optimistic that the alleged new coil option will improve the Deus performance on small gold.  In the meantime, I'm going to keep playing with the Deus and learning coin/relic hunting.  

I've cleared my home schedule and going to head North next week.  I hope to be out to N. Nevada by the 2nd week of August.  I've got to get out of this ferocious sun and heat in Sunny Yuma.  Maybe I'll see some of you boys out there.

I love that SDC 2300 for all around portability and immunity in hot ground.  One of the hotspots of blowout quartz I found with the 7000 was littered with volcanic hotrocks.  I took out maybe  a dozen small nuggets with the 7000 then followed it up with the 2300.  I found another 7 nuggets generally nestled up to those nasty hotrocks.  If I was as young and strong as Steve H., I would probably drag all those hot rocks out of there, rake it down and start over again.  Right now its not but about 115 degrees out there, maybe next winter.  None of those nuggets was exceptional depth, the 2300 would have got them all if it was the first detector over it.  Anyone buying a first gold detector should give the 2300 a serious look. 

Hey Steve,

An excellent  summary of VLF detectors that have the cross over potential for us gold prospectors.  Last year while in Baja I encountered a couple areas the old timers had drywashed and scattered a ton of rusted cans and nails.  There were literally hundreds of dig holes by more modern prospectors with some element of discrimination because there were still thousands of undug targets.  The Zed was useless in that environment although I tried to cherry pick a few sweet rounded tones to dig.  I didn't find anything, but one of the guys I was with dug about 50 targets and got a couple nice 1 gram nuggets.  If I could cut that ratio of junk to gold by half it might be worth it.  I'm not looking to get rich, just get a little more enjoyment out of the hobby and maybe make expenses. 

41 minutes ago, fredmason said:

Stay out of my patch, Dude!!! just teasing!  you will do well with your new toy, I am sure!

I thought you would head to the high country to practice?

Did you work under or near the powerlines?

fred

Hey Fred,

I worked right under the power lines, some interference but not bad.  I'm studying the Sabisch book to get a better handle on tone discrimination rather than conventional discrim.   I wasn't that impressed with the stock GoldField Program.  The Deus will never replace my Zed, but I'd like to open up the possibilities some.  I may head north next week and spend the worst of Yuma weather in the CA high country or N. NV.