Condor

Over the years we've touched on the difference between High Impedance vs. Low Impedance headphones. Historically, the headphones designed for detecting have been High Impedance, and all were equipped with 1/4 inch headphone plug. Everyone developed a preference for their brand because of the way they fit and sound. These days more detectors are set up for the 1/8 inch headphone plugs and a few detecting headphones have offered that choice. The technology is clearly moving away from all wired headphones in favor of wireless. The market is really directed at music and communication devices, not detecting. I'm just curious how the impedance issue affects the newer technology. The latency of wireless is a completely separate discussion, but may be necessary to understand the importance of Impedance. I have always used in ear monitors rather than over the ear headphones. It's just more practical in the desert environment of sunny Yuma. The majority of "ear buds" for lack of a better term are low impedance designed for listening to music on low powered handheld players. The high impedance ear monitors are available but quite expensive. The GPZ tends to overpower el cheapo ear buds and produces a really unpleasant sound. My question is twofold: what was our understanding of the importance of Impedance in the old days with wired headphones and how/if that has changed with wireless.

With one of those keepers I might well have to buy another pinpointer. I hate to highjack the thread, but what are we considering the best pinpointer for nugget hunting these days.

I like the bright orange because I'm careless and seem to lose a half dozen every year. I've already lost 2 of the green ones in the past month. I've quit buying Pinpointers for the same reason. I think I got these from Rob's Detectors.

This is the same area you and I looked for a couple months ago. My mistake on that trip was "you can't get there from here" on those old roads we used. They were all washed out from that approach and the old USGS description probably mistaken as to location.

He said he might come through here, we'll leave a light on for him.

Another forum member and I decided to explore some new ground about 80 miles from home in Sunny Yuma. We were working off some of the old USGS pubs for ideas on new areas or at least new areas to us. We set off yesterday exploring offroad in the RZR for these extinct placer works. The first 2 locations really did not look like gold producing areas and we couldn't find any evidence of old workings. Abandoning that area we just started driving some of the old tracks looking for evidence of placer works. By early afternoon we had about decided to give up when I spotted a new, bright yellow claim sign down the end of a wash. We drove down there to see what was the ground looked like. A quick hike revealed the claim owners were drywashing a small gully to bedrock fairly recently. We decided to take an adjacent wash and see if we could find similar looking ground. We drove to the end of the wash and although it was getting late in the day we set off to explore the zone about 1/2 mile from the other claim. There was no sign of placer works in a series of desert washes with shallow bedrock. About 30 minutes in, I get a decent target sound and started digging. My friend ended up in the same gully and came up as I was digging. We got to bedrock and using a pinpointer found a small nugget. He went on while I finished up. I swept the hole one last time and got another tone. To make a long story tolerable, I found 4 nuggets in the same hole. I got another couple tiny nuggets on the way back to the RZR, he got 1. We hit it again today trying to expand on our search. I found a decent nugget right off, then nothing for the next hour. We met up to compare notes, he had found 1 as well. We split up again and not 50 yds away I got a good tone right next to a bedrock dropoff. I dug for close to 45 minutes pulling 8 small nuggets out of the same hole. I found nothing else the rest of the day. He found a spot that produced 3 nuggets in the same hole and a spot that produced 2 nuggets in the same hole. It's not unheard of that certain conditions concentrate the nuggets in a favorable spot. But, the rest of the wash was apparently barren. I supposed if we dug through the overburden there might be more small nuggets on bedrock, but that's like working. We were in essence "blue sky" detecting, not having any specific knowledge about the area. Here in Yuma you can't find a desert wash that hasn't been drywashed, so you have a clue that gold has been found before. Out there, there were no clues to previous gold finds or what might be gold producing areas. So we were lucky, or as Louis Pasteur said "Luck favors the prepared mind". Hard work and persistence paid off this time. It's the possibilities that keep us going, not the probabilities. I'm not computer literate enough to fix these angles, Steve H will step in at some point and make them more viewable. 2.38grams is yesterdays single hole. 2.78 is yesterdays total. 2.52 is todays from a single hole. 1.10 is the lonesome nugget I found this morning. The scoop in the hole shows the glory hole of 8 nuggets. The other photos are both our nuggets from today on the tailgate of my truck. I don't have a weight on his nuggets.

The one I got was a company called Burton. The model was called Gig, there were different sizes, I got the 158cm size that accommodates 2 snowboards. I think it was $119.00

As far as a carry case, Beatup came up with a great idea for the 7000. It's a double snowboard bag, 158cm fits the collapsed 7000 perfect. Not a hard case mind you, but it's padded with waterproof luggage type exterior and heavy duty zippers. It offers some protection bouncing around in my RZR, I bungee it to my overhead rack so there is still room for all the other gear in the rear compartment. I'll try and find the website if anyone is interested.

Maybe they can offer another cash jackpot for someone who can find gold with a Long Range Locator or whatever they're calling those things these days.

His money will be safe. The James Randi Education Foundation used to offer one million dollars to anyone who could demonstrate powers that defy the laws of nature, plenty of dousers tried and failed. The Amazing Randi died last year and will be missed. Everybody knows someone who can douse water, electrical etc., they just can't seem to do it under scientific scrutiny. Too much negative energy from those skeptics I guess. A woman who worked in the prospecting shop in Temecula was said to have the gift of dousing gold. I wondered aloud why she was working there and not living in a big mansion on the hill. My comments were not well received by the true believers eying those 21st century dousing rods. I'll be quiet now, lest I stir up a hornets nest of believers.

Yeah, it was right next to those Toyota keys you lost.

I'm out there swinging that coil nearly everyday and finding nothing but crumbs. I got out late this morning in an area that was shown to me about 16 yrs ago by Rob Allison and Bill Southern. I detect that area all the time because it's nearly in my backyard here in Sunny Yuma. This morning I noticed a short gully that was kind of hidden by the rolling hills that I had overlooked all these years. Lots of drywash tailings stacked on a low bench above the gully. I didn't see any obvious dig holes and started working the bench. Not 5 minutes in, I get a decent target signal smack dab in the middle of that bench. After digging through the old tailings, I started hitting virgin hardpack caliche about a foot down. At a sensitivity of 1 on the 7000 with the 15x10 X-Coil, I could just barely pinpoint the nugget without blowing my ears off. I got out the dental pick and started breaking up the caliche so as to not damage the nugget. A good 30 minutes of work and out popped this sweet specie nugget. I'm running High Yield, Normal, Sens 12, Threshold 27. I criss-crossed that bench 4 more times without a target. As a last resort I jacked up the Sensitivity to 20 and turned down the threshold to 21. The threshold at 21 sounds like distant Morse Code blips. In these conditions I listen for the distant blips to blend with a slight hum. I chase a lot of hot rocks and seams of clay, but every now and then it pays off. So I found the small nugget about 20 ft from the bigger one and a solid 12 inches deep. Slowly working my way towards that new GPX6000.

I'm 1/4 of the way to that new GPX 6000. I'd better keep humping those hills before the Yuma summer arrives.

The later photos of my nuggets are after cleaning in CLR and sonic jewelry cleaner.

I packed up the girlfriend, 5th wheel, RZR and 2 GoldenDoodles and GPZ 7000 for a long weekend of detecting with another Forum member. We've been exploring a gold area off the beaten path for several weeks, finding the odd sub-gram pieces here and there. The area has very little placer history, mostly load gold from back in the 30's. After studying the maps we were determined to keep pushing west, hitting as many little feeder gulches as possible hoping to find a hot spot. Day 1: I found 2 small pieces after a lot of walking. Fellow Forum member found nothing but skunk. Day 2: We decided to abandon our original plan and go back to an area near an old lode gold mine. I found the skunk, friend found 2 pieces for about 1 gram total. Day 3: Back to the plan, keep pushing west through a series of small gullies. I hit an area of shallow bedrock for 6 small nuggets. I get back to the RZR and my friend has that grin and tells me he thinks he found an area worth exploring. He then pops a 3/4 oz nugget in my hand. He says "oh, I also found these in the same area, 5.5 grams of chunky nuggets. Like a lot of fellow prospectors, I'm just as happy when someone, anyone finds some decent gold on a joint excursion. Sweet, what a day. He points out the landmarks and gives me a general description of the area because he has to return home to grade college exams. Day 4: I head back out to the area he described. I spent close to 2 hrs scouting and had about given up finding the zone he described when I saw a fresh dig. I worked up the gully and saw several more fresh digs, being that we are the only prospectors within 50 miles, I start the search in earnest. I'm confident he has covered the gully, so I start detecting the flanks and hillside. I immediately find the 2 small pieces in the photo. Small in this context is relative to the big nugget next to them, they are by no means small considering my past month of detecting finds. I expanded out from there and get a faint whisper of a target in the flats between 2 gullies. I dig for a solid 20 minutes in hardpacked gravel and caliche. I had to summon a couple friends nearby to come help. We took turns digging, making sure not to hit the nugget. We busted out 2 big rocks cemented in the caliche and finally the target was screaming at sensitivity of 1. Down to a dental pick and a pinpointer to pick around in the caliche and not damage the nugget. Probably close to 45 minutes and a hole about 2ft wide and 18 inches down before Eureka. There she is. Days/weekends like this are pretty rare these days. We need one every now and then to keep the fire going and keep pushing that coil.

Debbie the Minelab rep said that she planned to be there for the Gold Show, but there is nothing in print anywhere, so anything can happen. She was in the Miners Depot booth when I saw the machine. Maybe Blake at Miner's Depot Quartzsite can help, or maybe Rob's Detecting or AZO have more information.

Re: EMI with the X-Coil and GPZ7000 Here in Sunny Yuma we have Marine Corps Air Station with training flights every morning. Nearby we have Yuma Proving Grounds and they have the High Altitude Low Opening parachute training. They use a C130 plane to haul the paratroopers. To get to 30,000 ft for the drop they have to circle within their airspace climbing all the while. When they are up and circling the EMI is awful. The 17" X-Coil is nearly unusable when that C130 is climbing. I've switched to the 15x10 X-Coil on those days and the EMI is manageable. The stock Minelab 14" coil also suffers from the same EMI, Beatup can probably chime in on his experiences with the stock coil.

Threshold tone was pretty smooth after switching to the EMI setting and tuning. Especially smooth considering the overall EMI atmosphere. I doubt the 7000 could be quieted down in that setting. Yes, Debbie was the Minelab rep. We did score some new red colored Minelab hats in the deal. Also bought a couple of Doc's plastic scoops with the riffle bottoms.

Not allowed, she made that clear up front.

Re: the DD coil. Apparently this DD design cannot be compared to our old understanding of GPX DD coils. No discrimination at all and separate settings for either EMI or Salt/mineralized ground. She emphasized there is no comparison to DD coils of old.

We only used the external speaker, the audio was very good, I quit on GPX's at the 4000 never used the 5000. The 4000 was always a little anemic, I generally used an amplifier to boost it up.

Based on Jasong's report that a GPX 6000 was on display in Quartzsite, Beatup and I drove up there this morning from sunny Yuma. We did indeed see and touch the machine. There will apparently be other opportunities in the near future including the Quartzite gold show in Feb. Everything is up in the air, so don't count on anything I say as gospel as far as a schedule. Nothing is firm, make your own plans accordingly. The US release is still uncertain but it was suggested perhaps late spring or early summer. I think mid Feb might be overly optimistic. However; we saw and ran the machine albeit in the gravel parking lot of the RV show. Only the DD coil could be run because of the EMI. As of now, the US sales will include the DD coil and an 11" mono coil. There will be a 17" Mono available as an accessory for the machine, but it's US availability upon release of the machine is still in question. The African market has a corner on the market at this point. My observations are this: As stated elsewhere, the machine is an ergonomic dream. Well balanced when fully extended with really nice carbon fiber shafts. The battery pack is detachable and has heavy duty rubber coating on the bottom to absorb shock plus the machine balances perfectly upright when setting it down to dig. The Minelab spiel is no different than the star chart shown previously, so I can't really comment on the accuracy of those claims. We ran the machine in the DD mode to eliminate EMI. We detected .1 and a .2 gram nuggets in the parking lot at a height of about 4 inches. All of that is meaningless as far as it's actual performance in real world conditions, especially as it pertains to the Mono coil. This sneak preview was never intended as actual testing and it started raining while we were there. From my perspective, I would seriously consider a trade down from the GPZ7000 purely from the ergonomics and portability. I would hesitate if the 17" Mono was not immediately available. I'll hit 67 yrs old this summer and just don't get up and down the rough terrain as well, especially with the weight and balance of the GPZ hanging off my shoulder. That's about all I can tell you from a 30 minute preview in a gravel parking lot.

It was the biggest lode gold mine of Yuma county, so much so that the entire range of mountains once named Stone House mountains was changed to Kofa mountains. Kofa is King of Arizona and most of that area is now closed to prospecting in a wildlife refuge. I went to Kofa High School in Sunny Yuma and never understood why we were the Kofa Kings until I started researching gold prospecting areas. A great bit of history and I'm trying to find a home for the documents.

The area is not particularly known for gold production, mostly silver and lead with some copper. The canyon we worked is a classic slot canyon with lots of bedrock and high steep walls. Unfortunately, there's lots of trash from an old silver mine way up the canyon. We were stuck with working only shallow bedrock, too many deep trash targets. It's easy to lose your vigor after walking a mile or so and digging a couple 2' holes for pieces of wire and rusted tin cans. I wish I was about 15 years younger and able to hike up and around the little feeder canyons.

Re: Desert shrub falsing with the 7000 Here in Sunny Yuma and in Qsite I find the 7000 makes faint target sounds when it passes through desert shrubs, particularly the browned out dry stems along the wash banks. It hits on the first pass, then silence after that as if there is a static discharge between the coil and vegetation that releases the static energy after that first pass. It's maddening when you're trying to find those whisper targets on the bank edges. I even tried spraying the coil with the anti static product used for clothing, didn't help. One of those quirks you just have to learn to live with.