tboykin

@Steve Herschbach my vote goes to the graveyard. As much as I miss White’s and wished things would have turned out differently, the company is out of business and should be folded into the likes of Compass, Tesoro, and maybe Fisher soon. Hats off to the other American brand for taking the fight to the Ozzies. Hopefully some of the things we were working on at WE will aide them in representing yanks in the industry.

Pepitas espectaculares, amigo. ¿Por qué están ellos ahí? ¿Qué tipo de geología hay? Awesome nuggets. Why are they there? What kind of geology is it?

It looks like they used the ground window we developed for the GM24k. Instead of tracking one ground point it tracks multiple and opens or closes the window depending on how variable the ground is. Great way to add stability in areas with hot rocks or variable ground.

I will take a wild guess and do some math. @Steve Herschbach's (challenge in this thread * inflation) + chip shortages + fuel prices - Minelab tax = $2499.

Looks like a great machine, way to go Garrett!

I would like to see a good P.I. "wife detector" from Garrett. Not to detect a potential spouse, but something simple and with a rock solid threshold. Or maybe no threshold at all! I let my wife use one of my detectors made by another brand that is notorious for having a ratty threshold and picks up any EMI within a 100 mile radius. Even at the expense of being less sensitive, stability and ease of use would make a new prospecting detector a good sell for some of the artisanal gold mining markets in Africa, Middle East, South America, and elsewhere. Or my wife. The biggest question I get with noobies is "why is it making that sound?" Something that is not only simple to operate but simple to hear targets, but also lightweight, with a price tag under $2500 would be perfect. I think trying to knock the other brand's hat off is not going to happen, so going for the legs and mid-section is a great tactic. It also may provide some downward price pressure if Garrett can release something that is solid and has a good value (which is what they are good at) versus aiming too high. Innovation takes time and I am rooting for Garrett to strike a good blow with this new machine.

Guys you are missing a huge part of Garrett's marketing expertise - MOST POWERFUL does not equal most sensitive. Expect it to take 12 D Cells, they only need to be replaced once per month.

Couple ideas since they bought some IP from White's. My NDA has been expired for a while now and I remember some of what we were working on. @Geotech might also have a few ideas! Half-Sine 'hybrid" detector - combined both a high voltage pulse with a vlf's discrimination. Not a Garrett move as it would be really pushing technology forward. (doubt) TDI/ATX mashup - maybe with that funky coil White's released right before they shut down TDI repackage - this would be more of a Garrett move- repackage something and dress it up a bit. TDI Pro Max AT? TDI Mega "Top Dog" Duck Dynasty Edition? *now with more camo* ATX repackaged in a cheaper, light chassis like Steve has been asking for maybe ten years. (likely) "Most powerful" - maybe it requires 12 D Cells this time. Good find Phrunt, I'm interested to see what they have planned.

I have an assault pack like this one and some romeo boots. But some good hiking shoes work well and might keep your feet more comfortable. And my bright orange WalMart backpack lasted about five years, it doesn't have to be anything special. I normally have about 40 lbs in my backpack so I hang it on a tree or put it on some high ground with a bright colored hankie to help me locate it. A GPS marker works too if I will be far from it. I would recommend not detecting with your backpack on for long periods. Even if it's lightweight you will sweat more since it'll be right on your back... doubly so if it's also clipped into your harness. I like to hike in and then really focus on a small area, then move to the next.

Scoop

I put mine on the bottom of the handle. Tried bolts, JB Weld, etc on the metal head or blade of the pick and no matter what it eventually slides off since I am often hacking through tree roots or broken rock. The dirt I'm digging is extremely magnetic and coats a magnet in minutes, so I only want it to get dirty when I really need it. On the pick head would negate its use as a magnet quickly as it gets coated with serpentine dust. One nice thing about it being on the bottom of the wood handle is I can stick it in a very small hole to ping any small bits of iron. For fluffy dirt like you will be in it maybe doesn't matter too much.

No lengthy work of fiction, truth-stretching, or tall tales. Just dirty fingernails and a pan full of hard work.

No contest, the 6000. I spend most of my time chasing pocket gold in the PNW woods. No harness, just a backpack and GPX in hand. Try swinging a GPZ with the harness, bungee, and swing arm for a few hours in the brush. Or even just bushwhacking to that mine a mile up the mountain. I did for a year and then got a GPX6000 when it came out. That and the fact that you are chasing small gold makes it an easy choice to me. Keep in mind if the areas you are detecting have been worked, you will have days where you dig hundreds of pieces of iron, lead, and tin. I just got off one of those trips and it can be frustrating. But the days where you find some nice gold make it worth it!

Interesting! So it’s likely very old geologically, right? An old, weathered river channel similar to some of the high channel mines around Galice, OR.

Chris I was wondering what your approach is when detecting a new area that has been worked by old timers. I've had better success detecting shallow bedrock with unwashed material that was either just out of reach of the monitors or maybe skipped for some other reason. But I've found gold in exposed bedrock that has worked its way down into cracks, and also tailing piles. I have your book and it goes over this some, but I'm curious if your approach has changed at all in the past few years.

After a quick copyright refresher I think this journal would technically be public domain. It’s been in a fixed medium for long enough that Jed’s copyright would be expired (death +70 years is the safe measurement). You can’t re-copyright an existing work, that’s like claim jumping. Copying it to a forum or book is not changing it enough to be considered a new work. It’s been a great read and I’m sure some physical copies would be appreciated by a few people. But the rights exist with the author just like the gold belongs to the claim owner. As a publisher sure! But anyone else could do the same unless you bought the rights. Still worth talking to a lawyer if you are planning to try and make a few bucks off the story. I’m not a lawyer and don’t play one on TV. I just deal with this stuff a lot in my job.

As someone who works in the entertainment industry, copyright law fights can be as brutal as mining disputes. Before this made into anything that makes money best to contact a copyright attorney to make sure everything is above board.

R.I.P. Jack. May your poke be ever full and bottle never empty.

I think the biggest change would be the coil. White's used artisanal manufacturing methods with hand winding, epoxy pours, and manual tuning. I spent weeks and killed over 150 coils trying to get them up to snuff with different tuning methods only to be told "that's not the way we do things at White's." Even adding a simple tuning pot was too much, had to be done by bending wire by hand (and maybe saying a few Hail Marys). You can't John Henry your way to success, automation is the way to go for consistency. Even calibrating the PCB's was done with hand-made fixtures. It worked, but was labor-intensive with the workers pushing buttons and waving sticks over the coils. I joked with one of the former CEO's about the "Flintstones-era manufacturing" processes. I know Garrett has a modern (at least twentieth century) facility that has more automation and robust standards. So the coils being more stable, especially over temperature, would be a huge improvement. As would tolerances on plastic parts. But the coil is the most variance-sensitive part of the detector. Having standardized, repeatable processes with the right type of epoxy, wire, and tuning setup would improve the 24k and lower COGs. I hope that's one thing Garrett has done.

Most detector beeps are simple waveforms between 100-1000hz. What affect are you trying to achieve with this filter?

DD coil, increase SAT and lower sensitivity. You can also dig a few up, put them on top of the ground, and GB to the combination of dirt and hot rocks. The XGB should take care of the rest. As previously mentioned in some ground a PI is the only option.

Only once! Mostly I made good friends and ate great food. And got challenged to drink a very strong spirit made from fermented peppers.

Through faulting or erosion the dirt is exposed to air and water and rusts. It rusts due to high amounts of iron/pyrite (mineralization). If you dig deep enough in many of my spots you hit "real" bedrock. Where I found these two pieces the bedrock is serpentine. I've found that clay can be decomposing bedrock in some areas, and holds gold. Other places there is nothing in or below the clay layer.