Lanny

Whatever it is, after you crush it, if it's gold, congratulations. If it's not, congratulations as well because with either result you'll learn, and that's what chasing the gold is all about, learning what to keep doing and what to quit doing. All the best, Lanny

I sure enjoyed your story, and the picture of the finds too! All the best, Lanny

Great finds! Nicely done, and all the best, Lanny

Exceptionally beautiful and extremely unique gold! Congratulations on your finds. All the best, Lanny

Nicely done!It must have required some serious patience and dedication to track those two down. All the best, and thanks for posting the picture, Lanny

It really is hard to understand why no manufacturers will bite on this concept as it sounds like a proven design that works very well indeed. All the best, and thanks for the info., Lanny

That really is great looking work! Shoot an update when you try it out. I'd love to know how it does. All the best, Lanny

That's a great story of some nice nugget finds. There's nothing like a patch to get the heart pumpin'! Nicely done, and thanks for the details of the hunt! All the best, Lanny

Steve, not only would I love to be there for your presentation on detecting for gold, I'd love to take in the others as well. Sadly, I'm already committed to another conference at the same time or wild horses and cranky mining mules couldn't keep me away. All the best, and thanks for the info. as I may be lucky enough to make it another year, Lanny

This new Makro Racer 2 looks very interesting and intriguing! It's wonderfully refreshing to see a company that actually requests and then follows through to design the changes their users see as necessary! Why do so few other companies just not get this? For instance, what's stopping Minelab from making a significantly lighter premier gold detecting machine (not talking about their VLF's of course), and what's stopping them from including some top-shelf iron discrimination and target ID as well? Is it the technology that won't allow it or do they think people prefer heavier machines? I admit I don't know everything about it by a long shot, that's why I'm asking. All the best, Lanny

Good luck at Rye Patch. That sure is some unique and beautiful gold that comes out of there. All the best, Lanny

As for your contest, what a nice thing to do Ray! I'm glad your buddy made it through with a clean bill of health. Who knows, one of these days I may just show up at one of your outings, and thanks for your open invitation. You've always been a very helpful person, open, and generous. All the best, Lanny

It's always great fun to get out with a new detector, and it's always fun to start finding things, anything in fact, just to scratch that itch! All the best as you get out there again, and good luck to you too, Lanny

There you go Alex! Nicely done. After the first one, the others seem to come easier, sometimes . . . All the best, Lanny

Ron, what a great write-up with a lot of great reminders and advice included that is worth reviewing. Thanks so much for taking the time to write it, and all the best, Lanny

I envy that you're able to be out hunting. The big freeze will last here for quite a while yet. All the best, and congratulations on your finds, Lanny

Fantastic!! Nicely done. All the best, Lanny

Pretty soon it will be like golf? Lowest score wins? Congratulations, and all the best, Lanny

Steve (and other contributors), I thoroughly enjoyed reading this entire thread! The praise you give the 7000 is great indeed, but I don't know that I'm ready quite yet to commit to such a large cash outlay, so I'll just keep feeding on the bits and pieces of stories that people like you are willing to share. But, you do have my curiosity up with what you're holding in your hand, and I'd love to hear more about it as well. All the best, Lanny

Nice finds! All the best, Lanny

That is such a cool find! I love my little X-Terra as both circuits (coin with discrimination, and all metal) have found coins and nuggets. Once again, congratulations, and all the best, Lanny

20 mm nuggets, that's a new one, but with all of the military bases and testing areas spread around Nevada, it's not surprising. I imagine that piece got your detector's attention in a hurry! And I thought the 50 cal. projectiles I have were big, not so compared to yours. All the best, Lanny

An old nugget shooter gave me this advice once when I told him I'd just bought a detector, and it has proven golden: he said to put the detector manual on the bedside table and to read it every night before going to sleep. I was amazed at the things I thought I knew about my detector back then (and its capabilities), how to operate it, what to do and not to do when nugget hunting, etc., amazed that is in how much I'd missed during my initial readings of the manual. Every winter, I bust out my manuals again, make notes, write annotations in the manual, and compare what the manual is telling me as contrasted to what I've been doing with the detector before that annual freeze-up hits. I still pick up things by using his method of rereading the manual even though I'm no longer new to my machines. All the best, Lanny

Steve, Thanks for your updates and for the information, regardless of the source. I sincerely appreciate your efforts to be helpful. As for the forest fire soil, yes I know what you're referring to, and I know how the detector responds to the dirt, though I had no idea why the coil responded to the altered soil, so thanks for that as well. All the best, Lanny

Fred, Nicely done! I can tell you love your 7000, so can you share any of the reasons you love it so much? If you could be as specific as you can, and if you have the time to comment, I'd appreciate it as you seem to have invested some time in using it. I'd way rather hear from someone that's actually using it while I investigate Minelab's newest gold machine. All the best, Lanny