ddmk6

I, in fact witnessed some of Klunkers discrmination skills today...Anyone that can wear steel toed boots and long sleeved shirt with steel buttons on the cuff while using a GPX, and STILL tell when he is waiving a nugget over the coil......Well, he has some skills :-) I may have to investigate his GPX a little further and see what he has done. Mine surely won't tolerate any of that nonsense LOL. Kenny

Your right.....pretty sure your gonna regret it LOL. Kenny

Amazing....I started shakin just watching it. Congrats. Kenny

You want to take that big coil with you buddy??? It will help keep you warm swinging it

I have been using the high capacity Eneloops. I think they are around 2550 mah. I have had them for maybe a year, no issues and they seem to last very well.

Sounds like good times Steve. Looking forward to the story when you return. Kenny

Thanks Steve. Makes for a nice ride to the patch..... Kenny

Thanks Deathray...it's a 64. I have a 73 as well, it's a real brush rig. I can go through a patch of manzanita without even blinking. I was considering a quad when I bought the 73. I just figured it was easier to get in the rig and go than pulling a trailer, then wondering if someone was going to break into your truck while you were gone. Enjoy that CJ 5. Those are great rigs. Kenny

This one gets me pretty much anywhere I need to go and I don't need a trailer

Great write up Steve. The Cassiar is the best way for me. It is a bummer to miss the hot springs though. Nothing like a soak after a long day on the bike. Last trip up there on the bike a couple years ago I had an unexpected delay. My rear rim split open and I sat on the side of the road about 2 miles from the intersection of 16 and 37. I sat there for 8 hours waiting for the tow truck. As you know there isn't much for cell service up there. My buddy had to ride 75 miles or so to find a pay phone. The tow truck came from Smither and hauled me back to Smithers Harley. Long story but they ended up having to relace my hub onto another rim to get me going. The owner of the place was pretty damn cool though. Gave us his truck for the night so we could haul all our gear to the campground and get some grub along with well deserved beers :-) Good times. Best of luck on your adventure. Kenny

Almost enough to pay the chiropractor......pretty sure there was a disclaimer with that coil. Should have just left that hipstick with you too. Sure don't need it out here, expecting snow again tonight..... Good job on the nugget. Anything out of that patch is well deserved. Kenny

Nice ones Ray. Looked like a beauty day.

Your right Steve, big pain to pinpoint with. And it takes a mighty big hole to get that coil down in when trying to find the target. I dug a grave one day and never did find the target. It's one of those holes that I always think about going back and re-digging. May have just been ground noise, never really got any better. Either that or the target was off to one side like you talked about with that nail. Although I don't know how I could have missed it with that hole I dug :-) It was huge Kenny

Where I'm headed isn't really known for gold. Cold, wind and blizzards, yes.....Gold..No :-( If you want I will bring it over and you can give it a run. Just don't perform the mods that you were applying to that 18" yesterday......LOL

You can give my 22" a go anytime you want. Looks like I won't be needing it for a month or two. We know one place it can be used :-) Kenny

That's a beast Steve. A couple years ago I bought the 22" Gold stalker round mono. It really becomes work pushing that thing around in these hills, as well as more concentration to keep the coil parallel with the ground and not get in a hurry. It is a really effective coil though when I can find a place to use it. I was surprised at some of the small gold it would see as well. Hopefully I will be able to dust it off this summer and give it (and myself) another work out. Good luck with the new addition. Kenny

Nice gold Klunker...who would have known, right in town too. Who won the fight, the snake or the 4000?

Thanks Steve. Be interesting to see how this one shakes out. Might have to actually replace the GMT if it performs as expected. Kenny

Pretty wild ride when all that silt turned into a bowl of jello. I have seen the grass in a field rolling or rippling but nothing that could touch that one. Must have been a wild ride for sure. Kenny

Well....I didn't vote for Obama, never seen a genie, so I can't help with those things, but I have very briefly played with a 705. It seems to me that it's a really capable machine but the menu would drive me absolutely nuts. A buddy and I kind of informally compared to my AT Gold. We would find targets and run both machines over them before digging. I think the 705 may have had a slight edge in prospecting mode when compared to the AT in all metal mode. The jury is still out, both of us had the book out trying to figure the damn thing out :-) I think the learning curve on the 705 and the menu system is pretty steep. Once learned though I think it has some good potential. I know this doesn't help much with any settings, I just don't know it well enough to give advice. I wouldn't give up the AT for a 705 though. Kenny

I recently added an AT Gold to my toolbox. I have to say I'm really pleased with the performance of the machine. Very user friendly with a small learning curve. I have yet to find any gold with it, but I really haven't actually spent a great deal of time looking for gold with this machine. I bought it more for nail infested sites and general detecting that my dedicated prospecting machines struggle with. It certianly has the capabilities, in the all metal mode I have found #8 birdshot at 3 to 4" in depth. Pretty nice for a general purpose machine. I would tend to agree with Steve regarding getting a 5" coil for your Exterra and testing, unless you just would like a new detector :-) I find the majority of my gold away from the rivers. Most waterways around here have been dredged extensively. I'm not saying I don't find any in the water, I just find more away from the water. However, I will be testing the AT Gold out in the rivers when it warms a bit. If you don't care for the multi tones, you could simply run the machine in all metal mode without iron audio. This would be the preferred prospecting mode anyways and would provide the best depth. Overall it's a really fun all around detector. It's great on coins and relics as well. It seems to have an affinity for ox shoes :-) Good luck which ever choice you make. Kenny

An update on the AT Gold... I just had the pleasure of spending the last few weeks in WY. As you can imagine it's not the best time of year for detecting out there. It doesn't help that we were putting in 15 hour days but the -20 and 50 mph winds really iced the cake...pun intended. I took the machine with me just in case...it never left the room. I did stop at a rest area just outside of Winnemucca, NV on the way back, beautiful 50 degree sunny day. No great discoveries but it was a nice break, oldest clad was a 1968 quarter. I have spent the last couple days tromping around enjoying this spring weather we are having. Added some treasures to my collection. Found my first ox shoes (I have 3 now) and a cool axe head. Spent the day today detecting an old school yard where I attended grade school. The unique thing about this place is the fact that it was the site of a hotel in the late 1800's through mid 1900's, until it burned to the ground. Quite the assortment of treasures :-) This one has my interest. It's quite bright and has a little weight to it. Probably just lead but it seems different. This one appears to be copper, nice design on it. This I have no idea what it was before the fire, has some weight to it, may be copper? Read a solid 78 on the VDI Plus an assortment of clad along with 6 wheat pennies dating back to 1929. Two 44 wheats that had me reaching for a magnet :-) and a 1954 nickel. I also found a 5 cent token from the Riverside Hotel in Colusa, CA. My first token, pretty jazzed with that one. I also had a pouch over flowing with trash. I'm still digging a bunch of trash until I get this machine figured out. I still haven't cracked the seal on some old silver, but it's coming :-) The target separation still amazes me with this machine. Most of this stuff was dug in the same hole as nails and trash. This is going to be a great unit to take along to old cabin sites. I recently acquired some maps from the 1890's. Time to get out and score some more treasures. Thanks for looking. Kenny

Excellent post as always Steve. You really have a knack for expesssing your views in an easy to understand and entertaining way. Thanks for taking the time to share with us. Made me want to run out and buy one even though there is no way, shape or form that I need or have a use for one of these. Sanity kicked in just in time... whew!!! Kenny

I think you will be really pleased with the performance for sure. I won't tie up this thread with the story behind the cruiser, but here is a link to more info than you probably want :-) http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/604033-64-re-build.html Kenny

While I'm not a headphone aficionado, I have tried a couple different pair. I currently have a set of the Nugget Buster NDT's. I bought these on due to the replaceable headphone cord. I'm still not really sold on the replaceable cord (been through 2 of them) but I really do like the phones themselves. I love the separate volume knobs on each ear. My hearing is not the same in both ears and it allows me to get a centered "stereo" sound. They fit me really well and like Steve mentioned, I prefer a snug fit. I hate phones flopping around while I'm trying to dig or set the detector down. The sound is excellent using them with the GPX 5000. With the settings on the 5000 and the high volume limiter, you can really tweak them to clearly hear those faint signals. Love them on the GMT as well. I'm not so sure I like them with the AT Gold. May be just me but the sound seems "off" or like it doesn't really match the detector tones if that makes sense. I'm still getting used to the AT though, maybe I will grow into it. I will probably end up with a set of Grey Ghost amphibians for the AT though since I have plans for dunking it when things warm up a bit. Good luck with your search. Kenny