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You asked for it, @Steve Herschbach! ? This one might be fun for y’all though. I hope so! Let’s say your best friend was brand new to the hobby - maybe they have a brand new detector (maybe an Equinox 800 on order - totally hypothetical, you understand) and a basic digging tool or two but that’s about it. The friend told you they were heading to a gold and treasure trade show that weekend (maybe the show in Quartzsite, and of course invited you along). What would you tell them to buy? What would you tell them to avoid? If you want more info before advising them, let’s say that they had a strong interest in beach jewelry and gold detecting and a moderate interest in everything else. ? Thanks in advance! -Julie the n00b

My wife and I have never used a metal detector but have both wanted to search for little treasures since we were kids. Even if it doesn't turn into a passion, I would like to start with quality entry level equipment to ensure we have the best experience possible. Any advice on equipment, how to get educated, where to do it and any other important considerations would be greatly appreciated.

This is one of the few sites remaining in my area of Alaska that the incoming Stampeders used and also others that came a little later.. The site is easily spotted but unfortunately most of the area surrounding the actual spot is under the Highway at the top of Thompson pass a few miles North of Valdez..Not anything is left to identify this location but thru careful searching and studying I was able to definitely say this is it. Not a large area now but you can see the tumbledown remains that lay scattered almost entirely reclaimed by nature. I have an idea there probably was more to be found but that is now under the Main Highway. That's ok as I realize that most of the other stopping spots on that trail are completely gone..I was able to squeak 2 coins from the site and both were dated after 1898 but close enough to know they had been lost by others that chose that way to come into the area after the Stampede. There were other gold bearing deposits along that trail that were discovered by these prospectors that were mined for a while, those might be stories for another time..The 2 coins found were a Barber dime and a nice 5 cent piece.... I was very happy to have found some dated coinage as that always gives you an idea on timeframes of travelers.....

Quick story-- As most of you know i work with Veterans, and a lot are dealing with PTSD --- I always thought detecting would be good therapy because they can get away from the crowds, carry a firearm in most cases (so they feel safe) and they can relax a bit. One guy showed up last week with a Minelab GoFind60---[maybe the only mInelab i havent bought ...Yet...lol] He said he was new and he hadnt found much but trash...I told him to trget places people would be sitting on the ground... like ball fields, picnics and such..I told him that I like to go around old trees. Mind you this is on an old Army base so there can be some neat things there. So far the first day he got half an old spur, second day---1912 penny in good shape!, third day- two Taxca Mexico sliver bangles with the floral design....($25ea!) So he is feeling better , he isnt so jumpy, i see him smiling now, and he is sleeping better after going to classes and then detecting the rest of the day.... That's all it took....a little detector and a place to detect---- Im happy I got to meet this new detectorist.

Hey everyone Ive attached a lidar map of an area that i have permission for and am planning on detecting this coming weekend. The thing that i know is going to be an issue is large high voltage transmission lines to the north east of the site (Green Line on map). I plan on bringing all three of my detectors (GPX 4800, GM1000 and EQ800), as well as mono, DD and an a coil-tek anti-interference coil for the gpx. Ive walked the site before and from that as well as looking at the lidar its still hard to figure out exactly what the old timers were doing in that small valley. It almost seems like they were setting up to work it, then never did. This particular area is known for rich bench deposits and supposedly quartz boulders on the ridge that had visible free gold in them at the surface (Probably along the vein trend line where they had shafts, red dashed line on the map). Anyone have any ideas as to what the old timers plan of attack was for this small valley? Also with those power lines so close do you think the mono coils and the EQ800 will work due to the emi? Which detector would you use first and what would your plan of attack be. Im currently planning to focus on the southeast facing hill slope below the probable vein trend, starting with an 8 inch commander mono on the gpx. I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts! Mine overview.pdf

Do I know of anything coming out the doors of White’s Electronic for 2019 ? Well let’s just say that I know about as much as you do and at this point that’s nothing. It’s a fun thing to dream and I’ve long been a dreamer. We have seen MX this and MX that but is this a good enough name for what’s on the way? Just maybe White’s will like one of the names we post here and it will be attached to this unknown detector. Even I got to put my thinking cap on for this . Chuck

I just read "phrunt's" post.: December 23, 2018 in Minelab Equinox Fan Club ...about black sands. I did post on another forum about this and I hope I am not violating an etiquette but the topic is recent here and comments helpful. I am newly using the Anfibio Multi but beginning to realize perhaps this detector was not the best choice and perhaps a PI better. I liveaboard my boat on Vancouver Island pretty much year round voyaging the entire coast Vancouver to Alaska including islands. Today, first time using on the beach the AM could not settle down over regular looking sand interspersed with layers of black sand. Since most all of my detecting will be coastal coves, harbours and their beaches most all with black sands I am wondering what detector would be more suited. This was said by poster "phrunt" which was interesting with regard to making the "right" choice for my hunting grounds. "I find the fine coatings of black sand to be the most difficult no matter if I use a multi frequency or a PI." Thank you

So I’m a total noob. I’m getting my first detector later this week, an Equinox 800. In fact, it has already arrived at my local dealer but my Garrett Carrot won’t be in for another day or two so I’m waiting to get everything all at once. I want to create a test garden and have read various bits here on the forums about folks using them but can’t really find any information on how to actually create one. If this has been covered somewhere already, I’d appreciate any direction on how to find it. I’m sure creating a test garden seems pretty intuitive to experienced detectorists but there’s got to be more to it then getting some stuff you want to find and some stuff you don’t want to find and sticking it in the ground. I’m looking to make best use of the liimited space in my suburban lot to maximize learning and continually refine my detecting skills. I’m in southeast Michigan so (I’m assuming) I have very mild soil. Temperatures right now are bouncing around from 20-40 degrees F so frozen ground may limit what I can do until spring. I’m guessing that with mild soil, bench (air) testing may be a close second best to a test garden. I intend to start doing mostly coin shooting in parks and approved public land, then as my skills improve, add in some Lake Michigan fresh water beach hunting. Then, if I can gain some research skills, perhaps do some relic hunting on private land (with permission of course). With these parameters in mind, any advice would be appreciated, not only for how to create and use the garden but tips for bench testing too. Thanks!

I finally got a permission that I have been wanting for a few years. It was a small church built somewhere around 1890. Later years it served as a school and it has a few acres. The new owner told me that he thought the structure had been rebuilt on the same foundation at some point. After getting there I immediately went to the front yard and started detecting. I couldn't believe how much iron was there. It has a blanket of small square nails in the entire front yard. I must assume that the original structure burned at some point. How are you guys setting up the nox to deal with sites like this? Mode, sensitivity, speed , iron bias, etc.?? I have found a bunch of coins just past the iron zone so I suspect there are some good targets there. What's working for others? I do have the 6" coil.

I live in CA in an area where there are literally 1,000s of old gold mines. I have the gold bug and I've saved up to buy a GPZ 7000 specifically for detecting inside old mines for rich quartz ore and outside for buried nuggets (mostly the later). This will be my very first metal detector and I'd like to know if there are any "must-have" accessories or this particular detector for what I'll be doing? There seems to be a never-ending list of accessories and I don't want to waste money I don't have, nor do I want to cut myself short after buying the best. Also, separate from the detection rig, what other accessories are a must? I'd like to find a pick/shovel combination, an over the shoulder bag. I already have a hardhat with a light, spare flashlight, and a canteen. I'm also the sort of guy that will be refining the gold myself prior to sale to obtain the most value (unless it's a gorgeous nugget to sell as-is). I'll be doing a crushing > nitric acid > aqua regia > smelting > casting small bars setup. Of course, I won't invest in any of that until I have enough ounces of gold to start and pay for itself. Thanks in advance! This is going to be a weekend hobby for my 16 year old son and I as the next step of the mine exploring we have been doing for years.

I have had good success with the 800 using factory settings. Lately, the beach targets have slowed down significantly due to fewer tourists and more detectorists. Will a slower recovery speed give more depth and increase targets? Let me add I use beach 1, all metal, sensitivity around 22.

Hello all, I am gearing up for a relic hunting trip in the southeast US. I have permission at a nice CW camp, that I used to hunt over 30 years ago with my White's 6db and 5000-D. I think this would be a great place to take the GPX-5000 (nice red dirt). However, a power line runs right through the middle of the camp. This was a minor issue for my White's vlfs, but may be a bigger issue for a PI. I have two AI coils, an 11" and a 14" inch which work great for the EMI which typically occurs around, or in, houses. However, I have never tried them beneath or near a power line. I want to make sure I have a number of options if the AI's do not work. I have read the manual pretty thoroughly and searched the forums and came up with a list of methods to minimize EMI (see Table below). One of the techniques was mentioned by Jonathan Porter in a Treasure Talk article on the GPZ-7000 (link below). He mentioned that "Bogene's Settings" are effective for the GPZ-7000 and have been used in the past for the GPX line for reducing EMI and ground noise. https://www.minelab.com/treasure-talk/using-the-gpz-7000-in-high-emi-conditions-and-audio-smoothing After a bit of searching, I came up with the original thread (link below), which dates back to 2008 and was originally applied using the GPX-4000 and GPX-4500. The method consists of turning down the threshold (until there is no "hum") and turning up the gain and/or stabilizer. http://www.finders.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3442&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 The technique appears to have been originally developed for very hot ground in Australia, but Jonathan Porter indicates that it can be used for reducing EMI, at least for the GPZ-7000. My question is, has anyone used this method on the GPX-5000 for reducing EMI, and if so how effective was it and what were the disadvantages if any? If this topic has already been covered, I apologize in advance. Thank you! Adjustment Disadvantage of Using Use AI Coil Loss of depth compared to same size DD Use smaller DD coil Loss of depth Decrease gain Loss of depth Use Sens Extra, Normal, or Smooth timing Loss of depth (compared to Sharp timing) Decrease motion medium → slow → very slow Must swing slower Use “Quiet” Audio Type May miss faint signals Decrease stabilizer setting May miss faint signals Lower threshold and raise gain/stabilizer (i.e. Bogene’s Settings) Unknown if this will work for GPX-5000 or how effective it is for EMI. Use Cancel CoilRX setting Inability to discriminate, loss of depth

I bought this book years ago from Kellyco and it looks he had written several books. This is the only one I’ve ever own. Chuck

Hello I am in northern Virginia and am completely new to the detecting world. I am a gold prospector primarily but interested in detecting in general. I have the nox 800 and the 6" double d coil on the way. I have watched tons of videos and read a lot about the detector. Is there anyone out there that would be willing to meet up and give me a lesson on how to use it? I am having trouble and would be nice to be able to ask questions and learn from someone. I know it's snowing now and cold but spring will be here soon enough. Thanks for reading.

Now. Dealers in most cases do carry some inventory. The larger ones carry a lot. Right now there is pressure to clear units out. There is year end accounting going on, and sales reports. Anything sold now puts sales into this year and gets inventory off the books. This in turn can be very important for places when businesses pay an inventory or business property tax that includes inventory. If you have a model in mind you have to make phone calls. Tell the seller you are looking for the best cash deals and that you have no interest in all the so-called freebie stuff. Free stuff is rarely free and is usually factored into the overall sales cost. It also adds to the shipping cost if you are angling for free shipping. Dealers cannot advertise metal detectors below certain prices (MAP = minimum advertised price). However, price fixing is illegal, and once you and the dealer are engaged in conversation they can make you any deal they want. This is another reason to avoid email. Companies and even competitors try to reveal and kill off anybody lowballing prices, and may test companies for discounting via email. A dealer is more likely to cut you a killer deal verbally than via email, which documents everything. Bottom line call around right now and find that dealer desperate to clear year end stock. I have personally sold many detectors at near cost in year end clearance sales back when I was a dealer, but they were never advertised... just face to face sales. The sweet spot is after Christmas but before year end to get the best deals.

This is a pat myself on the back kind of thread. Here is the bulk of my aluminum shown with this seasons gold. Just over an ounce. What isn't shown is a bit of larger can slaw and smaller foil, but rest assured there wasn't that much more, call it 20% higher target count if you want. This represents positive ID gold signals, the easy ones you shouldn't be leaving. My nephew wants to collect tabs and beaver tails, which is the reason I have them still this year. No doubt I threw out a couple modern tabs early in the season, however I reluctantly agreed to collect those too. lol Tonight I thought it would be interesting to see how much aluminum I dug to get that gold. These gold targets ranged from 1-22 TID. Only dig nickles? You fool! So what do you think? Is that a lot of aluminum? Are you sure? Think about it, I bet you've dug way more pennies than this just to see a silver coin make an appearance. Would you rather another silver dime or have your Equinox paid for? Advice is a hard thing to take, if it's common knowledge it probably wont help you find much. Remember 10% of the people get 90% of the goods. That means the other 90% are sharing the 10% left behind. One group is relying on statistics and probability while the other relies on pure luck. Don't notch aluminum, you must close your eyes and drink from the hose. Yes I'm on a high horse, I get double digit gold every year from this little town while most of my peers get nothing. NOTHING EVER. They have lots of advice and complaints and reasons to notch numbers. So proud to talk clad counts. These people don't work either, myself I'm gone 50-60 hours a week. I love aluminum, whats the matter with you people! This Equinox smacks gold like FBS smacks silver. Pay a stranger $5 to kick you in the ass if you need to. Happy New Year, Alluminati rules.

When the first LTD version of the Fisher F75 became available there was a lot of topic talk about EMI and how it affected this new F75. I had struggled with using the F75 in the cities where it seems a lot of interference would all but shut down my F75. A lot of frustration lead to a phone conversation with Jerry, can't say his last name "Tinfoil" down in Louisiana. Over many years we had became good friends and I had learned one thing about him, when he talks detecting, it's time to listen and don't talk. Well anyway, the discussion that particular day was EMI and how he dealt with it. He made several suggestions and one stuck, turn the %$#@ down. No need to spell that out. Of coarse I new that but refused, thinking I'd loose one of those deep targets. A few day later I did a few experiments with the F75 and this was my results. And by the way I still have my F75 LTD.

How many here might remember the Tesoro forum, the original one, that went down several years ago. It had some of the very best adventure stories I've ever read. Very motivating and the information learned about Tesoro detectors were very good. At that time I was using the Vaquero and I can honestly say I found a lot of rings with that machine. The audio, in my opinion was superior for me. I could tell if a target was a pencil eraser end without digging. A few years later I bought a Tejon at the advise of Gene Scullion (when he was the owner of Badger Metal Detectors) and wow what a fantastic machine. The audio again was superior and I found more rings. But keep in mind these are purely audio machines which lends itself to finding more rings because I didn't have an display to inform me as to what the target might be. But the dual discrimination feature was a plus over the Vaquero and helped with not digging some junk targets, but still found more rings. Now it did have a serious drawback and that was recovery speed and the relationship to target masking (which at the time was not published information). But finally after years and the relentless detector advertising on both the internet and TV I gave in and bought my first display detector. Its been a very exciting journey, detecting that is. Met many hunters along the way and found some interesting artifacts to boot. It would be nice if there was a way to pull up or locate the original Tesoro forum website. A lot of lost information and fantastic stories of past hunters and their experiences.

Went out detecting with my buddy Dave today, looking for a new spot. He killed it with 7 grams of gold. I did get a signal on a slope. 2 or 3 inches down to bedrock. The signal improved, but a I chipped away the bedrock it got stronger and stronger. Finally over a foot deep I break out a piece of quartz with copper mineral. It is screaming on my GPZ and on Dave's GB 2 also on a pin pointer. We go back to the truck I smash it open and find a silvery metal inside. It is also heavy for its size. About the size of a small plum. I didn't think Galena was very reactive on a detector? Any ideas ? Chris

Now that the snow is flying in Montana I thought I would reach out to the relic experts out there and see if you all can ID these items. On first glance they look like leaf style gun sights, but there are no graduations and most sights I could find online are iron. Also, I would think gun sights would be a rare find and these items have been turning up fairly regularly lately. They were all found at different sites dating from the late 1800s over the last two years. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Happy Holidays!

so this past few months or so ive been getting into prospecting i ended up getting a sluice box off of amazon for a good price and also picked up some miners moss and when i installed the moss it makes the riffles stand up about a 1/2 inch is this normal or am i doing something wrong

I cannot determine how to get to my list of Minelab warranty registrations....I find the spot to register new equipment. Does some kind soul know the secret and will reveal it...? if I too only had a brain fred

In my mind there is no doubt the 7000 is the best detector for depth I have used but the last couple of years of working low and slow, my results have been anything but stellar. The depth of some of the gold I have found amazes me, but the 7000 just wont find gold that`s not there. This year I am going to concentrate more on ground coverage than depth. I used to find reasonable gold with my 4000, but when I bought the 5000 the amount of gold I found went up and the weight of the pieces went down. I no longer own the 5000 but I still have the 4000 and I think the 4000 is a very capable detector on gold a gram and up. So the new plan is more ground coverage away from the recognized gold areas and I`m thinking my 3 main coils will be the 24x12 UFO, the 18x12 Goldstalker and the 14x9 Blitz. I remember years ago, before the 5000, I was hooking in with the 4000 and UFO in open ground, I got this terrific 7 grammer at about 8 or 9 inches. If I want to do deep work, I`ll go to the 7. All the best for 2019 everyone, may we all get more gold in `19 than we got in `18.

I’m a newbie to the forums. In fact, since I don’t even own a detector (yet), I guess I’m a “no”bie. A bunch of questions are bubbling around in my head as I try to get better informed about detecting. Here’s one that is currently on my mind. I plan to keep some records of my detecting experiences. Initially, a lot of my focus will be recording detector settings and results so that I may better learn how to use my (future) detector (maybe a NOX 800). The advice I’m hoping some will share, is what records do you keep and in what format. I’ve spotted some software created for use by detectorists. Some allows recording of GPS coordinates (perhaps more useful for gold hunters than coin shooters); detector settings; “finds” records (including uploading photos); free form notes; etc. So what do YOU record please and how? Software? A notebook or diary? As a learning tool or just to capture fun memories? Do you search or review your past records? OK, I’ll take a breath. Any information and advice will be greatly appreciated, thank you! PS - I searched the forums before posting this and found a couple of related threads but nothing very specific. If this topic has been addressed in detail before, please point me in the right direction rather than create redundant threads. Thanks, Bozko. (Thank you Steve for moving this post to the appropriate forum. I realized after I posted it that it wasn’t in right spot but then wasn’t sure how or where to move it. Newbie error.)