Search the Community

Well I'm finally joining up. I've lurked here numerous times and have read a lot of really great dig stories, and appreciate the valuable tips given by the experienced detectorists. I try to absorb all of that info, and apply it when MD'ing, but time doesn't allow for that to happen often enough....the good news (for me) is that retirement will happen in a few months...so no excuses after that. I'm located in Illinois and primarily detect on old farm/home sites. Good luck to all.

As a young man over 50 years ago I became interested in prospecting for gold, especially in the Western Cascade Range of Oregon. As is often the case, life has a way of diverting ones interests and attention through such events as jobs and family. Now that I have finally retired and am living near Spokane, WA, I have once again chosen to pursue the hobby of gold prospecting. Only this time I decided that in addition to the gold pan, I would add a more modern companion prospecting tool, the metal detector. I am a lifelong fan of White’s metal detectors and have for many years wanted one of their instruments. This fall when I learned of their closure I decided to act quickly while I still had some opportunity for equipment acquisition, albeit limited. While doing research on equipment options I found this forum. I do greatly appreciate the wealth of information presented here, and must give a “shout out” to several people on this forum who were willing to help me with basic questions about equipment and aid in purchasing the proper coils and related items for gold prospecting. I now have both a White’s Goldmaster 24k and also a White’s TDI SL. After viewing several videos on YouTube to learn the proper settings, I was able to test my 24k in one of the mining districts in the Cascades. I am pleased to report that although I have not yet found gold, I did find some very tiny flakes of iron shavings and also a couple of lead bullet fragments. This provided the needed encouragement that the 24k had the correct settings and now all I need is to practice and find favorable terrain. There are also candidate terrains in Idaho that I hope to research. I do appreciate the wealth of information provided on this forum.

Hi everyone, I'm Charlie from London. New to the prospecting game. Hoping to meet some awesome people on this forum! I was having a little trouble setting up my detector. I've got it lying flat on a table as the setup instructions suggest to do some initial testing. When in pinpoint mode it appears I am able to set it off with parts of my body. I don't have any metallic items on me. Is this normal? Is it possible for a metal detector to be set off by a person or is there something wrong with my detector? Cheers

popeye from Maine has just dug you up ! Finally upgraded my trusty Micronta Discoverer 2 6KHz detector . ( Bounty Hunter) to an 800 last summah OH AYUH ! Located this forum without using it too. skuh kuh kuh kuh (LOL) Not a lot of detector addicts to hang out with so thinkin' this group will be a good source of info and fun. Have done all the updates on the 800 so far . Haven't had a lot of detecting time on it yet though , maybe 20 hours...so still have many things to learn about it. I also bought my first pinpointer (the ML35) and wow ! Gotta say I love it !!! Weighs a lot less than the screen box I have been using yup yup. She just froze ovah uptah camp and I'll be hangin' out with the forum till it thaws out .......U boob videos only go so far .....

Hello all, Floridian here. I detected for years and got away from the hobby for awhile. Work, 5 kids, and numerous other priorities will sometimes do that to us! I need a new machine and used to always use Minelab. I was looking at the Eqiunox 600? I don't know a thing about the machine except what I read and hoping to get some input from you guys! Once again, HELLO! and looking forward to hearing from Y'all

Hi Everyone. New to this site but old to prospecting. Great site! Still working full time so I can't post a lot but sure do appreciate the great detector advice here. I am a long time placer prospector so can help with panning and sluicing more than metal detecting. Larry AKA Sir Pansallot

Vanursepaul recently posted in a thread somewhere a picture of a pair of thongs he had. I posted some remark about how they looked ideal for out here as the Double Gees nail regular thongs to your feet and asked what brand they were. He replied how they were not off the shelf and he had them made...most likely at some expense. Low and behold this morning I find a private message asking for my size and mailing address as he was going to get a pair made and send them to me. I've declined (hopefully politely) as I've ran with his idea and will make a set myself. I just wanted to acknowledge the calibre of a bloke who would make such a generous offer to a complete stranger on the other side of the world. Thankyou sincerely Paul for the very kind and generous offer. Cheers, Steve

So I recently retired in January. I've been having a great time touring the western states in our RV, flying my drone in some really interesting places. Great hobby. My dad always had a metal detector in retirement, he found over 10,000 pennies, ha! But I'm more a history buff and would visit locations that have some history to find "who knows what", maybe some nuggets! 😉 So I thought I would give it a try and invest in a good detector, something state of the art, so I don't have to buy another one very soon. I built a kit metal detector in the late 60's, played with it for a few months, and then moved on to motorcycles, which was a bit more exciting at the time. However, the technology has come a long way since then, and I don't ride motorcycles anymore. I do have an RZR side-by-side that can take me to remote places to detect, which is part of my plan. I'm still shopping for the right detector, that's why I joined this forum, to get the straight poop to make an informed decision. Looking forward to learning a lot here, like I have in my drone forums.

Hi all. I'm new to this site as well as detecting. I waited my whole life to do this after retirement. However, It took me 8 years to figure out how to actually be retired, but spring of 2020 turned the page. First book I found while out browsing mining supplies was "The Nugget Shooter's Field Guide" by Reese Townes. Excellent book, well written and illustrated. I contacted the author via his website just to say thanks. To my pleasant surprise, about ten minutes after submitting, my phone rang and it was Reese. I had 90 minutes of some of the most information filled dialogue I've had in a long time. If this initial exposure is any indication of the camaraderie to be found amongst prospectors...well, this is going to be fun! Reese also mentioned he'll be giving a field class sometime in 2021. Sign me up, I'm all in. I plan to do some travelling and camping in different areas this coming year. (just joined GPAA) I look forward to meeting some new acquaintances out in the field. Be well, all. Paul - Montana

Hey everyone, Name is Paul. I'm essentially new to the hobby. I had a metal detector when I was younger, and lived in Canada, and used it a bunch, really enjoyed it. But haven't done it in a long time (and no idea where that original detector went, or what make/model it was). Anyway, I've since immigrated to New Zealand, and live within a short distance of about 100 beaches lol... (exaggerating, but only slightly). And many parks. And being a Canadian expat, have been watching to catch up on "The curse of Oak Island" over the winter period, and through COVID lockdowns, etc... Which lit up my "Treasure Hunting Urges"... So coming into Summer I was bugging my wife to let me get a metal detector as we'll be hitting all the beaches anyway, and would be a great opportunity to do a bit of treasure hunting of our own! 🙂 She broke down and bought me a Minelab Vanquish 540 for Christmas, it's under the tree taunting me right now... So in the meantime I've been doing as much reading as I can, looking for tips, tricks, info, etc... And this forum came up so I thought I'd better sign up and make myself known, as I'll probably be annoying people with lots of silly questions at some point soon! 😉 I also understand a few of your other active members here are also Kiwis, so will be neat to swap some stories with them too! I'm on the North Island, about 45 min drive north of Auckland, and very much looking forward to getting out there after Christmas, and hunting on those beaches! Anyway, just wanted to say hi, and introduce myself! Cheers!

Hello All, It's been a tough year for everyone! My wish to you all today, is a Safe and Thankful Holiday! May you all be Blessed with Good Health, and Better Finds into the New Year, and beyond!🦃 👍👍

I relocated to Yuma Arizona 2 years ago after finding the USArmy 1853 steam paddle wheel Uncle Sam. I am always looking for people to metal detect with, I work wrecks all over the world. When I’m not investigating wrecks, I’m out swinging a detector. Anyone that wants to put in some miles I’ve got lots of hunting ground, in and out of the water. Currently involved in three ongoing Spanish ( Shipwreck projects, currently researching a fourth, actively involved in the search for an English 1587 wreck etc. today I got up at five am to hitch the boat in order to go explore a new area of desert, accessible only by boat, the two people going with me blew me off. I’m trying to find others that are more committed to actually searching for the gold and not just talking about it. I have found it before because I understand that to find the loot you got to get some blisters, and wear out some boots. No one ever finds treasure sitting in front of the T.V. If you don’t dive no worries, we find a lot out of the water too, if you dive and don’t have gear, no worries I’ve got more than most dive shops. From Polaris razors to boats to ships, fully equipped to, metal detect,sonar, mag, ROV, UAV, dredge, dig, lift, recover and preserve. I’ll do modern salvage or crime scene dives if the price is right otherwise I stick with going after gold and historical finds and meteorites. Home is Yuma, current projects are Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, and Mexico 8057126199 text or Email.

Hello all. I'm brand new to metal detection and am interested in just finding interesting stuff and being outdoors. Also, I am an amateur astronomer and would like to find a few meteorites. This site looked interesting and secure so I joined.

Hello from the West! I go by the name Tree, given to me by some jokers making comments about a jacket I wore once! Anyways, my number one is gold prospecting; detecting, drywashing, and panning. In that order. Though I am interested in other methods of course. My number two is general rock hounding. My mantra is, “Always be prospecting.” And it is always suitable! I have been aware of my prospecting habits for 7 years now and there’s no sign of them ever going away! I am seriously, seriously grateful for these prospecting forums. Where a great variety of knowledge and ideas can be communicated and the inspiration that perspires from that is magnificent! So, I’m hear to learn and occasionally share some stories. Because sometimes you just need to read a prospectors tale! Thanks!

Hi everyone, I'm an older fellow here hoping to get a few tips and tricks on how to do a bit of gold searching on my property. I'm nearing retirement and this could possibly be a descent hobby to get into.

Hi all, Been detecting for just over a year now, have two machines a Simplex+ and a Vanquish 540 (won the vanquish in a raffle). Found some interesting things including coins on nearly every outing, hoping to gain some tips & tricks from the wealth of knowledge here. Cheers Rusty

I'm excited to be getting into detecting - I picked up a Gold Bug II and I'm planning a desert camping trip soon. I'm targeting the Salton Sink and Bradshaw trail areas - I'm sure a lot of people here are familiar with these spots. I'm not specifically looking for Pegleg's gold, but I wouldn't mind finding it either.

I just joined today, I live in Walker Lake Nevada, about two hours south of Reno. I'm an LDMA/GPAA member and went to an outing at Scott River CA last weekend and it was the first time for my wife, it was a metal detector outing. I brought my Garrett Infinium LS that I have used a couple of times from new, it wouldn't fire up, with new batteries. Very disappointing, I called Garrett and its on the way to Texas (for repairs). I noticed on your site that my experience sounds way to familiar, ouch!! Well, while I'm awaiting the outcome on the LS my wife says she wants a detector for Christmas. The Fisher F19 looks like a great little detector to go down to the lakeshore and up on some of the trails around here. The price on that unit varies quite a bit, like from $499 to $799 with the 10" loop. I notice that some of the lower priced ones on eBay have a lot of positive feedback and after visiting their store seem legit...any input on that? I also have a Treasure Finder 900 two box deep search detector in excellent shape I might be interested in selling. Any comments would be appreciated

To all members I wish to thank all of you at this site Detector prospector.com and also some of my old friends at The old Compass Forum, sven7, Joe D, And Paul (CA) plus all of the new friends I’ve met on this forum are some of the greatest guys I’ve met in along time. In 2014 I started this road of doctors and hospital stays. I always thought when I retired I would enjoy my life and take trips and detect some and spend time with my wife. But it’s not in the Lords will for me to have that, I can except his way and I trust him with my life. But I’m on this soap box to tell you believe in the kindness of man and lady’s that there is still people who care for you and want to help when you don’t know what to do or where to go and some friends new and old pick you up and brush you off and point in the right direction and say it’s fine we get it done. I have to tell you Joe D talked to Paul (ca) now he’s putting one together and shipping it to me. I told my wife when I’ve pasted ship it back to him. I will leave a note in it before I past to let him know I will meet him in paradise. I will me a lot of my friends that’s left one was on national news today his name was Sargent Jumper he worked for the Greenville South Carolina Sheriff office you may have seen it on the news. I work with him for 20 years. He was kill by out of state drug runners, I told him to get out or that department many times. Now my friend has gone leaving a wife and one teenage girl never to come home. I think about these things and I know we will have a joyous day with no tears. My bone cancer will not be healed with chemo. It just keeps me ahead of it and then I must decide to try to live or let my time come. Jesus Christ will come and let me how we will go. My wife wants me to fight but with all my other problems I don’t know if it will God help me do the right thing. Thanks Friends I’m very tired so good night and thanks for all your kind words and actions HH Jimmy Huff

Been lurking here off and on for quite a while and decided that it was time to join in and introduce myself. Not currently a detector/prospector, but hope to change that. A bit of my background: 21 years as a geologist with the USGS, about 2/3 summers looking at mines in Alaska, 1/2 in CA, NV, AZ, and WY. When I left the survey in the big purge in ’95 I was working on a project looking at lode mines east of the Mother Lode proper. My work in Alaska was almost exclusively looking at lode gold mines and prospects, and spent quite a bit of time late ‘70s early 80’s south of Anchorage: Girdwood/Crow Pass (my favorite, staying at the Alyska and eating at the Double Musky), Hope/Sunrise, Moose Pass, Port Wells, Port Valdez, down the Kenai, and around PWS and SE Alaska (good story about an almost helicopter crash into the AJ pit, but maybe later). I think part of my lurking here was many of these areas are home for Steve’s exploits, and kicking myself for always staying up on the hillsides and not looking in the creek bottoms. I sure missed out on the gold (the Bureau of Mines guys were dredging the creeks as their part of the assessments, and I know a lot of gold went home in their pockets). I always thought about taking a metal detector with me, not to look for gold, but to check around all the old cabins and workings, and in ‘88 I bought my first metal detector, a Gold Mountain King Cobra because it was small and light and I could sneak it into my backpack. Never got to use it up there. My final AK field season was in ’89 sampling and mapping the exposed bedrock from active mining at Valdez Creek. The cheerful 18 yo security guard was more than happy every evening to let us know over beers that he had his scope on us all day just in case we decided to pick up a nugget. Don’t think swinging a detector would have gone over well. That King Cobra also indirectly contributed to my getting off my butt and joining here. When Reggie posted the pictures of his dad’s collection I thought I saw a Gold Mountain detector among the lot. It was also somewhat ironic that I had earlier this summer been reading a lot of what Reg had written about PI detectors on various blogs and forums over the years. Back in June I did a small consulting job in the Mother Lode at a winery where the grapes are planted in the weathered volcanic cover and the owner was wondering if the volcanics capped any Tertiary channel gravels. Turned out there was a lot of gravels that don’t show on any geologic map I could find, and they had been extensively mined though I couldn’t find any record in Cal State pubs. Since lurking here I decided to take along my two detectors, a MXT (I’m deadly at parks and old houses) and a mid '90s V-Sat that has not seen a lot of use. The ground there was unbelievable. Just setting my magnetic cultivator on the ground would pick up several pounds of hot rocks and coat with black sand. A full screened pan once the weathered volcanic soil and clay was removed would end up almost half full of black sand (and quite a bit of flour gold). Never seen anything like it. Anyway, got me curious whether a PI detector would work better and got me reading a lot of Reg’s posts and discussions here and on other sites. I was very sorry to see the news of his passing here. The detecting community truly lost a hero. Anyway, recently retired from 12 years sitting on my butt doing research/data analysis in radiation oncology (once a scientist, always a scientist), getting a knee replacement in a few weeks (Steve, I think the first time I blew it out was hiking down from the Nearhouse mine on Palmer Creek with a backpack full of about 80 lbs of samples), and I hope that part of my recovery therapy is walking and swinging. I’ve spent a good deal of time on the other side of interstate 80 from Rye Patch but never visited the Majuba Mtns and reading some of the geology papers reminds me of some areas I worked in the Klamaths. I hope to get out there at some point - soon. Looking to pick up a PI machine (was tempted by the GPX 5000 listed here, but a bit out of my price range) and pick your brains on how to best use it (just missed on a TDI Pro on Craigslist - damn). A bit of a more rambling intro than I had planned. Cheers Bill

greetings all. i'm bryan. i've been lurking the forums for a very long time but now i'm official! hope everyone has a great weekend.

Hello, I like the oldschool format of a Forum over a Facebook, But i do use facebook for local detecting groups. Ive been detecting for about 25 years now. I mostly just hunt coins/jewelry/relics. I live in upstate New York. My village was founded around 1807 and was a militia training ground from about 1807 to 1830 ish. My village had about 35 + participants in the War of 1812. I got full permission to detect and keep anything on ALL of my Villages property free and clear :). Lots of good stuff has come out of here. Basically all able body people that lived here during the Civil War was required to participate in that. I basically live in what has been a military complex for a very long time but was never owned by the Federal government. Ill be asking questions in about a detector decision in another thread. Just wanted to introduce myself, say hello, and get some info a potential detector purchase. THANKS!

This is the first Forum I have ever joined but have enjoyed reading it for a long time. Thank you Steve.

Hi, I have found DetectorProspector to have some very knowledgeable members and there is great information on the site, so I thought it was time that I registered. I live on a British island which is 14 miles from the French coast and we have a rich history. I mainly detect the beach for military relics from the British wars with France and the island's German occupation during World War 2. Though I never target jewellery, I very much enjoy undertaking recoveries on a voluntary basis and have reunited a dozen people with lost rings since I started detecting a couple of years ago. I use an XP Deus in the fields and a Minelab Equinox 600 with 15in coil on the beach. I look forward to contributing. Thank you.

Hi all! I’ve been out nugget hunting and as you can see from the picture if casings and bullet fragments were the objective I’d still be piss poor. After 15 hours of searching around the East Fork San Gabriel and around Acton that’s all I’ve found! I just got Jim’s Advanced Nugget hunting though so now I’m ready! Think I’m going to try upper Piru. Y’all be cool. Look for my 17 Gram gold chunk as soon as I find it and update here!