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An Aussie Prospector's Christmas Poem © 2002 G.M. "DOC" Louignont, Ph.D. 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all o’er the land. Not a creature was stirring, not even one bloke with detector in hand; The Roo Scrotums wereall hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that a gold nugget from St. Nick would soon be in there; The ol’ prospector’s in OZ were nestled all snug in their swags, The same for prospector’s in the U.S. but there they call them sleeping bags; Mamma was still at home and I was still out bush, Down Under I wanted to be home for Christmas but I was bogged down because of rain and thunder, When outside my tent a terrible noise waked me from my sleep, Fleeing for me life out of the tent I did try to leap. I rushed right through the mozzie netting ripping it right fast, Tripped over me privates parts I did, and fell flat on me ass. The moon on the dry lake showed wet puddles of muddy mush It brought a tear to my eye when I saw a full can of beer I did crush, When, what to my bloodshot eyes should make me scream WOO HOO, But a miniature sleigh, pulled by eight Big Red Kangaroo, With a little old prospector, so lively and quick, I knew in an eye blink it must be St. Nick. More rapid than emu his Roo’s they came, And he screamed, and cursed, and called them by name; "Now, Skippie! now, Shelia! now, Bloke and Wanker! On, Cobber! on Mate! on, Dingo and Drongo! To the top of the trees those eight Roos flew all! I heard him scream, "Get your arse in gear or I’ll cut off your balls!" As hot winds that blow sometimes on a blistering December night, When those Roo’s got out of line, he did make them fly right! So up over those tree tops those Joeys they flew, With the sleigh full of detectors, and St. Nicholas too. As quick as a bean fart, I heard somewhere from behind The rustling of the brush, and the smell of beer and cheap wine. As I rose from me arse, and was turning ‘round in my place, Into my camp stumbled St. Nick and he fell right on his face. He was all dressed in detecting gear, from his head to his no metal boots, And his clothes were all tarnished with red dirt; he was a nasty ol’ coot; A bundle of detectors he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes -- how bloodshot, his fat gut how disgusting! A string of rancid burps and putrid farts he kept busting! He smelled of booze, his breathe it was plain outrageous, And the beard of his chin so filthy I hoped there was nothing contagious; The stump of a fag he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; But he had a broad smiling face when he screamed, "Put on the Billy." "You think I got all night to sit with you? Don’t be so damn silly!" He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, But his smell was so awful it about made me puke on myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, He told me he was so drunk he’d just like to go right on to bed; "But I got detectors to deliver," He said, "all over the damn place", "Getting them all to prospectors before daybreak, will be quite a race!" And grabbing a hand full of his knickers and scratchin’ his ass, He roared, "Is that Billy workin’ I want tea, I need to get out of here fast;" He sprang to his sleigh, to his Roo’s gave a cursing command, "You better get to friggin' flying or you’ll feel the back of my hand!" But I heard him exclaim, as he flew out over the lake, "Why don’t you quit looking for gold and spend Christmas with your family for Christ's sake!" Merry Christmas to all my mates here in the U.S. and Down Under wishing you a joyous and blessed Christmas and a glorious New Year - Doc and Diana

Here's wishing all of you Equinox users and site members from both sides of the big pond "A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year". Happy Hunting From Randy Dee in the UK.

Hi all. I'm new here but Have been detecting for several years. I have a Recon pro , Predator III , Treasure Baron With both modules (a project I'm going to get to one of these days) and a chinese cheapie beepie I keep in the car. Thanks for the ad.

I enjoy forums that contain INFORMATIONAL posts which pertain to detecting. We all want to get “better” and be more able to go find what we are looking for at will. While this isn’t always the case, the more tools in the mental toolbox, the better odds we have, and I’m an “odds” guy. This forum isn’t new to me, I’ve been reading it for a few years. Where other sites go stagnant is when the same types of posts get put up OVER and OVER and OVER....and the SAME people respond with the SAME response....”Killer finds!”...”Great job!”....you know the ones....a guy had been hunting for 20 years and STILL puts up a EVERY Roosevelt he finds....where is the progression? I love minds that think outside the box while still adhering to the principles of detecting, which keeps things within the confines of reality. Stories get mighty tall sometimes, and it leads others who aren’t quite as savvy or experienced astray. It even leads people who know better to question themselves or their equipment, which can be quite damaging. This forum seems to be moderated quite well and even questioned when it needs to be by other members, and that is a GOOD thing! Sometimes in our enthusiasm for a new machine or a great find, we can tend to embellish the story, I’ve caught myself a couple times doing this back when I was a mere noobie. I of course realized that fiction wasn’t my thing, and to preserve my own integrity while telling the story, I had to present the situation with complete honesty. It doesn’t always make for the best and most exciting reading ever, but it’s REALITY. Most of metal detecting is hard work and drudgery, really. What keeps it fresh and exciting are the possibilities of what we might find, and the better tech and info we have out there, the more exciting it is! Thank you Steve for a great forum that not only entertains, but TEACHES. I can never get enough of that!

Just checking in, been awhile!

Been a moderator on several other forums, as well as a member, and glad to see there are other forums out there especially this one. Thanks for the great setup, and ease of access.

For miners.

Greetings from Houston, Texas.

Hi everyone I joined this website a few weeks ago and finally decided to chime in. When I retired 6 years ago I was thinking what I wanted to do in retirement. I already flew RC airplanes so I thought metal detecting would be fun. I bought a Whites Prism and used it for awhile but I was going out by myself and it was kinda boring. When I fly my planes there are a bunch of old retired guys and we fly for 5 minutes and talk for an hour. Anyways my wife for some reason has gotten the bug to hunt for gold. We recently took a trip to Sonora, CA where we used to camp a lot and that really got her fired up as this is gold country. So I bought the Whites Goldmaster 24k and I found a prospecting club in Clovis, CA which we are going to join and I have been doing a lot of research of old and current gold claims in the Sierra's close to us. So that being said at some point I will post our adventures. Even if we never find gold at least we will be stomping around the beautiful Sierra's.

Hello from British Columbia, Canada. Looking forward to this forum and meeting a few members. We primarily do some hobby prospecting, a little bit of detecting and lots of other outdoors stuff. THANKS!!

Hello, Very interested by your topics about the next PI from Fisher, I would like to give my opinion. I come from France, a region with more than 66 miles of beaches, the largest in Europe, as my cover shows. Glad to be here.

Hello, I am new to the forum, but have been metal detecting for about 10 years now. I just purchased a new Nox 800 just in time for the ground to freeze and the snow to blanket our area here in New Hampshire. I was a White's guy before, but there is no comparison. Doing a lot of research on the machine and learning what I can now so I can be effective in the spring. I am planning a Florida outing in February though ! 🙂 There is plenty of information on this site to keep me busy for a while. Hoping to interact with all of you through the forums. Jim

Enjoy...

New member from coastal Fl., looking to upgrade to a detector that will be supportive of coastal Fla but not just beach side, but low country areas and inland fields. Minelab Nox 800 comes to mind

G'Day All New to Detecting located in Brisbane Own QED PLII and XP ORX

Hey Guys and Gals, Some of you may remember me, I used to belong to WSPA and spent quite a bit of time in SoCal and Rye Patch. But, about 6 years ago I dropped out to concentrate on business. Now I find myself with more available time and have jumped back into detecting with both feet. I'm looking forward to running into old friends and swinging new machines. If I met you before and have forgot, please don't feel offended, I have a hard time with my own name some mornings, LOL. I don't want this to come across as a solicitation, it's not. I know a lot of you have RV's and trailers. I own Carson City RV. If I can help my fellow prospecting/detecting community with: questions, technical/service issues, parts or looking for a unit. Please feel free to ask, I will do my best to help. I attached a pic of my own truck and Trailer. If you see me out in the desert, come say Howdy. I'm hard to miss with the giant CARSONCITYRV.COM on the side of my bright blue truck. I always have a cold drink, bowl of soup or shot of whiskey handy. Also, if you want to use the head, instead of digging a hole, I'm happy to step out for a few moments and let enjoy the facilities. If I'm not in the trailer, feel free to go on in and help yourself. I was solely and gold detectorist in the past, but I'm looking to add some coin and relic hunting to my list. I live in Reno, NV. I have a pretty open schedule and I'm willing to drive. So, if anyone wants a detecting partner, LMK. Good luck to you all and look forward to meeting/seeing you again, Beau Durkee

G'day all.. Just got a hold of a Gold Bug Pro and am starting of on the island's beaches.. so far I've found a handful of coins (my first one was a $1 so struck 'gold' straight away) and three old fashioned spoons on a site where an old cottage once stood in the late-1940s. I've done a bit of research on gold on the island and it gets a few mentions. The Brisbane Courier in 1886 recons that: "Samples of quartz from the newly-discovered reef on Magnetic Island are now in possession of the police-magistrate. It is good brown open quartz, showing fine gold freely. The reef from which the stone was taken is 3ft, wide with the casing. One solid quartz reef has been traced 50 yards along the surface. The reef is situated within a stone's throw of the sea, three miles from Picnic Bay in the direction of the Quarantine Station". Needless to say I've had a search out there but being a beginner i haven't got much of a clue what i'm listening for. I've only just worked out which sounds and readings each Australian coin makes, and that is only on the beach. Gold on Magnetic Island gets mentioned again in 1970 in the BMR's Geology of Townsville (survey map) which recons: 'Gold is also known to occur on.. Magnetic Island (uppermost Carboniferous granite).' I believe that this granite occurs on the western side of the Island, which also fits in which the name of a hill in that area - its called Goldmine Hill. Sounds like its all coming together a bit too easy! But I'll keep going till I can at least say I've found gold on the island. All in all, this detector prospecting game is turning out great fun, just swing away on the beach in the mornings and the possibility of gold in them there hills certainly keeps it interesting. Just a quick question: how have other GBP users found this detector for coin shooting?

I am Getting back into metal detecting now that I am retired. I have an old 20 + year old Garrett, two coils, still works and recently picked up a new Nokta Kruzer Multi which I am getting used to. Beach (freshwater) and local fields/ parks etc will be primary areas of searching. I need to learn a lot with these newer style detectors so any help appreciated. Looking forward to participating in the forums and possibly meeting some fellow detectors in the area. Yes, winter is coming, which puts a damper on things but Ibhope to get to Texas and Florida and areas in between in the near future. Good hunting to all fellow detectors!

In the early 80s got into underwater suction dredging in No. Cal. mostly in the Sierra's , towards the end early 90s I picked up a detector , a Garrett , was just getting use to it at parks and got out of Cal. back to MN . Kept telling my self I was going to get back to Cal. to mine again , but then Cal. banned dredging , took a lot of motivation out of it . But I did find a great metal detector store in the area Metal detectors of Minneapolis , and the owner had a lot of knowledge , and I bought a bunch of detectors including pin pointer , a couple of Whites machines one of the bigger general detectors , and a gold machine , then a diving unit from Fisher and another I do not remember . Manly went around parks & beaches with my German Sheppard - that way we both got a good walk in 😉 Then a couple yrs. ago had a fire , lost all detectors and or about $250,000 in tools & equipment . Now also on disability , and Gillie - the dog ran into the end about 13 yrs. / starting to sound like a country western song 😉 Well bought a Minelab Equinox 800 from the same shop , dang I stopped by and he had a used one with 2 1/2 yrs. of warrantee left for $700 , I went home to get my saved coin stash about $500 and more stashes and when I got back to the store , the used unit was sold , but he did have a new one in stock . A couple weeks later I went back to get a pin pointer , we both agreed that that the Garrett Pro AT was what I wanted , hay it was on sale too 😉 Now taking a friends boat to FL , I'm not into fishing & throwing back - I'm a catch & eat kind of guy 😉 This will be my 1st salty beach doin . Oh and we were going to go looking for the bermuda triangle and look for lost stuff - dang the Equinox only goes 10' deep .

Hi guys, my name is Cristian, I'm from Argentina, my detector is a Garret AT Gold, I use it to search for gold nuggets in the Andes mountain range. I have very good results with very small, tiny nuggets, but I think I'm losing some depth, I compared it to the Garrett AT Max and apparently it has a little more depth but not so much sensitivity to small nuggets. I want to change the AT Gold for another detector that gains depth in larger gold (2gr, 5gr, 10gr etc). Do you offer me minelab equinox 800, makro gold kruzer, goldmaster 24K, xp orx, which recommend me to have greater depth in large or acceptable nuggets and not lose much effectiveness in small nuggets? I found the gold nugget in my hand with the AT MAX at 20-25cm, with the AT GOLD I had no signal I leave some photos to see the gold that took out the AT gold. regards p / d: sorry for my english, I used google: D

Hi all, thought I'd better sign up for an account as I've been lurking for too long! The technical discussions in the Equinox subforum keep me coming back, always interesting to see what new ideas people are coming up with to get the most out of their machines. I've mostly been coin and relic hunting for the two years I've been into detecting, and luckily have some unique permissions in an 1860's gold mining town that enable me to get onto what I think are some really interesting finds. The area's not really known for detectable gold so it's escaped a real hammering until I've got my hands on it! The soil's crazy mineralised so it's been a challenge to find settings that work, every time I change a parameter more finds leap out of ground that I've slammed before. My favourite finds are the chunky copper pre-1860 Victoria pennies and 1850's trader's tokens, I think they even edge out big silver for me...

Hi ya'll.... I got into gold prospecting in 2003, bought a Bounty Hunter Quick Draw II. Never really used it much, until 2006, we moved into an old farm house, and then not very much. Fast forward to 2016, I became disabled and was bored sitting around the house, so broke out my Bounty Hunter. I found a few interesting things, then in May 2019, I got a White's MX7, loving it so far...my problem is I haven't had any luck getting permissions, mostly finding the right person to talk to....I would love to go to a Civil War sight, especially in my neck of the woods, or old mill site, there are a lot around...another problem is, I can only hunt between an hour, to two hours and have to stop. Still lovin' it though, it got me to reading up on history in my town, found some really cool info.

Hello all, I have now been on here a few months, and am very much enjoying everyone's information and humor! First a disclaimer: I tend to use alot of exclamation points when i post, so don't think I'm yelling at any of you! I just like them more than periods! Besides, Steve prohibits yell posting! I am a born and raised South Florida native, and 3+ year's retired! I started detecting back when i was in high school! And unfortunately stopped a few years later, when cars, girls, and life, took over! I picked it up again in 2015, when my wife and kids were no longer taking over! (Yes; I'm still married)! I'm all in on detecting now, even though i missed some good years! The only other forum i have followed and posted on before this, is "The Treasure Beaches Report"! (Still read every day)! And I'm just happy to be here; learning from, and posting with, all of you! 🇺🇸 My first detector, circa 1980 👍 (still have it)👍👍

I live near the Bohemian Mining District, hence the handle “Bomemia Miner. The area was named after an outlaw miner known as Bohemia john. I have been prospecting since 1999. I started metal detecting shortly after that and then started working in the industry in 2005. The late Jim Straight was my good friend and mentor. I currently own a Tesoro Compadre with 5” coil for the kids. An Equinox 800 and the TDI High-Q. I love the latter for its lighter weight. I’ve had problems with arthritis in my thumbs and wrists. After corrective surgery, I still can’t handle the six-pound (without the battery) detectors such as the Minelab (PI) Super Detectors, as they used to be called or the Garrett ATX. I also love the fact that I can run the gain at full throttle and still have a quiet threshold. My Pin Pointer of choice is the White’s TRX although I have a Coiltek in-line probe that will work on the TDI. I’d also like to get a Gold Bug Pro for a back and loaner detector. I look forward to reading everyone’s posts and being able to reply and contribute some of the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years. But most importantly, I’m here to learn. Thank you, Steve for creating this forum and allowing me to become a part of it. Walt Evens