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New Member Signup - Click Here! Lost Password - Click Here! Forum Tips & Tricks Advanced Search Tag List/Index Welcome to the Detector Prospector forum! Anything remotely related to metal detecting and prospecting for gold may be posted here. Forums for other subjects may be found here. The main goal here - to inform and educate. Please keep threads and posts on topic (metal detecting and prospecting). Off topic posts may be moved or deleted without warning. This is the oldest forum here, at one time the only forum. As such it is a catch all for a wide range of subject. However, after about page 6, I move some posts to sub-forums for archival purposes. For instance, posts about specific Minelab detectors get moved to the Minelab Forum, and posts about specific Garrett detectors get moved to the Garrett Forum, etc. This makes it easier for people to find posts about specific subjects in the future, rather than sifting through everything here. The main goal of the forum is to share information. If you see something interesting on another forum or anywhere else, please link to it. Mention any brands you like. The only goal here is to inform and anything interesting or informative is not only allowed but desired as long as it is on topic. While visiting this forum please act as if you are visiting my home. Treat others with decency and respect. Politics is not strictly prohibited, but limit it to items of concern such as public meeting notices, comment periods, etc. Any post mentioning any politician by name is going to be deleted, period. No detector wars - every detector serves a purpose for somebody. For general editorial purposes this forum is treated as if it is a magazine. Do not place ads for your detector or equipment for sale here. That is only allowed in the Classifieds and is only for participating members - read the rules. A note about the Google Ads - I know we all hate ads but they pay for the website. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. All I can do is to promise not to go overboard with them. Special Note To Dealers - Dealers are welcome here, with minimal guidelines. Please read My Policy Regarding Dealers If you have problems logging in or any other issues while on the forum send me a Personal Message (PM). Information on other general forum use and features can be found here. Steve Herschbach

Sorry about that -fixed now!

I can sign on and I may stay connected from 15 minutes to a hour but then I get knocked off again . I don’t have trouble signing on again but it becomes a pain in the rear after a while. I said something to Steve about my problem and he said post it to see if others having the same problem. The odd thing after I said something to him it cleared for a short while. I may be wrong but I think my trouble started the same time this business about if you’re new you need to post something are get disconnected. Something like that! So if you had any trouble with what I said please post it. This is getting the best of me and making me feel like a stepchild of the bunch.haha Chuck

New members now have limited access until they reach Full Member status. There is no ability to include links or to edit their own posts until they have made 10 posts and been a member more than 30 days. There is no access to posting classifieds until after 10 posts and 30 days. They can post in response to an ad however. There is a limit of one Personal Message conversation per day so they can contact people with ads in the Classifieds in private if desired. Any account that has not posted at all in the 30 day period will be deleted. Anyone with more than one but less than 10 posts will simply remain in the regular Member account status indefinitely. The accounts that make at least ten valid posts and have been a member at least 30 days will automatically be promoted to the new Full Member status. This will give access to the Classifieds, remove the PM limit, allow links and post editing, preset "signatures" and more. This does not affect any existing accounts!! Any current members with less than 10 posts etc need not worry as all accounts as of this morning were promoted to Full Member status. Anyone with no posts however should at least post once or lose your account after 30 days have passed. This was done to stop the excessive spammer activity after consulting the current membership over the last month. It should pretty much put a complete halt to that sort of thing, while also encouraging new members to be more active. Lurkers are welcome, but will need to post at least once. Thank you everyone for the valuable feedback on this subject. I will monitor the new setup but if anyone experiences anything odd due to the new setup, please let me know. I changed quite a few forum settings and hopefully got it all right.

New Member Signup - Click Here! Lost Password - Click Here! Forum Tips & Tricks Advanced Search Tag List/Index Welcome to the DetectorProspector forums! These forums are normally "on topic" only. This forum is the one exception in that it has no real topic except getting to know other people. That being the case you can discuss pretty much anything here but the overriding rules apply more than ever. There is to be no posting of anything that is going to be disruptive (no trolling). While visiting this forum please act as if you are visiting my home. Treat others with decency and respect. Politics is not strictly prohibited but limit it to items of concern such as public meeting notices, comment periods, etc. Other than that, stay away from the heated political stuff. No detector wars - every detector serves a purpose for somebody. For general editorial purposes this forum is treated as if it is a magazine. To reiterate - the Prime Directive on all these forums is decency and respect. If you can't comport yourself like a decent adult, I promise you will not last long on these forums. The main goal of the forum is to share information. If you see something interesting on another forum or anywhere else, please link to it. Mention any brands you like. A note about the Google Ads - I know we all hate ads but they pay for the website. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. All I can do is to promise not to go overboard with them. Special Note To Dealers - Dealers are welcome here, with minimal guidelines. Please read My Policy Regarding Dealers If you have problems logging in or any other issues while on the forum send me a Personal Message (PM). Information on other general forum use and features can be found here. Steve Herschbach

Recently, I have been trying to persuade my wife into coming out metal detecting with me. She has repeatedly told me that metal detecting is a man’s hobby, and that women don’t usually go out metal detecting. So here I am today to see what the percentage is to hopefully prove her wrong and get her to come with me.

I have moved most all posts regarding the older X-Terra models the new forum here, though I will probably still find a few relevant threads. The main reason for this forum though is the new X-Terra Pro breathing new life into the old name. Enjoy!

I just posted a new topic and it seems that it needs to be approved before being visible to others or if I want to edit it. I haven't seen it before. Is that a new rule? Cheers!

I thought things would perk along longer than they have. But companies go away, people move on fast, way faster than I thought. As early as May activity here was high, now almost nothing. But so it goes. If things don’t change, and I doubt they will, I will someday move the contents of this forum. Since Garrett bought White’s, I can merge it all into the Garrett Forum. But more likely I would merge it with the Compass, D-Tex, Tesoro, Etc. Forum, which is for companies that are no longer with us. But no rush to do so, and this is you chance to tell me why I should leave things as they are for now. Posting more might also help your case, even if it’s nothing but “look what I found with my White’s” even a thread a week here would matter, but right now, not one thread in month of June, just two in July. ‘If I do eventually move the content, does anyone have a preference between my two options?

John in Florida here. My Whites DFX Spectra V3 won't turn on. I need to see if I can get a new circuit board. Any ideas?

This is a brand specific forum for people who own and appreciate Garrett metal detectors, or who want to learn more about them. It is not for people to point out how they think some other brand is a better choice. We have a forum for advice, criticism and comparing, the Metal Detector Advice & Comparisons Forum so take it there if that is what you want to do. This applies to all the brand specific forums in general - dropping in on them to say that brand or model sucks will be considered trolling, and such posts moved or deleted. Let people enjoy what they have without the negative commentary please. I don't go to the Ford Forum to tell them they should should have bought a Subaru, and the same general rule apples here when on a brand forum, be it Garrett, Nokta, Minelab, or whatever.

Hi Steve, I recall you said you were going to set up a location on the site for 3D models of use by the community. I can't seem to find it - I have a couple of models I would like to contribute to give a little something back to this site. Thanks

I have had my iPad not let me post - the keyboard does not appear. Doing a hard close of the app or hard reset fixes the issue. Another user reported the same issue. It appears to be an issue with Apple and Safari - never seen it on my PC. One user, Carolina, seems to not be able to get around the problem at all, though I'm not sure what devices or browsers he has tried as alternatives. I can't find anything on my side checking the software, and when I do a test post from his account is works just fine. A bit of a mystery and wondering if anyone else has seen issues recently. If so, what devices or browsers were involved, and what was the fix?

I admit I am getting tired of the folks that join, post a bunch of "what is this" photos, and then never respond when people take the time to answer. No thank you, nothing. I've wondered if it is some sort of scam, but I follow up and watch, and most seem to be hit and run members - one post, gone forever. And a few sleeper spammers. Maybe people posting photos here to use elsewhere, as it always seems to be a bunch of photos at once. So I'll ask the longtime members - what do you think of this forum? Is it worth having? People ok with it in general? I'm only asking because these one time posters of whatever they found in the driveway are kind of putting me off answering here. But as long as you all are happy I'm happy, so just checking in.

There is a long thread about issues I have been having with new members here. Long story short there are spammers who can evade automated spam checks by setting up endless new email accounts. They often join, post once, then edit the posts later to include links. This means I spend way too much time now reviewing new members who only post once or twice, going back for months. More obvious have been the spam attacks where we get hit by a bunch of new members who post dozens of crazy links in very short order. So here is my plan. I will create a New Member account. New members will not be able to include links in their posts. They will not be able to download from the Downloads area, or post in the Classifieds. They will have a limit of three PM messages a day - enough to contact somebody with an ad in the Classifieds who has not included contact info. I am looking for feedback on this. People may only want to be contacted by longtime members, and don't want to hear from some person who just joined. If you want that, well, then include contact info in the ad. But maybe you don't want to put your contact info out for people to know? Not sure, but allowing a new member to PM while limiting the number keeps them from spamming the entire forum with junk mail, so works for me. The system allows for automated promotion, so after ten posts and 30 days, the person will automatically be promoted to the full member account. So this is easy to set up and requires no ongoing work on my part. It will get rid of both the sleeper spammers, and the massive spam attacks. Very few spammers are going to spend a month and ten posts when so much easier marks exist out there. One might argue this penalizes lurkers by not allowing them to download owner manuals or use the classifieds. The simple reality is those are rewards for participating members. It's the people who post regularly and help answer questions that make this forum what it is. People who join just to sell stuff or download stuff are using the forum while not contributing anything in return. That being the case they can't be missed since in a way they really are not here anyway. I've not done this yet but the more I think about it the more I like it, and just wanted to toss it out one last time for review or suggestions before implementing it. And I will use this as an opportunity to thank all of you who do post interesting content for others to read, and most especially thank those of you who answer questions for those that have them. That is what the forum is all about, and it is you all that make it happen. Without you, there is no forum, so again, my heartfelt thanks.

I work hard to keep spammers at bay. However, the is one area where I have minimal oversight. A new member can never post, but can start sending personal messages (PMs) immediately. So a spammer can join and send out junk via the PM system with me never being aware of it. Question 1 - is this actually an issue? Has it happened to any of you? Question 2 - should I limit the ability of new members to send a PM? I can install a plugin on the system that prevents a member from sending a PM until they have hit a post limit - say 10 posts made. This forces the person to become visible and known before they can PM. They can of course just spam with 10 quick posts to get the ability to PM, but I am pretty good at spotting that kind of behavior. There is only one area I can think of where this might present problems. If you do not put contact info in a Classified Ad then only way people can contact you is via the forum. So people may join simply to be able to send a PM to you about an ad. They also can't actually post in the Classifieds without having ten posts elsewhere already, so they can't just reply to the ad in a normal fashion with a post. It would really make only long time forum members able to respond to any ad that is placed without contact information. This might be a good thing or a bad thing I guess. I have been ignoring this possible issue for a long time, but was just contacted by a member to say a new member was sending them multiple nonsense messages, and not responding to his replies asking for explanation. The account was based in France and maybe a language barrier at work, but I went ahead and deleted (not banned) the account. The person immediately joined again and started with new PMs, so I deleted the account again. I did not ban as I was wanting to see how they responded, and whether they might contact me directly. If they join again I might send them a PM myself, or just ban the account, as something is up with it. But one last time, is this really a problem at all? I really need some feedback from anyone that has had issues with getting unwelcome PMs from new members. As far as more established members, there is an Ignore function that allows you to block any single member.

Hi Steve, Wanted to kick this around for consideration. I know some of us have come up with models for 3D printed devices that are useful in this particular art of prospecting with detectors. Would you consider a new category in the Downloads section for such printer files? I know I and others have uploaded objects into various threads, but they do tend to get lost in the shuffle. I've got another object standing by to start things off if you would agree. Thx,

In general please use the default 14 point plain text formatting. People think they are doing those with poor eyesight a favor posting in all caps, or all bold, or in larger text. Well, if you are posting you probably know what you are posting, so you do not need it to read your own posts. For the rest of us it is the internet version of yelling "look at me" and more importantly, eats up space fast on people using a phone to view the forum. On my 42" PC monitor it may only look like largish text - on a phone I see 10 letters! If people have bad eyesight, they can use various options built into their browser or viewing device to increase text size. Look for the Accessibility Option in your device or browser settings, or both. There have also been people here that were promoting videos and such that think they need to get attention with big text and colorful letters and other fancy stuff. But the latest problem has been people copying from a translator and posting here. It formats into one long sentence in large text that runs off the right side of the screen for eternity. So here are some tips. 1. When you paste, use the paste as plain text option built into your device. 2. Look for the paste as plain text instead option built into the forum. 3. Paste into a simple text editor like Notepad first to strip the formatting, then copy and paste to the forum. 4. Finally, when posting videos, go to the YouTube page and look for the share link for that video. Copy and paste that link, and the video will appear here. I'm fine with videos. I'm less fond of links posted that make people go elsewhere to see stuff. It's more work for the viewer. If the video does not appear, try again until you get it right. As the police like to say, thank you for your assistance in this matter.

It’s time. Check it out at https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/65-quest-metal-detectors/ All existing threads of consequence have been moved to the new location. New Quest V80 Multifrequency metal detector

It’s time. Check it out at https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/65-quest-metal-detectors/ All existing threads of consequence have been moved to the new location. New Quest V80 Multifrequency metal detector

I guess I have been shy in the past but I ran out of likes for the first time recently. The discussion lately has been very good. How many is too many per day?

This forum has been running for ten years now. I have never done anything to weed the database down in all those years, and it is getting way too full of stuff that does not need to be there. A big one is people who have registered over the years, but never posted. The so-called Lurkers. That's fine I guess but the reality is there is almost no reason to join the forum if you are not going to post. The content is free for anyone to view without an account, so you are free to lurk all you want, without taking up database space. The only area that is off limits to non-members is in the Downloads area, where I have limited the ability to download the large files to members only. I'm just trying to keep a lid on the bandwidth by keeping outside sites from linking directly to the resources there. Long story short a quick review shows that fully half the members database is comprised of non-posting accounts, going back ten years. I am going to delete all those accounts before the end of the year, except any created in the last 90 days. If you have one of those accounts, and do not want it deleted, you need to make at least one post before the end of the year. This thread will work. Just post anything at all here, and your account will not get deleted. You only need to do this if you have never posted on this website before. If any accounts are being held by spammers, it’s likely to be in this group, so it helps clean that up also. The end result will be invisible to current users, except that the site may get a tiny bit faster once I clear out all the deadwood. These people have never posted, so no actual content gets lost.

We started getting hit hard in last 48 hours. Main problem these are not bots, but an army of paid spammers. Most are based in India, but there are a few in U.S. prisons also. So appears somebody has made an offer to pay for spam. The other problem is since they are mostly in India, they start hitting at 2am, so even if reported it stays up until Chase wakes up, and then me. He is farther east so first up. The reports help a lot, but until now were set as just a report. I have temporarily set the report function to quarantine any posts that are reported. In effect you are all moderators until this abates. Please do not abuse this - only report obvious spam or other serious forum rule violations. It will go in a review status until Chase or I look at it, so we will see if anyone is reporting stuff that should not be reported. My hope is by making the spam posts go away faster with everyone's help, that they will give up soon and move on. I assume the people only get paid if the spam stay up, and so they will find easier pastures if they get thwarted here. Since these are people, there is no way to stop them without changing the registration process, either to where we have to approve every application, or go to where a person must be sponsored by an existing member. Bots can be foiled, but any process that lets your average person in let's a human spammer in also. Anyway, sorry about all this. If it continues much longer I may simply block all new registrations for a week, which will put a stop to it for sure.

OK, new forum is done, threads moved. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/61-xp-deus-ii-forum/ I normally keep detector comparison stuff in a separate forum to stop detector wars. But the Deus II versus whatever videos have been pretty favorable, and not much dissension, so I have moved them all here also. Just seemed like one stop shopping is best. As long as people keep acting like adults it will work. Thanks in advance for that. 1700 posts on day one - that's cheating! By another measure, main Deus/Orx forum is 13 pages of threads, Dues II already at 6 pages; very impressive start for XP on this one.

I used to peruse other related forums daily, then weekly, then…. well, not very often. Just went to take a look, and saw both AZO and Finders are completely gone? Like poof? Is this temporary, or something that’s happened a while ago, and I’m just asleep at the wheel? AZO Finders