World Bored With High Frequency Detectors?

[Steve Herschbach]

High Frequency Gold Nugget Detector Roundup

Our cup runneth over!

Just a few years ago the market for "over 30 kHz nugget detectors" was quite limited. For a long time there were only a few options:

Fisher Gold Bug 2 (71 kHz) $764 with one coil

Minelab Eureka Gold (6.4, 20, & 60 kHz) Discontinued $1049 when new with one coil

White's GMZ (50 kHz) Discontinued $499 when new with one coil

White's GMT (48 khz) $729 with one coil

Things were that way for over a decade. Then in 2015 Makro introduced the Gold Racer (56 kHz) $599 with one coil. Sister company Nokta released the AU Gold Finder (56 kHz) $799 with two coils

Then in 2017 we see the Minelab Gold Monster 1000 (45 khz) at $799 with two coils. And although not a dedicated nugget detector, the Deus high frequency coil options (up to 80 kHz) were also released, $1520 for complete detector with one HF coil.

Now in 2018 we get another general purpose machine, the Equinox 800, that can hit 40 khz, $899 with one coil. And just announced...

the Makro Gold Kruzer (61 kHz) $749 with two coils and

the White's Goldmaster 24K (48 khz) $729 with one coil

These last two announcements have made barely a ripple in the prospecting world, or at least going by other forums that seems to be the case. There are various reason for that (forums not being prospecting oriented or being Minelab centric) but still the lack of buzz is interesting. I do believe people are both burned out by all the new introductions and that the market is saturated with high frequency models. Leaving out the general purpose machines to sum up the current options it looks like the current "sweet spot" for pricing is a high frequency model at $749 with two coils. The Gold Bug 2 saw a price reduction to $699.

Makro Gold Racer 56 kHz - $599 one coil

Fisher Gold Bug 2 71 kHz - $699 one coil

White's Goldmaster 24K 48 kHz - $729 one coil

White's GMT 48 khz - $729 one coil

Makro Gold Kruzer 61 kHz - $749 two coils

Minelab Gold Monster 1000 45 kHz - $799 two coils

Nokta AU Gold Finder 56 kHz - $799 two coils

Added 1/2019 XP ORX up to 81 kHz - $899 one coil

High frequency nugget detectors compared

White's Goldmaster 24K, Minelab Equinox 800, Gold Monster 1000, Makro Gold Kruzer

Minelab Gold Monster, Fisher Gold Bug 2, Makro Gold Racer, Nokta Impact

[Jackpine]

Large deep nuggets excepted does anyone in the US really need anything other than an 800?  7K for a Zed and nearly 4k for the SDC.

It seems the Nox finds the bits just as well and for peanuts in comparison.

[Glenn in CO]

Both I and my wife have used every model of the White's Goldmaster beginning in 1990 and currently using the GMT. The type of gold were after, a high frequency detector is absolute must. Their isn't a PI detector currently made that will find the gold specimens that we find. We have always been able to dial the GMT in for optimum performance.

The new GMK isn't available yet for the general public and I'm holding any comments to see if the new technology equals, surpasses any the high frequency detectors that are current available including the GMT.

[Steve Herschbach]

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

They all seem so similar in performance so it's more about what other features you like in a detector which makes you decide which one of the current lineup you want.... snip

I agree Simon - great observation.

Many gold prospectors use a detector for prospecting and nothing else. That being the case it can make sense to have dedicated machines that focus on that one task. The vast majority of people however want to use a detector for more than one thing and so crossover models tend to be far more popular.

[Hobo]

What we need  (imo)is a.  LIGHT WEIGHT , AFFORDABLE  pi( ATX, 2300 performace)   in a light wt box). Detector Pro made a very lite wt. Pi with all the electronics and battery in the head phones. It was not good for nugget hunting but was a good water proof beach hunter that sold for around $800. Whites tried with the TDI but was a bit short in depth.  JMO.

P

 

 

 

 

[fredmason]

Because I dislike having stuff I sold my ctx when I got the 800. Now I have two detectors that fulfill my detecting needs; the equinox 800 and the Zed 7000....

I only need a small gold coil for the 800 to be happy-er!

fred

[Reno Chris]

Hey Steve:

Back in the day we told a number of folks that there was room in the market for a higher frequency VLF oriented toward gold prospecting. The older units were good, but we all knew there have been design improvements in VLF since the GB2, GMT and Eureka Gold were first developed (not huge changes but small worthwhile ones none the less).
I dont know how many of those folks were listening to us or just saw the same thing in the market that we did, but hey, we were proven right and now there are an overabundance of 30 kHz nugget detectors on the market.

[Cal_Cobra]

Of all the VLF gold machines Steve posted, is the EQ800 equal to these detectors, better, worse or what when it comes to nugget shooting?

[Cal_Cobra]

Thanks, it sounds like the EQ800 will do the job for a VLF gold machine.   Looking forward to finding out what it can find, hopefully not too small of gold - LOL  

Reminds me of gold panning as a kid and putting your gold in the tiny vial of water so the gold looked larger haha

[auminesweeper]

Today I re-watched Chris Ralph's series on the GM-1000 and it does not matter how skilled a person is those video's are relevant to folks young and old, for me they bought back to life the things I had lost in the back of my mind but also I was very impressed with how the GM performs, I am a bit overwhelmed with the amount of LF machines that are on the market which is pushing me further away and makes me want to buy another GMT and or "IF" the 24k is up to scratch then it is on my radar, The GMT shares a lot with my main detector but the GM-1000 has fuelled the fire in me but the Equinox leaves me in no mans land, just not sure what to think about that one,

Another thing that stopped me from using my GMT was in the prospecting mode the MXT just sounds nicer and when paired with the 5.3 Coil it becomes such a hot combination and the lower frequency helps it run smoother in hotter ground and all of these things are just driving me away from LF detectors.