flipping a coin here

[saika]

Howdy everyone!

It has been a while since I have been on the findmall site. Greetings Monte. I have been trying to decide whether to buy the Matrix or the MXT. I am using a PIV and a Vaquero right now and am happy with both. I have read many good things about the M6 and MXT. I don't plan to hunt for nuggets here in SW Ontario, there aren't any.

What I am looking for is a unit that will do well on small gold in trashy areas. This has been the focus of my search. It has lead me to this place.

Please, any feedback would be welcome. Have you ever found a plain, fine gold chain with either unit?

The Vaquero does a very good job of thin gold with the small coil and depth is respectable. I pulled a Cdn. victory nickle out from 7-8".

I hope to read your views on either unit or a better suggestion.

Take care one and all.

 

[bill(de)]

with an M6 or MXT is like finding the real meat in Scrapple.
Sounds like a job for an XLT,DFX as you can discriminate single digits on a 180 VDI scale. If you use a small coil it may be more feasable i guess.
Not saying it couldn't be done but the odds are unbelievably tough in my opinion.
The M6 does have tone ID which may help some but seems like a dig all the audio low tones and numerical 0 to +18 deal or so to me.
HH Bill

 

[Rob (IL)]

The MXT and M6 operating frequency is sensitive to small gold. I don't see where discrimination is an advantage for finding gold as gold is found on every VDI number on the scale. The size, shape, and kt value of the gold changes it's VDI. I've founf gold rings from 0 to 57, what would you discriminate? I could be mistaken but the XLT frequency might be more of an advantage for silver. The MXT and M6 will see the small gold. Rob

 

[bill(de)]

and he's asking about finding small gold .Thats what i was responding to not the larger rings etc. There are ring enhancement programs for the XLT and DFX with reverse discrimination. Just talking about the odds Rob. HH Bill

 

[saika]

Yes small gold is the key here. Thanks all. Yes, trash is the other problem. I read a Tom Dan. article a while back about hunting for micro jewellry, ear rings and chains etc. He of course suggested the Fisher Gold unit for this.

My thinking is that since the MXT has nugget hunting pedigree and the M6 is the same TX/RX guts, well it should make sense that I could successfully do this type of hunting without the bother of hot soil conditions. My problem is trash iron and aluminium. Tiny gold can range into the negative numbers and into the low pluses, as I have read.

Now, I have never hunted with a VDI machine and have had fun for the last 23 years without it. VDI and a nugget hunting design should be able to accomplish this task. I know that I will have to find and recover lots of tiny bits of canslaw, foil balls and iron bits. One good micro jewellry find would make it worth while.

I just want a fighting chance here!!!!

Other than on a beach who has plucked out a gold stud ear ring or fine chain on a repeatable basis?

If you have an MXT or M6, please set it up and see if you can make it happen. Thanks.

Thanks for your discussion guys.

 

[Monte]

First, regarding some of the comments made.

"Reverse Discrimination" doesn't really apply to any of the models mentioned. Reverse Discrimination is a term that was used to refer to an operating technique used with the earlier VLF/TR-Disc. models, not modern motion discriminators.

XLT/DFX notching and Custom "ring" programs:... First, while it is not usually seen in print today, the earlier comments regarding the notch accept and reject abilities of the XLT dealt with the + and - factor. That is, you could ignore a particular VDI number, but to do so cleanly in the real world in favorable conditions you would have to reject

 

[saika]

Monte,

Many, many thanks. In my test bed I can detect a pin head sized piece of 18 K gold at 2- 2.5 inches with the Vaquero and the 5.75 coil, a fine wire ring at 7-8 inches in air. All metal mode is so important in helping to identify the targets characteristics.

Thanks for the clarity on VDI and what it brings to the table. I have found shallow, small gold in the past with a Fisher 1260, alas it is no longer.

Your point about VDI and coins. Since the M6 is a VDI unit, am I correct in assumng that the VDI numbers will not align themselves with Canadian coinage on the whole? So, I will just have to learn how our Canuck coinage reads. I had to smile yesterday, I was hunting and I got a solid zinc penny lock with the PIV, usually a Cdn zinc will bounce up and down one target notch. Yup, US penny.

It sounds like the M6 is really a good coin shooter and with a smaller DD coil should be a solid performer in dirty park conditions.

This is a patience game.
Best regards,
Peter.

 

[bill(de)]

Such a clear ,knowlegable,informative response and is why so many of us Respect your opinions and comments. Thanks a lot. HH Bill

 

[saika]

Wow! what great forum. Great solid answers and clear opinions that make sense. There is no real question to it anymore, I will be seriously looking at the M6 for the springtime next year.

Monte's response to me left me looking at my Vaquero and test benching it with the 5.75 concentric coil, small nuggets, chains, ear rings and rings. To my surpprise I was able to adjust it to clearly see the tiny targets in the expected range of 2-4"! I also learned something else tiny gold "usually" vanishes off of the disc dial at a very precise spot, no fading out. This was a revelation to me. Iron tends to fade out over about 10 degrees of rotation....the gold never "breaks up".

I now wish that I had kept that hot rock that I found a while back in that field for further testing.

Tally ho and many thanks. I had better be good so Mrs. Santa will deliver.

 

[Monte]

we do sometimes get a little biased as to a particular brand or two.

For example, I used to be a Tesoro Dealer, from 1982/83 until November 2004. Tesoro's could sell well in the areas where I lived and detected "out west" through the 1980's and most of the 1990's, but they haven't kept up with a lot of the competition in many ways. You hardly ever see anyone using a Tesoro on local club outings or the occasional person you encounter on a weekend of late afternoon.

There are a few reasons why I quit trying to promote Tesoro's to a local audience that wasn't interested, and the two main reasons are that they didn't make a decent, competitive, visual TID model for the market, and mainly because too many new-edition models were noisier than I preferred them to be, and they didn't reject small iron trash as well, either.

I have fond memories of a few "favorite Tesoro" models and some pleasing results popping old US coins in favorite ghost towns, for flash coin hunting in playgrounds, getting some goodies in renovation work, and singing out on a lot of gold jewelry. But that are older models. I haven't cared for many of the newer releases until the Vaquero came out.

White's I would have done one or two things differently, I do like the basic design and performance, and it is quieter in iron trash that the Tej

 

[Jackpine Savage]

The MXT/M6 have great sensitivity to small gold being that they are basically nugget detectors with coin/relic capabilities. The Vaquero also has the sensitivity or gain but, it primarily designed for depth on relics ect with not quite the sensitivity of the Whites on the really small stuff. Engineers can design a circuit with high gain for sensitivity to the really small stuff or the high gain can be implemented in ways to give better depth on more typical relic or coin size targets with some loss on the really tiny stuff. Between the M6 and Vaquero you have a pair that should suit you well for hunting small gold in a variety of circumstances. I was also "into" the micro jewelry thing at one time. I do not have the patience for that and based on what I saw with the MXT I would never, ever consider trying to use a Gold bug for that!!

What the MXT/M6 have to offer is a great combination of sensitivity and a reliable disc system that gives great audio clues when operated at the low disc setting needed for finding the small gold. Air tests are one thing but getting out and seeing how they respond to various targets at those low disc settings and adjusting as you learn is the way to go. If the M6 is anything like the MXT, those tiny targets will start to break up in sound as you lower the disc instead of simply disappearing as they do with the V. This is a good thing! You may or may not see that in air tests but I assure you that you will "in ground". because of that the M6 may be a tad noisier than the V but, given what you are after that is a trade off that cannot be avoided.

Tom

 

[saika]

Thanks for the input. I will be getting an m6 over the winter. The Mrs. has requested one. Sooooooo, as long as there is one in the stable I may have to get something else to round out the tools of the trade! The search starts all over again.

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Hi Bill,

We always called it pon haus. You are better off not knowing what the "meat" is.

Tom

 

[bill(de)]

Hi Tom,
My grandparents had a small farm near Lancaster Pa. and made Scrapple ,never heard it called pon haus but scrapple by any name is still GOOD. Pon haus sounds more sophisticated and should eaten with a fork whereas Scrapple is a finger food,especially with egg yolk all over it.I love the stuff uke:

HH Bill

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Bill,

The older PA Dutch called it Pon Haus according to my dad. The last batch I made I took some over to the neighbors and their young kids loved it!

Tom Zook (Zug)

 

[saika]

You guys are driving me crazy with all of this mystery meat talk. How do I make them both? This stuff sounds like the perfect breakfast food before heading out to do some serious detecting during these cold fall days.

 

[Butch in Colorado]

n/t

 

[Jackpine Savage]

It sticks to your ribs like oatmeal. Slice off a piece, fry it in a pan until brown then smother with pancake syrup. Yummm Unfortunately it tends to stick to you arterys too!

Do a google search for Scrapple and take you pick from the results. There is no hard and fast recipe.

Tom

 

[Pap]

I've eaten it since I was a kid. What do you put on it, Butch? Other than if you cover it with eggs. The only thing I've noticed the last several years is that it isn't as "spicy" as it once was.
Pap