GOLD..

[willy]

Alright. enuff with the coins/relics, how 'bout gold? Specifically nugget style gold and bad ground handling. How does the Vision compare to the MXT for finding really small gold (subgrain) and ground handling? GMT? What's the difference between the med/low frequencies and the high frequencies (also 3 freq.'s) when lokking for the small stuff? By this, I'm talking how small can each frequency 'see'? Is the ground tracking basically the same as the MXT/GMT? Better? Worse? I'm talking really bad ground filled with magnetite and hotrocks and very variable. How 'bout the threshold.. is there the equivalent of HyperSAT? ..Willy.

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi Willy,

In theory it should be good. But I suspect you will have to wait a bit for your answer. I'll be all over it the minute I get one but I have a bit of snow in my way right now. But I'll have bench test results soon. 22.5 kHz single frequency mode, manual ground balance, and transmit boost should help for small gold. The DFX always lacked compared to the MXT so I'm hoping the Vision closes that gap.

I'll have one up at Moore Creek in June. I suspect the Vision's unique features may make it a pretty good unit at Moore Creek where I am chasing larger nugget but have lots of hot rocks. Be interesting to see how the rocks respond in all three frequencies compared to gold.

Steve Herschbach

 

[willy]

The manual GB is nice, but it doesn't do very well down here. The MXT is one of the few VLF detectors that can handle the conditions reasonably well where I hunt. Even so, it's generally best to run it in HyperSAT (max) with tracking on. That's why I'm curious about the ground tracking/SAT. The closer it is to an MXT, in operation, the better. Yup, can turn down the sensitivity, but that just rules out the small stuff. I can run the MXT at max settings, a bit noisy and ragged, and get those tiny bits. The same held true up in the Brooks Range; had a number of VLF detectors up there (MXT, GM4, GB1, Gold Stinger, AU52, CZ6a) and the MXT and the CZ6a (in salt mode) were the only detectors that could handle the ground and just barely. The MXT required the tracking to remain on though, otherwise it would overshoot like crazy, which was what happened with the other detectors (and the CZ6a in regular mode). Had the XTerra 70 (HF DD elliptical coil) and, while it could see smaller gold than the MXT at max settings, was unuseable regardless of setting while trying to nugget hunt on the Coquihalla. The MXT had no problems running at Max. The Fisher GB2 did better than the XTerra, but not nearly as well as the MXT. ..Willy.

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi Willy,

You and I both know the MXT is a great gold unit, beings how it is based on the GMT. I am sure the Vision is going to be a better gold unit than the DFX but frankly I'm doubtful it will match the MXT in all situations. More likely the MXT will be better in most locations, but the Vision may have an edge in others. Time will tell.

Tracking is certainly the way to go in wildly variable ground and may be best at Moore Creek. Around Anchorage, though, it is low mineral, small gold, and so manual all the way. One nice thing on the Vision is the manual GB offset, something very difficult to achieve on the MXT.

I'm certain White's had the silver coin turf market in mind when designing the Vision so any gold capability is likely to just be a bonus. I'm certainly going to give it a go prospecting but my main goal in getting one is to replace my DFX as my main jewelry detector.

Steve Herschbach