greetings and advice for newbie

[NFG]

Hi All,
I've had gold fever since I was about 12 when my dad and I went to CO and stopped by an old mine and had an old timer show us how to pan. My dad wasn't bitten like I was, but... Since, I've gotten my BS in Geology, gotten married and had 4 great kids. My first is a boy, and I can't wait till he's old enough to take out on some serious trips. He's 5 now, and I take he and his sisters out to the river here in MI and we just have fun sluicing and playing in the creek for the most part. not enough gold to speak of around here. I now work in a clean room where they process Si wafers for microchips and the like. I've found out they're just throwing out broken wafers, in th trash and some have gold on them. I've decided to go lab prospecting and used an Iodine etch solution to leach the Au from a bunch of wafers I crushed up. There's very little there (few hundred nm) yes, nano 10 X-9 that's the distance your fingernails grow in a second, but it does add up. I've acumulated a bit over half an ounce now. Anyway, that's enough of an intro. Since I'm looking at this as extra $ outside of the budget, I'm dying to get a dredge and a metal detector. Metal detector first since I'm heading to FL in a couple weeks and with my new found claim, I think I may be able to save enough up by summer for a dredge when it's warmer anyway.

Here comes the advice part. While I've done enough prospecting, etc. to know what I'm doing, I've never really delved into metal detecting. Finances are very tight, especially with a large fam and living in MI right now (worst state in the union I believe at least soon to be) Anyway, whle I don't necessarily have enough to get a fisher gold bug II, I don't want to jump the gun and get a piece of crap just cause I can afford it right now. Can anyone recommend a detector I could find for a couple ideally maybe up to 5 hundred bucks or so that's not going to leave me frustrated, or wanting more or missing good gold. Also, let me know if I have the wrong idea here also. ie, should I start with a "beginner" detector and see how I like it/ learn with it Thanks for any input. Look forward to knowing y'all.
-G
by the way, I plan on using this on the beach on rare occasion, occasionally for relics/treasures and for nuggets &(detecting rich ground (if they can do this)

 

[willy]

There are plenty of detectors, in your price range, that can be used for prospecting. The list gets even longer if you decide to buy used. For example, I just picked up a used White's GMT (off the Find's classifieds) for $500. That's White's top of the line VLF nuggetshooter and, arguably, the best VLF unit out there. The Fisher F75/F70 both look to be bang-up prospecting and general all-round units; F70's going for around $400 used. A used MXT, which is a decent nuggetshooter with a DD coil, can be had for $500 or less. There's also the XTerra 50. New, in your price range, I'd look at a Tesoro Vaquero. ..Willy.

 

[tabdog]

That's good advice.

I could not think of a list like that.

I like Your List Willy.

I might add that tha X Terra requires tha higher
frequency coil for prospecting.

Others may need a extra coil also to get tha
best results in different environments. For
instance tha DD coil may help tha Vaquero
in bad soil and on tha beach.

Hope you get a good one that works for ya,

Tabdog

 

[Daniel A.]

Good advice Willy good that someone who knows the prospecting game is offering it. Dan

 

[NFG]

Thanks for the reply guys,

I guess I'll look more into used items. I hoped to get it soon since I'm leaving for FL in 2 weeks, but hey, maybe I can just rent one down there so I don't have to haul a new one down I'm worried about damaging. My shiny new baby. I'm really looking forward to the new hobby. I think this may be what I can hook the wife into the lifestyle with. We shall see.

Thanks Willy!
I also like the idea or the unit being upgradeable with a new coil. I've got a lot to learn here. I found another forum with a guy usnig a bounty hunter Tracker IV. and the comparison's seemed to be fairly good. This unit runs new at about $100, which is a bit of a red flag. A $100 POS is just a cheap POS. Well, hopefully if I can find a place that rents them near Sarasota, I don't have to rush and will have more time to research. I don't even know the different categories. VLF, etc. I'll certainly be checking classifieds.

Any more feedback would be great.

 

[tabdog]

Hay NEG,

There is a unit for $152 that is no POS.

It only has one knob, but it is one of my favorite metal detectors.

I have two of them. I use them all tha time.

They have a good coil, but it can not be changed.

There is no display and it only has a single tone.

If you get used to single tone Tesoro'es you might like them.

I have five of them.

They are good on tiny gold jewelry. I find lots of it.

It has a life time warranty.

It's tha lowly Compadre.

Now tha Tesoro Vaquero is much more better in most ways.

It cost $420, I think.

I got one of those too. Very sensative ta small gold.

It has no display, but is a very good single tone unit.

All Tesoro'es are sensative ta small gold and have a

life tima warranty.

But some of those used units may work better. Most

of them are heavy though.

Tesoro'es are tha lighest MD's. That's a big reason I

use them.

HH,

Tabdog

 

[littletwig]

Take a very close look at the Whites MXT. Very versital with 3 modes, coin and jewelery, relic and prospecting. Short learning curve. Very durable.

 

[willy]

One thing to keep in mind, especially if you intend to nugget hunt, is that the detector MUST have an adjustable ground balance. Be it ground tracking, fast grab (pushbutton style GB), and/or manual GB, it MUST have it. Sure, almost any detector will see a certain sized nugget, but those nuggets are few and far between. Prospecting is one of the hardestaspects of detecting since the targets can read almost anywhere on the scale, be at any depth, and can be near any size. Without an adequate detector you're just crippling yourself.. probably severely.
Something to be very wary of is detectors that have 'automatic ground balance' and such, especially the cheap ones. What 'automatic ground balance' means is 'Buddy, you're too ignorant to know any better.. open your wallet fool!'. Harsh, but true enough. I've seen it on detectors from VERY reputable companies and all it means is that an internal trimmer pot has adjusted the GB to ferrite rejection. Nuthin' automatic about that.
As for the MXT, I had one for abt. 3 yrs and found a few thousand bux in gold nuggets with it; good detector. That being said, I'm not too thrilled with the disc. mode on it. I found the XTerra 70 to be the better coin/ring/relic hunter whereas the MXT had a major edge whilst prospecting. The XT70 is slightly more sensitive to small gold with the HF DD coils, but the ground handling isn't (in my ground at least) nearly as good. More aggressive ground tracking and Hypersat really make a difference. My latest and greatest, alongside my GMT, is the F75. So far, I'm really impressed with it's sensitivity to small gold. I find even more sensitive than the XT 70 (with HF DD 6" or elliptical), and this is just with the stock coil! It reminds me, with the really fast SAT, of a Gold Bug2 or the MXT/DFX in HyperSat. Problem with it is that it's just plain overpriced. I bought it used and would NEVER get it new.. better off with an F70. ..Willy.

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

n/t

 

[tabdog]

n/t

 

[willy]

Had a Garrett Scorpion and, while it's a good detector, it's overpriced in today's market with the most gawdawful battery replacement scheme and, get this, requires 3 9v which don't drain equally. it's a dinosaur that needs some serious updating. ..Willy

 

[tabdog]

Wow, Thanks Willie.

I always wanted to use one.

It has some nice lookin aspects.

I didn't know all that.

Live and learn.

You don't hear much about tha Scorpion.

Happy Huntin,

Tabdog

 

[John-Edmonton]

It works well for either finding the tiny nuggets in crevices or overburden. I only have flower gold in my area, so I look for the areas with the highest mineralization using my Scorpion and work those.It is in my It is also very good at coin hunting, which can be fun when there is no gold to be found.

Below is a link to a field test:

http://losttreasure.com/fieldtests/ArchiveView07.cfm?ID=LT19910108

Below is a link to the Garrett website:

http://www.garrett.com/hobby/products/scorpiongolddata.htm

Good luck with whatever machine you get

 

[John-Edmonton]

I use rechargeable 9 volts in mine. Changing the batteries involves removing one hand screw, unplugging the search coil and sliding off the box. It really isn't that complicated.It uses the same method that the freedom Ace Series used for years. Of course on the other end of the scale you could spend over $5,000.00 and get a deep seeking gold machine that runs on 12 volt gel cells costing around $100.00. Good luck with your purchase, you are getting some good comments on this thread.

 

[willy]

Actually (not being a Minelab fanboy) the remote battery pack works well and would an improvement over the current Scorpion setup. This is also, basically, what the GTI/GTP/GTAx setups use. I'd also suggest that on the other end of the scale (difficulty-wise) of battery schemes would be setups like the uMax Tesoros (pop the battery hatch and in/out with the battery) or other detectors with similar setups. Also, if I remember corrctly, there was an additional step in the Scorpion battery replacement scheme; after sliding the electronic 'guts' out of the box, there's an additional metal hold-down strap that has to be unscrewed and removed in order to remove the batteries.
One thing I forgot to mention re. nugget hunting is, if possible, to run the detector maxed out. It's noisier and takes a bit of getting used to, but will get those finds and that can transfer over into coin hunting. I remember people going on about how an MXT was good for getting gold down to 1-3 grains with the 6x10" DD. Well, with that same coil I was getting gold down to 1/3 grain in ground that was reading about 84 on the VDI. That detector was being run wide open with maximum HyperSat. It was a bit ragged, but pulled in the gold. ..Willy.

 

[John-Edmonton]

I did forget to mention that there was another step, to lift that cover stabilizing the 3 x 9 volts. I think it is on the low end of $$$ for a gold machine. I used the Minelab just as an example of how expensive a gold finding machine can get. The Garrett Scorpion has been around for a very long time, and is still selling these days. There has been talk this past year of Garrett revamping the Scorpion, as it still gets some great niche reviews. But....if it happens, it happens. I hope you have a great Christmas Willy, and get lots of gold in 2008. I enjoy your posts.

 

[Daniel A.]

Come on Willy now that prospecting season is over I could use some to test my Gold Bug 2 with. LOL Dan

 

[Monte]

[size=medium]Sorry, John, I couldn't resit as I think back at the number of times I've caught myself doing that at year's end.

Monte[/size]

 

[Uncle Willy]

Ain't that the truth. I been trying to get Garrett to do that forever.

Bill

 

[Monte]

[size=medium]If I was shopping for one detector with 'do-it-all' capability, and was especially good for gold nugget hunting, I'll have to say the MXT would be the way to go.

With that said, let me just add that there are a lot of detectors that could fit the general category as a do-all unit with nugget hunting ability, such as Tesoro's Bandido series, or the Eldorado