Testing the GoldBug 3 tomorrow...

[azsh07]

Really was not going to try on from Cabellas as I know there will be a difference between theirs and the dealer versions but....as I said before if for any reason you do not like it Cabela's will take it back for a full refund irregardless of why.
Since i have an F75 and multiple coils i want to see how other coils work.
What I want is just a decent VLF for prospecting for those areas here where a VLF is needed...plus I want something I can relic hunt when I find those old miners camps and small ghost towns...andwe run into them quite a bit. We don't need extreme depth here as nothing gets deep. I hit a bottle dump 2 weeks ago from around 1890-1910 and all the bottles were still on top of the ground . We even founhd relics sitting on top of the ground after 80+ years. The ground is so hrad..there is little rain and mainly there is tree leaf drop to build up soil and bury anything..it really just never gets more than 2".....unless it hits a creek bed.
Plus I want to see if there truly is a difference when the dealer version comes out. I had heard there was with the F-70 but no one ever did explain exactly what it was. I don't have a Fisher dealer here only Minelab guys so Cabela's is it for me for an instance fix. I was criticized for doing this with the F-70 but...i was the one who found out some of the problems with the first gen F-70's from the Big C and man that was a horrid release version. Hopefully this GB# works just fine.
My goal is not trash it ( contrary to my old ways) I hope it is a decent little VLF that can find little pickers in bedrock AND when i hit those camps...I have a target ID to help me determin what to dig.
If it sucks...I can return it..if it works decent then I will keep it and sell the F75. The F75 really is way too much power for out here...our ground is so bad it maxes out the Fe03 graph almost everywhere.
Well gotta go assemble it and try out some coils....wonder if the SEF10x12 will work...wonder why i would even care.
scott

 

[azsh07]

I tried a couple of the coils I have...the 11"DD and the SEF butterfly as well asthe 5" hocky puck. All work fine.
Interestingly I just finished checking the 10x12 SEF and coil it was rather quiet all things considered. I could run sens at 90 with only intermittent pops and that is amazing here as I am in the city with wireless routers all around me including my own. I could get 12-14" with a penny lying on the ground and a good VDI. Of course in ground it could all go to poo...but certainly some promise. certainly will not use that coil for nuggets....it would see way too much ground minerals..even the 11DD had major issues...only the 5" seemed to do well in bedrock and such...but for coin and relics...?
. Because I now live in the city there is quite a bit of EMI...mainly wireless networks including my own....so it chatters quite a bit...typical for the F series I tried here before. Obviously way out in the Bradhsaw's it won't be like this.
Target response was pretty good actually...very strong....although I wish it had a volume control...it doesn't...but then again i always use headphones so who cares.
What is kinda interesting is how they set up the discriminate function. With 0 disc all targets respond the same but...as you increase the discrimnate setting it has a moving scale the shadows the main discrimnate scale. basically as you increase discrimnation your have a dark scale that indicates like a primary disc setpoint. Anything above this is a high tone. then there is a lighter grey shadow sacle that starts to appear below that primary setpoint. Anything in this scale makes a typical iron grunt. As you increase the discrimination more the low grunt scale seems to be a set width such that as you move up the ddsicrimination you will start to drop off targets. So it seem the grunt low tone is a set width. Set discrimnation low but not 0 and gold will grunt as will iron but nickels and up are high. Increase the disc more so that the low grunt now is at nickels and everything higher is a high tone and now iron is silent but gold is still detected again on a low tone. Kinda cool...makes it a bit more versatile if you need to do some coin and relic I guess.
COntrols are fairly simple..nothing too complicated...pretty much what you see is what you get from the add. You have the FE03 scale and ground mineraization meters, disc level, and in the middle is the target VDI numbers when in discriminate. VDI seems pretty stable overall but i am not out in any relic ground just planted targets.
Overall it seems to be fairly decent......question is how will it do in the hot bedrock...that is all that matters. there is no ground mineral switch, no black sand switch and so on...although all they really do is cut sensivity on some level. Will be interested to see how it handles the bedrock verses the F75 with the same coils.
Wish i had some good relic ground to try it on.....air tests were pretty decent...seemed like similar to the F-70 although I can't crank senstivity up due to the EMI here.
I wonder what the difference is with the dealer models..maybe they cut the sensivity on this one...but it seems pretty hot...can't see having a need for anymore umphh but...who knows.
Now the box is just like the other F series boxes and does not say Gold Bug 3 just Gold Bug...as does the manual and coil and anything else with a logo. Unlike the Cabelas T2 and F75 that had like white generic boxes. So...not sure how one will tell the difference between a Cabel'as Gold Bug and a dealer version...will be interesting to see. Hopefully, if there is a difference, they make it obvious...labelling....extra controls...color scheme..something?
Well will see how it does tomorrow...I don't expect gold..I just hope it handles the ground well enough i can keep it as a crossover VLF.
scott

 

[richs]

Good luck and keep us posted! I certainly am interested in your findings. You did a fine job letting us in on the intro! I am considering something new for the spring. This might be the unit! I'll be waiting!

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Hi Scott,

One word of warning about the F75 series coils. Regardless of the tests results you saw with them, my understanding is that the new Gold Bug is designed to use the Gamma/Omega series 7.8 Khz DD coils. Why it works using lower frequency coils is unknown to me but the results you get in the field using the F75 coils may not be indicative of how the Gold Bug handles the conditions you are about to take it in.

Tom

 

[azsh07]

Interesting on the coils.....nothing is actually mentioned about what coils were compatible. If anyone can confirm that let me know....I would think the Gamma Omega series coils would be a tad cheaper too....which is good.
For me I would use the stock 5" DD anyway....the larger coils are of no use to me prospecting.
scott