Metal detectors

[starmac]

Is there any metal detector gurus among us here?
My wife likes panning for gold and thinks she wants a metal detector to do a litle nugget hunting with. Her birthday is coming up, sooooo I think I will get her one.

[AlaskanGuy]

Whites is a great brand sir... Just remember you get what ya pay for....

[square butte]

+1 on whites. We have a DFX

[starmac]

I think I have it down to either a whites or fisher, buuuuut there is supposed to be a whites dealer here in a coin shop somewhere, that nobody nows where. lol The mine lab dealer thinks the prospector is a dealer for fisher, but he is only open in the summer. lol

From what I have read so far, I'm leaning toward the fisher gold bug pro to start with.
Akguy do you play with them.

[arjacobson]

I have a whites dfx also. great machine but I have to send it in to get repaired. It doesn't power up anymore.:( The first ring I found paid for the machine...Nice gold band with a diamond..!!

[phonejack]

I have a Whites also

[starmac]

Well have you guys ever found anything interesting. I have been thinking this is going to be an expensive hobby.

[square butte]

Found an 1802 large cent down by the end of my vegetable garden. That was worthwhile.

[bbs70]

I bought a White detector 15 or 20 years ago, haven't had time to use it in the last 10 years though.
First thing I learned to do is research the areas I was to go detecting on.
Got a lot of history lessons on my area.
Found some early 1900s coins, not worth much, but digging something out of the ground that's been buried for a while is quite a thrill.
Its almost as addictive as reloading, only cheaper.
Many hours of fun and relaxation, and if you're lucky you might find a treasure like the one those people from CA that forum those 1400 gold & silver coins not long ago.
Been thinking about dragging my Whites out this summer and having some fun.

Here are a couple of sites that might help you decide how far you want to get into detecting.
http://www.losttreasure.com/

http://www.wetreasures.com/

http://www.treasurenet.com/

[starmac]

Hmmm I don't know about cheaper than reloading, I am already seeing dollar signs. lol

In this area, it would pretty much be nugget hunting, except maybe for an ocassional abandoned trappers homestead.

[labradigger1]

I am a die hard whites user, i currently have a dfx and tdi pulse induction. If you only want to prospect you need to get a prospecting machine. Pulse induction machines rule where the ground is highly mineralized and it usually is where you find gold.
Minelab is the world leader in pulse induction gold detectors but not many of us (including myself) can justify spending 8k on a detector.
Tesoro lobo super traq is a good vlf (very low frequency) detector that works in mild ground pretty well, fisher gold bug is another good vlf detector. Main problem with gold detectors is the discrimination stinks!
As i said earlier, the worse the ground mineralization ( inability for the machine to ground balance the tough soil out) the more pulse induction units pull away from vlf machines. As an example, i went to culpeper virginia last year on a battlefield hunt for civil war relics and took my dfx, my dads mxt pro and my tdi pulse induction. It was very quickly apparent to which machine to use, vlf's flat out suck there!
Th ability for the PI's to ignore the red soil realy showed me how much a difference there realy was in bad soil.
Turned out to be one of my best hunts in 15 years of detecting!
Also very important is to learn the machine and what it is telling you.
For me metal detecting is my most enjoyable hobby and i take it uber seriously! I would rather dirt fish than hunt, fish shoot or, well, maybe not more than what i was going to say but very enjoyable. BTW, my user name is carried over from the treasure hunting forums, i came up with it when i would take my yellow lab with me and he would dig the holes for me (labradigger).
Lab

[Digger]

I am a die hard whites user, i currently have a dfx and tdi pulse induction. If you only want to prospect you need to get a prospecting machine. Pulse induction machines rule where the ground is highly mineralized and it usually is where you find gold.
Minelab is the world leader in pulse induction gold detectors but not many of us (including myself) can justify spending 8k on a detector.
Tesoro lobo super traq is a good vlf (very low frequency) detector that works in mild ground pretty well, fisher gold bug is another good vlf detector. Main problem with gold detectors is the discrimination stinks!
As i said earlier, the worse the ground mineralization ( inability for the machine to ground balance the tough soil out) the more pulse induction units pull away from vlf machines. As an example, i went to culpeper virginia last year on a battlefield hunt for civil war relics and took my dfx, my dads mxt pro and my tdi pulse induction. It was very quickly apparent to which machine to use, vlf's flat out suck there!
Th ability for the PI's to ignore the red soil realy showed me how much a difference there realy was in bad soil.
Turned out to be one of my best hunts in 15 years of detecting!
Also very important is to learn the machine and what it is telling you.
For me metal detecting is my most enjoyable hobby and i take it uber seriously! I would rather dirt fish than hunt, fish shoot or, well, maybe not more than what i was going to say but very enjoyable. BTW, my user name is carried over from the treasure hunting forums, i came up with it when i would take my yellow lab with me and he would dig the holes for me (labradigger).
Lab

Labradigger knows of which he speaks ...
But I am an old fart that has a soft spot for the " Gold Bug" as I still have one of first ones ....
for Gold prospecting in itself .... the bugs have the reps going for them.
I have found some with the machine ... a couple of good size nuggets in the past plus all kinds of other odds and ends.
For true nugget hunting , a non discriminating machine is the way to go .
Plus what Labradigger states about using them .... time....time , hours on end to learn what the machine is telling you .
almost to the phrase ... become "one with the machine " ..after a while , one can tell what the machine is telling you as to what type of metal it is on , size or how deep ..
Usually one is out and away in highly mineralized country looking for the black sand deposits in stream beds or ancient river channels up high on the sides of the mountains in the hills in Calif. among other places .
The extreme sensitivity of the gold machines is what gives them the edge but not every one has the patience to use them as such.
On the other side of the "coin" so to speak , I have used it on the beach in lake Tahoe and found some older coins plus trash but it was all fun ... the strangest thing to date was on the beach, got a good signal , dug it up and thought I had found a gold nugget in the sand !
Looked closer ... it was a big gold crown ! .. pity the guy that lost it , probably left his jaw with sucker punch or some such ...
Plus on the side , this country has some spots for prospecting fine gold in the local rivers that makes a good afternoon of panning a lot of fun.

[contender1]

Well, I was the prez of a treasure hunting club for 10 years. I've handled a lot of detectors over the years & as noted, it can be fun, and addictive.
But for YOUR described type of nugget hunting, listen closely to what labradigger1 & Digger have said. All excellent advice.
Get a machine designed for nugget hunting, and Fisher has been a top machine for years in that respect.

[starmac]

What I am reading, and some of it is from guys that makes a living with metal detectors is the gold bug pro and the white gmt is pretty much tops for the ground in the interior for the size gold mostly found. This coming from guys that own and use several different rigs, depending where they are, including high dollar mine labs. The cheaper mine labs are not even mentioned much. This is strictly for prospecting there are better rigs for beaches and such. 90% of anything we do, at least for now will be in the interior. Supposedly the gold bug pro edges out the gold bug 11 barely, but is claimed a little bit easier to learn on, but it appears I will have to order one in, and I really like to look before I buy.

[Garyshome]

The only time I ever use one was to find brass!

[Digger]

Just do us all a favor Starmac ..... When you do come across a goody or two ... just don't go yelling and running around , ... screaming something about "nectar" or whatever ....[smilie=b:

[DxieLandMan]

I am really big into metal detecting. To make sure I wanted to stick with the hobby, I started off with a Bounty Hunter 202. Very basic but good enough for me machine. It did what I needed it to do. A couple of years ago, I got into MDing again and I got a White's MXT. Great machine! It is my go-to machine. I then decided to get a water detector and got a Fisher CZ-21. Great for salt water hunting but for the land, I prefer the White's hands down.

BTW- I too use it to pick up brass.

[popper]

Detecting gold is difficult but possible. You do need a nugget probe. Discrimination (pulse det. pretty much mandatory) most gold is mixed with other minerals (pyrites) so unless you find a real nugget, you find lots of other rocks. Second is finding a public place to prospect. Go armed if possible. Panning or placering is cheaper. If you find a honey hole - act like you didn't!! Now beach combing is probably more profitable.

[starmac]

Armed in Alaska, your joshing me right. lol I haven't done it, so do not have any idea how hard it is finding nuggets with a detector, but there are actually people here that does it for a living. They must be finding something, as some of them goes to other countries at different times of the year to detect also.
I am more looking into it as a hobby my wife and I both can enjoy, without expectations of it paying for itself, but some claim to pay for their equipment rather quickly. What gold we find (if any) would likely be kept instead of sold anyway.

Also there is another plan to the madness. To get to good areas, we will have to have a side X side, an inflatable boat, with motor big enough to carry the wife and I plus detectors, camping and fishing gear, a better tent (think artic oven) A meat trailer to handle all the gear.

I have already mentioned we would need the SXS and she just said I better get back to work. lol
I figure for about 25 grand we will be set up pretty nice for the hobby, but should be able to find enough gold to pay for it in one season. he he.
Some of the better areas, might even require a jet boat, sooo maybe one of those too.

[starmac]

Now I need some advice.
I found a dealer in Alaska that has the gold pro in stock, and delivered it is the same exact price as the very lowest I have found on the net. 649.00
I have also found a barely used F75 limited edition, with both coils locally that I believe I can get for 800.00.
from my limited research the E75 is not really better for 90% of what we would do with it, but is better at other things besides gold.
This one already has both coils, if I get both coils with the gold bug the price would be about the same.
One more thing is that tomorrow is my wifes birthday. I can have the F75 in hand, the only way to do that with the gold bug is drive a little over 700 miles tonight, which cost more than the difference.
Which way would you go.

[popper]

Bird in hand is better then 1 in the bush. You need the pin pointer to probe around in the gravel & a pan to trap the stuff. Not my hobby but designed them for Garrett years ago, met a lot of the pro hunters. We sold a lot of the little floating dredges to them. Keep it as a hobby or post a guard.

[starmac]

Well I just got back with the f75 Now she just has to learn how to use it. He wouldn't come all the way to the price I wanted to pay, but it was still not a bad deal.

Just have to learn all the features, and it does have a pin point feature on it that is simple to use.

[Digger]

Looks to be a good choice there Starmac ...
As far as looking for the gold .. if you haven't already , the optional six and half inch coil (solid white) one would be the one to use for prospecting.
More sensitivity with that as you will be able to pick up the smaller nuggets out there .... as to how small , you will be surprised !

[cga]

Another DFX user here also, but I really like the Fisher CZ3D, but it has troubles. I sent it back bran new, and, it was never fixed right. Even so, I've found many, many coins with them, among other things. Great hobby.

I live 10 minutes from Allehany State Park, N.Y., a 65,000 acre park. The area was originally homesteaded around 1820, and turned into a park in 1921. Many farms, lumber camps, home steads, rail road sites, 3 lakes, lots of old, and new, group camps, old scout camps, old C.C.C. camps, remote fire towers, ect., ect....

Yeah, I spend a lot of time there!

[Wayne Smith]

My only experience with one: We just had a log in the back yard cut into lumber. The sawyer went over it with a metal detector and found several objects that we cut out. I knew there was iron in there because of the black spot on the white oak at the cut. It also found an aluminum bracket that was in there. He cut the rest with no excitement. I now have approx. 210 bdft white oak drying on my back porch.

[bearcove]

We hit a nail in a walnut tree, scratch one blade.

[jaystuw]

I don't have a metal detector, but love to see the finds. The great stuff (gold coins/rings) are neat, but to be honest, I get the most enjoyment out of the everyday finds. I like cartridge cases, spent bullets, and most of all, gunshot coins! Kids toys like matchbox/hot wheels cars are also fun.

I go to treasure net everyday to check out "todays finds", Always tons of cool things to look at. Do any of you guys post your finds on treasure net? If so, I'd love to see your stuff. Jay

[starmac]

Funny you should mention match box cars. The guy I bought it from had 7 antique matchbox cars he had found right in his own yard.

[labradigger1]

I don't have a metal detector, but love to see the finds. The great stuff (gold coins/rings) are neat, but to be honest, I get the most enjoyment out of the everyday finds. I like cartridge cases, spent bullets, and most of all, gunshot coins! Kids toys like matchbox/hot wheels cars are also fun.

I go to treasure net everyday to check out "todays finds", Always tons of cool things to look at. Do any of you guys post your finds on treasure net? If so, I'd love to see your stuff. Jay

Sorry if i am stepping on the op's thread but,
Jaystuw, if you google " my culpeper vacation treasure net" it will bring up some of my finds from last year.
lab

[PatMarlin]

The original Gold Bug is a great nugget shooter [IF] you have good ears, good headphones, and know how to ground properly.

I found a lot of gold with mine. I used to take bets on wether targets were lead, gold, or tin just by sound, but that was nearly 20 years ago, and I had an ear trained for sound.

[starmac]

from what I have been reading Pat, a lot it is still the same. The better you know your machine, the better you will do.