gidday

[shnapper20]

names john, live in Hastings Vic, have always wanted to give this a bash and now im retired why not. Have been lurking in the background for a couple of weeks trolling through posts, must admit im quite impressed with the forum. So I bought a panning kit, and a detector the sdc2300. I had intended to just muck about with them whilst camping with the grand kids. I was considering putting my name down to do a course with gold prospecting Australia out of Bendigo. My other half is a little cynical as she reckons I can learn most from here and you tube. I would be interested in what others thought. merry xmas John

 

[luckyphil84]

google and you tube = my best friend
id love to do a course but my funds will be going to my detector.
if i have no luck in the first 10 hunts i will be paying for advice

 

[luckyphil84]

lol 3 x my price just googled it
nice
id be doing the course with that thing mate

 

[Booney]

Gday John, welcome mate , youve got your self a great detector there in the sdc Ive had one for 3 or 4 years now and happy to say it finds me gold every time Ive taken it out . Got a few hundred little nuggets now . I started out doing the day course with Mark and Ronda Hyde at gold prospecting Australia and can highly recommend them , definitely the way to go they will get you onto the gold .
Cheers Booney
Ps love your handle mate makes me wont to wet a line .

 

[shnapper20]

Gday John, welcome mate , youve got your self a great detector there in the sdc Ive had one for 3 or 4 years now and happy to say it finds me gold every time Ive taken it out . Got a few hundred little nuggets now . I started out doing the day course with Mark and Ronda Hyde at gold prospecting Australia and can highly recommend them , definitely the way to go they will get you onto the gold .
Cheers Booney
Ps love your handle mate makes me wont to wet a line .

thanks for the replies think I will, the son in law said he and the grandson wouldnt mind doing it with me . Ill wait for the cooler months before I do. In the meantime Ill scrounge the back yard for some of my tools my daughter buried when she was playing archeologist as a kid.

 

[Jaros]

Welcome John.

 

[Skip]

Hi Shnapper
If you can afford the lessons, well worth it. Im sure you'll learn more than just how to use a detector. , I'm guessing things like 'the lay of the land.. what to look for, things like where gold could get trapped ect.., best times to detect, probably even safety thrown in. Go for it!

Ps went for a flick this morning.. nice little 2kg red and a feed of flatties!

 

[shnapper20]

well i did the course and enjoyed it, I had been watching youtube flatout however im sure my technique is better because of it. The son in law did it with me and enjoyed it as well. We were only 10mins out of bendigo and both found gold. The sdc found 1 piece the scales couldnt record the weight of. We went out by ourselves the following day and found 1 piece of gold im guessing .3-.4g in weight so we were fairly stoked. I let my grandson who is 8 have a go and he found some .22 cases so he was pretty happy. we also gave him some of the gold we found. He sat down and watched youtube detecting videos with me the other day. He had already watched some on panning he later informed his dad he would show him how to pan next time we went camping. Im looking forward to being shown as well.
Im still enjoying my fishing, I figure this will make a great hobby for winter.

 

[MegsyB007]

Well done schnapper20, what a great start!

My dearly departed grandfather got me into gold prospecting and it's a wonderful legacy he's left me.
It's great to hear you're getting your family, and particularly your young grandson, involved with your new hobby for some memorable, and quality, family time.
Sounds like he's very keen to get into some panning. Just make sure he knows about the 'Exempt Rivers, Streams and Creeks' list in Victoria, because that's not something they mention on those YouTube videos, and he needs to know that there are a lot of waterways where he can't pan in Victoria. You'll find it on the Earth Resources website where you purchase your Miner's Right.

All the best to you and your family, and hope you find lots of yellow!

Cheers,
Megsy