Gold detector in development, some advice needed

[e-cobo]

Hello fellows,
A friend of mine, who works for Golden Mask Detectors (goldenmaskdetectors.com) has told me they are developing a special gold version of their Deep Hunter Pro pulse-induction model. They want to develop a good performer that will sell in the price range under $1000US.
Now the regular version of the detector can detect a 0,75g gold nugget at 12 cm depth with a 20 cm search coil. The are sure they could optimize the electronics and the coil, so the depth will be increased in the upcoming Gold version.
So he wants to know about what characteristics the detector should have to be useful for gold prospecting. I told him I don't know, but I know the right place to ask on So I decided to ask here.
Here are the questions, I would really appreciate if you can answer them.
1. What detection depth is considered good for a 0,75g gold nugget?
2. Is the iron discrimination important? It's very hard to make the discrimination as good as with the VLF detectors.
3. Should the detector have manual ground balance or auto ground balance. Or both?

Thank you!

 

[Reeks]

Mbasko detected a 0.75g piece with his gpz at around 9" a few days ago, he may be able to cpnfirm the exact depth-
So that's twice the depth your friends machine, but.. Almost 9x the price for the Z.

 

[e-cobo]

Thank you Reeks!
The regular GM Deep Hunter Pro is not a gold machine, it's a typical treasure and relic hunter, but it could be modified to have better sensitivity to gold.

 

[Heatho]

I detected a 0.25 piece the other day that was at least 6 inches deep with my SDC. SDC is $4000 though.

I saw the 0.75g nugget being recovered that Reeks mentions from the other day, was amazed at the depth the 7000 detected it at.

 

[Jon]

I got a 1 g at 10" deep three days ago with a 5000 an 12" evo. ?

 

[mbasko]

Hello fellows,
A friend of mine, who works for Golden Mask Detectors (goldenmaskdetectors.com) has told me they are developing a special gold version of their Deep Hunter Pro pulse-induction model. They want to develop a good performer that will sell in the price range under $1000US.
Now the regular version of the detector can detect a 0,75g gold nugget at 12 cm depth with a 20 cm search coil. The are sure they could optimize the electronics and the coil, so the depth will be increased in the upcoming Gold version.
So he wants to know about what characteristics the detector should have to be useful for gold prospecting. I told him I don't know, but I know the right place to ask on So I decided to ask here.
Here are the questions, I would really appreciate if you can answer them.
1. What detection depth is considered good for a 0,75g gold nugget?
2. Is the iron discrimination important? It's very hard to make the discrimination as good as with the VLF detectors.
3. Should the detector have manual ground balance or auto ground balance. Or both?

Thank you!

Was that an air test "depth" or in-situ or re-buried? Also if buried or in-situ what is the ground like? I see the Golden Masks have a following in the UK etc. where the ground is fairly mild compared to here in Australia. Be interesting to hear of someone using the Deep Hunter Pro downunder - they would be better able to help in regards to what would need "optimising" for our conditions. They look to make some interesting models but I have seen somewhere that they struggle in our ground?

I did detect a 0.75 gram nugget with the GPZ a few days ago at around 8"-10" deep. It was in ground that made the SDC moan/groan which is most likely why it was missed. The SDC's haven't missed too much in this area I think the GPZ would have gotten this one deeper too but didn't think to muck around with settings or raising the coil up higher when I initially got the signal - there's that bloody hindsight again :lol:. I was in HY/Difficult but if I had my thinking cap on should have tried HY/Normal, General/Difficult-Normal etc. but didn't. I had dug too many birdshot that day & wasn't confident to start with that it would be gold - Syndyne was right .

To answer your questions IMO:
1. What detection depth is considered good for a 0,75g gold nugget?
Too many variables - machine (VLF, PI, ZVT), ground (mild, hot, severe), user, conditions (wind, EMI etc.) etc. I was happy with the GPZ on that day, in that spot, in those conditions - was windy & I stubbornly continued with the speaker (hate headphones but need to explore them again coming into winter) - + knowing I'd run a GPX & SDC in very close proximity to where I got it & so had others.

2. Is the iron discrimination important? It's very hard to make the discrimination as good as with the VLF detectors.
A lot of gold detectorists would not care about discrimination on a gold dedicated machine. Myself I would love to have something that was reliable & accurate for very trashy areas - something that's not available on PI's now. There is varying degrees of discrimination but it's rarely used & not overly reliable on any PI machine. VLF like discrimination would be a break through for PI/ZVT machines - funnily enough we were discussing this the other day between a few forum members.

3. Should the detector have manual ground balance or auto ground balance. Or both?
Both is better - same as the tuning function for EMI etc.

 

[e-cobo]

Thank you fellows, your help is really appreciated!
mbasko, I was expecting exactly this kind of answer. Thank you!

 

[Jon]

Forgive my cynicism if I am wrong, buy this seems very, a decade or so ago or thereabouts, very Pulse Devil,ish. I reckon I'm on the money though. :lol: