The great debate what detector to use

[G0lddigg@]

Slightly hijacking this thread, does anybody know of somewhere around the bendigo region that does detector hire/rent?

bendigo gold mate - aka minersden think they hire i know they offer training

 

[Ridge Runner]

a mate of mine purchased a ATX and was using it for 4 months with no luck, he hired a sdc2300 and went over some property and found 7 nuggets in one day. as a test he pulled the ATX out fo the truck and ran it over these nugetts. he got no signal at all.... he could not believe it. he's since decided to buy a sdc23400 and gpx5000.

thats one guys experience, another mate lkast month bought an AT gold. hes coil will only pick up a nugget at 2 inches, after taking to Garrett ove rthe phone many times they ahve finally requested his coild and are sending him a new one. point is mass produces items are hit and miss, minelab was no different, the more its made the more chance of a stuffup. the first 3500's where amazing.... second round apparently were no good and m,any were recalled. key is to talk to the manufacturer and get it sorted. this is why i recommend buying an old kit with lots of coils.

Well that's a shame I was quite taken by the thought of getting the ATX,

I got my GP3500 about 2 months before the 4000 came out, and I was not to impressed about that, the machine it self was a work of art, But for some reason it lacked depth, it came with 11" DD, it was an easy machine to set up and run, I did find a very old HUGE coin or medal with it at about 8 inches and a 303 complete bullet that was pointing straight at my head about 8 to 10 inches down,

 

[G0lddigg@]

me too, i just dont think they are all made the same mate and its hit and miss. have you considered taking your 3500 to woody and asking him to add some depth for you?

 

[Ridge Runner]

No I haven't, I can get it back here and when I come home I could see what he says about it, It's a shame coz it's as clean and unmarked like the day it was made, still in the box.

 

[G0lddigg@]

where you using the 11" coil trying to achieve depth? I run an 18" DD for depth 10" for shallow ground and 8" DD for general detecting of heaps and bedrock

 

[Ridge Runner]

I was using it in the UK, At an old Victorian site which turn out to be related to the Biggest Battle site in UK History and I found a lot with my other machine ranging from Roman to WWII,

I have just found a Hot Deal on the GPX 4800 and the 5000, ??? Arrr Choices, drive me nuts.

 

[G0lddigg@]

5000 if your chasing small gold 4800 was a rock silid unit, every one i know that has them swears by them and claim they are still the best.

 

[Ridge Runner]

They want $5094 for the 4800 and $7278 for the 5000 which is a bit steep, But the SDC is $6188 which is crazy.

I like the thought of the 4800 and the price is the best I have seen so far and it is from the Importers not from a web site so it got here Via Minelab in Ireland,

I like Whites machine but I can't get the TDI Pro Oz series here so my only other choice is to wait til I come home, but it is A very tempting deal just the same.

 

[G0lddigg@]

mate an sdc2300 is just under $4 grand here ... everyone i know who uses them pull 7-8 grams days frequently but that's in the golden triangle in benched deposits sitting on bedrock.

 

[Ridge Runner]

mate an sdc2300 is just under $4 grand here ... everyone i know who uses them pull 7-8 grams days frequently but that's in the golden triangle in benched deposits sitting on bedrock.

yeah their price for the SDC was 3400 / $6188AUD and there special on it is 3299.00 / $6004.18, AUD, In all the time I have been coming here I have never seen another person with a SD,GP or GPX machine, I know of two people that had them But Never Seen any of them except my GP3500.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I got the exchange rate a little out at 3400 = $6494 and $3299 = $6301.09c AUD so its a bit worse than I thought.

And the 5000 works out at $7638.09,,,Ouch

 

[amberjack]

what ever works isn't that the saying?

AJ

 

[stalker]

a mate of mine purchased a ATX and was using it for 4 months with no luck, he hired a sdc2300 and went over some property and found 7 nuggets in one day. as a test he pulled the ATX out fo the truck and ran it over these nugetts. he got no signal at all.... he could not believe it. he's since decided to buy a sdc23400 and gpx5000.

thats one guys experience, another mate ht an AT gold. hes coil will only pick up a nugget at 2 inches, after taking to Garrett ove rthe phone many times they ahve finally requested his coild and are sending him a new one. point is mass produces items are hit and miss, minelab was no different, the more its made the more chance of a stuffup. the first 3500's where amazing.... second round apparently were no good and m,any were recalled. key is to talk to the manufacturer and get it sorted. this is why i recommend buying an old kit with lots of coils.

Well that's a shame I was quite taken by the thought of getting the ATX,

I got my GP3500 about 2 months before the 4000 came out, and I was not to impressed about that, the machine it self was a work of art, But for some reason it lacked depth, it came with 11" DD, it was an easy machine to set up and run, I did find a very old HUGE coin or medal with it at about 8 inches and a 303 complete bullet that was pointing straight at my head about 8 to 10 inches down,

I have a few hundred hours on my atx ,, its good for nuggets of 0.8 upwards , now for a dd coil of its size thats good but depending on soil it will detect 0.3 ,, the atx is a proper sea to dirt pi detector , handles black sand easy , all I can say is like all detectors get the hours in and learn how to use it , no point comparing the 8" on the sdc vs the 12" dd on the garrett , two differnt machines ,, and if your expecting a bit more from the atx and hoping its like the sdc you'll just be disappointed ,,

 

[KarlS]

Read my post/s again, never said you could tune a Minelab PI for coin hunting. Twice now I have said you need machines to suit application.
A DO ALL MACHINE DOES NOT EXIST IN MY HUMBLE OPINION! The conductivity switch is not 100% foolproof by Whites own admission & operating instructions - read them (more for the OP than you RR - don't misinterpret). Yes it does allow some more versatility but I personally would place no more faith in it than I would in Minelab PI's discrimination & I basically don't have much confidence in that.
Run in high & you will get some types of coins, large gold rings & nuggets etc. + lots of trash. Run in low & you will get some types of coins, gold, copper & lots of rusty nails. Running in one or the other you run the risk of missing something worth digging. Unfortunately with PI's if you want to be absolutely 100% sure then they are dig everything. For that matter I have seen VLF discrimination "tricked" also so even they aren't 100% bulletproof but still a world apart from anything a PI can do discrimination wise.
RR don't take what I say as a direct attack on yourself mate. I am just trying to provide a healthy but balanced debate on the OP topic. It seems you take my opinions personally. I couldn't give a rat's about yours :lol: Just kidding mate - you obviously provide a valid opinion & relevant points to this debate.

Mbasko is of course right. I would like to clarify the use of conductivity switch. Like any feature on any detector you need to understand how it works and do lot of testing to use it to your advantage. Anyone that is not prepared to spend lot of time learning about the detector they use may just as well play the Lotto. If they are lucky they will win, but most of times they won't.
In the gold fields when I get signal I will flick the switch and even it is telling me that there is a chunk of
iron under the coil, I still dig. What if it was big nugget. Another horse shoe, oh well, maybe next time.
Karl

 

[Ridge Runner]

Mbasko is of course right. I would like to clarify the use of conductivity switch. Like any feature on any detector you need to understand how it works and do lot of testing to use it to your advantage. Anyone that is not prepared to spend lot of time learning about the detector they use may just as well play the Lotto. If they are lucky they will win, but most of times they won't.
In the gold fields when I get signal I will flick the switch and even it is telling me that there is a chunk of
iron under the coil, I still dig. What if it was big nugget. Another horse shoe, oh well, maybe next time.
Karl

Yes that's the Whole Point you Flick the Switch to discriminate whether its Iron or Not, Which is Discriminating the Target which is the same as Tuning. and if the machine is set to High or Low you are TUNING out the Other Type of Metal.

The point is that switch helps tune the detector for coins or Gold depending on the Items conductivity, Which Is What Dirtdiggin was asking for, So As A Crude Form of Discrimination it can be used with a certain amount of success, BUT It will Totally IGNORE other Metals, No Ifs or Buts about it, I will say it again, He wants a detector that can be TUNED for GOLD or COINS,

On the Beach it can be TUNED to ignore IRON, and Except Gold and Coins (low conductive)
On the Beach it can Be Tuned to ignore some coins and Except Silver (HIGH CONDUCTIVE)
In The Gold Fields it Can be TUNED to ignore High Conductive ITEMS,
OR it can Be TUNED to ignore Low Conductive ITEMS (Small Rusted IRON and Nails), Can It Be Tuned?? (YES).

That ATX has a form of Discrimination, But People keep saying Buy A Minelab When the Minelab CAN NOT be TUNED, and No Matter how wonderful Minelab are, the OP asked for a Machine that can be TUNED for GOLD or COINS.

None of these three pages of BS matters, because if it can not be TUNED which is what dirtdiggin asked for, then it Has no Need to be Mentioned.

IE, you want a new Land Cruiser, But I Keep Telling to get A CITROEN, Its not a 4WD it wont do what you want so why the Hell do I keep going on about it.

and as mbasko RIGHTLY pointed out A lot if not ALL VLFs will suffer in Very Hot Ground,

SO,, that brings us back to PI's,, what PI's can be TUNED for GOLD and COINS,,,2 Brands Being The Garrett ATX and the Whites TDI Range of Detectors The TDI Pro, The TDI SL or the TDI SPP,

 

[Guest]

Well said! And learning how to operate the Whites TDI makes it the closest Pi to a multi purpose machine.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Well said! And learning how to operate the Whites TDI makes it the closest Pi to a multi purpose machine.

I am learning new things every time I use mine, Doing some Testing today I found out that if you set it to one type of metal and you go Over the type you have set to ignore if it is big enough it will sound off like a hot rock does with a VLF, Meaning it give a Raspy type sound but It Only sounds off As the Coil is Passing the Item, in the same way the GMT does.

Unless it is a Big Item, (I used an Iron Frying Pan), But with a small Item (coin sized) it wont make a sound unless it is real close to the Coil.

Some one really needs to write a book on these Machines.

 

[mbasko]

I've been looking at a lot of gold detectors that will also detect coins and treasure things but must be a real gold nugget detecting machine! like a lot of people myself and my wife do it for the enjoyment and it's also peaceful and relaxing. We mainly do panning and sluicing but I've now got the gold detecting bug lol, and yes we don't have huge amounts of cash just laying around otherwise we'd buy a GPX 5000. So I'm in need of some true advice from people who have used different machine and what they really found with it AND IF IT WILL SUIT WHAT I'M AFTER as this is a MUST!!. PI or VLF machines ? Remembering I'm really wanting to find the yellow stuff !!.

Cheers and thanks for your time and help

RR
Nowhere does the OP say that it must be able to be tuned for gold or coins? He has looked at gold detectors that will also detect coins & treasure things. He does say he is really wanting to find the yellow stuff. Read the question properly before declaring everyone else's comments as three pages of BS. At least on here he got replies - on at least one other forum the same question got no replies at all!
Just as you Whites boys & modifiers are entitled to an opinion, so is anyone else from a Dick Smith user through to a ground penetrating radar geoscience nerd.

They reckon the Minelab boys have got thin skins, are misinformed, have hidden alliances etc. but from some of the emotional outbursts here I think that can apply across other brands too :lol:

If you want to find the yellow stuff get a PI of whatever branding.
If you want coins & treasure things get a discriminating VLF from one of multiple, similar performing brands.
Don't worry about the "do all" machine guff.

p.s set a budget & work to that.
As stated above any PI from the SPP through to a GPX5000 has merit & is capable.
People will have different opinions because of costs, loyalty, better success with one brand over another etc. but in reality it's a matter of working out what you can afford & what you want to do.
The SPP is an obvious budget choice but don't forget if you want the conductivity switch you will need some degree of electronic knowledge or someone whom can do it for you. Might be a simple mod but not everyone has the knowledge or even correct equipment to carry these simple mods out properly.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I've been looking at a lot of gold detectors that will also detect coins and treasure things but must be a real gold nugget detecting machine! like a lot of people myself and my wife do it for the enjoyment and it's also peaceful and relaxing. We mainly do panning and sluicing but I've now got the gold detecting bug lol, and yes we don't have huge amounts of cash just laying around otherwise we'd buy a GPX 5000. So I'm in need of some true advice from people who have used different machine and what they really found with it AND IF IT WILL SUIT WHAT I'M AFTER as this is a MUST!!. PI or VLF machines ? Remembering I'm really wanting to find the yellow stuff !!.

Cheers and thanks for your time and help

RR
Nowhere does the OP say that it must be able to be tuned for gold or coins? He has looked at gold detectors that will also detect coins & treasure things. He does say he is really wanting to find the yellow stuff. Read the question properly before declaring everyone else's comments as three pages of BS.
Just as you Whites boys & modifiers are entitled to an opinion, so is anyone else from a Dick Smith user through to a ground penetrating radar geoscience nerd.

They reckon the Minelab boys have got thin skins, are misinformed, have hidden alliances etc. but from some of the emotional outbursts here I think that can apply across other brands too :lol:

If you want to find the yellow stuff get a PI of whatever branding.
If you want coins & treasure things get a discriminating VLF from one of multiple, similar performing brands.
Don't worry about the "do all" machine guff.

Quote:- I've been looking at a lot of gold detectors that will also detect coins and treasure things but must be a real gold nugget detecting machine! END QUOTE,

OK
So looking at this Quote Tells me he is looking for a Prospecting machine that is Multipurpose and the Only way he can Achieve this goal is to buy a Detector that can be TUNED. to Ignore Junk
As I am sure that you and Every other person who has been out to the gold field, Ghost Towns and Beaches Needs something to help them Not Dig Junk left behind from years gone by, and it is the same for Coin Shooters who want to find silver and Gold Coins.

There is No Such thing as A Gold Machine, They are all Metal Detectors they will pick up ALL/EVERY type of metal, Now as opposed to have him spend his money and his yearly holiday with a machine that will have him cleaning up the country side
free of charge for the Federal Government, I have Listed the Machines that will Make it Easier on him and His Wallet (which he made a reference to) we are supposed to be here to help people Not Fleece them, I don't give a Damn about Minelab or Sponsors or what people think, My Goal is to help him get the machine (NO Matter Who Makes It) or sells It that will give him the power he needs and what will also have him dig Less Junk and as a bonus have a lot of extras that he can Add to it if he needs them,
It's White's Loss that they are Not A Sponsor Here and If Minelab have the Guts to Cough up the Dough to be A Sponsor here Then More Power to Minelab,

But I can not recommend Minelab Machines For 2 Reasons, The Build Quality of the SDC sucks, with Battery Contact issues, Coil Falsing issues and Speakers that give up the Ghost and having to use Cable ties to support the Coil knuckle is unexceptable for Such an expensive Item,

See Here, https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9745&p=1

And Although the Gpx 5000 is a Wonderful piece of kit he has already stated that it is out of reach,
and the SD's and the GP's will have him Digging Iron like A man Possessed, And So I have mentioned the Machines that will give him a fighting Chance and Lower the Odds in His Favour So He will Not Dig so much Iron. If that's A Crime then I am Guilty and I would Not Have it Any Other way,

 

[Guest]

Iv witnessed tests involving the TDI pro vs minelab GPX 5000 so I know what each machine is capable of, but at the same time I could make the GPX look bad as I'm a far better operator with the TDI pro.

Now Iv hunted side by side against a GPX4500 and the man with the GPX 4500 has had most Minelab models and was very impressed watching the TDI pro find 2 ALL!' in his patch that he had already been over many times'
Now the Minelab GPX will kill the TDI using the same size coil but if the next size down coil was fitted to the TDI you will start to see a resemblance regarding depth and target responce' tho won't cover as much ground. Depth with the same coil could be anywhere between 1 - 2" tho in high mineralisation where the Minelab may need a DD coil the Depth difference would be closer to 1" and yes we all realize that 1" deeper than the last detectorist could mean ounces and pay for the GPX.

the GPX4500 operator won't be named but he knows who he is....

Now once this new Minelab shows up and the gold starts rolling on in I'll shut up about the TDI and start dreaming about if I'm keeping the polaris or not.