I was looking at some detectors to do some fossiking around warrick, any opinions on this one? it seems really cheap compared to the minelab detectors, is there a difference between minelab and this brand if so could you compare them for me, thanks! http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/250739640900
You might get better responses from a fossicking forum... though I'm sure there are a few people here more than willing to help..
Totally different technologies - kinda like comparing black and white CRT TV with a 3D LED TV. Minelabs have pulse induction technology as opposed to VLF, which probably predates WWII. Any gold that could have been found with a detector like the eBay one was probably hoovered up in the mid 80s. Only good for coins now.
The pulse induction is neat I was looking at this one rig on line you hook up to the back of a quad it pulls a several foot wide pulse induction blanket it sends a signal to headphones worn by the operator. There was a testimony of a guy who found over 3 oz of nuggets by accident on his way to meet friends for lunch!
Or you can get a Minelab XTERRA Gold pack detector from $950-$1150 Would be good enough for nugget finding and best value for money entry wise
Yeah thats like an Alice in Wonderland thing.If it were that easy we would all be doing it lol REDBACK
You have to get a MINELAB - I have tried the Xterra and it is not that good in WA (too noisy and it is also a coin machine, I found it hard to use) - much much better to get a secondhand old Minelab - 2200, 2100, 2000 or the 3000 or 3500. You should pick up any of these for under $2000 and they are all very reliable machines. The latest - 4000 - 5000 are high tech and expensive to begin with. With a secondhand Minelab you will always get your money back on it if you decided later that you want to get the latest newest one (over $6000). I see so many people rushing in to buy all the latest equipment only to give it away after a couple of months when they realise just how difficult it is to find gold! There is also a new Whites machine out with the PI technology which is a lot cheaper than a new Minelab but I do not know what it performs like. There are a lot of good gold propsecting forums you can join and ask the questions - better to do a lot of research before you rush in and spend a lot of money.
Goldpanner can you get your hands on a 3500 for under 2K?? I would be interested That was my last machine and an absolute beauty. REDBACK Second Gold panner you never lose much through depreciation on a Minelab they hold 70- 80% of their value at least
Well I may have exaggerated there because a 3500 may be worth a bit more than $2000 - a lot depends on what coils are with them. A coil can be worth $500 on its own! I know of one that went for $2500 but haven't seen one for sale for a long time. There may even be a bigger market now for these older machines now that there is a gold rush on! I have been offered the lend of a 5000 in a few weeks and I want to go out and see just how better it is than the older machines, do a lot of tests with buried nuggets in all types of ground. Only if I am convinced it is a lot better would I go ahead and purchase one! ps I used a vlf machine for many years before the PI machines came out, found a lot of gold with it but there is absolutley no comparison to the PI Minelabs and I would never recommend anyone to go looking for gold with one now.
I'd be quite interested in a unit that would be ideal for suburban fossicking for standard cupronickle in parks, but can also pick up gold jewelry, older silver coins etc that might have been lost in grass or the top couple inches of topsoil. Can anyone recommend a decent model for that and price range?
That would be pretty much any detector. Higher quality models will have discrimination - it used to be pull tabs were the bane of the detectorist, now it's those bloody foil seals from juice bottles. Better coin brands would be Tesoro, Whites, Garrett - there's a few on eBay. I reckon you would be better off spending a few hundred on a used "name brand" detector than a new no-name junk one.
I have a brand spanking new Minelab GPX3000 with lots of extra's. Big plans about 5 years ago to get out into the Palmer gold fields. Long story short (plus a few kids), all still a dream. And my detector gathers dust................... Think I'm best putting it on the market, get my money back, buy silver and sit at home watching the kids growup.
i have a garret at pro international $700 finds everything from coins gold anything deep targets i got a 18karat gold ring a few days ago with it and over $200 in decimal coins 5 silver rings 2 silver pendants and silver chain a nice unit
X TERRA 705 V FLEX TECHNOLOGY COIN/RELIC/GOLD Has waterproof and water resistant coils and around 1 k new or $750 second hand. The best you will buy for an all rounder
I actually looked into gold prospecting a few years ago in earnest. Didn't follow through on it though - spare time was too short then, and now, to make it worthwhile for me. Even went and bought some books, looked at detectors etc. I would agree with all others here in saying that Minelab is the way to go from all I read. A second hand Minelab is better than most other detectors, new or old. If anyone does want to go hunting for gold, from all I've read, much patience + research ahead of time is needed.
This is not advice Hotel46 more of a discussion Do you use the elliptical 10 by 5 inch 18.75kHZ DD for prospecting? Manually reducing the sensitivity setting will stop really small ferrous targets being picked up,page 31 on manual gives a guide to settings for specific areas. Coin and treasure mode default sensitivity setting is set at 16 I had to throw out the window GPX Experience and really hit the manual for this beautiful little machine Hey Hotel do you have a numbers list for current targets. Here is a small sample for Australian targets lets see if we can add to this ALL METAL MODE bottle top-----------------------------------------36 RING TABS---------------------------------------22-24 .925 SILVER CHAIN----------------------------12-18 18 CT FINE GOLD CHAIN----------------------2-- MINUS 2 50 CENT COIN-----------------------------------24-26 $1 GOLD COIN-----------------------------------32 Just realised i have lost some pages to my target id jotterblasthave to do them again tomorrow. Also what if ant pattern modes do you use? Cheers REDBACK
