Gold Monster Observations and Gold

[Rod]

I’ve been enjoying using the Gold Monster for the last month or so to help dial it in for my better half. It’s kind of been tough to do this and not swing the 7000 but doing so has really helped her and that’s cool. We’ve been out traveling all over the place with the GM. My opinion of the GM is still forming but I have made some observations that I’ll share here. Time may change my positions (observations). 

Hot Ground
The GM is not a panacea for hot ground. I know a few areas that are very hot and simply no detector does well in the them. My friends and I have swung every PI made from the SD 2100 to the 7000, SDC, TDI, etc. in these areas and it’s just the way it is. Some areas are simply extremely hot ground. 

The GM does handle hot ground better than the other vlfs (I’ve used) such as the Gold Bug 2 (GB2), White’s GMT, Minelab Eureka, or the Tesoro Lobo Super Traq. 

Sensitivity compared to other vlfs
The GM is not as sensitive as the GB2 on the smallest pieces of gold. Close but not quite. Noting due to the difference in kHZ. I believe the fact that the GM handles the ground better does level the playing field here somewhat. 

Coils
So far no crazy falsing from either coil. Was kind of wondering after reading the experiences of others with the small coil. Would really like to see a small 5 or 6 inch elliptical coil for the GM.

Sounds
My gut tells me whoever engineered the sounds of this unit played on an original Atari game console as a kid. Really enjoy the sounds this unit makes and the lack of a threshold is a nice change. At first I (and she) had to get used to the lack of a threshold “Is this thing working?” 

Battery Life
Great battery life. 8-10 hours of use you and you’re still going. This is true for both the stock battery and when using the AAs in the adapter. 

Here are a few pics of the smallest and largest gold the GM has found for me. One sub 1/10th of a gram piece and a 1.16 ounce specimen (gold weight after specific gravity test) although it only has a little gold showing. There are plenty of other size nuggets and species that we’ve found in between these weights. Putting the large specie aside, we’ve found just under 2 ounces with the GM so far - with the specie added into the mix, it brings the total gold weight to over 3 ounces. It's a fun and capable unit - we'll be taking the GM along on our summer adventures to cooler areas of the U.S.

Edited April 9, 2018 by Rod
Changed Atari until to Atari game console 

[Happy Prospector]

Thanks for the info Rod, I am looking to buy a GM soon.

[Rod K]

Great info Rod. I am hoping to get out with the Monster i recently bought soon.

[IMPDLN]

Just to add a note. Rod and I tested his GM with aftermarket headphones, specifically my Rattlers, and found that the stereo adapter worked but left the external speaker engaged while the mono adapter worked correctly. So those of you having problems with adapters and your preferred headphones, try a mono adapter as well as stereo. Dennis