nuggethunting

Hello Bob, Never really thought about checking the video card. I just pulled out the card and it's a 128MB SanDisk Memory card. I think I tossed the one that came with it out, as that would be an easy way to check it. I've dropped the camera several times, so it might be knocked out of whack! Like you, I've taken tons of pictures and have no regrets with the Canon Power Shot A70. Thanks for referring me to the great camera. If I can't seem to get it working, I'm probably going to purchase a newer version. I've been reading about your recent finds. Sounds like your new nugget collection is quickly adding up. Nice when you can go out and find anywhere from 5 - 10 nuggets per trip. Most of mine besides last weekend have been small, but the little ones add up quick also if you're picking up 10 - 15 per weekend. Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, The nice specimen/nugget was found with a Minelab GP3500. I believe he was using a small Minelab 8-inch round coil. This friend loves very small coils and will even hunt huge open areas with them. The piece has been etched with HF acid. The piece was originally just a huge chunk of quartz and gold showing from just one side. That would have been one hell of a Birthday gift! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Lamar, When Coiltek first came out with the Coiltek 14-inch round I was swinging a SD2000/SD2100. This was my coil of choice since it covered a good amount of ground in little time and got great depth. Hunting up around the Rich Hill this was the coil to have. We were knocking them out of there very commonly in the range of 1/4 to 3/4's of an ounce. I actually went back to all my old patches once the Minelab GP Extreme was released using the same Coiltek 14-inch coil. Man, I thought it was 1849 again .... I'm hoping I can get back onto the same level with this coil as I did in the past. Good to hear its your coil of choice over in Bolivia. Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Thanks again for all the Birthday wishes. When you get older a Birthday just seems like another day sometimes. I know when you're younger you can't wait to open all the presents and invite friends over. Goldstudmuffin - Any secret patches you have in store for a Birthday boy? I promise to take it easy on them. You know just a couple of ounces and I will quit! Does John B even know how to bake a cake? I think his meal of chose is those canned "weenies!" Make sure you tell me when you're going to 18. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, A friend sent this picture over last night. This is a new find he found awhile back with a Minelab Metal Detector. He used a bit of acid to expose the gold. The piece was orginally covered with quartz, but screamed on a detector. Can't really give any more details on the find besides it's a good hit! P.S. Yes, it's Arizona desert gold. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Grubstake, No biggie, there was some confusion when the Wallaby Mono first came out if they were a "Pro" design. Coiltek thought about the idea, but decided to just make the Wallaby DD Pro and the Wallaby Mono. I believe there might be a couple of other Mono Pro's out there, maybe 2 or 3 at the most. The Coiltek Mono Pro does get more depth and sensitivity over the Wallaby Mono, but it's just a bit more noisier due to the increased sensitivity. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Thanks for all the comments. I think I'm going to spend more time with the Coiltek 14-inch round Mono this season. I can remember what I found with it in the past, so I'm hoping my luck will change from dinks to dinosaurs! We all know regardless of the coil you have to get it over the nugget for it to BEEP. Hopefully I will be able to post some more sizeable nuggets in the near future. Rob Allison

Hello Reno Chris, Pretty much what Grubstake mentioned. The Mini UFO is much lighter due to web type design. It's also 100% waterproof, which Coiltek calls an "All-Terrain Searchcoil." The Wallaby Mono is just a solid 17-inch elliptical and a little bit heavier. Both are actually really good sellers, some prefer the solid design and don't care for the waterproof issue, while others love the lightness and want a waterproof coil. P.S. Grubstake, I'm the only one with a Wallaby Mono Pro! Coiltek pondered on the idea, but decided just to make a normal Wallaby Mono. Hope this helps a bit, Rob Allison

Hello Karl, I sure wish I could have done those things, but I had to work today and then had a college course this evening. I just got home around 7:45pm. What a way to spend your Birthday, right? Can't wait until you get back out here this winter season. Really enjoy your phone calls and PM's. Thanks for being a special friend and customer. Take care buddy, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Yeppers, it's my Birthday! I'm actually 34, but sometimes feel like 44. Actually I'm just thankful to be alive. The Lord allowed me to survive The "C" Word 24 years ago, so I'm glad I'm able to get around and do the things I enjoy. I can't find a Birthday nugget today, but maybe this coming weekend. Leaverite - Actually it's pounding pie and eat Lobster!!! LOL ... Thanks guys, Rob Allison

Hello Montana, Well you're the main reason why I purchased the Canon PowerShot A70 several years ago. I remember you posted and stated you just purchased one and got it for a great price. Within a week I went down and purchased one also. It's been a great investment over the last couple of years. I've taken thousands of pictures of friends and gold. I knew eventually as hard as I'm on stuff the camera would take a dump. I've carried it every day out in the field, bounced around in my truck and been exposed too all type of temps over the years. I guess it's time to upgrade to something a bit newer and more megapixels. Thanks for the good advice on the camera. Are you still using the same one? As for the coils, I just thought it would be a good change to try the Coiltek 14-inch round mono once again. I can remember back at Rich Hill ten years ago with this coil! I try to take (3) different coils with me when I'm prospecting new ground. This at least gives me the option to change if something is not working right. When I'm going back to old spots, I pretty much knows what works best. You can't beat the small Coiltek Joey Mono or Minelab 8-inch round mono for the small bits. I've also had great luck with the NF 14E. Thanks for the comments about the nuggets. Feels good to find something rather than a bunch of small pieces every weekend. However, I still love digging the little ones just as much. Hope everything is well on your end, Rob Allison

Hello Randy, Would also have to agree with you and Grubstake. Bill and I spent a lot of time shooting nuggets here in the Southwest. I still remember when we blew a tire on my new truck in the middle of nowhere and prayed we didn't blow the spare out. I believe we were a good 15-20 miles from the nearest main dirt road and probably about 50 miles from the nearest town. Customers know who is sincerce and who is just trying to push products. They also know when you have a passion for such a hobby and your willingness to help others. This is why Bill will continue to have a successful detector business. The most important thing is to enjoy this hobby of gold prospecting/electronic prospecting regardless of what detector, coil or accessories you're using. The thrill of this hobby is the "hunt, search and lure" of the gold. Just knowing you're tracking down something that is not real common and tough to find makes even a small piece of gold very rewarding! Best of luck to all, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Jerry - I want one so bad right now, but with the new home just about finished I'm not sure I can budget it. It might be a year or so realistically before I can get one. If something would happen where we don't get the house, a new truck is first on my list, including a quad! Any idea how the Chevy/GMC Duramax compares to Ford's Powerstroke? Grubstake - Those Honda's run forever my friend. I owned three of them over the years. The first one I owned was a Honda 185s ATC. I believe it was 1983, which was the first year for the ATC. A couple of years later I got the "Big Red," which was a little bit bigger and was a 200cc engine. Later I got a 250s, which was more of a racer than cruiser. You can't beat a Honda, they run forever if you do just the basic maintence on them. At least when you get the ATC it will be running in good order and with a brand new battery. That 8+ ouncer can wait another weekend! Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Grubstake, One thing I really like about Bob Dansie and Bill Southern is the fact they are very open-minded and not one sided. I'm pretty much the same way, always looking for the best coils and detector combination. Somtimes it means a bunch of coils and maybe a couple of detectors. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Jerry, I've heard so much about the Chevy Duramax I'm tempted to go purchase a new one before they change the emissions in 07. I have heard the Duramax with the Allison Transmission is the "Cat's Meow!" Grubstake - Get off those cigs! Next time tell Shep you will use the quad, but he will have to walk. This will give you a jump start on him. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, Here are the scanned pictures of the gold nuggets and copper nuggets. Sorry for the poor digital camera picture. Time for a new one I guess ... Rob Allison

Hello Bob, I will say 25 Grains since everyone stolen the lower amounts! Rob Allison

Hello Shep, I could only imagine what you were thinking! Grubstake sent me a PM and the first thing that popped into my head was a "bad coil!" Good to hear you guys could drive up there this time. Grubstake keeps smoking those cigs he's not going to be around long. Congrats on the new nuggets and good to hear the Platypus is knocking them down up there. That coil is selling very ... very well. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello All, This morning Leaverite and I hit a couple of spots on quads. I decided it was time to go back to the trusty Coiltek 14-inch Mono Searhcoil since I knew I found pounds of gold with it in the past. I love the Wallaby series, but it's time for a change, and sometimes that's good! At the first location we didn't score anything, but at the second location I hit (4) pretty decent nuggets. The biggest one was 4.3 Dwt's, then 1.9, 1.2 & 0.6 Dwt's. Dennis scored a little dink with the Coiltek Joey coil on bedrock above where I hit the four. I guess I paid for that new coil today which is always nice. I can't understand why I ever stopped using it, I know it's a killer searchcoil. I also scored (3) copper nuggets in the same general area. I have no clue what the heck happened to my digital camera, but all the pictures are coming out with a Pink color and are somewhat blurry. I think it's time for a new digital camera. I will scan the nuggets later and post them so you can see a better shot of them. Hope you're all finding gold out there. Rob Allison

Hello All, I still frequently get a lot of calls and emails about the Coiltek All-Terrain Searchcoils. I will give you a quick run down on these coils and why they are still very hot sellers, especially the new Coiltek 11-inch Platypus DD Pro. The three All-Terrain, "completely waterproof" searchcoils by Coiltek are the UFO 24x12 elliptical mono, MINI UFO 17x10 elliptical mono and the latest PLATYPUS 11-inch elliptical DD Pro. I won't talk about the new one yet, which will blow your mind! All three of these coils are epoxy filled, meaning the windings are completely coated and filled so there is no movement of windings (which can create false signals when the coil gets old). The are also "web-designed" so they are much lighter than a solid design of the same shape/size. They are also plastic, which is now the only material that searchcoil manufactures are using (humm, that's interesting). I guess Coiltek was right when they told me, don't worry Rob, everyone returns to plastic cause it last longer, just give it a year. I guess this is the reason why I put 110% faith in them, they have never been wrong. My Coiltek sales double each year, so I guess it was a very smart investment on my part. Well back on the All-Terrain coils, if you're looking for an extremely strong, plastic web designed coils that are 100% waterproof, lightweight and extremely quiet, you might want to consider one of the three coils above. Also, if you purchase the UFO or MINI UFO you will receive a FREE Heavy Duty Lower Shaft ($45 value). Just to let you know how great of coils these are, Coiltek has sold over 5,000 of them! If I wanted to include the famous 15-inch WOT searchcoil that figure would hit 10,000!!!! Like always, Coiltek built the first "aftermarket" epoxy filled coil, the first waterproof coil, the first phase coil, the first web design coil, the first DD Pro coil, the first coil for coin/relic detectors ... ok I will stop now. If you have questions about any of these coils, feel free to email - auplacers@yahoo.com or call anytime. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Dan, I have used most of all the VLF gold hunters in the past. I liked the Fisher Goldbug 2, White's GM3 and the Eureka Gold the best. The Eureka Gold is nice cause you have the option of (3) freqs vs. just one with the other VLF detectors. The Fisher Goldbug2 has the highest operating freq at 71kHz's, but can be a bear to work in highly mineralized ground conditions. I liked the discrimination ability of the Tesoro Lobo ST. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Bob, Many years ago I read a story on one of the Australian forums where some guys were "Energizing" the ground and finding more targets at depth. I can't remember exactly how they were doing it, just remember reading the post about it. Sounded like an interesting idea and they seemed to be having some success doing so. Maybe you should pull off the leads on your stock Minelab 6v battery and see what happens? Bob, heard about a 5-ounce piece just coming from the general "Nest" area. Haven't seen a picture of the nugget, just some general chit-chat about it. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Chris, Thanks for sharing the story and pictures with us. Some beautiful country up there in the high Sierra's. There's no doubt you got the skunk off your back with the 1/3 ounce! Was this area also ground sluiced? Talk with you soon, Rob Allison

Hello Guys, Glen - Nice batch of nuggets you found there. Are they from Arizona? A friend used the Tesoro Lobo ST for years and loved it. Keep up the good nugget hunting. Would like to hear more stories about your ventures the next time you get out. Reno Chris - Rub it in, Rub it in ... LOL Those are definately nice nuggets, especially the 1/3 ouncer! Those are the ones that keep you really excited. Good to hear you got the skunk off you. I would rather be hitting Dwt plus piece than these dinky's I'm finding over here right now. Thanks for sharing your finds. Gary - Sounds like a plan to share spots. I have hundreds of spots down lower that you probably don't know about. Lets get together some weekend and see what we can turn up. Take care, Rob Allison

Hello Colorado Bob, If everything goes as planned I should be at the push that morning. I'm not sure I'm going to hunt though, it might be a mad-house. Maybe I will just take my new ground penitrating radar detector and knock all the PI's out of commission. I know it will shut down a Minelab GP3500 in a heartbeat. Just imagine the looks I will get .... No, the dirt isn't too hot for the Joey Mono. I used to hunt up there a bunch with that coil working around the boulders and brush. Found some pretty nice nuggets doing so. Now if they push up a bunch of hot, red clay the Joey Mono might act differentely. Just plan on using your VLF up there. Have Quads & Detectors, willing to travel ... Rob Allison