Yet another interesting topic on MSN group!

[Lamar]

Dear group;

Here is a very interesting topic on MSN Gold Detecting group:

http://groups.msn.com/GoldDetecting/genera...579109371506857

I thought that I was being weird when I decided to retro-grade back to the SD2100 from the GP3K instead of upgrading to the GP3500. Now it would seem like a lot of people over in Oz are now doing the very same thing, so I no longer feel like the Lone Ranger.

Your friend;

LAMAR

[Big Ed]

HI LAMAR,

I think you made a great decision, and If I had GP 3000, I would due the same.

But, for me I leaped from Eureka Gold-vlf, to GP3500 - and found dinks on third day of using it...

PI detector is much easier then using a vlf. I got the GP 3500, for one reason - to give me the best possiable edge on places I've already found gold dredging & sniping, and in stead of wetsuit mask & snorkel, and six foot 4in. dia plastic pipe to help direct water to assist in fanning bed rock, and move lots of material, I only have to have to move enough to reveal a target

Take care,

Ed

[Lamar]

Dear Big Ed;

I have used my White's GMT, which I purchased from Rob Allison, BTW , with great results during the dry seasons along the exposed river and streambeds. I have two separate but very importnat reasons for preferring the GMT over a Minelab PI detector in this particular environment. First, the gold found this way is almost always tiny and the GMT will locate gold so small that I can barely find it in the palm of hand. The actual bed is usually very shallow, or exposed, so I have no need for a deep punching machine in this type of terrain. Next, the iron ID feature of the GMT is an incredible time saver! The water courses here are typically pretty trashy and being to pick out ferrous from non-ferrous minerals is a huge blessing for me. For me, there is no single, perfect for every situation detector. I like my GMT for tiny gold, but it has no real depth to speak of and get it in any type of harsh mineralization and it becomes almost worthless. My GP300 is a wonderful all-around machine and I like to use it after I've located a patch and get down to the business of combing that patch for every possible bit of color that I can dig. The SD2100 is quite possibly the finest *flip the switch and go* PI detector ever made. This is quickly becoming the unit that I turn to first whenever I am in new, unproven terrain. I use almost all mono coils with it exclusively and it is a very difficult machine to beat. I like to go in with my SD2100 and grab all of the big chunks first, then give the area a rest for a few months, so as not to attract too much attention, then return to the same area with my GP3K and really clean up. Used in this manner, the SD2100/GP300 combo won't miss much gold at all. Having a large coil arsenal is probably the best enhancement that I can think of too, and before I'd upgrade to a new detector, I'd get a large selection of coils first. I think that coil selection is perhaps the most misunderstood accessory to a modern detectorist. Going from an 18" mono to an 8" mono over the same ground WILL garner more nuggies. I absolutely guarantee it! I've dug little nugs up that I located with my 8" mono that I swear I passed over with my 18" mono and never heard a murmur, not more than one or two days previously. I have 10 coils right now, but I could probably get similiar results from just 6 or 7. The trick is to use all of them, not just one or two coils then call it good. I've learned to never close the door on a spot until I've worked it over just about every way that I can think of. For instance, when I first started detecting almost two years ago, I chanced upon a decent patch of small alluival nugs that had been only lightly prospected in centuries past. Well my friend, I've been back to this spot about 4 times now and I am still turning up nugs. It seems that every time I try a new coil there I find more gold, or if I switch from the GP3K to the SD2100 I find more gold too. For example, I thought that I had worked that area out, but when I got my SD2100 and those new coils I just HAD to try it out, so I figured that I'd go to that *worked out* patch and see what this detector would do. I was using the 14" CTK round mono, the 11" CTK round mono and the 17X11 CTK Wallaby DDPro and BAM! 26 more nuggets in two days! I was extremely impressed with the detector but soon I realized that it wasn't the detector at all, it was the coils at the end of the detector that were producing those signals. Just like that I paid for those coils in only 2 days. Now I realize what my 3 biggest advantages are, and they are coil selection, coil selection, and coil selection! Next, I will go back into this particular spot with my trusty GP3K and armed with the Platypus, the 10X5 CTK mono, the ML 15X12 Mono, I'll be willing to bet that I find some more nugs. This is a secret that the detecting pros don't want us to know about I think. A carefully thought out coil spread will greatly your chances of finding all possible color in any one spot, even more so than using multiple detectors will. If you have an SD2100 along with a GP series detector and the same coil spread, then the odds of finding the maximum amount of nugs in any given location will increase that much more. This has been one big learning experience for me and I am starting to get the idea that I will never be able to learn all there is to know about this hobby.

Your friend;

LAMAR

[Big Ed]

Hi LAMAR,

Rob & Dawn, were great with me on my purchasing GP 3500 and other stuff, 15in. CT Wot coil, for the Eureka vlf, & Hip bag and new nicad battery, since I fried mine with ML charger Got CT Platypus, 8in. ML Commander Mono coil, and stock ML coil, w/gp 3500. worked with me and bank to up card limit I wish Coiltec would come out with more All Terrain Coils, a Wallaby DD Pro - All Terrain I've been thinking about using CT UFO Mono, but not sure if it would work here, due to mineralization

I don't know were to start on dry land,

and the Platypus coil is stuck on GP 3500, I fill like a juggler digging in water, You guy's digging and complaining about deep holes on dry land, try digging in gravel under a foot of water, and current tring to fill my hole as I dig

Take care,

Ed

[Lamar]

Dear Big Ed;

That is the story of first nugget too! I went with a local who has a Garrett VLF to his favorite nugget patch, only I didn't realize that it was on an exposed riverbank. I think I must have dug up half of the river bottom before I got that first nugget. I was detecting right along the waters' edge and of course the hole would fill with water almost immediately, so I was digging and bailing like a madman for over an hour. I ended up with 2 small nugs that day and I was covered head to toe in mud and so was my brand new shiny GP3000 and every piece of gear that I had with me. Those little nugs have a nasty tendency to shift around in that loose river gravel and soI learned a valuable lesson on how to recover nugs from this type of terrain and that is to use a BIG shovel and dig the hole FAST! Now I dig down to a depth of about 2', or till I hit bottom as fast as I humanly can and I pile the tailings high on the bank, then I spread them out and go through them with my detector at a leasurely pace. It works everytime and it saves on a lot back breaking labor.

Eventually you may will break away from water course detecting and move in dry patches and when you do then you will probably find yourself increasing your coil arsenal. The beauty of detecting around water courses is that with each rainy season the patch becomes recharged with gold and it almost never becomes worked out.

Your friend;

LAMAR