Got out w/ Grubby yesterday

[shep]

Much cooler yesterday; especially when you start at 5:30AM. Gave 'er hell till about 3. Got one little one. Gridded an area where a small patch was previously found. Using the Coiltec 14" round mono in quiet, smooth sensitive and gain @ 10-12. This little guy was about 4-5" down. This setting eliminates the pesky hotrocks. Always liked the ellipicals in the past; this coil is pretty sensitive and still gets into some tight spots. Like it!

Oh! it weighs .4 dwt

[CaptGrumpy]

Way to find em! I have a 14" mono and will be giving it a go soon. Maybe out to Rye Patch on Thursday.

[grubstake]

Yeh, I got skunked, I quit about 12:30, and callled Shep, {GOING TO CHANGE HIS NAME TO DIEHARD} It was just too hot for me, I was having to take lots of breaks, drink lots of water, gatoraid, and Icetea. I took a full hydration bladder of gatoraid, two bottles of tea and 4 16 oz bottles of water, I drank it all except for one bottle of water, only had to pee once, sweated the rest out. I broke my thumb the day before, putting in a new U joint on my Ford Ranger, So I was Shot anyway. But old DIEHARD just kept on going. Glad he found a nugget even if it was just a little one.Next weekend may be my day, I have a boat load of DR. appiontments this week, maybe they can find out whats up with me. I went from 206 down to 180 in the last 30 days, Had a bunch of blood work done, DR. said its not normal to lose that much that quick. And I'm tired all the time, but eat like a horse. My Dr. thinks its my prostrate, her dad died of prostrate cancer, she's really worried about me. But we will see whats up I guess about Monday. Grubstake

[Bandana Don]

Greeting to Grubstake and ALL: I've been wanting to post something about prostate cancer for the last four months but just never got around to writing the post.

Both on my Fathers and Mothers side of the family just about everyone has had some kind of cancer. My Dad had a serious case of prostate cancer ended up having a fatal stroke. My Mother and all three of my sisters have had cancer -- so it was seemingly my turn to have the big "C".

For more than 14 years I've been having regular check-ups and PSA's run. My Doc did a TURP Surgery on me about 5 years back and the PSA scores wnet down quite a bit. Last Fall I had a PSA Blood Test run and the score went up several points from the previous test. Another PSA was done in Fevruary of this year and the score was higher than the results of the previous test. I had lost almost 18 pounds and really wasn't up to par. My Urologist said I should have an untrasound and biopsy so he performed them and the result was I had a grade 6 prostate caner. On June 13th I had Seed Implantation Surgery in Phoenix by Dr Beyers. Hopefully the radioactive seeds will kill the prostate cancer BUT the final word is not in on that question and only time will tell.

GUYS I CAN NOT BEGING TO SAY THIS ANY STONGER... DON'T PUT OFF HAVING AT LEAST AN ANNUAL PHYSICAL EXAMINATION AND ASK YOU DOCTOR TO INCLUDE A PSA BLOOD TEST.

WARNING: PROSTATE CANCER IS NOTHING TO LAUGH AT CAUSE IT CAN KILL YA!!!!!!!

Don

[CaptGrumpy]

I have had you in my prayers since we yacked on the phone last week!

The guys need you around for years to come so they will have someone to argue with about the size of nuggets found in the past.

Just keep us up to date and don't worry about those things we cannot control. Modern medicine is much better than it was 20 years ago especially when it comes to cancer (but let's not go there yet).

Good luck and keep a clear mind and don't forget to do some beeping to keep your mind clear while you wait for results of tests. It will drive you batty if you don't. (Been there & done that when I went through my cancer diagnosis the second time and everything came back clean)

Grumpy

[Bandana Don]

PLEASE EXCUSE MY TYPING/SPELLING MISTAKES. THE MESSAGE IS WHAT COUNTS!

Don

[CaptGrumpy]

Don,

As a cancer survivor, I can't echo your message any louder. I am 45 and had testicular cancer in 1996 (pre lance Armstrong) and it kicked my butt for days.

Since then I have been in tune with my body and keep a close eye on everything. I know it will rear it's ugly head again in my life but I want to be able to nip it in the bud and keep on living. I live one day at a time and enjoy life as much as a father of a 14 year old daughter that is knock down georgous can without losing his mind when boys call.

Get that annual physical and have them check your bedrock for nuggets!

[nuggethunting]

Hello Shep,

It's tough to beat the Coiltek 14-inch Round Mono. The settings you are running are pretty much the same settings I was using when I found the gold up there.

Today I was using the Sensitive/Extra mode with the Coiltek Joey and found stuff so small I had to squint to see them.

I seen a post about Gain/Motion settings and must say those settings don't work well at all where I've been hunting. I think everyone needs to understand how the GPX-4000 settings work and go from there. I don't think anyone can tell someone what are the best settings over the Internet, but can give you some good general advice on where to start.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[pondmn]

Shep Glad to see you got a dink after all that smack talk last week. All those little ones add up. Jerry

[grubstake]

Yeh! I will be thinking of him, when the DR. is looking at my nuggets tomarrow. Grubstake

[shep]

Don't have alot of pull around Merced, but made a few phone calls. Understand your urologist really wanted to play golf, but had to hang around for you. I knew he'd be a little upset missing his golf game. Suggested he get his intern Buford to check you out. Who got fired from the watermelon fields last year for picking up watermelons with one hand and tossing them into the trucks. Hands are a little big but heard he's gentle-

[grubstake]

Yeh well I just got back, seems I'm up for a bunch more test! Boy that sucks. Grubstake

[DrKillstick]

. I live one day at a time and enjoy life as much as a father of a 14 year old daughter that is knock down georgous can without losing his mind when boys call.

Get that annual physical and have them check your bedrock for nuggets!

You're going to die fighting the boys away from Ruby.......man do you got trouble coming your way

[Jonathan Porter]

I seen a post about Gain/Motion settings and must say those settings don't work well at all where I've been hunting. I think everyone needs to understand how the GPX-4000 settings work and go from there. I don't think anyone can tell someone what are the best settings over the Internet, but can give you some good general advice on where to start.

Take care,

Rob Allison

That's interesting because the settings referenced in the Gain/Motion post basically put your machine (GPX-4000) on an equal par with the GP 3500 which you seem to have incredible success with when it was in vouge! So Rob are you now telling us you cannot find gold in the US with a GP 3500?

Gooday Bandana Don, sorry to hear you have been feeling ill, Frieda often askes about you when she sees me perusing the American forums, hope things improve for you mate.

JP

[nuggethunting]

Hello JP,

I found pounds of gold with the GP3500, but did the best with the GP Extreme when it comes to numbers and overall weight. However, I think a lot of that had to do with the new technology (SD to GP).

I tried the higher Motion Speed and Lower Gain setting on the GPX-4000 and didn't care for it at all. I believe Montana Bob also stated he used settings close to mine with good results here in Arizona. Just goes to show that your settings might not be the greatest for US hunters, and our settings wouldn't be the best for some places in Australia.

I prefer the the slower Motion Speed and Higher Gain on the GPX-4000 for mild to moderate mineralization. I haven't been skunked yet with the GPX-4000, so I'm either using the right settings, have a clue what I'm doing or really freaking lucky! Maybe even a combination of all three ...

Take care,

Rob Allison

[grubstake]

Rob, I think JP would be suprised, by the amount of minerals we have here and how fast the ground changes, I know you saw that when you came to hunt with me. Its not that easy! One setting and then 50 ft. away it won't do. I've never hunted in AUS. but I feel here in Mariposa, we have some of the worst ground in the world for detecting. Grubstake

[Jonathan Porter]

Hello JP,

I found pounds of gold with the GP3500, but did the best with the GP Extreme when it comes to numbers and overall weight. However, I think a lot of that had to do with the new technology (SD to GP).

I tried the higher Motion Speed and Lower Gain setting on the GPX-4000 and didn't care for it at all. I believe Montana Bob also stated he used settings close to mine with good results here in Arizona. Just goes to show that your settings might not be the greatest for US hunters, and our settings wouldn't be the best for some places in Australia.

I prefer the the slower Motion Speed and Higher Gain on the GPX-4000 for mild to moderate mineralization. I haven't been skunked yet with the GPX-4000, so I'm either using the right settings, have a clue what I'm doing or really freaking lucky! Maybe even a combination of all three ...

Take care,

Rob Allison

Rob if you took the time you would see there is a factory preset indicator in most of the menu settings, obviously if you run higher than factory preset in the Motion mode you are going to get more instability in the threshold, the point of my original post was to make people aware of the differences between the old tech and the new and to also try and give them a bench mark to work from, which is why I posted the info in the first place. If you were able to find gold with the GP 3500 using the factory configured settings given to you with the machine (fixed in stone BTW) then one would assume you could figure out that the preset suggestions in the GPX-menu were similar to the previous models and therefore should provide similar performance (if you are now telling us you don't care for them it just tells me you also did not care for the GP3500 or do not yet know how to drive the GPX-4000 efficiently (going from the extreme end of one scale to the other ).

My suggestion was more in line with people overcranking the gain and then having to back off the machine elsewhere either through the Motion settings or using another filter such as Quite mode to try and compensate which comes at a huge impost on overall performance of the machine (less noise equals less performance in most cases).

Bob Dansie has recognised this very early on and has taken full advantage of the GPX-4000's ability to dumb itself down to handle both the interference you guys suffer from and the pesky hot rocks which stand out like a sore thumb due to the stark difference between your mild ground conditions and the mineralised nature of the hot rocks, he is also fully aware of the trade off he is making to achieve this and accordingly is targeting specific areas to match his settings.

Rob I don't for a second try to tell you blokes in the US how to suck eggs, but I do have a pretty good idea of some of your conditions because I have been there and detected in them, which is a lot more than I can say for you and your experiences here in OZ.

JP

[shep]

JP, really appreciate your input! I never ran a 3500 so I don't know about that one. I did have a 3000, and where we hunt, I had troubles getting a smooth threshold ocassionally. Not with the 4000! I may be "dumbing it down" too much which concerns me. BUT, I can be running in quiet and my settings, running smooth and find little pieces on "flat ground"; work a slight bank of a runoff ditch (coil at an angle) and it gets irratic again (we have towers nearby). So maybe, I'm close?

Chris called about 15 minutes ago, said my new video will be on it's way, tomorrow AM, so I hope it will clear some concerns I have. Hope it get's here before Friday night! I will definitely post, if it helps! If it doesn't show up, I'll experiment with the faster speed, regular settings and lower gain (I've tried it, but will try again).

Take care,

Shep

[nuggethunting]

Hello JP,

I know all about the factory preset settings, you need to tell me something new and exciting.

I think most understand the factory presets are a benchmark to work from. However, most of the gold is smaller, shallower and I will not be using a "Higher" motion setting when I'm hunting areas where I know the gold is and searching slow. Also, I will not be "Lower" the gain since there is minimal or no interference or instability in my threshold. If there was, I wouldn't be able to find small gold nuggets down to 2-3 grains at depths of 3-4 inches.

You're right, I haven't been to OZ, but would love to come over and hunt behind you!

P.S. Order 20 of your new GPX-4000 DVD videos. Should have them in a few days if anyone is interested.

Just razzing you,

Rob Allison

[DrKillstick]

Rob, I think JP would be suprised, by the amount of minerals we have here and how fast the ground changes, I know you saw that when you came to hunt with me. Its not that easy! One setting and then 50 ft. away it won't do. I've never hunted in AUS. but I feel here in Mariposa, we have some of the worst ground in the world for detecting. Grubstake

Being new to detecting versus dredging and sniping; I really enjoy the fact that "beeping" is technical and a skill of course there is the luck factor too.......

Seeing your great finds and stories

Man I dig it.....no pun intended

[nuggethunting]

Hello DrKillStick,

You might see a bit of razzing back in forth on the forums, but for the most part it's informational. JP finds Kilo's in OZ, we find Pounds in the US!

Take care,

Rob Allison

[Jonathan Porter]

Hello JP,

I know all about the factory preset settings, you need to tell me something new and exciting.

I think most understand the factory presets are a benchmark to work from. However, most of the gold is smaller, shallower and I will not be using a "Higher" motion setting when I'm hunting areas where I know the gold is and searching slow. Also, I will not be "Lower" the gain since there is minimal or no interference or instability in my threshold. If there was, I wouldn't be able to find small gold nuggets down to 2-3 grains at depths of 3-4 inches.

You're right, I haven't been to OZ, but would love to come over and hunt behind you!

P.S. Order 20 of your new GPX-4000 DVD videos. Should have them in a few days if anyone is interested.

Just razzing you,

Rob Allison

Rob when you say "Higher" Motion setting do you mean faster or slower? A faster setting will give you more info and a slower setting will "filter out" more info hence less noise or the requirement of a slower coil swing speed which can be a real can of worms! If you are not experiencing problems with your threshold why are you not using a faster Motion setting? What is it about the faster Motion settings you don't like?

This is one of the main things that concerns me with the GPX-4000, you can dumb down or smooth out the machine a considerable amount and even though you know you are losing outright performance you don't care, however what happens is you get lazy or used to the overall quietness of the machine and then because you have become too comfortable don't want to contemplate going back to a noisy or less smooth machine which is where all the performance lives.

I recommend operators get into the habit of establishing a bench mark on their machine where they know it is performing similar to the GP 3500 and then get into the habit or revisting those settings so they do not lose sight of the way these machines behaved when tuned for maximum performance/depth, otherwise you risk the embarrassement of an older machine coming into your new GPX-4000 patch and cleaning up on the gold you have left behind because you did not want to leave your new comfort zone .

Like I said before, Bob Dansie is taking advantage of the abilities of the GPX-4000 and deliberately visiting spots that have proved troublesome in the past, that does not mean he is leaving his machine in these dumbed down settings permananently, as soon as he has finsihed cleaning out his old patches I guarantee you he will be adjusting his machine accordingly.

JP

PS Rob you are welcome to detect behind me any time you like, I am realist enough to know we all leave gold behind.

[nuggethunting]

Hello JP,

I was just razzing you about leaving gold. I've left some nice ones behind, just because I was lazy or didn't swing the coil in the right spot. It's very difficult to cover every square inch to max depth.

When the GPX-4000 was first released I experimented with most of the settings. I honestly didn't see any real gains to a "Higher" or "Faster" motion setting. I did notice the machine was slightly a bit noisier, but didn't see any advantage to depth or sensitivity. I might need to re-visit the motion setting to see if I was overlooking something, but didn't see anything during the initial testing.

I must be honest, I got used to the "Quiteness" of the GPX-4000 using the Sensitive/Smooth/Quiet settings. However, most the areas are shallow with smaller gold, so I doubt I'm missing much.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Rob Allison

[Jonathan Porter]

Hello JP,

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Rob Allison

Watch the videos, they will help you a lot Rob.

JP

[montana]

There is obviously something different about the type of interference being encountered over here in the U.S.. If I use any motion settings other than very slow or slow, a horrible fast pulsing interference sets in. Others have mentioned it also. Reducing the gain DOESN"T help! And the factory preset " patch "setting is so totally unusable that I'm surprised that the option is even there. Nobody in his right mind would use it over here, and as far as I know nobody does. Now this goes against what we are being told. The only thing I can figure is that we have something very different causing a type of interference that isn't experienced in Australia. I've been blaming commercial and military aircraft for most of our interference problems for years and I'm still pretty sure that is the problem. Consider this. Thousands of commercial airline flights a day over the U.S. You can't see or hear them but they are up there. Now throw in hundreds of military flights a day with God only knows what kind of electronics on board. They all have transponders on board emitting signals that enable flight controllers to identify individual aircraft. They have doppler radar to alert them to weather threats. They use radar altimeters that shoot pulses toward the ground. They have radar that tracks other aircraft. Each aircraft is emitting strong electronic impulses from 4 or 5 different sources. Now , and I know this for a fact because I worked at a general aviation repair facility, small personal aircraft and business class aircraft are also being fitted with many of these same features. Add in the hundreds or thousands of ground based radar installations that it takes to keep all these aircraft flying safely and there just has to be interference sources that don't exist in other countries. So, when we talk about controlling interference we may not be comparing apples to apples. Luckily for us the adjustments on the GPX 4000 are broad enough that we can find ways to get around it all . Although we have 4 choices for motion , I've found I can only use 2 (the 2 least sensitive, or most filtered). We also have 4 choices for audio. I have found that I can only use 2 (again the 2 most filtered) . Knowing this , I compensate by running as high a gain as possible for the conditions. Reading through the U.S. forums , I see that many others are doing about the same as I am . We will never be able to run our GPX4000s at any where near the maximum capabilities here in the U.S. but we can run them in ways that make them outperform their forerunners that really had massive interference problems that we had no way of controlling. Minelab gave us the tools and we just have to learn how to use them to our best advantage. I'm convinced that if all testing on the GPX4000 was done here in the States, we would have a different detector. I'm not complaining at all and I love it , but we will run it differently than they do in OZ just because of the interference factor. ----Bob