Ended up getting a Gold Bug 2

[wjbell]

A deal came up locally for a lightly used GB2 for $450. I thought it was a good deal. Aside from a couple of scuffs on the plastic it's pretty clean. It's got a super small coil, about 6"x4". Anyone know anything about this coil? Good for nuggets, good for fines? The guy that sold it to me said something about a 5" circular coil that's suppose to be great for this machine. Anyone have any info on that coil?

I would have really liked to save up for a used minelab PI machine but even a used SD2200 is going for $1500+. Out of my range right now.

So I'm going to start off the the GB2 and hopefully move up from there. I'll probably have a lot of questions to get the best performance out of this detector. I'd really like to add the best coil I can or any tweaks possible to make it better.

One thing, I tested it out when I got home. I have about 4 pennyweight of gold in a vial. (my take for 1 1/2 years. yeah, sad) Pulled the cap off the vial and put it on it's side. Passed the coil over it and it sees it. Raise the coil 6" above it and you barely hear a thing. 8" and you hear nothing.

So my questions are; if a cluster of gold is 8" deep the GB2 won't detect it? I thought this was THE sensitive machine for VLF's? Another part of that question is this was through the speaker. And I've heard people talking about 600 ohm headphones. Do better headphones really let you hear signals that you can't hear with generic headphones or the built in speaker? That would explain why I can't hear a 4 pennyweight of nuggets at 8" through the speaker.

My apologies. I've got a bunch of questions and will probably have a bunch more. I just can't wait to get out with this thing! I'm thinking tomorrow at a hydrolic pit close to me

[Guest GoldProspectinginOz]

A deal came up locally for a lightly used GB2 for $450. I thought it was a good deal. Aside from a couple of scuffs on the plastic it's pretty clean. It's got a super small coil, about 6"x4". Anyone know anything about this coil? Good for nuggets, good for fines? The guy that sold it to me said something about a 5" circular coil that's suppose to be great for this machine. Anyone have any info on that coil?

I would have really liked to save up for a used minelab PI machine but even a used SD2200 is going for $1500+. Out of my range right now.

So I'm going to start off the the GB2 and hopefully move up from there. I'll probably have a lot of questions to get the best performance out of this detector. I'd really like to add the best coil I can or any tweaks possible to make it better.

One thing, I tested it out when I got home. I have about 4 pennyweight of gold in a vial. (my take for 1 1/2 years. yeah, sad) Pulled the cap off the vial and put it on it's side. Passed the coil over it and it sees it. Raise the coil 6" above it and you barely hear a thing. 8" and you hear nothing.

So my questions are; if a cluster of gold is 8" deep the GB2 won't detect it? I thought this was THE sensitive machine for VLF's? Another part of that question is this was through the speaker. And I've heard people talking about 600 ohm headphones. Do better headphones really let you hear signals that you can't hear with generic headphones or the built in speaker? That would explain why I can't hear a 4 pennyweight of nuggets at 8" through the speaker.

My apologies. I've got a bunch of questions and will probably have a bunch more. I just can't wait to get out with this thing! I'm thinking tomorrow at a hydrolic pit close to me

The Gb2's response on your vial of gold will be largely dictated by the nugget that has “best” response. ie probably the biggest nugget in your vial. Take the biggest nugget in your vial and repeat your test again using just this nugget by itself. The Gb2 should be very sensitive to very small gold and I believe can detect nuggets that no pulse induction detector can. I had a Gb1 for many years and found more gold with it than any other VLF detector. Enjoy your new detector!

doug

http://australianelectronicgoldprospectingforum.com/index.php

[DOC]

Yes it finds extremely small gold but like all VLF's it has to contend with the ground and does not do it as well as pulse induction machines.

Remember when you are air testing, it is not the same as when you have the coil on the ground and properly balanced. But to answer your question, it is doubtful a GB will find a 1 gram nugget at 6 inches. A 1 ounce nugget at that depth will be no problem.

However, it is just as doubtful that a PI machine will find a flake of gold in two inches of soil, like the GB will.

I have a GB2, it's a fun little machine and it is great to work tailings piles.

Ohy and I have the little 4 X 6 coil, it's a killer on little gold and you do not need a 5 inch round because a 5 inch round is no different than a 4 X 6 elliptical. The way you compare a round to an elliptical is to add the width to the length, 4 + 6 = 10. Then divide by 2 = 5. So a 4 X 6 elliptical is the same as a 5 inch round.

Good Luck and have fun!

Doc

The Gb2's response on your vial of gold will be largely dictated by the nugget that has “best” response. ie probably the biggest nugget in your vial. Take the biggest nugget in your vial and repeat your test again using just this nugget by itself. The Gb2 should be very sensitive to very small gold and I believe can detect nuggets that no pulse induction detector can. I had a Gb1 for many years and found more gold with it than any other VLF detector. Enjoy your new detector!

doug

http://australianelectronicgoldprospectingforum.com/index.php

[wjbell]

Thanks Oz and DOC!

Oz: I'll do a test pulling a single picker out and testing it by itself. Good point, thanks.

And DOC, great information. I'm starting to see the roles of these machines. Good VLF: smaller gold up high and bigger gold semi deep. PI's: bigger gold at mid to more depth.

And the other thing you said about tailing piles. What kind of tailing piles? There are miles of bucket line dredge tailing piles around Sacramento and Folsom from dredging the American river. The majority are course piles where everything 1/2 and up went out in the waste piles. (from what I've heard) There are also the finer piles that I'm guessing was the waste from the sluice cleanup. So how is the GB good in tailing piles? Cause I've got acres of them

[wjbell]

Thanks guys. One question that I forgot to ask, can I put the coil underwater? I pulled the coil cover off to get rid of some dirt in there and it's not like my coil on my old GM3 which had a coil with a hard plastic bottom, then a coil cover over that. This one has the black bottom (i guess the stuff to cover the wires in the coil) with a single coil cover over that.

[Sean.C]

VLF's have a much smaller depth range than the PI's. Expect most of the gold you find to be 6-8" or less with the exception of larger gold. At the same time, you can find the smallest of pickers 2" or less in depth; pieces of gold so small the Minelab PI's won't pick up on. If you detect a lot around the river try to target bedrock area's with a small coil.

Also I should point out that gold that is undetectable by itself won't become detectable if you add more gold to it. So a 4 oz vial of gold dust won't be detectable. This is why you got such a weak signal from your own vial. Hope this helps.

[nuggethunting]

Hello Wjbell,

The Fisher Goldbug2 is an awesome VLF gold detector. Without a doubt, it's the most sensitive gold detector on the market @ 71kHz. It's great for finding very small gold, so take all you can find when gold is at $1,300/ounce. The little ones will add up quickly, especially if you're finding a bunch of them. The bigger nuggets within the range of your detector will be found easily.

Master the ground balance on that unit along with listening to faint signal you will find a bunch of gold. Be careful not to crank the sensitivty up too much, the detector will become unstable on mineralized ground.

Later down the road, when you have found some gold, invest in a PI. A good Minelab PI and the Bug2 are an amazing combination.

Suggestion: The pits of California are noted for hundreds, if not thousands of small gold nuggets, along with larger ones. See if you can locate exposed bedrock in and around the pits. Many nuggets will be in the cracks and crevices. I know it's just a matter of time until you have your first gold nugget(s).

Hope this helps,

Rob Allison

[Gold Seeker]

Wjbell,

The coil is waterproof, but since it is used just be sure to check it for any cracks or holes in the coil housing, wiring, etc., and seal any found before submersing it.

When using the GB2 or any other non-waterproof detector in water, be sure to not raise the coil higher than the control box, because the water can sometimes run up inside the shaft and get into the control box (this shouldn't be a problem with the GB2 because of the way the control box is mounted/detachable, but better safe than sorry), and after getting the coil wet store the detector with the control box higher than the coil until any water/moisture has had time to drain and or evaporate.

Here is a link to specs for the GB2 on a PDF file that states the coils are waterproof.

http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/specifications/GOLDBUG-2SPECweb.pdf

Also if you didn't get an owner's manual with the GB2 here is a link to a PDF file owner's manual you can save to your computer and print it out if necessary.

http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/manuals/GoldBug2-8707403-reader.pdf

Skip

[Gold Seeker]

sorry double post

[Allen in MT]

Just some of what the GB2 with 6" coil can find, also a good set of head phones will help. phones that are 100 Ohms or higher.

Allen in MT

[notoriouskelly]

Congratulations, WJBell - I wish you much gold and fun times with it!