what makes a VLF detector good for gold nuggets?

[cet9787]

I have a White's TDI that I bought to find gold nuggets. I havent got a chance to use it yet. I want to buy a VLF detector that is good for silver coins and also good for nuggets so that my daughter can use it with me. I have narrowed it down to Tesoro Lobo or Vaquero. I know the Lobo is made for gold but what exactly is different between it and the Vaquero? Can the Vaquero also find gold nuggets reasonabley well? I will be detecting in Oregon and Nevada mostly and possibley Arizona.

[Hoser John]

The ability to ground balance in hot ground sets them apart for starters. Op frequency is also a determining factor along with coil size and MANY configurations also of construction. Always try to use a unit before bought and NEVER believe in any way shape or form ANY BS AIRTEST as that proves absolutely nothing---unless you have a spot with nuggets floating in mid air that require no GB abilities--John

[frank]

I have a White's TDI that I bought to find gold nuggets. I havent got a chance to use it yet. I want to buy a VLF detector that is good for silver coins and also good for nuggets so that my daughter can use it with me. I have narrowed it down to Tesoro Lobo or Vaquero. I know the Lobo is made for gold but what exactly is different between it and the Vaquero? Can the Vaquero also find gold nuggets reasonabley well? I will be detecting in Oregon and Nevada mostly and possibley Arizona.

If you are going to have your daughter use the detector I would imagine you would want the Lobo ST over the Vaquero, the reason I say that is she can turn on the Lobo with auto mode and easily ground balance ready to detect in seconds.
I believe the Vaquero is a manual G.B. machine which will require time gained with experience to G.B. the detector satisfactorily.
Remember if your G.B. isn't tuned close to where it should be your'e wasting you time walking around swinging it especially for nuggets.
And the Lobo ST will serve well for other than gold usage also.

[TURNMASTER]

Hoser John, which one is better in the hot ground. I am thinking the LST. Yeah?
Airtests are meaningless (uterly). Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Very little info can be gained without the effects of the earth you will be working in. Well that is my opinon anyhow.

Jeff

[Hoser John]

I've used the TLST for many years now and have 2 coils-stock and smallest one, I also run a GB2 ,again with multiple coils. The Lobo is a much more versitile machine,especially in trashy areas or rocky & boulder strewn areas. Thats where the smaller coils really shine. The machine I've not been able to play with yet is the TDI. I always go out with folks and swap units to see whatzup with new technologies before I spend the cash(no wife so I buy what I want -when I want) and then carefully compare features. Funny thing is I believe that whites is even surprised at the ways folks have figured out how to run those new units technology--never underestimate a miner-tons a au 2 u 2 -John

[LuckyLarry]

Higher frequency vlf metal detectors operate at sometimes 10 times the power of lower frequency metal detectors, hence the greater the field of radiation (AKA radiated field), the greater the ability to find smaller items. This is why higher frequencies find smaller nuggets than lower frequency ones, because they are running at higher gain (power). It has absolutely nothing to do with the actual operating frequency of the unit. This is why the new GB3 for example, at 19 Khz, will find tiny nuggets just as easily as a 52 or 70Khz freq.

Just as George Payne and Jack Gifford say in their engineers notes this one is going to tell you the same; That the air depth of ANY vlf is the best indicator of the ground depth potential of said detector. Here is how it works:

The metal detector produces a field of magnetic lines of force and strength (AKA waveforms, or "waves"). Along with this field when weak in intensity the detector is incapable of reading the signal because the tiny nugget cannot carry the signal. When the field is higher in radiation intensity (meaning the distance it radiates because it is running more powerfully) it is also making the tiny nuggets, etc easier to read and recognize, due to their increased ability to carry inducted electrical and magnetic fields. When a radiated field is produced that is weak the nuggets will not be recognized easily or at all - due to their inability to carry the transmitted electrical and magnetic fields.

The air depth of a metal detector is thereby directly (not inversely or disproportionately) indicative of a metal detector's transmitting power and air/depth potential - and the resulting field intensity can (ALWAYS) be recognized by by air depth readings. Hence, the better the air depth readings the better the ground depth readings will likely be. This is why many metal detectors running freqs of between 1 and 30 Khz most often all have nearly identical air depths along with nearly identical ground depths when they are all running with identical power (gain). It's simply because they all have the same power and depth of field, nothing more.

So to make it simpler to understand, the air depth readings are only showing the actual power (gain) of a detector's output. The air depth of a detector is directly proportionate to it's ground depth potential, although both air and ground uses are ALWAYS decreased by field disturbances and interferences such as any mineral that it encounters i.e. iron, copper, aluminum, etc. They are also degraded (reduced in power) by other interferences such as 60 cycle electricity, radar, other EMF's, x-rays, radar, etc.

There are stories about some detectors going deeper in the ground than in air but those stories are merely fabrications, nothing more. It is in all practical sense - impossible for this to happen unless a target has somehow spread itself into a wider pattern somehow, and I'm not talking about halos either. Halos are merely ions and molecules that have bled off on mostly iron and to a much lesser degree some semi-precious metals.

The most popular/most used nugget hunter in Arizona, Washington, Nevada, and Oregon is the Fisher GoldBug2. Even the detector sales place here uses it instead of their White's, Tesoros, Minelabs, and nearly nobody uses a Garrett here, the soil is too mineralized for them. Whites main plant is right down the street.

LL

[Master Sarge]

That TDI you have is a great ALL Around Metal Detector. It's great for Coin Shooting and Relic Hunting!