Gold Nugget Test - 3 detectors

Terry Soloman

Gold Member
May 28, 2010
19,433
30,134
White Plains, New York
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Nokta Makro Legend// Pulsedive// Minelab GPZ 7000// Vanquish 540// Minelab Pro Find 35// Dune Kraken Sandscoop// Grave Digger Tools Tombstone shovel & Sidekick digger// Bunk's Hermit Pick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Try it against a Tesoro Lobo Super Traq; Fisher Goldbug II; or a Whites GMT.
 

OP
OP
E

extreme detecting

Full Member
Jun 21, 2012
171
96
East Coast
Detector(s) used
Nox 600, XP Deus 1 and Deus 2, Excal
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
We are expecting a Fisher GB II coming in soon.
We also have a one grain (.065 gram) nugget to play with.

We don't have a Tesoro LST or the GMT - that's why I asked you if you wanted to play with the Vista Gold...
Barry.......


Try it against a Tesoro Lobo Super Traq; Fisher Goldbug II; or a Whites GMT.
 

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LuckyLarry

Hero Member
Dec 16, 2005
750
390
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
I had to sideline for awhile, too much quarreling, brand defensiveness, and seeing certain people waging war on others. It got to be too silly for me after awhile..
Primary Interest:
Other
Why not run these tests with dedicated nugget hunters instead? None of these are the best nugget hunters. Try it with the various Teknetics, Fishers, Whites, and Tesoro nugget machines - if you would like to see better results.. :icon_thumright:
 

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OP
OP
E

extreme detecting

Full Member
Jun 21, 2012
171
96
East Coast
Detector(s) used
Nox 600, XP Deus 1 and Deus 2, Excal
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi - we aren't dealers of these other brands and don't own them...hopefully nugget hunters that see the results from the DeepTech Vista GOLD will maybe pick one up and do the tests on these other machines...

Why not run these tests with dedicated nugget hunters instead? None of these are the best nugget hunters. Try it with the various Teknetics, Fishers, Whites, and Tesoro nugget machines - if you would like to see better results.. :icon_thumright:
 

Longhair

Hero Member
May 26, 2012
781
418
Backside Of Nowhere In Mid-Michigan
Detector(s) used
Fisher F2,
Fisher 1280X,
MineLab Xterra 705,
MineLab Explorer SE
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
FWIW, I didn't even watch it thinking that I was watching a test of gold detectors. I just saw it as a test of how various coin shooters responded to gold.

I don't put too much stock in air tests anyway, so to me it's all just something that you might do in the middle of winter when you're bored, as it proves little in the real world.
 

Treasure finder

Sr. Member
Apr 4, 2006
464
60
Los Angeles
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium, Compass Gold Scanner, Maxi Pulse, Gardner with a 3 foot loop, PDF1000, & Dowsing rods,
Not too relevant. Here in the California desert our nuggets are usually in mineralized sand, not in the air. Also we hunt in All Metal
not Discriminate. How long can you swing the various detectors without getting tired. How well do they pinpoint on very small
nuggets. What is the battery life. These are all relevant questions for nugget shooters, but I do thank you for the test so far.
Rich
 

LuckyLarry

Hero Member
Dec 16, 2005
750
390
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
I had to sideline for awhile, too much quarreling, brand defensiveness, and seeing certain people waging war on others. It got to be too silly for me after awhile..
Primary Interest:
Other
George Payne believes in air test as basic indicators. In fact he still talks about them and how they do or don't work, and when. He is probably right since he (and also Keith Wills) are the two (main) men who initiated/created our discriminating detector circuits, our DD search coils (for Compass Electronics), variable filters (for Compass Electronics), workable ground balance and phase shift technology (Bounty Hunter), and many other concepts in metal detector technology. In fact, if it were not for George Payne and Keith Wills we likely would not have the detectors we now have. George is still at it too. He is "Da Man." Keith owns East Texas Metal Detector repairs.

jb-ms.com/Baron/payne.htm

jb-ms.com/Baron/IDmeters.html

I didn't think it was about nugget detectors either, but it did appear that they were using nuggets for one of the tests..
 

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signal_line

Silver Member
Nov 14, 2011
3,605
1,836
Detector(s) used
XP Deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I noticed you ran the AT Gold in DISC1 mode. The All Metal mode is what is recommended for gold hunting. More sensitive to small targets and deeper.
 

Longhair

Hero Member
May 26, 2012
781
418
Backside Of Nowhere In Mid-Michigan
Detector(s) used
Fisher F2,
Fisher 1280X,
MineLab Xterra 705,
MineLab Explorer SE
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The only problem with those articles that George wrote, is that there have been a few changes in technologies since 2002. The more digital processing that goes on, the more variations in how the signals are interpreted there can be, even though the root principals applied are unchanged. Transmit and receive at a given frequency are a matter of physics, but interpretation of the information design charateristics in the digital world can theoretically number like grains of sand.
 

LuckyLarry

Hero Member
Dec 16, 2005
750
390
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
I had to sideline for awhile, too much quarreling, brand defensiveness, and seeing certain people waging war on others. It got to be too silly for me after awhile..
Primary Interest:
Other
Well yes Longhair, down to the basics it is always a matter of physics, or even more precisely, down to chemistry and quantum mechanics. But in the real and practical world, without George we wouldn't have ever owned F2's, Xterra's, Tesoros, or Nautiluses, they never would have been invented, period. Without Ferdinand Verbiest we wouldn't have had automobiles or motorcycles this soon either. But the point I made was mostly about air tests, that they do have value to some degree, and in mineral-free soil they are (exact) duplicates of "in air" tests. We still use through modifications of varying kinds, the same type of signal manipulation that old George Payne ( a rather pleasant man, I might add) used in our original designs. As a classic example, a cz3d is still very similar to the old cz5 or newer cz70, although augmented in some ways just to give people a feeling that they have something new and very different, although they really don't. Ground balance still uses the same principals that George founded, and so do DD coils, etc. We are still living in the same old world of the 1970's through 1980's in the detector world, with mostly changes in how many toys they have, or not. Garrett still used the same phase-shift, delayed- audio response basics for their Ace series as we did back in the old Bounty Hunter Red Barons and Whites 5 and 6 series (BTW also George's phase-shift design). According to our current electronics engineers we are at a dead standstill in technology, and have been for several years now, so they spend time tweaking digitals instead of analogs. We just have new toys on them, different ways of tuning them, and different paint jobs on them, that's about all. This is why there is and has been for several years only 2 or so inches depth difference between one multi-freq or vlf detector and another, regardless of the price of the unit.

PS: I am now designing a (new) concept in metal detecting hardware. No, it won't be avaliable for another few months, but it should work out very well for many people, especially older detectorists and those of smaller stature.

Larry
 

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Longhair

Hero Member
May 26, 2012
781
418
Backside Of Nowhere In Mid-Michigan
Detector(s) used
Fisher F2,
Fisher 1280X,
MineLab Xterra 705,
MineLab Explorer SE
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
PS: I am now designing a (new) concept in metal detecting hardware. No, it won't be avaliable for another few months, but it should work out very well for many people, especially older detectorists and those of smaller stature.

Larry
I'll be looking forward to what you turn up Larry. Sounds interesting.
 

Treasure finder

Sr. Member
Apr 4, 2006
464
60
Los Angeles
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium, Compass Gold Scanner, Maxi Pulse, Gardner with a 3 foot loop, PDF1000, & Dowsing rods,
Interesting discussion Larry. For instance on my Compass Gold Scanner Pro the Power level rheostat won't turn, too stiff.
On a digital it might be push/pads and not a problem. However performance I believe would be about the same.
I will be interested in what you come up with.
Rich
 

LuckyLarry

Hero Member
Dec 16, 2005
750
390
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
I had to sideline for awhile, too much quarreling, brand defensiveness, and seeing certain people waging war on others. It got to be too silly for me after awhile..
Primary Interest:
Other
TF, many of those sticking resistors are caused by buildup of salt from ones hand, plus dust and dirt. If this is the case then WD-40 is a good product for cleaning them since it is basically a water emulsion (base), which is a water soluble, which is also a particle attractant (puts the stuff into suspension, like dish detergent does with food particles) . I wouldn't force the thing. It likely will free up after a spray or two, and a day or two wait time. Use a can of (Radio Shack) compressed air to blow out the residue when the drying is done. Compass touch pads are nearly impossible to find now, too bad. Keith Wills of East Texas Metal Detectors can likely repair your item since he was the man who increased the air depth on Compasses from 8' to around 11" while working as the main tech there. BTW, touch pads often have shorter lifespans than pots and switches do.

Larry
 

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Treasure finder

Sr. Member
Apr 4, 2006
464
60
Los Angeles
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium, Compass Gold Scanner, Maxi Pulse, Gardner with a 3 foot loop, PDF1000, & Dowsing rods,
Thanks Larry,
Maybe it was one trip to the beach for some dry sand use that caused the problem. I had thought about just changing the
pot, but haven't even looked at it yet. I will definitely try the WD40 trick. I did have it with Keith a while back when it was
erratic as all get out. It worked well till recently and now the meter won't swing to the right, but will still go to the left on
iron targets. It is still my favorite detector, but I stick to the Infinium for the beach.
Thanks,
Rich
 

OP
OP
E

extreme detecting

Full Member
Jun 21, 2012
171
96
East Coast
Detector(s) used
Nox 600, XP Deus 1 and Deus 2, Excal
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'm sure they (the machine manufacturer that recommends it) would love you to dig EVERY single target while out there running the machine in All Metal mode. Maybe we'll take a look at some machines with discrimination ON against machines running in All Metal...the results may be interesting...we'll see....

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=3181485
I noticed you ran the AT Gold in DISC1 mode. The All Metal mode is what is recommended for gold hunting. More sensitive to small targets and deeper.
 

Treasure finder

Sr. Member
Apr 4, 2006
464
60
Los Angeles
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium, Compass Gold Scanner, Maxi Pulse, Gardner with a 3 foot loop, PDF1000, & Dowsing rods,
The AT Gold advertises discriminated audio in a true all metal mode and I know it is more sensitive in all metal than discriminate.
A great feature IMO.
Rich
 

LuckyLarry

Hero Member
Dec 16, 2005
750
390
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
I had to sideline for awhile, too much quarreling, brand defensiveness, and seeing certain people waging war on others. It got to be too silly for me after awhile..
Primary Interest:
Other
TF: those meters have D'arsonval movements, and they are rather delicate. If the permanent magnet in them somehow dissipates through age or reverse voltage the magnet itself may be neutralized to a point of not being able to repel the EMF through the moving vein, thus causing an ineffective meter movement. However there may be a fix, some people have had decent results replacing them with old Whites meters and were happy with them. Those all had a little (somewhat soft material) screw included for readjusting the meter needle. It would be located at the bottom of the meter where the fulcrum axis is.. If that is not the problem it may be that a shunt or bypass circuit with an inline diode could be the problem. Other things could cause that too, but those are the first to check. Don't crank in too much voltage when checking it or you may be sorry..

Larry
 

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Treasure finder

Sr. Member
Apr 4, 2006
464
60
Los Angeles
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium, Compass Gold Scanner, Maxi Pulse, Gardner with a 3 foot loop, PDF1000, & Dowsing rods,
Thanks Larry,
It helps at least that I get that movement to the left when I hit iron, helpful when nugget hunting. I was a Microwave Radio tech
in the Signal Corps 1966-1969 which means I have some limited electronics knowledge, but I spent most of my time as a MARS
operator putting calls home for GIs. Basically a ham radio operator, and a smattering of Teletype, no solid state, all tube types.
Now all I want to do is dig metal out of the dirt, go figure,
Rich
 

signal_line

Silver Member
Nov 14, 2011
3,605
1,836
Detector(s) used
XP Deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

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