Need opinions on best prospecting vlf for the $$

Grumpie

Full Member
Oct 23, 2016
205
136
Cedar Park, Texas
Detector(s) used
Nokta fors gold plus, tesoro lobo supertraq, Makro gold racer, Nokta Makro Anfibio
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
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jadocs

Bronze Member
Jun 8, 2016
1,133
905
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I know, an old thread, but I wanted to add my minimal exp to this thread. I owned the goldbug Pro and now own the Garrett AT Gold. The Garrett ATG picked up a 6 grain and 8 grain flake so I know beyond a doubt that it does find gold. I am biased with that machine as I didn't find anything with the goldbug pro, but that is most likely due to not spending enough time on that machine. Like anything, you need to spend days and days to find gold sometimes. I haven't used my AT Gold for coin hunting yet, but from reviews it appears to be a good unit for that as well. Its something that I plan on trying.

How deep were those flakes?
 

enamel7

Gold Member
Apr 16, 2005
6,383
2,546
North Carolina
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I know, an old thread, but I wanted to add my minimal exp to this thread. I owned the goldbug Pro and now own the Garrett AT Gold. The Garrett ATG picked up a 6 grain and 8 grain flake so I know beyond a doubt that it does find gold. I am biased with that machine as I didn't find anything with the goldbug pro, but that is most likely due to not spending enough time on that machine. Like anything, you need to spend days and days to find gold sometimes. I haven't used my AT Gold for coin hunting yet, but from reviews it appears to be a good unit for that as well. Its something that I plan on trying.

They are great for coin hunting also.
 

TxGoldDigger

Jr. Member
Feb 17, 2015
22
4
Texas
Detector(s) used
Tesoro, Proline 2.5" combo
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
GB II is great but...The Minelab Gold Monster 1000 will be the vlf to beat....
 

jadocs

Bronze Member
Jun 8, 2016
1,133
905
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That gold monster is only 45 kHz if I remember correctly. The HF coils for the XP go up to 80khz.
 

TxGoldDigger

Jr. Member
Feb 17, 2015
22
4
Texas
Detector(s) used
Tesoro, Proline 2.5" combo
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I was at a demonstration for a LOT of different detectors, from what I saw:
1. The new Minelab Goldmonster 1000
2. The Goldbug II

No others compared. Many tests were run on various sizes and depths.....
 

jadocs

Bronze Member
Jun 8, 2016
1,133
905
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I was at a demonstration for a LOT of different detectors, from what I saw:
1. The new Minelab Goldmonster 1000
2. The Goldbug II

No others compared. Many tests were run on various sizes and depths.....

Did they have an XP with the 80 kHz Elliptical coil?
 

jadocs

Bronze Member
Jun 8, 2016
1,133
905
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yeah the elliptical 80khz is not due out until the end of the month. Interesting results though.
 

Ragnor

Sr. Member
Dec 7, 2015
445
422
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I had a GM3 as my first detector. Still cussing the guy that stole it. Wish I could find another one to replace it. The GM4 is what I have now and I am happy enough with it also. It gets a little weird sometimes. But the mountain i detect on is a giant battery. So yah know, it probably throws strange interference at every detector. It's even claimed a couple of F-16's over the years from instrument failure.

From all that I have read and seen GMT is another fine machine from whites electronics. I would not bother to consider any other brand of detector unless I won the lottery "mine lab".
 

laidback4sho

Hero Member
Aug 31, 2014
623
897
Laconia, NH
Detector(s) used
Currently:
XP Deus v4.1
Minelab Equinox 800
Fisher Gold Bug 2

Previously:
Garrett GTA 500
Garrett Ultra GTA 1000
Garrett GTAx 1250
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That gold monster is only 45 kHz if I remember correctly. The HF coils for the XP go up to 80khz.
I can most certainly vouch for the XP Deus with the 9" HF coil. I was out last weekend and found a nice .5 gram nugget with it.

But even more impressive is the fact that it was picking up the small specks of gold one would need a snuffer bottle or fine-tipped tweezers to grab. And that coil runs at 58.8 kHz.

After seeing how this 9" coil performs, I definitely will be ordering the elliptical coil, which runs at 81 kHz. I absolutely cannot wait to get that thing out in the field.

If anyone here is familiar with a little handheld unit called the Falcon MD20, then they know how sensitive it is on superfine flour gold. Well the 9" coil comes close to being as sensitive as that unit, despite the frequency difference. I think the Falcon runs in the 200 kHz range.

So as far as multi-use machines go, I don't think I've ever been more impressed with a detector than I am with the XP Deus 4.0. Not only did they cover all bases with this thing, they knocked it out of the park as far as I'm concerned.

Below is the .5 gram nugget from last weekend. Damn thing almost blew my headphones off. 2017-05-30_20.26.21.jpg
 

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Grumpie

Grumpie

Full Member
Oct 23, 2016
205
136
Cedar Park, Texas
Detector(s) used
Nokta fors gold plus, tesoro lobo supertraq, Makro gold racer, Nokta Makro Anfibio
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I can most certainly vouch for the XP Deus with the 9" HF coil. I was out last weekend and found a nice .5 gram nugget with it.

But even more impressive is the fact that it was picking up the small specks of gold one would need a snuffer bottle or fine-tipped tweezers to grab. And that coil runs at 58.8 kHz.

After seeing how this 9" coil performs, I definitely will be ordering the elliptical coil, which runs at 81 kHz. I absolutely cannot wait to get that thing out in the field.

If anyone here is familiar with a little handheld unit called the Falcon MD20, then they know how sensitive it is on superfine flour gold. Well the 9" coil comes close to being as sensitive as that unit, despite the frequency difference. I think the Falcon runs in the 200 kHz range.

So as far as multi-use machines go, I don't think I've ever been more impressed with a detector than I am with the XP Deus 4.0. Not only did they cover all bases with this thing, they knocked it out of the park as far as I'm concerned.

Below is the .5 gram nugget from last weekend. Damn thing almost blew my headphones off. View attachment 1459015

Very nice indeed
 

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OP
Grumpie

Grumpie

Full Member
Oct 23, 2016
205
136
Cedar Park, Texas
Detector(s) used
Nokta fors gold plus, tesoro lobo supertraq, Makro gold racer, Nokta Makro Anfibio
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I wouldn't part from my Gold Racer. With It's sensitivity it will pick up anything I would want to keep. I keep a paper thin #9 bird shot that I filed down and glued to a poker chip for when I'm out in the field for testing, and it picks it up just fine. I'm no expert at finding nuggets with it but my confidence in the machine and its ease of use keep me from buying another vlf.
 

Last edited:

laidback4sho

Hero Member
Aug 31, 2014
623
897
Laconia, NH
Detector(s) used
Currently:
XP Deus v4.1
Minelab Equinox 800
Fisher Gold Bug 2

Previously:
Garrett GTA 500
Garrett Ultra GTA 1000
Garrett GTAx 1250
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I wouldn't part from my Gold Racer. With It's sensitivity it will pick up anything I would want to keep. I keep a paper thin #9 bird shot that I filed down and glued to a poker chip for when I'm out in the field for testing, and it picks it up just fine. I'm no expert at finding nuggets with it but my confidence in the machine and its ease of use keep me from buying another vlf.
Yeah a buddy of mine wants a detector for gold but doesn't wanna spend the money for a Deus. I was actually thinking of suggesting the Gold Racer for him.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
 

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OP
Grumpie

Grumpie

Full Member
Oct 23, 2016
205
136
Cedar Park, Texas
Detector(s) used
Nokta fors gold plus, tesoro lobo supertraq, Makro gold racer, Nokta Makro Anfibio
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Apparently the racer2 is a very good small gold machine. Someone on here uses one and swears by it. A used one might be a little easier to come by than the gold racer. You just don't see too many used
gold racers for sale
 

Zip Zip

Full Member
Dec 10, 2015
115
88
Primary Interest:
Other
I can most certainly vouch for the XP Deus with the 9" HF coil. I was out last weekend and found a nice .5 gram nugget with it.

But even more impressive is the fact that it was picking up the small specks of gold one would need a snuffer bottle or fine-tipped tweezers to grab. And that coil runs at 58.8 kHz.

After seeing how this 9" coil performs, I definitely will be ordering the elliptical coil, which runs at 81 kHz. I absolutely cannot wait to get that thing out in the field.

If anyone here is familiar with a little handheld unit called the Falcon MD20, then they know how sensitive it is on superfine flour gold. Well the 9" coil comes close to being as sensitive as that unit, despite the frequency difference. I think the Falcon runs in the 200 kHz range.

So as far as multi-use machines go, I don't think I've ever been more impressed with a detector than I am with the XP Deus 4.0. Not only did they cover all bases with this thing, they knocked it out of the park as far as I'm concerned.

Below is the .5 gram nugget from last weekend. Damn thing almost blew my headphones off. View attachment 1459015

That nugget looks like a skull :)
 

seascene

Jr. Member
Feb 14, 2015
87
84
Sailboat coastal British Columbia
Detector(s) used
Presently Anfibio Muliti. Sold my MXT sport, TDI pro and Macro Gold Racer Just got April 2023 Deus 2 and Cscope 4 Pi (England made)
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I wouldn't part from my Gold Racer. With It's sensitivity it will pick up anything I would want to keep. I keep a paper thin #9 bird shot that I filed down and glued to a poker chip for when I'm out in the field for testing, and it picks it up just fine. I'm no expert at finding nuggets with it but my confidence in the machine and its ease of use keep me from buying another vlf.

... says it all. Can't argue with success. I have been thinking of the Racer 2 vs Racer.... ?
 

seascene

Jr. Member
Feb 14, 2015
87
84
Sailboat coastal British Columbia
Detector(s) used
Presently Anfibio Muliti. Sold my MXT sport, TDI pro and Macro Gold Racer Just got April 2023 Deus 2 and Cscope 4 Pi (England made)
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Impact?

Just sold my TDI so I am WAD. (without a detector). Having a good look at the Impact. My turf will yield small gold and 18th century long abandoned coastal homesteads.... silver coins left behind by European trade with first nations. Seems the BC coastal area has a dearth of detectorists. I could start a club, have a meeting and declare unanimous agreement on issues.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,472
54,929
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

beekbuster

Hero Member
Jan 17, 2015
750
1,676
Detector(s) used
gpx 4500
gpz (died in a fire. rip)
Primary Interest:
Other
i am very pleased with my minelab, if i were in the market another vlf, i would strongly consider the gold monster. i like your avatar treasure hunter
 

seascene

Jr. Member
Feb 14, 2015
87
84
Sailboat coastal British Columbia
Detector(s) used
Presently Anfibio Muliti. Sold my MXT sport, TDI pro and Macro Gold Racer Just got April 2023 Deus 2 and Cscope 4 Pi (England made)
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
i am very pleased with my minelab, if i were in the market another vlf, i would strongly consider the gold monster. i like your avatar treasure hunter

.... on its way.
 

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