First Go At Detecting (Minelab GM 1000)

[NorCal7]

After 7 years of prospecting, I finally bought my first detector and went to a well known dealer. After a lot of research, I had the search down to the Goldbug 2, or GMT. After talking to the dealer in person, I left with the Minelab GM 1000. The ease of use was appealing and he was leaning that way FOR me, which made me more comfortable (Not to mention the reputation for quality gold machines they produce).

I couldn't get any leads from him on WHERE I could try it out for some success, so I went to a "pay to play" claim in Tuolumne County. On factory quick start, I couldn't take two steps without a target- most targets would scream and bounce between full non-ferrous, then back to ferrous... Once in a while I would see the machine was picking up full ferrous and not make a peep. I began digging all of the targets that seemed schizophrenic in the readings and recovered a ton of nails, tiny foil bits, a very old spike and bottle caps.

I know this is the norm for most "gold" detectors, and you should dig every target to be sure, however, this machine from everything I have read and watched should be able to discriminate, even in high trash, or highly mineralized ground?

Anyone else having these issues with the readings? It didn't matter which coil I used (I tried both for about 4 hours each).

Any help is appreciated!

 

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[Gravelwasher]

1st time user of any machine you need to practice digging all the tones to see what its telling you. Then you may be able to notice a pattern and only dig the better sounds in the better locations.
Hopefully someone with Monster experience will give you some settings help.

Take it out wherever you can during the week and just practice digging targets up and see what you find as you learn the machine.

 

[arizau]

Disclaimer: I am far from being an expert at metal detecting.

What I have read, and what you said "is to dig all targets". This is the kicker for me though, also from what I have read, you are apparently detecting on ground that has never been detected before or it has and other detectorists missed those targets and probably other targets including gold if there is any to be found where you are. It seems to me that in either case you are advantaged with your machine. I think you should continue with what you have been doing and dig all targets. I think that using discrimination is mostly used for coin or jewelry shooting on beaches, in parks etc. so they don't dig pull tabs, iron targets, etc., but not for prospecting. Yes, I have read about different tones giving a clue that it may be trash but I have also read of others digging those targets and finding the good stuff beneath them, next to them or even inside of cans (coins, etc.) after they were dug. As I said before, I am no expert but the above makes perfect sense to me and is what I do in hopes of finding my first gold with a detector and yeah, I am tired of digging all that trash too.

Good luck.

 

[Assembler]

Disclaimer: I am far from being an expert at metal detecting.

What I have read, and what you said "is to dig all targets". This is the kicker for me though, also from what I have read, you are apparently detecting on ground that has never been detected before or it has and other detectorists missed those targets and probably other targets including gold if there is any to be found where you are. It seems to me that in either case you are advantaged with your machine. I think you should continue with what you have been doing and dig all targets. I think that using discrimination is mostly used for coin or jewelry shooting on beaches, in parks etc. so they don't dig pull tabs, iron targets, etc., but not for prospecting. Yes, I have read about different tones giving a clue that it may be trash but I have also read of others digging those targets and finding the good stuff beneath them, next to them or even inside of cans (coins, etc.) after they were dug. As I said before, I am no expert but the above makes perfect sense to me and is what I do in hopes of finding my first gold with a detector and yeah, I am tired of digging all that trash too.

Good luck.

Some ideas here.
First if you can buy the smallest coil you can get for your detector. Second if you can try 'Re tuning on every target' to try to get the iron to "Null out" (Older detectors have no trouble with this in general). Third remove all unwanted background targets by using a magnet first then if necessary pick up the rock sample of interest off the ground and then metal detect the target / sample rock. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[beekbuster]

search out bedrock, your success is hiding in the cracks

 

[Assembler]

search out bedrock, your success is hiding in the cracks

Yes a big plus there should be less metal junk in the cracks as well. However the same is true when one starts to pick up rock samples away from the background / ground as well.

 

[Gravelwasher]

The more targets you recover with the machine the more comfortable you will feel.

I didn't find or expect to find anything good in my yard but the practice really helped.

Remember it's a metal detector not a gold detector. You have to look at an area and wonder whats in the ground with the gold, be curious, it helps get you through the trash.

 

[63bkpkr]

NorCal17,
I suspect you've already done this but just in case - look for your machine on TNET and if you have too, on other sites, to glean a few tidbits of knowledge from other owners of the same machine. You could also go back to the dealer you purchased your machine from, share what you've been going through and possibly he can give you some tips. Find a club in your area, attend a session as a visitor and ask if anyone else has this machine and how they set it up.

What are you using as a test sample? lead, brass, nickel, a gold flake - a "small" piece of any of these metals will or should cause your machine to react and as they are all "heavier metals" they will help you to understand your machine once you have it over gold. You can "Bench Test" your machine with different sizes and types of metals to learn what it does. Note: you must be clean of all metals when you perform this test, even the rivets of your pants will change the results.

Note: a small sample of the metal of your choice glued to a colorful poker chip will make it easier to find your test sample('s) out in the 'real world'. Shoe Goo or any aggressive glue will hold up for many years of use. Test your sample size before gluing to the poker chip to confirm your machine see's it. You could also use graduated sizes of the metal of your choice on different chips as each size will respond somewhat differently.

IF you can, construct a "Test Garden" of samples of different known metals at different depths in the ground at home. First make a plan or map of what the test garden will look like allowing plenty of room so you do not detect a second target on either side of your swing, detect the ground you will use to eliminate all pre-existing targets, plant your known targets according to your Test Garden Map at the depths you've chosen, water it down to settle the ground and to hopefully eliminate air pockets. At one spot in your test garden, way out at one end, bury one target that is the same metal and depth as one of your other targets but take a Small amount of iron filings and dust the ground over that one target to approximate Mineralization of the ground. Go ahead and practice

Note: very large pieces of metal will overload any detector so when you are out in the field do not discount overload signals. There was a post from an Oregon miner that was checking a newly opened virgin section of ground using a Minelab 4000, the result was that his machine overloaded, when he went to clear the junk target out of his way he found it was a medium potato sized Gold Nugget. I hope you have this problem!

Best of success..................63bkpkr

 

[NorCal7]

Thanks for all of the advise everyone. I’ve done a bit of research on Tnet and the internet and it’s possible i’m having machine issues, however, there was a good point made about learning the machines tendendencies and figuring out from there whether it’s purely a learning curve issue, or in fact the machine. I’m just going to keep digging and see what the results tell me. I took a vial with 3 pickers in it and put it out in the yard where there was no trash signal to test it on different settings and got signals at around 6”...sometimes it did the back and forth signal like it was confused and sometimes sounded with no visual on the screen..

Honestly, it’s fun at the end of the day to see a grab bag of random things I’ve pulled out, even the old boot tacs and square nails.

Appreciate the help everyone!

 

[mattt]

The guy who found the Butte nugget near Chico ca a few years back thought the detector hit on metal dug it up any way and found a 400,000 nugget

 

[Peyton Manning]

I believe the best tool for a detector is your ears not a screen or readings

 

[mytimetoshine]

From my experience. You cannot pay for detecing results or knowledge. I spent good money on a well reviewed detector and i can not make heads or tails of the signals im recieving. The numbers i get jump all over the place, i either get tons of crazy noise or none at all. Its been a complete bust with zero gold recovered. It takes a lot of study and more importantly practice to get gold in a pan. Apparently detecting is even more so. Its a highly skilled art and results have less to do with the detector and much more to do with the operator. One day i hope to aquire the skill needed but i am now of the opinion even a 10k detector would not find me gold because for whatever reason im not understanding the feedback the machine is giving me.

 

[mattt]

I bought a at gold last year and up near canyon dam plumas county ca dug many holes and found rocks that set the detector off Still new to detecting but hope to get it

 

[oldkoot]

After 7 years of prospecting, I finally bought my first detector and went to a well known dealer. After a lot of research, I had the search down to the Goldbug 2, or GMT. After talking to the dealer in person, I left with the Minelab GM 1000. The ease of use was appealing and he was leaning that way FOR me, which made me more comfortable (Not to mention the reputation for quality gold machines they produce).

I couldn't get any leads from him on WHERE I could try it out for some success, so I went to a "pay to play" claim in Tuolumne County. On factory quick start, I couldn't take two steps without a target- most targets would scream and bounce between full non-ferrous, then back to ferrous... Once in a while I would see the machine was picking up full ferrous and not make a peep. I began digging all of the targets that seemed schizophrenic in the readings and recovered a ton of nails, tiny foil bits, a very old spike and bottle caps.

I know this is the norm for most "gold" detectors, and you should dig every target to be sure, however, this machine from everything I have read and watched should be able to discriminate, even in high trash, or highly mineralized ground?

Anyone else having these issues with the readings? It didn't matter which coil I used (I tried both for about 4 hours each).

Any help is appreciated!

It sounds to me like you have the GM 1000 set to deep all metal mode and the sensitivity set to max the GM 1000 is a vary sensitive gold detector try this with it try setting it to the discrimination mode and set the auto sensitivity plus to on there is two auto sens plus settings try one and then the other and see if it does not quite down if I am running in manual sensitivity I am never set at max sens

there has been reports of bump falsing with the GM 1000 but I have never experienced any of the issues that have been reported mine has always ran like it is supposed to

 

[NorCal7]

I’ve definitely had it bump false a handful of times, but it’s not every time. I’m going to keep playing with the settings until I find that happy zone. There really isn’t much to this machine settings wise. I watched a video with an experienced nugget shooter reviewing and he said this is just a machine you have to trust and it’s hard believing it’s doing it’s job until it finds something. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Just_curious]

I hate my GM1000. It might be great in some areas, but I can't even use it without turning the sensitivity all the way down. I bought it like 3 months ago and am definitely going to sell it to fund something different. I wish they would have ditched the screen and auto track etc, and put a manual ground balance o it!

 

[Assembler]

I hate my GM1000. It might be great in some areas, but I can't even use it without turning the sensitivity all the way down. I bought it like 3 months ago and am definitely going to sell it to fund something different. I wish they would have ditched the screen and auto track etc, and put a manual ground balance o it!

A manual ground balance would help at times if it can be turned off?

 

[Just_curious]

Sure, I guess if there was an option to either manual balance or use auto. Bottom line is, my same frequency detector that has manual ground balance does fine and only beeps on targets, and will disc. iron. The gm1000 that has only auto ground balance goes nuts and beeps at any thing and can't discriminate or handle black sand

 

[Assembler]

Sure, I guess if there was an option to either manual balance or use auto. Bottom line is, my same frequency detector that has manual ground balance does fine and only beeps on targets, and will disc. iron. The gm1000 that has only auto ground balance goes nuts and beeps at any thing and can't discriminate or handle black sand

Just checking if the auto ground balance can be turned off when wanted.

 

[Just_curious]

Yes you can...but whether it's on or off, it's still difficult. It could just be my region as well because I know others loved them.