The Monster arrives. And first field test.

[Chilli]

Got a call this morning from the dealer my Monster was there. Rain shmain I was in the car and on the way. Had a good talk about it with him as he'd been out with it a few times and loves it.
He knows his stuff and never BS's. Said its ridiculously quiet in the bad ground. When he was out a couple pulled up to say hi and mentioned they had the GM1000's and how noisy they were in that area driving them mad.
He pulled out the 2000 and set it up in a mode thats like the 1000, noisy and getting false signals. They said yeah that's just like our 1000s. He then said look at this and changed mode into the new hybrid one and it was quiet as a mouse. Apparently they looked at each other and said "we're getting the 2000". Unfortunately too much rain to get out with it for a few days here, hopefully Friday. Its rainproof but im not and hate detecting in the wet and rain.
Really looking forward to using this little beast. Its light as a feather, im liking it.
A quick pic on the way home between showers.

 

[AstralDruid]

Good luck !!!! hopefully a few banner finds coming your way !!

 

[Chilli]

Good luck !!!! hopefully a few banner finds coming your way !!

Thanks. May be few and far between but you never know. Its really a shallow hunting small gold detector which does its stuff within around the 5" range. Trying here at home on some very difficult specimens I have it nails them all really well. Im happy that it isn't a deep seeker as after yrs my back is done spending a couple of hrs digging out a deep target in rock hard ground. That's the reason I got rid of my beloved GPX 5000. My serious days are over, I'll be happy just getting out in the bush and scratching around with this finding little bits.

 

[Chilli]

First impressions?
Fantastic little beast.
Unfortunately stupid Google on my phone lost several pictures I took. Last time I use my phone and stupid Google, taking my little Sony camera in future.
Here's the place I was.

So I started in Benign setting using manual mode, that was too noisy and unusable. Normal was ok but a tad falsing. Difficult was so quiet it was like using a PI. I hardly needed to hit the ground rebalance at all. There were some hotrocks but mostly they were on or very near the surface and the Echowave audio sorted most out. It didn't take long to get to understand what was going on. I got two little bits there with one, photo vanished, easy 2 to 3 inches down. It amazed me to see a VLF do that in bad ground ignoring mineralisation.
I got another nearby about an inch down with a nice clear no ifs signal. Here's the scrape.

Now I forgot forestry was doing a roo cull in the area and I started to hear shots.
Not wanting to get hit by a stray high velocity slug I thought it best to move elsewhere.
At the next spot away from the cull area I tried different settings again and found Normal mode, which has a bit more punch, worked fine there. Echowave did a great job on most hotrocks but some that had obvious heavy iron oxide did give positive signals but gave a blurt or grunt on the end of the signal. Getting used to them took no time. The odd bit of buried charcoal did give a mellow signal but would disperse quickly when disturbed. I was seriously surprised by the depth on the three bits I got there. There was some gravels and clays but the Normal mode was easily workable there. Benign couldn't handle it. I was running 9 on the sensitivity. My old Garrett 24k there had to be turned down to 2 when I was there last with it when I had it.
Here's one of the bits that was easy 2 inches down and a great signal. Its in the dead center of the coil in the cleared section.

Was greeted by the sight of a nice shingle back lizard to take my mind off of the million flies swarming me.

And yep one even landed on the detector photo bombing.

Eventually it started to spit rain and as we are in for some nasty weather and the flies had worn my patience paper thin I called it quits.
5 tiny bits for .27 g. But hey, thats 57 bucks doing it pretty easy on just day one getting to know it. I suppose including mucking around with things to get used to it and the time detecting it ran for 4 hours. The battery level dropped to 2 bars after 3 1/2 hrs run time and was still there at 4. I feel 6 to 7 would see it at 1 and needing a change not long after.
Here's the 5 bits.

Im super impressed by this thing. Its feather light and I never once felt like switching arms like I used to now and then with my previous 24k or Xterra.
The only niggle I have with this is no wireless headphones. This day and age and for $1 shy of 3 grand I feel its stupidity on steroids and a crap act from Minelab, especially given they supply it with ridiculous earbuds like you used to use on mobile phones before the prevalence of Bluetooth wireless. They are flimsy cheap rubbish that wont last. I couldn't believe it when I saw them. 😵‍💫

Otherwise this is a little beast and im happy I got it. 👍
It has well and truly lived up to the hype.

 

[pepperj]

First impressions?
Fantastic little beast.
Unfortunately stupid Google on my phone lost several pictures I took. Last time I use my phone and stupid Google, taking my little Sony camera in future.
Here's the place I was.
View attachment 2230247
So I started in Benign setting using manual mode, that was too noisy and unusable. Normal was ok but a tad falsing. Difficult was so quiet it was like using a PI. I hardly needed to hit the ground rebalance at all. There were some hotrocks but mostly they were on or very near the surface and the Echowave audio sorted most out. It didn't take long to get to understand what was going on. I got two little bits there with one, photo vanished, easy 2 to 3 inches down. It amazed me to see a VLF do that in bad ground ignoring mineralisation.
I got another nearby about an inch down with a nice clear no ifs signal. Here's the scrape.
View attachment 2230248
Now I forgot forestry was doing a roo cull in the area and I started to hear shots.
Not wanting to get hit by a stray high velocity slug I thought it best to move elsewhere.
At the next spot away from the cull area I tried different settings again and found Normal mode, which has a bit more punch, worked fine there. Echowave did a great job on most hotrocks but some that had obvious heavy iron oxide did give positive signals but gave a blurt or grunt on the end of the signal. Getting used to them took no time. The odd bit of buried charcoal did give a mellow signal but would disperse quickly when disturbed. I was seriously surprised by the depth on the three bits I got there. There was some gravels and clays but the Normal mode was easily workable there. Benign couldn't handle it. I was running 9 on the sensitivity. My old Garrett 24k there had to be turned down to 2 when I was there last with it when I had it.
Here's one of the bits that was easy 2 inches down and a great signal. Its in the dead center of the coil in the cleared section.
View attachment 2230250
Was greeted by the sight of a nice shingle back lizard to take my mind off of the million flies swarming me.

And yep one even landed on the detector photo bombing.
View attachment 2230252
Eventually it started to spit rain and as we are in for some nasty weather and the flies had worn my patience paper thin I called it quits.
5 tiny bits for .27 g. But hey, thats 57 bucks doing it pretty easy on just day one getting to know it. I suppose including mucking around with things to get used to it and the time detecting it ran for 4 hours. The battery level dropped to 2 bars after 3 1/2 hrs run time and was still there at 4. I feel 6 to 7 would see it at 1 and needing a change not long after.
Here's the 5 bits.
View attachment 2230253
Im super impressed by this thing. Its feather light and I never once felt like switching arms like I used to now and then with my previous 24k or Xterra.
The only niggle I have with this is no wireless headphones. This day and age and for $1 shy of 3 grand I feel its stupidity on steroids and a crap act from Minelab, especially given they supply it with ridiculous earbuds like you used to use on mobile phones before the prevalence of Bluetooth wireless. They are flimsy cheap rubbish that wont last. I couldn't believe it when I saw them. 😵‍💫
Otherwise this is a little beast and im happy I got it. 👍
It has well and truly lived up to the hype.

Great to hear that you had a successful first outing with the machine.
Will shotgun pellets be an issue with it or with practice you can figure out trash?
Beautiful lizard, just need to train it to eat more flies 😋
If flies were gold........

 

[Gare]

Fantastic report Thank you for sharing

 

[Gare]

Good morning everyone

 

[releventchair]

Gold!
Congrats.
Congrats on the detector too.

 

[oldmxrat]

Great write-up Chilli, and pretty darn good results on the maiden voyage with it!
Looking forward to seeing all the yella you're going to be recovering with it

 

[Chilli]

Great to hear that you had a successful first outing with the machine.
Will shotgun pellets be an issue with it or with practice you can figure out trash?
Beautiful lizard, just need to train it to eat more flies 😋
If flies were gold........

I was told that the small shotty pellets come in under number 2 on the readout.
But I only dug up two tiny rat shot. Why anyone used rat shot where I was I can't figure out. It will take me some convincing how well it can sort out bigger shotgun shot. The Algoforce claimed it could but I saw very different results in the field to what I read others saying. Numbers on that were all over the place depending on shot size and ground. I certainly hope it can. Thankfully shotty pellets in our area are not as plentiful as they were around the Dunolly goldfields.
I love those lizards. There used to be one at my parents old place and it loved eating canned peaches.

 

[Chilli]

Great write-up Chilli, and pretty darn good results on the maiden voyage with it!
Looking forward to seeing all the yella you're going to be recovering with it

Thanks. Im dirty on losing all the pictures. Apparently after reading Peppers post elsewhere it was the result of that internet crash. Yeah im looking forward to using it, its definitely new tech and not just another VLF SMF.

 

[Chilli]

Gold!
Congrats.
Congrats on the detector too.

I reckon I may end up with a pair of those. Thanks for the video.

 

[releventchair]

I reckon I may end up with a pair of those. Thanks for the video.

I kept ruining headphone cables.
Used the volume control mod others were using. It worked out good.
Wire tied (plastic ziptied) the volume control to keep it secure.

update on the Rapoo wireless headset

after several hours of detecting today in an area with plenty of clad and hoping for silver, I was more able to check out the Rapoo headset. I quickly realized that the tones were not what I was used to, gone were the clear robust bell tones of the dimes and quarters. I was forced to keep a...

www.treasurenet.com

 

[Chilli]

I kept ruining headphone cables.
Used the volume control mod others were using. It worked out good.
Wire tied (plastic ziptied) the volume control to keep it secure.

update on the Rapoo wireless headset

after several hours of detecting today in an area with plenty of clad and hoping for silver, I was more able to check out the Rapoo headset. I quickly realized that the tones were not what I was used to, gone were the clear robust bell tones of the dimes and quarters. I was forced to keep a...

www.treasurenet.com

Best lasting I have ever used with a lead,cable is the Koss UR29.
Straight lead with inline volume control. They leave the supplied Minelab Koss for dead. They are the same ohms but the headset fits better and gives a better sound. The curly leads are notorious for short life spans as there is always some kind of pull on the lead as they stretch when detecting. My UR29s I got 2 pair 8 yrs ago. The first pair went 3 yrs on my GPX 5000, then a couple on the Garrett 24k, the Algoforce XTerra and now the Gold Monster. Still going and I have another pair spare. They're bullet proof detecting wise.

 

[releventchair]

Best lasting I have ever used with a lead,cable is the Koss UR29.
Straight lead with inline volume control. They leave the supplied Minelab Koss for dead. They are the same ohms but the headset fits better and gives a better sound. The curly leads are notorious for short life spans as there is always some kind of pull on the lead as they stretch when detecting. My UR29s I got 2 pair 8 yrs ago. The first pair went 3 yrs on my GPX 5000, then a couple on the Garrett 24k, the Algoforce XTerra and now the Gold Monster. Still going and I have another pair spare. They're bullet proof detecting wise.

Getting rid of the cable solved my problem.
Heck one time pushing a wheelchair up hill I sheared a cable in a wheel tangle.
Now it's the transmitter plugged into the control box and the volume control to it. No cable to headset.

 

[Chilli]

Here was yesterday and a few observations.
Hey im no expert and my ground isn't what others detect in so just from my perspective here.
Was in ground that had lots of small ironstone and quartz covering the surface.
It seemed to be quite fine running in it.
This is the ground below. The cleared area is where I got a tiny bit beneath it.
You can see the little ironstone bits in the dirt with the gold. The ground was covered and full of it.

So first observation was playing a lot with the sensitivity. Its seems very connected so to say with the overall Volume of the machine. As you turn it down its like turning down the volume at the same time. Even with volume up full this doesn't make any difference. I have had machines that this occurs with a little in the past but not to this extent with my Monster. Id like to see it retain more volume when the sensitivity needs to be reduced. I think it would need to be though seriously bad ground to reduce it to the point the volume is a struggle to hear as even here with all the ironstone it was well workable on high sensitivity settings.
I tried switching between Manual and the Auto settings, Auto 1 and Auto 2. Auto 1 is a reduction in sensitivity and overall volume and really softened the signals quite a bit. Switching between Manual and Auto 2 saw virtually no difference in signal. I watched Auto 2 vary in this ground between 8 to 10 sensitivity showing that it didn't consider in its programming that the ground was bad even though visually it was. Good sign as to its ground processing capabilities. I couldn't run Benign or Normal in this spot. Normal was too groaning as it swept over mineralisation and Benign was just screaming.
I had been told that Auto would soften the signal and wash it out somewhat. I didn't see this happen at all to be honest and recovered a couple of really tiny bits that I had to use spit on my finger to pick up. Like this one.

Im not convinced about the discrimination or ID probability unless its a surface item. When it indicated on the bar graph not probable as gold to an object on the surface or in the dust you could scrape away with your boot it was very accurate. But anything under this ground it was not in my opinion trustworthy. I had a couple of bits of gold indicate low numbers 1 to 3 and give a grunting tail off tone but when dug and they were in the dug out dirt on the surface they gave a clear non changing signal. The numbers were still low too. I feel its to me, in my situations ground wise, more a surface target indicator. I felt I could trust it after trying it over and over on surface target signals and checking them out. I wont be relying on it for any targets in or under the ground for those reasons.
Audio was a bit more chatty in this area than the other day but the other day was many kilometers away from any forms of interference whereas this place has a train line just 1 km away and power lines about the same distance. I tried several times to lessen it by turning the detector on and off holding it in the air, on the ground and so on each time but the same chatty result. Well workable but noticeable compared to the other place. Ended up with 7 little bits for the session.
Impressive machine though.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Couple questions.
I thought this was supposed to be a PI / VLF detector? Am I mistaking this with another new detector from Minelab?

What is that funny looking writing above where it says Monster 2000?

Does it have a manual ground balance mode and is it easy to use?

Does it have any discrimination abilities or an iron ID mode? I realize when your onto gold, you dig everything, but I’m interested in hitting old cabins along the way with a small coil to try and eke out a couple coins.

Other detectors have the ability to tune out the ground, but typically you lose depth. Let us know how it compared to other VLF detectors you have used in the gold fields please.

Last I knew, it was durable enough to treat it like a shovel and there was some connection to a shiny robot. Have they released the specs?

 

[Chilli]

Couple questions.
I thought this was supposed to be a PI / VLF detector? Am I mistaking this with another new detector from Minelab?

What is that funny looking writing above where it says Monster 2000?

Does it have a manual ground balance mode and is it easy to use?

Does it have any discrimination abilities or an iron ID mode? I realize when your onto gold, you dig everything, but I’m interested in hitting old cabins along the way with a small coil to try and eke out a couple coins.

Other detectors have the ability to tune out the ground, but typically you lose depth. Let us know how it compared to other VLF detectors you have used in the gold fields please.

Last I knew, it was durable enough to treat it like a shovel and there was some connection to a shiny robot. Have they released the specs?

Hi.
Its an SMF, simultaneous multi frequency (VLF frequencies) which uses Pulse Induction ground processing and tracking.
The writing is Arabic because Minelab is huge in Africa where lots of these will be headed for sales wise. Lots and lots of gold nuggets in Africa where Arabic is the main language.
Yes it has a Manual mode with fast track button and 2 Automatic Modes where it does everything itself. The Auto modes are very good.
It has an Iron probability meter on the top of the screen which extends from one side to the other. Right from centre is probably non ferrous left probably ferrous.
There are numbers on the screen that can assist also. As well as that there us Audio Echo Wave which gives tail end of the signal indications as well sound wise.
Its in a whole new class of its own tuning out the ground using Pulse Induction ground processing. Its a VLF SMF PI hybrid. There are 3 modes for the ground. Benign is for ground with no to little mineralisation and in that mode its not using the PI magic its running flat out in its higher frequency.
Normal can run in ground that is from mild to medium mineralisation. It can work from what I have tried in ground running high levels of gain (8 to 10) in ground that other VLFs would need to be run at minimum gain. Difficult setting works in ground that VLFs spit the dummy in and the Monster just cruises. There is a step down in Sensitivity going from Benign to Normal then Difficult but it isn't huge and seeing tiny bits that take 7 to make just .2 of a gram come in from 1 to 2 inches deep in bad highly mineralised ground with ironstone has to be seen to be believed. No VLF in the past has come anywhere near what the GM2000 can do. In the goldfields this will blow every other VLF out of the water. I started hunting gold with VLFs, a Groundhog, Fisher Goldbug, Minelab FT, XT 1800, Xterra 70 and 705, Whites Goldmasters, GMT, Garrett 24k. None compare remotely unless you were in near no mineralisation ground or very mild ground. I have never seen a VLF do what this is doing in our bad ground. At the moment it only has the 5" coil and is suited to the shallow stuff. A 10" is coming by the yrs end I believe.
Yeah they show in the add it being virtually thrown on the ground, utterly idiotic and then for no reason tipping water on it, again idiotic and clueless whoever thought that add was good, its stupid and immature really. Was definitely not thought up by and filmed by anyone with any prospecting knowledge or experience, neither the clueless poor attempt actors in it either.
They have not released a propper manual yet, stupid again, but one is coming soon they told me when I questioned them why there isn't one. There is no full specs info yet but again its coming soon they say. There is the basic info on their website but nothing more in depth at present.
I don't know about how good it would be hunting coins or relics to be honest and I won't be trying either. Im really just interested in gold.
Finally it is water resistant, hence the stupid for no reason pouring water over it with a canteen in the dumb add I guess. Its not waterproof as in submersible, shower proof probably best describes it, the battery compartment is sealed via an O-ring rubber seal.
Think I answered them all.
Cheers.

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

More importantly, we must focus on using it on land which has gold bits just laying about, that is the answer

 

[Tesorodeoro]

More importantly, we must focus on using it on land which has gold bits just laying about, that is the answer

Ah, but land that has gold bits laying around and specimen gold sliding down the hillside is also areas where there are bits of broken nails, hob nails, tiny remnants of rotten old cans, gold coins, ect. Lots of evidence of past efforts to recover gold. In this type of environment, the VLF typically shines on shallow targets compared to the most expensive PI detector that Minelab makes.

A PI detector will break a young man’s back like a potato chip chasing bits of trash. Having the best of both worlds would be game changing if that’s actually the case. It sounds like it might just be a better VLF