New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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Question for JW from Newbie to forum

Rex		Posted : Thursday, 11 November 2010 11:24:46 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hi All and John (hopefully) I have been watching your adventures in Queenstown with great interest as I live in queenstown. I have been fossicking now for approx 2.5 years mainly with a pan and sluice box. I got the fever when a friend took me down the Shotover river, I panned out my first few flakes and I was hooked. I now use a High banker with a bilge pump run from a car battery for the water. This setup works very well. However over this period I have only collected approx 3 grams of gold a few flakes at a time. I have also had a Goldbug II metal detector for about 18 months. I tried it for some time when I first got it but all I could find was trash. About 1 month ago I decided to really give it a go with the Goldbug and after a lot of testing with burried lead Iron and small gold nuggets I finally got the setup right. Since then I have found 63 small nuggets (all below 1.1 grams each however) I am truly amazed at the Goldbugs ability to detect a nugget (or should it be flake) of 0.05 grams at a depth of up to 2 " under ground. All these nuggets were found in one area by the way. The only issue I have with the goldbug is it is quite suseptable to hot rocks and its depth on larger nuggets isnt so good so having just sold my motorbike I decided to invest in a second hand GPX 4500 which I got from Aus. I have had it approx 1 week now and so far I am very dissapointed. I am using the 11" DD coil (as this is what it was supplied with)Its seems that no matter how I set it up the smallest nugget it will detect is 0.2 grams and thats on the surface. If I bury it more than about 1", it doesnt detect it at all. Can you give me some pointer to setup, or maybe I need a Mono coil ? Thanks Rex
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nzgold		Posted : Friday, 12 November 2010 6:06:26 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 5/08/2010(UTC) Posts: 97 Location: New Zealand Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 20 time(s) in 19 post(s)		Hi Rex, what Timings have you got your 4500 set up in? ie Enhance, Sensitive Smooth, Normal, etc. The Minelabs are not as good as your goldbug on small shallow nuggets, but you should still be able pick up a 0.2 grammer OK. You're probably pushing it a little bit with the DD, but if you get it set up correct It should pick it up fine. Best Timings to stick to with the DD are Normal, and Sensitive Extra for shallow bedrock hunting. It is a big learning curve with the new Minelabs. I know this, after struggling for a while with the 4000 that my father bought. It took us a while to get the hang of it, but now we can consistently find gold with it. The hardest thing we found was once we had the detector sorted, to find the right spot. It sounds like you've got the right spot, just need to master the detector. If you haven't already,(Have you?) get Jonathan Porter's DVD on the GPX 4500. It shortens the learning curve A LOT! I didn't even know that JP's DVDs existed until I bumped into a wellknown QT detectorist up in them thar hills, and he gave me a lot of good advice. It'd be easier to answer your settings Q. if you post up what settings you are using (Front endcap, and down the LCD Menu also. Hope this helps a little I'll let John explain the rest, he knows a lot more about it than I. Cheers

Rex		Posted : Friday, 12 November 2010 8:50:39 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hi NZgold Thanks very much for the reply. The settings I am using are as follows: Front Control Panel Search Mode = CUSTOM Soil/ Timings = ENHANCE Ground Balance = Fixed Coil/ Rx = DD Main Menue Vol Limit = 6 GB Type = Gen Special = Sharp Threshold = just audible - stable non-wavering sound General Motion = very slow RX Gain = 7 to 15 (stabilize wavering threshold by tuning down) use as high as possible Audio = Boost Audio Tone = 20 (I can hear this tone much better as I am quite old) Stabilizer = 1 Signal = 10 Target Vol = 19 Response = normal Tracking = slow Iron Reject = off These setting were recommended to me by a guy in Aus but the ground is much more mineralised there. I have ordered the DVD The Outback Prospector ... The SETA Project Is this the one you mean ? Cheers
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nzgold		Posted : Friday, 12 November 2010 9:53:58 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 5/08/2010(UTC) Posts: 97 Location: New Zealand Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 20 time(s) in 19 post(s)		Yep, the Seta Project DVD is the one I was meaning. It'll help a lot. Settings: Ok, I have a 4000, which doesn't have everything that the 4500 has, (So I have not used ENHANCE before) but the only obvious things that I would personally change are the motion, change this from very slow to either slow or medium. Slow normally works good for me with the 11" DD, It helps provide a slightly more obvious target response, while the response in very slow will be broader. If you can, run the detector's motion at medium with the DD, but often because of powerlines etc, slow will run quieter. (And a really quiet detector is what you are after) And I would run the audio in either Normal (I use this most of the time) Or Deep, rather than boost ( I personally find that Boost makes the detector run a bit noisy, and I like to have a quiet detector and just look for small responses.) Apart from that, I can't notice anything else that I would change, but I'm not too sure on all of the modes and settings on the 4500, so if you wanted some more info, you could go to http://golddetecting.4umer.net And ask the guys there about your settings, otherwise JW or someone on this forum who knows more on the 4500 may be able to help you out Cheers

Rex		Posted : Friday, 12 November 2010 12:21:49 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Thanks very much for all that. I will give it a try next week when I can get out again. (I work the weekends on the craft market. I am a Glass and Silver jeweller) Hopefully the DVDs will come then also. Just a quick question. one of the areas where I fossick has low voltage power lines (Not the huge pylons) about 50 metres from my fossicking hole and when I try to use the 4500 there I keep getting random beeps from it. Very confusing so I reverted to the Goldbug which was fine. What distance do you need to be away from low voltage lines to be able to work effectively ? approx. and how far from the big pylons approx. I know thats a difficult question but an experienced guess will do to give me an idea. Thanks again Rex
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nzgold		Posted : Friday, 12 November 2010 1:49:29 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 5/08/2010(UTC) Posts: 97 Location: New Zealand Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 20 time(s) in 19 post(s)		Hmmmmm. A bit hard to do an estimate but at a guess I'd say about 20-30 metres.The best thing to do to try and get rid of this is to point the coil at the lines when autotuning, and before you hit the tune button, turn the gain up higher, so it is running noisier, and then once autotune is finished, turn the gain back down until the machine is running smooth. I know what you mean, those random pings can be really annoying. If it is too bad, and distracting, or you want to have a go right beneath the powerlines, you could put the coil/Rx on endcap into cancel, Signal to inverted, then crank the gain up a bit. This is doesn't go very deep however, so the Goldbug would put it out of business, unless you have some deeper crevices, or dips in the bedrock, or a gravel wash etc. that you want to scan. Good luck :) PS. It just occurred to me that it could've been audio boost on your detector that was making it worse.... I find the 4000 & DD to handle the powerlines reasonably well.

mintcar		Posted : Friday, 12 November 2010 3:09:41 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 30/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 32 Location: nelson Thanks: 102 times Was thanked: 7 time(s) in 7 post(s)		Hi Rex I spent some time in your area with my 4500 in March of this year, I did not find any gold with the detector, but I did find every bloody lead bullet and shotgun pellet that was in the area I am very pleased with the settings I was useing because if I was close to gold I would of found it with these settings I will give you I use a mono coil. Front control panel search mode Deep soil timings Enhance ground balance fixed coil/rx mono main menue vol limit 15 ground balance type general special sensitive xtra audio type normal audio tone 33 ( I am old to ) stabilizer 11 signal 19 target volume 10 response normal tracking slow iron reject off manual tune between 80 - 100 I hope these settings will help you, I broke my left leg up the back of waitiri stn down there a week before labour weekend hope to be back there when my leg is ok. Bill.

Rex		Posted : Friday, 12 November 2010 11:53:45 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hi Both Thanks Bill and NZgold I will try those settings out next week. When I was using the Goldbug last week I was finding some very small pieces and the Discriminator switch packed up so that scuppered gold finding for the day. I tried everywhere to find a new switch (Double pole, Double Throw, Minature Toggle switch)without any luck. Then I was in a Wholesalers called Redpath and noticed an RS catalogue under the bench. RS are one of the biggest electronic component suppliers in rhe UK so I ordered one from there catalogue (NZ branch)and it came next day. I stripped down the Goldbug, fitted the new switch and its good as Gold now. Considerably better than sending it to the states for repair. Cheers
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kiwijw		Posted : Saturday, 13 November 2010 10:23:54 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		Hi there Rex & everybody else, Sorry I have been VERY quiet on here since leaving the south island. I am in mourning & a state of depression since leaving the isle of gold nuggets. The coromandel gold just aint the same. I have been out up here with my dredge & will do a seperate post on what I found. But to answer your question on here Rex it looks like you have had some great advice. I cant be of much help to you as I run a GP 3000 & the 4000 & 4500 are slightly different beasts & I havnt used either. I do have JP's GPX factor DVD which was on the 4000 & any advice from him is worth its weight in gold as you will have found out. Sure shortens the learning curve that is for sure. The secret to successful detecting is to get to know your machine inside out. Become one with it, ground balance your mind & tune yourself in with it, get in that zone & it will become like a natural extention of you arm. Have a good range of coils (size & mono's & DD's) as they all have a purpose for different size gold & different depth gold, electrical magnetic interference (EMI) soil dampness, atmosphereic conditions etc etc. It all increases your chances of getting as much gold out of an area as you can. Good luck & show us some of your finds Happy hunting JW :)

Rex		Posted : Saturday, 13 November 2010 11:47:54 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hi John Thanks for the advice. I rings very true after my experience with the Goldbug II I didnt find anything but junk until I reall spent some time with it and some gold / lead / iorn and hot rock samples to check out the responses of each at different depths and in different ground. I suspect it will take a little longer with the GPX 4500 though. Attached a pic if some of my tiny nuggets. oops I cant seem to be able to attach an image Help please Thanks again Rex [img][/img] File Attachment(s): Gold.JPG
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kiwisouth		Posted : Sunday, 14 November 2010 8:08:39 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 3/04/2010(UTC) Posts: 326 Location: Blenheim (Renwick) Thanks: 39 times Was thanked: 105 time(s) in 83 post(s)		I would be very happy to find all tha gold on my river excursions. I think I might have to try further afield than the rivers around Murchison. I have a Minelab Quattro. Steep learning curve with that one, much preferred my old sovereign. I was threatening to sell it so I could take up kayaking but told to persevere. Take up kayaking next year perhaps, then I'll be able to get to other areas on the rivers Cheers Dave
		Nulli Illigitimi Carborundum
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Rex		Posted : Sunday, 14 November 2010 8:17:27 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hi Dave Funny you should say that. I went out this morning with both mi detectors and decided to give the GPX 4500 a good go. After 2 hours I had 6 airgun pellets 4 12 bore cartridges and a small steel bolt. so I went back to my old Goldbug and within the nest 2 hour found 3 nuggets 1 at 1 gram and the other 2 were sub 0.1 gram. I will try somewhere new tomorrow to see if I can break my duck with the GPX. Cheers Rex
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kiwijw		Posted : Wednesday, 17 November 2010 2:03:10 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		Hi Guys, Rex your 4500 should have found that 1 grammer & even that .1 grammer. What size coil are you using? The smallest I have found with my 3000 is .05 of a gram using the little coiltek 10" X 5" joey mono coil. Thats it top left Kiwisouth, I dont think your Quattro or sovereign will really cut it looking for gold out in the gold fields. I think Gavin was using a Quattro when I took him out in Arrowtown. Happy hunting regards JW :)

Rex		Posted : Wednesday, 17 November 2010 11:54:04 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hi JW I have been out 3 times this week with the 4500 but no luck at all. I really need to find a place where the is some gold that can be detected from the surface. All I am getting is bullets Shells, Nails and bits of old gavanised iron. I cant really use the 4500 down my hole where I have found all my gold to date as the coil is way too big (11" DD) I have a Joey on order but its not due to come untill next week. Anyway the hole is pretty much finished now. I have received the DVDs and watched one of them. They are very good and have helped a lot with setup. When I get the Joey I will do a comparison with the Goldbug II as the coils will be pretty much the same then. I went to Cromwell on Monday in some old workings but it was full of rabbits and so ther were .22 shell cases and lead bullets every couple of yards. A complete nightmare. I would get more money selling off the scrap brass than I would for the none existant gold HaHa. Having done a lot more testing now I am sure the answer to detecting small nuggets is the coil type once you have mastered the settings. The 11" DD just doesnt cut it on small nuggets. By the way haw do you get your pictures to come up in your posts ? when I attach one it come up as an address in a bar at the bottom of the post and is sometimes difficult to open. I have a couple of pics to include Cheers Rex
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kiwijw		Posted : Thursday, 18 November 2010 11:33:23 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		Hi Rex, If you are finding all that rubbish & there is gold present then you will find the gold as well. Dont forget that you wont be the first person who has detected where ever it is that you detect. It would have been gone over by heaps of detectors. The rubbish you are finding is all part of detecting. It becomes a numbers game. You will generally always find far more rubbish than gold on a percentage basis. You could try digging your hole bigger to get your coil in there. Best bet is to target exposed bedrock or very shallow bedrock. You will do better when you get your smaller coil. Swing it slow & low & listen hard for that slight threshold change, no matter how slight investergate it. It is all a learning curve, like anything. But if you stick with it you will get a "feel" for the most likely spots & areas & you will get to recognise good targets from bad. With practice & perseverance comes experiance & success. Good luck. Happy hunting JW :)

Rex		Posted : Thursday, 18 November 2010 1:34:19 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Thanks for that. I have already dug the hole as far as it will go with the surrounding rocks so its a dead end now and I didnt find anything in the last half Metre of dirt anyway. I agree with what you are saying about having to dig a lot of rubish to find a bit of gold due to the odds. I will stick at it. By the way do you have an answer for my other query ie How do you get your pictures to come up in your posts ? when I attach one it comes up as an address in a bar at the bottom of the post and is sometimes difficult to open. I have a couple of pics to include Cheers
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kiwijw		Posted : Thursday, 18 November 2010 1:57:49 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		Hi Rex, Opps sorry forgot that one. You need to save your pics to a photo hosting site, I use Photbucket. From there you can add them to forum pages. The bonus of saving pics to a photo hosting site is that if anything happens to your comptuer your pics will be save. Try a goggle search on photo bucket or try photo bucket.com. If you have no joy let me know & I can probably cut & paste the steps required. JW :)

Rex		Posted : Friday, 19 November 2010 12:45:34 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hi JW Thanks very much for that. I will give it a try when I get a chance. I work at the weekends.
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Rex		Posted : Friday, 19 November 2010 9:26:07 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 11/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 24 Location: Queenstown Thanks: 4 times Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hi JW I have created an account with Photo Bucket and uploaded some pictures to it. Can you tell me how to include them in my posts please thanks Rex Edited by user Friday, 19 November 2010 9:29:37 AM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified
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Juggie		Posted : Friday, 26 November 2010 8:54:21 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 4/11/2010(UTC) Posts: 32 Location: Wellington Was thanked: 14 time(s) in 9 post(s)		Rex I haven't used Photo Bucket for about a year, but this is what I remember. When you view your photos in Photo Bucket, there are various links below it ... choose the one you want & copy / paste. SORRY if I'm wrong. Edited by user Friday, 26 November 2010 8:54:59 AM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

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