AM and Disc Set up on GB DP Help

[amberjack]

I am a bit confused about setting up the AM and disc on the Gold Bug DP .

only new to this hobby so have no reference point to compare too! and setting up the machine to best possible detect mode, been using it on the beach!

i was under the impression that to search in Disc the right button ( threshold) had to be all the way back to counter clock wise so it clicked in there and then once i move it clock wise from that clicked in position i am then in All Metal?

so basically i need some help setting up this threshold button so i can run smooth and quite in Disc mode but i have this feeling i am not doing it right!

any help would be much appreciated!!

 

[hershey1]

Turn on your machine with the left button and set the white mark at 12 o'clock position. Next turn the right button clockwise until you can hear a slight hum or threshold sound. Now push in and hold the middle button and pump your coil up and down until the large display numbers match the number in the lower bottom right on your screen when they match release the ground grab button. Now if you are going to hunt in disc. turn the right knob back counterclockwise until it clicks. When you have done that press the plus button and set your discrimination to 40. Watch the lower right hand corner of your screen and you will see the numbers moving and stop at 40. Now turn your left button clockwise all the way to the right this is your sensitivity setting if the machine is quiet start hunting. If the machine starts chattering turn the sensitivity back a little until the machine is smooth. That should get you started hunting in disc. mode.If you want to hunt in all metal then after you ground balance the machine do not turn the right button back counterclockwise. Leave it in the 12 o'clock position. You should hear a slight threshold sound. When hunting in all metal the left knob will then adjust your gain. If you are just getting started I would suggest starting in the disc. mode then as you get more experience move to all metal if you want to. Take your time you have a very good machine and you will be finding stuff in no time. Good luck hope this helps. HH

 

[amberjack]

Hi hershey1

thanks heaps! sounds like i have been doing it right i just needed to know that i am doing it right it would not be good if i was doing it wrong and nobody told me, as i am new with this machine and have no one in Australia to show me, when i put it just in to AM or to set the Ground Balance doesn't matter what i do the hum even just hearing it its chattering cant seem to stop it even if i turn the gain right down in short its driving me crazy!!

just to confirm when hunting in Disc mode the machine should be quite only makes a noise if a target is found and the threshold button all the way to the right so it is clicked in down the bottom and leave it there!?

thanks again for your time and effort its much appreciated!!

 

[hershey1]

The machine is quiet in disc but like you said you will hear a target. Now the deeper the target the lower your volume will be and also indicated by the bars on the left of the target ID number. You was doing it right the machines is so quiet it makes you wonder. Well get out there and find some gold. HH

 

[amberjack]

yes i recon its so quiet wonder if its working had a real faint signal yesterday but solid no sign of other metals so dug and found a $2 coin in the sand was at least 1 foot down very amazed and happy with that result! they are about as big as your nickels but thicker and made of copper and nickel.

so it likes round things but have found with bottle tops on the edge of the signal it sounds like AM radio static, don't get that with good targets like coins so its all learning what the machine is telling me!

now i need a pin pointer that picks out all metals any suggestions on a good one?

thanks heaps for the help and reassurance!

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

n/t

 

[godigit1]

yes i recon its so quiet wonder if its working had a real faint signal yesterday but solid no sign of other metals so dug and found a $2 coin in the sand was at least 1 foot down very amazed and happy with that result! they are about as big as your nickels but thicker and made of copper and nickel.

so it likes round things but have found with bottle tops on the edge of the signal it sounds like AM radio static, don't get that with good targets like coins so its all learning what the machine is telling me!

now i need a pin pointer that picks out all metals any suggestions on a good one?

thanks heaps for the help and reassurance!

Hey Amberjack
At the top of this forum Dave J has a post on bottle caps and it really works well with the 11 dd coil to use the front and back edge after pinpointing to help Id Bottle caps and I have also found it helps on square nails.
As for a pin pointer everyone seems to really like the pro pointer. I have a vibraprobe 580 but don't recommend it for the GB because of it talks to the GB.
Also it slows me down as I have problems with it not wanting to shut off right away. The good thing is I can hunt in the rain and stuff it in the watter filed hole and not worry about it.
HH

 

[amberjack]

Hi godigit1

thanks for the info! i bit the bullet and brought a Garrett pin pointer i will need it as i want to do parks but i don't want to dig creators as some may get upset? plus less digging sounds good, i don't think in Australia many people do parks so it may look a bit strange to some people!

so there are plenty of them here! parks and want to have a go!
like there is this big touch footy comp thing just down the Rd every year like thousands of people get down there changing clothes running around and as far as i know nobody detects there so am looking forward to having a go at places like this! it would be just for modern coins and jewelry but that's what i am after i brought the Gold Bug because it is supposed to like gold and for now not nuggets but jewelry would be great and exciting.

i have found from my very limited experience that targets i have dug on beach that doesn't get all scratchy around the edges of the target like it it holds its form in the sound department is a good one and the scratchy ones are bottle tops or the round foil things that seal the tops of sports drinks it screams at those but when i go around the edges its all scratchy and brakes up but with a $2 coin it stays steady from the middle to the edges hope that makes sense.

its just fun learning and hope to get out this arvo for a hunt, no wife no kids life is a Gold Bug

 

[godigit1]

Hey Amberjack
For a while at least I would dig all those foil signals Most all the gold I have found has hit in the 40 to 70 range on the vdi. With the exception of a very fine 2.5 gram 14k necklace that hit at 32 to 37 and was only 1/2 inch deep ( I almost passed it up but part was showing) and a large 10k 17.9 gram medallion that banged in at a steady 79 at 8 inches deep. I used to ignore zinc penny's until I dug that and used to ignore jumpy signals in the tab range until I dug my first wedding band doing the same thing. As other people on the forum suggest set your tone break at 40 and don't disc out the iron. If you disc the iron you will loose that lower conductive gold. dig everything at least at first. I still dig everything except for sure iron. Bottle caps have become a rare thing now that I really know my machine.
In the year of owning it it has paid for itself 3 times just with my gold finds and last year I had just under $300 in clad. I still have all my silver jewelry as I have not cashed that in so i don't have a value on that. I would not write it off as a nugget shooter either. Maybe try where people have been digging larger nugs with their P.I units and check for small stuff they missed. So far only 1 nugget with mine 1.2 gram at 3 inches. Ive had two friends try to hit this with their etracs at 2 inches and barely get it and say they wouldn't have dug the signal. And my Pi sand shark doesn't hit it as well either. My old gold master spanks my gb at prospecting but Is much harder to use in trashy ground and cant function as a coin shooter (nightmare). The Gb is a great machine That gold will come for you in no time if your out there!!!
HH
Godigit

 

[amberjack]

hi godigit1

great post thanks heaps! so the gold signals were jumpy ? its interesting learning and i guess i got sick of seeing big round foil tops oh you again but will keep digging them as i don't want to miss the gold that's not good to do !!

yes set the disc tone brake at 40 all the time so the iron really grunts and basically dig everything else one day soon it wont be a ring pull or a silver round thing i like the sound of that i look forward to posting up my 1st gold and silver! at this point its all on the beach! i did find my 1st 50 cent coin in the wet wet salt sand the other day i must say i was very happy about that, it does good in the wet like the wave had just went back wet.

Australia gold Fields are pretty hot ground and weather do you have hot ground there and if so how does it do? i have a few places picked out to look for the little ones that might have been missed this is Australia so its minelab country for sure but maybe the Gold Bug can find some for me will have a go soon but have to drive a lot to get there so in time i will have a crack see how it goes!

hot right now as in outside hot so waiting for it to cool down a bit and go to a beach that i think would have nothing ! seems the ones everyone thinks has something have been hit hard so its fun just trying somewhere that may not be so exciting its like fishing hey the more time out there the better chance of finding something or catching that big one i know all my good snapper spots have been found though more time than skill and just doing something a bit different

so will be out there in a few hours digging the targets i don't want too like i am so smart after using it for a week thanks for keeping me on track!

 

[Dave J.]

Amberjack, anyone who's been beeping for a long time using a number of machines will tell you that each has its strengths and its weaknesses. And, you've probably heard the saying "no place is hunted out". Those two factoids go together like hand in glove.

Now to cut to the chase!

In the land where y'all look down to see the sun instead of up like we Yankees (and Rebs) do, most of the goldfields have pretty nasty mineralization, worse than most USA goldfields. The Minelab PI's were designed to deal with that. (Geophysicists still haven't explained why the sun shining up on rocks and dirt makes the stuff nastier than the sun shining down on it.)

So what would you do with a machine like the Gold Bug that's darn near the opposite of the Minelab PI's? Well, your first bet would probably a place that's been pounded to death with the Minelab PI's. They pounded it to death because there was a lot of gold there, and for a long time they kept finding stuff. Until they thought they had it cleaned out.

They didn't clean it out. They left behind a bunch of gold that the Minelab PI's weren't good at finding. A machine that's different as possible from the Minelab PI's (but still a competent gold machine) is what you need to find the stuff they left behind. Since the Minelab guys run big searchcoils, with the Gold Bug under those conditions your best bet is the 5 inch searchcoil. And keep in mind always that you're looking for the stuff that they missed. Understanding what they missed and why they missed it is a key to searching a "hunted out" site. You may even want to go gold beeping with a Minelab-totin' buddy a few times to watch and see what the Minelab is not good at dealing with.

The overall rule of thumb will be that the Minelab is best in the worst mineralization, on the larger deeper nuggets, on the flatter terrain, and where there isn't a lot of iron trash. This means the forte of the Gold Bug will be finding smaller, shallower nuggets between the rocks and under the bushes and where there is a lot of iron trash.

And don't forget to read the book "Prospecting with a VLF Metal Detector" which is on the Fisher and Teknetics websites. It won't tell you how to find gold easy, but it'll tell you how to find gold smart.

G'day and enjoy your lunch (it's 10 PM at night here, I looked down hoping to see the sun but the earth was so big it blocked the view).

--Dave J.

 

[amberjack]

G'Day Dave J.

thanks for the incite very good, i did have a minelab GP Extreme but sold it only used it a few times long story there was a woman involved i am smiling now but wasn't then anyway that's besides the point i guess!

i was thinking of buying a GPX 4500 but probably is a waste of time like you said, i know a place about 200KM's from here might have some small bits might have a look see soon and see how the Bug goes!

i will check out that book "Prospecting with a VLF Metal Detector" and hopefully learn a bit, it makes sense even the PI's cant find it all how can they?

i am starting to get used to the machine as to i am calling whats underneath it before i see it so while not perfect it likes little things with the 11DD coil so the 5in would be even better like a minute piece of foil i spend 5Min's trying to see it in the sand its so small.

and the Gold bug works on wet wet salt sand so it might just work in the outback oh every things back to front here but that's the way we like it.

thanks heaps for the tips very good thank you!