A
Anonymous
Guest
Hi everyone,
Well, I'm back from the Mojave and have a few comments & a question that I hope someone will answer.
First, I didn't find any nuggets, at least not on this trip. But that's par for the course. The only thing I did find was a small rusty boot tack, a couple small pieces of wire, and a bullet fragment, all of which were no more than about 4" in depth. I thought it odd that I wasn't getting more targets than this. And after a day of detecting with the Goldquest, and not digging much of anything at all, I must be honest and say that initially I wasn't too impressed. But I attribute this only to the fact that 1) it's not supposed to be as sensitive as some of my vlfs, and therefore I shouldn't expect to dig as many small targets as before, and 2) this was my first time out with a PI and I am as of yet unfamiliar with operating such a machine.
I did find that that the 11" coil was a bit too cumbersome for the areas that I detect, because of the rocks and narrow creek beds that I have to manuever through. A smaller coil, like the 8" one that I've been hearing about, would have been much more preferrable in these areas. I am sure it would have made a bit of difference in my first time out experience. I am curious to know who who makes the 8" coil and how much it costs?
On the plus side, I did find the goldquest to be very light & comfortable when detecting. I am thinking of making the pole mount modification only because I don't like wire dangling from the control box on my belt to the detector's pole, as it's too easy to get it caught on a branch out in the desert.
Also, I have a question regarding the delay and SAT settings. The area where I detect is very heavily mineralized, and I found that I could not keep the detector set at minimum settings without putting up with lots of background noise. I did increase the delay to the first notch (or line) with a slight increase on the SAT nob, and that did seem to help a little. But I was afraid to increase them any more for fear of losing depth and sensitivity. Being new to a PI machine I wasn't sure, so I left it alone. But should have I increased them until I got a smooth threshold? And if so, just how much would that really affect my depth and sensitivity in the heavily mineralized soil? I'm not looking to get the small, shallow stuff, but deeper and larger nuggets from 1 gram in size on up.
Well, that's about it for now. I hope I didn't sound too negative but I'm just sharing my first time experience. Perhaps with a little more understanding of the machine, as well as some practice, I might have a different impression. I hope some of you can comment a bit and help me out.
RayV
Reseda, CA
Well, I'm back from the Mojave and have a few comments & a question that I hope someone will answer.
First, I didn't find any nuggets, at least not on this trip. But that's par for the course. The only thing I did find was a small rusty boot tack, a couple small pieces of wire, and a bullet fragment, all of which were no more than about 4" in depth. I thought it odd that I wasn't getting more targets than this. And after a day of detecting with the Goldquest, and not digging much of anything at all, I must be honest and say that initially I wasn't too impressed. But I attribute this only to the fact that 1) it's not supposed to be as sensitive as some of my vlfs, and therefore I shouldn't expect to dig as many small targets as before, and 2) this was my first time out with a PI and I am as of yet unfamiliar with operating such a machine.
I did find that that the 11" coil was a bit too cumbersome for the areas that I detect, because of the rocks and narrow creek beds that I have to manuever through. A smaller coil, like the 8" one that I've been hearing about, would have been much more preferrable in these areas. I am sure it would have made a bit of difference in my first time out experience. I am curious to know who who makes the 8" coil and how much it costs?
On the plus side, I did find the goldquest to be very light & comfortable when detecting. I am thinking of making the pole mount modification only because I don't like wire dangling from the control box on my belt to the detector's pole, as it's too easy to get it caught on a branch out in the desert.
Also, I have a question regarding the delay and SAT settings. The area where I detect is very heavily mineralized, and I found that I could not keep the detector set at minimum settings without putting up with lots of background noise. I did increase the delay to the first notch (or line) with a slight increase on the SAT nob, and that did seem to help a little. But I was afraid to increase them any more for fear of losing depth and sensitivity. Being new to a PI machine I wasn't sure, so I left it alone. But should have I increased them until I got a smooth threshold? And if so, just how much would that really affect my depth and sensitivity in the heavily mineralized soil? I'm not looking to get the small, shallow stuff, but deeper and larger nuggets from 1 gram in size on up.
Well, that's about it for now. I hope I didn't sound too negative but I'm just sharing my first time experience. Perhaps with a little more understanding of the machine, as well as some practice, I might have a different impression. I hope some of you can comment a bit and help me out.
RayV
Reseda, CA