First day out with Goldquest

[Anonymous]

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

 

[Anonymous]

Not real certain what your doing or how you have it adjusted. It should be able to find the targets it did when you tested it at home. Did you bring them with you to test out there on the ground ?
Lets try setting the SAT at mid-way point. Set the Reject control at one mark up from minimum. With the volume set a maximum on your headphones, set the threshold as to "Just" hear the audio in the background. Sometimes I do this adjustment with coil in air, off the ground a bit, and sometimes I do it with the coil flat on the ground. It depends on conditions, and how I feel.
Sweep coil over ground. May need to pump coil up, and down a couple of times to cancel out ground signal. Sweep very slow, and parallel to the ground.
As far as sensitivities go, if you were finding bullet fragments, tacks, and small wire I would guess that you must have had things set close to being right on. Ultimately the sensitivity results wouldn

 

[Anonymous]

Ray,as Bill said, the fact that you'r finding boot tacks,bits of wire Etc. is an excellent sign!Try this Ray,get some small plastic "Zip Loc" bags - tie nylon twine to them and put in small objects-pieces of gold if you have any,shavings of a lead bullet(a whole .22 Cal solid point head should weigh in at just about 40 grains)-bury at dif
ferent depths and test with the hole recovered.
Going out with a proven nugget finder and not finding any gold on a particular day is par for the course! My favorite place is off of the CA. side of the Laguna Dam ( The CA. Potholes ) in So. CA) You can obtain maps from The House of Treasure Hunters,El Cajon Blvd. in San Diego-Joe JoHannes is the owner.Good luck Ray and don't get discouraged,it sounds like you have a fine P.I machine!
Regards Bob

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Mr. Bill,
Thanks for your comments. I'll try some of your suggestions this Saturday, as I plan to go out again and get a bit more familiar with the detector. I'm sure it's just going to take a few times to get used to it.
I did fool around with the settings at the beach and began to get an idea of how to adjust the detector for a smooth threshold. I am only curious about one thing: I know that simultaneously increasing the SAT and reject knobs can reduce sensitivity, but would just increasing the delay setting have any negative affect on depth?
I would also like to know a bit more about the 8" coil I've read about on this forum. Is this a dd coil (preferrable) or is it mono like the 11"? Do you sell it and for how much? I feel the smaller coil would be a bit more advantageous for where I detect in the desert. I can always use the 11" for when I head up to the old Sierra mining towns and do some coin and relic hunting in the woods or even use it when detecting the old tertiary riverbeds where they mined gold by hydraulicking.
I'm heading off to home depot in a bit to see if I can find the necessary material to pole mount the control box. I look forward to your input.
RayV
Reseda, CA

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Bob,
I've never been to Potholes before but it sounds like a very interesting place worth checking out. I did a bit of reading on net today about the area, and who knows, maybe that's where I might head out this Saturday. I'm kind of getting tired of the scenery where I've been detecting for the past 3 years anyway and am looking for new ground to detect. So if you happen to see a deep blue Liberty 4x4, that'll be me.
RayV
Reseda, CA

 

[Anonymous]

I noticed on a previous post of yours that you use the XT17000. I used to own one of these and I am very sorry that I ever got rid of it. It handled mineralization like it wasn't even there! I picked up a nice 1.3 gram nugget buried at about 7" into a wall of desert overburden. It was just a faint signal but discernable enough that I knew I had something. It was even senstive enough to find nuggets as small as only 1/10 gram. The only complaint I had with this detector was its weight, as is the problem with almost all Minelabs. I couldn't imagine swinging it all day long with a 15" coil like you do. You must be buffed! hehe
RayV
Reseda, CA

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Ray,
There definitely a difference between a PI and a VLF. A PI does take some getting used to, but the learning curve is short. I think once you get used to the machine, you will find the PI more sensitive than your VLF on all objects but the very small ones.
Now, I agree with Bill, you should initially set your SAT control about midway to start with. However, I prefer to keep the delay at minimum to assure maximum signal from small nuggets.
The delay will have a greater effect than the SAT on very small pieces of gold.
When the ground gets real bad, you can increase the SAT even more. Yes, you do lose a little sensitivity but the loss isn't as great as you might think. The best way to determine just how much is to use small nuggets as test targets if possible.
I use a 3, 5, 6.1 and a 15 grain nuggets for small test targets. I have them mounted in cheap clear plastic and carboard coin holders I obtained years ago. This seems to work quite well and makes it easy to find them when doing buried nugget tests. I also have a 10 grain, 20 grain and a 1/4 oz nuggets I use when comparing signals from much different sized nuggets.
A good substitute for gold is lead, but remember, lead is a lower conductive material so detection depth isn't quite as much as a similar sized piece of gold.
I would recommend you conduct several experiments, preferably using gold nuggets if possible to see just what happens when you adjust the delay, and then what happens when you adjust the SAT.
It is a good idea when first getting started to run some tests in the area where you hunt. This will give you a much better feel for how the detector operates under actual conditions. Also, it is very likely the noise levels will be different than testing near your home, so there will most likely be differences in depths of detection. Example, I have seen as much as a 2" difference in air tests on a nickel just do to noise.
Again, I personally prefer a little faster SAT. It seems to make the targets more distinct. As for depth loss, you will see a very slight amount which is really most noticeable when the SAT is at maximum setting.
One other recommended setting is the threshold. I prefer to set mine with the slightest of audio. For me, this makes it easier to hear the subtle changes. Also, when the threshold is extremely low, it helps reduce the ground signal variations.
Practice is the key to using this detector. Knowing how to adjust the SAT and when you can run with less SAT just takes practice. Example, I have found that in many of the dry washes, I can operate with almost minimal SAT while on some of the flats where the ground is quite red will require a faster autotune (SAT).
Now, as to the idea of shaft mounting, I agree shaft mounting works best, especially in brushy areas. I have made some dramatic alterations to my PI including mounting the electronics in a different box and the batteries in a separate housing. On mine, I have the electronics box mounted on top of the shaft in front of my hand for easy access to the controls. The batteries are mounted directly under the arm rest. This arrangement helps counterbalance the coil a little.
I considered mounting the original control housing under the forearm for counterbalance but decided on the arrangement I just mentioned.
You might try a simple temporary method of attaching the box with something as basic as Velcro or even an ace bandage to find the best location that suits you. Then it is just a matter of devising a mounting bracket. You might look at the pic posted showing Buzz's unit for an idea of a bracket.
Drop me an email if you think I can help.
Reg

 

[Anonymous]

The reason I pole mounted this way is you have the best two combinations ,pole mount and hip mount what ever suits the conditions where you are hunting plus the warranty factor

 

[Anonymous]

Ray when I'm using the 17000, I hip mount, it makes a big difference,with the heavier P.I.,straps or bungee type supports are the way to go. I'm 5Ft-6 and age 66, so am sure no superman-HA!
Good hunting...Bob

 

[Anonymous]

"I know that simultaneously increasing the SAT and reject knobs can reduce sensitivity, but would just increasing the delay setting have any negative affect on depth?"
<STRONG> Increasing the delay will cause the detector to become less sensitive to smaller, less conductive items. So in affect, one would loose depth to those items. The depth on larger items could increase a bit. Looking for small nuggets, one would want to operate at the fastest delay you could, still maintaining a smooth threshold. </STRONG>
"I would also like to know a bit more about the 8" coil I've read about on this forum. Is this a dd coil (preferrable) or is it mono like the 11"?"
<STRONG> All the coils we have for the Goldquest SS are mono. We have no "DD" coils available for the Goldquest SS. It is something we are looking at, but it requires a circuit re-design.</STRONG>
<STRONG> Once set up for the DD coil, one would not be able to switch back to the mono coil. Unlike VLF detectors that utilize a separate transmit, and receive coils, and the circuitry to handle it, the PI uses a mono loop having the electronics switch back, and forth between transmit, and receive loop.</STRONG>

 

[Anonymous]

Could you send me an email stating the price of the 8" coil? I appreciate your help with all my questions. I think I am starting to understand.
RayV
Reseda, CA

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Reg,
I really appreciate your post. It helps to hear from different users how they set up their machine or alter them according to the different ground conditions. I realize it will take practice, like everything else, before I master this machine. It reminds me of when I first started using the Gold Bug. I didn't know squat about gold detectors much less how to ground balance one. But I did learn with practice, and eventually started finding some nice nuggets.
Thanks for your input! I'm sure other new users or prospective buyers of the goldquest can use this information as well.
RayV
Reseda, CA