gold bug 1 info wanted

[saika/ace250]

Is there anyone out here who has used a gold bug 1? If so please let me know I am wondering about its operation and use.....

I read a field report about how it gave distinctively pitches tones depending on what type of metal was under the coil. Not to be confused with Tone ID. The statement was that iron sounded different than say, silver or copper.

Thanks.

 

[Ed in SoDak]

Yeah, I own one and I, too read that statement in the booklet that came with it. In all my field use and in countless air tests, I never got a different sound to any object.

I even hooked the audio into an oscilloscope and did not note a change in the waveform with different targets.

You could tell the difference between a large and small object at the same distance, but backing off the larger one would eventually make it sound the same as the smaller one close to the coil.

It's too trashy here, the Gold Bug is a closet hunter. It's only real use to me is when my other machines get fooled by mineralization versus a small, odd target. The GB acts as a sort of standard between metal/mineral.

I did manage to find one nugget with it, but dug mostly trash, like wire bits at 7 or 8 inches deep.

hh
-Ed

 

[saika/ace250]

Thanks Ed,

I am trying to find a machine that will do well on tiny gold, like chains. I thought that a nugget hunter would do the trick. I know that the GBII has iron disc, but for the price I don't know if it is worth it for city and park hunting. It might be more bother than good.

I have heard that the White's XLT is a good gold hunter...

I knew it was too good to believe.

Take care and good luck.

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi,

The Gold Bug 1 is long since discontinued. It has VCO audio which means the stronger the signal, the higher the pitch. In areas where you do not have large nuggets some people use the fact that the small nuggets have a small soft sound and large junk gives a high pitched scream as a form of discrimination. But if they were to get over a large nugget they would get the same high pitched response.

The Gold Bug 2 is more sensitive than the original Gold Bug, and the iron disc circuit is superb. But you would be digging all non-ferrous targets, including tiny aluminum. I use my GB2 like this on beaches but finding tiny aluminum in turf is too much work so I do not imagine you'd want to go that route for parks.

The XLT is poor on small gold. The MXT would be a much better choice if you went that route.

Steve Herschbach
Steve's Mining Journal

 

[Anonymous]

In the Fisher Intelligence pamphlet, available from the FRL website. It's called "Micro-jewelry Hunting" or something similar. He used a GB2 on some nearby beaches and recovered a lot of small jewelry targets, like diamond stud earrings and such. I'm not sure how many hunting trips, and how long of a duration, that he did to amass these goodies.

I also agree that using a gold detector for small jewelry like this is only advisable in a sand environment, where the digging is easy. You might also want to build a buy a very fine sifter to easily catch the goodies in the sand.

HH from Allen in MI

 

[OldeTymer]

Fisher seems to have removed the "Fisher Intelligence Report" from their website. At least I can't find it. I do have a direct link to it at: http://www.fisherlab.com/fisherbeta/intel/fishintel.pdf

I also have the links to all of his previous articles on the General Hints & Tips page.

Hope this helps,

OldeTymer
TheTreasureLeague.com

 

[Anonymous]

As it sure looks different from what I'm used to. However, last week, I did managed to find and download the 4th edition of Fisher Intelligence.

HH from Allen in MI