nugget hunting with the GOLDQUEST?

[davidg]

im going to be heading to AZ soon to do some beeping around rich hill.
i cant afford a 3500 or a goldscan, so i was wondering how the goldquest would stand up to these two detectors.
for a $1000 i can get a goldquest and slap a large coiltek coil on it for a few hundred more.
i dont care about dinky little gold grains that i can show to my friends under the microscope, i just want the big stuff.
so how would this detector perform out there?

 

[gatorguy]

It should work fine, would suggest you use a DD coil to handle the hotter ground. I am not sure to what extent all coils will work, you need to talk with MrBill at Surfscanners.com on some of these questions, also Reg if he sees this has ben there and knows most answers for making the GQ work on nuggets. Don't be overly optimistic about finding big nuggets! be happy if you find anything. Don

 

[Mr.Bill]

You will need a DD type coil to use the Goldquest there. Even with that it will take some careful operation of the detector to produce results.

My suggestion to start with, would be to use the 11" DD that was designed for it first, before moving on to the after market coils. I know that works there.

Mr. Bill

 

[davidg]

if a 3500 is a 10 lets say,
goldscan is an 8
where does the goldquest fall in line?

 

[Scott Maine]

I used one for a whole summer several years back. Then I had a DD coil custom made for me by Reg as there were none made yet for it.
My hunting partners used the GP 3000 at the time as the 3500 was not out yet.
You will be best served with the DD coil and the 11" should be fine. I found that the GoldquestSS was as deep on nuggets as I would ever care to dig. I did find a nice specimen nugget with mine although not in Rich Hill.
I found the area around Rich hill to be no more or less challenging than the LSD and actually the ground outide of the creek beds in the LSD were about the most troubesome.....especially with the mono coil. When I finally got the custom DD life improved.
Anyway the GP 3500 would have an edge on depth on larger nuggets but then again it is is 3 times the money....but not 3 times the depth. I have compared deep targets with my GQ verses my friends GP and the GP had an edge of a couple inches at most on nuggets in the several gram range....not 5 inches but 2 inches on average if coils size was the same. I know as we had a deep target with the GP and when I compared it to the GQ i was barely able to detect it and could not say if I would have been able to discern it as a target as it was just at its max depth. The GP detected it but it was not a blaring target..probably another 2 inches and the GP would have lost it. Turned out to be a shotshell.....bummer but was a good test. If I remember it was over a foot down....in hardpan. Sucked diggin that bugger up.
Anyway if I was going to detect AZ at random the GQ would be my only choice. It works best as compared to any sub 1000 dollar PI I saw...especially with the DD coils.
The one place it did not do well was up above Prescott...it did not like the mild soil...go figure.
Scott

 

[davidg]

you answerd all my questions. im planning on using a DD coil like the "dingo". i think its a 19''
about it not handling the mild ground above prescott, dang it! i was going there too!

 

[Reg]

Hi David,

Scott is technically correct when he said he was the first to use a GQ at Rich Hill. However, I used its predecessor, the Beachscan, there a few times before. My old Beachscan has evolved into a Goldquest clone since then. Also, I basically pioneered the use of DD coils on the GQ design way back when.

Now, things have improved since those early days even on the Goldquest, so the latest version will do even better now.

Like Scott said, the ML will display a depth advantage in many areas. However, under the power lines or in noisy electrical areas, the GQ will prove to be every bit as powerful.

Remember, the Goldquest is a low powered unit that is very light. Now, don't let the "low power" label fool you. This little detector works very well for the price and is reasonably quiet, providing you use a DD coil and sweep slowly, even in bad ground. In a nutshell, the GQ will provide the benefits of a PI and ignore most hotrocks and do it without weighing a lot.

Now, a mono coil can prove to be a real problem to use around Rich Hill (RH), especially on the flats at or around Octave. A mono will do a little better up on the sides of the hills, but will still be much more of a problem than if you used the same detector with a DD coil.

So, to avoid any frustrations, stay with the DD coil, not only for reducing the ground signal but for limited discrimination, and basalt rock signal reduction. Yes, with practice, many of the basalt rocks can easily be determined by bobbing the coil over them. A metal signal will increase distinctly as the coil is lowered, while a basalt rock will not.

As for a level of discrimination, much of the surface iron will provide a very wide double blip when the coil is quite close to the object. With practice, this feature can be maximized.

Also, Scott indicated the 11" DD is about the right size to use. I personally, found a nice 3/8 oz specimen nugget on the Road Runner claims just below the old 24K club using that size a couple of years ago.

So, to summarize, yes, the Goldquest will work ok. Just remember to use a DD coil, otherwise the ground response can be a problem.

Reg

 

[Mr.Bill]

I doubt that the unit will operate properly with a 19" coil on it.

You can try it, but most likely you will have to retard the pulse delay back enough to affect it's performance on small targets.

I had suggested the factory 11" DD for a reason, not to try and sell you a coil, but it's the one that most certainly will perform. To start with, the shielding on the factory coil is superior to the after market ones you mentioned. It does help a lot with the tough ground.

Mr. Bill

 

[Mr.Bill]

????

 

[Reg]

Hi David,

Mr. Bill is correct, most likely the 19" coil will require you reduce the delay a little for the Goldquest to work correctly. The short delay of 10 usec is only possible because the coil is not extremely large. Increase the coil size and you can lose this advantage.

Now, I have found I really didn't gain much depth by using real large coils when compared to the standard 11" coil and trying them while testing by using much larger test targets. About the only advantage I found was the larger coils covered more ground per swing. Now, this can be a disadvantage in brushy areas, so there is a trade-off.

Now, if you still decide to use a very large coil, then remember, a large coil and the detector might seem "dead" at the minimum delay setting. By this I mean, the ground and target signal are very muted. This happens when the delay is too short for the coil used. Increase the delay a little at a time and suddenly at some point, the signal will or could "boing" and then signals suddenly become much louder. It is at this point the larger coil will work ok.

I have hunted the Rich Hill area on many occasions and still prefer the standard size coil.

Reg

 

[Scott Maine]

I found Rich Hill to be alot easier on the GQ than the LSD area. The LSD had alot of basalt that was really a bugger to learn.
Of course to be correct we were at the area below the actual hill detecting the many dry creek beds abd banks. I never made it up top...and I know soil changes drastically in the area. Although I will say I used the snot out of my GQ all over the gold areas there and with the exception of Prescott area...i never had any huge problems.
The weight of the GQ is a huge advantage....and for a person who is gold prospecting part time it is the best unit.
While the GP is best it is much like an Explorer is to us relic hunters. In that the ability of the GP and Explorer to get deep and or very small nuggets comes with practice and I would guess that a person who prospects only on occasion would not see the depth advantage the GP has unless they are able to prospect like the locals do. These guys prospect like I have never seen.
Now i detect constantly but dang...these guys get up at 3:00 AM and hit the road and detect until the sun dries em out (summer time). Man it just kicked my butt...I have mucho respect for this group in AZ.
Anyway I would not hesitate to use a GQ again. I will be moving back to AZ in 3 years actually. My wife and I bought some land north of Lake Havasu. I will have another GQss again for a lightweight PI...and of course either a GP or the Goldscan. I think I will make the GQ waterproof so I can cool off in the lake and search for rings after all the Californians leave from spring break and such.
Scott

 

[Scott Maine]

The area around Prescott is great for a VLF....if you have an MXT it will do best as it is the area for a VLF...or grab a used gold bug combined with a GQSS....that is a rockin combo right there.
Post an add looking for a GQ...I saw a couple for sale the past couple of months....not a large user base for them so they may still be available.
Even the guys who used the GP had a VLF machine for certain areas.
You can even get an older Whites GMT...the one before the curent model...they all work great from what I could see..in areas with mild soil.
Scott

 

[Kev]

Hi David,
I don't think the dual filter has been mentioned yet. The GQ V2 has a 2 position filter that helps reduce ground noise, of course some sensitivity is lost, but in really annoying ground it's better to pull out something than go home skunked!

I modified my filter, by putting a small 1 Meg Ohm trimmer on it instead of the fixed resistor. The areas I hunt have similar ground matrix so the really bad ground is common to many areas. I set it up by moving the coil over a bit of really troublesome ground while adjusting the trimmer, and I was able to regain some of the sensitivity.
It seems that the standard default setting is too aggressive for my conditions.

So as everyone

 

[Bob Szabo]

You mention the Explorer for relics and the Goldquest for gold, but have you tried the Goldquest for relics in mineralized ground?

I own an Explorer and love it but I am considering a PI for hunting in our red mineralized ground here in VA.

 

[gatorguy]

I think credit should be given where due. Reg pioneered the use of the Beachscan and its modification for use out West. To my knowledge any Eric Foster detector modified and used by anyone was by Reg's explanation on how to do or his modification. He also pioneered the use of the DD and the adpation of the Minelab type coils to these detectors. It isn't so important as to who was first maybe anywhere, but Reg was the man!. Don