New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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x-terra steve		Posted : Tuesday, 26 June 2012 12:44:49 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 7/04/2010(UTC) Posts: 224 Location: Nelson NZ Thanks: 103 times Was thanked: 69 time(s) in 42 post(s)		Hi all, has any bodyout there use the AT GOLD in the gold feild? Would like to know how it performs, Had a quick air test last christmas with Nugget Heads one, seams fairly sensitive to the small stuff, Have a plan this summer to combine the detector with me hookha unit. Any info would be helpfull, cheers Steve

simon		Posted : Tuesday, 26 June 2012 1:06:50 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		never seen one sorry out there. to tell you the truth all i see is minelabs (2000, 3000, 4500, 5000), and a heap of fisher gold bugs, new ones with digital displays, and the old ones. nothing seems to beat the minelabs and gold bugs around this type of terrain down here in the south.
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under the bedrock		Posted : Tuesday, 26 June 2012 1:14:02 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 6/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 116 Location: invercargill Was thanked: 14 time(s) in 13 post(s)		are the gold bug coils waterproof ie can you use them in a few inches of water?

x-terra steve		Posted : Tuesday, 26 June 2012 1:49:01 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 7/04/2010(UTC) Posts: 224 Location: Nelson NZ Thanks: 103 times Was thanked: 69 time(s) in 42 post(s)		Cheers Simon, me x-terra works a treat but LTD as cannot be submerged, the AT Gold can be submerged, i think 10 foot max. At the end of last season I made up a seperate light weight hookha unit just for sniping,,there is a lot of gold just outside the reach of the freediver sniper. Had an idear to use the AT Gold for checking out the crevices etc, might save a bit of time and produce a bit more AU,, well that be the plan cheers Steve

overdog		Posted : Tuesday, 26 June 2012 7:56:56 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 2/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 418 Location: nelson Thanks: 69 times Was thanked: 82 time(s) in 68 post(s)		Hi all-yes bug coils are waterproof-had the 5 inch in the drink nearly up to the control box with no probs. However I was unlucky enough to have one of the early 11 inch coils with sealing issues and muntered it in about a foot of water-now cant use it in all metal at all and limited depth in disc but hey ho...

nzpoohbear40		Posted : Wednesday, 27 June 2012 11:56:41 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 14/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,482 Location: Matura Thanks: 26 times Was thanked: 384 time(s) in 329 post(s)		Hi bedrock...all fisher coils are water proof...right from the F2 upto the F75 coils..as long as you dont get the control boxes wet..as well as all the goldbug series..again dont get the control box wet....on the other hand the fisher CZ21 and the 1280X are completly submersible upto 250 feet under water. hope that helps.
		Chris - Fisher Dealer http://www.puiakisupply.co.nz/

simon		Posted : Thursday, 28 June 2012 2:47:09 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		x-terra steve: i've used my GB2 in water but only semi submersed of course as the control box is not waterproof (but can be detached). i'm always parnoid about dropping it right in. i think it would probably survive a quick dunk but do more. My main problem with a detector in water is the huge drag. in even a small current it places massive strain on the detectors shaft. and even in a calm pool it takes a lot of effort to swing it back and forward. it would be an awesome idea to get a detector down deep though. i guess the main thing to consider is the detector will only detect thru a small depth of gravels. if the bedrock is that close to the top of the overburden you could nearly rake it out of they way to give a clear bottom. To pick up all the gold trapped in the bedrock mostly out of sight in it's cracks would work wonders though.
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x-terra steve		Posted : Thursday, 28 June 2012 3:38:59 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 7/04/2010(UTC) Posts: 224 Location: Nelson NZ Thanks: 103 times Was thanked: 69 time(s) in 42 post(s)		Hi Simon, cheers for that, have broken the lower shaft a couple of times now,used wooden dowel and epoxy resin to repair, I contacted Minelab three years ago and asked if they could make a new coil lead about 2.5 meters in length male and female plug at either end so i could connect to either end of me existing coil so i check out some of the deeper crevices but they said no can do as would upset the timming. Now that the AT Gold has turned up I might ave to invest in one. I have owned and used the Exclabur for subsurface but not much cop as cant pick up the sub grammers very well. Have you much luck with your GB2,? they are a great machine Ive got two rakes stached up the river for scratching off the light overburden, Cheers Steve

simon		Posted : Thursday, 28 June 2012 8:27:14 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		hi steve, you could always come up with a custom shaft. might weigh a bit more but would be more sturdy but if it's under water that might compensate a bit. a guy down here showed me over his tool which impressed. was a gear stick off a truck or something. he used it as a lever but it also had a rake on the other end on which he had placed a blade on the rake's top edge. it also meant one tool instead of 2 to carry. and it didn't float. perhaps a gear stick would be a bit on the heavy side to wave side to side even under water. i'm sure there's a metal out there that would work better than the provided shaft underwater. a strong shaft would survive longer too if the odd rock gets on it. i read somewhere once that the coil lead has to be a certain length. i was actually talking to someone regarding this the other day and he didn't reckon so. i think this is why the coil lead on the GB2 is wound around the shaft, so that if you do want to remove the control box and mount it on your belt or hold it above water, you can do so still with the provided coil lead that it is set up for. i also read somewhere years ago when i first got the GB2 that they thought the coil lead had to be wound around the shaft for it to work, but i doubt that as it is designed as i mentioned to be straightened so you can hold the control box elsewhere. i haven't had too much luck gold wise with my GB2 so far. I've had it for years but never got too good i thought at the time, using it. looking back i should have looked a bit more in more appropriate places. you live and learn. back then i didn't know too many people into gold and there wasn't this forum. looking back i did find some interesting stuff. Bullets and all that crap too, but you tend to discover a lot more history around the lands. you would be surprised at where you find horseshoes too. it wasn't just miners that had it tough. i've been working with someone else recently and have been doing a lot of digging as the detectors interfere with each other. i've done a bit on my own but the gold has been pretty scarce. Yeah the GB2 is a great detector. i'm glad i chose well when i bought it. couple with a minelab 2000/3000/4500/5000 etc you could go wrong. i'm still amazed what each finds. you do really need that small gold as it is in the small form. same goes for in the riverbed. i still got a fair bit after on a stretch even after it got thoroughly sniped for the bigger stuff. I wish i could stash some gear in the bush but i'm sure it wouldn't be there too long before a miner/walker/doc find it. i thought of leaving some in the water too but same problem. and it would be my luck for a good flood to bury it.
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oroplata		Posted : Thursday, 28 June 2012 9:12:53 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered, Moderators Joined: 16/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,040 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 211 time(s) in 152 post(s)		Originally Posted by: simon i'm sure there's a metal out there that would work better than the provided shaft underwater. a strong shaft would survive longer too if the odd rock gets on it. You don't want metal anywhere near your shaft (as the actress said to the bishop) when detecting. Almost as bad as wearing steel caps. Quote: i read somewhere once that the coil lead has to be a certain length. i was actually talking to someone regarding this the other day and he didn't reckon so. i think this is why the coil lead on the GB2 is wound around the shaft, so that if you do want to remove the control box and mount it on your belt or hold it above water, you can do so still with the provided coil lead that it is set up for. I imagine that the lead length is important for detectors that do depth display as they will be measuring the time difference from when the signal is sent form the box and when the reflection arrives. As for coil wrapped around the pole this is mainly for signal stability as moving the cable around will change the electrical state of the cable, even though it's in a balanced configuration. Quote: i also read somewhere years ago when i first got the GB2 that they thought the coil lead had to be wound around the shaft for it to work, but i doubt that as it is designed as i mentioned to be straightened so you can hold the control box elsewhere. Correct. the cable can go anywhere, it's just best if it remains fairly still while in use.
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x-terra steve		Posted : Saturday, 30 June 2012 10:59:04 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 7/04/2010(UTC) Posts: 224 Location: Nelson NZ Thanks: 103 times Was thanked: 69 time(s) in 42 post(s)		Cheers for the info guys, I like the idear of the muilty tool, any thing to save a bit of weight! I leave a fair bit of gear up the river stashed away, the only thing i have lost was me kayak, it was chained to a tree,but some low life took it, Ave a couple of days building work up the river so i am off for the weekend detector in hand. I will post my big nuggies that i will find when i return!!!( thats if Hatter hasnt bet me to it!) Steve

simon		Posted : Saturday, 30 June 2012 11:18:13 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 7/01/2011(UTC) Posts: 789 Location: Central Otago Thanks: 33 times Was thanked: 239 time(s) in 150 post(s)		oroplata: that's a very good point (metal near the shaft). i wonder if there is a way to get around this. ie some sort of composite shaft. i quizzed my mate who has a Gold Bug 2 if his headphone cable ever interferes with the coil as i noticed that sometimes he had it dangling down close to the top of the coil. reckoned it didn't. all the pressure is going to be on the shaft at the coil end if you are under water. i know there are some carbon fibre shafts about. i wonder what there break limit is. i know that stuff is nasty when it does break.
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