Prospecting for Gold Feedback

Hi Gino
Yes i asked the same question 8mts ago.I ended up buying a minelab 3500 with a few extras on ebay.Easy to use found gold first time out,there is lots of help on lots of forums.
Good luck happy hunting.

Cheers Jon.

Gino, Member Willie from Epping, from this site might be able to give you some good pointers as he recently doing this type of hobby.
Cheers bob.

Hi Phantom

I have been researching the same thing. The Minelab 2200 v2 is pretty much fool proof. It has auto ground balancing. The 3500 is obviously better but a bigger learning curve although not difficult. The grand daddy is the gpx 4000. It is very sophisticated, has a much steeper learning curve however left in factory settings is pretty much idiot proof. With the 4000 you can learn what it's all about as you go. The 4000 is $5300 from Reed's Prospecting in Bellvue. (no affiliation with the shop.)

Peter

It's certainly a great hobby to get involved in guys. I took it up over 20 yrs ago to basically give me something to do while out camping. As a beginner I would recommend either a 2200D or or 2100. If you dont mind splashing out some money, then go all the way for a 4000. BUT you have to put the coil over the nugget in the first place to hear it. The gold in my pics was found with a 2000 & SD 2100. I still use the 2100 now and dont think I'd ever part with it, I just cant justify the cost of upgrading to a 4000 or even a 3500 yet as I cant get out often enough until we have sold our business. Very fun and sometimes rewarding hobby though, enjoy it. unc.

Hi Gino,

As Mr 'scooter mentioned ,I just went through this same exercise .I ended up buying a GX-4000 , but only because my lack of technical know-how and inexperience can be alleviated by "factory settings" on the new detector .

I used a Minelab 3500 on my 10 day tagalong with Coiltek in the Nullagine gold fields . It worked well and I found 12 nuggets , but the deficiencies of this model and other similar ones became apparent when I found a nice rock giving me a wonderful reading . I could not see any gold on this prized specimen and took it back to camp to let the experts see it .

The first thing they did was run it under a GX-4000 . On some manual mode it registered metal just like my hired 3500, but when they changed the setting it registered nothing . It was then that I realised how well the GX-4000 was able to discriminate and ignore hot rocks .

These people with the GX-4000 were able to detect this area without the constant background hot rock noise I was getting and had much more chance of detecting weak signals .

But the GX-4000 is a very expensive unit and I would not contemplate paying money like this , if I were not sure that I was going to do a lot of detecting . The 3500 performed well enough to find plenty of gold , and there is quite a few second hand ones on the market now .

I am a new boy like you and so can only pass on my very limited experiences to you . There are a few old hands here who will give you plenty of good advice I am sure .

One thing I can tell you , is that it is absolutely necessary to go on some excursions with someone who knows detecting and is willing to teach you and who knows "places to go ". It would be so easy to trot out and become disillusioned with the whole deal .
I am just in the process of joining a detecting club in Sydney .

Cheers ,

Willie .

For good, sound, friendly advice have a look at MSN Detecting Forum. Members/users in all States. Yes WA is very well represented and supported. Good luck with it.

Hi Gino,
I was chatting to Jack Lange of Jack's Detectors about a fortnight ago.
He is an interesting and informative bloke who's very keen to share what he's learnt over the years.
Might be worth a phone call even if it costs you nothing more,

Geoff

Once again a timely post have been interested in doing some gold digging (so to speck) but would like to get out and about and see a bit more of the country.

I can at least say I will go in with the right approach if I find something it will be a bonus. :)

Am reading with interest.

Brian