I find switching mine to discriminate probably cancels out 90% of hot rocks, I actually had a harder time with my PI machine at a recent trip to Tiboobrra . I was using a 6" coil which may help ?
Starting tips for the gold bug
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Thanks PhaseTech; interesting strengths you quoted, however being prone to hot rocks to me is a weakness. The SDC didn't even flinch at the many hotrocks where I was. I guess it's one weakness I really have to manage and work around.
GaryO, I tend to disagree with your statement. Sometimes it can cancel out a weak non-ferrous or hotrock signal as well. During the whole time I was out at Georgetown I only used the 6 inch coil as it's supposed to have the optimum balance in performance. The Garrett AT Pro gives out a grunting sound if it's ferrous or a hotrock but that's technology 20 years later.
Thanks guys...
GaryO, I tend to disagree with your statement. Sometimes it can cancel out a weak non-ferrous or hotrock signal as well. During the whole time I was out at Georgetown I only used the 6 inch coil as it's supposed to have the optimum balance in performance. The Garrett AT Pro gives out a grunting sound if it's ferrous or a hotrock but that's technology 20 years later.
Thanks guys...
Thats fine its ok to disagree , Im just stating my experience using one . And I dont seem to have any issues sorting out hotrocks .
Ill write more later , this phone is pissing me off and after writing half a page for u I just lost it all and couldn't be bother re writing at tje moment.
Ill write more later , this phone is pissing me off and after writing half a page for u I just lost it all and couldn't be bother re writing at tje moment.
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Cheers GaryO. I look forward to how find out how you are succeeding with screening out hot rocks with the GB2 m8. Always willing to learn, pick brains, try something new etc...
I know what you mean about smart phones and their stupid keypads...I seem to have fat fingers that miss their targets and the stupid spell checks sometimes totally change the words to what you didn't want if you don't recheck before hitting the 'send' button. I loath Androids' for their poor keypads and kp software. Can't beat a transcriber (which are dinasours nowadays) or simple laptop keyboard. I always use keyboards and refuse to use Androids for long messages due to the stupid keypads....
You must be doing something right with the GB2 though GaryO...
Cheers
Chris
I know what you mean about smart phones and their stupid keypads...I seem to have fat fingers that miss their targets and the stupid spell checks sometimes totally change the words to what you didn't want if you don't recheck before hitting the 'send' button. I loath Androids' for their poor keypads and kp software. Can't beat a transcriber (which are dinasours nowadays) or simple laptop keyboard. I always use keyboards and refuse to use Androids for long messages due to the stupid keypads....
You must be doing something right with the GB2 though GaryO...
Cheers
Chris
Lol ok back.
What non ferrous signals do u belive it cancels out?
I find not much if any non ferrous signals get through. I pick up the tiniest leadshot , foil and get metal larger then perhaps a boot tack .
If I get a clear signal , ill scrape the surface and retest , if its still there ill flick into discrimination and retest by passing over in several directions. Usually its gone or become a very scratchy signal which ill ignore . If It was one that stood out from the crowd I might split it or chuck in my bag for later. You can also put it to the side and try ground balance over it , if u cant balance it out then hang onto it and check it.
When im running in all metals ill will only flick to discriminate for louder signals and dig any faint clear signals. Gold and lead does have a pretty distintive sound which u will eventually get used to as well.
Ill only use normal setting and run without boost and will drop back to 6 or 7 if needed but i never run at 10 . Its better to be stable and functioning and loose a tiny bit of deepth then to be flat chat going crazy and not actually being able to listen.
Did u by your machine new by the way .
Gaz
What non ferrous signals do u belive it cancels out?
I find not much if any non ferrous signals get through. I pick up the tiniest leadshot , foil and get metal larger then perhaps a boot tack .
If I get a clear signal , ill scrape the surface and retest , if its still there ill flick into discrimination and retest by passing over in several directions. Usually its gone or become a very scratchy signal which ill ignore . If It was one that stood out from the crowd I might split it or chuck in my bag for later. You can also put it to the side and try ground balance over it , if u cant balance it out then hang onto it and check it.
When im running in all metals ill will only flick to discriminate for louder signals and dig any faint clear signals. Gold and lead does have a pretty distintive sound which u will eventually get used to as well.
Ill only use normal setting and run without boost and will drop back to 6 or 7 if needed but i never run at 10 . Its better to be stable and functioning and loose a tiny bit of deepth then to be flat chat going crazy and not actually being able to listen.
Did u by your machine new by the way .
Gaz
Next time bring all your hot rocks home and spread them out with differnt sized pieces of lead shot and tacks and foil and some of your brothers gold and have a play around. Put a tack that discrininates out next to a piece of gold to see if it cancels the gold , it shouldnt . If I does let me know as ill try do the same test with similar targets just so u can be sure yours is operating correctly. Do the same with a hot rock next to the gold and see what sort of signal it gets.
End of the day it may just take some time to work out the sounds , bit like years of fishing and u can tell what sort of fish is biting with out even seeing it.
By the way it is the dial type GB2 u have and not the digital version ?
Gaz
End of the day it may just take some time to work out the sounds , bit like years of fishing and u can tell what sort of fish is biting with out even seeing it.
By the way it is the dial type GB2 u have and not the digital version ?
Gaz
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Hi Gaz,
Bought it brand spanking new (only about 3 months ago.) I don't know whether it's a digital version; wasn't aware there was one - I'm of the understanding it is still the same model as say 10 years ago. This thing only has dials (and switches.) I read from this Steve Hersbach fellow that the very early models behave slightly differently (but wasn't aware there was a digital version.) The markings on the case will tell you whether it's one of the early ones' - they didn't have "Fisher" printed on it apparently.
Gaz, what I'm saying is that when you hear a target and don't know what it is, then you switch on iron discriminate - it sometimes still clicks or sounds off even if it is a hot rock, iron stone or even a metal washer or bottle top. Put simply some hot rocks (and ferrous items) are ignored - I agree; just "not all".
But others' can and will sound off or click. Especially when it is a bit of iron, steel or bottle cap which it is supposed to totally ignore it (stay quiet) but it sometimes still goes off with a zip in iron discriminate mode. Particularly when it is say a bottle cap, steel washer, metal screw or in one strong case a 6 inch length of a broken steel ruler - it still sounds off in iron discriminate! Get a short 6 inch steel ruler and run it past the coil in iron discriminate - I bet it will sound off.
One thing for sure, if it is gold - it definitely goes off - for sure in discriminate. But some iron still makes it go off similarly. Particularly if it is a relatively strong signal.
So you end up in a lot of cases digging everything up - even if you've discriminated - much to bitter disappointment to find it's trash or hot rock.
My brother's AT Gold actually grunts when he flicks iron discriminate on. Literally grunting - a very clearly different sound. Then he knows it's junk, a hot rock or something ferrous and simply either continues digging it up or chooses to move on. He says its iron discriminate is reliable on the Garrett but yes, it's 20 years newer in technology.
What I am a bit peeved about is when I flick the GB2 on iron discriminate to decide whether to continue digging or not - more often than not it will still sound off! So I continue digging much to bitter disappointment - another hot rock or trash. I could show you targets right now that I've kept - it simply does not discriminate with "all" hot rocks or ferrous materials...(That's why I'm as keen as mustard on that SDC2300. It TOTALLY ignores hot rocks. I don't mind digging up trash occasionally but I don't need to know there's dozens of ferrous or hot rocks in the ground as well!) When you're out there in the stinking heat in Georgetown or the Palmer - the last thing you want to do is dig up hot rocks. Trash I can accept, but not hot rocks....
I probably need lessons - particularly on iron discriminate. Wish this GB2 came with lessons like the Minelabs. If I had to choose one topic it's iron discriminate - how to use it to it's finer points...What I'm saying is it doesn't always sought out whether it's iron or not. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. A bit like the Missus (after children and 20 years of marriage) when you feel like a "hoo ha"; sometimes yes, sometimes no....
Cheers
Chris
Bought it brand spanking new (only about 3 months ago.) I don't know whether it's a digital version; wasn't aware there was one - I'm of the understanding it is still the same model as say 10 years ago. This thing only has dials (and switches.) I read from this Steve Hersbach fellow that the very early models behave slightly differently (but wasn't aware there was a digital version.) The markings on the case will tell you whether it's one of the early ones' - they didn't have "Fisher" printed on it apparently.
Gaz, what I'm saying is that when you hear a target and don't know what it is, then you switch on iron discriminate - it sometimes still clicks or sounds off even if it is a hot rock, iron stone or even a metal washer or bottle top. Put simply some hot rocks (and ferrous items) are ignored - I agree; just "not all".
But others' can and will sound off or click. Especially when it is a bit of iron, steel or bottle cap which it is supposed to totally ignore it (stay quiet) but it sometimes still goes off with a zip in iron discriminate mode. Particularly when it is say a bottle cap, steel washer, metal screw or in one strong case a 6 inch length of a broken steel ruler - it still sounds off in iron discriminate! Get a short 6 inch steel ruler and run it past the coil in iron discriminate - I bet it will sound off.
One thing for sure, if it is gold - it definitely goes off - for sure in discriminate. But some iron still makes it go off similarly. Particularly if it is a relatively strong signal.
So you end up in a lot of cases digging everything up - even if you've discriminated - much to bitter disappointment to find it's trash or hot rock.
My brother's AT Gold actually grunts when he flicks iron discriminate on. Literally grunting - a very clearly different sound. Then he knows it's junk, a hot rock or something ferrous and simply either continues digging it up or chooses to move on. He says its iron discriminate is reliable on the Garrett but yes, it's 20 years newer in technology.
What I am a bit peeved about is when I flick the GB2 on iron discriminate to decide whether to continue digging or not - more often than not it will still sound off! So I continue digging much to bitter disappointment - another hot rock or trash. I could show you targets right now that I've kept - it simply does not discriminate with "all" hot rocks or ferrous materials...(That's why I'm as keen as mustard on that SDC2300. It TOTALLY ignores hot rocks. I don't mind digging up trash occasionally but I don't need to know there's dozens of ferrous or hot rocks in the ground as well!) When you're out there in the stinking heat in Georgetown or the Palmer - the last thing you want to do is dig up hot rocks. Trash I can accept, but not hot rocks....
I probably need lessons - particularly on iron discriminate. Wish this GB2 came with lessons like the Minelabs. If I had to choose one topic it's iron discriminate - how to use it to it's finer points...What I'm saying is it doesn't always sought out whether it's iron or not. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. A bit like the Missus (after children and 20 years of marriage) when you feel like a "hoo ha"; sometimes yes, sometimes no....
Cheers
Chris
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Hi Frank,
You're probably quite right regarding the GB2 finding more small gold dregs in old tailings in comparison to the SDC2300. (However don't rule out the SDC so quickly as it's also known to find nuggets as low as 0.01grams.)
I wouldn't argue with this point anyway. But its achilles heel is its vulnerability to the dreaded hot rock (or the fact that the iron discriminate is not so reliable <dated>.) At least from my use of it - that appears to be the case...
Everyone (in fact most subject matter experts on detectors) including this Steve Herschbach bloke says it's the most sensitive device for the small tiny yellow stuff and I tend to agree. But unless someone can teach me the finer points of its iron discriminate or I find a way to rule out iron targets with it more reliably I must say I'm a bit disappointed...
I better get back to work...
Cheers
Chris
You're probably quite right regarding the GB2 finding more small gold dregs in old tailings in comparison to the SDC2300. (However don't rule out the SDC so quickly as it's also known to find nuggets as low as 0.01grams.)
I wouldn't argue with this point anyway. But its achilles heel is its vulnerability to the dreaded hot rock (or the fact that the iron discriminate is not so reliable <dated>.) At least from my use of it - that appears to be the case...
Everyone (in fact most subject matter experts on detectors) including this Steve Herschbach bloke says it's the most sensitive device for the small tiny yellow stuff and I tend to agree. But unless someone can teach me the finer points of its iron discriminate or I find a way to rule out iron targets with it more reliably I must say I'm a bit disappointed...
I better get back to work...
Cheers
Chris
Fxap., sounds about right , it will only discrinate out small objects. Which may sound annoying because it doesnt cancel everything out but no machine including minelab PI machines can either. Any machine that does will lose gold . I actually watched a video of a AT grunting at gold because of all the iron soil it was in so it can be a bit dicey. I suppose it would have advantages and save time as well on big bits . Also the GB2 is really targeting the tinny pieces and if the iron discim is at such a high level to block out a horse shoe and gold on the smaller scale would have a far less electromagnetic field it would also be blocked.
End of the day I think you are doing every thing right and just need to at least cut down on the hotrocks and dig all the other signals. 99% of people looking for gold just dig every single target .. including all the trash
The digital one I was talking about is just there models with actual digital disply etc. You have the same as me execpt its 10 yrs younger lol.
End of the day I think you are doing every thing right and just need to at least cut down on the hotrocks and dig all the other signals. 99% of people looking for gold just dig every single target .. including all the trash
The digital one I was talking about is just there models with actual digital disply etc. You have the same as me execpt its 10 yrs younger lol.
fxap05250 said:
There's no doubt that the Gold Bug 2 is in a class of one when it comes to VLF detectors and sensitivity to tiny gold - its 71 kHz operating frequency ensures that. Unfortunately, being a VLF detector, such sensitivity is a big handicap in coping with mineralisation and hot rocks, as you are finding. Tibooburra, which Gary mentions above, is known for its generally low level of mineralisation (unusual for an Australian goldfield), and has always been a happy hunting ground for VLF detectors.
The GB2 also increases sensitivity by its exclusive use of concentric coils, which are normally a no-no in mineralised ground. This is one of the reasons that the AT Gold, with its standard, small double-D coil, appears better in such circumstances.
Another point that needs to be made, relates to your comment that I have bolded in the above quote, as the issues you have raised are specifically dealt with in the Operating Manual for the Gold Bug 2:
Fisher understands the limitations of its GB2 technology all too well, discusses these issues in detail and provides good guidance for the necessary learning and workarounds needed for successful prospecting.
There's a steep learning curve with this machine in the sort of ground that you are working, Chris and your success depends on climbing that mountain. Hopefully, the feedback you're getting here will help - if not, there's always the SDC alternative!
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I appreciate you taking the time out to respond Grubstake,
IN the manual "some iron objects chirp or click" - agreed, gold will always beep, yes - however in reality some iron objects even "beep" & chirp. For weak signals I NEVER trust the iron discriminate (as per the manual.) Simply because even by the time its become a strong signal it's often chirping or clicking when you flick to iron discriminate. Hence my always pursuing the dig to the end only to be disappointed. I must admit I never ground balanced over known hot rocks when I dug them up. I always balanced (very regularly I might add; every 5-10 min or less) only in the soil I was detecting in. As I said, I have a few things to work on & try next time I'm in the Gold Fields again (ie balance over known hot rocks then recheck signal on my sample nugget etc.)
Yes, that's precisely what I'm saying. I'm resigned to the fact that I simply have to "manage" the settings in hotter ground; ie lower sensitivity settings despite my reluctance to, use "high mineralization settings" more often, ground balance on top of a hot rock/s, don't use audio boost etc etc. The fact is, sometimes the hot rock is simply one rock in amongst all the rocks/soil which you've gone through all the trouble to isolate with the scoop; not necessarily a whole bunch of hot rocks everywhere... The rocks I refer to mostly stick to the magnet on the end of the pick axe but quite a few did not.
Totally agree with all the experts; its sensitivity is second to none - even better than the AT Gold. But this is its one downfall in hot soil. I'm still more confident with the GB2 than my brother is in the AT Gold, (who owns both the SDC2300 and the AT Gold.) However he is totally lacking confidence in the AT Gold at finding real gold as he got the AT Gold before his SDC. I still reckon both the AT Gold AND the GB2 "will" find gold. I beg to differ with him but quietly I believe the GB2 has a better chance than the AT Gold and is a better machine. If its iron discriminate was as good as the AT Gold I would not fault the GB2 at all...Put simply - I have to manage this limitation...
The fact is sometimes one simply feels like - if you're all the way out there in the gold fields it is nice to be able to simply pick up either trash (lead, aluminium, brass, coins etc) or nuggets. Hot rocks are simply a further nuisance... Hence my disappointment.....
Yes agreed I have some more perseverance to go through to get to know this Gold Bug2. And I'm happy to. At least until I can afford the SDC...
Cheers Grubstake
Chris
IN the manual "some iron objects chirp or click" - agreed, gold will always beep, yes - however in reality some iron objects even "beep" & chirp. For weak signals I NEVER trust the iron discriminate (as per the manual.) Simply because even by the time its become a strong signal it's often chirping or clicking when you flick to iron discriminate. Hence my always pursuing the dig to the end only to be disappointed. I must admit I never ground balanced over known hot rocks when I dug them up. I always balanced (very regularly I might add; every 5-10 min or less) only in the soil I was detecting in. As I said, I have a few things to work on & try next time I'm in the Gold Fields again (ie balance over known hot rocks then recheck signal on my sample nugget etc.)
Yes, that's precisely what I'm saying. I'm resigned to the fact that I simply have to "manage" the settings in hotter ground; ie lower sensitivity settings despite my reluctance to, use "high mineralization settings" more often, ground balance on top of a hot rock/s, don't use audio boost etc etc. The fact is, sometimes the hot rock is simply one rock in amongst all the rocks/soil which you've gone through all the trouble to isolate with the scoop; not necessarily a whole bunch of hot rocks everywhere... The rocks I refer to mostly stick to the magnet on the end of the pick axe but quite a few did not.
Totally agree with all the experts; its sensitivity is second to none - even better than the AT Gold. But this is its one downfall in hot soil. I'm still more confident with the GB2 than my brother is in the AT Gold, (who owns both the SDC2300 and the AT Gold.) However he is totally lacking confidence in the AT Gold at finding real gold as he got the AT Gold before his SDC. I still reckon both the AT Gold AND the GB2 "will" find gold. I beg to differ with him but quietly I believe the GB2 has a better chance than the AT Gold and is a better machine. If its iron discriminate was as good as the AT Gold I would not fault the GB2 at all...Put simply - I have to manage this limitation...
The fact is sometimes one simply feels like - if you're all the way out there in the gold fields it is nice to be able to simply pick up either trash (lead, aluminium, brass, coins etc) or nuggets. Hot rocks are simply a further nuisance... Hence my disappointment.....
Yes agreed I have some more perseverance to go through to get to know this Gold Bug2. And I'm happy to. At least until I can afford the SDC...
Cheers Grubstake
Chris
I never use the GB2 off the stone heaps,light and easy to work,as the say horses for courses.
I have a quartz rock with a tiny piece gold in the which GB picks easy but the 2300 can just,but you need to get it position right,and the 2300 is pain to try and use on stone heaps.
Regards Frank
I have a quartz rock with a tiny piece gold in the which GB picks easy but the 2300 can just,but you need to get it position right,and the 2300 is pain to try and use on stone heaps.
Regards Frank
