Too far away

Being that I have not been able to go detecting for the better part of a year after my transplant...it seems to be the detectng bug has faded a bit. Where I live in the heart of the gold country it is harder to find an old area to look for relics. Even no I can go back to some of my old spots and I am sure there will always be something I have missed, I think what is missing is a machine that we have not seen yet that truly offers a lot of us a new angle...not a better way but a new way to hunt in ways we have not been able to hunt before.

I was talking to a friend about hunting parks and schools and told him the fun part is you just never know what you will find. But I said with all of the trash in the ground it can really take the fun out of that kind of hunting after you have been doing it for many years. I told him gold is in the ground as I have been very lucky in my years of hunting. But we can't find a way for a company to afford to find a way to tell gold from junk. I know that NASA TOM could tell us what might work and how it could work. And how much it would cost.

And if some of you are like me...I am not about to spend a lot of money at this point in my life for a new machine that migh do that. I would spend about $1,500 but it would have to work and it would have to have the fun factor. Is our hobby more for the middle aged guy while the younger people don't really have the time for this hobby. I know if you were or are brought up in an area where you have friends or family that detect you may pick up the hobby. And I know if you live in an area with a lot of histroy that you can access I would still be hunting.

But it still comes down to the fact for me that I am always seeing new ways of doing things with new tech all around us. Of course the number of people that own computers or the next best coffee maker out number us in a huge way.

Still, I wonder with the talants we still have with Fisher you wonder if they could build the perfect machine what would they build how would it work and what would it do to make this hobby different....or can it be done for what the cost of a detector goes for these days..

Again I think that Fisher and Tek have and are in the best place to offer such a machine because they waited and watched all the new machines come out and the machines from Europe that we can buy in the States now....

Is our hobby just going to become a new flavor from time to time or are things really going to change and give our brains a new way to think and work?

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Dave J. / FTP / and crew..... have a few new 'twists' in the oven.

Good post my friend....after many years of hunting and trying many units old age and lack of new areas sort of kill the spark we used to have but will probably still be going out if I have to use an improvised golf cart.
As far as gold rings go if they did come out with a unit that could tell one from the junk littered parks they all would be gone and thus would hurt more than help.
Honestly if gold rings were just gold perhaps possible but with all the sizes and metals mixed with them quite a task so perhaps there will be new detectors, new names, new colors, modified facets but again no perfect detector just one we always grab from our arsenal whether large or small.
As far as age groups really feel lot of younger hunters in my estimation and not really an old guys hobby anymore.
Personally life is a challenge whether it be a hobby or whatever and try some new equipment or do some research or traveling to new areas now and then and perhaps the spark will brighten as Fall approaches which always has been my favorite hunting time.
New detectors will come and go but as long as I have a CZ in my arsenal life is good and could be better if Fisher came out with an improved CZ...

$1500 is all youd spend for something that could correctly disc gold? At that price everyone would have one! We talked about this last year I said I'd happily pay $10k!

Reliable sources informed me last spring that MineLab is working on it....

I don't detect for a living, I do it because it is fun. To have a "TELL ALL MACHINE" just seems to take the fun factor out of it. I like the excitement of seeing the target for the first time sticking out of the plug.
To have a machine that tells me what it is and where it is, just does not excite me. If you dig a hundred hunks of aluminum and then hit the gold ring, just makes it better for me. learning the tones and response
is what I like..... More sensitivity and depth is all I want....

Tom in SC

Aaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> $1500 is all youd spend for something that could
> correctly disc gold? At that price everyone would
> have one! We talked about this last year I said
> I'd happily pay $10k!
>
> Reliable sources informed me last spring that
> MineLab is working on it....


Not everyone would have one at $ 1,500. For me $500.00- $800.00 dollars is a pretty good amount. I ran a garrett master hunter 7 for 20 yrs. before i could afford to buy a cz-3d, and that was after both my kids grew up and moved out.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dave J. / FTP / and crew..... have a few new
> 'twists' in the oven.


And when can we (reasonably) expect to see these "twists" to come to fruition Tom?-----End of the year?

Lowboy, as for hunting in the future, you will do your share, get better first, we are all pulling for you and praying, I myself, like the old technology, the hunt is the big part, like another Tom says, it's not the finds we dig, it's the adventure we are on to find them, and that's the beauty of this hobby, you never know what's in that box of chocolates, take the down time as a time to find some incredible sites

I just took a 3 week break from detecting. I almost made a long post about it a few nites ago. Basically, the fun was a bit gone. I was close to selling my CTX and just buying a goldmax - something different that I normally would never want (e.g. - no meter, just tones, really light and easy to pack up in my backpack.)

I had been just wanting to just find deeper coins with my CTX and film it & it was getting old.. Then it hit me, the reason for the boredom. I just needed to go out and have some fun. Listen more to those signals (really listen), learn my machine, pay attention to what it is telling me, etc. I did that and have to say I had fun. I didn't focus on deep signals at all, just on learning my machine in a more general way. I was surprised - I learned a lot more, really, and the break helped me to look at things differently. I also thought to just make some more regular hunting videos without so much of an educational bend to it. Would be fun for you guys in the States to see what I dig up.

I still may end up getting a tone only machine (if it gets any depth ). Need something with a lower frequency to punch through my soil well and it has to be multi tone.

Albert

No company's going to develope a machine than can tell the difference between aluminum and gold for $500-$800, I don't think you understood my point.

Thanks for all of your input but I think what I was trying to say is if we could find a new machine that would help us...There was a trick on the last Whites when you looked at your three freq bars one color freq would almost 100% of the time help you determen that you had a quartor under your coil. And I would come out of a park with maybe four times the amount of quartors that I would normaly find...All I am hoping is a for new tool to help cut down the odds. There is always going to be masking and their is a skill level to detecting. There are parks filled with trash so I don't think this new machine would clean out the parks it still takes a lot of skill and luck...Just give us a few more clues to help us...

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2012 04:32PM by Lawrenzo.

Is it the machine or the treasure? For me it is both. I like the machines and I like the treasure.

With the new computer processors and lighter, more powerful batteries, change is only limited by a design engineer's vision.

Look at the programable units available now. Today you can practically build your own detector feature set just the way you want it.

And look at these basic discriminating PI detectors designs that are out today, like the White's TDI. Target masking is slowly being conquered. Don't want to see or hear aluminum? It vanishes like it wasn't even there. Want to cancel iron? Its out. Imagine a PI that is driven by computer processors that can auto sample at various pulse delays and give you a conductive readout based upon what pulse delay the target vanishes at. Can you visualize a PI with Selectable Notch. Do the same with the ground balance. There is so much potential with this platform it is just unreal. Want to combine the VLF and PI together to cancel weaknesses and enhance strengths? Just needs the right processors and the right engineer with the vision.

It is just around the corner, just like the next big find.

HH
Mike

Yes Mike I think with some computer driven software the TDI could I.D. ferrous non ferrous very well....

I see you are liking the TDI...Thats great... they are awesome tools to have...very learnable...In some spots they are a Godsend in other spot's put it up..LOL!!

I think everyone ought to experience a powerful ground balancing pulse unit.. and use it for 6 month's....they are very conveying...

Keith

So many things change as time moves on ......Music changes , Hobbies change , people change ........Then you have the long arm of the law !!........I still like to go fishing ......Fishing is a good wholesome hobbie that you can do wtih your kids just like metal detecting ...... I would have to say that 90% of the places that I use to fish are iether GONE or OFF LIMIT'S ......I started detecting AFTER I was fishing .......Parks and other area's are now OFF LIMIIT's to detectorists ....... Metal detectors are just a small part of these companies holdings .......They have bigger fish to fry than to spend time and resourses on the little guy like us ....... Besides , they can just switch around a few parts , tune it a little differently , and call it a new name , and we'll stand in line to buy it !!.....Why would they re tool and come out with smoething new and innovative if we keep buying rebadged detectors ? ....... It costs them very little to add a new feature to the digital feature set ...Analog point to point wired machines are a thing of the past .....

If we all stopped buying NEW machines , and just sold machines back and forth between ourselves , one of two things would happen .......

1) These companies would close down their "Hobbie " division

2) They would have to start building new , innovative , detectors, with features not otherwise found on the average detector of today ... ...... Jim

Lawrenzo,.....this may be a bit far fetched but here goes:

I worked a number of years as a correctional ofc. and was always amazed at what a person with very little could do if they REALLY put their mind to it...
for example I have seen tattoo guns (and confiscated them) made from the stolen motor motor of VCR...while the inmate's teacher was in the room,
shanks made from plexi-glass found on the yard, rocks, metals of every possible kind, cell phones snuck in,.....even a .22 cal. pistol suitcased (if you don't
know what that means, don't ask).......etc,. etc..etc

So whats my point....? What if we offerered the best and brightest that are incarcerated for relatively minor crimes, a challenge....a competition, Like
You come up with a metal detector that detects only Gold.......and You get a "Get out of Jail Free Card"........

Limit it to just those of minor crimes and those that already have not only the intelligence...but the skills.

May not be ethical....but it just might work.

Tri

Albert, do you ever make it to the city center (Marienplatz) in downtown Munich? They recently did a big excavation of a city park and had tours for the curious. It's exactly the tonic you need to get the juices back flowing...

[www.thelocal.de]

NASA-Tom --

Intriguing post, about FTP...

I'll be interested to see what the "twists" are...

Steve

Here you go again Tom... Dropping a FT crumb for us to get worked up about...

I'd be satisfied with an EMI resistant revamped F75, minus the now obsolete modes, with variable tone breakpoints.

Dual frequency would be nice.

Water resistance would be nice.

Keep the high contrast B&W screen.

Halve the number of AA batteries required.

I'm ready to place an order -

Hi go-rebels, are you from Munich? I am and I still struggle to find some MD buddy from Munich and surroundings - Albert is from Nuernberg, we meet each other from time to time, but it's 2 hours drive for us :-(((

Lawrenzo - The hardest part about giving up the V3i was that brilliant pinpoint in 3 frequency feature. I really came to love that. Best color screen and most durable/pleasant buttons I've come across as well. I do wonder what Fisher comes up and out with next. If they did indeed purchase the BBS patent from Minelab, I wonder if they might do something along the lines of a multi frequency pinpoint. Dave alluded to some intersting research going on as far as displaying data is concerned, as far as I remember. It is now September - I am expecting something from Fisher before December! The only thing I hope First Texas does better is to build a more rugged unit (I was not at all happy with the build quality of my Omega. Had to send it in twice - no problems though and a great performing unit). The CTX is a great example of ruggedness - but damn heavy. The Tesory is light and durable, though I'd prefer something more like a CTX plastic - seems very durable.

go-rebels - really interesting article - more inspiration. Puts some perspective on all the roman coins one can find down there (not up where I am in Nürnberg). There is a chance for Celtic coins I hear in my area, but I have not found any. There was a Celtic hoard of jewels and gold artifacts and such found a few streets from my house. My neighbors father had the chance to search the spot years ago as he had a tip on it but never did, then it was found! But he did locate a sword in the area that is now in a museum. History abounds here, though I'm really only interested in the coins, but would gladly take a few jewels home.

Hey Eyesight - Yeah, we have to go again but find a productive spot! I got the juice back to go...

Very good to see us all thinking about what could be.I think that if someone like Fisher/Tek does something so new and different and it works they will make a lot more sales then they thought they ever could. They could really get the American and Europe market to open up all the way...I know there are a lot of hunters out there someone has to retap into them with a idea that was once a dream and now we can hold and find history with....It would be cool to have depth like something we have not seen. Maybe you can hunt in two differet moods. One is for depth like at least a foot for old parks maybe even deeper. Like a analog telephoto lens and a digital you give up pixels and sharpness but if you have to get that depth you have to give up a little....

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Hi Eyesight. Sorry for my late reply but some responses take 7 weeks to formulate! (sorry)

I only travel to Munich 3-6 times per year but never have any time to detect; it's all business during the week I'm there. I envy Albert in Nurnberg; history abounds everywhere in Germany!

Perhaps some company will cut down the odds rel gold rings and junk and many use their own ways with sizing, audio variances and so on..

With all the different sizes and metal mixed with the gold to make it harder and more durable its just not feasible and cost prohibitive if it could be done as the cost of the unit would be more than the average detectorist could afford.

Don't know for sure but imagine the quest for what lies over the next hill is what dives us. Heck I do it for fun and exercise and could make more money flipping burgers at Mickey D's and well if they made it too easy it would become boring and the demise of the hobby would be evident...

This is also a hobby for me. I enjoy digging up a keeper as much as anyone. I also enjoy seeing those that work hard rewarded. Those that do the research. Those that put in a five hour hunt for that one keeper. I don't think I want the detector companies tilting the scale. I don't want them creating a detector that makes it easy to find that one keeper. To me it's the thrill of the chase. I have set myself up with some quality detectors. But I still dig plenty of trash. I have days when I am skunked. That makes finding that keeper all the more special. I admire a hunter that can go into a pounded site with good detecting skills and pull a nice keeper. I like hunting with these people and learning from them.

I have a little different opinion of the future, and that's based on the past. The number of good relic targets in the ground (coins, neat artifacts) will always be decreasing and those remaining in pounded sites will be more difficult to find. So I encourage MD companies to make a better unit, a unit that IDs at greater depth, a unit that makes it easier to find the good stuff. The thrill will always be there and it may be a thrill only achievable through the next generation of detectors.

These companies also need to sell us an improved unit if they are to stay in business for the long haul. It seems we're nearing a plateau where many new detectors offer no significant advantage over the fine old platforms. How many of us still hunt with a twenty year old CZ?

I see a machine in the future that alerts you through tones or VDI of a target. After you pinpoint it, you pull a trigger, the MD transmit is interrupted and a minature GPR kicks in and you get a digital image on a screen with enough resolution so you can tell the difference between a coin, tab or a gold ring. Screen will also offer overlays of target depth, size and other selectable data.

I'll take one!
That kind of machine I would easily pay $5k

I use to enjoy the hunt when I had plenty of lead in my pencil, but as I grow older (over 60 now) I just do not enjoy getting down on my knees and digging in the hard soil. Yes, I would like a detector that told me what I had found before wearing myself down even more digging up can slaw. I realize I only have a few years left on this earth and I am not interested in using those few years "possibily" finding something of value. It's hard to describe to the younger generation just what it's like getting old and feeling like you've fell off the house every morning you get up. It's no fun getting old, folks, and if there's a detector that can give a positive ID on coins and gold, I'm all for it. If you enjoy just detecting for the hunt, go for it! I enjoy it or I wouldn't do it, but at my age the next detector had better be the cat's meow.

I told my wife a couple days ago that I could sell my detector and equipment and buy more coins, copper, silver, nickles that I would probably every find for the years I have left, and not have to hurt going out to get them out of the ground.

If you're still young, and you like detecting, I say wear it out. If the majority of detectorist are middle age and older, I think the designers need to pull all the stops. If they don't, the older generation just may become disillusioned about their products and find a different hobby, or just stay with the detector they have found that works well for them.

I'd say your right if the price of precious metals wasn't so high. However as long as gold keeps rising so will detector sales. Look at how hard the beaches have been getting pounded as of late.
I do agree though time is of the essence and there's only so much time to dig and you want to make the most of what little you have. One thing though that I don't understand is the guys who claim to dig it all like the ones on the Finds Tesoro forum. There's this big long thread about how special the Compadre is and all the great stuff that they find. My question is at what cost? How much time is spent versus keepers? I've been thinking about one for my daughter but for myself? I don't consider that intelligent hunting.

I would never condemn technological advancements. Life is too short.
And............. as you age................. time is of CRITICAL essence!