Hi all. Well, Last summer I tried panning for gold, did a dozen trips or so, and thoroughly got bitten by the gold bug. Now I've decided I want to try detecting. I did my research, and then more research, and asked questions. I found it interesting that on this site whenever I mentioned an interest in White's detectors I was met with crickets, but people couldn't say enough about Minelab units. Are they just not well known, or is there some controversy I'm not aware of? I was initially focussed on getting a good used Minelab Gold Monster, but something about the White's machines just kept drawing me back to them, and in the end I realised that if I bought a Minelab I'd be forever wondering if I should have gone with White's. Also, PI for a first detector seems like a good choice, right?
So I took my $700 budget and promptly ignored it. I purchased an immaculate looking SPP from the classifieds section here and it's currently in the loving hands of the postal service. I also ordered a Nugget Finder Sadie coil from an Aussie fleabay seller to go with it.
I intend to either mod the AA battery tray to fit 4x 3500mah 18650's @ 16v, or make a belt pack with 8x 18650's for 7000mah @ 16v. My theory is that the longer run time of the 8 batteries would mean a much slower drop in power, even if I don't intend to detect for 14 hours straight. I may do other mods, like adding the missing conductivity switch, but I think this is enough to be getting on with for now.
But that will have to wait for my next pay cycle, since this has been a very hard hit on my wallet.
I'll be almost exclusively using it to look for nuggets. In early January I'm driving home from Melbourne to Canberra and figure I'll take a detour and camp overnight somewhere in the Golden Triangle and have a good swing.
But mostly I'll be using it in some of the goldfields within driving distance of Canberra... which leads me to a question:
Is there any kind soul within a couple of hours of Canberra who has experience with White's PI machines and would be willing to spend an afternoon showing me the ropes? I'd be happy to line your palm with a six-pack.
Oh, one more thing; I was tossing up between the Sadie coil and a Miner John 5x9, and ended up on Miner John's website. I don't know if this is common knowledge on here, but his site has a note up saying he lost everything in the recent California "Camp" bushfire. Home, vehicles, pets, and his business with all its stock. It's really sad, and made me really feel for him. The note says he plans to be up and running again as soon as he can, but may never offer some models again. So if you've had your eye on one that is in stock somewhere, I'd probably grab it while you can.
If you've read this far, here's your reward.
So I took my $700 budget and promptly ignored it. I purchased an immaculate looking SPP from the classifieds section here and it's currently in the loving hands of the postal service. I also ordered a Nugget Finder Sadie coil from an Aussie fleabay seller to go with it.
I intend to either mod the AA battery tray to fit 4x 3500mah 18650's @ 16v, or make a belt pack with 8x 18650's for 7000mah @ 16v. My theory is that the longer run time of the 8 batteries would mean a much slower drop in power, even if I don't intend to detect for 14 hours straight. I may do other mods, like adding the missing conductivity switch, but I think this is enough to be getting on with for now.
But that will have to wait for my next pay cycle, since this has been a very hard hit on my wallet.
I'll be almost exclusively using it to look for nuggets. In early January I'm driving home from Melbourne to Canberra and figure I'll take a detour and camp overnight somewhere in the Golden Triangle and have a good swing.
But mostly I'll be using it in some of the goldfields within driving distance of Canberra... which leads me to a question:
Is there any kind soul within a couple of hours of Canberra who has experience with White's PI machines and would be willing to spend an afternoon showing me the ropes? I'd be happy to line your palm with a six-pack.
Oh, one more thing; I was tossing up between the Sadie coil and a Miner John 5x9, and ended up on Miner John's website. I don't know if this is common knowledge on here, but his site has a note up saying he lost everything in the recent California "Camp" bushfire. Home, vehicles, pets, and his business with all its stock. It's really sad, and made me really feel for him. The note says he plans to be up and running again as soon as he can, but may never offer some models again. So if you've had your eye on one that is in stock somewhere, I'd probably grab it while you can.
If you've read this far, here's your reward.