Conductivity switch fitting pics.

[Ridge Runner]

From where can the covers be sourced. Does Mr Expensive in Dunolly have them?

No, if they are the open top covers they are the Miner John Versions, The Ones I get completely enclose the machine so Sticks and dirt and rain stay out, And they are made of Ballistic Nylon with padding and a waterproof liner inside.

 

[Guest]

OK. From where?

 

[Ridge Runner]

OK. From where?

Well I have been ordering the from where I buy my machines and post them back home to people in OZ.

 

[ozziii]

Gave the SPP a bit more of a try out today, but I'm not really sure on how I should be using the conductivity switch. I was using in 'ALL' mode & when I got a target I tried it in 'low' & 'high' to see what happened but while in 'all' & 'High' modes I was getting more of the warbling noise or maybe interference, this has only been happening since using the 1.5v batteries though & the place I went today, near a mobile phone tower, is a place I have been before when using the 9.6v rechargeable pack & I got very little of the warbling or interference.
I ended up changing to the 'low' mode after a while because the detector ran much smoother & the only time I got any warbling or interference was when I was right next to the phone tower, it was only a small amount though.

So what mode should I run the detector in now that the switch is fitted, how do the modes actually work & is there any difference in depth or is it just the targets they pic up differently. I really need to hear what the tones sound like with gold, going to have to buy a half & 1 gram piece I think just so I can understand the tones a bit better.

Thanks.
& sorry if the question sounds a bit stupid but just trying to get my head around things.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Gave the SPP a bit more of a try out today, but I'm not really sure on how I should be using the conductivity switch. I was using in 'ALL' mode & when I got a target I tried it in 'low' & 'high' to see what happened but while in 'all' & 'High' modes I was getting more of the warbling noise or maybe interference, this has only been happening since using the 1.5v batteries though & the place I went today, near a mobile phone tower, is a place I have been before when using the 9.6v rechargeable pack & I got very little of the warbling or interference.
I ended up changing to the 'low' mode after a while because the detector ran much smoother & the only time I got any warbling or interference was when I was right next to the phone tower, it was only a small amount though.

So what mode should I run the detector in now that the switch is fitted, how do the modes actually work & is there any difference in depth or is it just the targets they pic up differently. I really need to hear what the tones sound like with gold, going to have to buy a half & 1 gram piece I think just so I can understand the tones a bit better.

Thanks.
& sorry if the question sounds a bit stupid but just trying to get my head around things.

Well you turn the machine on set it to all and find the direction of the EMI then try to tune it to where it is as quiet as possible, You can search in all but you should try and search in Low or high because that will reduce the noise because when you are searching in all you have both circuits open so you will get twice as much noise come through so by picking high or low you will cut the noise by half and then the warbling noise should be gone, If NOT then try retuning again or just reduce the gain, What you should Try is some air tests with small Items with the Gain at the minimum and go up by one number and test is again to see how much depth you will loose at each number don't worry about turning down the gain because the depth loss with be a lot less on targets in the ground,

You Must tune that frequency knob correctly because if you don't you will not be able to run the machine at it's idea settings.
So 1) Tune it in ALL, 2) Switch to Low or High Con, 3) Ground Balance it, 4) turn the Gain up and re check your Tuning, and you should be good to go,

If you find a target and sweep across it and it gives one beep (woo) sound then turn 90* and sweep it again and it gives a double Bleep (WooWoo) then there is a good chance it is a long Item like a nail or something so if you find a target that does that dig it up and see if it was Iron/Nail, Even Iron Targets that just give one bleep will not be as smooth as Lead or Gold,,, Gold will be a smooth sound but a shorter signal, where as an Iron target will try to change its sound to a higher or Lower sound but it will sound slightly Raspy at the beginning and the end, Ok.

Hope this Helps, John

 

[Guest]

Oi...Ozi, only intelligent people ask questions!

 

[ozziii]

Thanks for that John, I'll give that a try & see how it goes.
Am I right in thinking that low conductivity is better for finding the smaller nuggets & high conductivity better for larger nuggets, therefor because most nuggets tend to be smaller then low mode would be the best mode to use in most instances.
I will get a few of the scrap bits of rusty metal & .22 lead bullets & do a few tests tomorrow
Do both modes get the same sort of depth.?

I'm slowly working out what will be detected as today I was in all mode & found a small .22 lead bullet, switched to low & still got a signal, but nothing in high, low also doesn't detect the metal on my boots as much either, has to be close & just a small beep type signal, where as high picks them up from a couple of feet away.
Today I found lead, wire, old rusty nails, brass .22 casings & some rusty tin looking stuff but no gold yet. The area I went to was meant to be a pretty rich area & has had huge amounts or ground dug out, there are 20+ foot high walls where they dug out huge areas of a hill & heaps of shafts as well as big gullies where quarts reefs were dug out & some surfacing was done in some area's as well so I'm hoping it may be a good area to concentrate on as maybe I might be able to find a nugget or two there. Still not sure about the standard 12" coil though, even with the conductivity switch fitted, maybe the switch won't make the coil see small gold any better, if we didn't have to move house we would have the new Razorback coil by now.

 

[ozziii]

Oi...Ozi, only intelligent people ask questions!

True I guess, if I don't ask then I will never know I suppose, or it will take a month of Sundays or longer to work it out, there's so much to learn & I'm just glad there are good people on forums like this one that are willing to help out. This conductivity switch has given me a lot more to learn about now though,haha.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Thanks for that John, I'll give that a try & see how it goes.
Am I right in thinking that low conductivity is better for finding the smaller nuggets & high conductivity better for larger nuggets, therefor because most nuggets tend to be smaller then low mode would be the best mode to use in most instances.
I will get a few of the scrap bits of rusty metal & .22 lead bullets & do a few tests tomorrow
Do both modes get the same sort of depth.?

I'm slowly working out what will be detected as today I was in all mode & found a small .22 lead bullet, switched to low & still got a signal, but nothing in high, low also doesn't detect the metal on my boots as much either, has to be close & just a small beep type signal, where as high picks them up from a couple of feet away.
Today I found lead, wire, old rusty nails, brass .22 casings & some rusty tin looking stuff but no gold yet. The area I went to was meant to be a pretty rich area & has had huge amounts or ground dug out, there are 20+ foot high walls where they dug out huge areas of a hill & heaps of shafts as well as big gullies where quarts reefs were dug out & some surfacing was done in some area's as well so I'm hoping it may be a good area to concentrate on as maybe I might be able to find a nugget or two there. Still not sure about the standard 12" coil though, even with the conductivity switch fitted, maybe the switch won't make the coil see small gold any better, if we didn't have to move house we would have the new Razorback coil by now.

That's right mate, Low is for small bits and high is for large bits, If you find that Quartz reef go over it in Low then Go Over it in High NOT All, Because you can Max the gain out in low or high but All might warble a bit, and search wide either side of the reef ,

Keep at it because the more testing you do the better off you will be out in the bush, listen for those targets trying to break up coz they are normally junk,
The 12" coil is good but I think the 7x11 folded mono is a good all rounder and the 5x9, I would also ask the MJ dealers if the 14" mono will run on the SPP, because they say on MJ's US site it was made for them but then they say that the Delay might need turning up but you cant do that with the SPP so to me that's a bit of a Grey area, So ask them all the dumb questions Ok, I know that sounds a bit off but even I ask them such things because you cant do anything about it 200ks out in the bush.

Keep up the good work mate your doing good,

john

 

[Guest]

OK, so when I'm working the SL, should I be working in High or Low? If I'm in High, how is the Gain and PD adjusted?

And I'll presume the Freq. will be adjusted as per normal.

 

[Ridge Runner]

OK, so when I'm working the SL, should I be working in High or Low? If I'm in High, how is the Gain and PD adjusted?

And I'll presume the Freq. will be adjusted as per normal.

For Gold always leave the Delay set at 10, and go over the area first in Low and then High if you want to, and set your gain as high as you can, But before you turn the gain right up be sure to tune the frequency control at around 6 on the gain then crank it up and if you need to fine tune it you can, ok.

john

 

[ozziii]

Thanks John, you have been a huge help & its very much appreciated. The info you have given has made things much easier to understand & saved a huge amount of time, not just for me but for many others as well, its great to have such helpful people on the forum.

I did notice today I could run the gain at or near max when in the low mode, even within ten metre's from the base of the mobile phone tower, it did give a very slight warble but that was most likely due to my tuning being slightly off.
I will do as you mentioned though & stick to one area & go over in both low & high & see how it goes, meant to be another good day tomorrow so will head out again & get some more practice.

The 12" seems to pick up most things, specially rusty metal & aluminium cans etc, I guess I won't really know what its like on the gold until I either find some while using it or until I get the Razorback & go over the same area's & see if I find anything with that, atleast there won't be as much junk around once I'm able too get the new coil, just not sure how soon that will be now, the budget is tight.

From what I understand the SPP should be able to run a 14" coil ok but any bigger & there may be a few problems, I'll ask Brian about it when I'm able to order the new coil but I probably wouldn't worry about getting something that size anyway as most places we go are a bit overgrown with bracken & have plenty of sticks & logs laying on the ground.
Coiltek are meant to be releasing their new 11" elite soon, its being tested, meant to be very similar the the 14" elite mono that's getting a lot of praise, maybe that might be worth a look, although its still not made to suit the whites detectors so better off sticking with the MJ & RB coils anyway, still be interesting to try just to see how it goes.

 

[Guest]

I solved the problem of not knowing what gold sounded like, by buying a $60, gram and bit, nugget.

 

[ozziii]

I solved the problem of not knowing what gold sounded like, by buying a $60, gram and bit, nugget.

Yeah I think we will have to do the same, would like a half gram & a one gram bit though just so we can test on a smaller piece as well.
They sell them in little plastic containers so I'll tape them up with yellow electrical tape & bury them, not quite the same as detecting an undug nugget but will still give a good idea I think.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Minelab coils work ok but they have a higher resistance than Whites coils or MJ coils so it might chew a bit more power if you use a coil that is meant for a minelab machine,

The Whites 7.5 coil is ok but it is no more sensitive than the 12" coil, so apart from fitting in tight spaces I would not bother with it, I have the Duel field versions of the 12" and the 7.5, they are supposed to be more sensitive than the mono's but I don't see any difference apart from they don't like Aussie Dirt,

john

 

[Ridge Runner]

I solved the problem of not knowing what gold sounded like, by buying a $60, gram and bit, nugget.

You do know you can use bits of lead don't you??

 

[ozziii]

Minelab coils work ok but they have a higher resistance than Whites coils or MJ coils so it might chew a bit more power if you use a coil that is meant for a minelab machine,

The Whites 7.5 coil is ok but it is no more sensitive than the 12" coil, so apart from fitting in tight spaces I would not bother with it, I have the Duel field versions of the 12" and the 7.5, they are supposed to be more sensitive than the mono's but I don't see any difference apart from they don't like Aussie Dirt,

john

Yeah I think the best option is the MJ & RB coils, no where near as expensive either, the 7.5x11 RB folded mono Brian told me about was just under $300 posted with registered post etc, that's not to bad really. Although on the website it doesn't mention that size, only 7.5x12 in the folded design.
Although I see there has been a change on the MJ website, the only RB coils shown separately are for minelabs, & the Longreach coils are only sold through the Australian dealer now so no pricing. Not sure if the Australian dealer has a website up & running yet but I think Brian said it was in the works.

 

[Guest]

You're a funny bugger!!!

I really like the Spider coil. I managed to get the dual field one. So I think I might be right for a while at least. But now I've seen how the Nokta Gold goes...Ooooo! hell, it's a dynamite machine. That link to YT, really got me thinking.

Bed!

 

[Ridge Runner]

If you can get the 7x11 get that one because I think it is the later model and it is the mid point between the standard 12" and the 5x9, I would Email MJ direct in the US but not via the contact us box on their web site,

john

 

[Ridge Runner]

You're a funny bugger!!!

I really like the Spider coil. I managed to get the dual field one. So I think I might be right for a while at least. But now I've seen how the Nokta Gold goes...Ooooo! hell, it's a dynamite machine. That link to YT, really got me thinking.

Bed!

That Nokta is a VLF and it won't run where your SL will and in Aussie soil out in the bush it will loose about 60% or more of it's depth in that dirt You need to think of it as more as an Accessory to your PI and for prospecting only use it in Junk filled sites and where the mineralization is low to medium high not hot ground where the PI won't loose much depth.