Hello Jonathan!
Chris and I are camping in the Nevada outback right now. Desert country but it is winter, and that means snow yesterday morning! Warmer but raining this morning, letting up now, so off to hunt gold soon. No luck yesterday so maybe today.
I know you can do an honest review and would love to see it. Not sure how other Aussies would view it however. All a person can do is say it like you see it and let the chips fall where they may.
"Out of curiosity how did the FORS Gold compare to the Similar frequency versions of the Gold Bug (Gold Bug PRO I think it is)?"
The Nokta runs at 15 kHz but is very high gain, similar to the Gold Bug Pro but more like the F75 or T2 in my opinion. The main issue I see in Oz may be the overload warning, similar to what the GMT has, that gives an audio alert when the gain is too high. Most people do not realize that many VLF detectors shut down over bad ground with no warning. The question with the FORS Gold is how low must the gain be run to avoid constant overload signals on extremely bad ground? I expect in Oz there is ground it basically will not work on, but that would be the same ground that would shut down most any VLF detector.
The problem there is how to fairly test a VLF detector on ground that really calls for a PI. My answer is to use a PI where it is warranted and leave the VLF for places it is suited. Still, it is interesting to see what VLF detectors handle the worst ground the best, realizing they will be severely constrained and often very touchy to operate.
I think most hot VLF detectors are similar enough in manual ground balance mode. For instance, you did not fare to well, I beleive, with the GMT. I think the Main issue was the auto tracking not being sufficient for your needs. I am sure in manual balance it is just a hot VLF. So what I am curious about is how VLF detectors fare in Australia in automatic tracking, with Minelab probably setting the standard with the XT and Eureka models. The feature that sets the FORS Gold apart from a VLF like the Gold Bug Pro or F75 is the automatic tracking. So - is the tracking up to Australia conditions?
To answer your question more directly JP, I am thinking of selling the Gold Bug Pro and keeping the Nokta. But I have to do more in field testing yet to sort out the details before I make that call.
I am very sure that most people will be far to inclined to run the Nokta at higher gains than called for. In the default setting of 50 out of a range of 1-99 it is much hotter than most detectors, and running it higher in hot ground will overdrive the coil and overload the detector. I would expect to be running under 50 in bad ground. That leads people to think they have given up the depth. The key of course is to seek a stable threshold at whatever settings are required to make that happen. The depth then will just be whatever it is at that level of stable settings, with pros maybe pushing into the edge of instability.
The worst ground I ran the Nokta in was as red as much found in Oz and it behaved well, but did want to overload on numerous large ironstone hot rocks. Any nuggets near or under those rocks would be missed. It is possible that on an Australian strewn ironstone fields the unit would just go into constant overload. In more moderate conditions however the unit should perform well, as long as the operator does not succumb to the temptation to overdrive the unit.
Nokta seems like the kind of company unafraid to make an attempt and perhaps stumble, but then use the situation to learn and make adjustments resulting in better product. They do appear to have very bright engineers and it would be beneficial to all to have another company seeking to build machines capable of handling the worst conditions in the world. What is needed is some honest feedback in a constructive way about what failings, if any, the detector has in Australia, so that the next iteration can address the concerns.
