Minelab Eureka gold tips, settings, questions

[rusting]

Thanks for that, I am a newbie with this detector and glad to learn something more about it.

 

[Argyle 1]

The gist of the clip is merely a reminder that if a target in hand is close to the coil the unit will give a sig response. But if you fist it and flip, the target then becomes an inch or two further away from the coil and sig response becomes less or not at all.
A good little clip, I guess made by the guy to help those that get frustrated when trying to recover small targets.

It wouldn't matter if the Eureka was in either tracking speed or fixed balance. These units do not 'track-out targets, not full tight small signal responses, or threshold changes at depth ...none in the range of the Auto Balance/Track Minelab VLF platforms will do it.

The GMT's tracking however will consistently do it, and very quickly to boot. Extremely bad tracking on them full stop....but a lovely unit to run by the use of it's nice GGrab and manual change.

 

[Gold Ferret]

Oh boy, there is so much misinformation about the Eureka Gold out there it ain't funny. But I think Argyle has really has it
hit the nail on the head from everything I have learned about these metal detectors. So well done Argyle on this very
informative post!

I am a fairly tech savvy person who has done a lot of research before deciding to buy a Eureka Gold as my first entry
level metal detector recently. I read all the negative reviews and I believe those people are using these units wrong.

One crucial fact is ignored by metal detector users today, and that is before the introduction of pulse induction metal
detectors there was nothing else BUT VLF metal detectors and they still found gold! So what gives with the bad reviews?

I have a theory about the bad rap this metal detector receives. So I want to talk about advancements in technology
and how certain brand names and models attract a fan base of users who can be extremely bias and sometimes very
hostile under the misconception that the machine they own is the best! We see a lot of die-hard Minelab users who will
not give up their GPX 5000 in favour of a Garret ATX. From all the feedback I've seen is that the Garret ATX is a much
better metal detector especially in any situation were electro-magnetic interference (EMI) is a problem.

In addition to my interest in prospecting, I'm also a avid photographer who has also worked professionally in this field a
and we see the same thing happening with camera technology. Which brand camera is best? Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Fuji?

All these brands make extremely good cameras and they all take both good and bad photos depending on the experience
of the user. I bought a cheap $285 Fuji-film Finepix to take photos at social events for magazine publishers because it
was a small compact camera that I could easily mingle with at the events that took photos that delivered a professional
quality result. This camera paid for itself 50 times over before I had any issues with it. The battery compartment lid broke.
But I made more than enough money whereby I now own two good Nikon DSLR cameras and a bunch of lens & accessories.

So the debate and arguments continually rages on with camera technology just as it does with metal detector technology.

Consumers today are generally lazy and want things to be made easy. So they always looking for that user friendly technology
with some extra features which is why the new Pulse Induction metal detectors ticks all these boxes. Prospectors today are
looking for metal detectors that will find gold easier so they dig less holes. This is quite the opposite with the old timers who
had to work harder to know something about geology and gold panning to find the signs of good gold.

So using the Minelab Eureka Gold is going to take some work to use it very effectively which is something I will soon be
putting to the test. I've also bought the Coiltek 15" Goldseeker coil for it which is better on deeper gold, so after that
arrives I will conduct some tests and share with you all the results.

I love the challenge of old school prospecting which is why I've always been into panning and sluicing for alluvial gold.
So I cannot wait for Easter now to get out and have my first swing with the Minelab Eureka Gold on some old claims.

So stay tuned I will let you all know how it all goes.

 

[Chewy]

Good hunting GF.

 

[mbasko]

One crucial fact is ignored by metal detector users today, and that is before the introduction of pulse induction metal detectors there was nothing else BUT VLF metal detectors and they still found gold! So what gives with the bad reviews?

There's a crucial fact your also ignoring - there was a lot more easily detectable gold in a lot more of the easily accessed areas before the introduction of pulse induction metal detectors too! Theories about why certain machines get bad raps are great but I tend to lean towards the practical. In practice the PI machines I've owned have found more gold than the VLF. Yes they do it easier but dig less holes???? - PI's are pretty much a dig everything machine - no reliable discrimination to speak of.
You can say what you like about Minelabs or Minelab users but the proofs in the pudding - they find gold consistently in good operators hands. I wouldn't swap a GPX for 5 ATX's & no I don't currently own a GPX. That's just my opinion.....

 

[SteelPat]

Hit the nail on the head there mbasko. The gold is now harder to find.

All the gold easily found by VLF's has been taken, especially now the SDC is on the scene. The Eureka will find gold, no doubt about that, BUT while you are still scraping around, day after day, those with a PI machine (that know how to use it anyway) will be sitting back having a beer, weighing their gold lol.

And yes I do have a Eureka Gold and used it quite extensively. I certainly dig more holes now than I ever did with the EG.

Wouldnt ever use it on the gold fields now unless I broke my GPZ. I put a large coil on it and now use it now for relic hunting.

 

[Gold Ferret]

There's a crucial fact your also ignoring - there was a lot more easily detectable gold in a lot more of the easily accessed areas before the introduction of pulse induction metal detectors too!

True no doubt PI detectors do a much better job, however they are still picking up nuggets off the ground in many places around Australia and Australia is a very big place. So I don't buy it that the gold is running out. Weather erosion also reveals new deposits in areas that have been previously heavily mined. So sometimes I think it can also come down to the luck of the draw and beating others with PI detectors to the gold.

 

[mbasko]

Where are they picking gold up off the ground in any large amounts The odd sunbaker or two maybe but hardly filling their pockets with it. Australia is a big place & there may still be places like that out there but they would be very few & far between not to mention very remote. Watch Goldhounds Mountain Goat Gold vid to get an appreciation of a previously unworked/unmined/unexplored area being prospected. It aint easy & it just shows the prospecting not the getting to the area firstly or set up/work involved in being in a remote location.
If your waiting for weather erosion to reveal a new deposit come back & we'll talk in 100 years or so :lol: The heavily mined areas won't reveal a great deal more than the scraps they left us or the odd bigger bit they missed - the old timers already sunk shafts, hyd sluiced or surfaced/paddocked them down to bedrock or pipeclay. Yes there is still big bits to be found out there somewhere & some may come to light after a good run off etc. but I won't be waiting for the once in a hundred year weather event to reveal it. A good downpour can certainly move some gold around too or help to unmask the littluns in some spots so always worth trying an old spot after good rain but I've never seen considerably more gold come to light - the odd bit here or there.
Your best bet, like all of us regardless of type of detector, is to find a virgin area or an area that hasn't seen 30 odd years of detectorists running over them. Either that or just bank on getting lucky in a well worked area which can & still does happen too.
Like the rest of us Gold Ferret I think your about 160 years too late.

 

[Gold Ferret]

I was checking out a newly exposed quartz vein yesterday in an new housing estate because the land is still unoccupied. An area with high mineralisation and red iron oxide with my Eureka Gold and got a good strong deep signal at 6.4khz coming out of one spot. So looks like some hard rock mining might be on the cards to find out what is actually inside of it, but it's certainly not junk coming from so deep inside in the bedrock.

I was also using the Coiltek 15" Goldseeker coil when I found the signal.

 

[SteelPat]

Over the weekend I was out in Bendigo on private property with my GPZ and the Eureka. A cousin was using the Eureka and he found a strong signal coming from within a rock. I ran the Zed over it and there was nothing. Did multiple ground balances, but no matter what settings we used on the Eureka we could not tune it out. Even turned off all metal mode, tried to discriminate but still a strong signal. A real definite 'target' signal. We broke the rock open and it was almost pure iron inside.

I really hope you have found an elusive nugget hidden in the rocks, but unfortunately in highly mineralised ground, the probability is it will be a very compact lump of ironstone.

 

[fireworks]

Hi All,
I have just purchased an EG a couple of weeks ago from the good people at Miners Den at Parramatta and took it to Turon for a test run on Saturday (before joining this forum). I watched the video on you tube before I went of the gentlemen from the US (running time approx 20 min) using the EG which was an ok starting point. Where I went was heavily rocky and was finding it hard to balance the unit as the sounds it was throwing out were all over the place(dropping out, when swinging it would go from the low hum that was suggested in the video to a rise up to then a drop in sound and as just really all over the place). I did end up finding some old bottle caps and some 22 bullet casings. Thanks to the threads on this topic I hope to be able to balance the machine better. Yesterday I tried the flatten sinker test in my back yard and ran the EG with the setting at 60 with all the threshold set at between 2 and 3 o'clock which let the detector keep a hum throughout the whole of the swing with which I could detect a slight rise change in the sound when moving over the target. Had fun anyway and do realise that I need a lot more hours under my belt to become one with the EG. Was thinking of going to sunny corner state forest for a bit of a look and wondering if anyone has been there and if so any advice would be appreciated.

Dazza

 

[triton09]

Gday guys im new to this forum. Im looking at getting a gold detector x-terra 705 or eureka gold. I want to use it for gold only what do you think will be better out on gold fields? Im new to detecting and have a 1000 limit cheers

 

[nuggethill]

G'day Triton09 and welcome to P.A.
sorry mate can't help with the detector as I swing a GPX5000 :8
cheers Harry

 

[rocketaroo]

or consider the makro racer gold

 

[Chewy]

Hi Triton welcome to PA.

 

[triton09]

 

[triton09]

Anyone?? Lol

 

[AtomRat]

Have you looked much into sd2200's at all

 

[blisters]

Search for eureka on this site and you'll find discussion and comparisons which might help you decide.
Jon

 

[triton09]

Cheers mate