assistance

Hi I need assistance as I keep on finding junk when detecting is there a particular signal that is gold what is the keys to a signal that is gold let me know what I should be listening out for I feel I’m in need of some hints tips was a good weekend but didn’t detect much as weather was shoddy and unpredictable also I need some tips regarding settings to I run a Gpx 4500 with 12 inch evolution will November camp be brought forward and likely areas been considered please ask mick if he received my payment I feel he has please email me thanks Tim

Ps also what do you look for in an area for detecting just generally

The things I find all the time are nails tacks shavings of steel bullet casings and bit of wire they are the ones and maybe the occasional hot rock

Hi tim,I think it's time you bought yourself a coin & relic detector,it'll knock out all of the junk and pick up precious metals ie,gold,silver and copper coins.
If you constantly frequent trashy areas I highly recommend a machine that will discriminate,do your home work,plenty of good machines out there ,second hand ones are good.

cheers moredeep

You forgot to mention boot tacks, small nails, large nails, rusted bits of tin/steel & a whole lot of lead to go with it Tim. This is what most of us detectorists go through & find, before a single bit of gold is discovered. Gold is simply scarce, rare & hard to find. If you are finding all or any of the above, tells me you are not doing anything wrong, just haven't swung over a gold nugget, within reach of the depth capabilities of your detector/coil set up.
Forget about trying to determine the ifs buts or maybe's with pulse Induction detectors & dig every positive in ground target signal out. This is the only sure way of knowing if the target is gold or not.
Either that, or as moredeep has said, get a top of the line coin detector, which offers excellent discriminating capabilities & work the trashy areas of a goldfield with one of these. Mind you, it might not find you gold as deep as the detector/coil you currently have, but it sure will stop you from digging up a lot of iron trash.

Cheers Kon.

A very important thing to remember when looking for gold - unlike treasure detectors, we are NOT listening for a sound.

What we listen for is a repeatable CHANGE in the threshold. It could be a change in tone and/or volume. The tone can go up or down and the volume can increase or decrease. This is all dependent on the size of the target, the shape of the target, the depth of the target and the type of ground the target is in.

Unfortunately as gold prospectors, we dig lots of junk. That's why at the end of every season of Aussie Gold Hunters there is a small increase in secondhand detector sales as people realise its not that easy lol. If you listen for a sound, you will miss targets. If you use discrimination you will also miss targets.

Ive been told by coiltek and miners den to keep my gpx4500 as detecting junk is all part of detecting for gold look if gold was found on every signal everyone would be doing it. I was told it part and parcel of gold detecting and that ive got the right detector gpx4500 for the job.

Just like what we've all been telling you Tim. You do have the right detector/coil combo on for finding gold, It's just that you haven't come across an area containing gold within reach. When you do, you will find gold & no Tim, if gold were to be found by all or any, upon every in ground signal they were to encounter, no one would be chasing it, because gold would then be of little monetary value. It is the scarcity/rarity of any metal/mineral, that determines/warrants, the price man puts on it.

Cheers Kon.

Hi Tim, here is my 2 bobs worth.
I tell myself when finding all the rubbish that i am on ground that has not been done over before, or if it has then they did not dig every target which makes the odds of finding gold a lot better, presuming there could be gold there.
As gold gets even harder to find people will end up going over these trashy areas.
So persevere and it will come. Having said that i can only handle digging so much rubbish before i move on. Cheers

Tim you have the right handle "YellowMellow" That is what I listen for a Relative deep narrow Mellow signal from the Yellow metal. This does not let you not dig up every signal you get, as every signal is experience gained.

By the way my handle is Geof_JUNK

Steelpat wrote (among other things) “….we are NOT listening for a sound.  What we listen for is a repeatable CHANGE in the threshold.  It could be a change in tone and/or volume.”

As a general comment on metal detecting, that is probably one of the best bits of advice that anyone will ever get!

How often has that little change in threshold pulled us up or that persistent faint whisper turned out to be a deeper nugget?

Col

Best bits of advice yes, but none the less a change in sound through signal response. Whether that change in signal response, comes through a break or change in threshold pitch, or rise or fall in volume, either way, being able to hear that break or change in between that steady constant threshold hum, or rise/fall in volume response, is what tells us something annoying is there. Can there be a break/rise or fall in threshold or volume response, without some form of sound being emitted? So yes, sound or some form of it, does play a role towards telling us, there's something there.

Cheers Kon.

Yes, you are right of course Kon, sound or some variation of sound is how the detector indicates that there may be a target under / near the coil.

But what I think the point Steelpat was making ,and that I was agreeing with, was that it is not always the distinct signal (sound), be it obvious or faint, that people should be listening for. It is the more subtle variations in the threshold that indicates that there may be a target.

While all of this might be pretty obvious to those who have been detecting for a while, I would suggest that for many less experienced detector users, it may not be well appreciated.

Col

G'day Col

I fully understand what Pat & yourself are referring to & I can't say I dis-agree, but those so called subtle variations in threshold break alone, can only be fully appreciated, or more to the point of being better understood, through the use of threshold sound alone & very little, to no detector volume at all.
As detector volume is increased or turned up to suit an individuals hearing, it also tends to distort or create an erratic threshold (especially when going over ground where mineralization increases in strength), which in turn tends to drown out (so to speak), the faintest of "in ground positive target signals" from false ones. Hence making those very faint "positive" target responses, coming from a break in threshold, hard to distinguish out from the real Mcoy.
The problem with using nothing but threshold as volume for detecting, listening to nothing but a constant continuous threshold signal hum for that slight/faint break in threshold, over long periods of time, are neither favourable no tolerable to the many, without losing ones sanity.
Time to crack open that perfectly chilled stubby fellas.

Cheers Kon.