Beginner..

G’day,
New here so I thought that I’d introduce myself
I am a 58 year old male who lives on the Southern Tablelands of NSW. Originally a ‘to an’ from’, who was brought out here when I was eight and was introduced to prospecting soon after by my Dear old Dad. I’ve panned for gold all over the old diggings of NSW, with a few colours here and there to show for it. Having fulfilled my familial obligations, I now find myself with ever increasing time on my hands and would like to slowly introduce myself to searching for gold with a Minelab product.
The general advice given to us new fellahs is to do your research and them some more, followed by more research.
I’ve spent the last two years studying soil sciences, catchment and hydrology and geology in general and in that time have been introduced to mineral and geological maps, which will help me get a better understanding of the lay of the land, old riverbeds, benches, etc.
My next learning curve will be using a detector and all its technical intricacies...in saying all of the above...in your opinion, is there any other advice I need to know of to start me on the path of being a good detectorist?
PS I’ve been following and reading this site for some time now, and find it really interesting the experiences of the more experienced detectors here.
Thanking You, Jon Mullen (mungo man)

G'day John (mungoman) ... nice ta meet ya! I'm Kate and I'm from SA. I do my detecting in VIC every couple of months ... SA is the MOST non gold-hunter friendly place in the entire country!!

You couldn't get much more 'technically' prepared for this hobby than what you are already! Wow! You really do have the 'educated' goods!!! Practice is the key to this hobby, given your level of education. Practice and covering the ground. You won't find gold if you don't walk over it first!!

Your detector choice will also be of great importance. Any Minelab GPX model detector will see you right. There are definitely other brands that will find gold, however the Minelab GPX's (4000, 4500, 5000) are the 'weapon of choice' for the serious detectorists (hobby or pro), given their purpose-specific configurations per model. Which model you use will, of course, depend on your budget. I have worked my way up to a GPX4000 and am quite happy to stay with this model for quite some time to come.

I cannot offer you a comparison (of use) for these three models because I have not used the 4500 or the 5000, but I am lead to believe that they do increase in sophistication, and thus complexity, as the models progress. I am sure you will find quite a bit written here onsite about each model.

One thing I would offer as advice, is to consider HOW you are going to GO detecting. Will you 'rough it', caravan park, motel etc??? Each has it's own necessities of life. Make sure you have snake bite kit, water facilities etc etc. From the sounds of it, this is just about all you now have to get set up ... and then, get to know your machine inside-out.

PS: I'm sure we won't hold the 'to an' from' against you! 6 Generations ago my mob came from Cornwall

Hi Jon and welcome to the forum.
With the research that you seem to have been doing, it's more than likely we'll be coming to you for advice. Alot of us, look at the maps with the old diggings and google earth and pinpoint a few spots to visit and go out and try our luck. We do "homework" in our down time but until you actually go out there and see the soil and maybe swing a detector over it, it remains a bit of an unknown. So saying that, when are you coming down to Vic next? I think I want to tag along with you...
Finding a detector isn't really all that hard. With the exception of the earlier VLF machines, all the "standard" gold machines produced by Minelab thesedays are PI machines. They all basically have the same depth and same technology that they did when they first came out ('96 from memory). The new machines excell over the older machines in sensitivity for the smaller nuggets and have a great deal of functions and timings and soil types etc that you can vary through the control panel - the older ones were quite simple in comparrison. Saying that though, a good older PI operator, will still "hear" the majority of the nuggets that the newer machines "hear". I suppose it all comes down to your budget for a machine, as they vary from about $1000 all the way up to about $6500. Work that out for your financial situation and then someone here may be able to steer you towards the detector that suits you.

PS Don't forget to tell me when you're coming down to Vic.

Hey CostasDee ... you wicked man!! I'm gonna get dibs on this new fella ... gonna trail along behind him, so he can do the map reading for me ... it's well beyond me!!!!

Kate... thanks for the welcome and reply.
I’ll be roughing it in a tent, but with all the mod cons, practices and experience that The Girls (daughters) and I have accumulated over the years.
My preference would be a GPX-4500 and the idea of some of the DVDs that are available sounds good to me. Your advice of practice, covering the ground and getting to know and understand the machine is sovereign. Thanks once again Kate, much appreciated
Jon.

CostasDee, thanks for the greeting and the information about the PI technology, much appreciated.
I’ve read and heard a lot about the ‘Golden Triangle’ and I reckon it would definitely be worth a shot at. I’m thinking sometime next year as I’m still doing a bit of study (tafe) that keeps me pretty occupied at the moment.
I’ll definitely let you know when I can get down your way..I reckon I’ve still got a lot to learn..
Jon

mungoman wrote:Kate... thanks for the welcome and reply.
I’ll be roughing it in a tent, but with all the mod cons, practices and experience that The Girls (daughters) and I have accumulated over the years.
My preference would be a GPX-4500 and the idea of some of the DVDs that are available sounds good to me. Your advice of practice, covering the ground and getting to know and understand the machine is sovereign. Thanks once again Kate, much appreciated
Jon.

[quote]

Hi Jon and welcome to the forum, I don't detect st the moment but I will give this advise...Buy your GPX from a dealer or someone that is willing to provide all details of the machine, ie serial number etc, then check them with minelab, there are a lot of ripe offs happening at the moment especially on Ebay and gumtree, do plenty of homework so you don't end up a victim...

Happy hunting...

Thanks Rockett, sounds like good advice to me, especially after what happened to Blue..Did the Jonnyhoppers catch onto the fellah from Murraybridge?

hi jon.sounds as if you know a thing or too about geology etc. as for detecting,the best advice i could give would be to do some training courses,or hook up with an experienced operator. i didn't know anybody, or have any experience, and i found that doing a few "training days" with different operators, gave me a good insight as to how the machines operated,and also what i should be looking for out in the fields.not that it sounds like you would need to be told what to look for.

Hi Jon and welcome.

You are definitely on the right track. I would recommend that you try a tag-a-long gold hunting safari or someother form on on the ground training. With these you will get to work with the latest detectors and have expert on-hand advise to guide and help you. Talk to Coiltek.

You have picked a great hobby.

Good luck

John

G'day Cam and John, thanks for the welcome and suggestions. As a new fellah, the idea of tracking along with the more experienced Detectorist sounds beaut, learning to see the difference in the soils, recognising signs from, lets say, vegetation (cherry ballaart and red ironbark) and topography, along with being able to ask questions about the response of a detector would certainly fill out a persons education...and what a great way to do it.
Thanks to you all, Jon.