I absolutely loved my NF 17" Mono Elip, but it crapped itself, after 5 days of use.

I loved it because of it's light weight and it's ability to pick up small nuggets. It found 19 nuggets for 14.4gm before it lost all sensitivety - after it crapped itself, It was like detecting with the 4500 in cancel - lovely and quiet though !!

I am going to ask Nugget Finder for a new 17" under warranty and also purchase a new one to have as a spare. I never want to be without one of these again.

After it crapped itself, I bought a 14" elip Coiltek Gold Stalker mono. The difference was amazing. The GS coil made a noise when it any rock , twig, leaf, blade of grass etc etc etc. I actually complained about it and returned it to the seller. I found it nearly impossible to listen for those soft signals while the coil was making so much noise.

Then I got out my little 12" elip NF mono and proceeded to find 46 nuggets with it. I am going to get a spare one of these too.

It's a long expensive business getting to WA, so if gear dies, you need back-ups.

My 4500 also went to God on the first day of the Tour and I had to hire one from GPA. It just keeps making these waa-waa, waa-waa noises and is off to Minelab on Monday for the third time (inc the recall).

Cheers all,

Jigalong

The same thing happened to me Jig. Bought a new 12" mono elip Nugget finder. Beautiful coil and it died while I was in Bendigo. No problem. Got swapped over for a new one.
My new 4500 is on its way to Minelab also, after 5 to 20 minutes being on, it goes Wah Wah, like it needs a ground balance.
Have to flip de switch out of fixed and then it takes me 2 to 3 minutes pumping to get it quiet.
If it stays switched on, no problem, but after being switched off, it starts all over again.
They'll fix it ( I hope)

Sorry to hear you're having troubles JIG but its good to hear you're finding gold.

Dicko..

Hey Dicko, have you bought a 4000 yet ?
Jig

whats happened to madtuna?

Jigalong, you said,

"There was about 20 people detecting from a bush camp NE of Leonora...

The group tally for nine and a half days detecting, was 426 pieces (nuggets and specimens) for 10.9 oz (338.5 gm). The three best nuggets were 22.7, 15 and 12 gm (I think that is correct, if not, it's close)

I got 46 pieces for 50.7 gm during the tour and picked up 19 pc for 14.4 gm in the five days before the tour started. So for the two and a bit weeks I scored 65 nuggets for a bit over 2 oz.

My best bit was a 22.7 gm clunker which sounded great when it hit the plastic scoop. I found this 18" down using the Nugget Finder 10" eliptical mono. What a great coil this little bugger is."

"Then I got out my little 10" elip NF mono and proceeded to find 46 nuggets with it. I am going to get a spare one of these too.

It's a long expensive business getting to WA, so if gear dies, you need back-ups."

Which is very good, and it is surprising you found not only numerous nuggets but also the biggest nugget of the ~20 person trip with the NF 10" (5.5x9.5") elliptical mono at 18"!

You said you wanted to get a spare one, but I do not think that NF makes a 10" elliptical in Advantage(grey) winding. The very smallest they make in Advantage is a 12" (7x12") elliptical mono. Correct me if I am wrong.

I also have a plastic NF 10" elliptical(white) mono, but I hardly use it. Boy is it sensitive to small pieces but also I found it a bit too hotrock sensitive. But maybe now I should use it more now!

Don't you think a new NF Advantage 12" elliptical mono would be a better choice?

ferrousfinder wrote:whats happened to madtuna?

Nothing, except hes been away detecting

Sorry guys for that. Yes it was the 12" NF elip mono I use at Hill End, that I got the 46 bits with after the 17" went to God. (not the 10" as I originally said). I have edited my post.

I really am losing the plot in my old age. Thanks Beer Beeper for bringing it to my attention in such a nice way.

I also have the solid (not spoked) 14 elip NF mono. I purchased it to use in the leaf litter in the Golden Triangle, but I find it a little too heavy for my liking and will probably use the 12" for that in future. I will sell the 14" now.

Cheers,

Jig.

Speaking of Hill End, can anyone tell me how long does it take minelab to get back to you about the free training day after you buy a 4500? bought mine at end of april & havent heard anything yet?

Cheers, ferrous.

Madtuna's been up around TIB with Freshwater. He called in on the way back through and I got to see his gold. Nice.

Jigalong I haven't bought that 4000 yet but I will be getting it very soon.

Dicko..

Ferrous, I bought my detector 7th of april, send the card in on the 8th and 2 days ago I received the letter from Minelab about the training day !! So I would say it takes about 6 weeks for them to respond.

yep...I'm here, was camped with Freshwater up some creekbed at Tib for a couple of weeks...only came home cause freshwater couldn't stand the smell of me anymore
We did aprox 250klms on the quad and postie bike chasing emus and billygoats over some damn rough terrain...my butt has callouses like a rottweillers knee!
Just shy of an ounce between us for 157 pieces! yep 157...the gold is tiny! Freshy got the biggest bit at 2.7 gr while I got the smallest at 0.028gr
Finished off with a couple of days at HE on the way home for another 7.4gr

Anyone in NSW who hasn't done a Tibby trip, I highly reccommend it....don't go just for the gold, go for the experiance.

cheers!

madtuna wrote:...only came home cause freshwater couldn't stand the smell of me anymore

you'd think freshwater would have lent you a bar of soap....

Went to sofala with a mate and his brother early this year, the mate didnt have a soak over the 5 days we were there, he ended up reeking like an unfortunate bum in sydney city.... u know the putrid stale urine and bo smell.....it took me days to get the stench out of my car!


I notice choppa was nice enough not to say you stunk!
Good to hear you had some luck.

I had soap...but even on the freezing cold nights he refused to spoon so I thought ...bugger it! I'm not taking a tub for him!

choppa was just being nice as always

cheers whatsthetime. Guess theres a few more weeks before i hear anything then.
Whats the date of your training day & is it H End?

I have to ring up for a date at Hill End yet. They are every 6 to 8 weeks, they say.

spoon lol everytime i said im of to bed youd say ill be right behind you and my responce was not bloody likely.
And the goats did smell better and looked better too.
Im doing bit of a write up about the trip.
Ill have it done in a week or so.
PS wonder who racked your area at HE MT, i have 2 possabiles that come to mind.
Regards
John

I kicked a lot of the leaf litter away and detected plenty of junk near the camp site.

I actually thought MT suggested he might have a go at raking it after he saw how many targets (alas junk) I found there.

Jig.

yep...some awefully purdy goats there...got better looking the longer we were there lol

nope not you Jigs...this was a pretty freshly raked large area...also crap thrown back in dug holes

Just for you.

LOL throwing the junk back in the hole seems to be his calling card.