What made you get into detecting?

Yes it was golf for sure...goldenchild...hahahahahahahaha

Huey....

gday stoppsy. i first tried detecting in the mid 90,s with a mate who bought the newly released sd 2000, i think. we went out on quite a few trips with very little gold found but geez it was great fun. after meeting the future ex i always wanted to go out again so once i was free i decided to buy up what i needed and give it a go. i love it out there and cant think of a better hobby that i have done. all the travelling, the sights, and the gold is the big bonus. now all i do is sit around waiting till i get back out there ha. cheers jason

Thank you for your kind words Kon. And yes, you are quite correct, there never was an FT17000 it should have read XT17000.

Cheers, Jim

it's good to read how everyone has got into this hobby thanks for posting guys... jason mate you have done the right thing getting back into this great hobby as you have been doing very well, just have to let the leg get better and you'll be back out finding more again...
cheers
stoppsy

I have to say that as a "newbie" and someone that is looking to take on this fascinating hobby (or obsession), it is truly inspiring to hear tales of how everyone got started. I will happily admit that I looked at the hobby a couple (maybe a few) years ago and gold was only roughly $400 an ounce (give or take) and my expected outlay was a little out of my reach. A recent trip to the gold museum with my Uni course inspired a little research and a discussion with the misses (also known as ‘Financial Controller’). As such, the $$$ are slowly being put aside and hopefully soon I will be able say that we have had a poke around a few areas. I can’t say that I have a disillusion of never working again or becoming a millionaire, but the thought of finding small treasures, gold or otherwise, inspires me to pursue it.

I love my time in the bush. Camping, fishing, exploring etc. it’s just where I feel at home. To add another hobby that could potentially ‘pay for itself’ or more importantly, ‘pay for the trip away’ is a huge bonus and will be a great excuse for the other half and me to get out a little more, not that we really need one. I will say that I have relayed some of the tales from here to raise her interest and she has taken it hook, line and sinker.

All I can say is Thank you.

Nature Pete.

good work pete it was actualy my misses that got me off my ass while camping and we have never looked back nothings better than seeing that gold in your pan...we found it hard at first didnt know about this forum but reed a lot of books and info and since being on this forum have learnt a hell of a lot more we find that as long as we keep it fun and dont take it too serious we have a great time...good luck out there mate

hi Nature_Pete, good to see that you have taken up this greta hobbymate, my wife couldn't get into detecting after a few outings, i was thinking that i should hide a bit and hope to god that i can remember where i put it and let her find it justto get her hooked. your in a great area for prospecting, so hope to see some good pictures off some findings soon and have fun.
cheers
stoppsy

stoppsy wrote: i was thinking that i should hide a bit and hope to god that i can remember where i put it and let her find it justto get her hooked. cheers
stoppsy

Hmmm..... What a great idea ...

Hi all this is my short story,

Through the 80's I went out in the bush a lot (when VLF detectors were all the rage) with my dad and grandfather, I was only a small kid.
I absolutely love the bush and a few years ago purchased a few acres of bush land and cleared an area to build a house.
Upon digging an electrical trench to run power from the house to the new shed, I hit a big lump of quartz that nearly through the trenching machine over my head it was so solid! I didn't think much about it except that it was a pain in the bum. My dad came over and got all excited about it reckoned it might be a bit of reef. I wasn't excited.
Then a few months later I started digging a hole for an in ground pool about 20 mtrs north of the trench and low and be hold there were quartz reefs and leads all through it. Dad got excited again and wouldn't let me put the pool in till his mate (a geologist from W.A.) had a look at it. He came took some samples and had them tested.
Well as it turned out we live on a shear zone and the reef section here isn't very auriferous. But I got excited enough to study all the old diggings near here. I was spending my weekends shoveling quartz, slate and wash from the pool hole into an old cement mixer with a two 3kg shot puts inside it, to crush the quartz and pan it off. I was getting a lot of very fine but just visible gold dust in the pan.
That was it I was bitten by the gold bug. That was about eighteen months ago.
Since then around 6 months ago I bought a detector and plenty of gear, I read every book I can get my hands on and a few dvd's and get out the bush as much as I can on the weekends. Haven't found anything yet but the search is on.....

Cheers,
Blackwhisky



P.S. The pool still isn't in lol.

I love collecting but shiny gold has really tweaked my interest and I can't explain why. Perhaps visions of "free wealth" picking up nuggets from the top of the ground. I thought seriously about getting a gold detector in the 70s. Instead I got a 8-5 job and only started looking seriously at this interest in the last couple of years and more so in the last 12 months. Looking back you wonder, what if .... But I got family now and am quite happy. And now ... it is time to find some gold. My wife is also keen to find a bit of the yellow - probably as much as me.