night detecting

Please click on link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEH1zIPOSOk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

You have to hand it to these 2 very dedicated prospectors working all day and still stumbling around by night!! As for the cameraman (me) well he just does for the love of it also.
It is an experience to have but make sure your vehicle is well lit up and a gps unit is carried. We often made a full circle walking and were completely disoriented at times. (be careful at night)
Let me know what you think !!
cheers Vasilis

Ok Vasilis,enjoyed the video...but it stopped short at a very crucial stage was there any gold found?

cheers Bill

The other tip here is by ground balancing, the signal becomes clearer and you'll never loose a signal as long as you don't ground balance on the signal....
cheers goldenbrown...

Thanks for the comments - all welcome to have a say.

Goldenbrown - the reason we were questioning the ground balancing procedure is because a fellow named "nugget dundee" suggested that people should never balance out the first target response they get.
Ok to do so once you have established a definite target sound.
I also tested this concept on some very faint responses when on the move and found it was safer to only balance after a foot or surface scrape.
I am yet to be fully convinced but decided to play it safe and balance only when the target was clear. This just help make the sound more specific and easier to pinpoint.

Stay tuned Eurika will put some more of it up - slow upload on my system so I do not put the full movie on.

cheers vasilis

a little closer to the hole
The tempo was building up and the two wolves were getting sweaty and lumpy as the sound got clearer and stronger.
They circled and cross checked the sound more than I had expected. It was hard compact ground and sounded like a striking hammer to an anvil.
There were sparks appearing and jagged stones flying but the tremor and excitement was only just beginning to be heard.
The quiet and calm of the night amplifies and distorts the sound resonating as the pick fly's hard onto the earth.One more blow before we realize that other tools are going to be required if we are to even get a glimpse at the sound beneath our feet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBXFL0pJSv0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Cheers Vasilis

vasilis wrote:Thanks for the comments - all welcome to have a say.

Goldenbrown - the reason we were questioning the ground balancing procedure is because a fellow named "nugget dundee" suggested that people should never balance out the first target response they get.
Ok to do so once you have established a definite target sound.
I also tested this concept on some very faint responses when on the move and found it was safer to only balance after a foot or surface scrape.
I am yet to be fully convinced but decided to play it safe and balance only when the target was clear. This just help make the sound more specific and easier to pinpoint.


cheers vasilis

Hi vasilis, I uderstand you wanting to play it safe, but ground balancing gives your detector "more" sensitivety and "more" depth by reading the ground conditions. I ground balance every couple of metres because the ground conditions can change very quickly. Whatever works for you.....
Next time I'm out I'll try your way and see what happens. You never know, and it wont hurt, unless I hit my foot with the pick...
cheers goldenbrown...

From personal experience I have found like others have said, ground balance often (always in fixed)
If an iffy signal, after a quick scrape and a ground balance on the dirt removed from the target hole, usually sorts things out. To pin point a target (I don't do this often) press and hold the quick track button.

The whole purpose of the ground balance is so that the ground is invisible to the detector thus making the target more recognisable/visible to the detector.

GoldstalkerGPX wrote:To pin point a target (I don't do this often) press and hold the quick track button.

Not sure what you are getting at here Goldstalker, are you doing this when you have the target out of the hole and trying to locate it in the loose dirt from the hole? or something else.

cheers dave

Before having the target out of the hole and not exactly sure where in the hole it is, doing this apparently helps to 'pin point' the location of the target.

GoldstalkerGPX wrote:Before having the target out of the hole and not exactly sure where in the hole it is, doing this apparently helps to 'pin point' the location of the target.

I dunno, I've not tried it like that for that reason, I guess you are talking about when you have just scraped the ground an inch or so, not when trying to check way down a 18" deep hole.

cheers dave

Dave, I don't think I would do this down an 18" hole

The following is what is stated in the minelab 4500 manual....

To find an object and reduce the size of the hole required to remove it from the ground, it is necessary to pinpoint the exact location of the object.
If a target is heard, first confirm it by setting an accurate ground balance away from the target. To ground balance, if detecting in fixed position, hold down the quick-track button and pass the coil around the area of the target, making sure the target is not detected (keep the coil well away from where the target is).
Once completed realease the button.

If detecting in tracking, move the coil slowly around the area of the target keeping well away from the target itself. Hold down the quick-track button to go to fixed and pinpoint across the target.

Yep I see what you mean now, thats what I do, probably without even thinking, except if I want to check for charcoal or clay dome or ground noise ect.

Then I do what you say, but as well I will, with the machine in fixed, making sure you are ground balanced correctly, hold the quick track button down and swing over the target and listen for what happens, then let the quick track button go while still swinging over the target, go to one side and check the ground balance, if the ground balance is out even slightly then it should be a metal target of some kind.

cheers dave

You may have noticed with the night detecting scene that the boys had a concern over this very faint signal. What I was trying to say is that often we are too quick to re-ground balance when a faint response is heard and it is possible to just cancel it out at the press of a tracking button.I will now only ground balance once I am 100 % sure it is a target (as mentioned - better for pinpointing) or when over a period of time the detector becomes too unstable so it is a must to re-balance.
I know this topic has been discussed over and over but still good to be reminded of the subtleties of detecting.
cheers vasilis

Good on ya vasilis,
Constructive critisicism is welcome on any post and what ever works for you is great and you should stick to that. Keep the videos coming and I hope you pull some nice nuggy's on the w/end or your next outing...
cheers goldenbrown...

If it's a genuine target even a very faint one, re ground balancing will not cancel it out, if it's ground noise or not a metal target of some kind it will get rid of it that's the whole point of it.

Ground balancing is one of the most important things you can do, or not do correctly as the case maybe, letting the machine get noticable way out of ground balance before re doing it is way to long.

Sometimes you may need to rebalance every few metres, other places no where near as often. If it needs it do it, and probably do it anyway whether it needs it or not.

cheers dave

An image of the same night scene for Mr Tiboo

Thank you for the feedback also. I have been doing as you both say for the last couple of yrs but thought I would try this other method of not balancing to frequently due to the suggestion being made whilst on our recent trip to WA.

Conclusion is do what ever works for you as you guys have said but always listen for alternatives.

https://2img.net/h/i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae188/vasilisalamidis/IMG_0386.jpg

Cheers Vasilis

Looks like a pool of water and I think he has found the mother load as he stares into the abyss.

https://2img.net/h/i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae188/vasilisalamidis/IMG_0390.jpg

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