VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, [9] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 22:14:58 03/11/02 Mon
Author: Steve Herschbach
Subject: Another thought on the Gold Strike
In reply to: Clint/Idaho 's message, "Re: Interesting" on 20:02:06 03/11/02 Mon

I have a theory that the Gold Strike may not be a machine for the experienced nugget hunter.

I've helped a lot of novices get started. The threshold and associated ground noises are a real problem for people starting out. Especially with a hot unit like the Gold Bug 2.

The machines will register a faint sound on some mineralization, and inevitably the beginner will think it is a small nugget. The sound does not sound at all like a nugget to the trained ear, but for people starting out these faint variations can be a real problem.

They hear what sounds like a target to them, but on digging find nothing. Frustration can set in rapidly, and they are shortly back to panning or sluicing. maybe that is not an option in the desert, but here in Alaska there are other ways of finding gold near at hand.

The problem is not as bad when I can be there to help out. But what about the new guy out by himself. Many people simply lack the patience to learn todays breed of machines.

The Gold Strike may have a much shorter learning curve in that the operator does not have to learn to read the threshold sounds. While experienced operators tend to be focused on sheer performance, I do believe there is a real market for this a detector that is easier to learn.

I'm concerned about the Gold Strike's ability to keep up this theoretical quiet performance in highly mineralized soil. But around my area the ground is very forgiving and hot rocks are few. The gold is on the small side. So a novice may be able to detect for gold with the Gold Strike just like they are coin hunting. Just scan the ground until they get a signal, and dig it up.

The Gold Strike is not what I was hoping for from Fisher. I was hoping for the same Gold Bug package with an optional automatic ground balance (manual if I want) and maybe some kind of magical dual frequency operation (20 kHz and 60 kHz simultaneously?).

But we should not forget what it is like to be a beginner. I'd really like to turn a complete novice loose with the machine and a regular nugget detector this spring to get their impression of what they like better starting out. The answer would be very informative.

And the fact that the Gold Strike is digital means that it should be easy to tweak the machine once it gets sufficient field use. The Gold Strike 2 might really be something to see. Maybe the future of nugget detecting is easy to operate target id units identical to coin detectors.

If Fisher had really worked with experienced users in the design of this unit I think the machine would have been much different. That is why I can't help but feel that maybe they were aiming at a different user. Maybe they intended to make a break with the past. Or maybe I'm giving them too much credit!

There does seem to be a trend away from sheer utility in nugget detectors towards bells and whistles. White's went from a box designed for field use to the same box they put their coin detectors in. Now Fisher has moved to put their nugget detector in the same box as their coin detectors.

I'm sure this is more economical, but it not an example of engineering for the use, that's for sure. I may have to count on Tesoro now to build a nugget machine the size of a pack of cigarettes I can put in my shirt pocket. They are they only guys that seem to think smaller and lighter is important. Waterproof also would really be something for a gold dredger like me.

Anyway, I'm wandering. My main point is that maybe there is a real market for a Gold Strike type machine. Maybe it's just not us old-timers!

Steve Herschbach

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-6
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.