Hipstick

Just to let everyone know, John's Detectors is a duly authorized dealer for the Hipstick. This is listed under the Accessories header. It is a simple but yet effective device to take the strain away from the shoulder and arm while using your metal detector. Take a look at it, quite a neat little device ehh. Good hunting all and be safe!

John Tomlinson,CET
John's Detectors

Metal Detector Sensitivity

The subject of Sensitivity in metal detectors has been on my mind lately. Detector electronics is very interesting to me although I know little about them. I tend to try to compare them to radio electronics. But to get the ball rolling one must have a way to intercept the desired signal and get it amped to a usable level. But there is something that stands in the way of obtaining a great signal and that is noise. And some of this noise comes from inside the very instrument you are using and it is called thermal noise created by electron activity inside the components, namely resistors. This noise can be lowered by a cooling process that is expensive and impractical. So I suppose we have to live with it. So we have a signal/noise ratio to work with.

So in the first amp of a metal detector receiver it is best to find a device with the lowest noise figure and highest gain to help mask the high noise figure, am I on the right track? An EE may want to step in here to correct me. But if you try to amp it up too much you might have spurious noise also. but overall it is not good to use excessive gain and cause more problems.

I am hoping someone will step in here to tell me that my thought process is way off on Mars! I am always willing to learn and I suppose I just wanted to ramble a bit. Ok evryone is welcome to come by John's Detectors to get help for your needs and if I don't have it, most likely I can get it. Good hunting and be safe everyone!

John Tomlinson,CET

John's Detectors

Blackwell,Tx.

Maverick Gold Pan

Ok here is the Maverick gold pan for working your fine concentrates. I will try to get it and others on my website shortly. This is a pretty nifty square pan that works very well for small gold. the grit strip is a big plus! Ok I hope everyone finds the big one soon and do be safe while doing it! Thanks very much for looking.

John Tomlinson,CET

John's Detectors

325-282-2329

Prospecting Gear

I want to announce that John's Detectors is now a dealer for Angus MacKirk. I will be selling mostly the sluices and fine concentrates finishers. I can order many other items from them so if you need something let me know.

I am also taking on the Maverick finishing gold pan by Fossicker. This gold pan is used for very fine concentrates to separate very small gold from magnetite. I also hope to have the Pyramid Pro Pan by them soon. So as always be safe and good hunting all!

John Tomlinson,CET

John's Detectors

325-282-2329

Brands I Carry

In case anyone is curious I am a Whites metal detector dealer too. I also carry a lot of things not on my business website. I like to get your phone calls so that I can be sure you will get what you need for your situation. Also don't be afraid to log into my blog and ask questions. Metal detecting is a very rewarding hobby and it gets you in the outdoors. If you want to discuss a different type of treasure hunting feel free to do so. Ok I felt that I needed to let anyone know this. So good hunting or good prospecting or meteorite hunting and remember to always be safe.

John Tomlinson,CET

John's Detectors

Minelab Etrac and Gold Coins

In case anyone is curious I air tested a $10 gold coin and a $5 gold coin on the Minelab Etrac. The $10 gold coin read F 12- C 38. The $5 gold coin read F 12- C 30. Interesting, eh? This is using the 11" Pro coil. I really like the Etrac because it hits solid on the targets your looking for, coins, jewelry, relics and so on. I am a small coil guy but I have found the 11" Pro coil to be quite useful. I use it most of the time even on the Safari. The menu is very easy to navigate through also. It is my favorite detector. I recommend it even to a beginner because it is also a turn on and go machine. Ok fellow detectorists remember to keep your digger sharp and your coil cover clean because it's out there, go find it!

John Tomlinson,CET

John's Detectors

Setting Up The Sovereign GT

There seems to be some that have a little trouble setting the Minelab Sovereign GT for the Discrimination mode. I thought I would share how I set the controls on my Sov. GT. To begin turn on the machine and increase the volume full clockwise, then set Sensitivity to the Auto mode. Then set Threshold to an audible and stable level, be sure not to set it too high. Continue on to the Disc knob and set it full counterclockwise=off. Set the Notch also to full counterclockwise=off. Set the Threshold toggle switch to Threshold. For my area setting the Noise Cancel toggle switch to Band 2 works best. Next we need to Ground Balance the GT and set the All Metal toggle to All Metal Then set the Tracking toggle switch to Track. The machine is now set up for Ground Balancing. Find ground that is free of any metal targets first, this is a must. Listen to the Threshold tone and begin pumping the search coil up and down above the clear spot of ground. Usually just a few pumps and the Threshold levels out with no change in pitch of the tone. Once you have acheived this hold the coil still and switch the tracking toggle to fixed. Then switch your All Metal toggle to Disc. Setting it to Iron Mask is your choice. You are now ready to go detecting. If you have the DigiSearch digital readout module then put a quarter on the ground and sweep it making sure you are getting a good tone. Calibrate the readout to 180 for a quarter. Listening to the changes in pitch of the tone is very important. High conductors will give you a nice high pitch and low conductors will be a low pitch. The Sovereign GT takes some getting use to but with regular practice it will start to click. The DigiSearch readout helps if you have that too. Another very important point is to have a slower than normal coil swing. It isn't fast but the slow swing pays off because this is a good machine. It is a misunderstood machine but can get deep and find the good stuff. Again practice makes perfect. It will also do well at the beach if you are near one. The GT can be a bit heavy and so I would recommend a Swingy Thingy cord to help support it better. I hope this is helpful and gets some more finds for everyone. Oh one more thing I should say is that the GT doesn't track the ground in the Discrimination mode and so you might want to repeat the GB'ing if you move to another area. Good hunting and be safe all!

John Tomlinson,CET

John's Detectors