2 New TV Series about Metal Detecting

Gordon Heritage

Gary Brun

Looks like we have 2 new TV series coming soon about metal detecting.

Firstly, the Hoard Hunters on the History Channel starring Gordon Heritage and Gary Brun. This is a UK series starting 28 May.

Secondly, the Dig Wars on the Travel Channel starring Ron "Chicago Ron" Guinazzo, Mark Slinkman, Mike Scott, Larry Cissna, Abby & Josh Silva. This is a US series starting 12 June.

Mike, Larry, Abby, Josh, Ron & Mark

Great Fun on Minelabbing Day

Today, my youngest daughter (Alicia) and I attended the Minelabbing Day at Woolowin in Brisbane.

The day started off with Greg giving a talk to an enthusiastic crowd about the Minelab GPX 5000 and also about gold. David from The Open Range had a table set up with a CTX 3030, E-TRAC, X-Terra 705 and a Eureka Gold for everyone to look at and try.

Once the talk was over, it was time for morning tea and Nenad from Minelab gave advice for anyone who needed it with their detector.

Then it was what my daughter was waiting for, the treasure hunt. Rather a large amount of coins were spread through bark chip which covered an area of approx. 30M x 10M. The aim was to find an American quarter which would win you a Minelab cap. If you found anything else, it was Chupa Chups, Milko Chews or Mentos.

When we took our first lot of coins in (approx. 20) to see what we had won, we realised we still didn't have a quarter. So it was back to the bark chip for another 10 minutes until we found our first quarter. That made my day with a brand new Minelab cap.

We also found another coin which was not part of the treasure hunt, it was deeper than the rest but I will now remember that my very first coin found with a metal detector was an Australian 2c coin
minted in 1980.

Once the treasure hunt was over it was time for the lucky draws. Prizes included a CTX 3030, an X-Terra 705, Minelab Pro-Find 25 Pin-Pointer, shirts and caps. Unfortunately, our numbers didn't come up but we had a great day anyway.

We are both looking forward to the next one. Many thanks go to Minelab, The Open Range and the Brisbane Metal Detecting Club.

C'mon dad, when's the treasure hunt going to start?

Chicago Ron - Celtic Gold Galore - YouTube Video

I must admit I enjoy watching Chicago Ron's YouTube videos and reading about his exploits on his blog. Especially the competition he has with Mark.

Here's the latest one from his March 2013 tour to England.

Relic Hunter Magazine - May/June 2013 Edition Out Now

The latest edition of the Relic Hunter Magazine is out now.

Go Minelabbing Day - Brisbane - 18 May 2013

Woolowin

 Kalinga Scott Hall, Bertha Street

 Saturday 18 May 2013 - 9am -1pm

Event highlights

FREE entry

Games & Prizes including:

Opportunities to WIN great Minelab prizes

Free raffle for a Minelab CTX 3030 (A $2500.00 value)

Free raffle for a Minelab X-TERRA 705 (A $850.00 value)

Raffles to be held at 1:00pm. You must be present to win.

Treasure hunts for both adults and kids (Bring your own metal detector or borrow one of our Minelab detectors, available on the day)

30 minor prizes available to win

Minelab metal detector demonstrations by people who have used their gear in Australia for years.

Display of some of the finds members from the Brisbane Metal Detecting Club have recovered over the years.

Free Minelab showbags

Balloons for the kids

Refreshments & Food
  - Free morning tea at 10:00 am
  - BBQ lunch provided by the Brisbane Metal Detecting Club

Bring your own chair as seating will be limited

Proudly Brought to you by:  The Open Range

An RDO for me so I will be there.

Non Related Topic - Codename: Digby

Ok, sorry, just making a plug for my brother's book.

For anyone who lives in Brisbane, especially the bayside suburbs, this may be the book for you. My brother Steve N. Porter (@steve_n_porter) finished his first novel back in December 2012. Codename: Digby is the first book in a trilogy.

Codename: Digby: Pursuit of the Dragon Lady - On his days off, Jason "Megsy" McGraw likes nothing better than a quiet paddle. Harry Carter likes nothing better than to not get killed while he works. When Jason finds Harry hidden away in the mangroves his life becomes one of bad guys, dodgy packages and a mystery from the cold war.

The second book is also close to release. Codename: Greenland is due for release in June 2013.

You can purchase the book through Amazon in either electronic or paperback format.

Electronic: $2.95 US
Paperback: $14.95 US

Back from Kilkivan

Kilkivan

Back from Kilkivan Sunday evening and have finished packing everything away and washed the car.

It was great to get some experience and confidence with the CTX 3030. I ran it most of the time in RELIC mode as I was essentially out in the bush and wanted to find everything that I swung the coil over.

I was hoping there would be other CTX 3030 users there but unfortunately not. The vast majority of users had GPX 5000's or earlier models. There was very little gold found but strangely enough, the person who found the most was using a Whites MXT.

I probably spent about 15 hours in total over 3 days actually metal detecting. The arm did get a little tired and I found myself changing arms for a short while just to give my favoured arm a rest. Maybe if I was digging a bit more I wouldn't have that problem.

Battery life was great. I took up some alkaline batteries just in case but never used them. I like the idea of the WM10 as I just placed it in my left trouser pocket and it did not get in the way of detecting or digging.

Barb wire, nails, bullets, bolts, tin, lead.........all rubbish (sorry about poor quality pic)

I wasn't expecting much from this trip (finds wise). I knew it was a site for gold hunting and not treasure hunting. However, the trip did what I was hoping it would, give me confidence and familiarity with the CTX so that now I can head out to more public places and not look like a total newbie.

Preparations for Kilkivan

The trip to Kilkivan, Queensland is coming up fast. Next Thursday 28 March I will be heading up and the drive should take me about 3 hours from my home.

I will be staying at the Kilkivan Bush Camping & Caravan Park. I was originally going to stay in one of their huts but as they had quite a few tentative bookings I decided I would get myself some camping gear and rough it for a few days. I'll be staying from Thursday 28 March to Monday 1 April. This should give me plenty of time to get familiar with the Minelab CTX 3030.

The majority of the camping gear I bought was from Ray's Outdoors.

• Wild Country Lightning Dome Tent (3 person - orange)
• Wild Country Weekender Sleeping Bag
• Wild Country X Leg Camp Stretcher

I also bought the following tools from Bunnings.

• Fiskars Garden Light Spade
• Hart 1.5lb Mini Mattock

My metal detecting gear will consist of the following.

• Minelab CTX 3030
• Garrett Pro-Pointer
• Garrett Edge Digger
• Garrett Camo Digger's Pouch

It's Here

I'm hoping that 13 is a lucky number. My Minelab CTX 3030 has arrived on the 13th of March 2013.

Went together very easy. Thought I would have a problem with the cord inside the shaft but all went well. I currently have the battery on charge and will give it a test run tomorrow on my property.

Ordered the full cover set from Pro-Tectors (standard black) and the arm rest cover and WM-10 wireless module cover off asis2160 (Ebay).

First Planned Trip - Kilkivan QLD

I have decided that I will attend this months' BMDC planned trip to Kilkivan, Queensland. This will be held during the Easter weekend.

Kilkivan is located 54km west of Gympie or 268km from my location (approx. 3hrs drive).

Kilkivan was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s. Queensland’s first gold discovery was at Kilkivan in 1852 and subsequent findings escalated into a gold rush in the 1860s.

This will be a great opportunity to get familiar with my new Minelab CTX 3030. I will be picking up the new detector on Wednesday 14 March.

The Start of a Rewarding Hobby

The day has finally come.........I have just placed an order for the Minelab CTX 3030 through The Open Range (Minelab Authorised Dealer).

The excitement builds...............

Free Bag with Minelab CTX 3030 Purchase - Australia

I was reading the Minelab Times today and noticed that Minelab are throwing in a Minelab detector bag with the purchase of the CTX 3030 between 01 March and 31 April 2013.

Notice the mistake? I always thought there was only 30 days in April. Anyway, I'll be getting mine before this offer finishes.

Value $66.00 AUD

CTX 3030 Target ID Guide for Australians

Please do not take this as gospel as there are many factors which can alter the numbers shown on the CTX 3030 display (i.e. corrosion, shape, horizontal or vertical, metal alloy content, etc).

Decimal:

1c    11:41
2c    11:44
5c    12:07
10c  12:14
20c  12:24
50c  12:26
$1    12:38
$2    12:39

Pre-Decimal:

Half Penny --- 11:39
Penny --- 12:46
Silver Three Pence --- 11:32 - 12:32
Three Pence (92.5% Pure) --- 12:40
Three Pence (50% Pure) --- 12:28
Six Pence (92.5% Pure) --- 11:41
Six Pence (50% Pure) --- 12:36
Silver Shilling --- 11:42
Shilling (92.5% Pure) --- 11:46 - 12:47
Shilling (50% Pure) --- 12:40 - 12:42
Silver Florin --- 12:42
Florin (92.5% Pure) --- 04:46 - 09:47
Florin (50% Pure) --- 12:45
Crown (92.5% Pure) --- 01:40

Gold:

Ring (Fine 9K) --- 12:09
Ring (Fine 18K) --- 12:17
Ring (Med 9K) --- 12:17
Ring (Med 18K) --- 12:12
Ring (Heavy 9K) --- 12:20
Ring (Heavy 18K) --- 12:20
Necklace (9K) --- 12:14

Silver:

Ring (Fine) --- 12:24 - 13:45
Ring (Med) --- 13:46
Ring (Heavy) --- 07:48
Fob Chain --- 11:37

Special thanks go to both JewelleryRescue and 3DDevil (+ anyone else who submitted ID's) on the KimBuckTwo forum.

Relic Hunter Magazine - Mar/Apr 2013 Edition Out Now

The latest edition of the Relic Hunter Magazine is out now. Always look forward to reading each issue.

Found a New Blog - CoinRelicDownUnder

I am always looking for more information with regards to the Minelab CTX 3030 and today I found this blog - CoinRelicDownUnder. Mark keeps the Blog well up to date and makes for great reading.

He is Australian based which is exactly what I am looking for. Keep up the great work Mark.