Vallon VMH3CS Mine Detector

[kingswood]

Yes, the geo map would be right. Maghemite is an oxidised form of magnetite which would be more prevalent on the surface. One of the causes of oxidation is high temperature and when I was in Australia I found higher levels of ground response in areas where there had been recent bush fires. When you think that bush fires have been happening since time immemorial (often started by lightning strikes) then it is no wonder that much of Australia has this ground problem. The darker black/brown colouration on the surface of pieces of rock is mainly maghemite.

On a weaker scale of ground signal, ancient sites of human occupation can often be determined by sudden changes in the ground response due to the conversion of magnetite to maghemite even in normal soils. In the iron and bronze ages in the UK, people had fires for one reason or another which left their mark in the soil mineralogy.

Eric.

Thanks Eric, very interesting. I know magnetite often is associated with gold
I am heading back there tomorrow (as I know there is gold there as evidenced by the 2 small nuggets!). It is in a largely minimally detected area.
I will take the Vallon and try it again....But will take the 2300 and the 2000 just in case

[Carolina]

Kingswood:
I wish you luck my friend and be sure you use the proper method of auto or manual soil compensation and as you move I would, if becomes chatty, I would use soil compensation again. Good luck. As Eric mentioned earlier, raise your coil and see if things calm down. Look for EMI. My guess is the soil.

Carolina

[Mdtoday]

Yes keep at it Kingswood, you can't be far off now

Brian

[Ferric Toes]

40 minute Vallon Strip Down 1

I started this on a machine as bought and in a bad state, at 14:46. Stripdown completed at 15:27. I have shown each part of the sequence in case any others are inclined to have a go. Only do it if you are competent and have the tools. The battery tube and coil lead connection are best cut and later rejoinded with heat shrink sleeving. On the coil lead pcb connector leave enough lead to resolder to. Unless the internal electronic box is damaged it is best to leave the internal pcb's alone. No one outside of Vallon have any servicing or schematic information on the electronics which is all firmware controlled.

Now the big cleanup and reassembly which will take rather longer. I will post a picture when finished.

Note. The final stage pictures will appear in a following post as any more here will exceed the limit.

Eric.

[Ferric Toes]

Vallon Strip Down 2

[kingswood]

Yes keep at it Kingswood, you can't be far off now

Brian

Thanks Brian and Carolina ....."Gold is where you find it".....I just need to find it ha ha
It is still fun though, despite the lack of gold. Was good to be with someone the other day who actually found some. I know now that its actually real
I thought of something late last night!....In my annoyed state of not been able to GB with the Vallon, I didnt actually try the manual GB procedure, just the auto!!!....I shall try that today if I still have issues!! I guess I got frustrated and clean forget about manual!

[kingswood]

Thanks for the stripped down pics Eric...nice to know what it looks like inside!

[Carolina]

Kingswood: I'm not pitching a sale but my friends in the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina ( both of which have heavy mineralized soil ) are singing praises for the Gold Monster 1000. They all have found gold first time out and they say it's deep. Single frequency around 45 I think. For just over $700 US it may be worth a try before you spend $7000 US. Do wish the VALLON works for you though. Eric is quite certain it will work. Good Luck.

Thomas

[kingswood]

Kingswood: I'm not pitching a sale but my friends in the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina ( both of which have heavy mineralized soil ) are singing praises for the Gold Monster 1000. They all have found gold first time out and they say it's deep. Single frequency around 45 I think. For just over $700 US it may be worth a try before you spend $7000 US. Do wish the VALLON works for you though. Eric is quite certain it will work. Good Luck.

Thomas

Thanks Thomas....I am not sure that the GM 1000 would do anything that the SDC2300 cant do, and we already have one of those
I have read the GPZ7000 patent and Mr. Candy has created a very good machine...no wonder it works on tiny gold and big gold at depth!
My first goal is to find a single piece with the Vallon....any piece!....mainly just to prove a point to my sceptic friends ha ha
Once I have done that (hopefully!!) then I will worry about what detector to use as my main gold hunter .....I am still only 7 months into this hobby ha ha

[garyq]

My first goal is to find a single piece with the Vallon....any piece!....mainly just to prove a point to my sceptic friends ha ha

Kingswood I know how you feel as I have a sceptic friend in regards to me using another PI detector other than my 5000 and even though I can prove a point to him that this other detector does detect gold he just continues to say, put that thing away and grab the 5000.

Hang in there mate and your goal with the Vallon will be achieved.

[Carolina]

Kingswood:
Well I wish you luck with your quest for gold. My forty years in this hobby has taught me to keep an open mind. No one detector will find it all. The SDC 2300 is a good PI machine and the gold monster employs the same tech. such as auto ground tracking and auto sensitivity. These are two conditions that will rob you of depth every time. Even a seasoned detectorist can have a hard time keeping up with the changing soil conditions so these are wonderful options to have. That SDC is a anchor though ( I own one myself ) and can wear you out. the GPZ as well is heavy! It is a different technology and is top of the line, but the gold monster will out perform both these machines on certain size gold. Bruce Candy would tell you the same thing. It is light and comes with two coils and is a good entry level VLF machine designed and tested in Australia. I can tell you, and all who have many many years experience will agree, that the machine is only as good as the man operating it. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Good luck with the VALLON, and hope you find your nugget soon!!!

Carolina

[kingswood]

Kingswood:
Well I wish you luck with your quest for gold. My forty years in this hobby has taught me to keep an open mind. No one detector will find it all. The SDC 2300 is a good PI machine and the gold monster employs the same tech. such as auto ground tracking and auto sensitivity. These are two conditions that will rob you of depth every time. Even a seasoned detectorist can have a hard time keeping up with the changing soil conditions so these are wonderful options to have. That SDC is a anchor though ( I own one myself ) and can wear you out. the GPZ as well is heavy! It is a different technology and is top of the line, but the gold monster will out perform both these machines on certain size gold. Bruce Candy would tell you the same thing. It is light and comes with two coils and is a good entry level VLF machine designed and tested in Australia. I can tell you, and all who have many many years experience will agree, that the machine is only as good as the man operating it. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Good luck with the VALLON, and hope you find your nugget soon!!!

Carolina

Absolutely agree with all of this ....But for me at the moment, the desire to find a piece of gold rests not in finding the gold itself, but in finding it with the Vallon
Once I have done that, I will buy a 7000

[6666]

When you do find a nugget with the Vallon, it will be bigger than the smallest piece the 2300 would detect.

[kingswood]

GB was much better today
No gold, but none for the SDC2300 either.
Quite a few hot rocks that gave great signals. Wife using the 2300 dug a few as well.

[6666]

Kingswood do you ever get areas that have water worn and rounded edged quartz, to indicate your area was under an inland sea like parts of NSW was?
if so pay carefull attention to those areas.