89 of 140 people found this review helpful:

Review by: R. B. Vezzani

User Experience: 4-6 years

Submitted on: Mar 18, 2008

User Rating:

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I started using a metal detector 8 years ago. I wanted to start searching for gold nuggets. I started kind of late in life at age 59. Why did we start? Moved into gold area in Nevada and wanted a new hobby. I had real wonderful friend that told me about detectors and said for me i to find gold your have to get a Minelab. That is what he was using and said that he had found a lot of gold with his detector.

In June of 1999 I bought a Minelab XT 18000 detector. It was the newest mid priced model available. I liked the fact that you had automatic ground balancing. Just knowing that ground balancing was something that had to be adjusted often was something that I liked in this model. Another feature was the 3 operating frequencies. I don't know why that was important when I bought it, but I liked being able to choose. As I used the detector more and learned how the frequencies worked I found deeper and smaller pieces of gold and changed frequencies a lot.

I still use this detector when the wind is not blowing to hard. I have trouble hearing any of the sounds when the wind blows. I have tried different headphones and still have a problem. I did what I had to do. My wife now uses it more than I do.

She enjoys the balance and the sound differences between gold and trash. She uses the 60kHz because the small targets are more plentiful most often where we hunt, but still gets a big one now and then.

We really like the Ni-Cad battery system. She usually gets tired before the battery goes down and on those days when we detect together we trade off if the wind is not bad. We have another detector, so we can both detect and it is a different brand.

With our gold detectors we have found coins as well a buckles, horse shoes, and lots of metal trash. We do pickup the trash and carry it to our disposal bucket located in the truck. As we finish out the hunt we think about the area and what we can do the next time. Of course we have picked up ideas that help by ourselves and from others that have a lot more experience. We carry a regular garden rake. Have special scoops and we do not were rings or shoes with metal in them clothing with metal buttons. We do use gaiters for over our shoes in case of snakes. We use a tool type apron with a test nugget, plastic film container for nuggets and the manual just in case we need information. With operating this detector in 8 different states we do run into some interesting things. So the manual is a help. Minelab now has the Eureka and we are looking at updating our detector. We have found enough gold to have paid for this one, so now we think this might a good time to try something new.

This detector was ranked near the top in 1999. Find a dealer that will show you how there favorite detector works and keep looking. You learn more and will make a better choice.

D & K V

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39 of 41 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Brad Riffey

User Experience: 2-4 years

Submitted on: Feb 10, 2010

User Rating:

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I just recently bought the Minelab Eureka Gold as a "nugget shooter" but then realized that the discrimination works good enough to search out coins and other larger goodies just as good. If you know how to setup a detector properly, then this is a perfect all-around detector. I also like the adjustable frequency toggle and the signal boost switches. These features put the detector in a league of its own. I mostly go out for coins so this worked excellent for me! It is lightweight, well balanced and EXTREMELY sensitive so you won’t miss anything. The coil makes pinpointing easy and the battery life is very long.

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