azblackbird

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azblackbird last won the day on March 16 2017

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About azblackbird

  • Birthday 09/19/1961

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Glendale, AZ
  • Interests
    prospecting, riding, shooting, etc., etc.

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  1. I’m cleaning out my garage. Anything I haven’t used for a year or more goes to the auction block. With that said... up for sale to some lucky buyer is the following equipment for recovering desert gold. Equipment has been sold. For more information, photos, reviews, and how-to videos on operating this equipment please visit my website: http://www.azbest.com/drywasher
  2. Yep, I've had the SPOT since they first came out. Cheap insurance if things go sideways when out in the boonies. I left instructions with my S.O. to have them send a helicopter no questions asked if I hit the SOS button, as most likely I'm in a spot that only a good horseman or dirt bike rider would be able to access. I like that gorilla pod, may have to pick one of those up myself. I have a little mini tripod that I carry in my fanny pack, but it don't wrap around anything. I usually just sit it on a rock or in a tree if I'm shooting video of myself.
  3. Hey Doc... might I suggest a chest harness or a helmet cam. It sure beats dragging around a tripod (already BTDT) and having to continually take time to make sure you're getting that perfect shot. Like you, I was looking for a small "waterproof" camera to film my prospecting adventures. After comparing just about every make and model out there, I finally settled on this. This camera shoots videos just as good as the GoPros (the industry standard) for 1/3 of the price. It's a very compact and simple to use unit, and for the most part I hardly even know that I'm wearing it. Given that I've had many friends trash their GoPros from crashing their bikes, or losing them after hitting a tree branch... I figured if I did the same, then I wouldn't be out all that much money Here's the chest rig that I use when out in the field shooting my videos. It's so comfortable, you don't even know you're wearing it. Takes about a minute to put it on and mount the camera. I also rigged me up a really nice helmet cam to compliment the chest harness. Believe it or not, but I found the best helmet to mount a camera to was an equestrian helmet. Being that I'm out here in the desert, I didn't want to wear my regular dirt biking helmet, as it was just way too hot and bulky when riding at slow speeds and trying to prospect. I tried a bicycle helmet and it was just way too dorky looking for my tastes, and was too thick and bulky (mostly all styrofoam) and didn't offer any good mounting points. I also tried a hard hat. It was way too flimsy and moved around too much just like the bicycle helmet did. The equestrian helmet I chose is light weight and has a "cool max" liner that wicks away the sweat. It buckles tight and solid like a motorcycle helmet, and it doesn't move around like the bicycle and hard hat did. It offers enough cooling and ventilation that I can comfortably wear it all day long whether riding or swinging a detector. I think either (or both) of these options would definitely be worth considering if you plan on making more videos of your prospecting adventures. Here's some video I shot that shows how easy it is to use the chest rig. I'm not much of an orator and prefer to let the scenery do my speaking for me. Even though the camera can shoot at 1080p, I always shoot at 720p @ 60 fps. I still get good resolution at that setting with very little artifacts or skipping. Good luck with your videos. I enjoy watching them... Make sure to set your YT settings to 720HD for best resolution...
  4. I'm guessing he got a freebie in exchange for promoting their products on all the major gold forums.
  5. Get with the times and swallow the camera. Easy peasy.
  6. Thanks for the reminder on checking your holes and dig piles. Easy to become complacent.
  7. Get yourself a good bullet cam and chest harness. You can detect and shoot video "hands free" to your hearts content. The pain in the butt is the editing and posting of your videos to YouTube. That's what takes the most time.
  8. Great video Doc! Maybe your camera wasn't conveying the full amplitude of the signal, but I would have expected more of a stronger break in the threshhold when you initially hit the target. I noticed when you removed the "smoothing" that the signal did appear to be more abrupt, but then again you gained a little more noise also, which for me I would probably rather have if I could get a sharper hit on my targets. I guess it's all relative in how each machine responds and how you really need to tune yourself to that particular machine. Keep those videos coming. By the time I'm ready to upgrade to the latest and greatest, my learning curve should be almost nil due to guys like yourself shooting videos explaining the different settings for your particular circumstances. Thanks again...
  9. Ya gotta have some drama... just wait, he'll use it eventually to scare something away.
  10. Between cutting firewood, and gleaning the neighborhood citrus trees to give to the food bank, this is the first time I’ve had a chance to get out this month. I decided Sunday would be a good day to prospect one of the many areas I have marked on my geology maps. This area caught my attention because of a nice fault line running through it, and also because of the various geological changes. It’s in a known gold district, but hasn’t seen very much activity (claim wise) over the years, so I figured maybe it’s time to give it a look see. There’s a producing gold mine about 1/2 mile NW of where my prospects are located. I’m thinking (hoping more like it) that maybe some of those veins from that mine (or possibly other unknown deposits) may have leached out in some of the areas I have marked to explore. Anyway... here’s some video I shot of my day out... hope you all enjoy. Make sure to watch it in HD for the full effect.
  11. S.O. still has her mink coat if you want to do a trade. I have no doubts your wife would love it!