I spent the day out playing with the new X-Terra I bought from Rob. No gold today, but I am confident that the machine is working good. I found some of the smallest pieces of bullets I have ever seen, some very old tiny pieces of rusted metal, and a random pair of nail clippers.... You don't want to get caught out in the middle of the desert with untrimmed nails........ I am pretty sure there is gold in the area as there were many people on the neighboring claims working with dry washers and detectors. Most likely just me being a rookie and looking in the wrong spots. Overall not a bad day. Cleaned up the desert a bit, got to play in the dirt, and got some exercise. Try again tomorrow. Happy hunting, Stevo