Very sensitive to super tiny gold placer or hard rock and great for sampling. One can not process allot of material with one though and that can be a drawback. I used to clean overburden off bedrock and check the cracks with mine when I had one years ago.

Good hunting, Bill

Hey ,Thanks for the info. anyone who knows how to dial one these babby 's in to find the best gold would be helpful thanks.

Here ya go Gary go to the following web address.... https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=how+to+set+Falcon+gold+probe&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

The directions are pretty simple. Do not move the slider past the red line or it will be really unstable. I run mine just a tad below the red line and it works great. Its a metal detector so set it up just like one you swing. Ie ground balance.

Hi, I just came across this thread. I've had a Falcon MD 20 for 2 years now, and I hate it. It's been a real POS. It's been back to Wally twice for fixing, same problems (erratic false positives and often non-stop noise when I turn it on - utterly unusable). Both times, instead of sending me a new one, he just says my lemon is fixed - but then I go to use it and it works sort-of, maybe twice, and then it goes to non-stop noise. No matter what - non-stop noise. I've gotten no use out of this hunk of expensive junk at all. I hate to throw it away, thinking that maybe it could be fixed, but I am stymied. It's still under its 5-yr warranty, but Wally didn't answer my last e-mail about it having gone bad a third time, and I just stare at it and get angry.

Needed to vent.

     Julia, your situation brings back an old memory, for you see I was metal detecting a place that was a hot spot for partying back in the prohibition days when a older gentleman came over and started a conversation. He told me he had a metal detector that he had sent back to the manufacturer 3 times and each time he was told there was nothing wrong with it. I asked him if he had the detector with him and he said yes, so I asked him if I could see it. His detector was a different brand than mine and I love to pit detectors against one another. My next question was, do you have the manual with you and he said yes. I asked him if I could read the manual overnight and meet him first thing in the morning at this spot and he agreed.

 

     The next morning I tuned up his detector and ran it over the area that I had ran my detector the day before. His machine was hitting silver dimes at 9 inches deep where my machine was only going down around 5 inches deep. There was nothing wrong with his detector, it was a tuning issue and when my detector was stolen I replaced it with the brand he was using.

 

     It sounds like the sensitivity control is being set to high and or you are getting a negative response ( sound ) from a mineral like black sands which is normal. Reread your manual and experiment at home doing air tests with some targets.

 

     Also try going to a chapter meeting and see if there is someone that might be able to help you with tuning your Falcon. Best of luck     Ron

Hi, Ron,
I appreciate your help (and love your story), and I wish it was that simple. I did take it to a meeting - one of my buddies who's had one for years and loves his took a look at it, and pronounced it inop. He said there's something wrong with it - so at least I know it's not just me. There's no sensitivity to test - when you turn the sensitivity knob on, the sound starts blaring. No matter what you do with the other knob, or the ring, or the sensitivity knob, it just screams. It's got brand new batteries, it's all clean, the connection between the cable and the unit is good and tight and clean, and the wand is just hanging in the air, away from everything when I turn it on. I have the manual - there's nothing left to test. It just doesn't do anything but scream.

I think there's something wrong electronically, but all that electronic stuff inside is a mystery to me. I do believe I got a lemon, and it really irks me that Wally won't just replace the thing with a new one that actually works. He said both times I sent it back that it tested fine on his workbench, and I honestly don't know what happens to it when it gets here, but it's always been unreliable (and now, again, it's a dead brick). And clearly he's not interested in resolving the issue. Too much money to have wasted on something that was supposed to be a terrific tool - it really makes me angry.

Fantastic detector that I have used for a number of years at my hard rock claims. It has really been a time saver also. Never had an issue with mine and always keep fresh batteries in it is the key.

I talked to Wally again, and this time he told me how to calibrate it (would have been useful to know this a long time ago). It involves taking the cover off and using a tiny screwdriver to turn a tiny screw on the circuit board until it stops sounding. Now it works again. I hope I don't have to do this in the field - I don't want to be playing with tiny screws and tiny screwdrivers out in the dirt - but at least I know how to make it work again. Still not my go-to detector (I trust my new Gold Bug 2 a lot more) but it works. I have yet to find gold in the bedrock - probably because there's no gold in the bedrock (at least where I've looked) - but that's not the Falcon's fault.

Wally Talked me through the re-calibrating, this detector is very sensitive to everything.. many hot rocks out here, the sound of hot rocks etc is pretty distinct, I only use mine to test quartz samples and cracks in bed rock.. I set my ground balance to what my gold bug tells me (each notch on the dial is equal to 10) don't know if this is correct or not, but it seems to function much better than when I first got it.

One more thing. I take exception to the testimonial on the ad that say's "I found 8 oz in one hour" either he forgot where he buried his gold coins, or I'm calling BS 

Just have to remember a beep going to it is positive for Gold, Pull away beep is black sands magnitite etc.... and nothing but looks like Gold is Iron Pyrite etc.. Although I prefer to sample and look under my microscope as it makes me learn what minerals look like and using the detector is great in a snap but its kinda a learning thing for me as I am into mineralogy.

 if you put the wand on the rock and pull away and it beeps it is positive for gold, silver, platinum etc. If it beeps going toward the rock it is usually iron but not always. I have had irony rocks with micron gold in them. going across the rock is the same, beep moving forward iron, beep following gold or other. let it warm up good and don't let it get hot in the sun or be to close to other detectors or it will act erratic , anyway that's the way mine works.

Thanks Tom Glenn

Page seven of operating manual (mine): A positive response (signal going toward the target) indicates a metal such as gold, silver, copper, etc. A negative response (signal moving away from the target) indicates a mineral such as iron oxides, black sand, etc. TTC

I have worked with my Falcon MD20 for a year now. I have talked to walley twice. THE FIRST THING I LEARNED... Take off your watch and any rings!!! It is VERY sensitive!
THE SECOND THING I LEARNED..... It detects ALL NON FERROUS MATERIAL!!! I have detected ALUMINUM (BAUXITE - LATERITE), SILVER, COPPER ORE.
So far very little gold. I hard rock prospect and I send off 2 or 3 assays per year. The assay really teaches you a lot. It doesn't cost much and is worth it.
The Falcon is a great tool. Except in rare occasions I feel any problems are the operator's.

I trust my Falcon MD10 to find gold. I have three detectors and I use test nuggets when setting up in a new area. I have one that's .04 of a gram and another that is smaller that doesn't show up on my 100ths off a gram scale. So it's in the 1000ths of a gram. Both the gold bug pro and xterra 70 detector see them easily. The tiniest my falcon sees it plainly. It must be a thousandth of a gram. I use all three to triple check the area I dug and my tailings. I can't seem to post a pic here of my test targets. Oh almost forgot the question of the erratic falcon. Sometimes the detector is a little hot. With the ground balance knob and sensitivity knob turned to the left but on adjust the copper ring forward until you start getting noise from the unit. Back off slowly until the sound stops then just a touch more. Make a mark or remember where it is set at and that's your most sensitive front spot. Look at the distance from the red mark that the black line is and that's how much distance from the spot you found back from there is the back distance. Mine is about an 1/8" forward of the red line. So I back it off about half the distance of the red and black lines and go from there setting up the detector. Hope this helps someone. I wanted to add one more thing about searching with the falcon. I put .04 gram nugget down on the ground and with the extension pole accessory I pass the detector over the target. It sounds similiar to a cold stone to me but a sharper boinging sound. A hot rock makes a similar sound but softer.

I have been using Falcons since almost day one. The 10 was a great unit and the 20 just topped the better usability scale for my applications. There are enough "How To's" listed with Roberts being the closest to how I have set mine up since the beginning with tweaks here and there depending on the areas and material I'm working.
Moving toward the target (gold and other nonferrous metals) signal will sound - moving away sound, iron, and other ferrous metals. Simple to use and I have paid for mine many many times over in working ore dumps on old Hardrock mines alone.
I do calibrate monthly and I have a hard case that it travels in with tools to open the box and make adjustments when needed int he filed along with extra 9v batteries.
It is that one tool that I would suggest that everyone has in the toolbox. I would not suggest altering the cable or making any changes at all. at 300khZ it is just a tad bit selective to mods.

Hi Fred,
I have never sent material to be assayed, but have some which I want to. How much material do I need to have as a sample? And can you recommend a reliable place to send it to?
What methods are your samples analyzed by amd what spectrum of metals do your report cover?
Thanks
Leo

Hey Leo,
I have used EXPRESS XRF ANALYSIS Boseman Mont. several times. He stays behind, but I have been satisfied. I have 1 in to him now, and he is a week behind. I am waiting on an emailed report.

Leo,
Message 2. Just got my assay and a very nice letter from XRF. I still give them a thumbs up.