Spent the last few years building detection gear for prospectors, and the #1 mistake I see beginners make: buying a detector based on max depth specs instead of ground balance range.

Here's the truth — most gold nuggets people actually find are shallow (2-6 inches) and TINY (sub-gram). What separates a good gold detector from a mediocre one isn't how deep it claims to go, it's:

1. VLF frequency tuning — higher frequencies (14-20kHz+) are far more sensitive to small gold than the lower frequencies used in general-purpose detectors.

2. Ground balance stability — mineralized soil (common in gold country) causes false signals. A detector that can't track ground balance in real time will bury you in junk targets.

3. Discrimination that doesn't cost you gold — aggressive iron discrimination often silences small nuggets too. The best setups run minimal discrimination and rely on sound, not screen ID.

We built the Gold Strike Pro around these three things specifically, not flashy depth claims. If you're starting out, don't chase depth — chase sensitivity and ground tracking. That's where the gold actually is.