Hi Burrows ,.. Great thread , and some sound advice here ! I'd like to add my bit to it ,.. now , I still hunt only with my G.M. II & V-sat ,. and I should take some of the sound advice here and move on up to the G.M.T. ,. but probably won't? O.K. ,. like to expand on the plastic scoop ,. get 2 ,. then get the target/ signal into one of 'em ,. check the hole ,. pour half of that scoop into the other,. run BOTH scoops over your coil ,. pour the non=signal into a small pile away from the hole,.. repeat as necessary ,. positive elimination is the name of the game ,. is quick ,. and mov'n on,.. Oh ,. with a boot ,. give the dig a quick reclamation . Headphones ,. Koss UR-30 ,. thay just enhance these G.M.'s O.K. the signals ,. in general ,. gold will give you half the signal that similar size piece of lead will ,. over time your going to get really good at calling them ,. e.g. that's a .22 , that's a#8 ,. that's a bit of copper jacket ,. casing ,. etc. the latter two ,. will be due to the signal "peak" ,. you'll see . but ,. dig 'em all ! This "peak" I'm try'n to describe,. well,. if lead gives the true Zip-Zip ,. gold is bit "wider" more like Vip-vip ,. closer to a small hot-rock's Wip-Wip ,. there are a few games you can play with hot-rocks ,.but ,. dig 'em all Settings ,. Now,. here's a topic I'd like to hear from some other's opinion's on . I for the most part here in So cal. hunt with my power@ about 3-4 ,. moving up to 5-6 on occasion . Now ,. I bought my G.M.II new ,.. so I believe ,.I got into the habit [good/bad ?] of using these "lower" power settings early on ,. Now,. with the V-sat , I more often then not hunt with the V-sat off or maybe just clicking it on ,.. on bad ground I'd sooner hunt with power @ 3-4 and the V-sat @ 9:00 -!0:00[25% -35%] then say ,. power @ 5-6 and V-sat @ 50 % +,. maybe a very bad habit of mine ,. but hay I know I have a few others ,. so It's not alone ,.. Good hunt'n there Burrows ,.. Blindpig