Spark Gold Nugget

The MWF Spark Gold Nugget is the nugget-specific model in MWF's Spark family of long-range locators. Rather than a search coil, it works from a small hand-held control unit with a transmitting and a receiving antenna fitted to the front; MWF describes the principle as a Long Distance Sensing System (LDS) using Digital Frequency Signal Processing to receive electrostatic fields, run by a PIC18 microcontroller over an operating band of 1 kHz to 9 kHz. Before you begin you choose the nugget size you are looking for — tiny, small, medium or big — then set a search distance and a search depth. The manufacturer specifies a forward search distance of 0 to 200 m across a full 360° arc, selectable in 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 m steps, and a search depth of 0 to 10 m selectable at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 m. In use the unit is held level and tilted slightly toward the ground and turned slowly right and left; MWF states that when a target is picked up the device swings onto its bearing and an acoustic alarm sounds. Everything is read off an LED panel — a three-level signal indicator and a three-level battery indicator — with five adjustable sound levels plus a silent vibrator mode for quiet working. MWF's Automatic Tuning System (ATS) is stated to work across rocky, mountainous, sandy and clay terrain without manual calibration, and internal signal filtering is described as isolating the magnetic effects of soil and metallic rock. The unit itself is genuinely pocket-sized at 16 x 9.5 x 2.5 cm and 700 g assembled, around 1 kg packed into its 34 x 28 x 8 cm bag, and runs on four AAA cells (6 V) for a stated 32 working hours at a maximum 25 mAh draw; the stated operating range is -15°C to 60°C at up to 90% humidity. The kit is complete as supplied — control unit, both antennas, demountable grip, carry bag, guarantee certificate and user guide — and MWF publishes the manual in English, Arabic and Turkish. It is aimed at prospectors who want a light, pocket-carried reconnaissance tool for covering open nugget ground, and MWF positions it as usable without prior detector experience.