Johnno481

This is the best stuff to use for the skid plate; "high or ultra high molecular weight polyethylene" , google it. You would still be better off though, using a 30 x 7 Patch Finder coil which "will give you a 10' swing coverage and you can walk at full pace.

You won’t do better than Sunray Pro gold.

I have been detecting for 45 years in WA and have played around with more than a dozen drag coil configurations. I have also used a 30 x7 patch finder coil on a 4500 with great success on the type of ground you are intending to prospect. It is light, very sensitive, quiet and enables a swing coverage greater than you are aiming for. No great expense , no problems. It will achieve everything you are hoping for.

In the past I have stuck lambswool over the outside of earphones by using silicon on the leather side. Works brilliantly.

Has anyone experienced a GPX detector turning on of it’s own accord? My detecting mate has a GPX4500 which turns on while he is travelling slowly on his quad bike. Yet he cannot make it do the same by bumping or tapping the detector. It was sent to Minelab to try and correct the problem but without success. If you have experienced the same phenomena and found the cause he would love to be enlightened.

I used the formula I have used for 40 years and always found pretty accurate. It is as follows; air weight = 125.8. Water weight = 100.3 Air weight minus water weight gives the cubic cms of volume of 25.5. Air weight divided by the cubic cms of volume gives the specific gravity of 4.93. Then using the equation of 116 - 310 divided by the SG of 4.93 gives a figure of 53.12, which is the percentage of gold in the specimen. Which comes in at 66.82 gms. Quite close to the melted weight of 66.2 gms.

Just a correction the actual outside diameter of the plastic tubing is 1/2” (13mm).

Ryan, If you get some plastic tubing, I think it is about 3/8 “in diameter in old language I think, then cut of enough to go right around the coil. Then carefully lay it flat and mark the inside curve in the centre and cut along that line for the hole length. If you then open it up and fit it around the rim of the coil and cut it so the two ends just meet. Use a small hole punch to put two holes in each end and use couple of small plastic ties to pull the two ends together. I have never had to replace a coil cover, usually the area of the cover which becomes worn and damaged is the edge. This treatment prevents this damage. Regards John

Best way to avoid bears is to carry pepper spray and wear bells on your shoes. The best way to tell if you are in bear country is to study the scat you come across. Bear scat smells like pepper and has little bells in it! The most danger here in Western Australia is exhaustion from carrying the wildlife on your back.

Free is the right price! Bought one when they first came out, used and tested on a 20 gm nugget , it did detect 30 percent deeper than the 14x13 coil but did not detect as deep as a 20” NF mono on a 4500. So being twice the weight and under performing the 20” mono, sold it immediately. What a disappointment.

I use a Whites TRX and find it excellent. If you put a 5 cent piece just below the handle the depth capability which is already impressive, approximately doubles. You can just hold it there but I stuck one on with a dab of silicone.

Couldn’t agree more with Steve, you would be well served with a Minelab 4500. I have used many detectors over the past 39 years, up to the GPZ. If I was only able to have one detector it would be the 4500, and the coil of choice would be a 16” nugget finder mono. But depending where you will be detecting smaller coils may be more appropriate. Good luck.

Sunray pro Gold are hard to beat. Koss UR 30’s are like listening through a wall. If you listen to both you will hear the difference. Your whole set up is only as good as the weakest part. Best wishes from down under.

I use 3 solar panels to charge a heavy duty battery set up same as Nordic but position the panels in the sun turning them to face the sun several times during the day. I park the vehicle in the shade and use ordinary extension leads to run from the panels to the battery. Much more efficient use of panels if they are kept facing the sun and the food in the shaded vehicle stays cooler and lasts longer. We also have a 12v 50amp generator for when there are extended cloudy days.

Mitchell, Koss ur30 headphones aren't worth $9, they will probably cost you gold. Buy yourself a set of Sunray Pro Gold headphones and you will be amazed. Your whole setup is only as good as the weakest part. Good luck out there. John

Don't get me wrong the 19" coil showed us an improvement of around 30 percent over the 14" coil and the 14" coil showed around 30 percent improvement over the 4500 or 5000 with the standard 11" coil just as Minelab has claimed. But if you have already been thoroughly over a piece of ground with a 20" mono on the 4500 or 5000 our tests indicate the 19" coil may be disappointing. Next season I will continue to try and prove otherwise. From what we have found it's best performance is likely to be on specimens. Johnno

Don't be in a rush, having used and tested it against a Nugget Finder 20" mono on the 4500, the NF 20"went deeper, has a better signal, is half the price and a third the weight! Those tests were done in Western Australia with 7 & 24 gm nuggets in the ground, using high yield and difficult on the 7000 and enhance on the 4500. Hopefully it can prove itself in some situations and conditions. The best thing about it so far is it makes the 14" coil seem light! :) Johnno481

I had the same problems since the SD2000, so I cut a piece of stainless pipe which fitted over the shaft after I cut it down the middle and opened it up slightly. I then welded another piece of stainless pipe to the first mentioned at the correct angle and then pop riveted the sleeve onto the detector shaft in the appropriate position for my arm. When the handles came out with the button in the top I glued a drilled out piece of wooden dowel into the top of the handle for the button switch and ran the wiring down the inside of the handle and out through a hole I had made in the very bottom of the handle. Works a treat and will never break.

I did some measurements of the new 19" coil photo and converted the measurements and arrived at a width of 16.5 inches.