ophirboy

Gpx 4500 and 5000 plus x terra 705 according to the press statement.

I use both and I honestly can’t split them much on performance , although on the hot ground I work in the monster seems to balance and track a bit quicker and has a boosted audio that’s noticeable alongside the equinox .apart from the gold monster being a bit more adaptable and more robust in the Aussie bush its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Paul??

I think the x terra 705 is the pick of deals at the moment , one very versatile machine and a very good price, there’s life in the old girl yet.

No mention here ,Miners Den have it as a bundle deal at $10499 a saving of$495. Paul??

I would suggest that the 705 is a very good prospecting detector where soils conditions will allow , however in australia thats not always going to be the case and you may struggle to get much depth and be driven to distraction by our hot rocks.The latest wave of high frequency vlf units are being used here in certain locations to pick up the small pieces missed by the PI units or on exposed bedrock where targets are close to the coil. I think if i had to pick a detector i see most when im out and about it would be the sdc 2300 . With the gpx variants a close second and in West Australia the Gpx models reign supreme.. For my goldfields the sdc is usually very stable , gets reasonsble depth is eay to use and finds the bits that the larger PI units may leave behind . I can and have used plenty of vlf detectors in these places but in Australia , more than possibly anywhere else you may well end up feeling you’ve brought a knife to a gunfight . Having said all that if all you have is an x terra 705 you will still have plenty of fun and get to spend time in some amazing bush country and just remember the hand of faith was found on Australian soil with a detector of simpler parentage so anything is possible and i wish you luck . ??

Reminded me of a photo I have of the Welcome nugget shaft site sitting as it does ,directly in front of the Ballarat leagues club on the corner of Hummfray and Mair st.

Hi Gibson . The x terra is a great little all rounder and has a very reasonable threshold based prospecting mode . I am assuming you have the gold pack or are using the 18.5 kHz DD coil . There are you tube videos from Minelab on how to set up the unit for prospecting as well as many articles archived in this forum . I have a small six inch DD coil for mine and find it’s extra sensitivity useful for finding the smaller pieces . The depth you achieve will depend on how mineralised the soil is in you particular region . Good luck with it PM ??

I might just have the affair and when she gets over that I’ll know it’s ok to go out and buy the sdc. ?

Yes , I’d like to get an sdc but my wife just keeps giving me that look . I may have to sneak out and buy one . What’s that saying about easier to get forgiven than get permission.?.

I guess most of the posts I’m seeing are from places with quite mild soil conditions like New Zealand and Nevada , over here the soil can be atrociously bad . A lot of users of the Gold Monster here are simply running full sensitivity with the 5 inch coil and ignoring everything but the sweetest sounds and doing quite well . Maybe because I’m old school that approach doesn’t come easy but you live and learn. Regards Paul??

Thanks for that I’ll keep it in mind . I normally hunt in all metal and rely more on sound and signal width more than the meter ,but I’ve noticed a lot of posts where people are quoting the vdi numbers especially the equinox users when trying to analyse the target . I’m thinking that all things being equal the numbers on the equinox are as vulnerable to the same soil mineralisation as the monster or is the multi frequency more reliable. Regards Paul??

Thanks for the quick reply, that dispels any myths I’ve taught myself to believe. Thanks Paul.??

Great gold and environs as well , for those of us still clinging to old technology I’m wondering if any one can enlighten me on where the gold monsters chance meter stands alongside the standard vdi scale . I’m labouring under a perception that the mid line on the chance meter lies close to the zero mark on a vid scale and any slight movement to the positive is a close remblance to a1-5 reading on a vdi . However due to there being no further explanation from the manufacturer I was hoping the more enlightened on this forum might be able to dispel any misconceptions here. Regards paul??.

This is a cover available in Australia , but the neoprene one looks very nice and covers the speaker and jack as well . The Aussie one covers the control panel and is Velcro tied at the yoke.

Have not seen any of these in Aus ,but it is a BFO detector that would date from the late sixties to early seventies. The manual is probably still available on the net . regards PM??

After reading reports of the abilities of the Equinox 600 in multi against the 800 I was wondering if anyone has used the 600 for hunting small nuggets as I’m looking at a new general purpose detector that I can loan to friends on occasional prospecting trips , although I’m figuring a 6 inch coil would probably be required also . regards PM??

I’ll check it out .

A lot of us detect in areas where phone reception is poor or non existent and most phone apps require some support from the network ,hence the necessity for satellite guidance systems . I use the Garmin units and find them easy to use and reliable. The e trex units are economical units for waypoints and basic breadcrumb trails or you can upgrade to the mapping units .

Here in Oz the SDC has a reputation as a rock solid performer on small gold in mineralized soil . But that doesn’t mean it’s going to trump a good high frequency detector under all circumstances .i think there’s been plenty of opinion on this forum about the ability of vhf detectors to out perform Pi models in mild soils . I have met many owners of of the SDC in Australia and not too many who want to part with them . I tend to find much smaller pieces with the Gold Monster than with the SDC but at a much shallower depth due to our difficult soils . In milder soils the comparison may be a lot closer.

I think the condensed answer is this , if it’s a small scale deep lead mine ( worked by a small group or syndicate there’s a chance of dropped or missed gold around the mullock and loading piles , on the other hand if the heaps are very large and extended you can put this down to large company deep lead mining and the chance of finding gold on these processed heaps is slim.

Deep lead mines usually only processed the pay dirt that was considered profitable a certain distance above bedrock ( in Australia that was 6-12 feet and the rest was discarded onto the mullock . So whilst there is the odd chance there could be a unknown middle or upper level streak the miners discarded , that chance would be fairly low . There are miles of large deep lead mullock heaps in Creswick near Ballarat and they are mostly sticky yellow clay .The Australasian mine in creswick was Australia’s worst mine disaster . If you can find small scale deep lead shafts the pay dirt was usually loaded on horse carts next to the shaft for transportation to the puddling mills and there was always some spillage . so these areas have some potential for detector prospectors.

From what I have read here the coil noise problem seems to be confined in the main to detectors that are being used in milder soils where users have the opportunity to run the unit into the hot sensitivity zone , the instructions that come with the GM clearly state that using high manual sensitivity settings may not be possible for all conditions and for my areas , and I would guess a lot of goldfields especially in Victoria (AUS) the mineralization is so bad that even Auto plus setting is going to struggle . So for a lot of us Aussie owners the coil noise is not an issue. So for you guys in the US and other milder locations it’s either a glass half full situation or glass half empty. But personally I wish sometimes I could ramp the unit up a bit and put up with a bit of coil noise .

Well the unit certainly protests if you bash them but they can take it physically. I,m a lot more gentle on mine and having the little coil on the GM makes it easier , I guess the coil range and availability will ultimately decide how many current single frequency users swap to the new multi frequency units . I can’t see Minelab making any further units that don’t have multi iq technology

The GM is semi submersible and so has some use in shallow areas up to the control housing. But certainly the equinox can take a full dip , this like waterproof cell phones also has its disadvantages when it comes to useability , some equinox owners are already bemoaning the fact that the batteries are completely ensconsed inside the control unit unlike the GM making it harder to replace or service ,

Having seen the impact chirp technology has had on the recreational marine sounder market I believe this technology in detectors will have the same impact on market preference . As good as the GM is in what it does , it’s a shame that minelab has introduced this quantum shift in technology so soon after releasing the GM . The monster may be a good choice for countries like Africa where ruggedness and simplicity where forefront in market aims , I just think that designers were a bit late replacing the eureka knowing that this technology was already on the table. On the plus side for those of us who have purchased a Gold Monster they do look to have a much more robust design for knocking around in the goldfields, a more convenient battery set up , and a choice of large and small coils rugged enough to bash between cracks and crevices as well as great boosted audio for identifying those small pieces.