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Mars MD Universal Metal Detector Shaft


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Here is an Oz thread about a guy selling one he modified for the Minelabs - guess he did not like it? https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=14889

It wasn't bad but there were a couple of things that put me off it. The main one was the handle which I could have done away with & modified something better to suit it + me but just never got around to it.

I also just didn't like the "feel" of it with a larger coil on. My GP3500 was originally purchased with the whole idea of only using it with 14" round or bigger coils on it & they just felt better on the standard Minelab set up to me. The lower shaft section on the GMD is fairly small diameter - I doubt it would break or anything it was just off putting. The shaft sections seem very strong but not sure on the section locks. More time in the field than I spent would be required to see how they lasted?

To fit a SD/GP/GPX control box you need to find a smaller diameter piece of tubing that will allow the Minelab arm cuff arrangement to lock onto the control box properly. The GMD upper shaft is too large in diameter for this. I tried slotted holes to start with in the GMD upper but still couldn't get the arm cuff clamp on properly & first trial run the control box kept coming off hence the extra bit of tube which worked well - no probs on take 2.

At the end of the day it was fun to muck around with but for me there was no real advantage to using it. When collapsing you still need to remove the coil lead from the shaft to allow retracting which you can do with the standard lower shaft by removing it anyway. If you have a few "go to" coils I know I used to have seperate lower shafts on them for quick, relatively quick change over - something I couldn't do with the GMD either.

I've since sold the GP3500 too so I guess I didn't really like it either or the SDC2300 I recently sold too. :-D

Hopefully I will like my new detector once I get a chance to use it.

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Yes xp is very nice! I love the grip and once I finish it will be well worth it. Mine is going to be different then Paul(CA). I will post pics when I'm finished.

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Guest Paul (Ca)

I've got the Telescopic stem shaft for the Golden Mask currently on my Blisstool v6, like it allot.

When the new Deus knockoff is available, will surely pick one up that's a super price compared to the Deus shaft. But will it be as durable as the Deus shaft? Deus shaft is one tough shaft, strong enough to lug around GPX that means something.

Exciting stuff coming out, both recently and near future.

Paul

post-45-0-75432600-1454571947_thumb.jpg

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Found some old pics of the GPC3500 https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12376 These were before the extra bit of smaller diameter tubing being added.

post-363-0-01436500-1454587392_thumb.jpepost-363-0-75895800-1454587412_thumb.jpe

Funny how things change over 6 months. Sold all my gear & pinning my hopes on a recently acquired GPZ that I'm yet to use. We'll see what happens over the year I guess.

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