AussieMatt

Re: headphone charging When I put mine on charge after use the light is initially solid red. I've worked out when they've charged up the light flashes blue/red rather than go out like the manual says. My GPX6000 was a first batch release & the headphones have never gone flat or otherwise failed despite the charging light anomaly. I've used them 2 days in a row without charging & without issue. IMO it's not a concern.

Wi-stream is Minelab's own proprietary Wi-Fi system, not cross compatible between Minelab units i.e. WM12, WM08 etc. or with Bluetooth. Maybe Minelab need to look at a module for the GPX6000 with Bluetooth Aptx LL compatibility. Looks like it would be a seller. p.s. I converted to headphones a few years ago. I no longer use a booster & wouldn't want one for the 6000. Not required IMO.

Bloody oath! 👌

Very nice speci Reg! 👍

Been announced by a couple of Aussie suppliers now. Reeds Prospecting Supplies "GPX-6000 NEW COILS COMING !!! YES, Nugget Finder has announced that they will be releasing one,.... or more coils for the GPX-6000 !!! This is unfortunately all that we know. We were given this photo to prove it's not a bit of marketing b.s. 🙂 "

Coiltek comment online "Thanks for your interest in our new GOLDHAWK coils! We're planning to release them mid-year, so stay tuned. 🙂 Cheers"

I've personally seen 2 x failures. The first one out of the box would try to start up - the display would start the start up process & then just shutdown. Thought it may have been a dud battery but same thing with another brand new battery. It went back & although it was a pain they said it was a 5min fix. Ribbon cable not connected/clipped on properly between boards due to a new manufacturing process (2 × boards in the 6k - others only have 1). 2nd one probably got about 10-20hrs max. without any apparent issue. We stopped for lunch one day then it kept coming up with a coil error after lunch. Changed it with 3 x other coils but still occurred. Reading between the lines, (I didn't talk to the technician about the 2nd one but did with the first one), it read like it was the same or very similar issue from the warranty repair report? That's just an assumption though. To me it's more of a manufacturing quality control issue & not so much faulty parts etc. Either way it should be better for an expensive detector but can't fault the service here in Australia with both. Good news is both are now well used & fingers crossed no further issues.

Yes it does charge the 6000 batteries. So do other cheaper ones that have the correct plug & polarity.

I haven't had an actual metallic target balance out as yet. I don't tend to keep sweeping over anything I consider a faint or suspect target though (like Steve says some are like an intuitive response rather than a signal response). If I get a suspect noise I'll move to the side a little & do a quick track then re-sweep - in all circumstances I can recall where a signal has remained it turned out to be a metal target of some sort. With that I've assumed any suspect noise that disappeared after the quick track was due to the ground/unsettled ground balance. In a lot of cases I find metal targets can also be a little brighter after a quick track away from the signal. One interesting thing I had the other day on a piece of gold was a clear, bright signal from one direction & absolutely nothing from 180deg (GPX11). Possibly due to picking up better on the side of the coil rather than nose? I nearly walked at one point but persevered for a little sub gram piece. I think this issue has been around in some shape with all auto tracking detectors & the solution is much the same with all where you have no fixed option - limit sweeps over those faint/suspect type targets, quick track/balance to the side away from the suspected target (to eliminate possible ground noise) & then repeat if necessary during recovery.

By using the chip out of the 14" DD coil I'd assume the GPX6000 will then act like you've got the DD on & run in either ground or emi cancel? At this stage I wouldn't "sacrifice" either of the mono coils. They are very good & I can't see that the 10x6 in the videos is finding anything that they wouldn't in most situations. Obviously there are areas where a 10x6 will be better at getting into tight spots though so hopefully Coiltek (or Nugget Finder?) can come to the party with plug & play.

It's certainly an issue that seems more common with this release (GPX6000) than with other recent releases (GPZ, SDC 5k). Thankfully in Australia Minelab service is still pretty quick & good. It has probably dropped off a little but I reckon it's still ok. Minelab & Plexus Inc. really need to have a good look at this + why it's happening. It's too easy to just blame current world events IMO. Maybe Plexus have become too comfortable in their manufacturing contract & quality assurance + Minelab have taken their eyes off the ball a bit? Hopefully it's sorted sooner rather than later cause I believe the 6k is truly a terrific detector that deserves better.

We used to notice that a lot with the SDC in particular. Windy conditions used to cause us no end of frustration some days. Being dry is just a usual Aussie summer & sometimes winter condition (depending on north/south location). I've read a theory on it somewhere that sounded plausible. Electrostatic discharge which can occur due to rapid movement of air near electronic equipment. I'm assuming that this could also occur with coil movement on still days too but just not as likely or prominent?

In the attached video is an example of the tracking being thrown out by the pick. When the second target is found from about 8:10 you can quite audibly hear the ground balance get thrown out by the pick pretty subtly at first then when digging 2 × very audible pick strikes at about 8:40 & then again when he moved it pretty close by the coil at approx. 8:42 to 8:43. He then say "carrying on now isn't it". Les doesn't re-balance or auto tune afterwards & the 6000 continues to be very erratic until the end. I've seen a few comments on that section of footage say how bad the 6000 is with EMI but to me it's pretty obvious that the pick being too close to the coil caused the bulk, if not all, of the erratic threshold.

One thing I've noticed, & it's pretty obvious in a couple of videos I've seen, is that the 6000 hates having the tracking thrown out. In some videos you can see (& hear) where the pick etc. has come too close to the coil while it's set down to search for the target & it becomes erratic. Seen many comments wrongly say that it's EMI. Good thing is it's very easy fixed once setting off again, a quick track & a few broad sweeps seems to fix it up. I guess that's one price you pay for a very sensitive detector. I know I'm a lot more conscious of where my pick is or keeping things like phones out of coil detection range than I was with the 4500. GPZ was similar from memory.

I always use the headphones while detecting & only use the speaker for short periods if showing someone else the 6000 so my experience is based on headphone use. I've had very little issues with EMI in comparison to other GPX detectors. I've used the 6000 with 11" mono in places I couldn't use the 4500/5000 with a mono coil. Air traffic has also been less of an issue with the 6000 over previous GPX's IMO. The 6000 to me seems to settle down quicker or if it does get erratic after EMI interruption is settled down heaps easier & quicker via the auto tune. I'm actually finding mine to be closer in EMI handling to SDC/GPZ, although in similar areas I did find my SDC's could require a number of auto tunes on start up to get stable then more during the day while detecting so in some cases I'd rate the 6000 as better. Edit: Will add that 90% of the time I detect with an old mate of mine & he uses a 6000 too. I keep fairly close to him most of the time i.e. within line of sight. We've not had any major dramas with machine interference either unless getting within about ~20m (60') of each other. I usually get him set up & on his way then set up + auto tune my machine.