GPX Sounds

[nebulanoodle]

Hello!

I’d like to hear from some folks experienced with the GPX detector sounds. There is a lot of talk out there of how much quieter these model detectors are over their predecessors, but I am not so sure. I have found that hot rocks my old detector would scream on are ignored, though as for noise, there is a lot of it. I’ll do my best to describe what I hear in a relatable way, a bit deeper than the general listening to little harmonicas in the headphones.

To begin, I can absolutely discern a nugget response. I am lucky enough at this point to have found nuggets every day detecting with this detector since I’ve owned it. But questions, they have arose and I hope that by sharing my curiosity and (hopefully) receiving feedback, I may learn to use this machine more effectively and shine more light into the world for other GPX  operators.

I thoroughly believe the ground I have been hunting is quite hot, maybe even on the severe side. I have not been able to run my detector very quietly at all. Don’t be too harsh on me for saying this, but I have not tried running it in Sens Ex yet. Fine Gold is finding me nuggets fairly easily with a Gain of about 8, Stab about 10, Tracking fast, and Motion medium. I tried out Enhance once and it didn’t seem to make a difference, so I stuck with what’s been finding me nuggets (3 trips-14 nuggets).

The noises, I’m looking for some confirmation or identification if you can deduce my rough descriptions. First I suppose I will start with the threshold. This sound I believe is very obvious to pick out, to identify it I simply adjust the threshold up until it’s loud and obvious, then I turn it down until it’s hidden and then back up until it’s quiet yet something I’m able to focus on. Now sometimes this very faint drone will go blank for moments, but so far I have not found an instance of it being repeatable. What’s happening? Other times it seems like some sort of audio boost kicks in without any changes in volume or pitch, almost like just another layer of the same sound is being superimposed over the threshold and noise, also no instances yet of repeatability. What’s this?

Second, I’ll ask about ground noise/ground balance. I seem to be getting quite a bit of noise from the detector which I am assuming is, the infamous ground noise. I’d describe this noise as a chatter and all the likes of little burps and chirps that are not repeatable. Now I assume I could quiet all this down via settings, but again, I’m finding nuggets so I’m willing to endure for now even with the awareness I may be missing nuggets at the same time. But I think my big curiosity with this is the fact that sometimes it seems like I can’t ground balance. I even am careful to gb over multiple spots in case I was trying to gb over a target, but it just won’t smooth out. Though it seems to smooth out once I start going even though it wouldn’t during gb. Is this common at any level? I made a sorry attempt at a specific balance once, but I was finding nuggets still, so I haven’t really been diligent about pulling off a good Sgb.

Now my last noise question is about EMI. I can identify when I’m getting false bump and vegetation signals, but what I’m thinking of as EMI can be really bothersome and seemingly malicious! Is EMI the totally false booming signals that sound like a target but are not repeatable and also don’t really match up with my sweep speed? I’ve tried playing with some manual adjustment after doing a tune, because sometimes this noise that I’m thinking is EMI is so bad that I’ll do an auto tune every five minutes or so. I wouldn’t really think the area I was in would have so much EMI. Maybe the Sun has been a bit more excited lately???

I know I’ve just asked a lot and I have even more questions than this, but if anybody would be willing to even partially help out. I’d be very grateful. I’m very interested in the way that the GPX settings work and what’s actually going on even deeper than what’s described in the manual. So if there is any literature out there with some more depth into this machine, I’m asking to be guided. I absolutely love the GPX and I want to get a couple aftermarket coils for it now that I’ve seen how it is with the stock coils and reading about how much more of a performance boost some of the coils out there can give it.

Thank you!!!

[nebulanoodle]

Thank you for all the good deets! And I especially appreciate the link to that write up, that kind of stuff is very helpful and exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to see. AGAIN, I am very interested in what exactly is going on when various settings are adjusted.

9 hours ago, GoldTree said:

Don’t be too harsh on me for saying this, but I have not tried running it in Sens Ex yet.

btw, I meant to say Sens Smooth not Extra...

I actually have a personal video of a nugget recovery and after reading Nenads write up, I can hear the detector not having the greatest response which I believe is possibly because of my use of Fast Tracking. I will be playing with these settings next time I get out, especially curious to see how adjusting the threshold like you say might smooth things out and bumping the Gain all the way up for my tune. But I must say, I've been avoiding the DD because I don't want to get too addicted to the quieter, luxury detecting experience it might bring me 😂

I have been detecting this area in a patch hunting style at a quicker pace, mostly expanding it as much as I can out of curiosity of how large of an area I can expect gold to be in before I slow down and really disect it. At least that's what I'm telling myself to feel okay about my horrible technique. I can go low and slow, meticulously. I think my methods right now are simply a product of my excitement of finding a patch with easy gold...

[Goldseeker5000]

Goldtree, don't get into a rut by sticking to one setting or two. If you have the 5000 then you have 8 timings plus other modes. If you are getting ground chatter then you should try hunting in any of the other settings and modes until you get the quietest operating setting. Don't get caught up with hunting with a setting that someone else swares by unless they are hunting the exact area you are and they are able to hunt with a totally smooth threshold. You will learn to operate your Gpx  like a pro if you try hunting awhile in all settings each place you go too. If you have a very hot ground, try hunting in high mineralization mode.. Ground balance often, experiment. Some settings are good for small gold some for deep, some for hot rocks and so-on.