Minelab GPX 6000 Controls & Setup

[Luis]

[Nevada Brian]

Look at the SDC, very little user interface but yet a killer on gold in variable ground.  Knobs need not apply.  Lol

Brian. 

[Steve Herschbach]

Check out those coil weights - thanks Luis!

Old GPX 11" Commander mono if I recall is around 815 grams. The 11" mono here is quoted at 680 grams, a not untrivial difference on the end of a three foot rod.

The 14" round DD is quoted at 1015 grams. Not sure on the weight of a 14" round old style DD coil, so if anyone knows.....

[Chase Goldman]

43 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Check out those coil weights - thanks Luis!

Old GPX 11" Commander mono if I recall is around 815 grams. The 11" mono here is quoted at 680 grams, a not untrivial difference on the end of a three foot rod.

The 14" round DD is quoted at 1015 grams. Not sure on the weight of a 14" round old style DD coil, so if anyone knows.....

There is no equivalent Commander coil presently and ML does not provide the specs of the current Commander coils on their website for some reason - at least I can't find them (big help there, ML).  But the Coiltek GPX compatible 14" DD wieghs in at 910 g (not sure if that includes the cover).

[Jonathan Porter]

Speaking of controls, how many people can honestly say they have fully mastered all the switch and menu controls of the GPX5000? All the possible permeations of the zillions of menu settings and switch combinations? I helped develop the thing and I spent all my time using General Search mode very close to the FP settings, the rest is just dross at best and confusion for even the most experienced operators.  

Something to ponder on as this discussion evolves. 😇🙏

[AussieMatt]

🤔 Sounds about right JP. I don't change too much here locally in my standard surroundings.

I'm no expert on the GPX settings, & wouldn't say I've part mastered them let alone fully mastered them, but in saying that I'm confident enough in my use of them to be able to adjust things for any changes.

My only concern with automation is if this occurs well enough but as more info is coming to light the 6000 is looking better all the time. Can't wait to see a full rundown on it all & demos of it in action.

[schoolofhardNox]

2 hours ago, Jonathan Porter said:

Speaking of controls, how many people can honestly say they have fully mastered all the switch and menu controls of the GPX5000? All the possible permeations of the zillions of menu settings and switch combinations? I helped develop the thing and I spent all my time using General Search mode very close to the FP settings, the rest is just dross at best and confusion for even the most experienced operators.  

Something to ponder on as this discussion evolves. 😇🙏

I will never master all the combinations on the GPX 5000. 😄 But I have to admit, the sheer number of combinations can produce some really good depth on my beaches. I have to say it really is one of those iconic machines for me. Fiddling with it has saved me on some hunts when I thought all was lost. I'm hoping the 6000 with the 14"DD coil can do a better job with EMI than the 5000 did. Looking forward to the official information release, especially the manual 😍

[Aureous]

3 hours ago, Jonathan Porter said:

Speaking of controls, how many people can honestly say they have fully mastered all the switch and menu controls of the GPX5000? All the possible permeations of the zillions of menu settings and switch combinations? I helped develop the thing and I spent all my time using General Search mode very close to the FP settings, the rest is just dross at best and confusion for even the most experienced operators.  

Something to ponder on as this discussion evolves. 😇🙏

JP, I'll never say 'mastered', but I switch between 3 different timings often. Tracking speed sometimes too. Its all a matter of knowing how 'bad' the soil conditions are and what size gold you expect to find in any given area...also what size coil is being used. But, switches and knobs can sometimes give you a false sense of knowing whats right and wrong....maybe the Geosense tech can do it better? Given that you have trialed the 6000 extensively prior to full-scale manufacture, we all would love to know your thoughts and results achieved....once you're allowed to of course 😉

[geof_junk]

The trouble with auto controls/setting is that they can make a good guess for the ground but don't know the size , type and depth of the gold to get the best setting. My working life was spent in control room and had to take over when the auto controls could not cope because situation do exist that designer don't know.  Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes spent million on auto controls and failed, but it took a human to save one incident that they had.

[jasong]

It's a bittersweet progression in ways. The only reason I'm detecting today is because Fine Gold and the 5000 in general kept people from running optimally and thus left behind enough leads for me to find to get a sense of what geology and topography supported nuggety gold. Done by trying to understand the 4500 settings as much as I could, and testing testing testing. If everyone was running in max gain, mono, in sensitive extra or sharp (in the places I was detecting), I'd have probably quit years ago for lack of success and inability to find enough leads to learn from.

I had already learned my lessons by the time the GPZ came out, but I watch history repeat where I watched a few newer guys succeed by running Normal/high gains (something I posted about on week 1 after GPZ release and was told they were "young man settings" which I'll never forget 🙂 ) when most were stuck in Difficult/low gains for a year in mild soils in Arizona and again leaving leads behind for new guys to find and learn from.

The 6000 looks to be the final edge killer though.