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Opinions Wanted On The Future Of Detecting


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I probably didn't word it correctly. I'm not asking for more controls for the sake of controls. What I was poorly trying to say is that removing too much from us leaves us vulnerable to no options if the machine, for some reason does not work in my area. Even though it says all gold, all soils, all the time, I'm a bit hesitant to give all the control to automated features. Even though the 5000 has a lot of combinations in it, I can say for sure that the 4800 would not do for me what the 5000 does because of the 5000's extra timings. The Blisstool 😆 that is an example of what I don't want. Even when it came out it was a no go for me. After watching one video that was supposed to make it look good, I saw things that I did not like. Anyways, my point was that if it works, I will eat my words, but if it doesn't work as advertised, you spent a lot of money, and can't do anything about it. If the Equinox did not have single frequencies, I would not have been able to continue some of the archaeology projects I was on, due to EMI. It was an option that made the difference in success or failure. I hope it does work for all the gold guys that can find great things without any need for different settings.

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Not a matter of not having more controls but the right controls. A turnoff for me is having a machine everyone else has that is so automatic that just leaves the chance of finding something just a matter of walking where they didn't. Removing the skill factor takes a lot away from the hobby for me.

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On 4/3/2021 at 6:15 PM, kac said:

Not a matter of not having more controls but the right controls. A turnoff for me is having a machine everyone else has that is so automatic that just leaves the chance of finding something just a matter of walking where they didn't. Removing the skill factor takes a lot away from the hobby for me.

IMO you nailed a big concern among many experienced detectorists.  We all acknowledge the competition between manufacturers but there is also a competition among detectorists themselves.

I've seen this same concern in other areas -- the rich wanting to stay rich (figuratively).  (That's not a slam.)  A lot of sweat time went into becoming a good detectorist and they don't want that neutralized by a detector that turns a less experienced user into an expert, leveling the playing field.

Is that a realistic concern?  I think the answer is 'yes', to an extent.  But if the more experienced take advantage of the new technology then they will stay ahead of the less-experienced competition.  However, from what I've seen in other areas the edge decreases.

And we still don't really know for whom the GPX 6000 is a (relative) advantage....

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Yes competition is a concern, many of my finds last year were in some of the worst areas I could hunt. The other concern is I enjoy the challenge. Just walking around waiting for a beep seems boring. I like investigating signals and that mental debate to dig or not to dig. To me that makes the hobby.

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8 hours ago, kac said:

Not a matter of not having more controls but the right controls. A turnoff for me is having a machine everyone else has that is so automatic that just leaves the chance of finding something just a matter of walking where they didn't. Removing the skill factor takes a lot away from the hobby for me.

Actually, the most difficult part is putting the coil above gold, at least here in the US. Many gold producing areas are depleted, and it gets harder and harder to find nuggets, unless you have access to private claims. You can still be succesfull but you have to do a lot of research and planing, much more so than in earlier days. What kind of detector you are then using is somewhat less important. I would say it contributes to about 30%, which of course can still make a big difference. So, even though the 6000 might make everyone a better detectorist due to automation, you still need to know where to look. 

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13 hours ago, kac said:

Not a matter of not having more controls but the right controls. A turnoff for me is having a machine everyone else has that is so automatic that just leaves the chance of finding something just a matter of walking where they didn't. Removing the skill factor takes a lot away from the hobby for me.

You said it better than me KAC in a lot less words.  

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9 hours ago, kac said:

The other concern is I enjoy the challenge. Just walking around waiting for a beep seems boring. I like investigating signals and that mental debate to dig or not to dig. To me that makes the hobby.

And again.   

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Yeah Blisstool has a ton of external controls. Many could have been just factory fixed settings on the circuit board and they could have then built 5 different models. Such as Compadre to Tejon.........................Guess Bliss didn't want to that and gave to the detector owner operator full control so you can operate it like a Compadre or Tejon so to speak. Mild to wild. What's nice, I have a choice how to set it up with no limitations. But, its a beep and dig, you have to mentally visualize and understand the controls. Kind of like learning a foreign language. Takes time.  Modern machine have push buttons and pictures (icons) graphs bars to show what is happening, and a software processor doing the work, makes it very easy to learn how to use a detector.  The Bliss Beast and the Nokta Simplex covers my bases for most of my needs.

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23 hours ago, kac said:

Not a matter of not having more controls but the right controls. A turnoff for me is having a machine everyone else has that is so automatic that just leaves the chance of finding something just a matter of walking where they didn't. Removing the skill factor takes a lot away from the hobby for me.

That is my biggest concern. I need to be able to tweak a machine, but not like the Blisstool😄 I already speak another language and I do it poorly, so I don't want to control everything.  Also, the skill factor is a big one for me too. I like the adventure that detecting brings. The thought put into where and how to hunt a location. I guess if they make it simple and very effective, it becomes more of a race to get the goods. I guess what Gold Catcher said is true. You still have to have the insight to find the actual location. That is what will make the difference in a flooded market.

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17 hours ago, Gold Catcher said:

Actually, the most difficult part is putting the coil above gold, at least here in the US. Many gold producing areas are depleted, and it gets harder and harder to find nuggets, unless you have access to private claims. You can still be succesfull but you have to do a lot of research and planing, much more so than in earlier days. What kind of detector you are then using is somewhat less important.

You can replace the word 'gold' with {coins, relics, jewelry} and your point still rings true.  50+ years of easily accessible and affordable detectors have taken their toll on every corner of detecting.  Just like modern improvement allow the weekend gold detectorist to scrape out a few nuggets left behind, the same is true for these other targets.  (I realize the GPX-6000 is nearly exclusively for native gold, but breakthroughs/improvements in other detectors lead to parallel opportunities.)  As you note, there are still some unsearched locations but most are private (requiring permission not always easily obtained) and almost all are off the beaten path.  Most of the low hanging fruit is long gone.

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