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Attempt At Super Simplified GPX 5000 Settings


Northeast

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On 9/29/2021 at 8:27 PM, aerospace guy said:

Gerry of Gerry's detectors gave a demonstration of a "slew" of detectors on several hundred thousand dollars worth of gold in all sizes and compositions. The 5000 simple would not "see" a lot of specimens that a "simple "VLF detector would pick up with ease! I wish I had known this years ago..instead the dealer(in Az) who sold it to me said "well look at the price of the 5000..there is a reason it costs so much..because it is a proven detector".

You are correct in what you said above.  I know some dealers don't like it, but the facts are facts.  You and many others who have been to my demonstrations have seen it in person.  The others and even dealers who deny?  Don't worry about them Aerospaceguy, as they'll probably never learn it by now.  As for the AZ Dealer (glad you didn't mention names), they are correct that the GPX-5000 is a proven detector (on the gold it has found),  But NOT on the gold it can't find, which is plenty.

Folks, when you detect your own area for most of your careers and don't branch out, you eventually get tunnel vision with your equipment and the gold you are finding.  No worries and I am happy if you are happy with your results, it just means more gold for those of us who do branch out and have learned the ropes on a variety of detectors, technologies and all the various kinds of gold.

But to be fair to a GPX-5000, yes it was the #1 PI detector in it's day.  

Enough on this, I have gold to find and still learning detectors.

 

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Let's not forget the original post was asking the easiest and best ways to setup a GPX 5000 that he was given for free, so the idea was to help him set it up and get it up and running for him to find some gold and not talk him into buying a different detector, especially spending another 8000 AUD on one so he may or may not pick up some specimen gold that may or may not be in his detecting area which is probably unrealistic anyway for a guy that was just given a detector to get him started with prospecting with a detector.

As stated earlier he can always get a VLF like the Equinox, Garrett 24k or Gold Monster to complement his GPX if he decides to stick with the hobby and do very well with the combination.  He can always choose to upgrade later if he finds it necessary to spend that sort of money.  As Northeast said at the start of the post and I quote, "2 issues arising is that Jim has been given the 5000 but I am unclear if he has it to do whatever he wants with or just given 'the use of it' for as long as he wants.  The second issue is that Jim needs to spend some time getting out and prospecting to see if he actually enjoys it before investing his own $'s in some new equipment.  Hence why I'm just trying to get him set up and working in a manner that is going to effective but not overly frustrating re: ground noise/ghost signals/EMI.  "

As for saying the VLF is better at this type of gold, that's all well and good, but someone in Australia where Northeast and his friend live is going to miss a hell of a lot more gold swinging a VLF than they are going to miss swinging a 5000.

It's like the guy saying

Question: How do I setup and use my new GPX 5000?

Answer:  You don't, you need to buy another detector, your GPX may miss some gold in some circumstances, you need a better detector.

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Hey Phrunt,

   I agree, we kind of went off subject, rather than addressing the question that was asked.  

I still remember when I was swinging my GPX 5000, my favorite timing was Special/Sensitive Extra, Fixed Ground Balance, Normal or Quiet Audio, Gain in the range of 12-14 for the most part and other settings I would just toggle around from time to time.  Most of your settings like Threshold, Volume and such shouldn't change much after the initial setup. 

My favorite coil for general prospecting and exploring new ground was the NF or Coiltek 14x9 Mono Elliptical.  I also ran Doc's Goldscreamer Power Pack Li-Ion Battery system, Signal Enhancer volume around 1/4 and a good quality headset, such as Sun Ray Pro Gold's or DetectorPro Black Widow's.  

What's really nice is the GPX 5000 is like an equalizer, you can raise/lower any of the settings at any point in time, allowing for a lot of experimenting over various targets.  

If you got a target, loud or faint, you could change the timings and see what responds better.  You could change the audio settings and see if it sparks up the target response, check to see if Auto Balance or Fixed gets a better response.  

I found on deeper gold, max depth stuff, Normal or Sharp worked best.  For small gold or bedrock hunting, I was 99% of the time in Sensitive/Extra, but a few times when the ground was really hot, I would try Fine Gold.  

Just some thoughts on the GPX 5000 and some of my settings.  Keep in mind, there are so many combinations, I remember reading or hearing with all the timings/settings you could have hundreds of different combinations.

Rob

 

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On 10/5/2021 at 6:04 AM, Northeast said:

Excellent.  Thanks GH.  I'm sure helpful for most that still run a 5000  👍

No problem mate, try my way of running the 5k, you are better to learn the most productive way to start with in my opinion.

The 5k is a great Detector and I could still make a good living off it if it was my only detector!

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Adam,

I have looked and looked and looked for the settings I was given.  I can remember seeing them in one of my prospecting boxes but I can't find them now!  

There are multiple places I could have put them in order to be more 'organized' but alas ... I hope to find them one day.

Mitchel

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  • 2 years later...
  • 3 months later...

Hi guys, I hope this topic is not dead yet. I bought a used gpx 5000, but my results are not the best. I tried a couple of settings that I found on the Internet, the results are somewhat better, but I'm not satisfied. The device will not "penetrate" through rock thicker than 40 cm. (tested on 8g of natural iron that I found during the search). I use the classic mono coil that comes with the device upon purchase. I bought the device with the intention of searching on large natural stones. It is a hidden treasure and not natural 24k gold. Do you have any recommendations for settings that would help me go deeper with the device. Or the device cannot penetrate the stone (like through the ground)?
 

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It just depends on the rock type. There are no magic settings - the ones referenced at the start of this thread are a best starting place. But in the end the detector can only do what it can do and to be honest treasure hunters tend to expect too much. A better coil would no doubt help as coil tech advanced a lot after the 5000 came out. And hopefully you did not buy one of the counterfeit GPX 5000 detectors that are extremely common these days.

Minelab GPX 5000 Advanced Settings Guide

 

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I never take the front settings off of deep. Ever! I mostly run in sharp or sensitive extra depending on the terrain. Occasionally I will run in fine gold timing. The only settings I will change are timing occasionally and gain/stabilizer that's it. It is super simple and it works on every size of gold. I also have my audio permanently on deep as well. I'm hitting on .6 of a grain dinks just fine and I am able to hit .6 grammers deep as well. Im consistently hitting deeper gold now with my 5000 than ever before even with the 6000. My 3 gram conflake nugget was 17" down and sounded like a 30 caliber rifle bullet sitting on the surface. No joke. Even my 1.58 gram nugget was 17" down in hard pack and caliche. 

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