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Finally Minelab Take Responsibility For Screwing Up The GPX 6000 Speaker


phrunt

The GPX Audio Fix Poll  

17 members have voted

  1. 1. Have you had the audio/EMI fix done to your GPX 6000 - if you plan to get it done please don't answer the poll until you've got it back and tested it

  2. 2. Did the fix improve your built in speaker EMI stability

    • Yes
    • No
      0
    • Not sure, possibly
    • Not sure, I don't think so
      0
    • Don't care, not getting it done
  3. 3. Did the fix improve overall stability or improve the detector in some other way?

    • Yes
    • No
    • Not sure, possibly
    • Not sure, I don't think so
    • Don't care, not getting it done


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They actually got back to me after hours and it hadn't been put on the truck yet. So it sounds like it's been corrected, I updated my post.

They must either watch this forum, or check their messages after hours, so I gotta give them credit for that, as it's like 7:15 PM on the East Coast now. That saved a ton of potential lost time, as this upcoming trip is probably the last before blizzards and bitter winds/cold. 

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36 minutes ago, WesD said:

J, I wonder if the "audio update" is the same hardware swap they are getting in Ozzie land, or is this something else?

 

I think it's the same one, based on some various stuff I can't get into. But honestly, I'm still unsure what exactly we are getting here in the US and I haven't been too successful trying to get more specific info on it.

I do know that after I get this thing back into the field for a few days I'll be able to tell right quick if it fixed the stability problems though! 

 

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Ok, let's clear the air.  The US isn't ready to do the update, they were not even aware of the update yet they can do the update, how is this possible? because the update isn't some fancy addon or new component to patch up the old PCB, all they need to do is put a new mainboard into the detector made after the date the changes were made, it's the only component in the back control box which they need sent in anyway and the service agents DO NOT do PCB level repairs.  So, it's pretty clear it's a new main PCB.  Unless someone proves otherwise that's the only thing that makes sense.

razborka-minelab-gpx-6000-chto-vnutri-ochen-dorogoj-novinki-09.jpg.d79508982fc6d352a2970eab3ed63567.jpg

If I am right I don't think Minelab would want the world to know they essentially have to replace every detector made, secondly knowing this is the case every single owner is likely to contact them wanting theirs done too.  At this stage they're hoping very few contact them, that is very clear by their method of releasing the "fix"

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Simon,

You are probably right.  This is also the reason why Minelab didn't respond to the 'issue' earlier as they didn't know what to fix and then they didn't have a way to fix it until you found it was complete.

Costly error no doubt.

An error of this magnitude at another detector company could very well put it out of business.

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it's certainly not uncommon for detectors to have v1, v1.2 and v1.3 PCB's, my Gold Bug Pro from memory had something like V1.6 PCB, I can't remember exactly now the version number as I haven't popped the hood in a long time.  It happens all the time with electronics, normally they can get away with the changes without the end users knowing and buyers at later dates end up with the better product (It happens constantly in the computer industry, that I know first hand) yes this happens with detectors too, First Texas are a prime example of this taking place with their detectors on the market for decades and I'm sure Minelab would have preferred this method too and I'm sure they've used it in the past with detectors, v1 4500's are far different with their PCB's than later ones and owners can tell the differences between models with some preferring the wilder operation of the older units for sensitivity and depth over the new smoother ones however this problem was just too bad not to fix up with the outcry from customers about the problem.  Costly mistake yes, and I'm sure they are furious it didn't get sorted out before release.  It took a very long time for them to even acknowledge the problem publicly at least and even then they tried to justify it rather than admit it was a fault, buyers have been complaining about it for a very long time, almost from when it was first sold people were bringing it up.

I am thankful they're doing something about it, it's appreciated.

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Arvo all.

Took my GPX 6000 into Miner's Den in Bendigo on Saturday. Nathan advised that he could get the 'audio update' done on Monday and post the control module back. It arrived today.

Took it out to give it a run where I have been many times. It was easy to access and perfect testing conditions with spitting rain and 50 km/h winds image.gif.01c3a775304a8db5d004fac95dc726f3.gif

Anyway, 10 minutes of swinging around on wet red clay, running in both 10 manual and Auto plus tells me that things are improved running with the speaker. Even turning the coil on its edge did not bring the usual wavery threshold. Did not have the headphones with me so can't comment what it was like with them.

Most importantly, I found a tiny bit of gold about 1.5 inches deep in a flogged little area of ground. This is not important for the gold value, it is important as it shows the update hasn't provided any loss of sensitivity.

I has been a long time coming and has been a much worse issue for others but thankfully Minelab have provided what appears to be a good fix.
image.gif.01c3a775304a8db5d004fac95dc726f3.gifimage.gif.01c3a775304a8db5d004fac95dc726f3.gif
And thanks to Nathan at Miner's Den in Bendigo - friendly bloke, great service. Can't ask for more than that.

image.png.90af804c2e106683323633e5417101c6.png

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This is great news! My speaker has been like this from the beginning as well but I’ve always used headphones. Now I have had minor EMI issues with my headphones, not as bad but similar, I kind of thought it was just par with the machine.  It would be really nice to know if it improves with the headphones as well. It would be awesome if people could test that as well but if you don’t really use the headphones you might not know.

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Good to hear @Northeast

@phrunt I might see the problem. Looking at that FCC photo of the main board, any idea what that pinkish/reddish wire is  coming from the coil? It's going straight back to where the speaker is at, but it's not audio it's a coil wire. TX, based on gauge? It looks like that wire lacks shielding at it's termination. "The Fix" may be Minelab had to move the wire and the associated circuitry away from the speaker? The circuitry back there could be exposed to the speaker EMI too if not shielded properly. 

Might have had a feedback loop situation where the detector's own audio output noise is fed right back into the coil via the TX line (including times when the RX is sampling still), induced onto that line from lack of shielding, causing it to eventually go unstable after it reached a point too much for the noise circuitry to handle.

IE - speaker noise injected into the coil via unshielded TX, meant more feedback, meant more noise injected, meant more feedback, etc. Just like an electric guitar facing an amplifier that feedbacks on itself. 

*also occurs to me the speaker itself has a coil loop in it. Which means that basically it and the audio driver circuit is inductively coupled to EMI outside the control box and could potentially reradiate EMI to adjacent components inside the control box even the control box itself is shielded and the speaker is off. In theory anyways. It may inductively couple to the Earth itself too, when the detector is set on the ground?

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