Finally Minelab Take Responsibility For Screwing Up The GPX 6000 Speaker

[peterinaust]

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

Further testing today confirms even after multiple hours of use the 6000 remains stable while using the speaker, it just has it's usual EMI problems now which were never going to be solved with this update, they don't call them PI's for nothing, Pulse Interference detectors 🙂

Happy with the repair, I'd recommend everyone get it done, even if you don't use the speaker 🤪 why own a detector with an underlying fault.   I'm quite happy with the 6000 now, still it's got nothing on the 7000 other than weight but at least it's a good product now, better shaft pending.

<---Moved it back into my gear used section now.

This is all good feed back on the repair, I don't own a 6000 yet but looking at next year when all this has settled down.

[phrunt]

32 minutes ago, peterinaust said:

This is all good feed back on the repair, I don't own a 6000 yet but looking at next year when all this has settled down.

I think you'll be pretty happy with it, knowing the speaker fix is now on all new production detectors and the coil ear cracking has also been resolved on new ones that's ironed out most of the problems early adopters had for lack of a better term seeing it stretched out so long, just remember the shaft will twist, that's a guarantee, if not straight away over time.

I believe you have a GPZ with a small coil for it so don't expect dramatic small gold improvements, as long as your expectations are realistic and you want a lighter detector to complement your GPZ you'll be all good, that's the key, keeping your expectations down to earth and if you do that you'll have yourself a pretty good detector.  Maybe try before you buy too if you can, lend one off someone for the day, let them try your GPZ or something in exchange.  In Australia I think you can even hire them, that would be a good idea.

[afreakofnature]

I have never had a shaft twist problem.  Are you cranking it down hard?  I get an even better grip and crank with gloves on.  You can crank the shit out of them, they wont break, trust me i tried.  In regards to “The detector going wacky sometimes” try a ground balance then noise cancel.  I have had succes doing this vs just a noise cancel.  Maybe it resets the chips?

[phrunt]

24 minutes ago, afreakofnature said:

Are you cranking it down hard?  I get an even better grip and crank with gloves on.  You can crank the shit out of them, they wont break, trust me i tried. 

THANK YOU! I was always worried about forcing them too hard and breaking them, I tried just then as hard as I possibly could by hand and I could still hold one piece of the shaft and the other and give it a little twist and around it went, so I got out a tool and tightened them up, now they're rock solid and will not twist.  I either need to go to the gym or take a tool along with me and I'll be all good.    When I originally bought it the first few days I could do them up by hand and they wouldn't twist no matter how hard I tried, over time it's got worse but now knowing I can force them as hard as I want without breaking them they will do up tight enough to stop it.  Not ideal and certainly decent cam locks like the Manticore is getting would be better but at least I now have a temporary solution.

This top one was the worst for the twisting.

[strick]

Thinking about the EMI problem with the 6000. Wondering it they could be reacting to satellites. Since it can happen in the middle of no where out of the blue as we have experienced and at higher elevations you would be closer to the satellites as well. There are so many floating around up there....

I do notice that frequent ground balancing seems to help quiet the machine as Freak mentioned. 

Strick 

[afreakofnature]

6 hours ago, phrunt said:

THANK YOU! I was always worried about forcing them too hard and breaking them, I tried just then as hard as I possibly could by hand and I could still hold one piece of the shaft and the other and give it a little twist and around it went, so I got out a tool and tightened them up, now they're rock solid and will not twist.  I either need to go to the gym or take a tool along with me and I'll be all good.    When I originally bought it the first few days I could do them up by hand and they wouldn't twist no matter how hard I tried, over time it's got worse but now knowing I can force them as hard as I want without breaking them they will do up tight enough to stop it.  Not ideal and certainly decent cam locks like the Manticore is getting would be better but at least I now have a temporary solution.

This top one was the worst for the twisting.

Well….. i am not advocating that a wrench wont break them 😁.  Use that method with a little caution.  However I agree cams would be best.  Also GotAu? (I think) had a fix but I have never tried it.

[tboykin]

On 10/20/2022 at 8:48 PM, jasong said:The concern I have with the 6000 now is that there definitely is some further EMI problem with it that seems location specific, and since no testers appear to test in places I detect, now I'm wondering if the next GPZ - which I plan to purchase most likely - is going to be plagued with the same issues since the design and manufacturing of the two machines is likely to share certain similarities and that machine likely is already being tested, or done with testing.

I don't see any reason to suspect what I'm seeing is PI specific, but 6000 specific. Meaning, I think the people designing it may have overlooked some things that could be overlooked in other future detectors too. Not sure, obviously I can't even look inside, but that's how it feels. 

I bet your location EMI issue is due to Starlink. Not sure if they have it down in Oz. I wonder if there have been any studies on highly ferrous ground’s impact on Ku frequency band satellite signals. It probably absorbs the energy and gives the GPX’s geosense fits.

Keep in mind that PI detectors can react to lightning as well as solar activity, so it stands to reason that satellites can cause the same issues.

[GotAU?]

1 hour ago, afreakofnature said:

Well….. i am not advocating that a wrench wont break them 😁.  Use that method with a little caution.  However I agree cams would be best.  Also GotAu? (I think) had a fix but I have never tried it.

Yeah, I stuck an o-ring inside each one and they make it hold pretty tight without having to get out the vise-grips:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/19624-1-gpx-6000-twisting-shaft-solution-o-rings/#comment-209327 

I’d think Simon was having too many of those  Phrunt’s Pints if he was really trying it with those nut grinders!🤣

 

[jasong]

Does anyone in Australia have an issue with the 6000 losing stability when you set it on the ground? Or does that seem to be only a US-specific thing too? How about Canada or Alaska out of curiosity?

It seems to have improved with the speaker fix, but still exists on mine. If replacing 2 of the 3 inductors improved it (presumably with ones that included shielding to isolate the speaker), then again it seems to indicate some further shielding issue or coupling between Earth/detector.

I think this effect may be the key to understanding what is happening, why, and where. And may give some reason for the seeming locality-dependence. Either coupling with the Earth, some lack of shielding, or improper ground plane PCB design I think. Or all 3.

If it were satellites they would need to be geosynchronous, not orbiting, if this problem doesn't exist in Australia.

[GB_Amateur]

1 hour ago, tboykin said:

I bet your location EMI issue is due to Starlink. Not sure if they have it down in Oz.

Interesting thought....  According to Wikipedia entry, the current satelites orbit at an altitude between 540 km and 570 km (about 340 to 350 mi).  That's above the atmosphere.  A quickie standard atmosphere calculation indicates about 70% of the atmosphere is above 10,000 ft and 85% above 5000 ft.  Assuming Starlink signal attenuation is proportional to atmospheric depth (don't know if that's a good approx or not), would a 15% change in signal strength translate to the differences Jason (and Jeff?) are experiencing?

And the Wikipedia entry does say that at least some of the satelites service (parts of anyway) Australia and New Zealand.