Initial Run With GPZ 19 Coil

[Bada Bing]

Initial run with the 19" coil over two days:

1. The weight is massive. Within the first hour we were already redesigning our harnesses. It is a brute of a thing and needs far better weight distribution through the harness. Tried both the minelab bra and hipstick. The bra worked better for me as the hipstick just pushed straight down into my thigh. The machine is not balanced like it is with the 14" coil. If you plan on using it all day as your standard coil, harness engineering will be a growth industry ......

2. Coverage is king. Huge leap forward in ground covered at same pace as 14" coil. Big tick.

3. Minelab have to do something about the salt interference especially over here in WA. It is crippling...... Hot rocks are handled better which was expected. 

4. Be prepared to dig. Sounds obvious ........ but take everything you've got (mattock, axe, crowbar, long handle shovel, genset (unnamed things used when using a genset...). I had what I thought was a signal right next to a pretty big tree (diff/general). I know that the creek line had big gold come off it (13oz, 7oz, 4oz and a few 2oz plusses so it was in the right area). No sounds around it so I was reasonably confident. Got stuck in and before long it was an archaeological dig site with shit strewn everywhere. Got through 2" roots and down about 1.5 foot. The hole was wide enough to get a small swing of the 19" coil - so it was sizable. Not much change in signal with the 19", maybe slightly louder. Got sdc 2300 as pinpointer - nothing. Chucked the 14" coil on and thought it was like swinging the 2300 it was so light in comparison - no signal at all in diff/general 1.5 foot down. Started crying and it is now known as the mystery hole ......  walked away but it will bug me until I get an excavator. I predict I will not be alone.

5. JP is right - in diff/general you get false signals when it gets knocked around. Far less in other modes.

6. For those who enjoy staples and small pieces of wire, fear not. Your 19" coil will not let you down.

Sadly I didn't get any gold with the elephant gun 19" coil. Got 11g with the pea shooter so paid for the trip....

Cheers

BB

[vanursepaul]

Thx for that report!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Reno Chris]

Just what to be expected for the big coil on salt. If you had salt issues with the standard14, the 19 will likely be worse. It's an issue in northern Nevada for a number of prospectors with some locations being saltier than others. 

Also an expected response to hot rocks where the 19 is a bit better than the standard 14.

[Bada Bing]

Thanks Chris - Correct. It was expected but It's more of a whinge that nearly 2 years post release of the 7000 we hear from dealers that upgrades are coming for this issue. I was told that there was a software upgrade that was supposed to happen before the 19" release, now we hear before christmas - so who knows. Very frustrating.

Cheers

BB

[jasong]

Thanks for the report and details. Sounds like this one is made for the SW over here at the moment. Do you suppose the mystery target could be salt?

Does the mineral immunity of the larger coil equate to being able to switch from Difficult to Normal in any areas you tried where this wasn't possible before? Or is it more subtle?

[Bada Bing]

I tried everything in every setting on that first decent suspected target. Don't think it was salt but who know's. My mate keeps telling me it was a 8oz nugget down another 2 foot and I walked away - that's what mates are for .....

I was trying normal mode as much as possible and dialling down the sensitivity to 2 or 3, it definately helps. I did that as much as possible with the 14" as well before switching into difficult. Until I get a bit with the 19" it is all academic though. What I can say is that you start picking up a beer can at about 5 foot away on the surface, so scope all around you when you start getting a car door sound. It's a monster.

Cheers

BB

[Woody]

If it's worth anything BB, my experience was pretty much the same thing. False signals in Gen/Diff with a general unsteadiness when coil control was not precise(like when you have swung it for a few hours).  I did find three small pieces less than a gram, but would have found those with the 14 if I had swung it over it. I did do a little testing with a 43g piece buried in the ground to be detected prior to starting to swing it. The responses varied greatly in different gold modes and ground types.

Personally I can't see myself using this coil for regular searching.

Steve

[ken]

The 19 inch really gives a good signal on tree roots,not saying that was what your signal was Bada but just some thing l noticed.Best results l got for depth was High Yield  Difficult mode,l could max the sensitivity to 20 and still run smoothly. l did lose sensitivity to smaller targets in this setting, but worked well on the medium to bigger targets.l am not into measurements, l have my test targets buried for 5 years and run my coils over targets to see how the signal is.Still early days for this coil,l see some good operators are not happy with coil, ,but l am, it is heavy though.

[Bada Bing]

I forgot to mention the bespoked design. I used to love my nuggetfinder 17" mono which was bespoked but the gpz 19" is just so heavy it snags easily and it is a mission to lift and untangled after a few hours .....

Once we get the harness right this will be OK to swing all day and the coverage is just so much more.

Interesting Ken that high yield/diff was the go. How big are your test bits ????

cheers

BB

[ken]

20 cent piece buried 10 cent piece and 5 cent piece.The 20 cent piece is the deep target, l have forgotten how deep,but difficult high yield smoothing on low was the best result for picking it up Deep setting and General setting do not give any respose at all.