Minelab GPZ 7000 Treasure Talk Posts by Chris Ralph & Steve Herschbach

[Steve Herschbach]

http://www.minelab.com/treasure-talk

And the official Minelab press release http://www.minelab.com/usa/consumer/knowledge-base/news

Note detector availability at dealers February 23rd

[strick]

Still trying to decide if I want to be an Innovator or not......Thanks for posting Steve

 

strick

[jasong]

Very interesting, thanks to both of you.

 

You stated PI had reached it's limits, knowing what you know about the 7000 do you think the ZVT technology has room to grow?

 

Also, coils: whats the story with this detector and coils? Is there the potential for an aftermarket or is there anything like a chip that makes them Minelab only? Is there a limit to how slim an elliptical coil can be, does that main central winding need to be more or less round for some reason or another?

 

How is it swinging this thing all day? Does the added weight bear down on a guy even with a harness and bungee? Having never used a CTX is the new form factor better at carrying the weight?

 

For shallow stuff (small, spongy, crystalline, etc) how does the 7000 compare to a good VLF like the GMT or GB2? I know people won't like this question for a long list of reasons but it's inevitable so I'm asking.

[cobill]

Steve, just read your Treasure Talk post...excellent test and review! Can't wait to hear more.

 

Bill

[Reno Chris]

You stated PI had reached it's limits, knowing what you know about the 7000 do you think the ZVT technology has room to grow?

yes in some ways it is like going back and resetting the clock to the SD 2000, there certainly will be improvements and additions in the future, however the performance levels and what features may be included - I haven't the slightest idea and your guess is as good as mine.

Also, coils: whats the story with this detector and coils? Is there the potential for an aftermarket or is there anything like a chip that makes them Minelab only? Is there a limit to how slim an elliptical coil can be, does that main central winding need to be more or less round for some reason or another?

accessory coils are coming, however I don't think they're available right at this moment. As far as accessory  coils, that would be something I really couldn't answer.

How is it swinging this thing all day? Does the added weight bear down on a guy even with a harness and bungee? Having never used a CTX is the new form factor better at carrying the weight?

I did swing this detector around without any bungee for most the time I had it. It was a bit on the heavy side, but with the bungee it should be no problem. if you have to swing on hillsides and other steep areas where a bungee doesn't work so well then all I can tell you is it's kind of heavy but I was able to swing it.

For shallow stuff (small, spongy, crystalline, etc) how does the 7000 compare to a good VLF like the GMT or GB2? I know people won't like this question for a long list of reasons but it's inevitable so I'm asking.

the answer to this depends a lot on what kind of ground we are talking about. I have had my GB2 in places where you simply couldn't operate it because the ground was so noisy. I will assume you mean in ground that is mild where one can actually use a VLF easily - on the very very tiniest gold such as something less than half a grain then the VLF will probably have an advantage in very mild soil. However things of larger size it will punch down much, much deeper. I dug a piece of wiry mossy gold that weighs a little more than half an ounce after all the rock , iron oxides and other junk was removed and 18 inches. I would guess that my GB2 would not be able to see that more than about at 6 to perhaps 8 inches deep.

[Glenn in CO]

You stated PI had reached it's limits, knowing what you know about the 7000 do you think the ZVT technology has room to grow?

yes in some ways it is like going back and resetting the clock to the SD 2000, there certainly will be improvements and additions in the future, however the performance levels and what features may be included - I haven't the slightest idea and your guess is as good as mine.

Also, coils: whats the story with this detector and coils? Is there the potential for an aftermarket or is there anything like a chip that makes them Minelab only? Is there a limit to how slim an elliptical coil can be, does that main central winding need to be more or less round for some reason or another?

accessory coils are coming, however I don't think they're available right at this moment. As far as accessory  coils, that would be something I really couldn't answer.

How is it swinging this thing all day? Does the added weight bear down on a guy even with a harness and bungee? Having never used a CTX is the new form factor better at carrying the weight?

I did swing this detector around without any bungee for most the time I had it. It was a bit on the heavy side, but with the bungee it should be no problem. if you have to swing on hillsides and other steep areas where a bungee doesn't work so well then all I can tell you is it's kind of heavy but I was able to swing it.

For shallow stuff (small, spongy, crystalline, etc) how does the 7000 compare to a good VLF like the GMT or GB2? I know people won't like this question for a long list of reasons but it's inevitable so I'm asking.

the answer to this depends a lot on what kind of ground we are talking about. I have had my GB2 in places where you simply couldn't operate it because the ground was so noisy. I will assume you mean in ground that is mild where one can actually use a VLF easily - on the very very tiniest gold such as something less than half a grain then the VLF will probably have an advantage in very mild soil. However things of larger size it will punch down much, much deeper. I dug a piece of wiry mossy gold that weighs a little more than half an ounce after all the rock , iron oxides and other junk was removed and 18 inches. I would guess that my GB2 would not be able to see that more than about at 6 to perhaps 8 inches deep.

What if any discrimination capabilties does the GPZ 7000 has?

 

If hunting in mine dumps or tailing piles what would you suggest for a work around on ferrous targets?

[jasong]

On normal nuggets that the old GPX series hits on solid and strong and in fairly neutral to mild ground, are depths/sensitivity essentially equivalent between the 5000 and 7000  given a 14" RM? Even if it's a slight difference is it more/less sensitive in these conditions?

 

I do understand the point of the articles where the 7000 really shines on the stuff GPX's didn't hear and it's raising my eyebrows, but I still need to understand this bit here if it were to be my full time detector. I don't want to sell my GPX and then discover I'm missing stuff I used to hit with it and be back to square 1. I'm sure a number of other potential buyers are thinking the exact same thing even though I feel this question may be met with some reservation since I'm sort of side stepping the 7000's moment to shine as a unique star, but... Have any quantitative tests been done?

[Reno Chris]

What if any discrimination capabilties does the GPZ 7000 has?

None - its all metal all the time.

 

If hunting in mine dumps or tailing piles what would you suggest for a work around on ferrous targets?

Some dumps have more trash than others. Hunt low trash dumps. For high trash dumps, use your VLF with good discrimination.

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi jasong

"I know people won't like this question for a long list of reasons but it's inevitable so I'm asking"

"I feel this question may be met with some reservation since I'm sort of side stepping the 7000's moment to shine as a unique star"

It appears you have concerns about getting honest answers here. When people preface their questions by implying they won't believe the answers it all seems kind of pointless, no?

[jasong]

I'm not prefacing it by implying I won't believe the answers at all, in fact I've been reading your detector reviews since you started writing them back on the AK forum.

 

However, I've asked questions like these in many places and many forums for many machines and more often than not received responses from people saying depth tests mean nothing, or you can't fairly compare X machine to Y machine, etc without receiving an actual answer.

 

Which is why I tried to tiptoe around it by saying I know these are controversial.

 

But apparantly that approach doesn't work either.