Steve Herschbach

Thanks Jason, I appreciate that. Nice to have you back by the way. Believe it or not the number one sales area for the GPZ 7000 is..... Africa! People there were paying as much for a GPX 4500 as a GPZ 7000 at the height of the rush. There is more money in Africa than people think. They of course offer a full range however for those that cant afford the more expensive units - Gold Monster was made specifically for Africa. Selling to the "first world" countries was more an afterthought egged on by people like me.

Codan, Minelabs parent, does around $230 million a year in sales, and about 70% or $164 million of that last year was metal detectors. The vast majority of that was gold detectors, mostly in Africa. You can rest assured Minelab has not and will not abandon gold prospectors - it is the business. Coin type detectors are not the driver for Minelab by a long shot, even with Equinox out there. Here are the sales distribution numbers for the total sales.... Codan FY18 Global Sales Source

Huge long thread with tons of photos that anyone should be able to follow. Plus I added a link a couple posts back. Garrett ATX Strip Down & Rebuild

No worries JP. I am fully on board with built in GPS and XChange being a waste of money and resources if that is how you see it and will no longer advocate for the system. Silly really if even Minelab does not care about it, as is rather apparent. They broke it for a year so it's obviously not something to get invested in as it could be abandoned at any time. Back to Garmin for me. It's unfortunate though as it is a system unique to Minelab and could have been leveraged for competitive advantage. The fix I propose has nothing to do with hardware and would take a 14 year old coder a day to implement. Too much to expect I guess so I give up. The good news there is I don't have to bother writing part 3 of the series I started and then put on hold when Minelab broke it. I'll possibly do a different thread instead on how to export out of XChange to move on to something else. Which is why there is no need for me to participate in the thread. I wanted a small coil for the GPZ and I won't get a SDC to have one. I also am not interested in the aftermarket stuff. Like Jason I kind of thought the GPZ would have more legs as a developing ecosystem but it sounds like Minelab is already abandoning it to work on whatever comes next. As I have stated elsewhere I am not in the market for a replacement until next year anyway so it really just does not matter to me all that much at the moment. I was kind of assuming that I would be getting another GPZ but the reality is I don't have to even think about it until next winter. By then GPZ will be getting pretty long in the tooth and I may just wait on whatever comes next. Honestly, I could not be happier with what we already have for options. It's just my nature to always push for more. That and I am a spoiled brat. All I ever wanted was a small coil for the GPZ and the import/export for XChange. Since not even one of the two things I wanted are forthcoming after 4 years I am throwing a temper tantrum and holding my breath until I turn blue and pass out. That'll show Minelab!!

The Garrett ATX is multi-channel PI as is the new upcoming Fisher. The number one reason I prefer the ATX circuit over the TDI is the TDI as a single channel machine does have that massive hole that travels with the ground balance setting. You can lose 50% or more of your depth on 1/4 ounce gold nuggets with the TDI when ground balanced to normal goldfield mineralization. The ATX being multi channel is more on par with the Minelabs in that regard. I would not begin to expect an under $2K machine to outperform the top dogs. Personally I am just looking for "good enough". Anything else is a bonus.

XP are always working on ways to improve our products, we are pleased to announce the new revised coil charging clip offering an advanced durable Polymer and upgraded charging pins. New XP polymer charging clip

Update DEUS 5.21: This update 5.21 corrects sleep power issues with the DEUS headphones on version 5.2. The DEUS 5.2 can sometimes place the headphones into an unwanted standby mode as they can be turned on during charging, resulting in a slow battery discharge. Download Updates XP Deus metal detector

Is this something you will be using while metal detecting? I’m trying to figure out where this fits in on the forum.

My comment had nothing to do with you JW. You seem very concerned that people think you are not happy with Minelab. I am not sure what that’s all about, but again, my comment was not aimed at you. I’m honestly am no longer involved in any of this anyway and so will leave it all for the rest of you to sort out. The discussion here has convinced me my desires are for naught, and so I will export my data out of XChange and delete the program from my computer as I won't need it going forward. I am satisfied now with what the VLF world has to offer and will focus my efforts on getting better performance in the under 4 lb, under $2K GBPI category from anyone willing to build them. I will let you guys work on "max performance" while I advocate for detectors "for the rest of us". It's the only area left in detecting where I see easy low hanging fruit left to pick for the company smart enough to exploit it.

I really regret selling that custom ATX now. It would be my non-VLF alternative to the Equinox at this point in time. If this is the way things are going to be I may have to build another. I really don’t want to get involved in another detector modification project. Having done it once however I could do it again with less effort and get an even better final product. That was truly a project meant to poke a stick in Garrett’s eye in hopes of motivating them to do it right. That being the case I cut some corners. It really needed a built in rechargeable battery system with a charging port for instance. At 4.73 lbs it still needs some weight shaved to make the challenge. Revamping the battery system would probably get me those extra few ounces. With my luck though I would make another one and Garrett would finally introduce a factory built LTX the next day. That’s what I really want. I think I will probably just get the Fisher Impulse AQ and switch from nugget detecting to jewelry detecting while I keep waiting and waiting. It took me 20 years of bitching to get the Equinox so I really am satisfied with my VLF options these days. I guess I can keep complaining and waiting for awhile longer on this. Somebody will crack the code sooner or later... ...or I will get so frustrated I make another LTX! Garrett ATX Strip Down & Rebuild Garrett LTX (custom ATX)

I have to admit I am getting extremely frustrated that no detector company is up to this challenge. I posted this nearly two years ago now and still no ground balancing PI detectors under 4 lbs, under $2K with the exception of the White's TDI models. White's TDI SL Special Edition There is the new Fisher Impulse AQ on the way soon, but the first version is a beach detector. It may or may not develop into a good dry land unit. It's all particularly maddening because I am perfectly satisfied with the performance of the Garrett ATX circuit. I simply want the electronics in a dry land design with simple dry land coils. It's an easy project, but Garrett is steadfastly not doing it. I honestly just don't get it. The machine I want would blow away ATX unit sales and with a lower production costs no reason margins would take a hit. Garrett is generally smarter than this so it is a puzzle. And where is Nokta/Makro? Like I said.... frustrated. If I ignore my under 4 lb under $2K criteria, what machine in my opinion gets the closest? That would be the Minelab GPX 4500. The battery is put on a harness and so the actual detector "weight on arm" is 5.3 lbs and you can get them brand new for $2699 or less. I just can't bring myself to go with the TDI SL because it lacks the horsepower and so if I personally had to get a GBPI detector tomorrow and wanted to get as close as possible to my under 4 lb under $2K detector I would have to settle for the GPX 4500 as being as close as I could get without shooting myself in the foot. Minelab GPX 4500

Thanks for trying!

Yeah but now that you bought it it’s gone. The links no good.

Nice to have you back Rob... your posts are always welcome! If Minelab ever produces a small coil for the GPZ 7000 and a import/export function for XChange I will consider getting another GPZ. I expected both those items by now and Minelab failed to produce. We should not have to be relying on the aftermarket for coils and software hacks to get support on the most expensive consumer metal detector ever sold. The idea I have to cut the end off a $1500 coil cable to make another coil work is ludicrous to me. Instead now all I have to do is hope for a 6 x 10 coil for my Equinox

This has nothing to do with ads or pop ups. I am talking about objectionable posts by forum members. There are no advertising pop ups on this forum and never will be. We are talking links in posts. The banner ads here are served by Google or Amazon and not likely to be an issue. They pay for the forum in fact.