Steve Herschbach

When I started detecting the metal rods went all the way to the coil, with metal bolts. I remember when plastic isolator rods were touted as an advance in technology, and a plastic coil bolt was going to add an extra inch!

Something tells me Garrett is aware.

Thanks. I ask because pump size determines GPM which is often limited by the water supply. Especially if recirculating the water. So my favorite highbanker by far over the years has been the good old Keene 173 model with 6.5HP pump, which gets you up the hill.... what highbankers were really designed for. But I've used something as small as this, a 1.5" dredge sluice converted to a 100% recirculating supermini highbanker recovery sluice. I have created some nice little recirculating systems, both gas powered, and electric, using Gold Buddy systems as the base unit, then modifying as needed.

Any size or budget constraints? Like how big a pump are you thinking?

Yes, there are many dark semi metallic minerals that can look like this. It is maddeningly familiar but I can’t quite put my finger on it. This chromite is close, but still not it. There are some hints of color to the black that hint copper ore like bornite, but that does not quite fit for me also, not colorful enough. It needs a closeup and very sharp photo, that would show the actual crystal habit or form, to narrow this down.

That would be crazy.... and that would be in line with why White’s is no more. Thanks for the tidbits Carl. Hopefully Garrett has a better idea of what to do with White’s tech than White’s themselves did. Carl may remember a conversation he and I had years ago. Carl and company were instrumental in bringing the V3i to market. I made a pitch to Carl that while V3i was revolutionary, it missed the mark in one way. My thought was V3i, but stripped into the lightest detector possible, with only the controls actually required for day to day operation. The absolute fact is Whites had an Equinox type design way before Minelab, but stood pat on big box instead of going to the next very obvious step of miniaturizing it. Obvious to me at least, and others listened when White’s did not. And it took Nokta/Makro to make my high frequency MXT. At least the waterproof TDI finally made it Carl, but too little, too late. They were so close though it seems to pulling off a turnaround. The 24K and TDI Beachhunter were both moves in the right direction, and 24K, the last real machine from Whites, is best of class. Maybe without the pandemic, but that was the final blow. It’s too bad, because Whites really was advancing the tech in serious ways more than the other U.S. manufacturers. V3i is a box full of stunning first ideas, none of which reached full fruition at White’s. Seems to be the way of American manufacturers with second generation owners though. Something gets lost in translation from founder, to next in line.

Wow, have a DFX still, and never ran across or at least remembered this one. Talk about a rare feature!

I generally hunt with mask and snorkel, and hunt out to 6 foot depths. However, I think the sweet zone is out to waist depth, and finds fade out as you go out father. They are out there, they just get more scattered the father out you go. This all assumes there is a bottom to the sand. If its just deep sand out there, stuff sinks too far and it can get real sparse, nothing but recent drops at best.

Nice, I just love old hand blown glass. Each one a little work of art!

People have been swinging hybrids since Minelab combined frequency domain with time domain processing to create BBS multifrequency. Then FBS, now Multi-IQ. And Tarsacci MDT, another machine combining time domain and frequency domain processing. To a certain degree it’s all semantics and definitions more than reality. Marketing muddles things further, and more these days I just pay attention to what they do, and not which squirrel is running the treadmill inside. Whites had working prototypes of this tech, but like most things it gets to this point where “if we can fix this one little but significant problem” but when you fix that, it breaks this, and engineer whack a mole ensues. That’s probably where this is at, as they never could get it to market. Hopefully Garrett can make something of it, as it’s one of whites Crown Jewels they were holding. There is no doubt in my mind that the future belongs to sophisticated mixed processing machines, with single frequency now the realm of the rebox and relabel crowd.

That’s not what the chart shows. Each star is not a relative percentage that translates directly to a number like that.

Honestly too blurry to really tell. A sharp photo would help a lot.

I sure hear you, as another guy that was out there first with the ATX. I did well with mine for coins, gold nuggets, and of course jewelry. The largest gold nugget I've found in Nevada so far I found with the ATX. I actually had better luck than you. My first machine was flawless, but then I blew it. It was running out of warranty, so I decided to make it into a rebuild project, and bought another ATX, this time the Deepseeker package. I should have kept using the one that was working. This new unit failed on a trip to Hawaii, and this combined with all the reports from people like you, made me decide to sell it after it got repaired under warranty. So I have been trying to get something else. I looked at the TDI Beachhunter, but the Impulse AQ was close so waited. Got one of those, not ready for prime time, so sold it last fall. I'd be better off with the ATX myself, and the thought still crosses my mind, especially when a killer deal on a used one comes up. I love the circuit, have no issue with how the ATX works at all. I'd buy a light weight dry land ATX in a heartbeat for gold prospecting were it designed properly. Great guts.... held back by the hardware. Right now I'm in line for a GPX 6000, and am going to see how it does at Tahoe, as salt will not be an issue, and I can at least wade with it. The main thing is I get near saltwater so rarely it is difficult for me to get a machine just for that, but if I did, I'd have to look hard at the ATX again. It's either that or the TDI Beachunter, but that situation is currently up in the air... and under Garrett's roof! https://www.detectorprospector.com/magazine/steves-reviews/garrett-atx-pulse-induction-metal-detector/

They will outlast most owners. I have three equinox, probably older than anyone else owns, and all three batteries are going strong. I have a spare battery I scavenged from a prototype, but I don't think I'll ever need it. They are not hard to replace yourself.... but I do not think that's an issue for about the first five years at least. They get 12 hours when brand new, and over three years later, they have degraded so little I've not noticed any drop off, though there must be some. It was a big worry for people when Equinox came out, lots of long threads.... and it all turned out to be worry over nothing.

My last post on the subject of the Ltd, I swear, as I do not want to be a negative nellie. The Impulse AQ Ltd was not supposed to be a prototype, though it should be obvious to everyone now that’s exactly what it is. At the same time, people were supposed to be reporting tests and misgivings, so the machine could be improved on. People might want to review the original statements. From the AQ Launch Thread: “Fisher is offering the Impulse AQ to a select group of experienced early adopters who want to experience design and technological innovation in real-time, as it unfolds. The Impulse®-AQ Limited is not a prototype or pre-production metal detector” I’ve actually used prototypes that were more finished than this, so that statement really is kind of a joke. And again, I went into this with open eyes, so I am not complaining. Mitchel obviously thought it was a prototype, in spite of what was said. Like I say, we all should have been in this with open eyes, and I was. But I also think this was said to be nearer to completion than has actually proven to be the case. And very hard to experience design and innovation in real time, when the company involved has clammed up, and is saying almost nothing about said design innovation as it occurs. We only find out via leaks now about things like 8" coil availability. But again, my wish is for FT to be successful in all this, and that some lessons were learned by all involved. Hopefully some people will stay involved, and post now and then.

Hi Sven, I'm aware of your site, and have made great use of it (thank you!), but was not wanting to get too crazy taking advantage of your efforts. But I will sure grad a few key ones if you do not mind, that Compass one in particular. I actually thought I had looked before and not seen, but I was mistaken. Thanks!

Supposedly the only part of the AQ that was 100% vetted and complete was the circuit. It’s was said no changes were forthcoming. Yet we already know they changed the pulse delay, so the longest setting is longer than that marked on the controls. These circuit board failures do not point to a completely tested and vetted circuit board, but one undergoing continuing revisions. FT is famous for putting machines into production, and then applying numerous “revisions” for up to years afterward. This machine can’t be updated over the internet, and as an analog machine, any updates and revisions would need to be done at the factory. There is a tendency to downplay or even conceal revisions as they occur, as they hate to get flooded with requests from people seeking updates. See T2 and F75 update and revision history for reference; in some cases, there was a charge to return and update. This all reeks of the same thing and then some. There has also been a real reluctance for people to rain on Ricks and FTs parade, and I sense people have not been as forthcoming about issues as I might have expected. FT has certainly not been nearly as transparent as Rick was promising. No coordinated collection and reporting of issues, no polling of all owners for suggestions, and lots of stuff is obviously going on with nothing being said. This was supposed to be a managed, interactive effort, but rapidly devolved into secrecy amongst a chosen few. And now sounds like Rick is washing his hands of the situation, and is fully out of the loop. It’s enough now to make me back gingerly away from all this, but I do wish FT, and the faithful, luck in getting this machine finished and to market some day.

I’m sorry to hear that Mike. No, nothing special, you know the drill. May as well take the opportunity to clean everything. Remove batteries. Any rechargeable devices, review recommended long term storage and charging recommendations in the manual. This can vary with type of battery, but basically do not store when dead, or they may stay that way. Ear muffs, not really an issue, but car cleaning products appropriate for leather or vinyl depending are good, and for the same reasons. Finally, store in a cool, dry location. Best wishes in dealing with what sounds like a difficult situation. Steve H

Absolutely agree. No more bitching from me about business type stuff that ultimately does not matter. I’ve been waiting for this detector for a couple years now, as there was a definite hole left in my capabilities when I ditched the GPZ 7000. When it went away, I told myself I’d hold out for whatever comes next, from whoever, with an emphasis on ergonomics. The QED and Fisher Impulse were in the running, but I’ve given up on both. The GPX 6000 is basically the implementation of my own wish list, and is for me, just about the perfect nugget detector. All it lacks is ferrous id, and near as I can tell, an adjustable threshold. Some people are going to complain about the general lack of zillions of settings, and already are, but I’m all for simplicity. I’m certain the power is there, so I’m finally good to go again after a couple year hiatus. Lots for me to look forward to and be happy about, so thanks Minelab for the GPX 6000!

I’m not worried about detectors getting worse through the elimination of useful features. Tech advances make some features obsolete. Yes, you can hip mount the Deus control box, but do you need to? That was for heavy control boxes mainly. Wireless will only get faster, lag is just a growing pain that will be a memory soon in all devices. Why do we need 1/4” jacks, when universal high speed wireless is where we are headed? No, S rods are not going away. There is not a conspiracy going on to eliminate competition, and therefore for everyone to agree to not make things people want. That’s not how the system generally works. Any lack by one manufacturer is an opening for another to be exploited. Hint - the surest way to look old is to start talking about how rotary phones were better. They never got lost, since they were attached to the wall, and calls were better quality, and more reliable. Way easier for fat fingers to get dialed numbers right. We have all been “forced” to abandon wall attached rotary dial phones, because people in general would rather have mobile phones, even if that means a dropped call now and then. And some cell types are no doubt lamenting the demise of the 1/8” jack, at the same time detectorists are still trying to hold on the the 1/4” jack. So we are in different boats I guess. In my case, full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes, and please ditch obsolete stuff faster. If you guys want old stuff, let me direct you to the Fisher website, where you can buy yesterday’s technology, new today. Plenty of heavy hip mount boxes and 1/4” jacks for those who want those things!

Great posts and amazing results - thank you for posting!!

Each update contains all previous updates - all you need do is update to the latest 3.0 But yes, there have only been two. You can think of the original shipping software as version 1.0. It's all included in the 3.0 update, which can roll back to earlier versions if you decide to do so.

Funny, my exact feeling about all the Gold Rush shows. I know too much to be able to enjoy them, as the fakery is too obvious. Oh well, I just sound like an old-timer grumping about the new ways of reality tv and social media, so I'll leave it be going forward, and finish on a positive note. It appears all there is to know about the GPX 6000 has pretty much dropped now, so for me it's just waiting for a box in the mail someday, then time to go detecting. Best of luck to the rest of you with whatever decisions you make, and detectors you decide to go with. Looking forward to a great gold getting 2021 for everyone!!!! Minelab GPX 6000 Data & Reviews Minelab GPX 6000 User Manual Minelab GPX 6000 Video Training Minelab GPX 6000 Accessories and Spare Parts