Steve Herschbach

Freshly dug Australian nugget. Photo by Jonathan Porter.

Can't get much better than that!

If you go to your name in the upper right next to "Sign Out" and select "My Settings" by clicking on your name, you can adjust your basic forum settings and information. Be sure and set your time zone!

If you put something in the Location box it displays in your posts under your avatar/picture. In the past the Interests box only showed if people looked at your profile. I have made that also display under the avatar/picture. See my examples to the left.

I also added a new field "Gear Used" where you can list your favorite detectors, dredge, ATV, whatever. This also will end up displaying under the avatar/picture.

All this stuff is totally optional and honor system obviously.

In the left column is the "Signature" option which is where people create those signature lines you see under all their posts. You can get pretty creative there as an alternative to these simple options.

Any comments of other suggestions please let me know.

People often confuse the abilities of prospecting metal detectors with the abilities of the prospectors running them. Human nature I guess.

Do golf clubs make the golfer or is it the other way around?

There is no one metal detector best for all people, all places, and all budgets. We all have to decide what will work best for us given our circumstances. I certainly wish the best of luck to anyone using whatever they have. The best weapon in your arsenal is knowledge and hopefully this forum helps add to that most important of prospecting tools.

Nice charts Jason, thanks!

It is just a brief incomplete snapshot. That is why I lumped similar models together. I don't think it much matters if it is a GP3000 or a GP3500.

Obviously there are machines not listed that are getting used. There are people using AT Golds and MXTs and Eureka Golds and finding gold in the last year. I have said repeatedly don't read too much into it. But I do think the very broad picture is represented halfway accurately. Lots of people using GPX detectors for sure. Lots of Gold Bugs for sure. Most people have moved on from the SD models for sure. And so on.

One problem doing this again would be people trying to stuff the ballot box for various reasons. This was quick and caught people off guard so no time to try and manipulate it much.

Survey results in Excel xls format are now available for download in the member only download area at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/files/file/5-detector-prospector-nugget-detector-survey-2015/

Good thoughts Rob. The 4800 does have the improved Enhance though. I am pretty sure resale on a used 4500 would be way better than on a used 4800 down the road, again, because it never took off.

Then again there may be people that have no detector at all and a great PI and a good VLF could be a good deal for them. I guess it can go either way depending on the person. Whichever, they are both real bargains right now.

Apparently the GPX 4500 pricing is a longer term situation while this GPX 4800 plus Eureka Gold thing is a much more limited "while supplies last" deal.

ahhh... that makes more sense. Thanks for posting and say hi to Robin!

Wow, impressive finds for an area as pounded as Rye patch. Lots of quartzy bits there also.

The 4800 added the Coin/Relic timing and an improved Enhance timing, plus improved electronics for increased target sensitivity and ground balance performance.

The Sensitive Smooth mode exists in the 4500, was removed in the 4800, and put back in the 5000. Audio type Boost exists in the 4500, was removed in the 4800, and put back in the 5000. It appears to me part of Minelabs plan was to widen the gap between the 4800 and 5000 by removing some 4500 features from the 4800. The GPX 4800 is basically the same as the GPX 5000 with some features removed. By using the 4800 over the 4500 you would be able to take advantage of the smoother threshold, improved Enhance timings and improved ground balance.

The differences are pretty subtle and I have never heard of anyone putting Coin/Relic to effective use. The name does not mean what it says at all. You can't just go to Coin/Relic and go coin and relic detecting. It adds no discrimination capability. What it is in reality is a mode with nearly no ground balance engaged, which in conditions of near zero mineralization can greatly add to the depth. The problem is that except for clean white coral based sands in Florida almost nothing has that little mineralization.

Sensitive Smooth on the other hand is for the worst of the worst ground, and it really cuts back on sensitivity to make the machine handle extremely bad ground, the worst you might encounter in Australia. Another rarely used mode. So again, a 4800 is basically a GPX 5000 less a few very rarely used features. Or the 4800 is basically a 4500 with improved electronics, whichever way you want to view it.

The GPX 5000 currently comes with an 11" round DD coil and an 11" round mono coil. The GPX 4800 currently comes with an 11" round DD coil. The GPX 4500 currently comes with an 11" round DD coil and a 15" x 12" mono coil. The 15" x 12" mono is a great coil for use on a GPX.

Model to model changes between Minelab PI detectors are fairly subtle but the more gap there is from one model to the next the more the differences add up.

Guide to Differences Between Minelab PI Models

I cheat - mostly just quick copy and paste because I know the info and so can find it quickly. It helps me too in refreshing old info in my head before I forget it! But thanks Ray.

Just confirmed for real. wow.......

I see Gerry McMullen is offering it also. Looking more legit by the second. Heck, I don't need either and even I am tempted at that price! The Eureka would come with a three year transferable warranty. Sell it for $700 and have a new GPX 4800 for under $2K? Wow!

Very odd. I would be not be too happy if I just bought a GPX 4500 for $2699 and then saw this deal. The 4500 comes with two coils and there really is not much difference between a 4500 and a 4800 but I would sure take a 4800 for $2649 plus a Eureka Gold for free instead. If nothing else turn around and sell the Eureka for whatever and lower out of pocket on the 4800 even more.

I am curious to hear the response from Minelab.

OK, found it at http://www.ebay.com/itm/Minelab-GPX-4800-Minelab-Eureka-Gold-Combo-package-/271991051376

I have an inquiry in at Minelab checking this out. You are right, several dealers are offering it.

The GPX 4800 was a non-detector. It was what was supposed to replace the GPX 4500 but the 4500 was selling so well it got delayed. And by then Bruce Candy came up with the now famous Fine Gold timing. This and other changes were added to create the GPX 5000 and the 4800 and 5000 were released at the same time. The price difference was minimal and nobody wanted the "next best" and so few if any dealers even bothered stocking the GPX 4800. The MAP price is currently $4095

It sounds like the definition of hot ground so stick with the stock DD coil. A concentric (the old Longscan) will just make things worse.

You have reduced gain but do not mention the V/SAT control. This is the other half of the equation. The Variable Self Adjusting Threshold control smooths audio responses at higher settings but with a trade in that it also tends to smooth target responses. The trick is to find a mix of gain and V/SAT setting that best smooths the hot rock response while still allowing nugget signals to stand out. This is best achieved through some on the spot trial and error with a test target. Gold nugget is best but lead shot a decent substitute.

From page 21 in the Owners Manual by Jimmy Sierra:

"GAIN and VARIABLE SAT (Self Adjusting Threshold) Speed: The (-) and (+) Ground Balance pads compensate for common ground minerals in the area. The VSAT control compensates for the consistency of that ground mineralization. The greater the degree of inconsistencies, the more SAT is needed to quiet ground noise. If the THRESHOLD becomes too erratic or noisy, it might be necessary to use the VSAT feature and/or reduce the GAIN control. This noisy behavior will make it difficult to recognize a true target (possible nugget) from pieces of mineral, commonly referred to as "hot rocks". It is not wise to keep a high level of GAIN if the detector will not operate smoothly. This is a false sense of security. Recognizing a true target is the most important part of detecting. This is an example of when less GAIN will produce more nuggets. You must be the best judge of just how much noise you can tolerate and still identify nuggets, as well as the combination of V-SAT and GAIN which produces the desired results in your area. Therefore, if you have been operating your GMT at the full level of GAIN (10) and you determine that this is too high because either the threshold is erratic or the detector is giving false signals; always begin by reducing the GAIN toward the Initial Setting triangle of (7 to 8). If this does not correct the problem, start adding some SAT speed by turning the SAT control slowly clockwise. If this does not correct the problem, go back to the GAIN and reduce it a little more and add a bit of SAT. As I mentioned earlier it is sort of like seasoning a pot of soup. Some salt and some pepper. Remember any drop in GAIN below (7-8) will result in some loss of depth. Any increase in SAT speed above the Initial Setting of (3-4) will also reduce overall depth. However, every ground condition has its optimum setting. Overall depth is not the ultimate goal. Finding nuggets is! Unless your threshold is constant and as smooth as possible. and free from false targets which confuse the picture, you will never be able to tell the ground from the gold. We like to use the analogy of driving on a straight road versus a curvy road. The object is to get from point A to point B. 65 mph might get you there on a straight road, but you will have to slow to 35 mph if the road is curvy, or you will end up off the road. The straight road is like low mineralized ground and the curvy road is like heavy mineralization. High Gain and slower SAT will not get you the Gold in heavy mineralization as well as lower GAIN and a bit of faster SAT."

A trick that can be used in conjunction with this is to use manual ground balance. Then ground balance to the ground itself and note the ground balance number. Now ground balance to a hot rock and note the ground balance number. Then manually adjust the ground balance to a number more or less midway between these two extremes. This can make the audio responses less pronounced. In other situations just running in tracking does a better just smoothing the responses so you have to experiment.

You have chosen the worst place possible to learn the machine. The GMT can compensate very well for high levels of mineralization where the mineralization is consistent. High frequency machines are very sensitive to changes in mineralization and so places like river bars with mixed cobbles of highly variable composition can be difficult if not impossible to deal with depending on your expertise level. I highly recommend you chose to work on normal ground or bedrock and stay off the cobbles until you get more familiar with the machine. Truth also is, some places just call for a PI detector or at least a lower frequency machine to take the edge off.

The tuning tips in the GMT manual starting on page 18 are worth reading several times, once after each use of the machine as use makes things it discusses clearer. 

I do not know if your unit was new or purchased used and so maybe you did not get the excellent operating video. If not, it is available in 6 parts on Youtube. V/SAT is discussed in part four around the 7 minute mark.

I would be willing to do it again but that is a year from now so we can worry about that, well, a year from now!

I will post the spreadsheet soon Jason but it will show nothing not in the images above. I have one extra column to the left that contains the member names (to help me eliminate duplicate posts) but thought just going with an ID number worked best to make it at least kinda sorta anonymous. So I will remove that column before uploading. Busy at the moment but will do by tomorrow morning for sure.

Good try klunker, but we all now know you use a TB-135 to find your gold!

Different strokes for different folks. Lots of people happy just using a Gold Bug 2. As long as folks are getting out, finding some gold, and most importantly, enjoying themselves, all is good.

I can tell you this from selling detectors for decades. There are as many people who prefer the S rod design as hate it. It has a lot to do with the specific design. I find the Fisher Gold Bug 2 configuration to be very good for me. Yet the S rod on the Makro Racer is uncomfortable after a long day. The angle is different.

The post style on my GPZ 7000 suits me well. The one on my ATX really does not. Just subtle differences in the grip design.

My all time favorite for comfort is the F75. Perfect balance and perfect grip for me. The point here I am trying to make is this is one of those personal preference things where no one design suits everyone. Big hands or small hands makes a huge difference, and balance is more important than weight.

I 100% certainly do vote for coil choice with detectors though!!!!! I have had a lot of detectors I sold used but with a new stock coil I never used at all. The first thing I did in many cases was use an accessory coil as my main coil. Which is of course why they do it that way. Sells more coils. To this day you can't buy a Gold Bug Pro with the coil it should come with, the 5 x 10 DD, unless you get it as part of a dual coil package or spring for the more expensive F19.

OK, here are the details I promised for members of this forum. Here I can name names.

Below is my spreadsheet. Sorry about the size. I had to cut it into an upper half and lower half and make the print fairly small to post here. But it is readable.

My methodology was start with results from this forum since it had nearly half the responses at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/1244-if-you-found-a-gold-nugget-in-the-last-year-what-detectors-did-you-find-it-with/ Responses 1 - 54 are from this forum.

I then took the results from the next most responsive forum and excluded duplicates. This was Bill Southerns forum at http://www.nuggetshooter.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=29050 Responses 55 - 81 are from there or 27 total responses from nuggetshooting.com

Next up was Rob Allison's nuggethunting.com forum at http://forums.nuggethunting.com/index.php?/topic/11647-if-you-found-a-gold-nugget-in-the-last-year-what-detectors-did-you-find-it-with/ As I moved on more duplicates occurred due to the earlier results so Rob came in with responses 82 - 95 or 14 total responses.

Chris Gholson's forum at arizonaoutback.com http://arizonaoutback.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=12271 added an additional seven new responses numbered 96 - 102

TreasureNet at http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/metal-detecting-gold/476779-if-you-found-gold-nugget-last-year-what-detector-s-did-you-find.html also added seven responses numbered 103 - 109

Findmall at Link deleted since Findmall Forum update broke all old links only added two responses 110 and 111

Finally we have the ICMJ forum at http://forum.icmj.com/index.php?/topic/669-if-you-found-a-gold-nugget-in-the-last-year-what-detectors-did-you-find-it-with/ with three responses.

A couple things jump out. I early on made my forum a refuge for GPZ owners who were getting lots of negative comments elsewhere. That shows with the many GPZ responses on my forum with only Rob Allison getting similar type results. Guys on these two forums are packing serious horsepower. Bill Southerns forum on the other hand is very GPX and VLF oriented, and nothing wrong with that. A little surprising to me though.

The main thing you can see here on the spreadsheet is that many serious hunters are employing multiple machines, and you can now see what they are choosing specifically by studying the spreadsheet. There are lots of variations of GPZ, SDC, GPX, Gold Bug 2, and Gold Bug Pro with people owning three or four of those particular model types. This makes a lot of sense as I have always believed a well outfitted prospector needs at least a good PI and a good VLF. In my opinion a GPX paired with either a Gold Bug 2 or a Gold Bug Pro is a killer high value combination with a GPZ either in addition to or substituting for the GPX depending on the budget. However, that is just my conclusion. You can make the case also that a person can do pretty darn well with just a Gold Bug 2 or a Gold Bug Pro. Or that amazingly popular SDC 2300. Interesting how in one year that went from being the new Minelab to bash on to the Minelab everybody now acknowledges as a real winner.

OK, that is about it for this project. Enjoy!

Fisher needs to make a PI prospecting detector. Minelab needs to make a better prospecting VLF.

I still think Garrett made a huge mistake with the ATX. Dry land box under 5 lbs and under $2K with decent coils it would have made an impact. As it is they are a non-player.

Thanks everyone for your responses. The results are posted at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/1262-results-of-gold-nugget-detector-survey/