Steve Herschbach

I am not speaking for Minelab here in any way, just making an observation. Many people, me included, hoped the ability to do software upgrades meant Minelab would keep upgrading our detectors via software continually, just like my iPhone for instance. So far, it appears that Minelab considers the software update capability to be no more than a way to fix specific issues that might be discovered after product release. The CTX got exactly one update that was primarily meant to fix a salt water ground balancing issue. The GPZ has seen an update, again, to fix a specific issue. What I have not seen is any indication that Minelab is treating this like XP and using software updates as a way to future proof a machine via significant operational changes. I am not saying that sort of thing can't be done or that it will not be done. I don't know. But I am not holding my breath personally.

I am not a fan of keeping my mouth shut so I hope you do not go there either. Forums where everyone keeps quiet go dead. I think the Gold Racer is a great jewelry detector myself. But cherry picking will always be cherry picking, no matter the detector. The thing is it is a matter of degree. Jewelry is not a target, but a near infinite range of targets. Rings are just an easily found subset. Where things get interesting is most other types of jewelry and foil. If you hate foil, use a machine that runs at lower frequencies and run lower gain levels, and you can just miss the foil entirely. Or use a hot machine that detects foil, but ignore jumpy low target id numbers. There can be a lot of strategy to cherry picking jewelry and some good books written about it. But most jewelry lost stays in the ground. Women's ear rings are the most commonly lost jewelry item, yet the least often found. Easy to see why - nobody likes digging foil.

The update just helps the ground balance hold on the the ideal ground balance setting as set using the ferrite. That is not to say it will ignore hot rocks not ignored before, just ones that show up because the unit gets out of proper ground balance. I am not aware of any changes to TX, RX, filtering, whatever. It actually might be it just is what they say it is, a tweak to the ground balance system, and nothing more. You can always use it awhile, then reload the old software version, and again see if you can note any difference. I like the fact nobody is locked into or forced to use the update if they don't like it.

Rings with any machine can be cherry picked by only digging tight, solid target id responses. Basically that will get you rings and the old ring style aluminum pull tabs. Problem is with a Big Foot coil I can cherry pick a field in a couple hours, and then where are you. Any gold jewelry except a nice round ring will read like aluminum. Ear rings, oddball pendants, chains, etc. all have unreliable target id. So you either keep finding lots of new ground to cherry pick, or start digging those other signals. Here is a link to the thread that got cross posted from above to Tom's forum along with a great commentary from Keith on the Gold Racer and its sparky response in iron trash. No surprise there for me I must say! http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,97472,97491#msg-97491

Finally, an official comment from White's at http://forums.whiteselectronics.com/showthread.php?75041-Can-you-tell-us-more-about-the-new-MXSport&p=980743&viewfull=1#post980743 from Steve Howard, Marketing Director for White's. Coming really soon he says. I like this... "resurrected Nautilus feature "Reject Volume". Adjust the volume of targets you have selected for rejection to 50%, 40%, 30% 20% or "0" the audio volume of the targets you have selected for accept." The MX Sport is sounding more and more like a significant MXT upgrade, not just an MXT stuffed in a waterproof box.

Neither Chris nor I really noted any difference before and after update, but it is pretty subtle. It just makes the machine less likely to go awry in certain circumstances, like getting your pick too close. Best results from the update have of course come from Australia where it seems to have been tuned more specifically for issues occurring there and not here. See http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XkCy5WfW9kcJ:minelab.bridgehead.com.au/treasure-talk/gpz-7000-ground-tracking-software-update+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us for details. Original software – February 2015 (Control Panel: 1.0.8-57) Ground Tracking Update – October 2015 (Control Panel: 1.2.8-98)

Been using XChange on Windows 10 on an old HP computer and a brand new ASUS computer, no issues. Also have run on Win 7 and Win XP. Have also run on Win 7 on Mac Air running Parallels. I am running Win 7 in VirtualBox on the new ASUS for old programs and to keep oddball stuff in a sandbox. With all that horsepower might be a good option for you. If I had to take a wild guess I would say your graphics drivers are in conflict with XChange. P.S. Edge does not like forums.

I swear Rob I did not know about this until today! I was hoping for a new CTX version maybe this year, but the real deal with faster processor/more memory, more program bin options, and a better screen. Plus this stuff. If this is being offered now it makes me think maybe this is all there will be for 2016. Bummer.

From The Minelab Website CTX 3030 Mechanical Design Improvements Since the CTX 3030 was launched in 2012, Minelab has continued to refine the mechanical platform throughout the development of the GPZ 7000 gold detector, launched in 2015. While many of these ongoing design changes were specific to the GPZ 7000 only, two of the improvements are universal across both products and will now be available on all new CTX 3030 detectors from January 2016 onwards. These improvements are: New Battery Sand Seal The battery now has a sand seal fitted that minimises the ingress of sand that could potentially compromise the internal ‘o’-ring waterproofing rubber seal. New Armrest Lock The ‘turn’ mechanism that could become loose after repeated use has been replaced with a ‘push’ mechanism for increased reliability and ease of adjusting. New CTX 3030 detectors with these functional improvements will be identifiable through the addition of a NEW MECHANICAL DESIGN IMPROVED WATERPROOFING sticker on the front of the product carton. Current owners wishing to upgrade their existing detector should contact their local Minelab office for upgrade options and pricing.

The GPZ although not a PI does share some similarities and the tones are an artifact of the ground balance system similar to that seen on a ground balancing PI. A hi-lo tone basically means small target or low conductive target. A lo-hi tone means large target / high conductive target. The size, shape, and density of the nugget specimen all play into it as does the machine settings. Pure silver is extremely conductive. Pure gold is very conductive. However, when you add silver to gold the conductivity does not increase, it decreases dramatically. The GPZ so far acts pretty much like I would expect a GBPI to react as far as tones go. See Coin Detecting with the Garrett Infinium and Beach Detecting with a Minelab GP 3500 for reference. I use this all the time. If you are in an area with large junk and sub gram nuggets, just dig hi-lo tones. Always a risk you could miss a huge nugget but that is where knowing your ground and the odds come in. Conversely, chasing big gold in the midst of lots of tiny ferrous trash? Dig only lo-hi tones. Again however, due to the huge variation in the nature of gold and where it is found, this is all at your own risk using your own knowledge and experience as a guide. Be aware tones do change depending on the "timings" or "ground settings" or anything that might affect the ground balance of the detector. This is not VLF type discrimination but can work. Unfortunately no manufacturer has explored formalizing the responses with the exception of White's and the TDI. The real trick to making it work is to understand why it does what it does and then do apply it with care where it might help your odds, but never get complacent in relying on it. Great informative spreadsheet for TDI settings and how responses on bullets and buttons change with ground balance and pulse delay setting The GPZ should be able to collect information from targets allowing it to perform classic phase based discrimination as used in most VLF detectors. Or something more akin to that used in the BBS/FBS detectors.

Hi Tom, Welcome aboard! Glad to have you here. Being able to adjust the tone breakpoint is good not just for relic detecting but especially for nugget detecting, and more people seem to use relic mode for nugget detecting than the prospecting mode on the MXT. Not a deal killer either way. Lots of people are going to be very excited by this machine as long as it does not sacrifice performance compared to the MXT. No idea on price or release date as this all got out before White's planned on it. They would be wise to get with the program and put it up on their website. I can do it in an hour so why can't they? White's MX Sport Information Page I do not understand those guys at all. Why is their forum or website the last place to go for information on White's products?

Looking good, but it does raise another question. So far the MX Sport looks to have all the features of the MXT Pro plus extra features. However, one thing I can't find anywhere is if the ferrous/non-ferrous breakpoint in Relic mode is adjustable like on the MXT, or preset at the factory. The White's MX Sport User's Manual is ambiguous so it could go either way. White's MX Sport Product Details Page

Hi Matt, A real big question for me is if White's or a third party will make a coil plug adapter so existing coil collections can be used with the MX Sport. I have a V3i and so I already have a 6" x 4" Shooter coil, 10" x 6" DD coil, plus a couple others. Being able to use them with the MX Sport above water would make a big difference to a lot of people with money invested in coil collections. In my case I would be tempted to sell my F75 and replace it with the MX Sport so it and the V3i could share coils.

The tones can be changed from single tone to dual tones, four tones, eight tones, or 20 tone mode Paul, but I think the tones are set at the factory. Not to say they may not have made changes there but until we hear one or see a frequency spec posted we will not know. I think the possibility of success here will be all about the price. You know it will cost more than the MXT Pro which goes for an Internet price of $823. Unless a person really NEEDS a waterproof MXT I can't see people being willing to pay a huge premium for what at the end of the day is an MXT. Somebody started kicking $1349 around and that just seems too high to me. Out the door for $999, I would be ok with that. Out the door for $1199? Not so much. No idea on release date as this all got out before White's planned on it. Nice thing about FCC certification for us is early peeks at stuff under development. You would think manufacturers would plan around that, or maybe they do and early speculation / buzz is part of the plan - free advertising! I am not sure these guys are that web savvy however. From the User's Manual: MX Sport Tone Identification or Tone ID The pitch or audio frequency produced by each target’s display identification range can be highlighted with differently pitched sounds, called Tone Identification or Tone ID. A specific audio pitch reference for each range provides quick audio ID based on the pitch of the beep it produces during searching- without looking at the display. When Tone Identification is in single tone, all accepted metal types produce the same audio pitch during searching. If the Discrimination is set to reject a specific target range, that range may not produce a beep of any pitch. Rejected targets often do not produce any tone (silence). To Adjust Tone Identification: 1.Press Options and use up & down arrows to select Tone ID. 2.Press + & - to select the type of Tone Identification desired. 3.Press Options to exit or wait 10–15 seconds for the options mode to automatically time out. Tone ID Settings: 1-Tone: All targets produce the same pitch beep (no tone ID). 2-Tone ID: Iron targets produce a low-pitched beep; all other targets produce a higher pitched beep. 4-Tone ID: •Iron (lowest) •Foil & Pull Tabs •Nickels •Coins (highest pitch) 8-Tone ID: •Large Iron (lowest) •Small Iron •Foil/ Small Gold •Nickels •Pulltab •Screwcap •Zinc/Indian Head Penny •Dime – Dollar (highest pitch) 20-Tone ID: Each of the 20 Display ID segments (discrimination zones) produce their own uniquely-pitched beep, starting with iron (the lowest pitch) to Silver Dollars (highest pitched).

It is a general purpose machine, just like the MXT but waterproof. Will it detect small gold as well as a GMT? No. So it won't do everything.

The MX Sport has automatic ground tracking, just like the MXT Pro. At any time you can lock or "fix" the last tracked setting in place, again, like the MXT Pro. And it has ground grab, like the MXT Pro and most other new prospecting VLF detectors these days. Compared to the MXT Pro you are giving nothing up. If you mean by the lack of manual ground balance are you giving something up? I guess that depends on how much you use manual ground balancing. I used to swear that I had to have it on any machine I use, but the fact is in reality now I do not use it much if at all these days. It really just depends on the efficiency of the ground grab feature. Some machines grab neutral and I like a slight positive bias so having the ability to knock it up a few notches manually is nice.

The MXT is a fabulous detector for sure. I only sold mine and went to the F75 (same engineer involved in both) because of the weight. White's MXT Pro comes in at 4.3 lbs. This unit at 4.23 lbs while still heavier than the F75 it is a slight improvement over the MXT Pro and waterproof also. The real question will be performance. If it really has MXT like performance and with extra features, this machine would in effect replace the MXT Pro. Except for price, why go for a heavier detector with fewer features? Looking at the specs and reading the manual I think White's has a winner here for sure. It appears to have all the features of the MXT along with a lot of extra ones. The construction has a real solid look about it also. I like it. In real life the screen will look very similar to the White's Treasuremaster but with more target id segments...

Detail of headphone and coil connections. Note waterproof external speaker.

This would be the optional nugget hunting coil for the MX Sport

Has two optional interchangeable search coils which are just MXT coils with a special connector plus the new coil that comes stock on the unit. It uses waterproof headphones via a special connector plus has an adapter that allows for use of regular headphones. There is a waterproof speaker for above water use. White's MX Sport User's Manual White's MX Sport Product Details Page

White's MX Sport Waterproof Metal Detector Control Panel

White's MX Sport Waterproof Metal Detector Specifications

White's MX Sport Waterproof Metal Detector White's MX Sport Product Details Page

Three separate sets - that would be a heavy coil! No, just one transmit coil and one receiver coil. Nothing that special really, the MXT uses the same coils.

Yeah well with all due respect to Carl Moreland, Dan Geyer (may he rest in peace), John Plautz and John Earle not a thing has changed since that article was written in 2009. To get more depth from a VLF requires it to not be a classic VLF as we currently understand it. I have never said anywhere above more depth is not possible, just that is has not happened since 1990 (or earlier). I actually do think we will see something soon, but in the form of hybrid technology that blurs the lines between VLF and PI. The GPZ is just such a beast and it does get the depth, but lacking accurate discrimination raw depth has obvious limitations.