Steve Herschbach

This one started out going one way and ended up another so you have to watch it all the way through

Funny, Chris Ralph was just wanting a 30 kHz VLF. DeTech makes some good coils (I own a couple) but I have no idea about detectors from them or if they even make them themselves. Interesting though.

Hi Mike, Thanks, GPZ stuff is getting a bit much, so wanted to mix it up. I have not found an add on wireless setup I get too excited about. The TDK Kleer setup vanursepaul got at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/595-wireless-headphones/?p=4762 looks good enough I am very tempted to buy and try. The problem is I prefer headphones with independent volume controls and the wireless setups usually do not have that. Still, would be nice. What we need is a plug in transmitter mated to a receive module that you can plug any headphone into. Like the Minelab WM10 module for the CTX 3030 but with independent transmitter module.

Concerns? $9999 would be the biggie! Let's face it, all the debate going on is rooted in the price.

Ok, that was a tease. Deep hole, little nugget. Here is a deep hole, big nugget!

Excellent review by Nenad at Phase Technical http://phasetechnical.com.au/putting-minelab-gpz-7000-gold-test/

Never used anything but stock Minelab batteries myself so not sure on that count. Main thing I wanted to say no download is required to get messages. Link is in upper right.

So I go to a gold show and the most popular booth is the cooking booth!

Today and tomorrow

Hi Tom, Because those dealers have pouches to sell, unlike your local dealer? As it says in my article "It was discontinued for several years and then made available again. Last MSRP I saw was $18.95 and part number 103696" Have you tried contacting the dealers that say they have them? We were using the 14" coils for ground coverage to look for large gold nuggets in low mineral ground. I was not thinking you were involved in that kind of scenario and so advised that large coils are not usually useful on the Gold Bug 2 in higher mineral ground. In my opinion. I currently do not own a large coil for my own Gold a Bug 2 for that reason.

I have used my Gold Bug Pro, which is similar, in pouring down rain with no ill effects. Except for the display fogging, which went away when dried later. It would be better I am sure to protect the control box. A plastic sandwich bag works remarkably well for cheap.

There is a signal from the GPX - JP mentions it himself in the video. But it is extremely weak. The problem with video of course is people see what they want to see. If the desire is to see proof the GPZ is better, that is what you see. If you are skeptical of the GPZ, you see a dozen reasons why the GPX could have done better. It is one big reason I am not very excited about doing video myself. For instance if you want to go down the rabbit hole you can just go with the possibility that maybe all the GPX needed was a 16" mono. The GPZ has no coil options at this time. Or if the GPZ hits a small specimen, you can mention that the GPX may have hit it with a small coil. Or different timings. What gets overlooked is that the GPZ is doing what the GPX can do with a bigger coil, or a smaller coil, or different timings, all at once with one setting and one coil. Yeah, I think the GPX in multiple passes with multiple coils and different settings can give a GPZ with a single setting and coil a run for the money in many cases. As long as you have time to hit the same ground multiple times. And even then, the GPZ will hit some gold a GPX just can't hit. Any light bulbs? For me pounding old patches is fine and dandy, but my personal use of the GPX is going to be for patch hunting and knowing that I have the best shot first time no matter what in a single pass of getting what is there. I am going to spend most of my time this summer detecting on ground that has hopefully never seen a coil, and it will see mine just once. Honestly though, if you have a GPX 5000 and a bunch of coils and know which timings to use and a SDC 2300 and the time to apply it all in various combinations, then you are pretty well set, and no burning need to get a GPZ 7000.

Welcome to the forum, and tell your wife detectorists around the world are in awe of her!

Here is another one, this by Gerry McMullen and crew. Looks to be Majuba/Rye Patch region, northern Nevada? Gerry is the consummate salesman so there is a bit of that here but I have no doubt about the reality of the finds themselves. That is a prototype unit - orange coil. I am at the Minelab dealer conference in New Orleans as the secret guest speaker on the GPZ 7000. Gerry is sitting across the aisle from me, and they announce they have a video to play. The real short intro video posted earlier, done by Gerry. I went over and said "you dog" and slapped him on the back. This stuff is all so hush hush neither of us knew the other was involved! Gerry is a nice guy, really works hard for his customers. I got to know him when he brought a group up to my Moore Creek Mine the very last week I was running the show. We found a pile of gold that week and he and his group helped make it a very memorable and bang up going away week for me. Minelab GPZ 7000 Field Test & Review

Now we know why you have been absent - busy you are! And Happy Birthday My Friend!

I just got mine and have not actually used it in the field yet, but I like it already. I will post more end of next week after I have a chance to get out and about with it more. Bottom line is looks like Garrett took a great pinpointer and made it better.

This is a follow up thread to my previous thread Control Box Cover For Gold Bug 2. The Fisher Gold Bug 2 was one of the very earliest best designs for nugget detecting ever conceived and to this day I think the case can be made for it being about as good as it gets. Lightweight, tough, and easy access control panel. But what really sets the Gold Bug 2 apart is a feature getting really rare these days. It comes set up right out of the box with the ability to hip or chest mount. Now light as the Gold Bug 2 is this may seem to be no big deal. Many detector manufacturers these days feel that way. Thier detector is pretty light, so why worry about hip or chest mount capability? Most purchasers do not care, so the capability is fading from the scene. However, there is hope with new wireless designs that are bringing this capability back to the fore, as in the XP DEUS, but better yet, with no cables at all. Even the DEUS though feels heavy compared to a hip mounted Gold Bug 2 sporting a 4" x 6" elliptical coil. Talk about featherweight! Hip or chest mounting keeps the control box under the rain jacket, safe and dry. For serious wading it is impossible to beat chest mounting with anything short of a waterproof detector. The Gold Bug 2 control box slides off the rod assembly. Two slim slots integrated onto the back of the control box are designed for belt use. Simple as can be to hip mount. Belt slots on Gold Bug 2 Now the fun part is you can make a chest harness for nothing. Here I have just taken a camera strap I had sitting around and clipped it into the upper end of each belt slot. Adjust belt and strap to length and now you have a harness! Finally, when used in conjunction with the control box cover from the other thread, you have a nice chest mount setup with cover. Very important. Be very aware of the coil cable where it exits the control box. I mount the hip box on my rear hip so when I bend over the cable does not bend against my body. Same thing with chest mount. Get the control box up high to try and eliminate any excessive repeat bending in the cable. If you ignore this you will have a premature cable failure at the point, so do not say I did not warn you. Simple homemade harness for Fisher Gold Bug 2 Gold Bug 2 chest mount Chest mount with cover Here are a couple real life photos. First with me at Ganes Creek, Alaska in 2001 with my first larger nugget I ever found there, a rocky 14 dwt specimen. We were swinging 14" coils those days for ground coverage. Then my buddy Jeff Reed in 2002, again at Ganes Creek, with a chest mount setup.

Next up I will be the speaker at the Reno Prospecting & Detecting Club on March 10th http://www.renoprospectinganddetectingclub.com/meetings.html

I was thinking exactly the same thing Chris.

Using The Minelab GPZ 7000 Part 1

My problem with video is shooting it, editing, etc. seems like work so I have been struggling to get motivated to do it. I tell myself I am going to do it. I have the camera, and I got a tripod just for shooting video. Two years ago. No video yet.

There is a very serious case to be made that a SDC 2300 and GPX 5000 together with a range of accessory coils for the GPX represents a viable and perhaps preferable alternative to the GPZ 7000. There is as of yet no single detector solution that solves all situations that a person might encounter.

Very good time to get a used GPX dirt cheap. Kind of ironic when the main thing undermining sales of new GPX detectors is used GPX detectors.

Pretty hard to say rushed to market since this thing probably was conceived before the GPX 5000 came to market. Discrimination seems an option. I always chuckle at the concept that any company should not be trying to make money. Minelab is owned by shareholders and they have a serious legal responsibility to look out for the interests of the shareholders. Any attention paid to customers has to be with that interest in mind. If I was running the show, and if I had a lead in the technology, I would absolutely not lay all my cards on the table at once. No responsible CEO does or he gets fired. I would say you can 100% expect new GPZ models every few years with new abilities and options, and that many of those abilities exist in the lab right this moment for delivery years from now. That is just how business works. In that regard I would not expect Minelab to be any different than any other corporation. If Minelab had serious competition it might be another story. Usually companies are straining to leap frog each other. The only real competition Minelab seems to have when it comes to this technology is Minelab.