Don71

BLM has the "AFFIDAVIT  OF  ANNUAL  ASSESSMENT  WORK" (Form 3830-004) expired as well.

County Recording Due by September 30th. Not Good!

I sent in the old Small Miners Waiver form and Phoenix office accepted it.
But I will keep watch to see if they post a new form before August 31st.
They are putting us into a bad situation due to their own negligence.

-Don

The BLM in the Phoenix office said they will accept the expired form since the new version is not available.

I sold my GPX-6000 and went back to the GPZ-7000 with 12" NF Z-Search coil.
I can hit 0.1 gram nuggets and above and find the deep larger gold too.
(I use a shortened Gold Monster as a pin-pointer and for really small stuff.)

It's too bad the 6000 can't also hit larger gold down deep.
The machine is fun to swing, but what's the point? I am missing the big stuff.

I am waiting for the release of the Nugget Finder 16x10 coil.
Maybe that coil can add some depth back into the 6000 if it can ever be released.
At that point, I might buy another 6000.

-Don

Lunk wrote a nice article about comparing the 2 detectors.

-Don

The newer 7000's definitely perform better than the older units. I tested a January 2022 unit vs a June 2016 unit. The newer version was quieter and deeper. I could get an extra 2-3 inches depth on most targets on the new unit. And the new one was so much smoother!

This worries me for the GPZ 8000. It's always good to wait to buy for the bugs to get worked out on these expensive machines. But impatience takes over!  I hope Minelab does a good job and irons out all the problems before release.

-Don

Nice gold Aureous!

Are you using the stock 11" coil or the 17" coil?

-Don

2 hours ago, Aureous said:

My understanding is that ML is giving both Coiltek and NF alternate opportunities on each new model for providing both coil parameters and coded chips for inclusion in them. Coiltek got the rights to the SDC, NF got the rights to the GPZ, Coiltek now has the rights to the X6 and I suspect that NF will have the rights to the new updated GPZ next year as well. NF are having issues with performance on their prototypes I hear and Rohan wants actual benefits to end users with the coils, not just options for sizes.....good on him for sticking to his guns. Im sure he'll provide something amazing when he has it down-pat. So, no....NF wont be making coils for the X6....thats all Coiltek for now.

New GPZ next year? If true, I wonder what month????

Great story and cool RZR prospecting rig!

I do feel there is a problem with the GPX-6000 noise. I am using headphones and the EMI seems to build as you use the machine and eventually resort to a factory reset. I feel the noise build-ups rob the machine's depth.

-Don

It especially sucks that Minelab's policy is that if you don't find out your detector is defective within 30 days, they want to repair it instead of replace it.  Unfortunately, for me it's about 45 days since I purchased the detector.  It was way too hot here in Arizona to get out and fully test it until recently when it cooled down. I am pushing for a replacement because I don't think they really know what is wrong with it and I don't want an underperforming broken seal "suspect" detector I just paid $6k for.  They know there are certain batches that have problems. Those need to be replaced not repaired.  We don't pay that kind of money for junk.

-Don

Mine was defective out of the box.  The first time out it started with intermittent coil errors and excessive noise after some use in the field. I thought it was the 11" coil so I switched to the 17" but that didn't solve the problem. My machine is currently in for repair which I am not happy about on a brand new $6,000 machine. Hopefully, they replace it as it has other additional problems even when it seems to be working.  Waiting for a new unit...hopefully!

I agree, Minelab needs a quality control overhaul. They have some serious problems with the level of failures I have been reading about on the 6000. This also isn't my first defective Minelab detector, I have had many over the last 10 years.

-Don

Has anybody done a quick air test on a U.S. Quarter or other large target with Normal vs Difficult Timings?

I have tested Normal vs Difficult and found that Normal is not deeper than difficult on large targets. (Manual 10 or Auto +1 Sensitivity)
I also get very broken or confused signals while using Normal at fringe depths while Difficult gives nice & clear high-low signals.

Do others notice normal timing giving greater depth on large targets over difficult timings on the 6000?

(There may be something wrong with my 6000. In addition to Normal giving zero extra depth for me,  I have received an intermittent "coil error" with both the 11" & 17" mono coil.  This usually happens after using the machine for some time in the field and once it starts, it won't stop even with a full factory reset. I have the machine scheduled to go back to Minelab and I am hoping they can reproduce the "coil error" fault I keep getting.)

-Don

Anybody have any real field reports (or tests) on the Coiltek 11" ROUND coil?
I am looking to find out how much deeper it is over the stock 8" SDC coil.

So far, I have seen one Youtube video that was inconclusive.
Seems like it increases depth by a slight amount but decreases sensitivity to the super tiny bits...1 grain or less.

Even an extra 1 inch depth on those prickly specimen nuggets, it would be worth buying for me.
(Unless I can get one of those new 10x9" or 12" Round X-Coils for the GPZ.)

Thanks,
Don

I have been waiting for an updated SDC as well. 

Or a small coil for the GPZ!

-Don

If you are getting 9" in the dirt on a 2.5 gram nugget with the 14x9 coil then your detector is working fine. What timing are you using?

-Don

9 inches air test on a 2.5 gram piece is typical using the 14x9 coil.

I only get 11 inches on a 4.5 gram piece using a 12" round EVO in Fine Gold. Get the same on the GPZ 7000 in Difficult.

As Steve said, a PI will lose less of this depth in mineralized ground over a VLF. I can only get about 3-4 inches maximum on a VLF in my hot ground.

The PI will punch much deeper, if 11" in air, I would probably get 9-10"+ in the ground. The air test is always the best case scenario for depth for all the people that think air tests are not important. They also tell you if your machine is working correctly vs other machines on the same settings. ( or for comparing depth increases on coils)

-Don

Thanks for the responses guys, I am going to try another GPZ 7000 and test out the Salt Mode, Semi-Auto Ground Balance, and Locate Patch. I won't know if it works here until I try it for myself.   Anyway, I plan on eventually moving down to Nevada and I know the GPZ will be an advantage there. I am tired of my small area of gold detecting here in Washington State.

Also, I do miss getting some of the strange specimen pieces my GPX-5000 doesn't see. It only accounts for about 5-10% of the gold here but they were fun and interesting to find. My SDC would see some of these specimens but I sold that a while back.

-Don

I used the GPZ 7000 in the Summer of 2016 (with yellow ferrite ring)  but it had so much ground feedback in my detecting area that I sold it. I found that the ground noise on the GPZ was masking targets over the GPX-5000 running in fine or enhance gold timings. (Damp & salty highly mineralized ground.)

Question: Has the latest software update with Locate Patch & Semi-Auto Ground balance helped significantly to handle this type of bad ground feedback?
I am considering buying another GPZ 7000 this Summer to try again.

Also, I found that the 5000 can match or beat the 7000 on larger chunky gold targets when running the larger coils.
(And of course, the GPZ was superior on some specimen gold types vs the 5000.)

Here is an air test on a 3 ounce wire gold & quartz nugget below.

The 7000 was at maximum sensitivity of 20 with the stock 14" GPZ Coil. (I didn't own the 19" GPZ coil to try in this test.)
I mostly ran in Difficult/General or Difficult/High Yield as Normal mode was impossible here, too much ground noise!

3 Ounce Wire Gold Nugget:  (air test)

GPZ 7000:
Difficult/General:  18"
Difficult/HY: 18"
Difficult/X-Deep: 16"
Normal/General: 21"
Normal/HY: 23"
Normal/X-Deep: 20"
Severe: 15"

GPX 5000:

Fine Gold w/12" NF Round EVO coil: 17"
Normal w/12" NF Round EVO coil: 21"

Fine Gold w/15" NF Round EVO coil:  18"
Normal w/15" NF Round EVO coil: 23"

Fine Gold w/19" NF Round EVO coil: 20"
Normal w/19" NF Round EVO coil: 25"

Fine Gold w/25" NF Round Advantage coil: 20"
Normal w/25" NF Round Advantage coil: 26"

-Don

Are you able to put a bigger coil on it?

Looks Good.

-Don

Nice Nugget!

Looks like the GPZ found it at almost 2 feet depth based off the photo.
(And with the standard 14" Coil)

-Don

I look forward to seeing that special gold in person. I will be there on Saturday.

-Don

Hello Dave,

Did you already go over this area with your GPZ 7000 previously and it missed this gold?

SDC only gold? (Looks like a big chunk that the GPZ would see.)

-Don

I was told by an experienced detectorist that it has similar depth as the 15" Round EVO coil but a lot more ground coverage. I might try one later this year.

-Don

Has anybody else tried this NEW 24x12 EVO coil?

It seems like there are not a lot of people using it. (not much information out there)

-Don

The GPZ & SDC can see types of gold the 4500 & 5000 cannot detect. It would be interesting to know if your modified 4500 can see these types of gold. I read on Woody's site that the mod allows detection of this gold on the 4500/5000 by extending the frequency range.  I have gold pieces that scream on the GPZ & SDC but don't make a peep on my standard unmodified GPX-5000 no matter what timing or coil is used.

-Don