Jin

JP, I'd be happy to see your gold finds as its the only gold im going to be seeing for some time. I also like seeing the sort of country and the lay of the land you prospect in. Sure is more interesting than just seeing a picture of a hole that the gold came from.

Hey Simon, when you say you made some cider is that alcoholic cider? Been thinking of making some myself. Love the stuff. Beer not so much.🤮

My guess, looking at past timelines from Codan's presentations (like the picture in my original post) and comparing them to this recent timeline is that the new detector should be released around June/July 2021. As far as I can make out (again comparing how Minelab communicate future releases via the timelines) we should only expect one product to be released at that time, not the 5 products currently under development. I'm hoping for an SDC type machine in a housing similar to the gold monster. The managing director of Minelab told me a couple of years ago they were playing around with that idea but were too busy working on the equinox at the time. Every time I get out detecting and meet guys in the field I'm amazed at how good the SDC is. I just don't like its awkward design at present but would buy one if it was in a design more user friendly ****stay safe everyone****

Apologies if this has been posted before.

Nicest place on earth ive visited so far (other than my homeland of Australia) The scenery and wildlife were amazing.

The only problem i see down the track is that there is enough strength between the chip and the gpx plug. Every time the gpz shaft is extended its going to be putting pressure in the adapter. As someone else here mentioned, continual stretching may cause the adapter to break a wire, causing a short. I was pretty happy to see that Pat who made mine has used a good quality (and thick) heat wrap that covers the chip and the gpx plug. The heat rap used on mine looks like it will take a lot of the stress as the shaft is extended The heat wrap also seems to have shrunk slightly into the grooves of the chip/plug which should also help it slipping off. Looking at your adapter, the grooves on the chip seem very prominent which to me looks like its a very thin heat wrap or only electrical tape over the plug. I don't think id be relying on electrical tape to give the adapter the strength between the chip and gpx plug that is probably needed Just my two bobs worth.

Same as i use. Met a guy once that cut his down to 4 rake prongs/barbs. I used it and it was a lot easier to use. Unless your the hulk its bloody hard work scraping dirt back with that much surface area. (maybe im just week as pi$$) I do like your magnet idea, i hadnt thought about that.

Hi Simon, Back problems suck. Because you don't look injured you get no sympathy from anyone. Better to have a broken leg. IF its bulged discs its just going to take time (probably a good month or two) I used to see massage therapists in times past and that seemed to work but the last time the back went it was a bulged disc. Tried everything and in the end it was a chiropractor that sorted things out. And i hate chiropractors, but apparently my hips were out which was putting pressure on the discs. Anyhow all good now. Anyway got a bit sidetrack here, as i logged on to re read a bit of information about running the zed in manual ground balance. Hope i can find the thread were that was mentioned. Heading off in the morning for a few days detecting. Going to one spot where some guys reckon they have smashed the area using the zed. Little scary knowing they have used the zed on this patch in "Normal" Hope the x-coils find me something they have missed. Good luck with the back, hope it comes good for you. Imagine having to give up detecting because of a crook back .....not a nice thought.

This is my pick.....much faster at recovering/discounting targets. Quick kick of the ground and if it moves out of the loose stuff i move on. Pesky pellets are a little more annoying but general a inch into the hard stuff and if the target comes out i move on. The golddigger pick only comes out for deeper stuff. A quick recovery is a good recovery. See too many people stuff around on a hole for 10 minutes when it could have been done in 30 seconds.

Your not the only simple Simon around.😄 I had to go to Youtube to find out how to change coils.

Doubt it. Big difference knocking together a coil and building a detector.

I did a test with my 4500 against my mates 7000 on both tiny gold and larger bits. On the larger bits i was able to match the 7000 but my settings were questionable as to whether they were usable (very noisy). On the smaller bits i wasnt able to hear them at all no matter what timings/settings i tried. it was at that moment id realised id made a big mistake for the last 4 years holding off buying the 7000. On a recent trip with another friend i got him to try his 5000 on 3 targets id found with the 7000 (standard gpz coil) They ended up being small gun pellots at good depth. We had to scrape off heaps before he could register a response.

Also my apologies for not keeping on suject. Just happened to see the pics of the e-bike

Hi John, got to love those e-bikes for prospecting. I bought a Giant TRANCE E+ 3 PRO a few months ago and can’t believe how handy it is to get to spots the 4wd cant. Also found it pretty useful for going across bush looking for promising ground. Sure beats walking. On my last trip i took it away and covered so much ground riding up hills and around tree i would normally have to cover on foot. Unfortunatly i had my frst crash at only 1 mile an hour when a stick flicked up locking the back wheel. I went straight over the handle bars and landed on my shoulder. Bit of blood and and it hurt a bit but no time to cry you just got to keep going. I’ve just got to work out how to carry the zed on the bike now. Looks like you have pulled yours apart and carry it in the backpack, is that correct? Also sorry for not replying to your previous question regarding shares. So far I've make a little money but not huge amounts. I have a few of blue chip companies but I’ve ventured into more speculative stocks in the last few months. The ones i seem to be more interested in atm are in gold or oil and gas. One oil stock was up 2.5k after only one week of purchase on an initial investment of only 7k. But thats exceptional and defenatly not the norm - well for me anyway. I’ve also entered into bio stocks and a few of those should do really well. I’ve got my eye on a gold mine in Africa that is sitting on a huge reserve of gold but will wait until there just about ready to mine before buying into that one. Of interest to you may be the 2 stocks i bought that operate in New Zealand. Bought into Z- Energy because it dropped 20% in one day and id previously bought stocks that had big falls and was able to sell them for a healthy profit as the share price retraced a few months later. However Z-energy has continued south. Can’t win them all, at least the dividend is good. The other was Keystone dairy. I think over a couple of years i should double to triple my investment and really like they way they operate. Any it’s interesting stuff the share market and a bit of fun. I’ve got some losers but overall seem to be going ok. Cheers Rick

Yes sure cant. Some people will be happy with mediocre and others want something better. Think im one of those funny buggers that questions everything and tries to improve everything. Dosnt work out great all the time though. With the pro swing i just couldnt handle the fact that it pulls you forward slightly. Probably more notacble with me than others as my lower back isnt that great anymore. And as we know the zed isnt a light weight. Cheers Rick

Hi Billdean, This dosnt address the size of the harness but more so my opinion of the pro swing I couldnt wait to use the pro swing harness after i bought my gpz. What a disapointment. Its pretty simular to the normal minelab harness except for the struts in the back which presumably take the weight of the detector, were as your shoulders usually take the weight. Also it has a cross beam thingy that is suposed to centre the weight of the detector rather than have the weight of the detector fall to one side of your body. The first time i used it felt so uncomfortable. I watched enless videos on how best to set it up and got it adjusted to suit my size but i wasnt happy. Even tried the setup described in Martin Stone's youtube video on Pro Swing harness setup. The biggest problem i encountered was the design of the pro swing when swinging the heavy zed actually pulls you forward slightly. The weight should be transfered to your hips but it isnt. At the end of the first day (after it was adjusted properly) my lower back was rooted. I then proceeded to remove the cross beam and the two j struts which made the harness more like the original minelab harness. Then fitted my hipstick and away i went. Even swinging my 20" X-Coil is a breeze now. I can detect all day with minimal fatigue. Ive also got a water bladder backback that has hooks near the shoulder that will accomadate the hipstick and that also works well.

Loving the 10" x-coil. Went out recently and got 3 targets so called over my mate to see if he could hear them with his 5000 (14x9 and 12 evo) Not a sound. Couldnt believe how much dirt we had to remove before he picked them up. The 10" is a killer on small stuff at depth that the gpz14 wont hear also. I too am amazed at Lucky strikes comments to me that an anouncement is iminent. Months have gone buy and nothing.

Not sure where your from Irondigger but here in Australia we have "Jaycar" that sells all sorts of switches and electrical stuff. The green button on the handle is only a switch and Jaycar sell simular ones. A guy once said he replaced his handle switch from Jaycar. You may have to search for the correct sized one as the website has 3 pages of push button switches. You should be able to buy one for under $5 https://www.jaycar.com.au/components-electromechanical/switches/pushbutton-switches/c/2CB?q=%3Apopularity-desc&page=0

Sorry for your loss Jason. Its a real kick in the guts when you have something stolen. Hope someone hears something and you can recover some of your gear.

Yes Strick the cost can add up. We're at $3000 already that includes him and the cost to replace a library book he chewed yesterday. No doubt more damage will follow. As long as its not my car or detectors I wont be too upset.

This is my new prospecting buddy. (English Staffy) Probably too much of a pain in the neck to take out with me yet but hopefully in 6 months time. Wife decided to do a Instagram page to document his life and share stuff with friends. So far all he does is eat, sleep, poop and chew everything in sight.

These ones are half the price and go just as deep

Here are the next few lines from the above sentence. "Quote: The feedback resisters set the gain of the input stage and while lowering the value of these parts does make for a quieter detector, which in some cases can be an advantage in very hot ground, there is an amplification loss of available signal in quieter ground"

Yes, that would be a good next step having someone else manufacture the QED. Would allow much more of his time to go towards R&D.