Northeast

On 12/13/2023 at 7:58 AM, Zaj56 said:

an outdoor sports mode that totally eliminates any wind noise.

That is pretty cool  👍

5 hours ago, phrunt said:

15" Concentric for the legacy GPX

You mention the GPX 4500/5000.  I assume they will also work on a 4000 or even a GP 3500 - any Minelab PI that has DD ability?  Or are they just not as useful as they are on the more recent GPX models? 

17 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

The new Minelab X-Terra Voyager is made in China.

It is funny to think, but with the quality issues coming out of Malaysia, maybe production in China is a step forward?? 

Also, as China seemed to be the major counterfeit player, maybe Codan have taken the 'if you can't beat them, join them' route?  🤷‍♂️

This one is from Miner's Den in Australia.  Funny that their current RRP for the GPX5000 is different to the one in your image Phrunt?  🤷‍♂️

And yep, the GPZ price difference is with/without 19" coil. 

I just cannot understand how they are justifying the price increase?? 

31 minutes ago, PhaseTech said:

During the GP days, I always thought a straight power cable would run better than a curly cord.

What is your theory behind this PT?  Less voltage drop over a shorter distance or something?  Although I thought a heavy duty cable would negate that anyway?  But, as we all know, I am very tech limited  🙂 

I am getting a short power cable soon for my GP3500 - now I am wondering if it will be straight or curly...?  😉

I’ve shown this here before I think.  Found by a mate near Beechworth, Victoria, Australia.

Genuine 1850’s or 1860’s ‘colonial’ jewellery piece.

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

running your detector down until its flat isn't fully discharging the battery

Good point and yes, that is what I meant, running until it turns off 👍

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

also storing at full charge is also not a good idea and shortens the life of the battery

Was unaware of that.  Do you know why that is?  Possibly the reason I’m only getting 5 or so hours out of a battery now 🤷‍♂️

They take so damned long to charge having it at half charge doesn’t really convenience itself to a short notice gold hunt!  

1 hour ago, Aureous said:

Polycarb is still a plastic and may elicit a static charge from friction with soil and rocks,

Oh...had no idea re: that being a possible issue  😳

Thanks for the heads-up and yes, will just trial it and see.  

If it is an issue will it present as EMI?  

Shouldn’t need to be Bill as they both use Low Latency Bluetooth  👍

57 minutes ago, jasong said:

I get about 5 hrs per battery now. I charged them both before using.

I’m very similar with time frame and fully charged both prior to use.

I’ve fully discharged mine a couple of times in the field but they are always fully recharged that day/night.

But, I didn’t think all of that discharge, not discharge, battery memory stuff applied to Lithium batteries?  

Yes, conveyor belt was my original plan but I have leaned towards polycarbonate as it is lighter, I think it will be more hard wearing and it will glide much better over rocks whereas as something rubber might bite in a bit.  As I am dragging it myself I need it to have the least resistance and weight possible. 

It is noisy but I can hear the signals fine with my ear buds in.  I suppose it is worth remembering that drag coils are normally used behind a 4x4 motorbike or side-by-side that also provides extra noise and they can still hear the signals 👍

15 hours ago, Chet said:

I didn’t notice which model you have.

Hi Chet, it is the AI.

I had it over near Bendigo earlier in the week and right from the start it was playing up.  Diagnosed it as a bad coil plug, pulled it apart and sure enough 1 of the solders had let go and another was hanging by 2 threads.   All fixed now and working well in the shed in DD mode.  Noisy as hell with EMI in mono and cancel.  Might give it a little run tomorrow in the bush to see if it is better than last time.

You might be right re: the shape of the lead.  It must be something about that piece as the GPX6 should really have got it.  

10 hours ago, Drellim said:

you are going for the big  one

Thanks but my goal is more about covering a lot of ground when patch hunting in WA, rather than outright depth 👍

10 hours ago, Drellim said:

How you pay attention  to all the sounds and manage that coil  that’s a lot going on

I’ve removed the GP3500 box and the camera battery it uses and put it in a small movie camera bag with a shoulder strap.  It is all contained in there and is light and I run a LL BT sender/receiver set up with some sport headphones to block out a bit of the ‘dragging’ noise.  It all works well (when leads aren’t broken!!) but I am yet to put in a proper 5 hour shift and see if I’m up to pulling it.  All up the coil and lino would only weigh about 7 kg and glides easily over the ground so I don’t anticipate any issues.  After a decent outing and if it all works fine I will move to polycarbonate instead of lino and that will be lighter again 👍

4 hours ago, billdean said:

My 6000 won’t power up.

Hi Bill, 

I had 2 batteries for my 6000 and one day the machine just wouldn't work.  Tried the other battery and it powered up fine.  Cleaned everything on the first battery, recharged it (only took 10 minutes so it was obviously almost full) and re-inserted it and it was still dead.  And apart from the connectors there is really nothing else that can be checked without pulling things apart and voiding warranty (and I would have had no idea what I was looking at anyway 🙂 ) 

Called Minelab here in Australia and they advised there was nothing more I could try.   Got it replaced under warranty.  

My guess is your battery has just had a fatal, unexplained failure.   Hopefully you can get someone local to you to try their battery and confirm that is the case.  

Cheers, N.E.  

2 hours ago, Reg Wilson said:

I think you will find that the lino setup will soon wear out on the highly abrasive ground in WA

Yep, the lino set-up was just to see if the principal worked.  The second incarnation is to be polycarbonate which I think should be much tougher.  

2 hours ago, Aureous said:

Conveyor belt mat is the best option

I will try polycarbonate first as it will be much lighter than conveyor belt.  

2 hours ago, Aureous said:

if you ever need more advice on home building it yourself, just PM me

Thanks, I appreciate that  😉

5 hours ago, cobill said:

Maybe better to try Woody's www.detectormods.com

When I get some more time on the current set up and if I’m not completely happy I might then explore the Woody’s loops.  At first glance they looked like exactly what I was after but I’m guessing ground noise and EMI will be more of a concern with them but I also think sensitivity and depth will be much better.

I may contact Woody and see if he would allow a ‘try before you buy’ type thing.   He likes doing YouTube vids so maybe we could run both versions over a test bed and compare 🤷‍♂️

This is how I set up the Coiltek.  It looks basic and it is!! But it drags very easily, very flat and very close to the ground  

On 10/15/2023 at 1:24 AM, cobill said:

What did you decide?

Hi Bill, 

When I came back from W.A. I was all gung-ho about making one for myself, thinking that it would not be all that hard.  Wrong!  At least, wrong for someone with not a great deal of electronics know-how. 

I was very lucky that one of the Prospecting Australia members got in touch with me and over several emails essentially provided all of the info re: what I would need to make an Anti-Interference coil about 4 and a half feet wide.  He even kindly offered to assist with the final calibrations of the coil after I had got it to a certain point.  And I still owe him a slab of beer or some wine for his troubles!  However, I had none of the required materials and to purchase it all from scratch was going to cost more than I was prepared to fork out considering I wasn't actually sure that I wasn't going to stuff it up!  

About that time a barely used Coiltek 40" wide AI coil became available at a very low price and I thought I would dip my toe in the water with this as a starting point.  

@Jonathan Porter also advised that those coils worked better on the SD/GP models so I ended up getting a GP3500 off @PhaseTech that he had just traded back in - and actually was one of his own personal units he had previously sold.

I set up my test skid arrangement with a piece of heavy duty, folded lino (flooring material) and also set up a bit of a test bed with some different sized fishing sinkers.  

I had a lot of trouble finding any real settings online for running the big AI coil with a GP3500 so tried lots of different things and was actually a bit underwhelmed by the depth the coil achieved, especially on a quite large, solid, round sinker at just less than a foot deep.  However, I was amazed that my GPX6000 also did not pick up this particular piece so perhaps it had something to do with that.  I cannot remember the settings I ended up thinking were the best as this was a couple of months ago. 

I also might have access to a GPX5000 soon and hope to give that a trial and see if different settings might actually improve things re: depth or if the newer models indeed do not run any better (or maybe worse).  

I will take a photo of my little skid set-up when I get home tonight.  It is very light, easily dragged by me and simplistically effective in moving over sticks and rocks, etc. 

The lino was purely to see if the design will work.  I am now trying to source a piece of polycarbonate to use in place of the lino as it will be far more abrasion resistant and I think even lighter.  Bunnings (a home hardware store in Australia) have just what I need only it is not wide enough. It is only 1 metre wide which is only just the width of the coil.  I would like an extra 4 inches either side of the coil just to provide some protection.   I may just have to forego the extra width and use this in the end though.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/suntuf-5-x-1m-x-0-8mm-clear-uv2-polycarbonate-sheet-handi-roll_p1010854 

For a multitude of reasons the last few months have seen little prospecting for me.  The next few months that should change and I hope to get much of this sorted ASAP as I have just put in for 7 weeks leave next year to enable a 'proper' trip to Western Australia!

Cheers, N.E.  

6 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

Sad when so many people laugh at your post.

I think we assumed the last sentence was a joke.  Was it not?  Quite sure no-one was trying to offend you VL 👍

And have bells in them.  C’mon Jim, I set it up for you  🤣

One of my favourite jokes, that I first heard on DP forum.  

7 hours ago, Goldseeker5000 said:

the reason you aren't seeing the black bears is because the grizzlies here are killing them.

Aww, that’s comforting to know  😳

Now, to prepare for my adventure into the American wilderness, I’ll just need a tiny little can of pepper spray and some tiny little bells on my shoes.  Correct?

And how do I know I’m in bear country? 🤔

I suppose check with the city, but I’d also ask the house owner if they’d mind.  I imagine you might get a lot of angry house owners otherwise, telling you to swing your thing somewhere else.  They might not be legally right but when has that stopped a good confrontation!

You definitely answered one thing though - the length of a thread title can apparently be hella long 😉

RIP Jim  💐 

Deepest sympathies Linda.

You are making a tough but loving decision for Jim to be at peace.

Love and support for you and your family in this hard time  💐 

Jeez, that’s very unfortunate news 😔

Best wishes Jim, I hope you can make it through to a full recovery  ❤️‍🩹 💐 

On 6/11/2021 at 3:44 PM, Reg Wilson said:

Where on earth did these signals come from? A number were I am sure just shotgun pellets, but a few were at a reasonable depth as I tilted the coil to get some idea of just how deep. The more interesting signals I marked with boot scuffs and will check out within the next few days.

Whatever became of these signals Reg?  Any of the turn up yellow?  

2 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

but the number of reported defects has been really disappointing, especially people experiencing multiple coil failures.

Yep, it is ridiculous.  And why they have not found the issue and fixed it is frustrating.

I still have not returned my first 11” coil which has 2 ear cracks and a crack at the cable entry point for the shear fact that it works brilliantly and I am concerned about what I am going to get in return!!   It needs to go back soon though, before the warranty runs out and also giving me enough warranty time remaining to make sure the replacement is decent.