araratgold

What I got out of the Fat Bastard video was how smooth the ZED with 17 CC was, and how bloody ratty the 6K was ! Numerous others have also made mention of the speaker / EMI problem, requiring numerous noise cancels ! If the little 11 inch is that bad for EMI, how bad will the 17 inch be ? Also, the ZED smashed the target over the spinifex, the 6K couldn't hear it, and could barely hear it even at ground level in difficult ! I questioned FB about why it was so ratty, and he stated it was being driven flat out. So why then did it not get the nugget over the spinny, and could barely get it at ground level ?? This is a confirmed list of shortcomings / observations so far : Huge depth loss with the DD on deeper larger targets. DD is heavy, requiring a bungy if you are using it for extended periods. DD does not discriminate ! WHY did they remove that ability ?? The mono coil can not be put into cancel mode and used for pinpointing large targets. WHY did they remove that ability ?? No ability to change the threshold tone, to suit various hearing problems. WHY did they remove that ability ?? Can not use the existing aftermarket coils. You are locked into Minelab's limited coil selection, and let's face facts, Minelab have NEVER built the best coils ! WHY did they remove that ability ? EMI problems. The plastics used on the coils are very soft and easily scratched, someone has gone through a skid plate already ! Threshold OFF is not really off, because you can still hear the EMI squeaks. Users are reporting a lot of ground noise with the 11 mono. The reality is that it is only 300 grams lighter than the current GPX, although they are selling it as if it is super light. The shafts and coil mount look flimsy, will they survive the test of time ? $8K for that, no thanks !!! Ps : Check out this video, where the reporters at the end describe the ZED vs 6K as Godzilla vs Bambi ! Rick

And don't forget Patch mode / Salt Mode that was added via software update, from memory at the same time as Semi Auto, which gave it better ground handling ability over nasty ground. Cheers, Rick

Thank you JP for that very balanced report. Whatever Ilya and his team have done is certainly working. These coils have basically given the GPZ the super sensitivity of an SDC ( or dare I say it the GPX 6000 ) but with the raw power of ZVT ! Some of the little bits I have been getting at prodigious depths rechaining my old patches have left me scratching my head ! Rick

The threshold OFF method was " invented " here in Aus and was known as Bogene's settings. Good for shallow noisy areas, not so good for deeper ground where a falling or wobbling threshold alerts you to a deeper target. Hence Minelab saying you will get more depth with threshold on. Rick

OMG what a wank ! In the official Minelab video old mate in Africa is not even carrying a pick. I guess the nuggets must just jump out of the ground ! Never in my 20 years in the game have I seen Minelab trying so hard to sell a new model ! No discrimination, no ability to change the threshold tone ? If the ground is bad, their answer is to change to a DD coil ! Like I will be carrying that around in the boondocks in my backpack ! Limited choice of Minelab only coils. This latest offering is not impressing me much, certainly not enough to go and drop $8K AUD ( plus whatever the 17 inch coil costs) !

I hope that speaker is waterproof, given it will be facing angled upwards most of the time. I can also see it filling up with red dust over here in the outback ! Still not feeling the urge to drop $8K on this thing, especially since I have a perfectly good ZED with X coils, and a 4500 with EVO coils ! Rick

Fake as a Bali Rolex Steve !

Personally, I am sick and tired of the slow drip feed of bullshit 25 second clips from Minelab that tell you almost nothing ! Whoever in marketing thinks that this is smart has lost the plot. I am more inclined now not to buy one, just on principle. Minelab are taking us for granted and treating us like mugs ! And I'm sorry JP, but no amount of defending Minelab will put this right. They are just taking the piss ! A once great small Australian company, that produced the goods in Australia, is now run by corporate bean counters and built overseas, where cheap labour will maximise profits. The Australian ( and seemingly US ) market are now being treated as second class citizens, where we don't even have the choice of what coil pack we get, and only one battery supplied ! This is the trouble when you have NO competition ! Rant over ! Rick

There are people who believe in an imaginary being in the sky too, so I guess that believing they can douse for gold is not that far fetched in the grand scheme of things !! 🤣 Rick

12 pin coil plug on the new 6K, so that would appear to be a NO !

No offence taken JP, but there are just too many negatives to the 6K for my liking. I am happy to be proven wrong, but certainly for the foreseeable future, I will be sticking with the existing tech, which is serving me very well. 😉 Rick

You say I am being negative, I say I am being a realist JP. I have a nice selection of very expensive coils for our current GPX that just won't fit the new 6K, and a selection of X Coils for the ZED. I don't want to be locked into Minelab's limited coil offerings again. $8K plus is just taking the Mickey as far as I am concerned ! Mine the miners ! I can see the appeal of this detector to new chums, who don't already have a heap of equipment. PS : Apologies to Goldcatcher who first put the chart on. Rick

Adam, I was seriously keen initially, but the price tag, for what it can and can't do compared to my ZED and 4500, just doesn't warrant $8K + outlay. We don't want to chase 0.1 gram flypoop! We have a 17x13 and 24x12 Evo that are perfect patch finders, that won't fit the new 6000 ! PS : Don't let Reg see you telling me that you sold the QED for the same failings that I found, he will be all over you like a rash ! 😃 Rick

You heard it here first : The SDC is to be discontinued ! My reasoning : There is no way Minelab will let it continue, at the expense of the " greatest show on earth " ! BTW, " the greatest show on earth " is impressing me less and less, now that I have seen the full performance chart kindly provided by JR Beatty ! The stock 7000 beats it on all but sub gram stuff, and I'm tipping that my ZED with 12 inch X coil will match it on 0.1 gram crumbs ! Not that I want to chase crumbs that small ! 🙄 Rick

And that is what I meant when I said comprehensive. That chart doesn't tell you a whole lot ! Rick

IMHO, Minelab should provide comprehensive test data before release so that us mug punters don't have to spend $8K AUD to " suck it and see " ! Rick

Thanks Lunk, That will make it difficult for many ! I find it extraordinary that for the price they are asking that pitch can not be changed ! 🙄 Rick

Lunk, could the threshold tone be changed ? Particularly important to a lot of folk who have hearing loss at various frequencies ! Cheers, Rick

Me thinks someone made a booboo ??

Nothing in that manual enthralls me much at all ! These bits concern me : " The GPX 17 Mono coil is the top choice for covering large areas of ground quickly and efficiently. It is the top performer when searching for large deep nuggets in less mineralised ground. Like all monoloop coils, the GPX 17 Mono is susceptible to noise in conductive ground or when there are high levels of EMI " I thought this new u beaut super expensive machine was going to rid these problems, but seemingly no ! Less mineralised ? That wipes out most of Western Australia ! I saw no mention of threshold tone control either ???????? Rick

Do you have the GPS turned on ? Having it on slows the whole process down, must be RAM hungry on the CPU ! I found the whole thing very slow when the GPS was running and ended up not using it at all because of the lag ! Cheers, Rick

You mean like at 3:30 in the vid ? Coil was VERY stable JP, especially considering sensitivity of 16, no smoothing, damp ground and not far from the Red Hill Lookout.

Righto guys, Just did a quick, simple test of the 17 spiral and 17 concentric, mainly curious to see how the new concentric would run. Nothing scientific, just the 2 coils running over the same ground to show differences. Settings were not changed, other than between normal and difficult. Bear in mind I was on the edge of Kambalda, near Red Hill lookout which has several towers and electrical infrastructure on it, and we have just had 3 inches of rain, so ground is very damp. Sensitivity 16, threshold level 21 and tone 37, semi auto, high yield only, audio smoothing OFF. Concentric was much sharper on the small 0.3g ball of gold, really noticeable in difficult. Concentric will need much closer overlap of swings when cleaning up a patch, but I have no doubt it will punch deeper and have better sensitivity to small stuff than the 17 spiral ( which is pretty good anyway ) . IMHO, it will be no good for patch hunting, but great for cleaning up a patch. Neither coil suffered from EMI, considering how close I was to the aforementioned electrical equipment. Concentric balanced over the ferrite, although as stated numerous times before, I don't use the damn thing ! Overall impressions ? Top rate finish on the coil and new coil cable is spot on. No heavier than the standard GPZ14. No emi problems. Runs beautifully, no bump sensitivity and more sensitive to small gold than the 17 spiral, which is already very good. Elnur, you have outdone yourself comrade ! Full disclosure, I was gifted this coil to try out for being a loyal customer.

You don't have to be old to get heel cracks. I commercially fished from age 28 to 40. Feet getting wet / dry / wet / dry caused terrible and painful heel cracks. Lots of Nivea moisturiser to get rid of them. If you've avoided them till older age then you have been lucky ! Cheers, Rick

Performance chart, impressive if true !