Reg Wilson

It was tested on James's GPX5000 and behaved itself even in 'sharp'. Not suitable for QED as it behaves like a DD and on a QED it only runs on one winding like a mono. I am led to believe it will also be built in a 18 or 20 inch version, and if so Beatty and I want one.

Less likely to lose it Simon.

Paul, the biggest color we had for testing was only 10oz, so I don't know how far it would pick up something really big. I've played around with some pretty big coils in the past, but this thing takes the cake. It was picking up beer cans at about 5' or more. PS It ran smooth even in very hot ground.

After two days of testing, JR Beatty and I agree that this is one very good coil.

My rule is to at least move every target, even what sounds like surface junk. After many years of detecting I can usually tell a junk target, but every now and then there will be one that fools me, and after grudgingly digging what I have assumed by the sound to be just another bit of rubbish, out comes a slug of the 'real' thing. Some of these surprises have been pretty big.

Seems a few posts disappeared "Like straw in the wind" (The Steel Woods) A bit one sided.

While the standard of Minelab coils have been quite good up till the GPZ19", it has been the exception. Remember that when the GPZ first came on the market with its 14" coil we were promised a larger, lighter coil, and what we eventually got was over rated, over priced and definitely over weight. I can't imagine that Minelab will sell too many of those 'woofers' now, and for that they only have themselves to blame.

I use liquid tape quite a bit. It is excellent.

I think you got a good deal.

Norvic, a mate of mine in Maldon has a 7000 that on the odd occasion just shuts down for no apparent reason. It has done this for some time. PS He only has the standard 14" coil.

Excellent coil. Good price.

The problem is Norvic that the real Minelab died years ago. The Codan wolf now wears the fleece of the Minelab lamb. It is now a multi national predator that cares only for profit. Easy to be the nice guy and replace a faulty unit when your product is produced for peanuts in the third world.

AussieDigs. Brand new mono.... Laughing mate. In this cold weather I have noticed that the QED takes a few minutes to warm up. Last winter while working with JR Beatty we would switch our QEDs on in the morning and just let them sit there and warm up while we had a cup of coffee. If we ground balanced while they were cold we found we would have to re ground balance again when they warmed up. Don't try too hard to get your mode down too low. You will very rarely be able to get the low mode and high gain that Simon can. I often run on a mode of 8 and with the very wet ground that we have now you may have to go even higher, but don't worry, as you will not lose a great deal of sensitivity. I should have had a go with Adams machine when we were out with Mitchel. I could then have told him how his machine was performing. If you are anywhere near my place at the weekend, drop in and I will check your detectors out for you.

AussieDigs, the large coil that I like, and it is good on both GPX and QED, is the Nuggetfinder 25" Litz wire, three spoke coil. Very light for its size and capable of punching deep, as well as having great coverage. Another option would be the 18" Coiltek Elite, which is also a very good coil. The downside is that both these coils are expensive. JR Beatty swears by his 14" Elite.

AussieDigs, good to hear that you are getting a mono in exchange for that DD. Just one Question. What mono are you getting?

Great photos. What camera do you use?

Well Al, I have to agree with your assumption, and a bit of a dog act, as the seller would have been aware of the situation. I have done some research, and know who this person is. He will probably read this post, so I appeal to him to do the right thing and contact you with the aim of replacing that coil. It would be the decent thing to do.

Al, it looks like a DD to me, as the monos have a label identifying them as such. It looks near new, and I can't help wondering whether the previous owner was aware of it being a DD or not. I would hate to think he stooged you by knowingly fitting that coil, as the QED was never supplied with a DD. My recommendation would be a Commander 8" mono. You should be able to pick up a s/h coil for around AU$100. I picked one up recently for a friend from Coiltek. They may even give you a trade in on your DD, as it will be useless to you for QED use. I have always found Coiltek to be most helpful, and it would be worth your while to get a price on their Elite 11" mono as this coil works really well on QEDs, especially those with the extended mode. The Elite is more sensitive than the earlier bundle wound coils, and will be noisier in the low modes, but don't be afraid to increase the mode by quite a bit and then bring the gain up a bit to compensate. A compromise between these two settings is important in getting a nice smooth but sensitive threshold.

Aussiedigs, Your QED is actually a PL1, but I believe Howard is going to bring it up to PL2 specs for you, with an advanced mode and electronics update. What coil are you using? I hope it is a mono, as the DD coil will work, but only half the coil will function.

No point in me going back. Picked all the winners already.

I don't think these gold hunting shows would have much of a youth following, as they mostly involve big money investments to chase a commodity that is becoming increasingly elusive.

Just like Harley Davidson, Minelab are finding it hard to appeal to a younger market, and their latest offering is still targeting the older consumer judging by the video add. Not all that smart considering that the old farts are falling off the perch or losing interest. How to appeal to youth will be a problem as the youngsters of today are not really into such pastimes.

Early detectors with small coils could find pellets, but modern detectors find them deeper.

I found when using a GPZ that with experience one could tell the difference between shotgun pellets and tiny gold. A mate and I worked a patch of over 120 small colors which was also littered with pellets. The biggest color was only 3 grams. I left the pellets in the ground. I later took a Minelab agent to that site when they scoffed at my claim of being able to tell the difference. They then went over the area with an SDC, and found nothing but pellets.

I'm only grumpy before that first coffee Fred. Ask Mitchel.