Gold Catcher

Yeah it looks different now. Whenever I am out there I hardly see a soul! BTW, I misspoke earlier. I of course meant WEST of the Majuba placers towards the hills, not to the east. But watch there are active claims beginning at the foothills.

Hike towards the hills on the east site of the  Majuba placers, away from where the crowd has been eating for decades 

13 hours ago, afreakofnature said:

Gold’s all gone

Not quite, but hard work for less than it used to be

11 minutes ago, Goldseeker5000 said:

Gold Catcher, Minelab doesn't put out detectors that are essentially the same as the previous model

I am a ML fan and own the GPZ, SDC and GM. I am just tying to build a case why I would want to buy the 6000 in addition. I am still hoping more ML-backed coil options will become available for the GPZ. If not, then I would go for alternative options (X-coils, NF) rather than buying another expansive detector just for coil versatility and modern configuration.

I am still curious if there is any technology edge with this new one, or just housing reconfiguration. Also curious to see how they will position it in the fleet, unless the 5000 has then a significant price drop.  At this upper price tag something has to be really new.

Or it would just be a more convenient and modern 5000?

1 minute ago, Hard Prospector said:

Nenad's SPO1 filter / booster........... where can you get one?

Several dealer sell them, Rob is one of them

https://www.robsdetectors.com/steelphase-audio-enhancer-nenad/

Sorry, the pic somehow pasted on my message. No you don't. Just open the front straps but you can leave the back strap on. Then, flip the stand and it is ready to go in the backpack 🙂

On 7/23/2020 at 8:10 AM, Denver Bryan said:

Cover: 
Do you have to remove the cover to fold up the SDC?

No you don't. Just open the front straps but you can leave the p on. Then, flip the stand and it is ready to go in the backpack 🙂

PS: Get Nenad's SP01 audio filter/booster. This little device works magic with the SDC (and GPZ...) and I would never go without it

On 8/10/2020 at 3:59 PM, oneguy said:

My question regarding the SDC is about threshold change over targets.

My recommendation is to dig all targets, regardless of hi/low or low/high. Sometimes, shallow iron trash gives a very "melodic" high/low response, or a "raspy singing"  at times. But I still would not want to use this as a true indicator as gold gives many similar noises depending on depth, shape, consistency, nature of host rock, coated mineralization, coil angle and swing height/speed  and many other factors. The SDC, with its MPF timing, is made to capture small gold and steals the show of VLF's in mineralized ground very spectacularly. In addition, it is actually quite good in detecting deeper gold as well, much better than most would believe. However, the threshold sound then changes to barely audible mellow variations or warbles. I have recovered many depper nuggets this way. Hence, it is important to keep the threshold as stable as possible (sensitivity 2 or sometimes 3) to be able to hear those faint variations. Not always an easy task since the SDC tens to be noisy. Some ramp it up to 4, but the threshold will then be very unstable in most cases which will prevent you to hear these small variations, and you WILL loose a lot of gold. As true for many other detectors, less can be more as long as you train your ear/brain to capture these faint variations. Good luck!

On 8/7/2020 at 12:26 PM, jasong said:

Now you know at least one. 😀

The nice thing about prospecting is that everybody has their own technique and whatever works the best should be adopted for individual needs. So, all good. I can just say that for me making sound decisions is not a productive way. So often I have been wrong when guessing what the GPZ is signaling, so I just don't take any chances. In certain cases, when I know the area really well, I disregard surface screamers if I know the gold is deep, and if my boot can just kick it away. However, for me the sound discrimination is just not a good practice, especially for a detector like the GPZ. 

4 minutes ago, phrunt said:

I am betting a few people have missed their find of a lifetime by ignoring a screamer.  Junk fatigue sets in.

Yup. Steve was also pointing that out in his great youtube clip. 

In my view, any threshold variation can be indicative of a gold target. Too many factors determine what sounds it would make under what circumstances. Sometimes you can guess, but you should never rely on it. I don't know of any serious operator of a high end gold machine who would reliability discriminate by sounds. Got to dig them all my friends.

2 hours ago, Reg Wilson said:

The best processing happens between your ears. It's the difference from being able to drive formula one and an auto family sedan.

I dig everything, also for my mental sanity. At night when I am home I wold think of all those undug targets

3 hours ago, VicR said:

Maybe its an adaption of ground penetrating radar (ultra wide band impulse radar) combined with pulse induction technology

This could challenge ZVT and perhaps challenge the 7000 franchise

2 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

ealize the GPX-5000 was $5800 at one time and then they dropped them to $4000.  We dealers have been wanting another detector in the $5000 to $7000 range as there is now a big gap (GPX-5000 for $4000  through GPZ-7000 at $8K).  They just fazed out the GPX-4500's so I (don't know shit) would hope the GPX-5000 at $4K would stay around a while. 

 Take a look, now you can buy the GPZ even at Walmart, for $10k!.....Gerry, I bet people get a better deal with you 🤣🤣

6 minutes ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Realize the GPX-5000 was $5800 at one time and then they dropped them to $4000.  We dealers have been wanting another detector in the $5000 to $7000 range as there is now a big gap (GPX-5000 for $4000  through GPZ-7000 at $8K).  They just fazed out the GPX-4500's so I (don't know shit) would hope the GPX-5000 at $4K would stay around a while.  

Makes sense, Gerry, the business aspect I had not considered. I guess the rumor mill will spin for a while longer.

PS: If there will be X-coils for the GPX (old or new) Simon would be the first to know 🙂

2 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

The last thing they'll probably do is allow for better Iron Discrimination than the standard GPX-5000.

That would assume the 5000 would remain in the fleet. With a new 6000 and the 7000 as the flag ship, it would be tough to see the value proposition for the 5000 to remain. The 6000 could just take over and then be the only gold-PI with an iron meter, next to other improvements that you mentioned. We shall see...

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

The Commander coils might be finally upgraded with spiral windings and be promoted to Captain coils! 🙂

With the X-coils being the Generals..:)

Let's see how big the wheelbarrow loaded up with money soon needs to be to buy a ML detector. 

5 hours ago, phrunt said:

More timings maybe? The GPX 5000 wasn't a giant leap from the 4500.   Maybe they've been working on better discrimination with word Fisher is doing similar.

If they've done target ID's on a PI I'm in 🙂 I am in fantasy land, but it would be outstanding.

A smart iron probability meter, perhaps a supercharged version of what the GM has, would be a game changer in my view. Here I see the most advancements to be made even beyond the 7000 and would allow for hunting in trashy areas where currently iron discrimination is a must have. It likely would not work well for deep targets, but for surface targets this would be great to have. And worth the money when combined with additional timings and coil options.

This is just the beginning....Take a look at the picture. This will happen again. Nobody seems to care anymore.

I prefer a hot day in the desert anytime over a muggy hot day in a steep Motherlode canyon. Dry heat is much easier to handle. Plus, I love the desert and the majestic nature. Every time, at day's end after a long hunting trip in the middle of nowhere in the desert, you come back as a different man.  

4 hours ago, flakmagnet said:

I agree, it's uncomfortable in the desert. But I have read written accounts of prospectors in Arizona near Quartzsite, who in the and early 1900s would routinely be out working in 120 degrees. Those guys would laugh at us.

At those days there was still alot of gold to be found there. I would have gone out there too. Today, no....;)

Correction in spelling: Goler Gulch