Chase Goldman

What Andy said, above. When you are looking for depth in mineralized soil, plowed fields, mostly, then the GPX reigns supreme. Iron reject works for open field running where you have bullets and nails which depending on timing give a low tone response (but nails or bigger iron targets blank on the peak/valley of the audio response) and for nail heads and buttons or small lead which give a high tone response or warbled response, you can get some blanking as well. No, you don't want to run a GPX in thick iron patches like you woukd have at a stage stop or ghost down. And if the soil is not all that hot, no need to pull out a PI sledge hammer, when a VLF will do just fine. As Andy says a GPX PI (non-6000) will blank out, and you are not really trying to punch for depth in that situation, just trying to look between the iron for typically shallower, masked non-ferrous. That's a task for a fast vlf, preferably one that can handle mineralized dirt, Equinox, Tarsacci, and in some cases the original Deus are your best bets. Whites MXT, Fisher F75/Tek T2, and Garrett AT Gold are your next best bets.. Hoping Deus 2 and Legend bring something to the table in that regard. We'll find out...

Do the bone phones have a proprietary multi-pin audio connector that only plugs into the remote multi-pin waterproof multi-purpose connector? If so, do you plan to carry the remote on your person so you can remain untethered to the detector stem/coil?

Yes.

You lost me. If a concentric averages that's really not much different than masking.

Yes and no. It is more than just automation, Iron bias utilizes multifrequency data run through the iron bias algorithm to skew (bias) the baseline MF iron probability algorithm towards ferrous based on some unknown filtering and data manipulation. The 10 khz "trick" is a much cruder approach because it not only not automated but is only a singular frequency data point that will give less reliable results. Anyway, here is my take on the whole ridiculous SMF Iron Bias "controversy". First of all, the whole thing is kind of silly in the sense of the dramatic blow up. This is just perpetuated by by strong, highly visible personalities and I will say that Nokta perpetuates the drama by repeatedly addressing criticism so directly and defensively. It just feeds Nokta's detractors and is ill advised. Furthermore, the arguments used are really circular and non-sensical. Specifically, the argument that Iron Bias "masks" targets is just ridiculous. Iron bias NEVER prevents a signal from being heard by the detectorist, unless the detectorist chooses to fully discriminate the ferrous bin. If that detectorist chooses to primarily rely on discrimination, then that detectorist is going to miss a lot more than iffy ferrous/non-ferrous signals filtered by IB. The Nokta arguments fall flat as well, if you buy into the iron probability display with confidence and make dig decisions because of it, that is no different than reliance on iron bias. The real question is whether the information by either feature is reliable. My final take on IB is this: To be clear, IB appears to be continuously running in Multi-IQ modes at some level regardless of the setting - zero does not necessarily mean "off". The best way to utilize IB, should you choose to invoke it, is to interrogate the target with IB on whatever level you prefer and with IB at it's minimum setting or using single frequency. I really have no issues being in "search mode" with IB F2 at its default setting as a starting point in a field with scattered iron, the chances of co-located ferrous and non-ferrous targets being minimal. But if I want minimal filtering because of thick iron, I will search in F2=0 and then interrogate iffy signals with IB at the default or highest setting to see how it changes target response. Bottom line is this, for experienced detectorists, it simply makes sense to give people advanced setting options on a detector rather than presuming the detectorist may apply the setting incorrectly and setting up limited adjustment guardrails. For less experienced detectorists, simply make sure the default settings provide a good general purpose detector starting point to facilitate turn on and go detecting. Simple as that.

Good point!

Iron reject. Noticeably missing from the GPX 6000. I would have been happy if ML would have just ported over the algorithm from the GPX 4500/4800/5000 intact (no improvements or other R&D needed). But alas, it was left off the 6K. So Nokta, here's a chance to grab not only prospectors but hot dirt relic detectorists (not an insignificant number of relic detectorists in the US who use the GPX/TDT/ATX machines) who are weary of the old GPX/ATX form factor and who ML chose to cut loose with the introduction of the 6000.

FYI Deus 1 uses PCM audio...so I don't know what you are going on about. All modern detectors use digital to analog conversion to create audio, so there is always going to be some level of distortion from a digital source for the audio.

Steve, I know the 4800 and 5000 uppers are the same and 99.9% sure the 4500 is the same as the 4800/5000. One of the keys is making sure you can enable the GPX pinpointer trigger/swing-support handle to fasten and lock securely onto the shaft. It tends to drift and rotate radially around the shaft with radial torque unless you overtighten the fastener which then puts undue stress on the fastening hardware. I can never seem to get it tight enough without fear I am overstepping the fastener. Seems to be a friction issue as the trigger handle clamp is designed to slide easily up and downside the shaft when loosened to adjust for your forearm length. That slipperyness also enables it to slide radially if you force it, even when clamped. Concerned how it will fare on polished CF. It could also just be an isolated issue with my rig.

Atrex firmware updating is kinda cool, with wifi built in, you simply need to connect to a wifi network connected to the internet and it will navigate and download the firmware update automatically and install it like a phone.

If you read the link I provided, you'd realize 45 and 50 khz doesn't really even give you a slght edge in performance. You'd really need to get it above 60 and then all you are really doing is bring perhaps some micro gold into the picture for perhaps some significant modifications to either the coil., sw, or hardware that might drive up cost and make it less attractive to the general purpose user. As well as eat into the sales of their existing specialized gold detector lineup. Not worth the trip from a business case perspective.

No. Not really necessary. See this thread...

Hope Mateo doesn't catch you wearing it down there, could be a bad scene.

Think of Been awhile since I've done a Deus update so maybe I my memory was faulty. Regardless, think of it in terms of smart phone updates. How much change log information do you really get when Samsung forces an update of your phone? It's similarly high level and of course, there is the proprietary sw aspect as you previously mentioned as the code is not accessible.

Yes see above. It's usually included in the firmware updater. May not be up to your standards as a sw game developer though. That summary is the typical info given out by detector manufacturers in general (i.e., ML, XP, Nokta). Sometimes you are considered lucky if you even get that from some manufacturers...