Aureous

Sorry to butt-in, but am i to assume that a 16V+ power pack can run a TDI-SL perfectly  WITHOUT any form of regulator?.....AND provide a sensitivity boost? My Brother uses a 2013 build SL without any mods at all and is his 'go-to' prospecting machine due to the extreme mineralization he has in his area. He's gonna do all of the mods shortly and wants to be sure there's no error. Thanks 😊

I got just over 500 bits with my 24K in 3 months. All on ground Ive hammered with various Goldmasters, a Gold Bug 2 and GMT. Got a Gold Monster...tried it for a week....hated it. Got the 24K and never regretted it. The new XGB ground balancing system, coupled to that amazing 6" concentric coil is a real winner. Itching to get back into it once the weather improves and my shoulder fully heals after surgery. I just really need that 6x4DD to maximize the areas I can search effectively. Still waiting......

The frequencies are similar but the shielding and receive winding isnt the same as the other Goldmaster coils. NOT compatible 😞 

20 minutes ago, Lacky said:

Yeah, Garrett pays for a youtube/tv presence,  but they seem to be the only ones that do.

(Assumption on my part, but I think a pretty safe one)

Garrett certainly DOES have a PR department for promo and public promotion and yes, certain 'personalities' are engaged to promote their products. Minelab have been doing this for decades now and Nokta & XP are certainly doing the same. This is now crucial to keep products and especially new ones to the fore-front of the public's mind. To ignore this, means stagnation and demise.....

Still nothing on the horizon from Whites re the 6X4DD..... you heard/seen anything Jim??? 

I noticed an obvious downturn in their community 'footprint' when I wanted to assist Whites after my success with the 24K and offered them all of my pics and videos for promo use/advertising this excellent detector (in my mind, THE BEST VLF prospecting machine in the past 20 years). All I asked for was an opportunity to test the 6X4DD coil here in Oz when it was released. All I received in response was an idiotic dismissal (as if the crux of my email wasn't even understood or read) and a suggestion of a coil release date. Many months later and that coil still hasn't been released.....and this coil was touted as being 'available soon' when the 24K was being advertised for the 1st time. To date, there still isn't any decent independent Youtube videos of the 24K in action finding gold either....something that ML encourage for all of their prospecting detectors. The advertising/promo dept of Whites are waaaay behind the ball. Tech advancements are being introduced by Minelab, Nokta and XP on almost all new models....this is something that no new US unit has done for quite a while now....once upon a time 50% of all new detectors I saw out in the field or on Youtube were US machines (Whites, Garrett, Fisher etc) and now outside the USA (as Steve notes also), they are absent. This indicates a serious shift and a worrying one for US manufacturers because once the 'rot' sets in, its hard to stop. The demise of Tesoro may well be the 1st of a domino effect closure event. Once sales drop, there is no money for design and R&D. This 'disease' becomes terminal if left to fester.......

Minelab bought the name of the company (Goldseekers) and very little else. It was a detector manufacturer for maybe 3 years before being swamped by US imports. Both the 9000 and 12000 are literally wall hangings now and useful for pretty much nothing else. If I remember right, keep auto tune on, start the sensitivity at 12 oclock and advance the tuning from 0 until you hear a hum. single turn ground balance would be the trickiest part to get right when a beginner. Keep discrim off as its a TR type and useless anywhere off the beach.

that 1st bit of gold is the confidence booster. one must-do is spend time with others, nugget hunting and benefit from their experience. this will improve your time in becoming proficient. lotsa people find gold but not consistently due to poor technique, wrong settings, poorly chosen locations....learning from those more successful will save you a lot of pain and time.

so is this mod a variable sweep speed or just set to accept a wider range of speeds? my brother uses his tdi-sl as his primary detector due to the massive mineralization he has to cope with in his district. he will be very interested.....

I can totally agree with the user reports, here in Australia, I can state that there is no VLF high frequency machine more capable than the 24K. Ive owned and used them all, the Gold Bug 2 was my favorite until now....over 6,000 bits of gold with it. Im up to 500 with the 24k but injury and work have gotten in the way of detector time. A small DD coil is all thats urgently needed in my 24K arsenal. I can think of dozens of small gold locations that will benefit from this combo.....cant wait!

After having looked at this whole thread, Ive seen 2 glaring gaps in the posts, and from my own perspective they need to be said. I watched a good coil technician build a 10" GPZ coil way back in 2017. He deconstructed a 14" ML coil, worked out the parameters, made a patch block (not a lead, coz he was only doing bench testing at the time) and built 4 prototypes of varying merit until he built one that worked really well and was field tested extensively. THIS TOOK HIM 2 WEEKS......one man. On a technical standpoint, there is zero excuse for ML NOT to be able to build numerous designs OR give the task to either of the major coil players in Oz OR at least another 4 guys who are known to be top notch coil technicians. Indeed, both of the big players are logically rumored to have made several GPZ coil prototypes in the past couple years for just such a time. Again, NO EXCUSES.  OK, 1st statement made.

2nd statement, and another really obvious one, a large coil selection SELLS DETECTORS. The more variable and adaptable a detector is, the more likely it is to be sold. At this stage in the GPZ's life-span anyone with a logical view of the detector industry should glaringly see that leftover warehouse/floor stock of GPZ's would sell better with more coil selection. With the GPZ about to be replaced, this would be an obvious time for ML  to 'allow' coils to be made. I wish I could afford to buy a GPZ just so I could join in now.....

Still no word nor listing on the whites website for the new 24K mini DD coil.... anyone heard anything????

There IS a program out there to read the resultant code, Ive seen it done. The frequency variation is easy to discern though, part of the chip appears to be a simple frequency matcher. I would have to chat with the tech who showed me to get more info. He made 3 bench coils for the zed back in 2017. Just for fun I think...

17 minutes ago, jasong said:

Thanks Aureous, I thought it had to be something like that based on the rather conspicuous lack of patent complaints regarding DOD during this discussion. So, the chip in fact protects no IP at all. 

What it protects is the ability for Minelab to regulate and profit from a coil aftermarket. An aftermarket which they never let materialize for reasons yet unknown.

Well I'll say this: X Coils is about to create a lot of patched GPZ cables. So there might be a market for another coil maker now, and they won't even have to ask users to cut their cables, it will already be done. A patched GPZ can run any coil just like a GPX can. I'm guessing the spectre of that idea is moving along the approval process for whatever 3rd party coils are currently being held up on chip licensing for "standards" reasons.

Big tip for anyone considering making GPZ coils: once the patch cable is made, a sensor probe can be attached and the chip info is easily seen being transmitted from coil to the motherboard....those with the right equipment can determine what kind of data needs to be flashed onto the coil chip....I expect thats what our Russian friend has already done if he's making chipped patch cables for general sale...

On 6/25/2019 at 9:05 AM, jasong said:

We've had a ferrite inside our coil all along it looks like. 

It's not in the photo you posted of the coil being tested in the Minelab bench, wonder if it's just an FCC compliance thing as some mentioned in earlier threads. It seems to be covering a wire junction or solder point in the middle.

Anyone know what that square thing in the GB2 coil is?

Also, I hope my Deus coil goes bad at some point just so I can take it apart without worry about breaking it and figure out how they crammed a whole detector into that tiny amount of circuitry. There must be more shielded in that tube thing.

The GB2 coil has a square windings connector. The 'fireworks' are 2x ground-shield sprays of light gauge wire to attempt deadening of ground noise. Always a difficult thing to attempt when utilizing concentric designs in the goldfield soil conditions. the rest of the loose wire is excess tuning wire to reach the correct induction and frequency match. Ive seen much cleaner versions of GB2 coils than that...musta been a bad day when that one was made lol

Re coil patents, the DDO design is an old one, both Fisher and D-Tex had DDO designs for certain back in the 70's and 80's. And, the Russian dude isnt the only one who has made GPZ coils. At least 3 other technicians/companies have made prototypes within the last 2-3 years....

For use on the 7000, the X coils are all DDO (or now re-named DOD)....3 sets of windings, One large transmit, two smaller receive. X coils also make a typical spiral wound mono for use with all GP and GPX detectors.

34 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

If gold detecting the 80's was a serious for real gold rush, with gold prices higher than today in equivalent dollars. And a decent VLF was all you needed since stuff was essentially virgin.

My old business was launched on the back of that gold rush.

The family in question was using nuthin but Fisher 440's. 1st trip got them about 20oz....2nd was maybe 200oz. Nuthin smaller than 2-3 grammers though.....them was the days....

I had a chance to go with a semi successful gold prospecting family on a trip to Western Australia back in 1981 and had to decline because of school commitments. They went anyway, hit a huge patch and bought a car dealership with the proceeds (still running today) and made million$. If I went back, I'd drop out of school and stay in WA until I'd filled a bucket of gold lol

Editors Note: Split from Vanquish Thread

On 6/5/2019 at 7:39 AM, Reg Wilson said:

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.

Very true Reg, very few 'young'uns' are having a go....but a certain TV show is helping to a small degree I suspect. But from what Ive seen, the current 'instant gratification' generation doesnt have the patience or fortitude to spend time in the bush for more than half an hour...

On 5/31/2019 at 6:11 AM, phrunt said:

They don't design a detector quarterly though, if they had something in the pipeline near competition you would think they'd be telling the shareholders, after all it does heavily affect the share price, look at the share price before/after every release.

Quite right, knowing what I do about ML in the past, their R&D dept is normally 4+ years ahead in concept/design/prototype phases at any given time. The reason Minelab have 'wrung the necks' of all their competitors (except, amazingly the Turks) is their massive commitment to R&D. Believe me, they can toss out a new detector whenever needed to fill a void, shrinking niche sales or to squash potential competition. Because all the boards, tooling and CAD is already on file, the lead time is fairly short. The SDC 2300 was released in a hurry and wasnt on the yearly horizon due to perceived competition from Garretts ATX. So, thats one particular case in point. Because of the news 'leaked' to the dealers, this might be on the cards again. If nothing tangible was revealed, this extended thread wouldn't exist past the Vanquish release info. But the release date for the new gold prospecting detectors will as always, entirely depend on sales volume of current machines and perceived or actual competition. But....the 4 year cycle is well and truly up for both the 2300 and the 7000. That much IS fact. We wait....and see....

Nukem, yes the 'vanquish being the GPZ replacement' horse bolted almost a week ago... no discussion there. But the 3 new types of detector due out in FY19/20 suggestions are still open to interpretation until official word is released. 

Shareholder/Investor advice is updated quarterly with most companies, perhaps we can expect a surprise in October.... but who knows? Its not the first time that actual ML  product info was 'leaked' well before its actual release....all we can say for sure is that there are more than a few models already overdue for replacement

So sad...they just never invested in new tech or new ideas. A company stagnated & fallen. RIP Tesoro. Jack Gifford will be rolling in his grave ? I was a huge Tesoro fanatic back in the 80's and 90's.... Mayan, Diablo, Diablo 2, Toltec 100, Bandido, Lobo, Dingo, Golden Sabre...many a dollar was spent by me and my Brother on Tesoro gear. Found my oldest coin ever with a Golden sabre, found over 100oz of gold with the Mayan and the Diablos, Lobo and Dingo. Found almost 1 tonne of meteorites with the Diablos..... If they'd have competed with the big 4 in terms of tech and innovation over the past decade, I'd still have their detectors in my arsenal.  

2 hours ago, Aureous said:

All us Aussies keep a very close eye on Minelab and its practices.... 4 years is about right for all of their High end gold machines to be replaced. The GPX4500 is the biggest selling pulse machine for ML (and maybe the biggest selling ever) but still, the 4 years were up and the GPX5000 was released.....despite the 4500 still selling well. Both the 2300 and 7000 are well overdue..... FY 2019/20 is still 12 months of potential wait-time....but the new 'Uber gold detector'  wouldnt have been mentioned to Aussie dealers if it wasnt going to happen. 

See my previous post re the timeline and overdue replacement practices of ML. As far as 'rumors' go, if the info didn't come from the dealers that were informed about it at the recent dealer conference, it would indeed just be rumors. FY 19/20 is still a 12 month wait time and who knows exactly when either of the PI replacements will 'pop up'??? Maybe a betting man would expect just before Xmas???? ?