Aureous
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Posts posted by Aureous
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8 hours ago, phrunt said:
I really like Minelab detectors, that's a fact, but I struggle to understand their way of running a business.
Simon, your statement echoes through most of us. Sometimes I shake my head so much I get dizzy 😁
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10 hours ago, phrunt said:
Well, currently they don't dominate the VLF's at all, Garrett I believe has a better gold prospecting VLF with their 24k than the GM1000, it even has a nice concentric coil option which is increasingly rare. The Equinox I think is a better prospecting unit than the GM1000 and personally can't think of any reason I'd use my GM over my Nox for prospecting.
I agree completely....as I said, the 'writing is on the wall' and they don't seem to see it. As Steve said, nothing improves flagging sales better than a new model....and they aint doing it. A new GPZ doesnt have to be wholly new tech to improve performance. It just needs to be lighter, with better coil options, an actual real-world voltage to coil gain control and improved bias coding for big, deep gold and/or small gold. To achieve this with an already proven circuit would be a cheap'ish achievement. Maybe add Geosense as well... The more they dither, the closer Nokta get to the prize. In a way, I hope Nokta does kick the legs out from under Minelab with their new prospecting PI project....its going to be the only way they abandon their ridiculous $10K+ pricing agenda. Being an Aussie, of course I want Minelab to succeed, but not at the cost of their loyal customers wallets.
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16 minutes ago, phrunt said:
The market sets the price, if people stop buying or if cheaper competitors take the sales away they would react by lowering prices not putting them up, with brands like Nokia with far cheaper pricing along with the Axiom now pushing some competition into the PI gold detectors they really don’t seem concerned at all, quite the contrary.
Many appear to not like the company or their ethics but most including myself like their detectors, in my case I like them a lot 😁
Yeah, thats the crunch....and the argument. Currently (and has been for almost 30 years), Minelab have only had to compete with catch-up company's in certain sectors of the marketplace. The High-end prospecting detector market has previously been theirs to exploit almost unchallenged. They also consistently push the envelope with new tech and ideas and force the other company's to catch up. But, this is now ending and the writing is on the wall....and they dont see it. Whilst we (mostly) all use ML gear and get results, we hate being sucked dry with their ridiculous pricing. To replace lost revenue, Minelab/Codans management have been given 2 choices: (1) release the long overdue GPZ replacement and/or other overdue models or (2) Ridiculously increase retail prices. They chose the dumbest of the 2 options. This now allows the opposition to more easily catch up.
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22 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:
Yeah, the best way to fight declining sales is to raise prices. $1000 more for a GPX 6000, a 17% price increase?
It might goose sales before end of the year as people try and beat the price increase but I don't see more 6000s running out the door for an extra $1000 next year.
Yeah I dont see any other logic behind it, seeing how their manufacture -> wholesale markup is C. 800%. When there is no-one in the board room who is a detectorist or even semi aware of the state of the game currently, then poor decisions are easily made. There are quite a lot of examples of where Minelab/Codan has lost its way recently. Leaving the door open for the likes of Nokta to fill the void.
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I would also suggest that there really IS only a 'Big 3' currently..... Minelab, Garrett and Nokta. XP has a popular detector with the Deus II but is does not have any sort of a 'Line-up' and basing a manufacturer's credibility on 1 machine (although they still produce another 4 'nobody wants' detectors) somehow doesn't present itself as a credible player. I'm sure their turnover is only 10% of what the actual 'Big 3' achieve.
If a detector company doesn't have a line-up of an entry level budget unit, a mid range unit, an SMF serious unit, a beach/underwater unit, a HF VLF prospecting unit and a serious PI prospecting unit...then it somehow doesn't seem like a serious company that actually wants to compete.
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This is wholly and solely about the drastic drop in revenue this past financial year... Keep revenue high'ish so that the share price won't drop drastically. Aside from ML's high R&D expenditure, their cost -> retail markup is always C. 800% and they can easily absorb ANY price rises in cheap Chinese/Taiwanese parts and Malaysian labor charges. The bean counters have obviously looked at the potential decrease in sales due to a retail price increase versus the actual return. It must somehow make sense to them. But, I wouldn't want to be a retailer when sales drop by 30%. I'm sure the retailer markup hasn't increased to compensate.
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56 minutes ago, phrunt said:
Yes it is, AudioComm ASP-W1000N-W Neck Speaker | Qualcomm® aptX™
They're a Japanese audio equipment manufacturer.
Ah, they're listed on the 'portable speakers' section, not headphones.
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The Ohm product is not on Qualcomm's list, so it may just be Chinese BS, not low latency at all.... Qualcomm APTX LL Headphones list
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You say that being 'packable in a backpack' is a major requirement....this leads to the Axiom once again. This is something that the GPX will struggle with. I think your decision is already made for you....
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On 11/8/2023 at 7:05 PM, afaitken said:
It really saddens me that Minelab WAS a brilliant, forward thinking, Australian company, but now, has slipped in so many ways. The ONLY thing they have going for them is the technology aspect of their detector business. The rest is just plain crap, marketing, customer relations, build quality and quality assurance etc
100% factual. Not an opinion. TRUTH. 👍
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On 11/6/2023 at 8:28 AM, mcmichael said:
These are pictures of me detecting in scotland for gold this is the typical ground that gold is found in
When I lived in Scotland, I once went on a train past the Kildonan train station and saw a big patch of diggings near there....looked 'juicy' lol. Went panning at Baille an Or a couple times, the gold was actually pretty good and plentiful. The upper hills benches have been ignored.
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On 11/6/2023 at 5:14 AM, phrunt said:
one way I was able to try and see if it was working is putting it on my 5000, running both my 5000 and 4500 detectors at once in the same spot and doing some target tests, just putting the 4500 down leaving it running while using the 5000 on the targets, then swapping the shield over to the 4500, the one with the shield on always appeared to run the most stable
I did similar, my modded 4500 was easily more quiet with the shield attached. It was an easy conclusion for me. Didn't shut up the noise entirely, but the difference was obvious.
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On 11/5/2023 at 10:20 AM, oldcoinhunter said:
Aureous: How about pics on how you did yours.
I simply applied the copper tape (2x layers) to the inside of my 6000 control box cover (DD leather products). Ideally, it needs to be directly connected to the internal ground of the graphite paint shield inside the control box as well....but unless a ML tech does it for you, the warranty is voided. 😞
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17 hours ago, phrunt said:
Another simple cheap mod for the GPX series is this interference shield, it's cheap, acts as a protective cover keeping your GPX looking new and I genuinely believe has made a difference to my 4500 and 5000
I wonder who put you onto that??? 🤔 The shield is actually .5mm thick copper tape. You can do this to any detector just by buying the tape for shielding electric guitars. Cheap off Ebay, Aliexpress, Amazon etc. Done it to my 6000 with noticeable effect.
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14 minutes ago, Elijah said:
it is interesting to hear real feedback from users of modified detectors, what is the real increase in depth on the target from 10 grams and above when using monocoils with a size of 15 inches? and of course, the stability of the device is in the first place. thanks to those who answered in advance
Its very subjective.....which model detector you are modding, what exact size/shape gold you're hearing, soil conditions, coil design and size.... On some test patch evaluations, (pre-drilled horizontal holes, targets inserted via wooden dowel) I've seen improvements from as little as 10%, right up to almost 50%. Once you get past the 20% mark using an earlier GPX and 18"+ mono coil sizes, you're well within 'flog a GPZ' range.
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1 hour ago, dig4gold said:
I think he is asking the detectors to get/give back to him with their mods.
Funny how back in the day Woody was given a hard time about his mods, being mocked by the Minelab disciples who believed that Minelab were the gods & how could any body else improve their detectors. Well, as time has gone by we have come to see Minelabs business model. Why improve an existing detector with a mod or two when ML can release a whole new detector with those mods for a whole new high end price. Mining the miners.
D4G
The GP Extreme-> GP3500 were all just modifications to the same board and the GPX4000-> GPX5000 were also all (almost) just modifications to the same board.But since the demise of the 5000, their outlook has certainly changed. I think Steve said that a lightened and modded version of the 5000 , sold C. US$2,000 would be a massive seller....so ML don't have to stretch budgets to create a worthwhile detector.The GPX series has already made its $$ (the 4500 is the record holder for the biggest selling PI in history) and doesn't need to recoup any development costs. Add sub-boards for Voltage front end gain, frequency change selector and some upgraded timings (all just code of course) and updated, superior components and voila! Most of the post-development hard work has already been by Woody, Ismael and Mick.
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On 11/2/2023 at 5:28 AM, phrunt said:
I've had next to no experience with these modded detectors, JW has a modded GPX 4500, never uses it, but has it. He's used it once in my presence and he had a Sadie on it at the time, I had my stock 4500 with the NF 14x9" EVO on it when I first got that coil, I found mine was more sensitive than his on small targets in some very basic tests we did at the time waving over a few pellets. How much of that was the coil I don't know, probably most of it. Neither stood out as being quieter or anything. I don't know enough about the mods done to it to judge it but it was one of the big two that did the mods.
I had my old 4500 modded about 4 years ago. Prior to that, I'd owned it for 3 years. In those 3 years I found only 5oz with it. Once I had it modded, I got 6oz in the 1st 12 months. The flat-wound mono coil I used certainly added a degree of 'punch' but overall, it was way more sensitive and hit deeper. I went back over lots of old territory that I'd given up on and pulled gold on most locations. The mods have evolved a lot in the past few years and have gotten better.
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8 hours ago, Drellim said:
Wow did not know we’re this was going to go was there a guy named Ismal sp ? Who did the first mods I believe the SD 2200 I have was done by him
The first mods were done by Barrie Johnson and Ken Roberts, for the SD2000 only. Ismael Jones expanded on this with higher sensitivity frequency crystals, voltage regulator and filters, plus an amp. He then created mods for the GP's and Woody also started around the same time. Mick Spiteri came on the scene when the F1A4 mine detectors were being dumped on the market and he created the mods for those and then expanded into all the other ML PI's. Ismael still has his site up and not sure if he still does the actual mods.... he has the info on the mods for all the machines up to the GP3500 for anyone to download: Ismael Jones site
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Mick at Detectronics does mods for C. AU$2K. Woody is more expensive as he's trying to slow down demand. Wait times are approx 4-6 weeks after supply of your control box.
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38 minutes ago, Lunk said:
It is strange how the Extra Deep Gold Mode of the GPZ 7000 isn’t given so much as a mention in this thread, given that it is the lowest frequency option and coupled with the 19-inch coil would be the Zed's weapon for large, deep nuggets. 🤷♂️
Its all about the mineralization....lots of ironstone. All other settings there are fairly unusable. Phil's video (on my post) shows the black iron soil well. Its well accepted that the big 19 is totally useless in hot ground here... it has zero benefit over the stock 14. X coils are a different matter....Phil doesn't use them I believe.
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There are a few people I am acquainted with, or know from FB, that have sold their 7000's and bought cheap'ish 5000's and got them modded. It seems the current mods with the Very low frequency, plus the front end gain can beat the 7000 by a large margin on bigger, deeper gold when using 18" or larger coils. Sounds odd I know but numerous test patch trials over the past few years have convinced some serious operators to give up on the 7000. I am tossing up on whether to mod up an old SD2200 due to a new set of modifications incl a slow timing change, plus the frequency adjust and gain. The option of selecting Channel 1 ONLY is also baiting me. When all the serious operators are demanding depth and no manufacturer is supplying it (the GPZ was released 8 years ago!), then all options become worth a look. An interesting video of a test is here:
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2 hours ago, Northeast said:
Oh...had no idea re: that being a possible issue 😳
Thanks for the heads-up and yes, will just trial it and see.
If it is an issue will it present as EMI?
Yes, loud, sharp erratic pings as it discharges. Ya dont wanna touch any statically charged plastic either, electric shock will occur. Maybe a trailing discharge wire will help...
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9 hours ago, Northeast said:
Yes, conveyor belt was my original plan but I have leaned towards polycarbonate
Polycarb is still a plastic and may elicit a static charge from friction with soil and rocks, especially quartz. But it might not in your case, trial and error I suppose. 🤔
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Docs Swingy Thingy And Swing Arm
in Detector Prospector Forum
Posted
I think you need to edit your website listings then... even small things like Qweegle, Saga and Swingy thingy have this no sales outside USA issue. You'd be losing heaps of 1st time buyers, thinking that you don't sell overseas. Only once I looked the 'details' page on each product, did I see the true picture. Im sure lots of others might be confused and disappointed. Im just trying to help, not annoy. I really like the Swingy Thingy and Qweegle combo. I'll be buying one off you soon. Clever designs...I was thinking along the same line years ago but never did anything about getting something made up. I'm getting an SD2200 modded next year as my big gold and backup unit....think I'll be needing your combo for sure!