G.B.

Headless Chook. Running around with no ability to see where you are going or what you are missing. eg' total kaos. Footy ground. Sports Stadium. Sports Arena. Here is a link to what we call football played on a Footy Ground. Hope you enjoy.

Quite often l have seen detectorists arrive at a new spot full of enthusiam and upon arrival jump out of the car, grab their detector and race off hurrying here and there like a headless chook swinging aimlessly in their excitement to find that first elusive bit of gold. Only to be dissapointed at the lack of gold finds and quickly ready to write the area off and move on. I speak from experience because l was one of those. However several of those spots kept calling me back. And when I did return it was with a contolled enthusiam. Instead of jumping out of the car and racing around I took the time to look about and read the ground. I took the time to get the detector running smoothly and most importantly I took the time to carefully detect the area I had chosen, thouroughly working the area in a unhurried manner. And on most occasions I was rewarded with gold. Yes gold from an area I was too quick to write off initially because I was in too much of a hurry to properly access the potential that was right in front of my nose. So all l can say is slow down, plan you attack and have patience and work the area properly and don't be too quick to write a spot off or you will leave it behind.

Just recently got a slight variation in the threshold using diff/hy switched to diff/gen loud clear signal switched to diff/deep still loud clear. Start digging down and down called a mate over now two of us digging the hole deepens and have to reach down into hole at arms reach to scoop out the loose dirt. Try the pinpointer to locate target but pinpointer wound groundbalace screaming at everything in the hole it touches so keep digging and scooping out medium size pick is now below the top of the hole, starting to get exited as we are in big nugget country Zed coil is now screaming out so we know where close more scooping out and bloody eureka there it is partially exposed in the bottom of the hole a small bit of rusty metal. Oh well disapointed fill the hole in. Continue detecting and at the same time praying l don't get another deep signal until l recover from the effort of digging the last hole. Geez I wish they would let us use excavators with the Zed for target recovery.

Fred l have had the Zed since day one and detect in the Golden Triangle in Victoria. The majority of the gold bearing ground in the golden triangle is basically highly variable highly mineralised ground. I have spent numerous hours using and learning about the Zed on the ground. Averaging over that time approx 20 to 24 hrs a week. Up to now l have not encountered any ground that l have needed to utilise the Severe Ground Type Mode. Basically what appears to me with the Zed is that ground that previous detectors struggled in the Zed relishes in. Ground that the 4500 struggled to handle in enhance the Zed just eats up and spits out gold. Take the time to learn the capabilities of the Zed and how to utilise the modes and settings and enjoy the experience.

Squizz you've just had a Zed experience so better get used to the deep holes and sharpen your pick. Also there is heaps of deep rubbish left missed by other detectors. Have a mate who has had great success with his 5000 and the other day said l'm getting a Zed l just can't compete with your zeds l can't even hear your targets using his 5000 and 14 elite coil.

That's what I was thinking that if anyone from the USA wanted one now then buying a second hand one from Australia may be the way to go at this stage.

Hi just wondering how many units have been sold in Australia. I see a used one for sale on prospecting Australia website. I'm not sure but if someone frim USA or Canada purchased that one privately and being a second hand/used detector would that unit have to comply with FCC approval or would it only apply to commercially distributed production model imported into the states by a approved distributor.

Hi Jen say G'day to Mike hope you are both sleeping better. Tell young Mike l good on him it is a nice piece and well worth the effort. For everyone on here l know Mike, Jen and young Mike personally and they are great friendly helpful people and have a wealth of knowledge, built up by many many years of getting out and detecting. It's good to see Jen posting again, now to get the two Mike's back onto the forums posting again in their own time. Actually young Mike who found the nugget isn't as young as he looks, hè is a quiet unasuming bloke that doesn't say much but has a wealth of knowledge and has been detecting for a very long time he is the type of person that when he does speak it's worth listening to because like his parents he speaks from experience.

Chet. Thanks for that. I'm not 100% sure on the size/shape of the nuggets as l haven't seen them but l have been led to believe they are solid chunky bits. I had a few issues with the video that day and when l uploaded to youtube l wasn't happy with the vid so didn't make it public and was going to go back and do it again using both coils. I was mucking around with the youtube settings the other night and must have unrestricted it by mistake so when l realised it was public and had a few views l thought l may as well leave it up there until l do the other vid. It's a fact that every target you detect gives a different signal response which the detector reacts differently to. The next target you hear could react differently again to swing speed. That is why l investigate all responses of the detector until satisfied. There are numerous nuggets l have dug that have only faintly signaled on one sweep direction. I actually think that this is where the Zed shines as when cross checked with a GPX those signals couldn't be heard until a bit of ground had been taken off. There would not be one detectorist out there who has not walked away from a nugget after dismissing it as ground noise trouble is 98% of us will never know we did the other 2% were unlucky enough to witness someone else dig the signal they dismissed. I found this out by experience several times which is part of the learning curve.

Here is a video of the Signal Response of the GPZ 19 Coil. I have also tested the 14 on this patch but didn't get round to videoing that test session but when l get time l will do a follow-up vid. But l can honestly say the 19 smashed the 14 for signal response I'm afraid l probably had the audio about 2 units too high as l wasn't sure how well the gopro would pick the sound up. Settings used were JP recomended settings with a few minor adjustments to suit the conditions. Cheers

Everyday you don't find it means you're one day closer to finding it. You'll always find more gold in your dreams than in reality. Difference between a novice and an experienced operator. An experienced operator will hear the bits you walked away from.

Hi all from my limited experience l would have to say most of the quiet faint signals have mainly been slight variations in the threshold response rather than the audio response. However there is usually a fair amount of what l would call spurious detector noise going on at the same time but l was able to pick out the slight threshold variation amongst the spurious noise. It is this background spurious noise that would render lights and or vibrations unusable because mostly the quiet threshold breaks are quiter than the spurious noise but are disernable to the ear. If you are strugling to hear the threshold breaks because your hearing. I would suggest getting a set of earphones with individual volume and tone control for each ear as like our eyesight we usually have better sight out of one eye than the other and the same applies to hearing one side hears better than the other and it is that imbalance that affects what we hear and what we don't. So by adjusting the individual volume controls to ensure our hearing is equally balanced will enhance you ability to distinguish the faint threshold breaks. Balancing out your hearing is better than blasting out you hearing by using too much volume to compensate. Use tones that are comfortable to your hearing.

From watching the video it appears that there is no threshold. If thats the case then l have no doubt that it will miss gold on the edge of detection. I may be wrong but l also believe that by running no threshold or an extremely low threshold the EMI that the detector would generally be reacting to will still be there but at a much reduced audio level. Same with general ground noise responses. So with this all reduced how could you tell if the detector was balanced properly?

USE a Hip stick, doubled up bungy and swing arm after 8 or 9 days it doesn't feel as heavy. If not fitted and balanced correctly it will turn an enjoyable days detecting into a hard days work. Cheers

I contacted Gold Search Dunolly 2 days ago. He stated that he has used the prototype and is impressed with the ground balance and emi resistance. He said it has found gold but believes it too early to make comparisons against the 5000 and Zed he thought that more extensive testing is required. Has a one year warranty. States he has convinced the manufacturer to give him a completed production unit for potential customers to try out. He appeared fairly honest in his replies. I believe he would answer any queries honestly.

A nugget of that size would go straight to bottom and stay in the first place it stops so should be easy to recover

After time the earth wire (l think it is the earth wire) comes loose inside the coil. It is usually attached using adhesive tape or glue. lf the wire comes loose it will give false signals at the slightest bump or touch. lt can be fixed by removing the cover plate of the coil and renewing the tape or adhesive being careful not to damage the shielding. Warning if the coil is under warranty l would not attempt the proceedure as will void warranty but if an old favorite it may be worth the effort to save old faithful. I have saved 2 out of 3 minelab mono coils. l also check for any movement between the windings and if excessive l use thin cardboard to pack the coil to prevent internal movement.

Thanks guys. How true it is only time will tell how good this coil is you will love it or hate it. Hell every day I learn something more about the Zed and now have the 19 added to the equation. On the weekend before we were out with Papoutsie and crew. GH got a target using the 14 in hy/difficult not loud but stopped him. Tried gen/ difficult better response low tone signal called me over with 19 inch. hy/diff heard it. Gen/diff absolutely boomed out. Heres the odd bit normal/gen good clear signal but all 5 of us agreed that the 19 smashed the 14 and best response was Gen/ diff not normal? Was a 4 inch long bit of brass about 20 plus inches deep. Coil very heavy but double over bungy combined with hip stick helps. Catches sticks needs a different type of skid plate. Needs a slow controlled sweep Cheers.

Thanks Kiwi. yeah its a shame l didn't mind the negative opinions on the coil that's their right to express but the personal attacks on peoples character were over the top Congrats on joining the Zed Club but get a bigger pick.

Went out yesterday with the Zed and 19 inch coil Golden Triangle. Running Jonathan Porter recommended settings with just a couple of minor adjustments to suit the area. Within 150 metres from car had already picked up a few shotty pellets and 22 slug. I then get a low tone clear signal no double tap to this one. Clearly heard well above ground level. Is it ground noise is it a tree root nah sounds too good. Dig down hit chunky fist size quartz at about 8 inches into clay signal still clear low tone but starting to get a wobble bit of a smile when the wobble came in. 12 to 14 inches deep scraping the bottom of hole out and there it is. Nice bit of gold. Later placed nugget on ground and swung over it what a change in signal. Less than half the original depth before l could hear it and just a warbly pathetic scratchy signal with no low tone. The response to the undug target absolutely smashed the response to the air test over the dug target. I'm happy. I have no dout the 14 inch coil would have heard it but also have no doubt the 19 was a far better louder response than the 14 would have given from past experiences with the 14. Cheers

All found GT in Vic. Hy/DIFF. LARGE NUG ABOUT 6:5g broken wirey signal. The 4g and 2.5g gave low highs. From 25cm to 30cm all originally faint but audible. Signals were masked by the ground. In anther type of ground or area they would have banged out. So I reckon ground type plus timing has a lot to do with the response.

What you are saying is 100% correct and now understanding the correct proceedure the initial ground balance issues shoudn't re-appear l have noticed that what were good habits developed with the 4500 are basically bad habits. l can see that as the learning curve progresses and confidence grows in understanding what the detector is saying then rewards for effort should follow. At this stage l can see it is a very good detector but only time will tell if it is a great detector.

Went back with GH re checked and re dug again sounded good detected this time without dipping into the hole result ground noise which didn't balance out this time until the hot pocket was dug out. l can honestly say the 4500 Enhance handled hot pockets and hot rocks better than the GPZ using audio smoothing off, it also loves charcoal and moisture rich tree roots. We have re-worked several old patches for minimal results confirming if you worked a shallow patch properly first time round with a 4500 there will be stuff all left for the 7000 and in some cases none left. It took me at least 2 years to become proficient with the 4500 and that was with the help of great mentors and l have no doubt it wil take considerable time to become proficient with the 7000 to the point of hearing and understanding what it is telling me. lt will not open up the Golden triangle again like the SD Series did because most of that easy gold is gone, will it do similar to what the GPX achieved by finding previously undetectable gold only time will tell. If you think that this detector is going to be a majic wand and make gold instantly jump out of the ground without hard work, research and a lot of luck then you are living in fantasy land.

The response initially got loader as you would expect from a true target and l belived from the response of the detector that there was a definate taget in the hole only to have the detector do its thing and balance it out which left me shaking my head in amazement as I truely believed and would have bet money on it being a nugget

20 inch for deeper ground and probably 11 inch for around scrub any smaller and you'll need a microscope to see the nugget you just dug a deep hole for.