flakmagnet

it's interesting that in DOC's post, he says the fellow gridded the area with a 5000 and still

these solid and smooth nuggets were missed. Pretty impressive testimony for the GPZ.

Hey Jason,

Great stream of consciousness / technical curiosity reporting.

A really interesting mix of technical know-how combined with not worrying about going off into the weeds.

Like Lunk's reporting, this kind of experimentation produces interesting observations and field-tested, useable information that expands on the manuals starting points.

Thanks for taking the time to let us benefit from your willingness to mess with the settings.

Continued good hunting.

Lunk, are you still using the audio settings you describe in the other thread? http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/830-lunks-zed-settings/

That's funny Steve, it really is a good shot.

Glad you decided to put it up.

JP glad you took a moment to clarify who those two gents are.

Well Lunk, once again you have come up with some great food for thought.

The first thing I am doing is copying your entire post and putting it in a folder marked 7000 notes.

I am sure when I am lucky enough to be able to get my 7000

your settings will be among the first things I experiment with.

I agree some of them are counter-intuitive

but sometimes that is what taking the time to learn the settings reveals.

Thank you for taking the time to share.

It will be fun to see where your experimentation leads.

A great thread.

There are a lot of forums out there about detecting for gold.

There is nothing like this forum.

Again, well done Steve and the many contributors. 

Paul that is a really cool looking mod.

If only ML would incorporate updated ideas like yours

and - on the GPX for instance - add a coil-cable stabilizer, which is a cheap and hugely helpful mod.

I suppose it is not very likely if past experience is an indicator, but we can dream. 

`Hi Jasong and Steve,

This is a great conversation to get to follow.

Thank you for taking the time to flesh out these ideas, 

they will ultimately benefit all of us.

Jason I especially appreciate your experimental mind-set

and Steve your ability to amplify and clarify ideas is quite unique and interesting to follow.

I'm pretty sure anyone would be happy with this nice looking gold.

I do note you have not picked up a bigger nugget, so if you feel I have lost the bet,

I will have to send you some sort of symbol of that loss.

Or, you will have found one by now and we're good.

Continued good hunting…it doesn't seem that luck is a part of it,

just a good detector in the hands of a good operator.

Oh and high five on losing 15 lbs, that's a real nugget.

Fantasy land and magic wands aside,

proper ground balancing with whatever detector is being used

is one of the most important and one of the most overlooked aspects of good detecting.

I look forward to taking the extra time it may require on the 7000 if that is what it needs.

It is a small price to pay to have the electronics working at optimum. 

There are a lot of prospectors who would not be able to be swinging a detector

for prolonged periods of time without the HipStick.

I am one of them.

Thanks Chris…

Fred, 

I am looking forward to hearing about your exploits once you get your new detector.

Kind of interesting that they want you to send the whole package in.

Sort of like getting a new car if the battery won't charge? Probably a bad comparison but funny.

Anyway best wishes and kudos for patience.

Hi Russ,

Don't think there is much doubt that the bigger stuff as you call it,

is waiting for you. I am betting in the next two weeks, if you get out to hunt,

there will be one found that you will call "bigger." Bet?

Jonathan Porter doing one of the things he does best;

speaking with clarity and knowledge about a new step in detector technology.

Another example of why he is admired by so many prospectors worldwide.

Thanks for taking the time to help JP.

Hi Lucky,

Agree with your tip of the hat to mentors. One of the better parts of this hobby.

It is fun to share what we learn and I would not be the detectorist I have become

without help from experienced hunters both in the field and online.

Continued success and luck…

I loved this video. Firstly these gentlemen are quite experienced, no missing that.

But their approach was relaxed and interested with great good humor.

How could anyone not appreciate them going to the trouble to share their learning curve?

I agree Steve and JP and Gold Hound, it seems best not to rush the education the 7000 has to give,

but let its subtleties reveal themselves by taking time with it and paying attention

and especially not having any preconceived notions.

Fun to watch.

Norm, I wear hearing aids as well, but take them off when I detect with headphones.

With individual ear adjustments you still have trouble hearing the threshold and target sounds?

That must be a fairly significant hearing loss.

Interested to know how it turns out.

Rumblefish, that is a very interesting idea you are messing with.

Good luck with it.

Very interesting series of posts guys.

I cannot wait to begin to actively learn some of what you talking about.

Thanks for taking the time to clarify some of the details under discussion,

you are rapidly earning the trust of a lot of your readers.

Confidence, knowledge, research, an adult attention span, persistence, an understanding of your machine, using your eyes, concentration, positive attitude, sense of humor, intuition

and yes, luck.

So many factors to utilize. 

An interesting thread folks…lots to think about.

Gold Hound, that experience is in a class by itself.

Hi Russ,

You are another experienced person many of us read with interest.

Your comments are always appreciated.

I want to join Lucky in wishing you a speedy recovery and ever-increasing physical health,

there's lots of gold out there waiting for you.

best wishes…

Hi Lucky, great idea.

Hook your GPZ up to your computer,

open the ML diagnostics page, hit the button and voila,

you're good to go.

In a year or so after we all have our 7000's,

have watched JP's DVD (right JP?),

and read all the experienced prospectors comments 

this whole thread will be moot,

we'll be too busy out in the field with our picks and shovels

to deal with theories.

half-joking opinion of course…

Half kidding here, but the best operators are most likely out there using the 7000

instead of writing about it.

JP, Steve and Chris have had a fair amount of experience with the 7000

and, most importantly, are involved with the detecting community to a degree that is rare.

That being said, there is some good info. beginning to trickle out in the various forums.

One line of questioning that often comes up in the forums I follow

is when people ask for a list of the settings being used by detectorists in a particular area.

But the real question is WHY are those settings being used.

What are the specific conditions that necessitated the setting adjustments 

and how do those adjustments interact with each other and effect the overall tuning of the machine.

This is one of the reasons why people like JP and you are such valuable teachers for all of us.

You are able to talk about how the different settings affect the overall tuning of the detector

(technical knowledge), and why those choices are being made in the first place (prospecting knowledge).

Unless an operator begins to understand that approach,

they will be not learn to make their own decisions about how to use the settings to best advantage.

That seems to be where the prospecting knowledge and the techical understanding of the detector

come together to become the 80% so many of us reference.

With regard to buying a 7000 or staying with my 5000,

I will always try to jump into the newest technology because part of the thrill of detecting for me

is the process of delving into and coming to an understanding of, the newer engineering.

That being said, I still am coming to grips with my 5000.

Partly because I have had to move away for three years from the west coast where I detect

and of course that has given me much less time over the coil. 

Don't you folks think the 7000 sounds like a really interesting learning curve?

I do, and look forward to learning from the many fine posters here 

while I squirrel away my infrequent spare dollars and impatiently await the day 

I am able to return to the west and my many prospecting mentors and friends.