VicR

I have my name on the order list at a local distributor in Adelaide , South Australia and they confirmed in Australia that the 6000 will be coming out with the small mono and the DD coils - not the 2 mono coils as the Middle East videos suggested. Unsure what coils will be released as standard in other countries. They believed that the 17" elliptical will be released at a later date but did not know when.

I think some people get their thrills by being deliberately provocative and stirring the pot - I don't understand why they do this  so I gravitate away from them which is why i have only posted on DP.  I come here for evidence based information with a sprinkling of hard earned practical knowledge. Im 63 as well - & now retired - working hard all our lives - we are entitled to finally have some fun with our own train set which runs to our own rules. Keep the good work up Steve.

By the way - i have never been a distributor nor have any association with any metal detector manufacturer - i just enjoy detecting in the bush, getting the most out of technology and the adventure it brings.🙂

I believe Minelab is showing the 6000 to their Australian dealers in Bendigo this week. I have also been told that the coils that come standard with the machine (in Australia) will be the small mono coil and the DD coil. No news as to when the larger mono coil will be available or price.

My names first on a distributor order list - looking forward to getting my hands on the 6000 and going bush.

The 5000 has some discrimination with the DD coil - we have been verbally told by Minelab US Rep that the DD coil on the 6000 does not and is only intended for high EMI environments. So in  a high junk gold field the 5000 may still be the weapon of choice.

Also Minelabs "Raison de'tre" is building a better detector. This has been their culture right from start up in the 1980's. There would be nothing better than working for a company that is at the leading edge in their field - i hope they are looking for the best and brightest people globally to help keep on innovating. Adelaide, South Australia is not a bad spot to come and work - we have been lucky with only 4 Covid deaths and currently no community transmissions -  i suppose only having 1.7 million people and a large state one and a half times the size of Texas helps. Also a bit culturally different from the rest of Australia being a free settler state (lots of Scots, Germans, Cornish, English in the 1800's) - please note that JP - no convicts here.🙂 So we do things a bit differently and fly under the radar a lot of the time.

In business you have to be constantly innovating, improving & evolving your product, your target market & your value proposition otherwise you are just a sitting duck waiting for the day costs exceed profit margin and your business becomes nonviable.

Perversely not having a strong  competitor is a danger to the Minelab we know and respect as a product innovator - the temptation will be for the Codan board to milk their current products  - cut costs ie reduce development staff from 30 to say 10 and increase dividends or plow profits into another business venture leading to a drying up of the release of new metal detecting products every 1 - 2 years. Lets hope they have seen what has happened to other manufacturers who have gone down this path. My bet is they have a certain percentage of profits they plow back into development to stimulate their growth cycle and with a healthy upward trending profit, new innovative product development will continue - this can only be good for their customers (us).

There is nothing like a strong competitor to keep you on your toes and focused on continued improvements - without that you have to be a very disciplined, sharply, focused company.

https://search.ipaustralia.gov.au/designs/search/result?s=b3cb780a-1ad5-4955-81d2-bf2ef2e9b166

Link to Australian design patents for the GPX6000 with the tech drawings just released. Looks like there are two design patents for the 6000 - 202014625 and 202013037 - i wonder why two were applied for.

8 minutes ago, Skookum said:

A tenth of a grain or tenth of a gram?

"g" is abbreviation for grams, "gr" is abbreviation for grains. So the Minelab comparison chart refers to grams.

16 hours ago, araratgold said:

 

While didnt Minelab include the GPZ7000 in their comparison chart?

The sales / marketing / advertising is aimed at new chums to the game.

People on this forum will make their own mind up based on their own requirements as well as reports on how the 6000 performs in the real world.

Good Point. But Price, coil construction / compatibility and what is Geo Sense PI will have definitive answers. While "Does it work" will be subjective - opinions will range from its the best detector to its the worst detector, which i think is already happening even before we know everything about it or have had some real world testing - which is fine because everyone is entitled to their unique opinion and im sure opinions over time will change both ways.

I was thinking about beach work - it says "all soils" so it should work. As soon as i get mine i will give it a go in the wet sand.

It looks like Minelab has gone all out in reviewing the design of the 6000 to keep weight down. Full carbon fibre shaft, integrating stand into the battery, plastic housing right down to only having the one nut holding the coil on. they must have look at each component and asked do we really need it and if the answer is yes how do we make it lighter.  I just wonder whether having one nut / bolt on the coil will be strong enough with the thread on the nutless (is that a word?) side taking all the pressure to make it secure. Has this been done before? Anyway this and some peoples preference for a longer shaft can be taken care of by the aftermarket people.

still 3 big questions to be answered - price, coil construction / compatibility and what is Geo Sense PI.

Im on a distributors list as well. This is the gold machine i have been waiting so long for.

Max. Shaft lengths

GPX5000  51.2"

GPZ7000  60.1"

GPX6000  57.0"

Therefore the 6000 is longer than the 5000 but shorter than the 7000. Im sure ML will have a reason for the GPX6000 shaft length. Maybe to make it longer they would have had to beef up the shaft with a corresponding weight increase or balance issue.

I have always thought that the "Geo"  referred to geology rather than positioning. Its only now that you mention it that i understand why everyone was talking about positioning when Geo-sense PI was first discussed. Interesting how people interpret names differently.

I like your "GSX" naming concept - its a logical step from the SD/GP/GPX given that the 6000 is such a different machine to the 5000.

Im sure there would have been lots of internal debating within Minelab on what to call the new detector.

It looks very simple to operate - the instruction manual will be a lot smaller than the GPX5000 and GPZ7000.

I always wondered why 5 years ago when ML launched the GPZ they jumped from 5000 to 7000. Looks like they have always planned to update the GPX with the 6000 - so looks like the boffins at ML have been working on the GPX6000 for some time.

Minelab would also say the CTX is better than the Equinox - well it would have to because of the higher price of the CTX but my choice between these two detectors would be the Equinox (and not just because of the lower price). Same logic with the GPZ7000 and GPX6000 - they have positioned the GPZ7000 as their flagship gold detector so there is no way they can say that the lower priced GPX6000 is the better gold detector - even if the GPX6000 turns out to be a "better" machine in certain conditions. 

Each individual will make their own decisions on what machines to own and use based on their very unique individual circumstances. In my case i did not purchase a SDC or GPZ purely because of their weight & my shoulder issue. I will purchase a GPX6000 because it is offering new technology in an easy to use lightweight package. My GPX4500 will be relegated to backup when i travel to various Australian goldfields - but i suspect it will now not get much use (much like the E trac once i had the Equinox) and will eventually be sold if a lightweight GPZ mark2 hits the market sometime in the future.

From the pictures it looks like the battery is going to have a secondary function as the ground stand. Will be interesting  to see how this design will cope with the wear and tear of repeatedly being placed (dropped sometimes) onto rough ground. Looks like the after market canvass cover manufacturers will have another product coming up.

I am not bothered about the headphone socket as i will be using blue tooth cordless - for me it is only a backup if  for some reason the blue tooth headphones are not working. In nearly three years of using the Equinox i have only been hard wired once.

Yeah - i thought of the Silver Saver but there are two design patents for metal detectors still to be revealed - one being the GPX6000 and the other i thought would be the Silver Saver. The third design patent just listed a couple of days ago is only for a "tray".  Is there a possibility this tray could have something to do with sluicing? or maybe it is a critical part of the Silver Saver and the design is unique enough that they want to protect it.

Didnt know this was the comedy channel. One day you will be just itching for a Minelab Tray - maybe it goes with the new Metal Detector Patent 2021900058 Minelab just applied for.

Minelab has just applied for an Australian Design Patent for a "Tray".

Anyone have any ideas what this would be?

I thought the bird was the word. 🙂  My guess is between $6k and $7k AUD.

Distributors in Australia have a link up with Minelab today.