1515Art

There were a few things on my Gold Lake painting I wanted to change, a foreground tree layer, color values, vegetation…

I sold my 7000 and all it’s goodies just before the Axiom was released and didn’t use the 22” concentric coil more than a dozen times and at that never more than 3 or 4 hours at a time my back couldn’t take it. It’d take me a bit to recover between outings too… it was heavy enough to take the joy out of swinging a coil. Now had I had success in the conditions this coil excels in the pain in my back would have been a non issue, more specifically a known deep nugget patch area. I did not have that access to that spot and a patch hunter in my opinion this coil is not. the coverage is narrow compared to its overall footprint as well so absolutely you need to overlap, some swingy thingy contraption might be the answer I didn’t have one of them load levelers and was on a mission to simplify… I’ll confess I miss the 7000 a little and may have been hasty but will wait and see what the new zed might bring to the party if there ever is that party, only thing she better make the 6000 look corn fed.

I wanted to give gold lake another try and see if I couldn’t do a little better on it at least on the perspective. So I went back, cut down a few trees… took another picture, lol.

Garrett very apologetically emailed me this morning about the shipping issue and offered to take it back and said they would replace the arm cuff and make sure everything was OK. I declined returning my detector explaining that was most likely just unnecessary extra work for both of us. I also explained my intent was to establish for my record what had happened in case some problem related future issue were to occur and that I preferred they send me a replacement arm cuff I could have on hand if my repair were to ever fail. Garrett replied a short time later acknowledging my message and a new arm cuff with screws is on its way. I continue to be pleased there is little more I could ask of them.

Dain, I’m confidant in the end you’ll be pleased with your Axiom, did you let them know this lack of feedback was an issue for you, I’m sure they will get back to you with an answer if you let them know you’d like more information about your repair.

Ok, I sent Garrett an email thanking them for the great service, my invoice was no charge but asked to confirm there was no charge just to be sure and lastly and FIY about the shipping telling them it was not urgent, they won’t get my email and pictures until Monday but they have it just in case. Minelab also got back to me again … I’m going to need a whole new thread, lol… Ok they are great too, life is good we live in wonderful times.

A quick update on an earlier comment on the 6000, Minelab reached out to me apparently they did not get the email? Anyway, things happen but I need to amend my earlier comment they do as well care and are quick to respond to customer needs and also provide excellent customer support, my apologies the comment was undeserving.

I just fired it up with the 11” DD coil for the first time since getting it back to make sure it is working after a couple days in the hands of UPS, and it’s working great. At the lowest setting inside my home and that setting may have some special programming similar to the silent threshold on the 6000 except a threshold tone steady as a rock this was a steady tone with absolutely zero warble that is surprisingly sensitive waving various test nuggets in front of the coil, even nuggets as small as .03g gave a solid hit a couple inches away, moving up a notch in sensitivity introduced a little EMI but not bad considering no detector I’ve ever owned previously did anything but go nuts at any power level indoors, so this is looking really good I’m looking forward to seeing it in action out in the field. Anyway as I learn more I’ll try and be more specific hopefully with results on un dug targets of the yellow variety.

Yea, good point I’ll give them a call and at the same time let them know it’s not urgent just in case UPS did more than I thought. for anyone facing similar repairs it was an easy fix that would work on coil ears or anything else the arm cuff feels strong as new and joining those small pieces is next to impossible with just gluing the joint, if anyone needs detailed instructions just PM me and I’ll give the step by step.

For a second I was a tiny bit bummed till I realized I probably could fix it myself, then it became kind of fun. It feels plenty strong with 2 layers of glass and epoxy, I could sand it more so you couldn’t tell it was repaired but figured it’d be stronger if I kept as much of the glass intact as I could. I haven’t decided if I even want to bother Garrett yet because it feels a little unappreciative of all they did for me and I don’t think the repair will fail. before and after

Ha, sanding and paint makes me the fiberglass(er) I ain’t, lol.

Simon, thank you and good to hear you’ve also experienced great customer service from Garrett. I emailed the US Minelab repair center about sending my 6000 in to get the speaker noise patch they emailed me back today!

I did have a little UPS shipping issue they must have thrown it around because Garrett had it double boxed and tucked nicely in its backpack, all I can guess is whatever UPS did was hard enough one of the 11” coils had enough inertia to snap off one side of the arm cuff. I’ll contact Garrett I’m sure they’ll take care of it. In the meantime I used JB clear weld epoxy and some fiberglass cloth to repair the break so I can use it, I’m only part done and it feels plenty strong.

Oh, I forgot to mention with the Zlink audio system keeping the transmit and receiver in line and not allowing your body to block the signal is key to optimum performance, that was part or most of my audio difficulty and not a problem once you are aware.

I have to give Garrett 10 stars on a scale of 1 thru 5 because 5 stars is simply not enough. I sent my Axiom in to have them give it a look because I have had some issues with the audio cutting out mostly. The last time I had it out was in a location plagued with really bad EMI not to far from a military base, it wasn’t a problem in the morning but by afternoon it got a little noisy and hard to use. I’d sent Garrett a detailed explanation of what I was experiencing and they went to work. Testing it over and over my Axiom seemed to function as it should have but they didn’t simply stop there, to be sure they replaced the circuit board and most of the internal electronics and added the latest firmware update and continued testing until they were certain it was as good as it could be, this is to me the best solution as I much prefer one carefully examined over a new replacement, I have complete confidence it’s perfect after all the tests and work they did, a new detector is probably just as good but we all know no matter who the manufacturer an occasional subpar unit shows up from time to time, even then we’ve all at some point wondered if our unit was working at peak performance… how can you know. Well great customer service is the best answer to that question and without doubt Garrett is the answer they have the customer in mind and stand behind their product. If anyone is local enough to me and was considering the Axiom let me know and we can meet up and you can try mine out, I have in addition to the 11” mono and 13” DD coil an 11” DD coil too so you can get a pretty good idea of what will work best for your detecting style… you can also try my 6000 and the 5x10 gold hawk if you like, I don’t have the new nugget finder coil yet but I’ll have one when inventory catches up with demand.

The 5000 is a powerful detector and if you learn it’s language the subtitle differences in the way the audio report changes over a target you may be able to tell with some success what it is saying this is iron trash, or that is an aluminum can but not 100% accurately hunting gold is difficult it sounds like a lot of things depending on a long list of variables all non Ferris metals can and do at time sound like a gold nugget, sometimes iron too. trash in an area tells you the targets are not all gone and some may be what you are looking for and trash can overwhelm you too at times. Early gold miners lived where they prospected the packed stuff in, they did not pack most of it out and you are confronted with all of it it driver experienced operators nuts digging trash after trash many days in a row. The great strength of the 5000 is it can ignore many of the minerals in the soil (PI detectors in general)and gold lives in areas of high mineralization but unless you have listened to it for years you will not have the benefit of speaking its language. The 5000 is very tunable to conditions but the learning curve is very steep you don’t learn a new language in a day(s) same with the 5000 and as mentioned it has many coils to choose from that’s another thing to learn what coil is best for the conditions, but a skilled operator can make it sing. Now the 5000 has been around for some time and in the hands of skilled operators you as a new user are going to follow in those same footsteps but for a while not understanding it’s language at a big disadvantage, the new detectors bring new tools and have very small differences, they are easier to operate… are more powerful, 40% more powerful the 7000 claims, the 6000 better at tiny gold, the axiom more stable and some iron discriminations good at small gold too the 6000 and axiom are easier to swing, they are less complicated to operate. My first gold detector was the 7000 it’s easier to use than the 5000 but it’s and overweight corn fed beauty. These things are why experienced detector operators buy new technology for thousands of $$$ looking for the missed gold. Starting out with the gpz 7000 it took me 6 months to find my first nugget it can be discouraging. PI detectors are dig it all machines as much as you can. Jewelry, coins and relics have fewer variables coins are consistent in shape and composition and they have discrimination you can cherry pick but have difficulty where gold lived and why most everyone has both. But you are very lucky, here our host one of the most knowledgeable in the world at this we do here who has compiled the most comprehensive resource on every detector you can think of, read and understand his words and that will bring you the 100% you seek and much joy as you take your journey. learn, appreciate where this takes you and you will find success in the friends you make and personal growth… and some gold too, enjoy the journey that is the real treasure.

The 5000 is an excellent detector as are many other detectors available and you will get many good opinions here, you want to find gold and hunt for coins, jewelry and hunt relics the 5000 will do that of course as will as other detectors. If you could tell us a little more about you and your situation, general areas you want to hunt, your experience using a detector and do you have locations in mind you plan to hunt and the type of gold people are finding you will get information more specific to your needs, also your budget how much is your limit and do you have local dealers for support and training. Have you thought about two detectors the types of items you want to hunt for are different and different detectors work better than others in different situations. Good luck in your endeavors.

I have both and they are more alike than they are different both are lite weight and easy to swing all day long, my time using the new Axiom is limited so I’ll limit my comments on performance to the fact they both hit on the tinniest of targets, the 6000 is ahead for now in the search coil selection but the 6000 coils I believe are chipped the Axiom I’m actually not certain but I think are not time will tell if the Aftermarket coils for the Axiom get an advantage but not yet, the iron check and display may give the Axiom an advantage but I have not used it enough to understand what it is telling me enough to trust this feature but over time I hope to. I did get a chance to operate the Axiom in an extreme environment looking for meteorites in a dry salty lake bed where I’m told metal detectors are seldom used if ever due to the salty ground a visual identification method and a magnet stick is the preferred collection method. Trying the Axiom in salt mode to my surprise it handled the conditions with ease. Firing the Axiom up first time in the salt I doubted it would be effective but there was just the slightest groan swinging the coil side to side and in less than a minute it hit on a target not a meteorite but a fine 1” long piece of wire it will identify targets in these conditions. Next I set a .3g test nugget on the dry salty lake bed and the signal air testing was as clear in salt mode as it was in fine mode in the gold placer. I was focused on finding a meteorite in a area I’d never before hunted and not comparison testing so never tried the 6000 but think it would have struggled as the fine, normal and large Axiom modes all overloaded blanking out trying to hear a target in these conditions. I hunted a few hours digging a couple dozen targets mostly bullets along with the assorted bullet shells and tiny pieces of wire a few of the 22 slugs were 4 to 5 inches deep hit loud and would have been detectable deeper I’m sure and there is little doubt it will if id put the Axioms coil over one I’d hear it but I was just not in the right area.

Jasong, really interesting thread and like you say it’s only as good as the information it is given access to I would imagine the quality of the answers expands exponentially on a very steep curve as the AI learns. Lucky for us we have had access to something much more powerful for years and it will take some time for AI to catch up if ever… we call it Steve H.V1.0

I could see needing a drone to get the gold out of China, but in??? I’ve flown into Shanghai and other cities in China from the US a dozen times and never once had anyone have any concern on anything I brought in through customs. If they were trying to avoid taxes on the gold or something similar they could have done a number of things… belt buckles… a big ol rodeo belt buckle, long as no one tried to pick it up, lol.

6 months found it at rhy patch

10 years back I was exploring around some club claims above Sierra City and snapped a picture of gold lake or what I was pretty sure that was the right name the lake basin area has a lot of small lakes concentrated in a small area. I used the picture as a basis for another try at painting and doing a search for gold lake images a picture from the 1940’s showed up from the same general direction but a little higher up the hill than I’d stopped to take mine. The angles are not exactly the same but enough the hills and shore line are pretty similar considering I was only roughly following reality. My picture was a gloomy day too way darker than I painted but cool I think some mining operation was being explored back then too and we both paused to admire Gold Lake, lol… but think of the gold out there in 1948! Anyway, my second attempt at trees My out metal detecting series Gold Lake, lake basin California.

Bob, that’s a beautiful place to stomp around it was cool watching the jets buzz the canyon too, someday be nice to get back for another look around.

Wow, cool… any story?

I just finished painting another landscape from a prospecting trip a few months back this one to Mazourka Canyon in the California Inyo National Forrest. This is my 4th try at acrylics painting scenes from detecting locations.