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With Australia and NZ never having experienced a GPX 5000 stock issue and the US dealers saying it was discontinued there was some confusion going on, I asked here and was told it's not discontinued. Now it appears it's back at the US dealers, so was this a false alarm? Did the US dealers think it was discontinued for some reason without being told it was? Maybe due to a stock shortage or low demand in the US so stock being allocated to other countries with better sales. New Gpx-5000’s W Warranty Back In Us And Others - Metal Detecting & Prospecting Classifieds - DetectorProspector.com Brand New Minelab GPX 5000's Available, 2 Coils - Metal Detecting & Prospecting Classifieds - DetectorProspector.com The GPX 5000 sounds like it is still a popular choice for Africa, good value and just works, built tough for tough conditions and they're just used to using it and know it gets results. That doesn't sound like a detector you would discontinue unless you had a genuine replacement, which the GPX 6000 is not, very different detector.

I think they do, this file is version 2 of the manual and it has the stabiliser setting, which is only available after the update They just don't mention in a changelog in the manual the changes associated with the new firmware.

The F19 will be for my daughter on the odd occasion she wants to detect for coins. It does really well on our coins with its accurate Target ID on them in mild soils at our ski fields, especially our $1 and $2 coins which are all she cares about finding. The main reason for the "upgrade" over the Gold Bug Pro's was to give her volume control, she's a speaker user like I am, doesn't want to wear headphones so being able to turn down the volume is vital, the Bug is LOUD and embarrassing to use with its loud volume that can't be turned down in a public place. Incredible isn't it, their detectors like the Gold Bug Pro are so dated they don't even have a way to control volume.

Yes, my favourite coil selection was based upon giving me the best chance in any situation. Sadly X-coils no longer make any GPX coils, although they're considering it again since the Algoforce came out, and if the Nokta uses GPX coils that would really seal the deal, but it probably won't. I have a few of their GPX coils but the 10" is without a doubt the standout to me.

Admittedly I had lost all interest in First Texas and their detectors for some time, I haven't been detecting all that many years but I jumped through the First Texas ranks with a GBP, GB2 and two models of the Teknetics T2 along with their F-Pulse, now I even have an F19 on its way. It appeared with their lack of new products and very dated models they were just another generic detecting company, not something to really pay much attention to. My most recent of their purchases was the F-Pulse not all that long after it came out, while a decent pinpointer it is hardly something to be excited about a company's prospects over. Other than a coil that nobody seems to know much about and I haven't been able to find anyone that actually bought one they haven't really released anything for a very long time, and when they did it was just a rehashed older model, or as we like to call them paint jobs. Recently they started an Ebay firesale letting buyers dictate the prices they are willing to pay for their detectors, and people have been getting fantastic deals, but if you sit down and think about it for a bit are the deals really fantastic or are they about the price the detector should be in today's market, with the various competitors leaving these models well behind, it seems more like they're working out the prices people would be willing to pay and running with it, they've probably sold more of their higher end detectors in the past month or so with this firesale than they have in a year or two. Suddenly First Texas is being talked about again by people that had little interest in their detectors when they were full price. Many of us predicted this would happen one day where their high-end machines are basically entry level in the modern marketplace. I was thinking this is it, they're just going to clear out the stock and wind up the hobby detector part of their business, then I took at look at their Facebook group, I hadn't bothered to look at it forever as they were just a stagnant business. To my surprise it was very active, mainly with their marketing of course but active none the less. Every few days they're doing posts marketing their products, this really took me by surprise, and they had no indication at all they're doing an Ebay fire sale, another surprise, if there was a good place to announce it you would think it would be their Facebook group with 24000 followers, that's a broad reach of people that would see their sale that may not know about it. I think they're just settling into the new normal, working out the ideal pricing for models where they can get sales and will then return to their status quo of selling the same old models for the next decade. They appear to have a larger focus on metal detecting products outside of the hobby market on their Facebook group too, which probably demonstrates where a much of their detecting income is derived from. Their last marketing post was only 2 hours ago. Here are some of their recent marketing posts. So, they do have a pretty active marketing person on Facebook, and someone making up fancy marketing pictures. I hope they survive as a hobby detecting company, and I really hope they've got at least one more "New" detector up their sleeve, a Gold Bug 3 would be something many of us would appreciate, but I'm sure a F75 SMF would be more of a crowd pleaser for a bulk of Fisher fans.

He has very limited data relying on free wifi so I guess he'll pop up his photos and story when he gets home. I hope we can point the finger to an area where he finds gold, be nice to add a little NZ flake or two to his collection 🙂

I narrowed it down to my favourites per detector. If I was forced to narrow it down to 3 it would be the 10x5" Coiltek on the 6000 and the 15" CC and 8" on the GPZ, those two are very different in their application so I can't pick between them. If I was forced to pick a VLF I'd take the Manticore although I prefer using the GPZ and GPX now over VLF's, that took me years to decide but I just don't really enjoy VLF's now looking for gold. I haven't gelled with the 12x7", its lack of edge sensitivity really bothers me and I just prefer the 10x5" and saying something like the 12x7" will give more depth doesn't overly matter, if I wanted that I'd stick with the stock 11" as it gives more depth than both of them while maintaining almost all of the sensitivity, so the 10x5" is more for the shape and size than anything and the 11" for all other applications, the 11" is a stock coil that's actually really good, apart from its quality issues it's a hot good coil and the aftermarket coils aren't overly necessary unless size matters. Something else too, I've probably had the 12x7" on the GPX the most as I've been too lazy to take it off 🙂 I've given it a good chance.

aww, I wanted Garrett to be having some impact on them, it's good to have very healthy competition spread across many brands. It's safe to say Minelab don't dominate the VLF market like they once did, it's more balanced now, a healthier market. How can they recover from a sale like this though? you can't do a sale like this and expect sales to resume at normal pricing afterwards, people will be so hesitant to buy at the old pricing now knowing they can and will sell it so much lower. Dealers are going to have a hard time with people saying wait a minute buddy, it was this price a few months ago! They may sell a bunch of detectors now but they're going to go dead quiet for many months after it.

8" and 10" X-coil for the GPZ 15" Concentric X-coil for the GPZ 10x5" Coiltek for the GPX 6000 6" Coil for the Nox 800 M8 8 x 5.5" Coil for the Manticore Nel Snake 6.5 x 3.5" for any detector lucky enough to have it 6" Concentric for the Garrett 24k 10" Spiral X-coil for the Algoforce / GPX 5000. And a special mention to the Gold Bug 2 6.5" elliptical for being a brilliant little coil that other manufacturers should have replicated on their more modern Gold VLF's. If that's all I had, I'd be very content.

At least you guys in the US get the Minelab sale, even in Australia when it's an Australian company their "Anniversary" sale doesn't exist. A bit like the Military discount, give it to the US veterans but not the Anzacs (Aussies/Kiwis) So, they celebrate their 35th Anniversary in the USA, but nowhere else, even their homeland! Nothing more than a pre-emptive strike at the pending Storm that let's face it, is a detector that will mostly only be sold in the USA and trying to pair back some sales going to other brands. Minelab have given themselves a unique position for a business, loved for their detectors, disliked for their business methods.

The Queenstown coppers took a cool photo on their night shift a couple of nights ago A different set of lights flashing above their car 🙂 Fingers crossed you can find some gold while in Queenstown Mitchel.

The new normal by the looks of it, they're working out what people will pay for them and going with it. Once this method starts to slow down for them they'll probably just set the new website pricing to the price they found people are willing to pay. It does seem a decent price for the detector though, especially with 2 coils. The new going market rate for a single frequency detector with 2 coils.

One of the first cabs off the rank when the Manticore wasn't even available in the US I believe. Makes me realize how bad I am at putting on screen protectors. 😛

I had a panic when I first saw that thinking because I was an early adopter, I probably had a version they've now changed with revisions since it hit the public and the bugs show their little ugly faces, it appears the version has yet to change as new ones still have the same number so that calmed me down 🙂 It is abnormal they would let you see that information if they were doing hardware changes over time though, you'd normally see that in a secret diagnostic menu that requires a certain combination of button presses or connection to certain software via USB to see, which the detector probably also has.

the M8 (small Manticore) coil is very similar in performance to the 6" Equinox coil on small gold although it will likely go a bit deeper as the gold gets bigger, I am not thinking there would be any benefit going to the 18" coil for prospecting purposes, the 15x12" both models have would be as big as you'd ever want to go and that has very limited application. The 11" both models have is a good prospecting coil though as they're both very sensitive detectors to small gold even with the abnormally large 11" coil for a VLF for prospecting. It gives very good depth on gold for a VLF using that coil in the right ground conditions, and obviously the smaller coils have their benefits for tiny gold. The only good coil for prospecting missing from the Manticore that the Equinox series has is the Coiltek 10x5" although the M8 isn't all that much different in size so it's not critical. I was wary at first about the Manticore coil limitations for prospecting, but quickly found because of the increased power of the detector that the shortfall in coil options is made up for by the detector itself, and there is still the chance Coiltek will come out with coils for it, I think they might have a waiting period for doing so, so Minelab can gather up the sales of their coils first so it could be a couple of years.

a dip in the ground where water settles more causing it to be greener?

You're optimistic, I think the settings required to be ideal for gold hunting won't be available on the relic, and vice versa. Having two separate models helps bring in the bucks but really shouldn't be necessary. I guess we'll see when they come out, but it doesn't seem in the interest of the customer to me to do it this way. Both will work for either job, but not be optimal unless buying the right detector is how I think they're going to play it.

I was hoping Nokta would make a multi-purpose PI more so than they've done to capture more markets, The Algo has done that to a degree and their firmware updates since release have even more so improved its general-purpose ability over being a Gold only machine. PI's are incredible technology and largely untapped by many detector users as they've never been made to suit their needs. I'm ony recently seeing how good a PI can be for coin hunting, incredible Target ID's and If this is the start of it, I'd love to see where they can take PI technology for general purpose detectors. If markets are slowing like Gold, having gold dedicated detectors limits buyers, and separating the Gold and Relic into two detectors seems a bad move to me, unless it was required for some technical reason. Gold only VLF's are struggling to survive with multi purpose VLF's taking over them. I could understand separating the General-Purpose and the Beach versions due to the waterproofing requirements. Let's face it though, this is Nokta, this being their entrance into the market, there will be more models in the near future, and they are about to really shake up the PI market. They will shake up the pricing too, maybe more so than they intended now the Algo's out, there is no reason they couldn't sell their PI for the price of a Legend if they wanted to.

The Find-X Is incredible value, cheaper than a Go-Find in NZ, which judging by the name they wanted to have that association. Yet it's more of an X-Terra Pro. Good on you Nokta, this is great. Nokta seem excellent at making detectors, and they're really shaking up the market but there is one area they're failing, availability. They need to step up there. We have a Nokta dealer and that's great, someone like me that wants to buy their products that knows about them knows where to get them, but their products need a broader reach. Detectors like this Find-X need to be readily available, it's an impulse buy price for a family that are out shopping and see a new toy they could enjoy together. It needs to be in a more retail environment, in big box type stores and even the sporting goods stores Minelab has been squeezing into. This I believe is the next important thing Nokta do to grow their business. Our only NZ dealer is a tad odd for their location, they're on a mountain pass road that people would only ever be on if they were transiting that pass, I doubt there would ever be people that drive to the dealer to look around without already being on that drive. Hours from any city and the nearest town only has 310 people. They're there as it's a great location for them to live, but a poor location for a shop 🙂 Mitchel will drive past them tomorrow as he takes on the mountain pass, I bet he doesn't even notice the shop, I've driven it a few times and never seen it and that's with me knowing its there somewhere.

I think they'll quickly have a bigger piece of the pie than the one missing from the gold pie. Still can't see how the piece was taken from the pie with the crust left behind...

You should have a look at the botanical gardens if you have time, quite a nice spot, and wander around the city centre, still plenty of buildings left that are yet to be knocked down from the earthquake, you can take a tram tour around to make it easier. A lot of the city has been rebuilt now and you'll see the new tougher way they've built the buildings to handle the big earthquakes. Christchurch has a cool museum but I think it's closed for renovations at the moment, the big old building its in was one of the few big old ones to survive the quake. Hamner springs outside of Christchurch is nice for a little trip, go soak in the hot pools. The International Antarctica centre is another good thing to do, the kids would like that.

Nah, Nokta were outstanding with my warranty on that, top notch in fact, could not ask for better service. None were in my country so they shipped direct.

That's human years, in detector years that's a few days when models stay on the market for a decade or three 🙂

Keep in mind things like tone options are what separate entry level machines from high end machines, they can't throw everything at the lower end machines as they have to justify the much higher price of the high-end models 🙂 Apex was designed around being a beginners or casual hunters' machine being put into the Ace lineup, not many in this thread would be buying as many here tend to buy the high-end models of various brands as they appreciate the higher end detector features. To someone coming from an earlier Ace who enjoyed that detector then the Apex would seem like a Ferrari, and that's how Garrett positioned it. Now suddenly their Ace 200 upgrade can allow them to hunt beaches with wet sand, they have all this new ability they didn't have with their Ace 200. I guess by releasing their first SMF as an Ace has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works as it encouraged people that were not normally interested in buying an Ace model into buying one, and of course that's not going to go well for everyone.

It's audio seems like an upgrade from my Ace 300 doorbell audio, and sounds like a big upgrade from the earlier Ace series in general. I wish the Apex wasn't cost prohibitive in NZ as I would be a proud owner of it, and in my mild soils I'm sure it would do fantastic and there are many people just like me out there, in milder soils where most detectors thrive. People like me can buy an Apex and like its design with excellent build quality, nice screen, good enough feature set and its performance generally would be perfectly suitable to do well. It always puts a smirk on my face when I take out my Ace 300 and pull up some silvers, it adds to the thrill of the find knowing a detector many frown upon brings up the goods and with a nice big coil on it like my Tornado it's one of the deepest VLF's on silver coins I have, must be its frequency helping. A 6 to 8" NZ $1 coin prior to digging, perfect ID, easy Target, it can find a lot deeper than this. This was when I first got my Ace 300, you'll see my Target ID cheat sheet stuck to the top of the detector for my cherry picking 😛 Look at my notching, I've noticed out just about everything only wanting to find $1 and $2 coins and of course big silvers, I was cruising over a an old sports field cherry picking coins I wanted to find knowing they were about. This is how I set it up for my daughter too, she only wants $1 and $2 coins, doesn't care about finding old coins she can't spend 🙂 I'd really love to own an Apex, but I can't justify paying the price of an Equinox 800 to own one, Garrett's NZ Pricing is way out of line unfortunately, as their detectors appear to work very well in our soil conditions and if were priced right would be very good sellers in NZ.