phrunt

It is a tough decision which detector to buy the coil for, if it was available for the Nox it'd be a no brainer, thanks Minelab. A guy nearby was selling his E-trac for a very cheap price, Vanquish low end sort of money. It only had the stock coil and it had a broken coil ear which is why he was selling I guess. I wasn't too worried about that as I'd try fix it plus as being a detector with aftermarket options I'd be buying one straight away anyway. My choices without buying a new detector to suit are the T2, GBP, Ace 300 or AT Gold. As the coil is likely best for smaller shallow targets and recent drops of jewellery it's probably best I get it for either the AT Gold or Gold Bug Pro. I'm torn on which of those detectors I like best, my modified GBP with the switch to flick between disc and all metal is very handy and it gives good Target ID stability which I appreciate a lot. My AT Gold seems good, nice and resistant to EMI like the Bug, very good on small targets at least equal to the GBP but so far I only have the stock coil for it so comparing to my GBP the Target ID stability isn't as good. I ordered a Mars Tiger for it but it never arrived and I ended up getting a refund from Paypal for that so I just don't know how it compares to the GBP on target ID stability as I haven't got comparable coils for the two. I'm not really comparing like for like especially on deeper coins where the GBP has the Detech Ultimate and does very well and the AT Gold has the 5x8" stock coil are does poorly, worse than the GBP with the 5x10" Fisher coil which is slightly bigger so I guess should do slighter better. The biggest benefit to the AT Gold + Detech coil would be I could use it in the water without worrying about drowning my detector. That's my biggest conundrum, detecting which detector would benefit the most from this coil, maybe someone with more knowledge than me could help with that decision. It's a shame it won't be available for the Simplex also, I'm yet to find a purpose for that detector. I believe Nokta have made it so it's a bit difficult for aftermarket manufacturers to make coils for it, which is why Nel is taking so long to release their Simplex coils.

Interesting topic regardless, not much could be said about them discontinuing a few models other than it was well overdue. Let's hope they're cleaning house as something new is coming, the new 12" coil could be an indication of a new detector coming with it as default perhaps? They still don't have any information on that coil on their website, as far as it's concerned the coil doesn't exist.

Quest have something they call float resin inside their coils, it's super light and floats, a good idea to lower the coil weight while maintaining strength. I know First Texas was also experimenting with a resin with little beads in it or something, I can't remember... They could just run the resin through their Soda Stream ? FloatResin chemical technology is specially designed for metal detector coils filling to make it lightweight thus rugged to last long. It lasts long time! I've never tried a Quest detector, but they're evolving and becoming interesting and they could eventually target the big box stores with super low cost pricing to give First Texas a run for their money. Even the X5 has a waterproof console, built in USB recharging battery, fast recovery, flashlight, modern look and feel and a user friendly interface so could better anything First Texas sell in that price range from a new user customer point of view looking at features on the box while buying at a big box store. Every little innovation counts towards a better product, and First Texas were going to re-release the concrete heavy 15" coil for the T2 and F75 with their new resin technology to lighten it up a bit too from memory which would be good for a future detector release, I doubt too many T2/F75 users would bother buying it. I still have hope for First Texas, they just need to get their act together. Their best selling product to anyone other than a beginner right now is likely the F-pulse pinpointer. Anyone wanting one of their other "high end" models could just pick one up second hand for cheap pricing from someone selling to upgrade to a competitors detector, even in our tiny market that no longer has a FT dealer it's easy to get your hands on a second hand F75 or T2, there is always one popping up for sale for around the price of a low end Vanquish model from someone that's upgraded to a different brand detector.

Nokta did with the Simplex what First Texas could have done with the T2 or F75... completely modernize it, waterproof it and sell a bunch of them. That's now a very commonly owned detector and so similar in performance to a T2 it could easily be mistaken for a modern T2. If they did do that then it's not a paint job, it's gone beyond that, it's a full rehash. How many T2's do you think they've sold in the past few years? How many Simplex do you think Nokta have sold? That money could have been in the First Texas bank account. Something similar needed done with the Gold Bug 2, a full rehash to become a modern detector, sure the motor stays the same but there is nothing wrong with the motor, it just needed modern features, and especially something like a ground grab or ground tracking like all the other modern prospecting detectors. I don't think doing this is beyond them but they just took the lazy way out once again and just released a paint job of it so nobody is inspired to buy it, it just continues the model if parts were no longer available being such an antique detector. The core of a few of their detectors are perfectly fine and have a place in the market, it's just they're now so dated. Many just needed discontinued. Wireless audio has rapidly become a standard and it really makes sense, cords are annoying. They don't even need to think tor themselves, the competition has done all the thinking of the ideas they could put into their detectors to make them modern, they can just use their ideas and then put them into reality. My T2 is a deep detector, as deep as any however it's target ID's are dismal and with the other detectors all performing better and being more feature rich I can't really think of a reason to use it other than to warm up it's engine to keep it from seizing up. They should be able to improve that surely. My newer T2 green is great in EMI compared to my older T2 so they've fixed that up in newer ones, a positive sign someone there still knows how to modify the source code for the detector. Just adding every little software update they can and improve the performance as much as possible. I'm hoping when they eventually find the password to edit their website they make an entire new modern site with a banner across the top saying "under new management" and things start to change. They have potential, they just need the people working there to make it a reality, I don't want them to collapse but if they sit around doing nothing they're just going to be a big box store brand for the entry level customers and maybe that's where they feel comfortable now but that won't last forever... It's only a matter of time until one of the big brands chase that down market with aggression and Nokta might be it or the Chinese just come into it with force and pricing that can't be beat selling their own detectors. We went through this with Tesoro and Whites, everyone could see it happening and First Texas was the other obvious one. I have five of their detectors, a bunch of their OEM coils and the F-Pulse so I've done my bit to keep them alive but I can't see myself buying another of their detectors unless something dramatic changes. I would certainly buy a rehashed modern Gold Bug 3, and I would likely buy a modern F75/T2 if the price was right..... Simplex sort of pricing where it belongs.

I doubt the numbers they see are too crash hot, possibly flashing red ? A rehash seems viable as long as it is not a paint job. It would need to appeal vs the competition to sell to anyone other than the enthusiast or former user though so would need the mod cons like wireless audio.

Ctx seems to be another chipped detector, I can see it in the coil cable which explains it being ignored. I've never seen a company before that people love their product yet are so discontent with it at the same time. Would it really kill them to let us have access to coils? Just release a firmware for all the detectors disabling the security checks and make your customers happy. It's got to the point we are either buying other brand detectors or older models with no chips to get around the problem to use coils like this Detech that supporters of other brands can just use. Even entry level Ace detectors can just throw one on. It's just crazy.

Right. Time to get an Etrac. I wonder which would be best to get one for out of my GBP, T2 or At Gold.... This is good news, good on Detech for bringing us the goods

I would not want to go into a fight in the low end market with the Chinese manufacturers or even Nokta. If they decide they want to go into Costco and supply big volumes of cheap but reasonable quality and performance detectors to take over that market I'm sure they would come in at a lower cost than First Texas can. Costco would take the product they can make the most money on. Oh but warranty you say. Nokta have that sorted in the US. The Chinese have that sorted worldwide, they just do a replacement warranty. You get a fault you get a new one, cheaper for them than dealing with warranty. When they can sell a clone T2 for $100 and include shipping you can see their production cost is very low and you can bet they still get a decent profit as evident by the number of resellers selling them. If they spent the time to make their own units from scratch to take that entry level market they will dominate it quickly. If I was FT I wouldn't feel comfortable I have that market. Even the big boys have been showing the power they call entry level... Pretty much high end FT.

Thanks, I know nothing about it so I was wondering how it would stack up with other offerings on the market if they rebooted it.

If that did happen would you buy one? Is it a detector that I'd want? Would it be a good seller? Just trying to work out if they would be wasting their time.

I think ditching a large number of their models was well overdue, even retiring brands wouldn't hurt. Teknetics isn't really necessary. Bounty hunter is their entry level brand which is 90 percent of the models they make anyway as evident by the Gold Bug Pro and F19 ending up as a Bounty Hunter. The T2 is really just an old model basic version of the Simplex without the fancy features and waterproofing. I think having less models may improve sales in the entry market as its less confusing and they just need to keep the better ones to remain close to competitive. The Apex must be hurting. As for the 24k at the beach, it would be a killer jewellery detector, especially at an inland lake beach.

Closing down sale.

Let's not forget the original post was asking the easiest and best ways to setup a GPX 5000 that he was given for free, so the idea was to help him set it up and get it up and running for him to find some gold and not talk him into buying a different detector, especially spending another 8000 AUD on one so he may or may not pick up some specimen gold that may or may not be in his detecting area which is probably unrealistic anyway for a guy that was just given a detector to get him started with prospecting with a detector. As stated earlier he can always get a VLF like the Equinox, Garrett 24k or Gold Monster to complement his GPX if he decides to stick with the hobby and do very well with the combination. He can always choose to upgrade later if he finds it necessary to spend that sort of money. As Northeast said at the start of the post and I quote, "2 issues arising is that Jim has been given the 5000 but I am unclear if he has it to do whatever he wants with or just given 'the use of it' for as long as he wants. The second issue is that Jim needs to spend some time getting out and prospecting to see if he actually enjoys it before investing his own $'s in some new equipment. Hence why I'm just trying to get him set up and working in a manner that is going to effective but not overly frustrating re: ground noise/ghost signals/EMI. " As for saying the VLF is better at this type of gold, that's all well and good, but someone in Australia where Northeast and his friend live is going to miss a hell of a lot more gold swinging a VLF than they are going to miss swinging a 5000. It's like the guy saying Question: How do I setup and use my new GPX 5000? Answer: You don't, you need to buy another detector, your GPX may miss some gold in some circumstances, you need a better detector.

I plugged in a mufti meter to verify, pin 5 is the charging pin, putting out 24v on the charging power cord. No other pin has voltage output. So the lighter socket would be 12v on that pin 5 if your car does 12v, some cars do 24v too I guess. I don't have the 12v car charger with me to check as I'm away from home at the moment for a few days.

Yep, your guess is probably right, heavily notated gives it away ? It's fine to put 12v straight into the battery, the standard plug that comes with the GPX is 24v 1 amp. From the manual... Be careful soldering a GPX coil connector, if there is a short or you wire it incorrectly you can blow the detector. Make sure you do it right.

Yup it was a killer deal, the 18x12" might be a decent beach coil too. So the Americans understand, it was $1250 USD for the GPX 5000 with 3 coils including a Coiltek Elite, 18x12" Coiltek and the 11" Commander and 3 months warranty. A pretty good deal.

Did you buy the one at Cash Converters? It seemed a good deal that one especially with the coils, I was going to buy it but decided I didn't want a second GPX 5000 and was concerned it was missing quite a few things that a new one comes with like chargers, glad it came with the battery though as when I asked what it comes with they sent photos and there was no battery. ? Yes, the charging circuit is in the battery itself, so you just need to get the 12v juice to the battery using the Pin 5 as the power input. Jaycar sell all you'd need to make one. The Chinese sell made up ones too on Aliexpress for about 20 bucks as the NZ ML dealers don't carry stock of them as the GPX comes with it when new.

You could buy one of these T-shirts off Aliexpress, sometimes I really don't think the Chinese sellers understand what they're selling, something gets lost in translation ?

I don't get sore legs detecting often, I think because my legs are so sore from skiing I don't even feel pain in them anymore ? You're rapidly becoming the coin king! That's a bucket load of coins, that would be a fun day. The V8 will miss the deep stuff so when you go back you'll end up finding all the deep silvers with the V12 ?

Yes, they're hollow tubes. These photos give a better idea of size. Maybe it's a part of Alf's spaceship.

Well, today I was having a bit of a go with my CTX 3030 and come across a target that seemed odd, it was a big target I knew that with the abundance of Target information the CTX gives and the Target Trace pinpoint is cool. I dug it out of interest more than anything, I'd never normally dig something like this but it was rather deep and weird, and I think I found Batman's Binoculars? Does anyone have any idea what this is, it's heavy, solid metal...

Yes, Cors and Nel are the same company, the US tends to get Cors branded coils, and the rest of the world Nel. Not sure why they've done that. Both coil types perform exactly the same and are made at the same factory in Ukraine. I was buying direct from Nel and I was able to choose Cors branded or Nel branded. I'm a big fan of Nel/Cors coils but I found the Sharpshooter 9.5x5.5 to be no better than the Fisher 10x5", in fact I found the Fisher coil to be better. While my experience is with the Fisher Gold Bug Pro rather than the F75, I don't know if there would be much of a difference. It's very unlike me not to recommend a Nel over a stock coil, but in this case I think it's probably a good move to go stock. The Fisher coil was more sensitive (to small gold), both had similar if not the same depth on coins and I preferred the solid design of the Fisher, neither perform noticeably better than the other in EMI either. In a coin hunting scenario where needing the hotter tip of the Fisher coil isn't as necessary as gold prospecting it probably doesn't matter so I'd just buy which ever was cheapest. As for build quality, I'd likely give that to the Nel... the Fisher ears scare me being thin but so far I've had no problems, they just look like they'd break easily. The Nel is just tough.

On a Windows PC pressing CTRL and P at the same time generally is the shortcut keys to print from anything. From there you can select the printer, either your actual printer or there should be an option of Save to PDF where you can save it as a file for later reading.

I'd stick with the GB2 for now and try find a GPX 4500 for sale second hand for the price you can afford. $2000 USD would easily buy a GPX 4500 here in New Zealand, not sure about there. In fact there is a GPX 5000 for sale at a second hand dealer here at the moment currently at auction with $1149 NZD (about $800 USD) with a Coiltek Elite coil. I've got my eye on it although I really don't need it ? The good thing about buying at second hand dealers though is you get a minimum of 90 day warranty on it. The shop knows nothing about detectors as evident by how they've displayed it ?

There are a lot of variables to answer that question, Firstly where are you going to be prospecting? This is a good place to start reading.