phrunt

Is that based upon price or some sort of performance thing?

That's why I think someone with an earlier model GPX could team it up with an Algoforce and have a great team of detectors, they complement each other perfectly and to top it off share coils. Where one is weak the other excels, such as the pricky gold, the tiny gold and the Algo, or the really good EMI handling with mono coils it has, it leaves the old GPX for dead there. A cheap boost for an early model GPX owner. Then the GPX will find the bigger solid gold deeper, so they pair very well.

What annoys me is I didn't use metal detectors in the 5 odd years I lived in Victoria and the 20 or so in Queensland. How much wasted time did I have, in the prime of prospecting time too. I missed my best chance of finding a nugget over a few grams! 🙂 I handled the heat a lot better when living there, you get used to living in hell 🙂 Never did like the heat but I was able to live with it, it's once I left the heat now, I can't stand it and have become quite the opposite, 25 degrees is now too hot for me detecting.

That's probably about what it should be, based upon the lite package. I've not added up the extra's the full package comes with over the lite with the extra coil, battery doo-hickey and the headphones, but if they total $1400 AUD then you paid about what the full package should now be that the lite exists. You got a really good deal, was it a special or just a dealer selling it cheaper than RRP? I've noticed one dealer on Facebook lately offering the full package really cheap before the lite came out, now I know why. On 13th of February this dealer in OZ was selling the full package on a special for $6385, it was just to clear out his stock of the full package. Facebook link to advertising video. Just before the lite package came out, now I know why 🙂

This is how X-coils did it, they removed the chip from the coil, and made the adapter then put a patch over the coil so it could still be used off the adapter.

He also sells GPZ cables and so on, I've bought a fair bit of stuff from him.

You can buy the 6000 coil cables from China Applicable to metal detector: gpz7000 sdc2300 gold monster 1000 (aliexpress.com) The 7th item across on the list.

You're on the right track there Ron, you can open up a whole market of new customers with it, and bring people in that otherwise wouldn't bother due to the crazy high pricing of the gold prospecting suitable machines. It's basically what the QED tried to do in Australia, the Algo is capable of doing it properly with a more professionally built detector. Think of it like the Equinox, plenty were swinging that, the Vanquish came out for cheaper, still pretty damn good but not at Equinox level, so Equinox owners had no need to buy one yet the Vanquish opened up near to in many situations Equinox performance at a far cheaper price, people could find a reasonable percentage of Equinox targets while spending less money. The Vanquish became a good seller, not everyone wants to or has a fortune to spend on their hobby. This is where I see the E1500 sitting, and for this reason it will become a good seller, that's a given, maybe not too many of the prospectors on this forum as they tend to be the high end buyers that already have the best, but the general market the E1500 is going to be a hit.

You can turn that chip into a nice adapter, such as the one X-coils made here for testing prototype coils.

I think with any of the high frequency VLF's they're so close it's more a choice of which you prefer for whatever reason, thinking one is going to be significantly better than others is asking far too much, so buying another one when you already have one isn't necessary or beneficial. With the Algoforce PI now on the market for similar pricing to the high-end VLF's, once that hits the US market it might be a better choice for these hotter soils you're talking about than buying another VLF.

Yup, the full package is a rip off and should be discontinued or heavily discounted to be closer to the lite package, it makes no sense at all, if the lite is that price, the full needs reduced too. Maybe they don't want to anger people that bought it at the full price, some people have already taken a 2 grand hit when they bought the first ones released.

It's been a hot dry summer inland where I am so I've not wanted to dig many holes for coins as it does damage, the grass is a bit browned off so digging will just kill it. Autumn if it gets a bit more rain will allow for digging without damage so that might be my peak coin time. That's what I've been waiting for really, some rain to allow me to do proper coin hunting. I've been intending to do some beach detecting but then at the coast it's been the opposite with regular showers and just not the weather I'd want to be detecting in, when they're getting the nicer weather, I haven't had the chance or motivation to go.

I've only taken it prospecting for two half days, I was going to say a day and a half but forgot the first day I left early too as I had some sort of medical issue after a rose thorn got me. 🙂 I did find gold; I would have found the same gold with my 6000 or 7000 though of course. My next intentions are to try it out for beach detecting, I've been dabbling around my local area with it for coins and it's quite impressive with its target ID. I should get around to doing a post on that I guess, just didn't think people would have much interest in a PI as a coin detector.

Currently 35 lites in stock, so they've sold two since Wednesday with today being Friday, that's probably not too bad for the price range of the detector.

I wasn't around then but remember the one with the old ute and couple of guys doing the teaser for the Apex.

That seems a reasonable assessment to me, and why I've been pointing out all along 6000 and 7000 owners don't need one unless there is an attribute of it that they particularly like, like 7000 owners wanting a lighter machine to use for some particular reason or they want a PI they can use for stuff other than gold with its excellent Target ID's. I genuinely think GPX 4500/5000 owners would benefit from it, it's doing noticeably better on small gold than those models, along with its ability to find the gold they often miss, the prickly stuff and not just that, I tested a bunch of regular small nuggets commonly found here, and the Algo was doing better than the GPX 5000 by quite a bit, some the 5000 didn't even hit the Algo did. For them it's of even more benefit as they can share coils between detectors, and their Bluetooth transmitter and headphones. While I've never used an Axiom, I've not really known its comparison. The SDC is an iffy one to me, mainly due to my milder soil environment and it was a pretty poor performer here with the original GPX series being far better when fitted with a spiral or smaller bundle coil except for it being poor on the prickly type gold, so that one makes me wonder, as the Algo for me here in my soils is doing better on the smaller gold than the GPX, I have no doubts a GPX will be deeper on big targets though. What I see with the Algo is a whole lot of bang for the buck, half the price of an Axiom, way less than the 6000 and of course the 7000. The perfect detector for people not wanting to spend a lot of money and still get a very good performance machine, but not by any means the best and is filling a large hole in the market for that reason. Its other notable benefit is its very good EMI handling, it can run well in places others cannot. Now the big question hanging over it is benefits outside of prospecting with its Target Id's, how beneficial is that going to be in parkland and beach settings, for me so far, it's looking good.

I haven't yet found it unstable when sitting it down, I'm primarily using the 10" coil though, even on my very uneven ground it stays up I was thinking due to the coil size, and the super light control pod, the 6000 I just always lay it on it's side like the Gold Monster out of habit, it never stays up unless you're on flat ground 🙂 Here is the USB C dust covers I bought USB C Anti Dust Plugs Silicone Cellphone USB Type C Charging Port Dust Cover for IPhone 15 Pro Samsung Xiaomi Anti-dust Plug - AliExpress And the USB A dust covers 50pc USB Dust Plug Charger Port Cover Cap Female Jack Interface Universal Silicone Dustproof Protector Tablet PC Notebook Laptop - AliExpress

One of my power banks turns it on when I plug in the power bank, the other better one, the Belkin doesn't, I'm guessing the reason is the Belkin doesn't power anything unless you press it's on button, it auto turns itself off when no power draw too. My Momax is always on so if I plug it in my Algo comes on.

Good point, had me in a panic then it wouldn't fit my tiny battery so I just checked. Don't mind my messy straps, I wasn't leaving the battery on so didn't bother fixing them up. It's a great fit with the little slimline 10,000 mAh battery. Nice and snug. The battery size difference between the 10,000 mAh and the 20,000 mAh.

I was initially thinking of ordering longer ones too, then it occurred to me that I never need to remove the cable, to charge my battery bank I'll just plug another cable into it, so why not just use some decent quality black tape and tape it on, that makes this 25cm size ideal. It will be locked in place and look neat and tidy. The cable is very heavy duty, nice gold connectors too.

That Jaycar battery looks pretty good, being a reputable company, their battery is likely true to specification too. It's great to have another Algo user on the forum to discuss it with, it's been a bit lonely. Another USB battery cable arrived today from my orders of various cables to try on it in my quest to find my perfect cable. This one appears very good quality, it's significantly thicker than the standard cable which is the one I've sat over top for thickness comparison. I was worried it would be too thick to fit through the little cut out they've done for the cable, but in fact it fits exactly, so there is no longer a gap around where the cable enters. I need to fiddle with wrapping it more, this was a 25cm cable, perhaps I should get the 30cm version as that would allow another shaft wrap to keep it neater. The right angle is doing as intended and tucking the cable neater so it doesn't get hooked on stuff, as you can see by the photo below the straight cables are a bit of a hazard. Of course, you could pull the standard cord upwards and make it head straight up like the right-angle cable, but then you're putting pull force on the USB port, not a good idea. I've now also got all of the correct USB port covers to cover the unused ports. Not even wrapping the cord probably gives the neatest results, and an added bonus is the thicker USB cable with the right-angel strapped on like this really secures the battery in place. So quite happy with this cable, best so far and would work on all battery banks. Here is a link to where I bought it if anyone's wanting one. Select the UP angled version.

If you have some Bluetooth LL headphones already from another detector you could just buy a LL transmitter, Avantree have some good ones available, the Avantree relay is good.

The Axiom did well, especially seeing it was running DD's.

It should cost more regardless, it's a detector with coil and battery, it has iron discrimination which is increasingly rare in these higher end machines. It's got plenty going for it, a really good detector from what I've been able to see so far. The new pricing isn't too bad, and a few months ago the new lite price would be considered a very good deal, might annoy a few of the early adopters though that paid the full price, it was originally even more expensive than the current full package price, it's already dropped about two grand since release on that package. I've not done the math but I think you could buy the Lite package and the missing coil, battery and headphones and it still be cheaper than buying the full package?

Had it of been sold at AU $3000 when it came out, I would have bought one and I'm sure many others that would never consider it at their current pricing would have too.