dig4gold

Geoff Junk was serious.... 😉 D4G

Could always make up & fit a skid plate. Personally I have never had or noticed any issues with using the 6" or coiltek 10x5 open web design. The 11" a little bit but it never did my head in.

There can also be very small gold on/near the surface as well. Many a piece I have found literally in the grass & caught up in the roots as I am sure you have as well. If you plan on going over old "proven" ground the slightly bigger deeper bits just may not be there any more. I wait with baited breath on your results. D4G

I have not seen so many excited kids in a candy shop since the announcement of the Equinox. The difference here though is that this detector was available straight off the bat before we knew anything about it. Unlike all the pre market build up of the nox hitting fever point. I can't wait for Phrunt to get his hands on his & give us his reviews. I am counting the shoot gun pellets already. 😂 D4G

MMMmmm.... maybe the "thugs" will return now. 😐 D4G

Yes, if all else fails, read the instructions. 😉 D4G

I too went through a few ML 11" commander coils. I really liked the mono but they did get noisy & very touch/bump sensitive. Was frustrating. I wondered if it was a combo of their shielding &/or the foam breaking down allowing the wires to loosen up. I often thought of injecting resin around the perimeter. Never did though but could be a fix. Add a bit of weight though. D4G

To me that is the bonus of headphones. It locks you in to what your detector is telling you with little to no outside noise influence. Like detecting in a strong wind or close to a busy road, or beside a running creek. Just focusing on the feedback from the detector & those extremely faint on the edge of detection hic-cups in the threshold. In NZ you don't have to worry about a bear or a bigfoot or anything else making a charge at you. What is it you would need to be hearing going on around you? A wild pig maybe but then you wouldn't really be detecting in that type of terrain & vegetation. D4G

Never say never..... D4G

Well said Gold Catcher. I too am a dig it all person with my gold detecting, & for the very reason Steve stated. While this can be very time consuming, & many times just for junk, I know all too well from experience what Steve said. I have dug many an ugly signal that had wire or trash written all over it only to my surprise it being gold. That is why I dig it all & just have to know what the signal was & the only way to be 100% sure is to dig the sod & have it in your hand. I don't even trust my ear. I have adopted the boot scrape or couple of light scrapes with the pick & if the signal has moved I put it down to a shallow or surface dwelling pellet & move on, but that is a judgment call on each occasion depending on a few factors . As has been said the mono coil will give that double blip too. My other form of reliable discrimination is the magnet on my pick. D4G

Yes agree. Unless cherry picking in a heavy iron infested location old habits die hard & digging all signals does/can pay off. The added bonus of removing iron junk is that next time you come by that location with a new tech detector/coil that junk isn't there any more. It is going to be very interesting watching how this detector plays out. It will also be very interesting to how much more it increases Phrunts shotgun pellet count. D4G

Bugger. 🙄 I was hoping it might be a magic wand. So still be digging all those bullets & other non ferrous items that litter the gold fields, as per normal. D4G

How beneficial is that going to be in determining gold from any other non ferrous target? D4G

What machines/coils are they using. D4G

🤣 😂 D4G

Minelab should have done the right thing in the first place instead of being totally money hungry & greedily mining the miners & crippling detectors & customers for want of a few more coil options. Thank god for X coils. Hopefully Minelab have finally shoot themselves in the foot with their chip BS, over priced products & total lack of customer communications involvement. I wish this new kid on the block all the success they deserve. They are real people who have listened to the customers wants & needs & are delivering. Customer communication isn't rocket science. Give them what they want & in a friendly manner & not over priced can only be a winner. The bottom line though is going to be how the detector really performs. Small gold won't tick the box for every one & hopefully the GPX 6000 has left some behind. The 6000 is a vacuum cleaner on small gold. D4G

The GP 3000 replaced the GP Extreme. D4G

The modded 5000 is a no brainer, I reckon, if you want to specialise in big deep gold. The proof is right there. Hands down the best hit rate. Many would have that 18" NF too. So put it to use. No real surprise that the 6000 struggled. Yes, X coil CC's on the 7000 would have to be his next demo. That would be very interesting. D4G

When you say gold master are you meaning the Whites Goldmaster or did you mean to say Gold Monster? D4G

Good yarn. Happy New Year D4G

That is sad news. His fight is now over. RIP Nev. D4G

And Minelab mining the miners. Even more in the new year. D4G

You need to slow down & learn/practise precise coil control & not bash the coil around & as Phrunt has said, maybe dial back the sensitivity. It is a grand little machine for the smallest of gold. A bedrock detector that sniffs it out as long as the tiny stuff is close to the coil. That is what it excels at. Not a depth machine. D4G

You are on a roll with this story now. D4G

Not a truer word spoken Steve. The gold just isn't there of any great value like it used to be. The big attainable bits are all but gone with what technology has already given us. The fight now is for the small crumbs left but at greater depth. That equals a lot more work, effort & digging for crumbs. If looking for gold matters in dollar terms then those days are over in reality. Minelab has well & truly squeezed the blood out of that turnip over the years. Starting with each small "progressive" step from the SD through to the GP & GPX series of detectors. The 6000 should not have been called a GPX. Minelab squeezed the blood further by limiting the coils on the GPZ 7000 with their chip technology & thank God for X coils in that department. Despite the fall out from all that it benefitted the end consumer who just wanted what they considered their best options for advancement in their detectors ability. X coils at least gave them an option if they chose that path. A path Minelab was trying to protect to keep more dollars in their pocket. D4G