PhaseTech

The Gold Kruzer still retails at $1125 here.

The old XT18000 in 20 kHz with the optional 11" round coil went pretty deep on .22 lead size targets. The 19 kHz Fors Gold+ had good punch as well. I always wished there was a slightly bigger round coil for it, but probably a very limited market these days.

Hi Vic, myself and two other customers set up that test bed initially to test a range of coils. It was just supposed to be for a quick comparison, so we did some crude measurements and target size estimations, most of which have since been forgotten. But the targets have surprisingly remained buried for many years, and I have used the test bed so many times now that I know how different machines respond, so I have avoided the temptation to dig them up and record the weights and depths accurately. I still may do that some day. There is a hackly bit of lead, about 2.5g that is also buried quite deep, and this is a great "challenge" to newbies with any machine, as coil control and positioning is critical. From the best of my memory the largest target is a 7g lump of lead, and depth was initially at about 45 cm. The ground to the side of the hole is quite mineralised clay, so mono coils in Normal timings often perform poorly. The best combos I've found on this target are: Any GP series machine with Detech 15" DD coil GPZ7000 in General/Difficult GPX4500 in Enhance with 12" Evo GPX5000 with 17x13" Evo (Enhance or Fine Gold). The Commander 15x12" also responds well The 15" Evo & Detech 15" super deep also gets it easily, but the signal response is broader, not as crisp as the 17x13". The 6000 with 11" mono really struggles. The 14" DD in Normal and Salt is the best combo. Ground moisture and EMI levels vary the results slightly, which can be quite interesting.

In my experience, and I detect in high EMI locations, the 6000 is slightly more susceptible than the 2300. It is more powerful and has a bigger coil, so that is totally expected. Thankfully the Auto tune is super quick, and also, reducing the sensitivity to 2 or 3 if required usually gives me a stable threshold, and targets are still easily recognized. In extreme cases like close to electric fences, I can just strap on the 14". Can't do that on the 2300 or 7000.

Rob, yes me too on using my own headphones. The Equinox headphone adaptor is compatible.

Yep, as soon as Ebay was trying to force me to go to managed payments, I'm out. Ebay was becoming a big time hogger for several other reasons too. It's a shame as it was an easy place to move second hand gear and little odd bits you get in detector trades. So yes, Facebook will be seeing a lot of gear from me in the coming weeks. As for a great time to sell a gold detector? The market is a little flooded here in Oz at the moment with second hand detectors, but there are also lots of buyers out there.....if the price is right! Condition and the right accessories also helps.

Great stuff! I'm sure there'll be plenty more to come

You all forgot about the part where Minelab said UP TO 40 % deeper 😉

Same thing applies to bigger bits! This one looked like a dirty ball sinker. But a tap with the pick revealed an 0.64g nugget.

Okay here's a little tip. Twice now I have found "lead shot" only to realise it was a perfectly spherical ball of ironstone, with you guessed it, gold inside. Only when rubbed/scratched hard and not revealing that dull lustre of lead did I realise there may be gold inside. If you're not sure, put it on a flat bit of quartz and tap it with your pick.

Did this video in very bad ground. Probably not the worst local ground I can go to, but I'd rate it an 8/10. Lots of hot rocks, mineralised conglomerates, clay, charcoal patches, the works. In the past, the smooth timings did well here, and each machine got more and more gold as they came out, 4000, 4500, 5000....and there was even a few for the Zed, but I didn't do much with the Zed in this spot as EMI generally sucks, and I was getting good results further afield. The SDC also did well on the shallower bits, and A LOT of lead shot recovered. So pretty much the perfect spot to run the 6000, as most of the junk would be gone.

Thanks Steve

Would love to see that piece after an acid bath.

Wow, they are both super clean. I have the same two in the collection, but mines a 2100e. Nice carbon shafts!