PhaseTech

Great thread and couldn't agree more Steve. 

If anyone can do it, it is Minelab. Why? They already have the technology to place themselves anywhere on your number list. They also have a big Engineering team. Pretty much throw the Gold monster and the SDC into a pot, stir it around and pull out some sort of hybrid. 

Yes agree with your comment about the TDI, in mild ground any decent VLF will ping small gold better, and will even keep up with it depth wise when bigger coils and lower frequencies are used. That is the beauty of the GPX series in particular, optional timings and various adjustments like Rx Gain, Audio Type and optional Timings means that they can be optimised regardless of ground type. With a small mono coil they are so sensitive they will pick up smaller gold then a lot of VLF's except for dedicated very high freq machines. 

You forgot to add the Gold Racer into your Very Light section  It is also the best balanced machine due to having the battery compartment under the armrest.  

Really comes down to a few factors:

1. What size relics are you after?

2. What depth are you hoping to achieve?

3. How thick is the junk? 

The 15" DD Detech has very good depth, and sensitivity equal to an 11" DD. For this reason it will also reject iron to a greater depth. However, for very large targets, the 18" DD will punch a touch deeper. 

The 18" DD will pick up more EMI if that is a problem. Weight wise they are about the same. 

Steve, do you ever sleep? Really don't know where you find the time to write such detailed posts on a regular basis.

Using the Impact at the beach, I was easily able to identify rusty bottle caps in Gen D mode, just going by the sound. Very cool hunting this way, like gold prospecting on white sand  Some of the deeper and smaller targets would only produce the faintest of threshold changes, so would definitely recommend headphones. 

If you want great sound, comfort and wireless, check out the Deteknix W6 Pro Heaphones. 

First detector used was a GT16000, then FT16000, then XT17000. First detector I owned was an XT18000 - I have bought and sold about 4 since then :-) 

Over the years, I've owned SD2100, GPextreme, GP3500, GPX4000, GPX4500, GPX5000, Gold Striker, Sovereign, Sovereign XS, Sovereign XS2aPro, Sovereign GT, CTX3030, Whites V/Sat, Fors CoRe, Fors Gold+, Bandido II umax, Vaquero, Racer 2, Gold Racer, SDC2300, GPZ7000. 

Working for Minelab and being a tester & trainer, and now being a retailer definitely has its perks :-) 

Haha wow, that would be weird and kind of cool at the same time 

Does the G2 or Gold Bug Pro have any kind of stability control for the threshold? If not, does it have a fast, slow or medium retune? I.e. is it smooth or jittery? When the first Africa gold rush was on, there were reports that the F75 was a hot seller over there so I quickly got hold of a unit to try. I did some air tests on various nuggets and it seemed capable enough, actually I was mildly impressed. I took it out to the goldfields but very quickly realised it just wouldn't cut it. The threshold was all over the place and the same nuggets I tested at home couldn't be picked at 1/3 of the distance once buried in the ground. My old Minelab goldstriker which I still had at the time ate the F75 for breakfast in the field. 

17 hours ago, Roughwater said:

I see it is a VLF machine and operates at 45Khz.  Per their advertising it has auto or manual operation, comes with 2 coils, less issues with salty soil than 71Khz machines, waterproof coils and water resistant box, adjustable shaft with multiple configurations, priced about 1000 bucks and more.  Sounds like it could be a real contender to the present best VLF gold machines.  

http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/tags/minelab gold monster/

Yep, you've nailed it. For someone with zero experience, and wanting to try prospecting for not too much money, the GM1000 ticks all the boxes.  

Hi all, 

While up in the goldfields earlier this week I tried the Impact on a trashy spot. I used the stock 11x7" coil in the All-metal Gen mode and 20 kHz. I was very impressed at how well it ran. 

I was in "warmish" mineralisation. Mild sandy wash, but with various sized hot rocks. It was where a forest track cuts across a creek/gully. This particular junction has quite a bit of trash, so I just detected along ignoring any very low numbers. Most targets dug were non-ferrous. I got fooled on one large bit of wire that was sitting upright. I dug about 4 hot rocks that were a very faint but good sounding signal, but not strong enough to register any ID on the screen. The most impressive dig was a nice clear hit ID of 35, and I dug down and it was a small round seal off a juice bottle, which was sitting on it's edge. No gold, but Zed's have cleaned up all the fainter signals in this spot so no surprises there. My settings were Sens 66-72 and iSat on 6. I wasn't using Tracking, so was re-ground balancing using the trigger. 

I've done some tests using the smaller 7.5" elliptical in 20 kHz, against the Fors Gold+ (19 kHz) with the 5" coil, and there really isn't much in it. The Gold+ has a little bit more aggressive sound to it, but the Impact is smoother, sounds pretty much like an older wiser Gold Racer  

The threshold and tone adjustments steps in the Impact are spot on - two features I rate very highly for a unit to be taken seriously as a gold machine. It's really looking to be an excellent all-rounder. 

Did the guy fall in that hole at 0:11 secs? 

A positive mindset can make a massive difference. 

I call it the gold mode switch. You need to clear your head of daily stresses: what's happening at work, the bill you got charged twice for, that lawn mower that keeps breaking down, that oil spill you promised to clean up a month ago....you know what I'm talking about. All of that needs to get dumped for a moment, and then flick the brain to Gold Mode. 

Good luck Lanny, the Gold Racer is great. 

For all-round awesomeness, shape, weight, sensitivity, EMI immunity etc etc. I'm going to say the 12" Evo. This coil rarely misses whenever I strap it on, and I often wonder why I don't use it more regularly. 

For performance, and target digs that just shouldn't happen, the Z14 is a wonder. It'll pick prickly/reefy gold that only the best fine tuned high freq VLF will see, but the Zed will see it a lot deeper and in much more mineralised soils. Then it'll get lumpy slugs at depths where you'd need an 18" mono on a GPX to match. If the SDC is called the hoover, then the GPZ14 should be called the Trawler! 

Some info on VLX modes. Basically, they are a less aggressive mode, which will be ideal for users who are not used to Fast Recovery machines to ease themselves into the Impact. I can also see them useful when chasing modern shallow coins in fresh sites, so chances of the coins being masked are quite low. 

In my opinion, VLX1 still goes plenty deep. I used it recently and was getting clear hits that was deeper than I was prepared to dig in the particular park I was in. 

Dilek posted this over on Findmall: 

VLX1

3-tone discrimination mode designed for users who prefer a lower noise level while detecting. Ideal for coin hunting on changing grounds and different levels of mineralization. It will provide weaker responses for fringe depth targets as well as ground and environmental noises. Therefore, it is suitable for use with Disc. set to 0 and at higher gain levels. If needed, a more stable operation can be obtained by increasing the Disc. but Disc. will create a greater loss in depth in this mode compared to others.

VLX2

Resembles the VLX1 in terms of characteristics. However, it is a deeper mode utilizing 4-tones and it is ideal for both coin and relic hunting in changing ground conditions and all levels of mineralization.

On 3/16/2017 at 4:01 AM, FeO2digger said:

In VLF machines I was considering the Nokta Fors Relic with large 15" coil or Detech Relic Striker with large 18" coil. I am strictly using machine to find deeper caches of buried metal. What most would consider trash. 

Would the Impact be a relevant new platform to consider with the 15" coil for locating the type of items I seek at depths?

Average target would be comparable to burying a metal trash can lid at 4 to 5 feet depth.

Thanks!

I would think that the 5 kHz option on the Impact would be a much better choice over the Relic at 19 kHz. Also the Impact 15" coil is slightly wider. The other thing that will give you more depth on the Impact is the awesome all-metal mode. Not going to go as deep as a 2-box job, but depends on the size of the target you are seeking. 

My biggest sellers of late have been the 14x9" Evo, 15" Evo and 11" Detech. Don't know why but the 4500 owners (particularly the older 4500s) seem to be favouring the 11" Detech, but the 5000 guys like the 14x9" Evo. 

To sort of answer the original post, the 14x9" Evo was released first, so a lot of people pounced on that and had one when the Coiltek came out. So that may be why info is thin on the ground. I'm sure it's a good coil. 

Great info Steve. My records show the Eureka Gold was released December 2002. It was well after the Gold Hawk as when I started at Minelab the Hawk was out, and I started testing the replacement for the XT18000, and we used the Hawk as a bit of a bench mark to test against.

On 3/5/2017 at 0:08 PM, Shasta gold hunter said:

So is it generally accepted that the Evo coils improve the gpz series but not so much on the gp series unless it is really mild soil?  I was contemplating a 9x14 for my 3000...Would it be noisier than my 12" NFA RM.

The beauty of the GPX's is that you have timing options. In an air test a 14x9" Evo vs a 12" NFA on a 3000, testing sub gram nuggets, the Evo would prove superior. But, add some mineralised soil into the mix and it's anyone's guess what could happen. As mineralisation levels increase, you'd eventually reach a point where the 12" Advantage would be the better choice, as you don't have any "smooth" timings on the 3000. 

I like the addition of the rubber grommet to minimize the cable flapping around inside the tube. 

Love the gold racer. In the right ground it is quite lethal. The GR19 is permanently strapped to mine, and it gets double duties sniffing out shallow coins in grassy areas (no digging allowed), and also sniffing out jewellery in tot lots. 

iSat needs to be set correctly for best results, which varies a lot depending on location. The explanation by Jimmy is spot on, but to put it simply: too much iSat and you will be reducing the response to borderline targets, but not enough and you will miss gold due to an erratic and dropping out threshold. So yes, sometimes a higher iSAT is better. Any setting that enables YOU to better hear the targets in YOUR location is the right setting. 

_{Not sure if these videos have already been posted, but good into for the 15" Ultimate users}

Some info from our side of the pond 

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?id=21017

Top stuff, the Z19 has already found some brilliant pieces of gold, and has only been out over summer here in Oz, which has been either stinking hot or really wet. It's going to pull some good stuff over the coming cooler, hopefully drier months. 

21 hours ago, Reno Chris said:

You're cheating by knowing the answer in advance. I am sure you are right, but Cinnamon rolls are funnier.

At 0.17sec you can see a little cinnamon roll on the end of the stick :-) 

2 hours ago, Reno Chris said:

I've been metal detecting a long time and I have not the slightest idea what is "2 factory rolls in the bag"

Perhaps the price includes a gift certificate to Cinnabon? I am guessing that it came from a site that is not in English and this may be something that didn't translate well. 

2 coils perhaps