Jonathan Porter

No it doesn’t Phrunt, it does it on new WM12’s as well and I’ve sold hundreds of them so there’s a good chance I might know!🥴 It’s a common cause for concern and as I said above I just inform the customer to not worry about it overly much, if its been on charge over night just go off the battery indicator in the detector menu. I get days and days of use out of the 6000 BT headphones TBH I don’t think I’ve ever actually had a pair go flat, I just put it on charge occasionally and keep the cable handy as part of my kit just in case. JP

The WM12 often keeps flashing even when fully charged, reminds me of the old NiMh batteries of the SDC they would often not show fully charged on the charger yet would be showing as full when put into the detector. In the case of the 7000 I just tell our customers not to worry and go off the internal battery icon when the WM12 is connected, that icon is an accurate indication of the WM 12’s charge state. Unfortunately this is not possible with the GPX6000 headphones as there is no charge state shown on the detectors screen. I think you can hold the power button on for a long period on the 6000 headphones and do a full reset to factory settings on those too, it might pay to try a full headphone reset and see if that helps. I’ll ask my ML engineer friend who I worked with on the 6000s development for confirmation on the headphone reset but the on/off button is the mostly logical way of doing it. At turn on there is the on start up sound then the BT pairing mode sound and then I suppose if you keep holding the power button in there is a reset mode sometime after that. JP

It’s an absolute treat to use. Pinpointing is a joy, sensitivity is ridiculously good, nook and cranny detecting is where it shines especially in amongst woody brush, grass and leaf litter etc. Early days yet with no doubt a few more revisions as things get finalised, but all in all a compliment to an already excellent machine. JP

Any edge of detection target is still gong to require good coil control to be heard (especially sweep speed) no matter how quiet the soils are. The 6000 is a PI after all so even though your ground sounds quiet it is still mineralised which is why you do not get PI depth with a VLF.

Also if you want to chase deep gold with the 6000, I highly recommend you rig up with a bungee, Hipstick and a Guide Arm even with the 11” coil. Deep gold requires careful coil control, the 6000 bleats out tiny threshold disturbances so if you do not have good coil control the nuance signals can get lost in the general clutter created through imperfections in the sweep. I personally cannot get the level of coil control needed one handed with the 6000 as light as it is on the arm, think of it being akin to a freehand sign writer, even those guys use special sticks to control hand movement. When you control the sweep of the 6000 there is a whole world of depth available if you can train your brain to “listen through” the threshold for those repeatable broad signals, I’m sure the more experienced guys like Steve will be able to relate to what I am referring to. To my mind the effort that is required do this I may as well go put on the 7000 and keep the 6000 for uncomplicated fun based detecting. Having said that there is a range of deep irregular shaped nuggets that the 6000 performs well on compared to the 7000 so it pays to go over some ground with a modicum of coil control to cover off on them. Like everything you can microscope way down into the methodology of a thing and find advantages unique to it that only it can offer. JP

Surely people realise if you want performance then you should not be using a speaker mounted on the end of the control box behind your head? I understand the convenience of it and that’s why it’s there, but using the speaker is very much akin to using a zero threshold, there is a performance cost. Steve and others have worked this out and they seem happy to pay the price of admission even with the known occasional EMI misbehaviour. I grimace every time I see video footage of a 6000, because absolutely guaranteed the phone camera is going to play horrific havoc with the threshold. I don’t use the 6000 for outright performance on DEEP gold, I have the 7000 for that, I use the 6000 because it is fun and uncomplicated and ergonomically brilliant and I’m just about assured to get a nugget on just about any known gold nugget area I have ever worked. With this mindset I use the speaker because when I DO use the 6000 I want to be untethered, uncomplicated and I could care less if I miss the odd target. I just want to go detecting and keep things as simple as possible, the 6000 does that SO easily, it has SO much headroom even when dumbed down to its lowest settings. I have faith the 6000 will do what it does better than anything that has come before and do it easily. If I want to put huge effort into edge of detection signal discernment performance based detecting I go rig up with the 7000, modify my settings to suit and then target some deep soils whilst mentally preparing myself to chase the nuance signals. The 6000 is designed from the ground up to yell a target into being, theres no mistaking it once you get things into alignment (swing speed, coil height etc). If you want to do more nuanced based detecting because you don’t have a 7000 or can’t afford one then make the effort and use the supplied headphones or source a good quality low latency APTX BT receiver unit and get the audio onto your person where it belongs. JP Pics of a deep nuanced 7000 nugget that required maximum concentration to find. Also a pic of some small bits I found with the 6000 using a NF test coil that was just plain fun. No backpack, no bungee, no headphones, just uncomplicated fun.

Little heads up on EMI with the 6000, if you are in a low mineral area the Auto + feature can actually ramp the sensitivity higher than the manual mode can go which can cause a jittery threshold because with greater sensitivity comes more EMI. Try going to Manual sensitivity mode and run it on flat out instead, this is the optimal sensitivity for the vast majority of conditions and will allow the detector to sound nice and smooth (as smooth as the localised EMI will allow anyway). If the threshold is still a bit jittery you do not lose a lot of target signal by dropping a couple of points on the manual control, if anything you gain if the threshold smooths out. The 6000 has a lot of headroom in its sensitivity control so don’t be afraid to be conservative with it. I mainly use the Auto + feature in remote locations well away from urbanisation.

That’s for them to worry about, the key thing here is you are making public comment about a detector that obviously has/had an issue, in fairness to them and piece of mind for yourself that should be addressed first and foremost.

Simon are you saying you’re going to be complaining about your faulty 6000 for the duration of your warranty? 🤔 😳The detector has a fault we could all see that, you should get it back to Minelab and at the very least have it looked at if you genuinely want to have faith in your detector and also avoid damaging others faith in them.

Simon you have a warranty, Minelab honour their warranties better than any other manufacturer I know. This situation is less than ideal for sure but it’s NOT just ML who are having issues, just about anything you buy right now especially in the last 2 years has the potential to have problems thanks to Covid, that’s assuming you can actually get your hands on it in the first place. Would be pretty funny if when it goes back they can’t find any actual faults because you THUMPED it back into life. 😂 I thought you said these things weren’t built very well? 😆 Ultra simple controls and if you have any problems just give it a good thumping. 😝

You’ll survive Simon, good thing about gold it doesn’t rust. 😆

After many many years being out bush with occasional dead detectors I completely understand the frustration and disappointment in having a dead detector, especially one straight out of the box. It happens and it is frustrating and I’m sure it feels nice to vent on a public forum and pass on some of the anger and frustration. I’d say you’re the last person ML or any company would want to end up with a bad bit of gear being sent to. Only thing I can say is have patience ML will get it sorted out for you as quickly as possible. JP

I know mate, everyone now knows. It sucks and I feel for you. 😔 Rest assured ML will get on top of it and deal with the problem ASAP, they always go above and beyond when it comes to issues.

Understand your disappointment and you have a right to complain. Rest assured Minelab will sort it out for you and once that’s done you’ll be very happy with the result. At least now you have the right to bag them out, now that you’ve joined the 6000 club. (Joke 😝). I have to say though I find your comments about being fragile or not being built tough a bit out of kilter, the 6000 is actually quite robust and very good quality build wise. I’ve had zero issues with things like the twist locks and mounting hardware for the coils and control box etc (have seen some people complaining about the screws behind the speaker shroud coming loose but its an easy fix to tighten them). You soon get used to holding the coil with your foot to twist into alignment, if it goes out too easily just tighten them a bit more, I prefer this setup because I can collapse the unit right down for transport etc. Another tip is to disassemble the shafts occasionally and wipe the them with a damp micro fibre cloth to remove dust. Other than that the 6000 is pretty solid in my book. JP

You have to think logically about this for a second, it’s not logical a coil can generate a stronger signal on one section of the receive over another, all things being equal the coil either works or it doesn’t. However it is possible to get a differing response if the target is presented to said winding inconsistently through a differing direction or restriction from the mouldings. With the video it makes sense you are getting differing results because the top of the coil has raised ridges to allow for the winding heights relative to each other to help cut down on weight etc, therefore the target will be presented to the receive inconsistently. It would be much better to do the test on the bottom of the coil to avoid discrepancies in results. Obviously this is not how people will be retrieving targets so access to a good location where the receive winding is accessible is important. I have minimal issues retrieving tiny nuggets with the Z search coils.

I can’t for the life of me work what you mean by hotspot? I have NEVER found one, sure I’ve emulated them by not passing the target consistently/correctly across the coil winding but an actual receive section that’s hotter than another I’d actually go so far as to say is a myth.

I think a tiny little part of a prospectors brain always wants to believe there is something to every gold story/rumour. Most are just a bunch of gold tragic romantics who just can’t help themselves me included.

I’ve thought about finding and attaching the same material they use on microphones for outdoor filming as being an possible option to soften up the wind noise as it passes all those square edges. JP

Thanks for your contribution. 👍👊 I grew up as a vegetarian so did more than 16 years of my life before I had my first steak. Like I said I’m no raving greenie but do try to minimise my impact on the planet and show some respect!! JP

I try to be the same, I’m not going to micro manage every step I take for fear of walking on an ant but at the same time I will definitely not deliberately drive over a poisonous snake just because it’s on the road. When I buy meat I try not to cook excess amounts and I never leave anything on my plate, I always try not to waste any of it because an animal had to die so I could eat, that deserves my respect. Being accountable for the impact you have on this world is something we all need to consider especially in this sanitised and washed world we humans have created. Which brings me back to prospecting, it keeps you grounded when you have to sweat a little and get your hands dirty. Am I a raving greenie? I don't think so, I’m just trying to be a responsible human being. JP

Dogs are loved and Valued here too, but in the pastoral industry wild dogs do an immense amount of damage to livestock, seeing a paddock with a 100 sheep with their insides ripped out in one night is pretty horrific too. Wild dog populations can get out of control and when it does they will roam in large packs and have been known to hunt and pull down camels. Baiting is a necessary evil that is closely controlled and monitored by the government, not just anyone can bait willy-nilly. JP

I know a lot of people who have tragically lost dogs in WA to baits, an absolutely horrible and inhumane way to die. If you love your dog like I do you make them put their mask on and you check often that its still on and worn properly. Mia hated it with a passion and would come up to me and plead to have it removed. I’ve had two dogs over the years that were full time prospecting with me in WA and both dogs lived to ripe old ages with Mia now in her golden years at 14, however with the way they now blanket lay baits in WA I will not be getting another dog for prospecting once Mia retires 😞, the risk these days even with a muzzle on is just too great.

Good on you Reg the 6000 is a beaut machine 😊, that paddock looks soul destroying especially if the gold isn’t popping up near your find, even the occasional scrap or two would help with the sanity. Giving my lucky things a good rubbing for you. 😉 😝 JP

Was just adding a bit of relatable humour, chances are I’ve dug a nugget or two over the years!! 😣 It’s always interesting to see the people who ‘like’ your ZINGERS.