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A cautionary tale. Chris Ralph and I were out last week prospecting for new ground. Lots of driving and hiking, not so much detecting, but we each snagged a couple nuggets. Chris with the SDC 2300 and me with the GPZ 7000. The very first location I pulled my GPZ out of the carry bag and looked in the side pocket where I just knew I had put the wireless module, spare battery (from my CTX 3030), and charger. No module! I was sure I had put it in there but maybe fell out? It was not on the ground, I looked in truck a bit, and finally just used my Sun Ray Pro Gold headphones for the trip. Got home, carefully took everything out of truck, looked in every possible bag and container. No good. Must be downstairs with my gear. Over an hour of looking, nothing. Hmmmmm - $250 gone missing, this is starting to worry me! And no replacements available for purchase at this time. I contacted Chris and asked him to look in his stuff that was in truck in case it fell in something he ended up with. I starting formulating sad stories to tell Minelab, pretty easy because this was looking sad. Chris reported he did not have it. Next day I proceeded to use this excuse to clean up my mess downstairs. Finally, after two hours I spied the little bag my Sun Ray headphones had been in and which I had put module in before pulling it all back out and putting in detector bag. And there the module was tucked in a little inner pocket. What a relief. OK, that sure is not going to happen again. I will treat that wireless module like a big gold nugget. Luckily the GPZ can just utilize regular headphones but I really have grown to like not being tethered to the machine. And they sure are not cheap to replace. Keep good track of yours - you have been warned! Free bonus tip, do not forget about the hidden reset button on the WM 12 as shown below. Also, keep the module in clear line of sight with the pod on the GPZ. The signal has a hard time going through the human body so keep the module on your side closest to the hand gripping the GPZ.

(Saw this posted up on the gpz facebook page.) Australian Announcement! Minelab GPZ 7000 19" coil! Coils will be available from November 14th onwards. The GPZ 19 Super-D coil has been designed to maximise the performance of a GPZ 7000 and give a significant depth increase over the standard GPZ 14 coil. - Deeper detection (average 30%*) - More ground coverage - Less ground noise - Waterproof (to 1m/3ft+) - Super-D coil technology RRP: $1795 Discounted Price: $1295 for original GPZ customers (customers that paid the initial full $10700 retail price). Available for a limited time only. Australian Customers Only - Pre-order Deposit is $75 – secure your coil now!

If you are curious about the new coil, try this for a few hours

Just published at Minelab's Treasure Talk blog at http://www.minelab.com/usa/go-minelabbing/treasure-talk/gps-mapping-with-the-minelab-ctx-and-gpz-detectors-part-2

Two types of responses come to mind for me for targets at depth with the GPZ. The first sounds like repeatable ground noise. I'll be going along swinging and particularly in Normal, which I've gone back to using a lot more, I'll be hearing the moans and groans coming from the ground. But sometimes the ground noise will be a little tighter and narrower on a spot and repeatable. Hot ground, tree roots and hot rocks are often repeatable on my Z but the tone comes from a broader area. No little gold nugget in the ground is going to have such a broad tone so I know I can pass on those responses. But if I give the ground a little scrape and I'm getting a repeatable signal from a lot shorter sweep in a small area I know it's a metal target. Pretty basic detecting technique. The second deep target tone I get from the GPZ which I love is an odd warble or chatter. It's been a few months since I've dug anything deep from this response but I've found gold this way. It's just an odd repeatable sort of crackle tone I get sometimes. It only gets my attention cuz it's repeatable. Then I'll usually scrape about an inch off the top and get a faint, repeatable metal target tone so I know it's something I should dig.

A "reliable" source has informed me one of this 4M members has received a Z 19" coil, names are withheld to protect the guilty.

G'day all. My 14 inch coil has been playing up for awhile. Basically any knock or even feathering of grass gives off a false signal. Don't get me wrong it is still usuable and I'm still finding gold but it is super frustrating. You cannot go under trees or into grassy areas. My mate has been putting up with it for more than 6 months. My advice to him was harden up girlfriend and then it happen to me ..... kharma. Anybody else having this issue? We would have sent them in to Minelab but being unsure of the turnaround time (guessing 3 weeks) we have been waiting for the 19 inch but that is months away....... Cheers BB

As a total newbie, the more I read the more confused I become. I was leaning towards a 2300 as a first machine to use when I move back to AZ. But I was looking at the 4500 and 5000 as the price where I am are all within 100 bucks of each other. Makes for a tough choice........BUT then I keep reading about the GPZ and the size and depth increases it affords and I think that is the machine I will ultimately want anyway. I am new to the detecting(read zero experience since the 80's), but not to prospecting. Would I be getting over my head going straight to the GPZ? I am not talking about the price as much as I want to know if as a first piece of equipment is it too much? Do I need to work my way up the ranks before I get the big dog? I do not want to buy and then sell a 2300 or a 5000 or both only to arrive at the 7000 as an end game machine anyway. So if I bite the bullet and skip the retirement watch..... I defer to the experts.

I've searched the DP archives, been reading DP forever (it seems), certainly on the GPZ discussions, and have yet to see or hear about this unit's operation/performance/settings in Alaska. I'm headed to areas North of Nome, AK next year - and just dotting my "eye's" and crossing my "tee's" long before the trip. Steve has covered Gane's Creek incredibly well, as usually does with a bunch of MD's, but unless I was asleep, he has yet to discuss having taken his ZED up there. I'm looking for advise (beyond carrying a .44MAG), settings primarily since Alaska is not AZ, nor NV, nor CA.

http://www.minelab.com/anz/go-minelabbing/news?article=290610 http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/i-couldnt-believe-my-eyes-victorian-prospector-unearths-145ounce-gold-nugget-20160824-gr0g4h.html The weight of the nugget is 4121 grams so the weight in Troy ounces is 132.5 ounces versus the 145 avoirdupois ounces quoted in the articles.

The GPZ 19 coil release date is now anticipated to be November 2016. The exact day will be announced by mid October 2016, so check back at www.minelab.com for the latest information. The GPZ 19 Super-D coil has been designed to maximise the performance of your GPZ 7000 and give a significant depth increase over the standard GPZ 14 coil. Uncover more gold - and faster! Main Features: Deeper detection (average 30%*) More ground coverage Less ground noise Waterproof (to 1m/3ft^) Super-D coil technology *When compared to the average performance of the GPZ 7000 detector with the GPZ 14 coil in typical environments.Actual performance depends upon prevailing conditions. ^GPZ 7000 detector is weatherproof only.

Great Treasure Talk blog by Nenad Lonic at http://www.minelab.com/go-minelabbing/treasure-talk/comparing-minelab-s-sdc-gpx-gpz-detectors comparing and contrasting the Minelab SDC 2300, GPX 5000, and GPZ 7000.

GPZ Coil coming soon.

OK, I am an Alaskan and so no stranger to foul language. This video is great just because it is real and yes, you do not want to watch if cuss words bother you. Me, I have to admit I just smile watching it. You have been warned!

I think I can promise that Minelab is watching this forum carefully for helpful feedback regarding the GPZ 7000. Once a few more people have one I will start a general suggestions thread that will address general upgrade requests, especially as regards the software. The hardware is not likely to change much. The most immediate thing I am sure Minelab is working on is the coils What one or no more than two coil sizes do you want the most? We need it to be focused so big lists do not help. The main thing is to send a message now about what you want most. I can guarantee the people that matter will be watching what you say with great interest. Some reason why you want the coil would be good also. Thank you!

Well time is coming for me to dust off the Zed and take a walk about in WA again. I keep my eyes out for interesting video's in youtube from time to remind myself of what I should be listening for. The following vid is a pretty good one in that not only does the man find a great patch but keeping your ears on he demonstrates the audio for these beautiful chunky pieces. Granted its all pretty shallow stuff, for the Zed, and he's in Victoria's milder ground but I still found myself figuring the size of his finds just with the audio he presents as he sweeps the Zed. Only things missing for my ears are the complex trebly and deep grunt signals I've heard with my own experience. However the big one in the video gets pretty close to the complicated trebly signal I love to dig on. This video has me psyching up and is a great inspiration :) I hope he keeps finding the good stuff. Me~ hehh I'll get a little something but I hope people here will pick up on those signals and be inspired as well.

The only detector I've used is a GPZ 7000 chasing gold in the gold fields far from the coast with great success. Very recently we have experienced sum huge swells hitting the east coast of Oz, taking thousands of tons of sand away and possibly exposing sum lost treasures. It got me thinking can you kill two birds with one stone? Would there be any problems with using the Zed on the beach ? Is it overkill ? Should I buy a machine suitable just for detecting on the beach ? I know I would be digging big holes and every target because it doesn't have discrimination like sum of the other machines (its the thrill of the chase & the unknown that gets me buzzing) Any input you guys can give would be great !! Cheers ozgold

Interesting thread over on Rob's forum: http://forums.nuggethunting.com/index.php?/topic/11962-what-are-you-missing-gpz/ These settings have been discussed extensively, but I have never seen a post indicating significant amounts being missed by running in "Difficult". Seems strange to think you could miss targets by trying to run quiet so you could better hear whispers. Still baffled by GPZ.

Above is a quote from Jasong, from another thread that hits the nail on the head. Somewhat a forbidden topic on OZ forums, which I guess says a lot about social media. This matter has been touched on by others when speaking about the "new age" coils on the Xs in other threads. While I`m a confirmed and dedicated Z user, I recognise because I`ve experienced the ability of these coils and how they have closed the gap( in the field on undisturbed gold), plus in some cases exceeded the Zs ability. Saying that I`ve also experienced more cases where the Z exceeds the Xs ability. But it is interesting and really says it all about the dominance of ML, their only true competition to their latest serious gold detector is their model it replaced. This has been so for how many years? What are the other detector manufacturers doing? And why is it sort of "taboo" to post about this subject?

Can anyone tell me how this piece relates to the guide-arm connector ???

The Minelab vs. Minelab thread and auto tracking got me wondering again. Perhaps Norvic, Lunk and JP can chime in and shed a little light based on actual field experience with changing ground conditions. About 3 weeks ago we had some rain here in sunny Yuma and the moisture really lit up the clay/silt layers. The Z got really noisy especially in my usual settings of HY/Normal with a sensitivity of 15 +. I tried a variety of changes and found that in order to cover a lot of ground I had to switch to HY/Difficult, Sens 12-. I could run my usual settings but had to slow down to a dead crawl and she still growled and moaned blurring any possible faint signals. Running in Difficult I did get a couple very faint signals but it auto tracked them out. I switched back to Normal and both signals were loud and clear. One of them turned out to be a tiny piece of gold, the other was a hot spot of red clay. What I didn't check was how far I could back off the sensitivity in Normal and still hear the targets. I'm wondering whether in this situation backing off the Sens beats switching to Difficult.

Does anyone have a vid link to a nugget going low-high (filmed after the update only) that shows how deep it was and how big the nugget was? On nuggets up to 40 grams I still cannot get a low-high signal with just one exception and that is squirrly little wiry or thin flaky pieces that flip between high-low and low-high, and with some regular pieces when they get really close to the coil they will flip between the two as well. I had a 65 gram slug of solid smelted gold and it was going high-low on the GPZ. It was low-high on my 45 though. What I'd really like to see are the types of gold that are low-high from beginning to end, no matter how far from the coil. If anyone has some links or has such a nugget and could toss it on the ground and film it I would be very grateful. One reason I'm wondering (ok, don your tinfoil hats) is low-high is so often iron now that I can't help but wonder if discrim might be possible with ZVT tech and there may be some kind of "discrimination update" coming in the future. Also, bonus question: can anyone show me a case where General is outperforming High Yield in depth and sensitivity and what exactly the type of gold (weight/sponginess/etc) is that causes such a thing to occur? Or ground type if that is causing the difference. We see it on the ML chart (or it would appear that way but we don't know for certain due to omission of actual sample defintion), but I haven't found a case with my gold where it happens yet so I'm curious what to look out for or if I should just give up on going back with General after HY unless I have gold past a certain size threshold.

Haven't been able to get out much this year so probably only spent about 20-25 hours on the GPZ mainly trying settings etc. Managed to christen it with a couple of nice little speccis so think I'm starting to work things out. Both were about 6" deep in gravel layers under top clay layer so could have been found with other detectors. One (the smallest) was under some heavy leaf litter too so all up maybe 8" depth? First couple of times out I struggled a bit especially on smaller targets but last couple of outings I seem to have found settings that suit me/my area. Picking up a lot more bird shot now, not that that's good , although I don't think it's as sensitive as the SDC it's not far off. I am picking up a lot more of the BB size shot at impressive depth - they hit loud & clear. The gold has been slow but I'm now confident that once I get it over some good ground it'll be a good thing. I can't remember digging deep holes with as much frequency either. Of course there had been deep holes with the SD/GP & GPX + even with the SDC on mullock heaps but I don't remember digging so many over such a short period of time & a couple of the deepest I've had to dig - unfortunately for junk only so far. The fencing bar will be living in the ute! My main current settings are: High yield/Difficult; Sensitivity - 14 to 16; Smoothing off; Threshold around 24-27