GPX 17 Coil Commentary

[VicR]

Tried out the 17 inch coil  2 days ago  - only for 4 hours before rain set in.

First impressions

I was able to swing for 4 hours with no bungy cord without affecting my crook shoulder.

It appears to be as quiet as the 11 inch coil in area of high EMI and high mineralised ground.

Pinpointing was easier than i thought it would be.

The shaft did move a few times but i was in steep grassy area - would work better in flatter/easier country.

Only pinged on one buckshot pellet - the 11 inch coil constantly gives me about 10 pellets for the same time detecting so "may" not be as sensitive to very small targets.

Certainly can cover lots more ground.

Definitely need to swing it more to decide if it is worth the $528 AUD.

[phrunt]

Well I guess we can't be too down on Minelab, if it wasn't for them what would we be swinging? A Garrett ATX? Let's see the complaints about ergonomics and lack of coils then! Or perhaps a Whites TDI? We would still complain about lack of coils as I doubt all the aftermarket manufacturers would have popped up to make TDI coils, then we'd be sad White's collapsed and the detector was too gutless anyway.  Or perhaps a QED? Then we'd be sending it in for repairs all the time when it breaks or doesn't perform as intended and we'd still want better performance and all the things we've become accustomed to on modern detectors like not needing to manually ground balance instead having a quick trak or auto balancing and wireless and so on. 

We need Minelab and let's face it, they come out with some great gear, the best there is by far which is why virtually everyone uses their equipment.  There is always going to be something to complain about though, I just hope the complaints are more seen as constructive criticism to be taken onboard in the future products or upgrades when viable and not just a form of attack, that's all my complaints are ever meant to be and I'm sure most other peoples too.

Yes, they're not perfect and some mistakes seem so blatantly obvious you'd wonder how they could happen which is being discussed with some of these 6000 flaws, some things obviously fall on deaf ears or were noticed too late in the process although personally I'd always rather wait longer and get a better product, then you can bet people would be complaining about the extra wait too ? That's when good communication from the manufacturer comes in handy, but we won't get into that with Minelab will we? ?

I just hope the speaker issue on the 6000 is something that can be fixed and does get fixed, I've been saying since the start of my detecting time these Minelab high end gold machines need a speaker as that's what I'd personally want to use.  I'm a bit different as I can't stand headphones.  Maybe it's just how it has to be and that can't be helped but it would bother me looking down at the speaker knowing I don't want to use it worried about the side effects of it.

It seems the perfect opportunity to thank Minelab for the detectors that I love and also the people involved in making and testing them and bringing them to us.  Sometimes things can easily mistakenly be under appreciated.

Is my understanding of the 6000 coils correct that the 11" is bundle wound and the 17" is flat wound?

[afreakofnature]

I don’t seem to have a problem using the speaker, matter of fact it is all I use. I also extend out the coil to the max meaning to the red line on the shaft, and being its carbon fiber i crank down hard on the cam locks knowing It would take alot to break them (Plus I figure if I break them they’re still under warranty for three years LOL so why not give it a shot). The further the coil is away from the speaker probably reduces EMI?  I only run my speaker at like one or two on the volume because it’s plenty loud enough. I’m going to do a write up here soon I just got a find a time to do it.  People just need to realize that this is an SDC type of threshold. It’s not an Equinox type of threshold.

[Steve Herschbach]

My 6K works just fine, always has. I never used anything but the external speaker for the last month. The rod has moved on occasion, I take a second with my foot and move it back. It appears “problems”, that are at worst minor annoyances, magnify when repeated second hand by people who’ve never experienced the issue first hand. Especially when people have nothing better to do in life but nitpick and stir pots. Me, I prefer detecting and finding gold. 

[Gerry in Idaho]

Most folks have no clue how the majority of manufactures go about getting a detector in the field for testing.

1st off in my 25 yrs of working with different MD companies, they send you a mostly completed and or complete unit (yes it has already been decided how built) and that's exactly what ends up in the field.  Being in the US, and able to test previous Minelabs, by the time I get proto type it's already a done deal and so my feedback is to late.  Since the detector has already been built, not much on the external frame can or will be changed.  They realize this and also know the overall product, performance and acceptance is what really matters.  

Many of us on here are perfectionists and so we'll find something not to our "high standards" and make it know.  That does not mean it's a bad design, it just implies that we are hoping there will be a fix down the road.  And if not, then we'll swing it anyway as we like the majority of things about the product.

I personally have yet to swing the 17" coil so I can't reply about how it will twist the shaft, but I know this.  It has happened a couple times with my 11" coil and I had no major issues with it, just twisted it back.  Heck look at the Gold Monster 1000 and that shaft set up?  That's one I personally don't like at all, but do you think it slows the sales of the detector, heck no.

Speaker issue - I have not noticed it yet and I have only used the GPX-6000 with the speaker, no headphones.  I imagine when I get to Rye Patch and the wind gets to really howling, I might need to go to the headphones and see how they work.  Then again, the speaker is one of the loudest I've ever head on a detector, which is good in my books.

Most of us are spoiled kids with high end toys and as JP and Steve said.  We are missing the main points of this new detector and it's capabilities.  It's finding us more gold at our old sites, it's easier to use and most importantly it is much better on ergonomics/weight and on our bodies.  It gets us excited and wanting to go out and unwind from the daily does of shit that's all around us.  A win win in my book, so no use in wine.

and as Steve said...At least I have a cup.?

 

[phrunt]

It's reassuring to see the problems aren't as bad as have been made out, that's why I've kept calling them possible problems, as I don't even know how much of a problem they really are.  I am a big speaker user though so I'd be annoying if I jumped in and got one and a few months later it's fixed on newer ones and I'm stuck with one where the speaker can maybe on some occasions cause an issue as I'd want to use the speaker full time and wouldn't carry headphones just in case I need them, I don't really understand the speaker issue but my take on it is randomly it makes you need to noise cancel more often if using the speaker and that doesn't sound so bad as they've made the noise cancel lightning quick.  If extending the shaft to full was a fix I'd fine with that ?  EMI is a funny thing, some may experience this speaker EMI thing due to the type of EMI in their area and others may never experience it I guess, anything is possible with interference. 

I'd find my own fix for the shaft thing, that's an easier one to deal with although I'd mostly use a smaller coil anyway, the GM just required a bit of plumbers tape on it's thread to stop it's problem.  These problems do tend to get amplified by people who have not experienced them and each person the possible problems get passed through they get amplified again and suddenly a small glitch becomes a big issue.  I think it's mostly only JP I've heard of the problems from at this stage but he said a lot of it is how fussy he is and others may not even notice, I guess an indication the problems aren't as bad as they may seem.

Seeing time is on my side and there isn't masses of people swinging the detector all around my area I'll just hold off for a while and see what happens as I do mostly look for gold in high EMI very close to urban areas.  Just a couple of days ago I was looking for gold under power lines right near an international airport with constant flights coming past, and it's a spot I go to most often as it's the closest one to home and I've done what I consider well there.  Also seeing it's well hunted I purposefully hunt in the more difficult spots knowing older detectors struggled there, sadly it will soon be developed and works started on that now ?

I appreciate everyone who owns one giving their feedback on these things, and it seems more often than not they're not a problem for most.

[VicR]

Interesting discussion by Minelab testers as to how much influence they think they have on the final product design. 

It looks to me that Minelab is willing to change their design quite late in the product development cycle based on the following information from Australian Government IP Design website - the only other explanation is that Minelab has another GPX6000 type product they are going to launch.

The first design of the GPX6000 was 202013037 which was filed on the 28th May 2020. A revised design 202014625 was lodged 3 months later on the 25th August 2020 - just 7 to 8  months before product started being delivered to customers. The only change in the design i can spot looks like the strengthening of the main body of the detector clamp to the shaft & maybe a different speaker grill. Maybe the more eagle eyed can find more.

So in my mind this lends to the belief that

- field testing showed there was a problem (strength?) with design of the main body/ shaft connection.

- Minelab is willing to change (improve) the design even at quite a late stage of the game.

Now some people will say 7 to 8 months is not late to change the design - my experience from developing new products to be manufactured in Asia and distributed globally the standard lead times from final sign off of design and placing of work orders is 6 months minimum  - it normally was up to 8 months. So those changes were done just before the big green cant return button was pushed.

So take heart testers - im sure your feedback data is being crunched and analysed by Minelab - they have a lot riding on it.

 

[goldenoldie]

19 hours ago, phrunt said:

 

Is my understanding of the 6000 coils correct that the 11" is bundle wound and the 17" is flat wound?

It appears no one can answer your question.

I would think both the 11" and 17" are flat wound.

[Steve Herschbach]

17 hours ago, goldenoldie said:

It appears no one can answer your question.

I would think both the 11" and 17" are flat wound.

Unless somebody cuts one open/x rays it, it’s just guessing. I’m guessing both are flat wound, but my guess is no better than yours.