GPX 17 Coil Commentary

[Jonathan Porter]

On 8/10/2021 at 7:07 AM, Northeast said:

Still no news on Oz availability JP?  

Probably for another thread but you're obviously finding the 17" better weight wise?  Ground noise handling?  EMI?  On the small stuff?  Still picking up the tiny lead shot or has it weeded these out?  

Cheers 👍

There have been a piddling amount of coils released which have been swallowed up by early orders but I have been told there will be greater stock numbers hopefully sometime this month But as always there are no guarantees thanks to the freight being a hit and miss affair these days. Same goes for 6000 batteries, so we just have to be patient and wait it out.

The coil is incredibly sensitive and takes practice to get pinpointing right, the whole coil edge to the line in from the edge sensitivity is off the charts so you have to make sure the target is at the front of the coil rather than the sides, took me a few days to get it right. Move away from the target and approach with the front of the coil till you start to hear the signal, then move away and come in again at 90 degrees.

Overall the balance with a 7000 bungee and wrap, a Hipstick and the GPZ7000 Guide arm is perfect for a wounded soldier like me. The Guide arm also stops a lot of the twisting associated with the lack of a locking tab on the lower and mid shaft which can twist out of alignment with the bigger coil due to leverage imposed on the shaft when you clip the front or rear of the coil on grass tussocks etc.

Sensitivity is amazing, it is a bit milder than the GPX11 over variable ground but still wacks a 0.01 gram bit with ease. Coverage is where its at with an amazing amount of ground covered with each swing which is what its all about in open country. Probably the only negative is it is a lot more prone to salt (about the same as the GPZ 7000 with the GPZ14” coil, maybe slightly worse) so in salty/conductive ground the wa wa’s can liven you up a bit. EMI is not an issue at present thanks to our winter but when the monsoon starts to act up I expect there will be a fair bit more EMI as per usual. Depth is good for an elliptical but I‘m not focusing on depth I have the 7000 for that. In quieter ground Normal is a treat with this coil, it is very stable thanks to the larger size.

JP

This target BOOMED in.

[Northeast]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Porter said:

The coil is incredibly sensitive and takes practice to get pinpointing right

Thanks JP.  Good info and appreciate the reply 👍

[Gold Catcher]

Thanks, JP. I hope I get to it on the weekend. Good info to have. My best wishes for a speedy recovery.

GC

[Jonathan Porter]

On 8/11/2021 at 4:56 AM, Norvic said:

Righto JP this holding the 6K 17 coil supply off from the rest of us in OZ just because you want to flog all our spots is totally selfish, even somewhat corrupt. I'll forgive you if you send me a 6K 17 coil pleeeeeze....

Norvic, I am all for receiving your forgiveness but right now I cannot perform miracles unless I want to be drawn and quartered by the people already on the list 🤕 😝. If I was nearby I would be more than happy to give you mine for a play but alas you live in Gods own country and I am down here with all the tourists (actually I think they are all up in your neck of the woods at the moment, this year is one of the quietest we have had in 5 years of trading, hence why I have been sneaking out bush even with a broken wing 😊).

The 17” coil gives me the poops, in every way it is brilliant except for the blooming thing going out of alignment with the main shaft all the time especially in grassy/tussocky areas. I use the GPZ7000 guide arm which I attach over the coil cable just above the first knuckle and that goes a long way to helps the worst of the twisting but it still rotates on the upper knuckle point and I find myself constant realigning the coil by placing the coil flat on the ground placing my boot on the coil and twisting the shaft back straight again. 😖 I’m a bit OCD when it comes to alignment even by 1 degree, and find even the thought of it being even slightly out extremely distracting.... everything has to be just perfect when I’m out and about detecting trying to make a gold pattern out of chaos. 😝 

So the first thing I plan to do when I get some time is to scavenge some clips (preferably the metal ones) out of a GPX5000 shaft, set up the 6000 at my preferred length and drill a hole in the top shaft to act as a locating pin 📌 I shouldn’t have any fouling issues as the Coms cable is external on the 6000, same with the mounting bolts for the handle, so there should be no restrictions internally in the shaft. 

JP

 

 

[Norvic]

Yeah JP no drama I was just avin a go, but thank you for the offer. I reckon most of us will fit those clips to stop the miss alignment of the 6Ks shaft, I have seen non-metalic ones but can`t remember where ... CRAFT disease. Tourists are up the gulf I suspect, very few around here. 

[Sheppo]

2 hours ago, Norvic said:

Yeah JP no drama I was just avin a go, but thank you for the offer. I reckon most of us will fit those clips to stop the miss alignment of the 6Ks shaft, I have seen non-metalic ones but can`t remember where ... CRAFT disease. Tourists are up the gulf I suspect, very few around here. 

I’ve just come back from Georgetown. The caravans I saw travelling on that road past Mount Garnet and between Georgetown and Forsayth was mind boggling. I reckon the whole population of south eastern Australia is hiding up there.

[araratgold]

So exactly what I said weeks ago has been realised. The locking points on these super light shafts are not fit for purpose,  and will need some sort of locking pin, just like the old gpx shafts to stop the heavier 17 coil from constantly turning  🥺  IMHO, pathetic in a detector costing this much money. Surely the testers MUST have known this was a problem, but they still made it to market ! 🤬🤬

Rick

[Jonathan Porter]

19 hours ago, araratgold said:

So exactly what I said weeks ago has been realised. The locking points on these super light shafts are not fit for purpose,  and will need some sort of locking pin, just like the old gpx shafts to stop the heavier 17 coil from constantly turning  🥺  IMHO, pathetic in a detector costing this much money. Surely the testers MUST have known this was a problem, but they still made it to market ! 🤬🤬

Rick

I hang my head in shame 😞, during testing I knew full well about the twisting along with other not-perfect issues like the inbuilt-speaker and the performance not being anywhere near the GPZ7000 with an X coil and said nothing. 😢 It is really hard to take this criticism, I should have known better but it happened on my watch so I will own it. 🤕

JP🥵

[Jin]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Porter said:

I hang my head in shame 😞, during testing I knew full well about the twisting along with other not-perfect issues like the inbuilt-speaker and the performance not being anywhere near the GPZ7000 with an X coil and said nothing. 😢 It is really hard to take this criticism, I should have known better but it happened on my watch so I will own it. 🤕

JP🥵

Umm, I'm a little confused. Not trying to be negative but isn't it the job of testers to point out things that may be a problem or could be improved? Anyway I'm sure there were other testers, surely someone said something. Tough gig being a tester i reckon. Plenty of people just waiting to rip into you, bit tough seeing as not all things recommended are listened to by minelab anyway. 

As a side note: mentioning the x-coil might open a can of worms. It sort of says indirectly that if you want a good setup get the x-coil. No mention of the z search or the standard setup.  That's how i read it anyhow.

[Jonathan Porter]

13 hours ago, Jin said:

Umm, I'm a little confused. Not trying to be negative but isn't it the job of testers to point out things that may be a problem or could be improved? Anyway I'm sure there were other testers, surely someone said something. Tough gig being a tester i reckon. Plenty of people just waiting to rip into you, bit tough seeing as not all things recommended are listened to by minelab anyway. 

As a side note: mentioning the x-coil might open a can of worms. It sort of says indirectly that if you want a good setup get the x-coil. No mention of the z search or the standard setup.  That's how i read it anyhow.

It was written tongue in cheek because I go through this crap fest every time a detector goes to the masses.🥴 All of the things being complained about were brought up during field testing, but I’m just one voice and at some stage the detector had to be released. There’s always someone taking a pot shot with absolutely no clue what’s involved with testing or even having anything invested in what it is they are sniping about. 🤯 It could be a cloudless sunny day and an argument would ensue about it being heavily overcast and night time!🥵

I should have known better and avoided responding, same schist different day!! 😔 

All detectors are flawed, all detectors have their gremlins, all detectors could have been designed better. Don’t like it then vote with your dollar and buy something else or not at all I could care less anymore. 😖

JP👣