Coin And Relic Detecting With The GPX 6000

[Steve Herschbach]

58 minutes ago, Tom_in_CA said:

as evidenced here, it can do so while passing iron and low conductors (if one opts)

Honestly Tom, you never make an effort at reading and understanding the info, and just stick to the same tired script. Nobody is saying you can pass on all the iron and low conductors - it's just nonsense straw man arguments, for the sake of arguing.

[Tom_in_CA]

44 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Honestly Tom, you never make an effort at reading and understanding the info, and just stick to the same tired script. Nobody is saying you can pass on all the iron and low conductors - it's just nonsense straw man arguments, for the sake of arguing.

Ok, I guess I just can't wrap my head around a machine for coins, if/when coin-hunters generally want to pass iron.   I guess it's dependent on the amount of iron a site presents. 

[geof_junk]

The point is know your detector the more you use it the better it will work for you. Sometimes a detector is not the best for a given task. Trying out different methods as Steve has done will enhance the detectors use. This might make it better than standard use and maybe better in some condition than another detector in the hands of an experienced operator.

[Glenn in CO]

On 9/7/2021 at 10:42 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

The GPX 6000 has one bit of magic for this task. The Normal/Difficult ground setting button. It allows a change in the tone response by simply pressing a button. I do not know the details of Normal vs Difficult, but it changes the timings enough to flip the tone response on many targets. I found I could use it to get four different target classes.

1. Hi tone normal, high tone difficult = Aluminum foil, misc aluminum, wire, most bottle caps, misc small ferrous - low VDI targets. Small gold.
2. Hi tone normal, low tone difficult = Nickel range targets, larger aluminum. Larger gold.
3. Low tone normal, low tone difficult = Zinc penny range targets. Even larger gold.
4. Low tone normal, high tone difficult = Quarters, dimes, copper penny, high VDI targets, nails (larger ferrous). Silver rings.

I have a question Steve. In the low tone normal, high difficult setting does the audio response change enough where surface targets are loud or stronger and deeper targets are weaker in audio? What I'm getting at is can you possibly cherry pick with the audio response like the TDI ?

[Steve Herschbach]

All targets give a modulated response on the 6K regardless of settings. The closer you get, the better the signal. The problem as always is you can't easily tell a smaller shallow target from a larger deeper target. If all targets were the same size, you would know. The 6K is no different than all the Minelab PI detectors I have run, and audio responses generally mimic the GPZ 7000. The beach area I was hunting is thick with targets, but I was cherry picking clean, "round" sounding targets to a high degree.

This stuff is all for PI pros who have a good ear. Nobody should be reading this and coming from a VLF and thinking any VLF magic is going on. I intended this thread specifically for people who already own a GPX 6000 and want to learn or do more with it. I am most definitely not trying to talk anyone into buying a GPX 6000.

This all came about from my recent use of the Impulse AQ, which has great audio, but then selling it, because of general dissatisfaction with the build issues. I of course have the GPX 6000 for gold prospecting, but figured, hey, why not hit the beach with it. Lots of old coins at this beach, far more than gold rings, so it turned into a coin hunting thing along with hoping for a good ring. Saw the tone thing as I played around, thought I would pass it along to anyone interested. Again, this was intended for people who already own a GPX 6000, and is not an attempt to sell anyone on the machine.

[afreakofnature]

I wonder if you could use this similar to the iron discrimination on the older GPXs for large solid nugget hunting in ferrous trashy areas?  Maybe just stick to low tone - difficult targets (based solely on your description) and play the odds.  

[strick]

58 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

This all came about from my recent use of the Impulse AQ, which has great audio but then selling it, because of general dissatisfaction with the build issues. I of course have the GPX 6000 for gold prospecting, but figured, hey, why not hit the beach with it. Lots of old coins at this beach, far more than gold rings, so it turned into a coin hunting thing along with hoping for a good ring. Saw the tone thing as I played around, thought I would pass it along to anyone interested. Again, this was intended for people who already own a GPX 6000 and is not an attempt to sell anyone on the machine.

Got it...I was wondering why you were using the mono instead of the DD but it's because of the fresh water beach you were hunting at. I'll be heading to a salt water beach for the weekend but was going to use the DD due to the amount of people and the salt of course...I'll report what I find if anything even though it is off track of your thred here

what the heck I might as well...

 

strick 

[Steve Herschbach]

Not off track at all! That would be great strick as I am very curious about how it handles the salt. Do try the 11” mono also as it works better in salt than one might think. It will signal going up and down, but side to side it does well. But maybe not well enough for wet sand - honestly don’t know. But if I was near the coast I’d be all over it myself. 

[Steve Herschbach]

On 9/8/2021 at 3:18 PM, afreakofnature said:

I wonder if you could use this similar to the iron discrimination on the older GPXs for large solid nugget hunting in ferrous trashy areas?  Maybe just stick to low tone - difficult targets (based solely on your description) and play the odds.  

In practice it's usually the other way around. 99% of nuggets give a high tone, and most junk (nails, cans) a low tone. So in a junky area if I have to I'll dig high tones only, and pass on the multi ounce nuggets.  But sure, you could go for the gusto and just dig low tones. It's no different in that respect than prior PIs and the GPZ. Dangerous stuff though. Screwing up and missing a coin is one thing, missing a nugget is another. When in doubt, dig it out!

These tricks are nothing more than playing the odds, which is why people thinking in VLF terms get off base. With a PI the standard mode is dig everything. But in real life, we have limited time, or limited back power. So in those cases where targets exceed all our potential time or back power, what do we do? Try and cherry pick the best targets by using audio tells as best as is possible. That's all this is about, helping PI owners leverage the odds a bit in their favor when faced with a sea of targets. None of this has anything to do with selling VLF people on getting a PI to dig deeper coins or whatever. At least that is not my intent. I'm just trying to help people with machines they already have, by passing on some of my tricks of the trade.