Minelab Competing With Minelab

[Norvic]

Yeah the Z does the auto tracking bloody well, but have been scoring a few large ones at depth in manual, that I had left in auto. Most of the deep ground I`ve been using the Z on has a rocky wash cover and you just can`t get the coil on the ground, in manual it seems to handle these conditions better then auto as the coil height varies from 6" mainly to occasionally getting it on the ground. Slows you down a lot as sweeping faster only results in banging the coil on rocks. Not ideal conditions for maximum depth but the Z performs far better than the PIs with that kind of air gap.

 Really looking forward to running the large coil over this ground. I also hate digging trash but am very fortunate to have productive ground that the old fellas had missed because there is very little surface gold or gold in creeks, with no exposed reefs. Luckily they didn`t have detectors.

But patch hunting auto trackings the go for me also.

[fredmason]

Doug Stone told me just the other day that the new NF coils had brought life back to a lot of ground in OZ...he never posts on forums but his word is solid gold...Maybe the people in Oz don't want the word to get out...of course there are always those that demand that their choice is the only good choice...I say whatever works!

As to tracking or manual I like to switch from T to M on faint targets...but sometimes I forget.

thanks for the tips guys!

fred

[Norvic]

Yeah Dougs on the money, he`s been around awhile, new age coils are looking good, MLs new larger coil for the Z on the horizon. Plus now with  market forces and competition maybe we are only seeing the beginning of what advances can be made in coil capability. Some people in OZ have tried to get the word out, but like you say Fred, there are those who demand otherwise and shout louder, but the words out there for sure.

Plenty of choices for us, detecting like all pursuits is helped by plenty of thinking outside the box. I`m excited!!!!! gotta go and service the backhoe.

[mn90403]

Norvic,

At the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in February there was an Aussie gold company there that displayed a lot of nuggets.  The owner I've met a couple of years and this year I asked him about the Zed.  He expressed very much of a dislike for it saying that the claim of 40% greater depth had been doubted by his other Aussie friends/prospectors and they weren't buying it.

I didn't bother to tell him about the large number of Aussies I read here who had/have a different opinion.

Keep expressing yours.  It has led to yet another interesting thread that gives real information.  The thought of using manual at times is enlightening to me.  

I still have my 5000 and think I could use it better now after using the 7000 but when would I have that luxury?  Should I buy one of the new coils?

Actually research will win me more nuggets now than the machine I use.

Mitchel

[vanursepaul]

"Actually, research will win me more nuggets now than the machine I use.

Mitchel"

I have found an extremely important part of detecting for gold is:

Having gold bearing ground to detect!  ---(what a shocker)

While in Australia I seriously doubt I became a super detectorist, but I listened to JP on the basics, did what he said and went out and found gold every single day in an area some say is hammered out....

My confidence level was bolstered immensely and I can honestly say I think I proved I can find gold on any given day on the Clermont GPAs....

The availability of gold bearing ground and the ability to debrief with JP every evening was my golden opportunity----

My time there also showed me I need to do more research here in the states and find better ground to find decent gold.....

Swinging away for 2 weeks without gold seems crazy to me now.... some would say I am spoiled by AU, and I very well may be....  before I went over I was contemplating selling my ZED.....but  that's not happening now,

Thanks for the thread and I may be a little off topic, but I believe either of these machines will find their share of the gold..... for me I am sticking with the ZED.... and not worry about missing a little here and there when I am patch hunting.

I really enjoy swinging it now.....

Carry on...

 

 

[AussieMatt]

If you had the finances & the required available time then having a SDC, GPX & GPZ would be ideal. Unfortunately for me I can struggle for the time to use one of them properly even with being close to the goldfields. As such which one you choose to own & use can be greatly just a personal choice for us hobbyists. Each one has things they excel at & each one has failings - some of the failings can again be individual things that not all find as being negative. I have no doubt each one has "gaps" or "holes" in their nugget sniffing ability as do other brands.

There's no doubt that the new coils are helping with better gold detection but in some posts I've seen the writers would have you believe that they are magically transforming the GPX's into a new machine. I may stand corrected but to my way of thinking these coils are just providing better signal clarity & helping the machine tell you what it knew all along. Some finds people are posting in amazement are nothing new even with a stock 11" mono but do seem more consistent or more consistently talked about. It also doesn't seem all that long ago a new coil was also being promoted with plenty of wow factor, better stability, lighter weight etc. The Nugget Finder Advantage series. Good coils still too.

It's just a shame that the GPZ had to kickstart the coil manufacturers into action really or was it just coincidental timing? Like how certain new machines can be overhyped I think there is a degree of that with new coils too - don't throw stones it's just my own opinion. They are good, no doubt, but IMO I'm not seeing vast improvement or machine changing abilities? 

Again IMO these coils may also be just squeezing the last bit of life out of the PI format? Can the GPX series be further improved on - new timings (addition of MPF maybe), even better ground handling/EMI filtering, discrimination & so on.

What excites me mostly about the GPZ is it's in it's infancy & is already competing with (or bettering) the GPX now with one coil. I've think I know where the future lies but could be wrong?

[Norvic]

Hey, Paul yeah like you the Zs the future for me, wireless really makes it and of course its ability.

Mitchel, Not real sure about research, as have been down that path and country I`m scoring in now there is naught to research about. I have no formula there, guess could be said is dumb luck, but I prefer to call it stubborn persistence, a bloody lot of foot work but not unwelcome footwork, tis magic even without the gold. I think the most important attitude is a confident one, even arrogant attitude, sort of I`m going to score might take weeks but I`m going to score. 

AussieMatt, I suspect the aftermarket coil manufacturers are kept out of making Z coils by patents, thus to survive they had to come up with coils on the Xs that compete with the Z, I know they have done that. It is speculation on my part what motivated the new age coils (or rumour) but not speculation on the ability of coiltex elites (the only ones I`ve experienced). But it is all good for us as there is no competition to ML other than from aftermarket coil manufacturers in the top line gold machines. Like you I believe if the Zs performance can be likened to the SD2000 performance regarding new tech than we have magic times ahead.  Bring on the 7100. Don`t think we are wrong.

 

[Bada Bing]

I'm exclusively in manual GB all the time - and have been pretty much from the beginning. I want to know if the ground is changing under my feet, especially when patch hunting. 

Of interest - I got out today on ground which was a groaning salty nightmare during summer with the Zed. It was soaked (8mm) and still raining while I was out and to my amazement (puddles of water everywhere) the Zed was much better with this total saturation. I've been to this ground after rain and when it was partially dried or drying and it was groaning ...... interesting.

Cheers

BB

[vanursepaul]

Maybe due to my rookie status with the zeD but JP had me use auto track exclusively

[Bada Bing]

I don't think it's a rookie thing Paul (and now that you've popped your Aussie cherry you are not a rookie anymore). For me it's just continuing on from the from the PI detectors. I love my 5000 and have never used auto tracking ever. I like the to know where the ground changes - it gives up clues on where to target. I need all the help I can get. I also think the Zed is more stable and less chatty in manual GB, give it a whirl. I'm usually holding the quicktrack button for 6 seconds and doing it regularly and when the ground changes. After 10 secs on the quicktrack the all previous ground balance data is lost ....

Cheers

BB