Report From Bo In Oz On Axiom

[phrunt]

1 minute ago, Mike C... said:

Have you tried Fine Gold-I have found gold under a Grain in hot ground with my 5 and thats small enough for me=I havent used a 6 or a Ax yet or even my 5 in  2 to 3 years do to my health but hopefully plan to do so again-so for now all I can do is watch the forums and vids until then-whats the smallest you found with the 6 ?

Yup, I've tried everything!  Honestly the GPX 5000 just can't find small gold like the 6000 can.  A flake at 0.03 of a gram which I believe is .46 of a grain is my smallest actual find with the 6000 which matches my smallest find with the 7000 and 8" X-coil although in testing they can find slightly smaller, but it's not just the size of the gold, it's the depth on the sizes that is the significant difference, some small bits such as say a .05 of a gram (0.7 of a grain) bit need to virtually touch the coil on the GPX 5000 where as they'll give a few inches on the 6000 and that's the key, it's the extra depth on the smaller stuff where the 6000 is excelling. 

I agree the 5000 does pretty good on small gold with the right coil on it, but it's not very competitive with the 6000 on the smaller stuff for more reasons than just a bit less sensitive.  It's also surprising how much gold the 5000 misses because it falls into it's ground balance hole and that's another area where the 6000 brings a pleasant surprise.  I filmed a video on it but I think I deleted it as I didn't bother putting it on the forum at the time but I lined up a bunch of random small nuggets out of my collection and the number of them the 5000 missed even though they were sizes the 5000 could easily hit on really surprised me.  I tried all different settings and timings to try find these bits of gold it missed, some timings slightly improved detection but it was still poor compared to the 6000 which was screaming on them.     The 5000 may find a grain size piece on occasion when it's just the right piece of gold for it that it really likes but it will also be leaving a lot of grain size pieces in the ground that the 6000 and I assume from all reports so far the Axiom would hit on.

This same thing seems to be a strong point of the Axiom so to me that makes it a great value option for similar performance, if I lived in the US where the Axiom pricing is incredible I'd be snapping one up as it's going to be the next PI detector with a big range of coils, obviously Detech are on the ball with them but it also sounds like an Aussie company is looking into it too and that's fantastic news.   If I didn't already have a 6000 I'd be picking the Axiom instead as I prefer it has settings, I prefer it's better build quality and I believe the aftermarket are going to do some great stuff with coils for it without restrictions like they clearly have on the 6000 coils.

I'm certainly not knocking the 5000, great detector and I really like mine and if you're happy with it that's all good, super versatile and rock solid design., the gold its missing is so small its not really worth anything anyway 🙂 I just live in a place where if I leave tiny bits in the ground they may be the only bit I will find so I go home empty bottled and finding even a tiny flake keeps it exciting.

I hope you get well soon, sounds like a significant issue to keep you out of action for a few years 😞  I bet you're itching to take that 5000 for a spin, hopefully you get that chance soon and find some good stuff with it.

Sorry for the novel, it's just the tiny gold sensitivity is something I'm quite passionate about as it's what I mostly find.

I can't wait to see what the aftermarket can do with coils for the Axiom, it appears to be doing very well with the stock coils so if the aftermarket can improve on that further it's pretty exciting.

[Steve Herschbach]

Mike, I worked with Minelab on the 5000, 6000, and 7000. The later models were specifically designed by Minelab to detect gold a 5000 can't even see. That's just a fact. It's not tuning error but electronics and timings. You don't know what you are missing because your detector can't see it.

This is however the Garrett Forum, not the Minelab Forum. If somebody likes the GPX 5000 and earlier models, Axiom will be a very familiar detecting experience, in a more modern package.

[afaitken]

I've been using the Axiom for quite a while now, it certainly is built 100% better than the 6000. It certainly is in the new class of all in one compact PI machines, and certainly is "similar" in performance using stock coils. Minelab have always had an edge on performance, usually at a cost - ie; stability, weight, build, etc... The Axiom seems to be the detector Minelab "should" have built after the 4500/5000 days. I absolutely love this Axiom detector (never thought an Aussie would say that about a Garrett?). The only improvement I really wanted to see was coils, and they are slowly in the works - so would I ever go back to a Minelab??? Show me a ZVT PI that's this light and well made with optional coils....and I'd consider it. But Minelab have become more of a sales and marketing team. Why make a new detector to fill a $10k void that really isn't there?