GPX 6000 And GPZ 7000 Difficult Vs Normal

[phrunt]

I found this guy's video interesting; he bought a 12" Concentric X-coil prototype for his GPZ off Dave Dench and was using it to compare to other coils/detectors for his own interest really but decided to film some stuff.  He's not associated with X-coils in any way and bought both of his X-coils and the 12" Concentric he is using is a prototype and never released to the public for sale so he was lucky to be able to buy it off Dave.

I already own all the coils in question in the video so already knew my results so I wasn't all that interested in that part of the video however what stood out to me in his video was the performance difference between Normal and Difficult on the 6000, I've heard a lot of people say there is very little in it, I always felt differently that difficult is fairly neutered compared to normal but I put it down to my soils, then I see this guy's video in Western Australia's red dirt and he's seeing the same as I do by the looks of it.

You can skip to about the 10-minute mark to just see the difference he's seeing between normal and difficult on the 6000 if you don't have interest in the GPZ side of it.  He found some targets and compared the detectors and coils on them, the targets turned out to be gold.

I guess the people confident that there is very little difference between normal and difficult could be basing that off their soil where normal isn't working as well as it can so its performance is hindered making it more like the performance of difficult but for people that can run in normal on the 6000, they will quite clearly see the difference in performance between the two modes with normal being significantly better.

The GPZ is the same although I think the performance difference is much more dramatic, if I had to run the GPZ in difficult I'd be quite disappointed by its performance as I've been spoilt by my soil conditions meaning I can mostly run in normal everywhere and I think that's partly why some think the 6000 is doing better for them than the 7000 did, as the 6000 even in difficult is better than the 7000 on very small gold in standard coil setups regardless of which of the modes you're in.  In 7000 with a smaller coil in soils that it can run effectively in normal is a beast so I hope if there ever is a GPZ 8000 they have improved the ground handling enough so people stuck in difficult can experience the power of normal in their soils and that I think will be the key to the 8000's success along with offering the right size and types of coils.

I even go as far as putting up with a noisy normal than switching to difficult on the GPZ as I've proven to myself time and time again that if I was in difficult on the GPZ, I'd miss so much gold and by the looks of his video he would be missing a lot of gold in difficult on the 6000 he'd find in normal too.  If he had not cleared the rocks around where the nugget was to get the GPX coil very close to the ground it would entirely miss the gold in difficult but likely would find it in normal.

 

[PhaseTech]

Good video, but pretty expected results there.

- Smaller coils better on smaller shallow stuff

- The bigger coil did better on the largest target compared to the smaller targets. 

- Threshold ON on the 6000 is better than threshold OFF, even with a lower sensitivity

There was only 1 comparison of Difficult vs Normal on the 6000 am I correct? There wasn't a huge difference, and the coil height was being varied as he was trying to replicate sweeping over the rocks, so hard to draw any conclusions based on that. 

The biggest difference I've seen on the 6000 between difficult and normal is with the 14" DD coil, and even then it's maybe an inch or two on a 7g target. I've also seen a little difference with the 17"x13" coil,  but the ground has to be very dry for me to be able to run it. We've had some drier weather here lately, so I've got a couple spots in mind to have a look. Hoping for some 0.5 - 2g bits that might be just out of range of the 11" or 12x7", AND that haven't been picked up with the GPZ yet, which is probably the harder part haha. 

But at the end of the day, in the video, all combos got all three targets. With gold detecting it really comes down to "is it telling me to stop and investigate?". If the answer is yes, then it's a tick. 

[phrunt]

12 minutes ago, PhaseTech said:

There was only 1 comparison of Difficult vs Normal on the 6000 am I correct? There wasn't a huge difference, and the coil height was being varied as he was trying to replicate sweeping over the rocks, so hard to draw any conclusions based on that. 

Yep, I thought the target really brightened up quite a bit when he switched the 6000 to normal, in difficult he had to have the coil pushed to the ground to get a reasonable response.   Videos like this are a bit problematic too as he knows the target is there so he can really zone in on it, if you're sweeping normal speed on the search would you see a target that needs a bit of work to find even when you know where it is, if you're cleaning a patch maybe but looking for one, very unlikely.   He also pointed out due to the rocks all over the ground it's unlikely he would have been able to find it in difficult on the 6000 as the coil needed pushed to the ground, whereas in normal he said he thinks he would have found it as the extra depth was there.  

I am wondering if many people can't really see the difference between difficult and normal as if you're trying to run normal in soil it's not working properly in, you're not seeing normal working to its potential.  

Difficult and normal do appear closer in performance on the 6000 than the 7000 although for me normal is still noticeably better, on the 7000 the difference is significant. for me at least with normal leaving difficult for dead.

[PhaseTech]

Yep, the difference on the 7000 is very obvious, and well documented. Love spots where I can run Normal, but they were quickly "rushed". 

[Gold Catcher]

Running the GPZ always in normal does not capture its full potential and versatlity, IMO. Sure, normal gives often the best results, but I have had plenty of occasions where difficult with both HY and general gave better results, pending on soil conditions, target depths and other parameters. Nothing fits all needs, and dynamically adjusting the settings and optimizing them for the day's needs is the best way to maximize the potential of the GPZ, or that of any other detector for that matter. Re GPX, the 12x7 allows to run in normal most of the time where I hunt, with only a very subtle difference to difficult, and then evident only for shallow targets in my experience. Thus far, I have not yet encountered a target with the gpx that I would have only heard in normal and not in difficult, with exception perhaps of a few microscopic flakes in < 0.5 inch depth.

GC

[Aureous]

Where Sam and Tanya are up North of Duketon, the ground is mild like Tibooburra. All decomposed granite, like beach sand lol. Ideal for Normal on the 6000. Looks red and hot, but the dirt is totally non magnetic, even HF VLF detectors like the GB2 love it there...

[phrunt]

7 hours ago, Aureous said:

Where Sam and Wendy are up North of Duketon, the ground is mild like Tibooburra. All decomposed granite, like beach sand lol. Ideal for Normal on the 6000. Looks red and hot, but the dirt is totally non magnetic, even HF VLF detectors like the GB2 love it there...

yes, he did point out he normally can't run normal so taking advantage of it while he can I guess 🙂

With me being in very mild soil, likely even more mild than he is I notice the difference between normal and difficult easier, even with the 6000 I see a notable difference in performance.    The people who see little difference I think their soil is playing a role in that. some people likely even find normal performs worse than difficult.

I just hope the goal of the GPZ 8000 is to provide people who currently have to run in difficult the performance I see in normal in their difficult soils.  They've narrowed the gap on the 6000 so fingers crossed they can do it on the 8000 too, it would sure make old ground new again I think.

[Deep Beeps]

I love running the GPZ wide open in Normal when I can here in California, Nevada & Arizona.... I average more gold at the end of the day in Normal. But I agree with Gold Catcher.... There are times when Difficult is the way to go. Im in that situation as we speak. Hunting multiple spots in different geology right now. In the metamorphic gravels Im able to rip it wide open in Normal. The granite area (which had been claimed up by a professional detectorist for years) has lots of iron decomposed in it and need to run in Difficult to pick pieces out they missed.

I remember reading a chippy back-and-forth with Johnathan Porter and some guy working with X-Coils in OZ over this issue. What stuck with me was that JP stated that the GPZ has a nugget size window that it is subpar in Normal compared to Difficult. This is naturally due to the timing differences between the two settings. 

[Gold Catcher]

It all depends on multiple factors and there is no one fits all setting for any detector, in particular not for the 7000. It's a beginner's mistake to always run everything the same way. At the detecting edge normal/difficult has an edge in hot soil at depth. I have observed this many times over where I hunt, with normal cranked up giving no repeatable signal at all. I recall JP made a video on this, quite convincing actually in his particular situation as well. (Wish he would come back. No idea what happened to him. IMO he was one of the most experienced and insightful detectorist on DP. So many have learnded so much from him, me included).

GC