Have Detector Companies Hit A Wall

[Aureous]

I think Steve hit the nail right on the head.... aside from the 'Detector tech hitting the wall' question, Minelab, as the world leaders in detector technology, are slowly failing....even if they dont see it. Competition is here with much more to come. The GPZ7000 replacement has been sitting on the bench for a couple years now and without the actual 'hitting the ball outta the park'  analogy coming true, then all the small, incremental improvements aint gonna be enough to sway the serious purchaser into ditching their Legacy GPX, 6000 or 7000 machines. As Minelab's own motto goes 'Performance is Everything' and this actual, serious performance increase will be the ONLY thing that keeps ML at the top of the heap. Not only do the serious guys buy a lot of detectors, but their in-field results drive sales. Nothing sells like success....

[Aureous]

3 hours ago, brogansown said:

To think way outside the box, I need a tiny receiver in my detector to point me to my scoop that I keep losing all over the hills.  I'll glue a transmitter chip to the scoop and swing this new detector feature around my back trail to find it.  

No need for anything fancy, just a short length of shock cord tied onto the handle of your scoop and a holster. Ive used this method of scoop retention for over 20 years now... aint lost once since ?

[RONS DETECTORS MINELAB]

1 hour ago, jasong said:

I think it's possible right now actually. To some degree, I think this may be an end goal of Geosense, but I'm unsure. Maybe that was an application of the patent?

Minelabs definition of GeoSense-PI™ technology analyses and responds to ground signals with great clarity and precision, so you can detect in difficult environments once thought undetectable. It rapidly suppresses unwanted signals via three overlapping feedback systems for superfast detection of even the tiniest gold pieces.
 

Sounds like Minelab did improve on the 6000 handling with Geosense over the previous DVT & SETA systems by adding a third feedback system. Maybe they can add more feedback systems to even better remove more unwanted signals.
 

Still not overly sure how it works as it does not handle the more mineralized ground conditions we have here. It works more like the salt/gold timings on the 5000 as it can handle conductive ground but will still hear the more mineralized ground conditions.

[phrunt]

Are you sure the 3rd one isn't auto sensitivity adjustment? 

[RONS DETECTORS MINELAB]

20 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Are you sure the 3rd one isn't auto sensitivity adjustment? 

Not sure!

I would like to understand the secret of Geosense better but have not seen any technical explanation of it yet.

I would compare the 6000’s timings to Salt/Gold & Fine Gold for the way it handles conductive ground and the mineralization.

 

 

[jasong]

3 hours ago, RONS DETECTORS MINELAB said:

Minelabs definition of GeoSense-PI™ technology analyses and responds to ground signals with great clarity and precision, so you can detect in difficult environments once thought undetectable. It rapidly suppresses unwanted signals via three overlapping feedback systems for superfast detection of even the tiniest gold pieces.
 

Sounds like Minelab did improve on the 6000 handling with Geosense over the previous DVT & SETA systems by adding a third feedback system. Maybe they can add more feedback systems to even better remove more unwanted signals.
 

Still not overly sure how it works as it does not handle the more mineralized ground conditions we have here. It works more like the salt/gold timings on the 5000 as it can handle conductive ground but will still hear the more mineralized ground conditions.

I wish they weren't so opaque on what it's actually doing. But I suspect - and this is just a guess - that we will see more robust improvements in the future dealing with hotter and more variable ground. Cutting a great deal of ground noise and EMI out while maintaining sensitivity to gold would make a detector I am definitely interested in throwing money at. 

Like with most tech, the initial attempts are usually rudimentary and not very impressive, but improve with further revisions. I'm kinda curious to see what they can do there, wether with Geosense or whatever comes after it and improves on it. 

[GoodAmount]

I’d put my bets on VLF-like multi frequency/6000-Geosense approach, but with multiple concurrent ZVT timings plus Algo-like discrimination. You can be guaranteed Minelab will have developed highly complex algorithms to match the capacity of current chipsets to get the most out of the machine in deep, hot, variable ground. I wouldn’t even mind if it was heavier than the Algo or 6000. I’d be surprised (and disappointed) if the 8000 doesn’t reinvigorate old patches and open new ground like the Equinox 800 did for relics, coins and small-gold hunting.