Jonathon Porter views

G'day JP

A picture is worth a thousand words but unfortunately your picture has a few words unsaid. What I am interested in for the sake of comparison is the actual depth of the hole and the weight of the gold in the "lump". I can see it's a fair sized hole but it's also a fair sized "lump" and going by the rough length of peoples legs the hole looks to be about 2 to 2 1/2 ft deep. As I said this is for comparison to other machines which I'm sure could detect a lump that big at that depth etc so it does not tell us anything about the capabilities of the 5000.

If of course the hole is deeper than it appears and the gold less than it looks, then that alters the equasion.

Regards
Jim

Speci weighs over 500 grams, won't know how much is inside until it gets the dolly pot treatment, but I would say it is at least half volume weight gold and yes was found at approx 2 1/2 feet. Was found using the production version GPX-5000 using Normal timings in well worked ground. Would the GPX-4500 have found it? Most probably, hard to say but I feel certain the 5000 made it a heck of a lot easier. Little hint here, the GPX-5000 is much quieter overall in all ground types and in every timing compared to the previous GP and GPX series machines not just Enhance and Fine gold.

Fine Gold and Enhance have similar outright depth on large targets but I would advise when using the larger coils in deep ground using Enhance as there is less ground effect compared to Fine Gold (Fine Gold is more sensitive), Enhance is a big improvement over the 4500 thanks to quieter overall behavior and also maturity in design of the electronics (which means get back to your deep noisy gold spots using the 5000 in Enhance with a big coil).

There are big differences in behavior in coil sizes using the Fine Gold and Enhance timings so it pays to go over ground with a variety of coil sizes and shapes. In the shallow country I found a 17" Elliptical mono to be the sweet spot for outright sensitivity and coverage when prospecting in noisy ground in WA especially when the gold is scattered about, for best depth round coils are much better on the fainter responses.

The new Salt/Gold timing is a mixed bag (its a hybrid timing about mid way between Fine Gold/Enhance and Normal), sensitivity/behavior is strange, with ridiculous sensitivity to small gold then signing off a bit on mid range targets and then coming in very strong again (almost the full depth of Normal) on large targets whilst ignoring most of the salt/conductive response Note: large coils will still be problematic on salt lakes due to mineralisation mixed with the conductive component of the ground, so smaller coils will be generally better on WA salt lakes. Areas in creeks where salt is a problem (puffy alkali ground) or on some conductive flats were surprising how quiet the detector ran but the timing will take some getting used to due to the mix up positions of the channels (responses will be a lot different to other timings (high/low etc)).

More later :-)

JP

Edit: Slightly over exposed picture of hole from above.

JP

Good stuff, thanks for that.

Great find by the way

Jim

Hi JP - thanks for the update and info. I'm looking forward to trying out the 5000 next year - I'll probably pick one up in a couple months. Good to have you back in civilization.

Chris

Thanks JP for the pre-release overview of the 5000 timings...

Nice nugget >>> DEEP HOLE

Regards

Well done JP.

And now the QWEDy thingy is another model behind !

Cheers,
Rick

I've read that much negativity about the 5000 since its announced release..and all from people who have not even layed eyes on one yet!

Complaints about the colour scheme up the side...who gives a rats! they can send me a pink one...I don't care as long as it does what it's designed to do and I have no doubt it will!
I like the upside down front plate, suits me fine as I always lift the coil up to change settings on the front.

Aesthetics aside, any improvement over the 4500 is a huge selling point for me, as the 4500 I have now is a brilliant machine.

Thanks Jp for putting in laymans what I've been trying to decypher off the brochures

i have found jonathons dvds very helpfull and hope he brings out one on the 5000,

why is it when someone brings out something to help us find gold, people knock them? and of course they are not going to do it for free......

whats $70 bucks for a dvd....not even 2 grams of gold.

Good info JP.

Would it be useful to go over the same ground with the same coil but using the whole array of timings or is there a usually a one best fit of coil/timings/ground type?

Cheers.

JP you certainly dont have to explain to me or anyone else where youve been and what youve been doing etc i was trying to high light that the new machine is out there already finding gold, i have no doubt that distributers, minelab empolyees [hence Nero] have been and are operating the new machine, i dont no for how long or on what ground but its not rocket science to work out there could be hundreds going flat out for the last week or so, if thats the case it wouldnt be fair, but i was NOT trying to have a dig at you personally at all, and do apologise if it was taken that way.


And i might even be wrong about the number of 5000's already out there.

jp in deep ground would u use normal?

you will be able to buy steak this week jp,, good find, and thanks for the info on the 5000, and dont let the bloke with the multiple personalities get to ya ,,, cheers

I only have two personalitys sober and ppssed and maybe another early in the morning after being on the ppss.

nero_design wrote:

Jonathan Porter wrote:
The coil is an 18" NF Advantage and it poops all over the 16" round by a very silly margin.

LOL! Nugget Finder (the Manufacturer) told me something quite different when we were discussing coil differences you daft digger.
But good for you!

fill us in nero, what did rowen say about the 16" coil?

I don't know what others views are on this, but I think that if Minelab had any brains, they should just go and buy a heap of DVDs from JP, and sell them as standard with the machine. Who cares if they charged another $70 they're worth that easy. There's no point having the latest and greatest if you don't know how to use it properly.
Cheers

gollstar wrote:....... i dont no for how long or on what ground but its not rocket science to work out there could be hundreds going flat out for the last week or so, if thats the case it wouldnt be fair, but i was NOT trying to have a dig at you personally at all, and do apologise if it was taken that way.


And i might even be wrong about the number of 5000's already out there.

I seriously doubt if any dealer in Australia has a GPX-5000 let alone out flogging the local patches before the release, I deliberately keep away from well know areas specifically for this reason as I feel it is unfair. By the look of things a lot of the info/pictures posted to the net so far have been lifted off the Minelab web site. I should also point out although some of the testing has been drawn out over a pretty lengthy time period I have only just recently started using the final production version myself and the thought of spending weeks in front of a camera and then computer screen is not an appetizing one when I could be out taking advantage of what the GPX-5000 has to offer.

JP

Thank you for that insight, i had images of shops taking delivery of the 5000 up to a fortnight ago and opening them up and having a crack i also presumed they may hand them out too close friends and the like, my first post does seem nasty after looking at it again but sandy was right i should think about what i write before posting, hope you did well out there.

Great work JP. Just watch the Critics come out of the woodwork now. I don't know how you can answer some Posts without seeing red.(maybe you do).
I for one have watched your excellently produced Videos, and I have ordered a new 5000 and like many others on this Forum look forward to your comments on this Detector. Don't let them get you down.
Cheers Doug

Thanks for your comments JP, very much appreciated

I suppose like everything it all comes back to the operator. You get the results for you understand the machine, the terrain and know what to look for.

But for Mr Average, is it really worth it? Many of us are still coming to grips with the 4500, what would we do with a few more variables?

Jeff

nero_design wrote:

Jonathan Porter wrote:
The coil is an 18" NF Advantage and it poops all over the 16" round by a very silly margin.

LOL! Nugget Finder (the Manufacturer) told me something quite different when we were discussing coil differences you daft digger.
But good for you!

hi marco

what did rowen say about the 16" coil?

$6500 sounds a lot of money, but when you consider it is 8 detectors in one, $6500 is really very cheap. If you break it down you are paying a poultry $812.50 per detector + a free coil. What more could you ask for!
I love you Bruce Candy!!!

JP,

Stop singing the praises of NF coils PLEASE. I have had a 12" and a 17" on B/O for three months with no hint of any delivery in the near future.

I like the new set-up on the front, but I would have liked shorter, harder to knock switch "thingies". I often think about getting my little grinding wheel and cutting half the length off, but worry they might tell me I have voided my warranty.

I like your white rock. Once in Laverton, a professional detector operator pulled a half full bank bag from under his bed to demonstrate a point he was making - all gold in calcrete. My eyes nearly popped out.

All the best in WA.

Jigalong

is that whhite stuff calcrete?

First posting ever to a forum so here goes. I am a full time JP fan (looking forward to the new DVD mate ? ) Just ordered a GPX5000 based on nothing more than.......... every Minelab I have ever bought was an improvement on the one I traded in and............... I can hide the control box graphics with a protective sleeve TIC

You might have been better to buy a boat Dave. I reckon we've had 3" since midnight. It has rained continuously for 8 hours and still going strong. I might swim up and see Millsy later today

Robert

Hi , Well its been a long wait but great to see minelabs new toy . I want one bad but did i get the retail correct @ $6995 , or was i delirious from heat exhaustion . Thanks for your input jp as with your experienced opinion it can sway people to purchase the new 5000 or stick with the old 4500 with my tax cheque in my hot little hand i,m bustn to buy somthing

hotrockgarry wrote:Hi , Well its been a long wait but great to see minelabs new toy . I want one bad but did i get the retail correct @ $6995 ,

no the rrp is $6700
but don't pay over $6400 if paying cash...you might even get one for $6300 if you say please.
cheers

Hotrockgarry,
Pardon my ignorance, but what is the significance of the blazed tree and the obelisk in the photo you added to your post ? It looks interesting.
Thanks,
Jigalong