what do you think

with the 5000 gain 14 , stab 6 boost and deep what would you jack up first gain or stab if the ground allow it kanga 1934

G'day Kanga

I'm no GPX 5000 specialist, but I'll try answering your question with as much common sense as common sense allows.
Firstly, it is the ground that almost always, determines what the most comfortable timings/settings to be used are.
Regardles of search mode used, where the ground allows, both the gain as well as stabiliser, should be jacked up to a point where ones threshold remains constantly smooth/stable. I know there are some out there with a higher tolerance to ground noise by keeping the gain jacked up at a higher than necessary level & their threshold slightly on the not so smooth/stable side (as a preferred way of searching) believing they're getting an edge depth difference, over a more quieter/stable ground setting, but in reality they're not. There's only so much gain one can increase/use in any settings/timing, before the gain loses any advantage in way of depth over positive targets, before reverting to falsing on/over ground signals, that just aren't there.
The stabilizer, should be increased to a point where faint positive signal responses, are at their loudest, whilst keeping ground noise level to a minimum, by running a smooth threshold.
Once the soil conditions have been determined & the gain/audio settings adjusted to suit the ground conditions, the stabilizer, is then adjusted to fine tune the threshold stability. As the GPX 5000 manual states under "stabilizer", one number bellow the point at which the threshold begins to chatter, is generally the best setting.
When set correctly, the Stabilizers job is to provide a stable threshold, improving ones ability to identify faint "positive" in ground target signals, whilst masking or cancelling out, faint variations coming from false ground signal responses.

Cheers Kon.  

kon 61 thank for reply it gives me something to work on thank again kqanga1934

I reckon you might want to put the 5000 back into factory presets and start from there......trust the electronics...they work without being 'pimped out'

Hi kanga, you can try and make your own test patch[different depths] ,it's quite interesting and a fun thing to do,I used aluminum as my test target ,leads OK as well.
You can play round with the settings.
I found boost in the audio gives me that little extra zip but you have to put up with a little more squawking.
It's an individual thing I guess,what suits me may not suit you.

cheers moredeep

A simple test bed is a length of 20/25mm pvc pipe buried at 45°.
A length of fishing line/string with a lead sinker/nugget to lower to various depths while fiddling with your settings.
If you're any good with maths you can draw a graph to work out various vertical depths. Tag your line with corresponding depths.

just my opinion....test beds are great to demonstrate things but what value are they really? I can easily tell you the settings that will give your detector
maximum depth in 'most' situations...but can you use it hour after hour? That is the point everyone forgets...using a detector is a game of balance between getting the most out of your machine and not going insane.

tony p wrote:just my opinion....test beds are great to demonstrate things but what value are they really? I can easily tell you the settings that will give your detector
maximum depth in 'most' situations...but can you use it hour after hour? That is the point everyone forgets...using a detector is a game of balance between getting the most out of your machine and not going insane.

My 2 bobs worth, a test bed will teach you so much in how to use your machine and how to adjust machine with diferent settings. When you get out in different soil conditions you will be more confident that yes more gain, more stabiliser, deep to normal, and audio ect will put you in a much better position to set machine and be confident.

I find with the 5000 that if there is any chatter or non target sounds at all I lose all common sense as to what is or is not a signal. So I have to run the thing quiet as a mouse. For me that is usually factory preset then onto quiet audio. Then if it is still very quiet I try to get the gain and stab up a bit. That is the extent of my ability with the 5000 at this time, being fairly unexperenced with it.

I reckon your right on the money Sparrowfart.....I know people are desperate to find gold and people 'think' if they run the gain at 18 they will find more...I would argue that they miss the faint targets. There is the 'placebo' effect and if people think that certain settings will work better then there is a strong argument that they will for those people. I personally believe that the 'edge' people look for has nothing to do with the detector...like I said...trust the electronics. As always...only my opinion

tony p wrote:I reckon your right on the money Sparrowfart.....I know people are desperate to find gold and people 'think' if they run the gain at 18 they will find more...I would argue that they miss the faint targets. There is the 'placebo' effect and if people think that certain settings will work better then there is a strong argument that they will for those people.  I personally believe that the 'edge' people look for has nothing to do with the detector...like I said...trust the electronics.  As always...only my opinion

Hi Tony, I find myself very much in agreement with you on this. It's amazing what you can do when your "spidey" sense is full out. I think it would be good if we could harness or electronically enhance  the placebo effect. Hmmm... perhaps Minlab could take a look at this!

Sparrowfart wrote:

tony p wrote:I reckon your right on the money Sparrowfart.....I know people are desperate to find gold and people 'think' if they run the gain at 18 they will find more...I would argue that they miss the faint targets. There is the 'placebo' effect and if people think that certain settings will work better then there is a strong argument that they will for those people.  I personally believe that the 'edge' people look for has nothing to do with the detector...like I said...trust the electronics.  As always...only my opinion

Hi Tony, I find myself very much in agreement with you on this. It's amazing what you can do when your "spidey" sense is full out. I think it would be good if we could harness or electronically enhance  the placebo effect. Hmmm... perhaps Minlab could take a look at this!

If Minelab could 'bottle' that...what would happen to all the experts on youtube and fb etc???

Get one and get more gold i suppose.