4500 Target Signal Dissappears after digging

Hi,

This week I hired out a GPX 4500 and it was the first time using this machine. Got to say what a machine compared to what I have used previously.

I have waited for such a machine to arrive since the intro of the SD's in which I owned the 2200.

To be able to swing a machine all day and hear that constant smooth hum was awesome.

My question. I came across 2 targets where you can just hear a signal. After removing an inch or so off the soil the signal disappears.

Was this ground noise or did I have to remove an extra 3 or 4 inches?

Thank You

hey mate, could have been a hotrock or could have been ground noise... your better of checking anything that breaks the threshold
cheers
stoppsy

Thanks Stoppsy.

The 4500 is a gem of a machine.

they are a good detector i found heaps of gold with my old one loved it... what coil was you running on the 45?
cheers
stoppsy

11" Mono.

I used to belong to the BPC. One of the best prospecting clubs in Victoria. This was 12 years ago.

I owned an SD 2200 but I sold it off quickly and stopped prospecting. What i expected for the money back then i have found it today in the 4500.

Tried the AT Gold last week at Maryborough and gave up after 45 minutes then went in and spoke with Doug at Coiltek and hired a 4500. Awesome machine and I was in heaven walking around in the bush with a clear constant smooth threshold hum. It was like I was coin hunting with little ground interference. One thing I noticed. Back in the day you could walk 10 metres off the main road and pick up a few bits of Gold but its not as easy today.

Last week I tried the Whites TDI Pro as well but the threshold hum was not as smooth as the 4500. It could of been due to storm interference but not sure.

I am going to wait till the 5500 or 6000 is launched then might buy a used GPX 4500 which may sell for around $3000 to $3500 in 6 months time. The detectors can only get better but the 4500 I think is awesome and in the near future it may be regarded as a bare minimum machine to buy once they drop in price and people start asking - Which detector do you suggest if I am starting off?

Thanks for replying.

the 5's are even quieter than the 45's sometimes you have to check to see if it working i know what you mean about how smooth they are great with the nuggetfinder coils, my dad was using an sd2000 for years. we did find gold with it but i said if i can find you a good 45 or 5 would you sell the sd and use the 45 or 5? well i think it was the best move i made him do, i got him a 5000 for $5000 and he's only had it for a month only going out now and then he's already picked up about 6 grams. i think jumping from the ratty old sd (some days it was good) to something that runs that smooth has done wonders.

let me know when you buy a 45...
cheers
stoppsy

G'day Wolfau.

If you've carefully scanned the dirt you took out and still not a whisper of sound,it be most likely ground noise.If it were a positive hot rock, you still would have picked it up,if that were the culprit from the beginning.If it were a tiny positive bit of rusty steel or fine tiny flat bit of gold,these targets once bought up from their original resting place,can have the tendency to loose their "surrounding halo" (which helped you hear their signal in the first place) hence the faint signal you heard from that small target response,is no longer capable of being heard or picked up by your coil,unless it is basically touched upon by the most sensitive part of the coil. The only time you'd need to remove 3-4 extra inches of dirt is if the signal was persistantly still there coming out of the hole,or if it were getting louder the deeper you went.

Cheers kon61.

Will do Stoppsy. The coil was a commander 11" Mono.

HI Kon I think it may of been a hotrock or ground noise. I dig all targets anyway its a habit I have of doing being an experienced coin shooter.

Why I asked the question is because I spoke with another prospector who said to me if you can't hear the signal the 2nd time after taking off an inch or 2 off the surface to dig more soil and it may be there. I found this odd because either the target is there or not but was not sure how the 4500 worked.

Thanks for replying.

Hi Wolfau,
I was told on a training days to do the following:
When signal is heard to step back.Scrape little bit of soil with your boot.
Ground balance the machine again.
Go very very slowly over the area/target.
If signal is clear or stronger start digging.
If its not or if the signal is not stronger once your removed couple of inches of the soil -fill up the hole and keep walking.
GoldEN

Hi guys, I am no expert on the 4500 but I do tend to recall that if you are runnung the machine in "tracking" instead of "fixed", you can balance a small signal out, so therefore Wolfau, where you in "fixed" or "tracking"? If you were in "tracking", may pay to do another visit to the spot if you're in the area. If you were in "fixed" then what the other boys have said is all correct.
Cheers

Another possibility worth considering, and I've concluded that this was responsible a few times when the same thing happened to me, is that your original signal came from the broader flat side of a small, shallow, thin target being exposed to your coil but, when you've taken off the top few inches of soil, you've removed the target and caused its thin edge to be facing your coil, thereby, if it's small enough, not producing the same audible response. I have had this happen several times, almost to the point of walking away in frustration. Being a stubborn old bugger however, persistence paid off and, after moving the pile around a bit, flattening it out and going through it thoroughly, bit by bit, I've picked up the signal again and the target was found. Not all targets were gold but certainly enough have been to ensure I don't walk away from similar signals without checking thoroughly.
Max.

Don, t know if this is relevent, but Went out on sat to some heavily worked ground with my 45, and got a small signal, dug it, and it disapeared......had me stuffed for a while, untill I remembered the magnet on my pick, checked it and sure enough, along with all the little rocks was a tiny piece of steel.....

Sounds like the Z i had pre-software update