Questionable sensitivity on GP3000

Hey guys.....
Now...normally I use a Garrett AT Gold but I have borrowed a GP3000 to experiment with.
I have been over to an oval so I was away from interference. There was still a bit but it was pretty smooth....
No matter what combination of settings I used and I also followed start up instructions for tuning I cannot get the thing to detect a 0.5gr piece of lead unless its pretty much touching the coil....coins etc detect some distance away. I can get a tiny bit better results if on Mono (its the standard 11 inch DD) and of course it only works on one side of the coil on mono.....

Everything I hear and see on Minelabs like this show much, much better sensitivity....

What could the problem be...?????

Hey mate,

I had a small lead test piece i used to take out with me that my GP extreme with a 11'' DD would only just hear, similar to what you are saying. At the end of the day the older machines with a DD coil just dont cut it on the smaller stuff- its as simple as that i reckon. In the last week ive got more small nuggets with my new GPX5000 than i got in 2 years with my extreme!

May be you could try running a small mono like a Sadie or something if the ground conditions will allow it??? I tried running a sadie on my extreme a couple times bit it was way too noisy.

aha that is interesting......more and more its looking like a 4500 or a 5000 for me IF i am to upgrade fromt the AT Gold...thanks

Guys if you are after small bits less than 3 gms use sensitive(not normal or deep salt ) and a 14" elip mono coil or smaller.

 Correction I meant salt not deep. Did not use deep when in very noisy ground..

When I had my 3000 I used to run mine in sensitive and deep. My 3000 was a very good detector.

Cheers.

Mike.   

hi guys, if its anything like my extreme try sensitive, and deep however use a smaller mullock type of coil, i use a 10X5 commander , this has found a couple of bits around 4 to 6 inches down also bird shot a couple of inches down.

this is in the golden triangle with high mineralization.

make sure you aren't missing the "whispers"

cheers

Laurie

Laurie,

Do you use mono or DD coils on your extreme?

Regards,
Jerry

hi jerry,

I have to use DD in the triangle!

you lose a bit of depth with DD but they run a lot quieter

I borrowed a 11" mono a little while back to try and it was hopeless due to the warbling and i couldn't tune it out.

you could try one of those anti interference coils maybe?

cheers

Laurie

Laurie,

Thanks for the info. I use a Coiltek 14inch DD Pro Elite, and it is stable and runs very quiet. I tried a 14 inch mono, it is a lot more sensitive and harder to get used to.

The issue I have with the mono is that the area where I detect has a lot of rubbish left over from the old timers and with a mono you cannot discriminate. I try and dig everything, but this is just not possible sometimes...

How long have you had your Extreme? Have you had much success with it?

Regards,
Jerry

hi jerry

i actually turn my discrimination off, so i dont miss out on relics!

i had no luck with the extreme and i was blaming the machine...then some educated prospectors (thanks golden and Phoenix) gave me some instructions on settings, and how and where to detect and took me out into the field and showed me how to do it!.

it was invaluable as now since 02 january ive picked up 4 pieces, all due to their tutoring.

im going for a 5000 but the extreme is a great machine.

my tips to you....
1. scrub the ground with the coil, if you can, rake away the leaf litter and keep the coil on the ground.
2. swing slow
3. ground balance often if you are in a mineralized area ir a lot of interference.
4. listen for the whispers, and investigate everything, if in a trashy area, use a magnet to grab any iron or ferrous stuff and sweep again.

just so you know, most gold doesnt boom out, it whispers to you unless its the hand of faith!

hope this helps mate

cheers

Laurie

Thanks for the advice Laurie. I appreciate it.

Habs74,
I still use ML3000 (got 2)and don't use a DD very often. I learnt with a garret deepseeker so noise is not a problem when using a ML3000. Discrimination is really only feasible with VLF detectors for most people. I have found 40+ oz of nuggets (and about 70 gold rings and a few buckets of pre-decimal coins ) with VLF detectors and many times more oz of gold with ML3000. One thing that I found that most beginners miss out on gold, because they believe in discrimination and swing there detector at the wrong speed. I have found shallow ground is normally the most erratic and the newbie goes very slow, and the deeper ground is quieter and they speed up their swing and miss the deeper nuggets. The best thing you can do is put in the time and think about what you have done and are doing when out in the gold fields.

geof_junk wrote:Guys if you are after small bits less than 3 gms use sensitive(not normal or deep salt ) and a 14" elip mono coil or smaller.

 Correction I meant salt not deep. Did not use deep when in very noisy ground..

Hey Geoff I am using a 3000, can you give me a bit more info on this? the ground I'm working is pretty noisy. I have always only used the normal soil timing to recover gold. If I use the sensitive soil timing for the smaller pieces will this help?

Decide if the noisy ground is due to salt or iron mineralization.
If salt you can use salt setting with loss of normal depth best
choice is wait till it dries out or is fully soaked.

If iron mineralization is the problem then use sensitive this is
like fine gold on the 5000 were you lose some depth on larger
nuggets but the smaller ones come through clearer and crisp.
Don't be afraid to lift the coil a bit of the ground if it is still too
noisy, because although it is very noisy the iron mineralization
ground is usually quite shallow.
Once you have 3000 set up, you can decide on
the speed to detect : slow for the FlyS..t or faster to cover the
that most people walk away from after a hour or so.
The main thing is THINK about what you are doing and what is
causing the problems.

Hey Geof, thanks for this reply. Where I am detecting the soil is red dermosol and very clay based (the ground is moderately deep although the tiniest of nuggets get stuck in the clay) I got a 0.16g at 2" in this stuff with a 16" mono had the boost on deep and the soil switch normal.

Cheers GG

GOLDGASM wrote:Hey Geof, thanks for this reply. Where I am detecting the soil is red dermosol and very clay based (the ground is moderately deep although the tiniest of nuggets get stuck in the clay) I got a 0.16g at 2" in this stuff with a 16" mono had the boost on deep and the soil switch normal.

Cheers GG

To get tiny pieces under those conditions I would use a 14 or 12" elliptical mono, set in "double d" mode with manual ground tracking and sensitive. Great care in keeping swing at constant height and moderate width.
You are in the best position to find the most suited setting by using your own setting till you find another nugglet and then testing the signal with other settings and coils before digging it up. Remember that it not the loudest but the clearest signal you are after. Maybe some one else may add their ideas to the topic.

Thanks again.

GG