Had Doubts But Not Anymore.

icepick wrote:

Jen58 wrote:

IGotBigNuggets wrote: WOW!!!

nice find guys.

All I got were 2 to 3 foot holes with iron junk at the bottom.  One thing for sure the Z goes deep!

Hi

Yep.. Last night I watched a few dig a target to 600mm deep. 
It sure does go deep.. 
So now my 50/50 thought of this machine has changed. 

I honestly don't think that's anything to crow about, seen a GPX5000 find a nice size nugget at around 90cm depth in WA.

G'day icepick,

Yes I know I have dug some very deep species in WA the last 2 years.  Have you ever detected here in the Golden Triangle in Vic?? If you have you should know that the ground here is a lot different to the ground in WA as most of our soils are made up of different minerals/clays which are very variable to say the least. We have a spot where we use to find 1 grammers only 4" and they were only a very slight ground change.  Where they should have banged in like a .22 Bullet lead.  We found the ground/soil were not as variable in WA, I know there are many areas that are highly mineralised and also salty over there which are very noisy.  
By the way what was the weight of the nugget and size of the coil being used.

Cheers.

Mike.

For what I've seen so far I think the 7000 is a great machine, I think that in time we will see the real potential, like any other ML metal detector results do not come the first week or two, but I'm sure Minelab has created another perfect machine. Perhaps it is a bit over priced, perhaps it is a bit heavy but that has never stopped us in the past, what is important is that does the job. I can't wait to have mine.

goldquest wrote:For what I've seen so far I think the 7000 is a great machine, I think that in time we will see the real potential, like any other ML metal detector results do not come the first week or two, but I'm sure Minelab has created another perfect machine. Perhaps it is a bit over priced, perhaps it is a bit heavy but that has never stopped us in the past, what is important is that does the job. I can't wait to have mine.

Hey Goldquest
Mate I agree with most of what you have said, time will tell a big story.

But in regards to the extra weight of the GPZ7000 this is directly related to the comfort & ease of use over extended periods of use, with the serious hobbyist swinging many hours per day in the search for patches or working patches.
I believe ones level of concentration is directly associated to the level of comfort one has during an activity & is also linked very closely to your fatigue levels.

From what I have seen in the video's when it comes to some target responses!!! if you are not at the top of your game then you may miss the slight signals, yes the same can be said for the GPX or any other detector, but what I am getting at here is that the extra weight of the GPZ7000 will increase the speed at which fatigue degrades your ability to concentrate fully.

I am not trying to be negative, just outlining that weight should always be considered a factor when detecting & more so balancing that weight be it the detector, pick or back pack, when you have all this balanced you will be able to work longer & therefore potentially get more "Gold" so if a GPZ causes you to get fatigued quicker, then potentially a GPX could get you more "Gold" due to productive time spent on the ground.

rc62burke wrote:

goldquest wrote:For what I've seen so far I think the 7000 is a great machine, I think that in time we will see the real potential, like any other ML metal detector results do not come the first week or two, but I'm sure Minelab has created another perfect machine. Perhaps it is a bit over priced, perhaps it is a bit heavy but that has never stopped us in the past, what is important is that does the job. I can't wait to have mine.

Hey Goldquest
Mate I agree with most of what you have said, time will tell a big story.

But in regards to the extra weight of the GPZ7000 this is directly related to the comfort & ease of use over extended periods of use, with the serious hobbyist swinging many hours per day in the search for patches or working patches.
I believe ones level of concentration is directly associated to the level of comfort one has during an activity & is also linked very closely to your fatigue levels.

From what I have seen in the video's when it comes to some target responses!!! if you are not at the top of your game then you may miss the slight signals, yes the same can be said for the GPX or any other detector, but what I am getting at here is that the extra weight of the GPZ7000 will increase the speed at which fatigue degrades your ability to concentrate fully.

I am not trying to be negative, just outlining that weight should always be considered a factor when detecting & more so balancing that weight be it the detector, pick or back pack, when you have all this balanced you will be able to work longer & therefore potentially get more "Gold" so if a GPZ causes you to get fatigued quicker, then potentially a GPX could get you more "Gold" due to productive time spent on the ground.

You are right about the weight and the fatigue, but I think should not be a problem for me, because I made my 5000 wireless, practicly I carry the battery, the rooster booster and the external speaker all attached to the control box, and weight all up 3.6 Kg with an 11" coil, against the 3.2 Kg of the new 7000, I will get mine in three weeks time, so I have to wait to test it, and after all I never detect for more than 5/6 hours per day.
Cheers

goldquest wrote:

rc62burke wrote:

goldquest wrote:For what I've seen so far I think the 7000 is a great machine, I think that in time we will see the real potential, like any other ML metal detector results do not come the first week or two, but I'm sure Minelab has created another perfect machine. Perhaps it is a bit over priced, perhaps it is a bit heavy but that has never stopped us in the past, what is important is that does the job. I can't wait to have mine.

Hey Goldquest
Mate I agree with most of what you have said, time will tell a big story.

But in regards to the extra weight of the GPZ7000 this is directly related to the comfort & ease of use over extended periods of use, with the serious hobbyist swinging many hours per day in the search for patches or working patches.
I believe ones level of concentration is directly associated to the level of comfort one has during an activity & is also linked very closely to your fatigue levels.

From what I have seen in the video's when it comes to some target responses!!! if you are not at the top of your game then you may miss the slight signals, yes the same can be said for the GPX or any other detector, but what I am getting at here is that the extra weight of the GPZ7000 will increase the speed at which fatigue degrades your ability to concentrate fully.

I am not trying to be negative, just outlining that weight should always be considered a factor when detecting & more so balancing that weight be it the detector, pick or back pack, when you have all this balanced you will be able to work longer & therefore potentially get more "Gold" so if a GPZ causes you to get fatigued quicker, then potentially a GPX could get you more "Gold" due to productive time spent on the ground.

You are right about the weight and the fatigue, but I think should not be a problem for me, because I made my 5000 wireless, practicly I carry the battery, the rooster booster and the external speaker all attached to the control box, and weight all up 3.6 Kg with an 11" coil, against the 3.2 Kg of the new 7000, I will get mine in three weeks time, so I have to wait to test it, and after all I never detect for more than 5/6 hours per day.
Cheers

Hi Goldquest

Mate I too have a wireless setup a "Little Ripper" & although yours adds the weight to the control box area in my opinion this helps to balance the unit out, I had a short time swinging the GPZ & I can tell you that the weight is all out the front & not balanced effectively, the weight has the effect of imparting greater kinetic energy to the swinging coil which requires greater effort from ones forearm to stop the swing on the ends, I guess this is the reason they supply the swing arm with it.

rc62burke wrote:

goldquest wrote:

rc62burke wrote:

goldquest wrote:For what I've seen so far I think the 7000 is a great machine, I think that in time we will see the real potential, like any other ML metal detector results do not come the first week or two, but I'm sure Minelab has created another perfect machine. Perhaps it is a bit over priced, perhaps it is a bit heavy but that has never stopped us in the past, what is important is that does the job. I can't wait to have mine.

Hey Goldquest
Mate I agree with most of what you have said, time will tell a big story.

But in regards to the extra weight of the GPZ7000 this is directly related to the comfort & ease of use over extended periods of use, with the serious hobbyist swinging many hours per day in the search for patches or working patches.
I believe ones level of concentration is directly associated to the level of comfort one has during an activity & is also linked very closely to your fatigue levels.

From what I have seen in the video's when it comes to some target responses!!! if you are not at the top of your game then you may miss the slight signals, yes the same can be said for the GPX or any other detector, but what I am getting at here is that the extra weight of the GPZ7000 will increase the speed at which fatigue degrades your ability to concentrate fully.

I am not trying to be negative, just outlining that weight should always be considered a factor when detecting & more so balancing that weight be it the detector, pick or back pack, when you have all this balanced you will be able to work longer & therefore potentially get more "Gold" so if a GPZ causes you to get fatigued quicker, then potentially a GPX could get you more "Gold" due to productive time spent on the ground.

You are right about the weight and the fatigue, but I think should not be a problem for me, because I made my 5000 wireless, practicly I carry the battery, the rooster booster and the external speaker all attached to the control box, and weight all up 3.6 Kg with an 11" coil, against the 3.2 Kg of the new 7000, I will get mine in three weeks time, so I have to wait to test it, and after all I never detect for more than 5/6 hours per day.
Cheers

Hi Goldquest

Mate I too have a wireless setup a "Little Ripper" & although yours adds the weight to the control box area in my opinion this helps to balance the unit out, I had a short time swinging the GPZ & I can tell you that the weight is all out the front & not balanced effectively, the weight has the effect of imparting greater kinetic energy to the swinging coil which requires greater effort from ones forearm to stop the  swing on the ends, I guess this is the reason they supply the swing arm with it.

Hi Lee, do you think that the hipstick can help to balance the weight?

Hey Goldquest

I sure do hope that the "Hipstick" will do the job as that is what I use currently, I am not a fan of the harness that is supplied & I like to have one hand free to lift branches & stuff.

rc62burke wrote:Hey Goldquest

I sure do hope that the "Hipstick" will do the job as that is what I use currently, I am not a fan of the harness that is supplied & I like to have one hand free to lift branches & stuff.

Thank you rc62burke, I hope so too, I don't like the harness that come with the 7000, I use one from Shingleback, very light and very strong.
Cheers

Hi guys ,
The original hip stick works fine with the GPZ as this is what I use and have no issues with it at all ... Goldquest - I too find the pro swing harness very uncomfortable to wear no matter what adjustments I have tried to do with it I just cant get the belt part to sit and stay where I like it .

gullyhunter wrote:Hi guys ,
The original hip stick works fine with the GPZ as this is what I use and have no issues with it at all ... Goldquest - I too find the pro swing harness very uncomfortable to wear no matter what adjustments I have tried to do with it I just cant get the belt part to sit and stay where I like it .

Thank you gullyhunter, that was my main concern, I had a car accident long time go that damaged my back, the hipstick help me a lot with the 5000, I am happy that will work well even with the 7000.
Cheers

gullyhunter wrote:Hi guys ,
The original hip stick works fine with the GPZ as this is what I use and have no issues with it at all ... Goldquest - I too find the pro swing harness very uncomfortable to wear no matter what adjustments I have tried to do with it I just cant get the belt part to sit and stay where I like it .

Hey thanks Gullyhunter

Have you given the GPZ a good work over yet, anything to report???

Hi Goldquest and RC,
Weight of the 7000 was my main worry prior to taking delivery of the beast; I have just returned from a three day "getting to know you" trip with the 7000.
Before heading off I spent some considerable time adjusting the supplied harness, the J struts in particular to a point where the harness felt comfortable and looked like it was molded around my frame.
The bungee attachment strap and its location on the detector shafts was another area that required some experimentation; in the end placing it at the top of the lower shaft proved to be the most ideal set-up.
From my three day experience the above configuration worked very well indeed and was a pleasure to detect/swing the 7000; six and seven hour days with a lunch break were not a problem and if anything a tad more comfortable that swinging the 5000 with a 17x11 NFA coil and bungee for the same periods.
In summary the three days were well spent learning the different settings and navigating through the different screen lay-outs and generally getting to know the machine.
While I did not find any gold on this trip the value was in the knowledge gained that will allow me to hit the ground running so to speak, next week when the serious detecting will begin.
Cheers,AUoptimist.

Hey AUoptimist

Thanks for the report, better luck next time!!

Thank you AUoptimist, this is what I wanted to hear, the weight was a little concern, I am not a spring chicken anymore, but if there is a way to make it more confortable, I will find it, adjusting the bungy cord or the harness or both.
Cheers

Hi Guys,
Yes, I will be on the wrong side of 70 in a couple of months and hence the concern regarding the weight of the 7000, especially over the next few years.
At this point in time I'm quite happy to look learn and listen to those folk that have a few more days experience with the new machine than myself and many thanks to them for posting their findings.
I'm trying hard not to get too tangled up with the negativity that is floating about on the forums; it reminds me of all of the comments that were posted around the time the 5000 was released, similar sort of stuff, no doubt those people are singing a different tune now some four and a half years on re: the 5000.
Still very early days with the 7000 and I'm certainly looking forward to swinging the new machine over some familiar ground later next week, bring it on.
Cheers, AUoptimist.

G'day AUoptimist

Good to see you are getting used to the new machine, no gold yet, but it will come, just need to be patient and get in a few more hours on it, I think its quite a big learning curve with this one.

cheers dave

G'day all

Ok we went out again today, with the idea of just getting to know the new machines behaviour, we have not got that many hours up on it yet, maybe 15 or so and compared to the previous machine this is like nothing.

So how did it go, well it found a small specie from an area that has not yielded a piece of gold since I used the GP extreme with a 14" DD pro coil, this spot I got 4.5 oz in total way back then, nearly 10 years ago.  I have tried all the GPX models with a variety of different coils in this spot.

Anyhow within a couple of minutes and the first target a small specie comes to light, now I reckon the SDC2300 would have no doubt got it as well, as I've never tried the SDC2300 on this spot.

Settings on the Zed were "General" "Difficult" sensitivity 12, threshold 25, audio tone 38, auto tracking, volume 12, audio smoothing "High", and running a B&Z booster with dual speakers plugged into the WM module.

Yes there is probably a few more little species there as most of the gold from this spot was species.

I then tried some other spots and just got the small lead bird shot and other rubbish.

The Zed was running like a dream, the 4500 that was also being used was running quite unstable as anyone that has detected this area in summer would know.

Here is a pic of the little specie, the first bit of gold for our new machine.


cheers dave

Good one Davsgold, First Blood for your newbie, Congrats. Yep it will be a learning curve for sure, Looking forward to getting into a goldfield with my newbie and learn the ropes.
Cheers
Ashley

Good on you davsgold, every new machine needs time to reveal her full potential, I am happy that positive feedback keep on coming, I to remenber the first few weeks with the 5000, a lot of people wasn't happy, including me I kept my 4500 for two years before I upgraded to the 5000, I can't wait to put my hands on my new 7000.
Cheers

G'day Dave,

Good to see you have christened your new Machine. The next should come in the not to distant future for you. Thanks for sharing you nice find.

Cheers.

Mike.