Got a Z Now what

Woke up this morning and to my surprise my wife bought me a GPZ . She heard me talking to JP the other day and said she got a good deal ( happy Christmas all) and sorry JP as was going to support you if I purchased myself.

I am unable to give it a go as Im in Adelaide and no close gold fields and my wife would not like it if I detected today .

So, what do I need to do. You people who have had the machine for a while might make some suggestions.

Should I just read the user manual over and over, watch every video I can find ?

how much do I need to learn that I don't know from GPX5000 experiences.

Thanks All

John

I'll start off.

1) Buy hipstick off JP. Within 1 hour of using the Zed, you will remember this first tip. Good luck with it. ( There is no better gold detector on this planet.)

I all ready have one of Jonathons hip sticks, will i need it even with the harness and swing arm ?

I always used it with my 5000

Thanks

John

I still can't work out how people can use that harness (straight jacket). A camelback with pockets and water storage is the way to go, but that's just my personal opinion.
Also wrap your ferrite with tape so it don't smash when you inevitably drop it.

Congratulations on having such a wonderful better half.

1st thing is do the upgrade if it hasn't already been done.

Read the manual and whitepapers from minelab just to get an understanding.

A good ferite balance and auto tune is a must.

If you prefer headphones to speakers get a good quality set.

A bigger pick helps too

Factory preset will get you going. With head phones I use 8 on the audio and adjust sensativity to suit. Get used to using No smoothing.

Don't try to ramp it up too much at the start gradually increase thing as you hearing becomes accustomed to the various noises.  Target responses in most cases may not be as loud or sharp as the gpx but you will still hear them. There a a few different responses that may sound like ground noise don't disgard them if repeatable dig it.

A slow and very smooth swing is a great advantage. Slow slow slow and listen carefully.

If the ground has a layer of topsoil or leaf litter then scrubbing is ok, but on talkative ground where your on the hard packed ground and all leaf litter or topsoil has washed away then keep the coil of the ground. If you think you can swing as quick as a gpx you will find some but miss alot more. Learn the detector and listen. Try to keep a smooth threshold but its your choice on how loud you want the threshold. I'm happy using preset 27. High yield/difficult is a very capable combo.

Happy hunting

Thanks for that, been reading the manual but not sure what the "whitepaper " is

John

G'day John,

These links are to the first & second white paper from Bruce Candy/Minelab.  

http://www.minelab.com/__files/f/266297/KBA_24-1%20ZVT%20Technology.pdf

http://www.minelab.com/__files/f/279127/KBA_27-1%20Gold%20Detecting%20in%20Difficult%20Ground%20Conditions.pdf

Cheers.  

Mike.

madmax800 wrote:Woke up this morning and to my surprise my wife bought me a  GPZ . She heard me talking to JP the other day and said she got a good deal  ( happy Christmas all) and sorry JP as was going to support you if I purchased myself.

I am unable to give it a go as Im in Adelaide and no close gold fields and my wife would not like it if I detected today .

So, what do I need to do. You people who have had the machine for a while might make some suggestions.

Should I just read the user manual over and over, watch every video I can find ?

how much do I need to learn that I don't know from GPX5000 experiences.

Thanks All

John

Hey John no offence taken, what a wonderful Christmas present. The very first thing I would do after thanking your wife profusely is get in contact with Nenad at Phase technical and do a one on one training session with him.  

The supplied harness is OK but does pinch if not set up correctly, my suggestion is to get yourself a webbing belt and use that in conjunction with the harness. Attach the socket end of a Hipstick on the webbing belt, then clip the Hipstick to the right or left shoulder D ring of the harness but don't use the snaffle bit, I also highly recommend you loop the bungee around the base of the POD just below the Quick-Trak button, which then balances up the unit beautifully (Bungee clip is usually mounted slightly north of mid way on the upper shaft). The hipstick then directs all the weight down to your pelvis just like your spine does, which then takes the pressure/weight off your arm and shoulder allowing you to guide the coil rather than trying to guide and support all at the same time.

This harness combination is very popular with lighter framed or older operators who struggle with the GPZ's mass, if on flat ground you find yourself leaning forward to brace against the detectors weight you are not rigged up properly, your spine should be straight up and down.

Good coil control is VITAL in the use of the GPZ, that is something I spend a lot of time explaining during my training sessions.  I can easily demonstrate the effect poor coil control has on performance.

Enjoy your GPZ.

JP

Morning Jonathon,
I use a webbed belt now, have my pick and water bottle on it.
I understand about the hip stick but not snaffle bit

I will contract Nenad but I will wait until Christmas holidays are over, probably the only rest he has had for a while.

Its great when Wifey buys me a great pressy, only issue I have to pay the credit card

Cheers and thanks

John

Hi John,
Have found gold at Echunga in the past with 3000, and 4500 and earlier machines took the 7K down there for first tryout without success but its worth a trip on a cool day.

Peter