QED Information

Been a while and I'm still swinging my QED, having young kids doesn't allow me to get out much. I'm up to about 10 pieces for 4 grams, not a huge amount but happy enough since I only get out once or twice a month.
One major improvement was the sennhieser rs160 headphones, the extra volume and not ripping out the cord when you're digging is night and day better, worth every cent.
I still fiddle with the settings every time I go out but that's more out of interest than anything else. At the moment if the ground allows I'm running the volume really high at around 70-80 and you almost get a solid threshold and hear every little noise, you have to keep the bias neutral to do this but my tests have proved I get better depth this way than a low bias/low mode approach.
I did recently run into the first ground that seemed too noisy for mine, shallow surfacing with a lot of clay. I've done other areas like this fine but this place had me getting false signals every few meters, I'm putting it down to the 11" elite being super sensitive and I'm looking at getting a bigger coil like the 14" because I'm not really after sub .1g that the 11" can find and it should run smoother.

In my opinion looking on other forums about the QED too much attention is given to the modes and the bias, I pretty much run mine in mode 8 and use the other settings to get the sensitivity. People say they get better tests in mode 1 than in mode 8etc, but mode 8 runs much quieter so now you can up your gain and up your volume like you can't in mode 1. Of course if you leave mode 8 with gain at 1 it will lose sensitivity.
Right now I run mode 8, gain 4-5, bias neutral and volume 70-80. If it's a bit noisy I bring the volume down first to as low as 30, then the gain. If it's runs really quiet I up the gain to 6, if it can handle more I go down to mode 7, then 6 etc but I never run my gain under 3, I see too many running low modes with gain under 3 and I don't think this is good, get the gain up higher in a higher mode, I get less ground noise this way.

Recently while having a break we set up a couple of tests with a .2 and 1 gram while stopping for lunch. The other detectors were a gpx 4500 with older 11" coiltek mono and a gpx4000 with 14" elite. I was happy that I could match both on the 1 gram and they both agreed I had the edge on the .2 over the 4500, no doubt the elite coil vs terracotta helped.
The difference we noticed was that the QED's signal is much easier to hear but it drops off quickly as it reaches its max depth while the minelabs gently faded into the slight woo-hoo.

I still didn't feel I had the best detector but it was certainly close, and for half the price, much less weight, no cables and the satisfaction I put it all together myself how I wanted I was happy.
The only time it fell behind was with my super sensitive 11" on the clay surfacing it struggled with false targets while the older 4000 with the 14" went along well and found a couple of nice gram+ bits with less fuss. In other ground i have found small gold that this 4000 missed.

Good report and very interesting.
From your report The QED seems to have a place in the grand scheme of things that is somewhere between good and excellent value as a gold finder.
Still sounds a bit fiddly to set up but worth the effort to get it right.
Have you noticed any temperature related tuning drift?
I have not had to contend with ground and hot rock noise from my fav detectors for quite a while now..........Probably due to the fact that I don't get out much these days.

Thank you for that informative post jarrod.
I haven't had the opportunity to use my QED much but think I am starting to get the hang of it.
Will take your comments on board about mode and gain and see how I go.
I have the 14x9 advantage coil which is probably not as sensitive as the flat wound types so would expect settings to be a bit different.
Will be in Laanecoorie on the w/end so expect to get a few more hours under my belt then.
Cheers

It can sound fiddly until you remember most other machines have a ton of settings too, basic settings are easy but it's chasing that last 10% that would take some learning.

The only time I have noticed the bias drift is on a very cold morning it might climb a couple in the first 10 mins at worst, it's totally not an issue for me. It doesn't hurt to check your bias range every now and then and would only take a few seconds anyway.
It has place but I'm not sure they should keep acting like its the perfect detector for everyone and play on its strengths instead. For me I like to explore and it's so light inc a battery that will last all day, I have no harness or cords so I can go into a dry creek and place the detector up on the steep bank and pull myself up, that's just one example but it makes a difference.

With finding settings I'd say take everything on board but do some tests and stick with your own results. Test things like mode 3 might allow low bias and a gain of 3-4, but mode 8 will allow gain at 6 and bias 3 digits below neutral and you might the same test results but I like mode 8 because I can adjust other settings more before ground noise, you have more to play with and fine tune.
So if someone was starting out I'd say put it in mode 8 and forget the modes until you understand the rest. On the weekend I found a tiny piece of copper jacket off a bullet that seriously took me 10mins to find, I should have walked but I just had to know. And that was in mode 8 so it's plenty sensitive enough after you turn up the other settings.

I see a QED on Ebay.

It's not mine. There's a few out there now I guess.

From what I have been led to believe, Quite a good number of QED's were purchased and to date I have only seen two up for sale. So if they were no good then now would be a good time to be trying to sell them.

It seems to me that the QED is a good gold finder for the price.
You don't need extra trappings hanging off it like signal boosters, harnesses, bungy supports or giant batteries or signal enhancer. It can use a lot of ML coils.
and it can be set up for whatever type / size gold that you want to find plus it will work in most ground conditions except for possibly extreme iron mineralised.....and even there it appears (from what I have read) to operate not so bad. The only troublesome bit is getting the hang of the set up procedures.
Yes it needs a bit of operator understanding........No I don't have  QED but have read a lot about it. It can not all be BS.

Look at the total crap that the Infinium had to negotiate before it was accepted as a pretty good machine that can find gold in the worst ground conditions imaginable and all the way to 200 foot down on the ocean floor. It has been superseded but still holds its place in the grand scheme of things as a great tecta...Well mine is anyway so there! Minelab has yet to produce such a hand held machine.

In short you're pretty much right, except the setup is easy, much easier than a gpx etc. The only issue is it's depth on mid sized targets.
Mine never had an issue with ground balance.
I now have a gpx and it is superior on performance but it does feel horrible in summer with all the stuff hanging off me.
I've seen 4 for sale, most are on gumtree. I had no trouble selling mine after I did a demo with some small gold.

rockhunter62 wrote:Please excuse my ignorance folks but can someone tell me what QED stands for?



Doug

QED
Quantum Electro Dynamics.......Ask Steven Hawking. That is what he will tell you and he knows everything about everything.

hi guys got my 2nd hand qed today, where do i find what number it is, also how do i check if it has all current upgrades in advance

Check with Dean at Goldsearch

dasenator777 wrote:hi guys got my 2nd hand qed today, where do i find what number it is, also how do i check if it has all current upgrades in advance

These 2 places sell them, so they may be able to help you

http://www.detech-metaldetectorsaustralia.com.au/qed-detech-complete-package

https://maldongoldcentre.com.au

[quote="Jen"]

dasenator777 wrote:hi guys got my 2nd hand qed today, where do i find what number it is, also how do i check if it has all current upgrades in advance

These 2 places sell them, so they may be able to help


                                                                                                                                                                                                                  cheers buddy, all i know now its production number is 011

adrian ss wrote:I reckon we should get the discussion re the 
New Aussie PI cranked up again??....Yes/No?
I have read the other forums and there is nothing but negative crap there.

On the other hand. If nobody has the new Aussie PI then how can we talk about it?? 

hi adrian i have been reading your posts on the vallon pi detecter mate, hows it going with it looking at picking one up this week hopefully, cheers mate

Jarrodt6 wrote:Been a while and I'm still swinging my QED, having young kids doesn't allow me to get out much. I'm up to about 10 pieces for 4 grams, not a huge amount but happy enough since I only get out once or twice a month.
One major improvement was the sennhieser rs160 headphones, the extra volume and not ripping out the cord when you're digging is night and day better, worth every cent.
I still fiddle with the settings every time I go out but that's more out of interest than anything else. At the moment if the ground allows I'm running the volume really high at around 70-80 and you almost get a solid threshold and hear every little noise, you have to keep the bias neutral to do this but my tests have proved I get better depth this way than a low bias/low mode approach.
I did recently run into the first ground that seemed too noisy for mine, shallow surfacing with a lot of clay. I've done other areas like this fine but this place had me getting false signals every few meters, I'm putting it down to the 11" elite being super sensitive and I'm looking at getting a bigger coil like the 14" because I'm not really after sub .1g that the 11" can find and it should run smoother.

In my opinion looking on other forums about the QED too much attention is given to the modes and the bias, I pretty much run mine in mode 8 and use the other settings to get the sensitivity. People say they get better tests in mode 1 than in mode 8etc, but mode 8 runs much quieter so now you can up your gain and up your volume like you can't in mode 1. Of course if you leave mode 8 with gain at 1 it will lose sensitivity.
Right now I run mode 8, gain 4-5, bias neutral and volume 70-80. If it's a bit noisy I bring the volume down first to as low as 30, then the gain. If it's runs really quiet I up the gain to 6, if it can handle more I go down to mode 7, then 6 etc but I never run my gain under 3, I see too many running low modes with gain under 3 and I don't think this is good, get the gain up higher in a higher mode, I get less ground noise this way.

Recently while having a break we set up a couple of tests with a .2 and 1 gram while stopping for lunch. The other detectors were a gpx 4500 with older 11" coiltek mono and a gpx4000 with 14" elite. I was happy that I could match both on the 1 gram and they both agreed I had the edge on the .2 over the 4500, no doubt the elite coil vs terracotta helped.
The difference we noticed was that the QED's signal is much easier to hear but it drops off quickly as it reaches its max depth while the minelabs gently faded into the slight woo-hoo.

I still didn't feel I had the best detector but it was certainly close, and for half the price, much less weight, no cables and the satisfaction I put it all together myself how I wanted I was happy.
The only time it fell behind was with my super sensitive 11" on the clay surfacing it struggled with false targets while the older 4000 with the 14" went along well and found a couple of nice gram+ bits with less fuss. In other ground i have found small gold that this 4000 missed.

i totaly agree with you had mine out today to try your set up here are findings......i took out today to try a new set up as advised by another user, bias at 50, volume 75, 8 inch coil too, gb 104 to 106. mode 1 can get a max gain of 2 before it comes noisy, tried mode 8 as advised, can get gain to 7 and stable as, and very sensative as well. will try this new set more over weekend cheers

dasenator777 wrote:

adrian ss wrote:I reckon we should get the discussion re the 
New Aussie PI cranked up again??....Yes/No?
I have read the other forums and there is nothing but negative crap there.

On the other hand. If nobody has the new Aussie PI then how can we talk about it?? 

hi adrian i have been reading your posts on the vallon pi detecter mate, hows it going with it looking at picking one up this week hopefully, cheers mate

The Vallon is fine and working very well. It is sensitive and goes quite deep. It is dynamite at the beach and will not miss much
I have not used it over high iron minerals yet but going by the way it handles some very large pieces of magnetite I expect it to be quite good.
My bad knees will not allow me to take it to where there is some tough ground here near Canberra so I cannot give a positive answer to that aspect yet.
I will try and post a bit more info re target depths and sensitivity to gold in a day or two. coz Right now I am not feeling so flash.

adrian ss wrote:

dasenator777 wrote:

adrian ss wrote:I reckon we should get the discussion re the 
New Aussie PI cranked up again??....Yes/No?
I have read the other forums and there is nothing but negative crap there.

On the other hand. If nobody has the new Aussie PI then how can we talk about it?? 

hi adrian i have been reading your posts on the vallon pi detecter mate, hows it going with it looking at picking one up this week hopefully, cheers mate

The Vallon is fine and working very well. It is sensitive and goes quite deep. It is  dynamite at the beach and will not miss much
I have not used it over high iron minerals yet but going by the way it handles some very large pieces of magnetite I expect it to be quite good.
My bad knees will not allow me to take it to where there is some tough ground here near Canberra so I cannot give a positive answer to that  aspect yet.
    I will try and post a bit more info re target depths and sensitivity to gold in a day or two. coz Right now I am not feeling so flash.

cheers for the reply adrian, i definately know about the bad knees, aches and pains too now winter upon us, i have been reading alot of posts on it especialy eric fosters forum, i look forward to you next update cheers buddy

Something to remember is that the Normal mode does not ground balance and will be noisy in iron ground. The Mineral mode is the ground balance mode and is what you should use for gold field work. This mode is not as sensitive as the Norm mode but at a rough guess I think the tecta should be able to find a 1g at between 4 to 6 inches and with an extra 2 or 3 inches in Norm if it can be used. This is with the std 6 x 11 mono. There are a couple of large coils made for this machine but I have not been able to find them for sale.

adrian ss wrote:Something to remember is that the Normal mode does not ground balance and will be noisy in iron ground. The Mineral mode is the ground balance mode and is what you should use for gold field work. This mode is not as sensitive as the Norm mode but at a rough guess I think the tecta should be able to find a 1g at between 4 to 6 inches  and with an extra 2 or 3 inches in Norm if it can be used. This is with the std 6 x 11 mono. There are a couple of large coils made for this machine but I have not been able to find them for sale.

THATS INTERESTING SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD BE A GOOD PATCH FINDER, NOW IM EVEN MORE INTERESTED, WAS LOOKING FOR BEACH, BUT SOUNDS LIKE IT JUST MIGHT COMPLIMENT THE QED OUT PROSPECTING, CHEERS BUDDY... HOPE THE COLD AINT PLAYING HAVOC WITH THE KNEES LIKE MINE, I GOT SEVERAL TITANIUM SCREWS AND PINS FROM TRIPPLE KNEE RECON...ACL, MCL, PCL ALL DONE IN SAME SURGERY.....SILLY MOTOCROSS BIKES LOL, CHEERS FOR YOUR REPLY

You will like it for beach work. Very deep and I would go so far as to say deeper than my Finny with the 8 inch mono and definitely more sensitive to small gold chains. Use the Normal mode whenever possible , it has very good sensitivity.
When you consider that this tecta runs so bloonin well on three D cells and is primarily a military mine detector and yet outperforms a lot of high end PIs designed specifically for salt beach detecting then it is difficult to say anything bad about it.
There is a 30 cm and 60 cm coil available for the VMH3CS as well as a stick probe but good luck trying to find them. If you can find the data Logger and software then you will be well set up for testing a wide area of ground and logging/mapping possible targets before going back to recover them.

adrian ss wrote:You will like it for beach work. Very deep and I would go so far as to say deeper than my Finny with the 8 inch mono and definitely more sensitive to small gold chains. Use the Normal mode whenever possible , it has very good sensitivity.
When you consider that this tecta runs so bloonin well on three D cells and is primarily a military mine detector and yet outperforms a lot of high end PIs designed specifically for salt beach detecting then it is difficult to say anything bad about it.
There is a 30 cm and 60 cm coil available for the VMH3CS as well as a stick probe but good luck trying to find them. If you can find the data Logger and software then you will be well set up for testing a wide area of ground and logging/mapping  possible targets before going back to recover them.

yeh i was reading spec sheets re data logger, to me it seems nothing comes close to it for the coin, we are ordering one saturday from ebay, probably same place as yours, one side of arm cuff broken, cheers mate

Yes those Ebay listings show the tecta with a broken elbow cuff but the second one I purchased (yeah I have two of them) was complete. So what you get is what you get.
Have a close look at the shaft connector before joining them up to make sure that the pins and insulation are ok.
Also be sure to do the battery comp cap up tight because battery contact to the cct is made through the metal plate in the cap and not the spring. The spring can be in contact with the batteries but there is no complete electrical cct until the metal plate makes contact with the tecta .housing. You will see what I mean when you look at it.

Communication with the seller has been excellent.

adrian ss wrote:Yes those Ebay listings show the tecta with a broken elbow cuff but the second one I purchased (yeah I have two of them) was complete. So what you get is what you get.
Have a close look at the shaft connector before joining them up to make sure that the pins and insulation are ok.
Also be sure to do the battery comp cap up tight because battery contact to the cct is made through the metal plate in the cap and not the spring. The spring can be in contact with the batteries but there is no complete electrical cct until the metal plate makes contact with the tecta .housing. You will see what I mean when you look at it.

Communication with the seller has been excellent.

i read that re battery, thankyou for all the info cheers buddy.

If anyone who wants better volume and booster performance for their QED, try Geoff @ Vtek Solutions
His all - in - one booster /speakers work a treat.
I have one and the beauty of it is you have a booster and a external speaker all in one.

http://www.vkteksolutions.com/

UNCLE BOB wrote:If anyone who wants better volume and booster performance for their QED,  try Geoff @ Vtek Solutions
His all -  in - one  booster /speakers work a treat.
I have one and the beauty of it is you have a booster and a external speaker all in one.

http://www.vkteksolutions.com/

That would be the same Geoff who is one of Dougs crew who were slagging me off re my QED testing. Goes by the name gef12 on that forum.  

Not very smart business practise !

Rick

AraratGold wrote:

UNCLE BOB wrote:If anyone who wants better volume and booster performance for their QED,  try Geoff @ Vtek Solutions
His all -  in - one  booster /speakers work a treat.
I have one and the beauty of it is you have a booster and a external speaker all in one.

http://www.vkteksolutions.com/

That would be the same Geoff who is one of Dougs crew who were slagging me off re my QED testing. Goes by the name gef12 on that forum.  

Not very smart business practise !

Rick

I was only talking about the "positives" to this device for the QED.
There's no need to be "negative", it's bad for your health
Don't worry, be happy

dasenator777 wrote:

adrian ss wrote:You will like it for beach work. Very deep and I would go so far as to say deeper than my Finny with the 8 inch mono and definitely more sensitive to small gold chains. Use the Normal mode whenever possible , it has very good sensitivity.
When you consider that this tecta runs so bloonin well on three D cells and is primarily a military mine detector and yet outperforms a lot of high end PIs designed specifically for salt beach detecting then it is difficult to say anything bad about it.
There is a 30 cm and 60 cm coil available for the VMH3CS as well as a stick probe but good luck trying to find them. If you can find the data Logger and software then you will be well set up for testing a wide area of ground and logging/mapping  possible targets before going back to recover them.

yeh i was reading spec sheets re data logger, to me it seems nothing comes close to it for the coin, we are ordering one saturday from ebay, probably same place as yours, one side of arm cuff broken, cheers mate

Am wondering if you got the Vallon and what are your thoughts ?
Adrian ss

Why talk about a different detector on the QED topic?
You can always send him a PM about your detector Adrian
Keep on topic please.

Fair enuff.
I got a bit carried away.
Will post elsewhere re the vallon.

Kaye and I are just back from WA, where the GPZ and 4500 found 209.2 grams of the lovely yellow stuff. If you want to read our full report, it is the the Epic Prospecting Trips section of Prospecting Australia forum ( members only ).

The QED, which I had bought specifically to be a patch hunting tool for WA, was a failure at that job. It had to be re ground balanced every few feet to stop it making spurious noises over the rough and highly variable ground, which is not what you want when you are trying to cover large amounts of ground in a day ( I was clocking up 6-8 kms each day patch hunting ).

I read on Doug's AEGP forum this from one user in WA : " As soon as the GB was out even by only one click, the QED was noisy, however that was the first clue to rebalance. In some areas, hot rocks and very high mineralization aplenty gave the thumb plenty of exercise ".

That nicely sums up why the QED is NO GOOD for patch hunting in WA !

The ZED and 4500 had options to handle this nasty ground, including but not limited to difficult / enhance, and slow automatic ground tracking when patch hunting, and were a pleasure to use.

Rick