Weapon of choice

Hello all,

Well, I am going to bite the bullet and buy myself a GPX5000 on monday ready for my weeks prospecting trip late April. Hopefully I will be able to get a basic understanding of how this machine works and handles before I head off. I believe the settings take some getting used to but, thanks to this forum I have printed off some of the "suggested settings" posted by other members on another link in this forum.
I bought a 15x12 mono llast month when Minelab were running their special deal and am considering purchasing an 8in mono too.
Any suggestions by other members would be very much appreciated as I am new to gold prospecting.
I have done a little beach detecting here with an ebay special ( treasure snoop - should of saved my money), and a bit of coin and relic hunting in the UK with Fishers, but new to Minelab detectors (as it seems the GPX5000 is the best on the market at present).
Would also like to thank everyone on this forum for all the great and helpful contributions that I have read here.


I

Hi Xenon,

You've come to the right place as there are plenty of knowledgeable and friendly people on this forum that will happily offer you advice.

A good starting point would be to practise with the standard 11" mono (read the manual as well) that comes with the 5000 trying out the different settings until you have a good understanding of the machine and are comfortable with it, use test targets and don't be afraid to experiment.

It's a great machine!

Phil.

G'day Xenon, I'm not the most experienced here however I bought the GPX5000 and added the 15" x 12"Commander Mono for the same reason <the special> First tip: buy a Hip Stick for the 15" x 12" coil.
I added the 8" Commander Mono and you will be glad if you get one too....perfect for creeks/sides and poking around tight scrub...the standard 11" Mono Commander will prove to be your coil of choice for most things....
There are some great settings on this forum particularly JP's.....
If you take one bit of advice from me always remember this with the 5000 because you wont see it printed too often.....'AUDIO QUIET"..will be your friend...it is amazing.....trick is set Gain up high as you can 16/17 then set Stabilizer high as you can say 2 less than gain and THEN set QUIET AUDIO...<more stabilizer less filtering>...another amazing thing that isnt in the book...do these things and keep Manual tune between 125 to 145 and forget about Auto Tune unless absolutely necessary...you will generally find acceptable frequency between that range....voila'..others will shoot me down but I guarantee you wont regret this' package setting' in the back of your mind....mine is like a lamb on these settings and so sensitive I wondered why I followed all those other settings..<and I generally detect in very highly mineralized Heathcote Vic>...and forget about down with gain and low stabilizer to compensate like you will see some say..you will miss sensitivity and you will miss gold.... Move at the pace you set..I set Medium as I find a new chum moves at that pace....
Write on your Soil Timings Options chart....with every brochure.....Sens Smooth Depth loss 20%...Enhance No depth loss...Fine Gold will be suitable for 80% of Australias' country with little depth loss......Sensitive Extra 20% depth loss...Sharp..Forget it...
All care & no responsibility for the above...it was the stuff I wish was clearly in the Manual when I got my 5000..I remain in Fixed however..you should ask the pros how and why they remain in tracking and then fixed on target...this is another higher level of detecting experience that only they can tell you if they will and harder to get your head around but most worthwhile.. ....Hope you find the 'Retirement NUgget' we all dream of....

larry303 wrote:
Write on your Soil Timings Options chart....with every brochure.....Sens Smooth Depth loss 20%...Enhance No depth loss...Fine Gold will be suitable for 80% of Australias' country with little depth loss......Sensitive Extra 20% depth loss...Sharp..Forget it...

Just wondering if this is written in the manual or an observation?

G'day larry303

Some interesting settings, not the ones of choice for me, but everyone is different and the ones that work well for me may not suit you and vice versa, but that's what makes this place interesting aye.

I prefer to use as high a gain as posible and then settle it down with lower stabilizer numbers.

On reading the manual it indicates to make all other adjustments and then use the stabalizer to get a smooth threshold

In the end most roads lead to Rome, these machines are very versatile and there are numerous settings and different combos that work, some work a bit better that others though

cheers dave

G'day Narrawa,..straight from the horses mouth....knows his Minelab stuff.. ..and I'm not talking bout Black Caviar that won his 10th straight out of 10 starts, on the trot today...also recommends if you must auto tune...do 360 degree with coil close to and pointing at the ground and find the LEAST directional noise/interference, place on ground and press auto tune and walk away..then ground balance in the normal way......see what numbers you get from the book recommendation....I agree whatever works for you is the best by trial and experimentation..I'm simply adding to all the options open to everyone with the 5000.....Hoo Roo

I once thought of giving people a bum steer with settings to better my chances, however, evolution intervened and my thoughts are becoming reality.


Just kidding mate, iv been known to twist the throttle a bit..... and you tell Mr Ed to keep the evolution i mean tips coming ay?

Narrawa, I dont need to give anyone a bum steer as I have only seen two other detectorists in my area in the last 13 months....and I'm out there maybe 3 days a week....it still makes me wonder where all those holes seem to appear from..the ones I havn't dug and filled....we've got someone in our area who leaves large gaping uncovered holes in the State Forrest and Pink Cliffs <legal areas> and throws the garbage target back into the hole and covers with just enough dirt to hide it....go figure....can you imagine the mentality..he always seems to be in a rush as many are close together in certain areas...thats one detectorist I would like to catch up with....might be the only hole he gets to fill.. ...must be a reasonable detector he uses as they are invariably deep holes....will get us all removed if he keeps doing it.....and ruin it for all who do the right thing...Hoo Roo

G'day Larry,

"however..you should ask the pros how and why they remain in tracking and then fixed on target"

I run in tracking 90% of the time as the ground under me is reasonably noisy. Tracking doesn't need GB'ing
anywhere near as often as fixed. It suits my needs so I'm happy with it.

"find the LEAST directional noise/interference, place on ground and press auto tune and walk away"

I find the MOST directional noise/interference. Don't walk too far away or you'll be going home

Robert

Thanks all for your helpful suggestions. Yes, it seems the 5000 will take a bit of getting used to.
I like the idea of burying test targets and playing around with the settings......Will lead fishing weights be ok to use as test targets as I think I have read on the forum somewhere that lead and gold throw off the same/similar signal.
Thanks Larry for the setting suggestions, All settings seem to have their place depending on the location you are at the time.
Yes, will do most work with the 11in as if these come with the detector then they must be the ones Minelab suggest are the best for the unit.
Thanks again to everyone