What would people like added to new model Mine Lab detectors? (Asked by Miners Den Melb)

Below is a copy & paste from part of my "WIN FOR PMAV victoria, website ban list has bern (been!) scrapped"

== Poll / Opinions on what member would like in new detectors? == (owner of Miners Den spoke to MineLab a week or so ago, when 2 different Mine Lab staff entered the store in Mitchem)

- GPS integrated into machines

- Smaller control box, with ability to move the battery "onto" the machine itself. (Reason box is so big, is to counter weight the machine/circuit.. Placing the battery (slide in style) into a smaller box could keep the same weight, but smaller.)

- Screen (with pictures) to show actually what could be beeping. As in coins / relics / gold / rings etc.... Just like they have on other version detectors. This was my suggestion, other members said coin/relic screen works excellent on machines they own.

I shall also be making another topic in the general topic to try and get many other member opinions. The answers given will then be sent onto Miners Den, as well as talked about in next months meeting.

Please leave any suggestion on how you would like future detectors to be used or new things included. Doesn't need to be just for GPX / Mine Lab brand, any worthwhile things might be looked into!

KOSS , PLEASE GET RID OF THOSE KOSS head phones , they belong in a lounge room with the stereo not out on the gold fields or parks . PLEASE UPDATE there are so many good sets now to suit detecting . Bitch over

Connections, Speaker, Rear Panel

1. I'm sure there are more robust connectors for the coil and battery? I work in the telecommunications industry and have seen some very good connectors on European equipment.
2. How about integrating a speaker into the control box, I would like to see a speaker here with quick flick switch so that when you have found a target ( using headphones ) you can then quickly switch over to ( let other people hear what is going on when you are training or pin pointing or sorting through your heap to locate a nugget, the later is quite often used when 2 people are working in a team )
3. A better designed rear panel so that when working in light drizzle this very important area does not get wet or full of dust when working in the summer.

Just my thoughts

Mariner3800

Agree with you Mariner,1. the rear panel needs far better protection from the elements. Also, is there some way of 2.being able to work in close proximity to another GPX 5000 machine ie able to work a small patch together. cheers Pete

how about a machine that only finds gold :D:D:D:D

Ok this may sound very silly, but an led light when you hit a target, as the constant noise is annoying at times. This would also help deaf people or hearing impared to join the hobby.
Or being over the top , can it play music and beep during a song, atleast when walking i can listen to the radio...it could play am/ fm radio, and instead of beeping it could yell EUREKA!!!!
Is it possible to incorporate something that estimates the depth or size of the target?

defenitely would like some more protection from dust and especially light rain if possible

small screen to watch the footy .

i want one of these

https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t79-your-new-detector-gpx-5000

goldmuss78 wrote:defenitely would like some more protection from dust and especially light rain if possible

As Goldmuss suggests more protection A lot of electrical testing equipment these days have a rubber protector cover (keep your mind on the topic) on them to absorb bumps & shocks and wrapping one of these around the control box would help to protect them.
Also better connections & lighter batteries would be an improvement
Dave

Please get the batteries OUT of the box. Design a slide in batterie and deliver the detector with a spare one,
so when you're remote and your batterie dies (happens!!!) you can just slide in a replacement.

Better quality plugs. My car charger plug just fell apart last week.

Hey, how about being able to plug into a laptop so as to be able to play with settings and save them into files for different areas ect. I know you can already do this in the machine but this would give you more memory and you could also make it so you can tweek things and even make it a bit more user friendly.
Steve

What improvements we would like to see from Minelab:
Chip which disable (or even better- trace) detector (like in mobiles, laptops).
Or password, pin number so some people with idea of stealing it had no use of it.

The idea above for theft deterrent is without a doubt a must have item.

Now for my thoughts.

A rotary dial on the back with each timing listed, instead of the stupid system with selecting a front mounted switch then having to enter a menu on the rear??? ....select the timing on the rear and away you go in that timing.
Digital readout of the threshold also placed on the rear screen which is independent of the other screen function....always visible.
Continuous readout of battery voltage above the new LARGER rear screen below the thresh readout would be nice.
Under or side control box mounted battery system with own speaker and volume control...no menu driven volume....its cluttered enough.
A power lead thats made to last the length of the units warranty.
A battery that does the same.

Place flashing red light in a visible location with fog horn sounding when cancel is flicked whilst using a mono coil....dont laugh!!...im not the only one who will benefit from this!!!

Hmmm??....that looks more link a rant then a wish list......wotever...just have it on my next machine!!.

Weather Sealing
This is so obviously necessary and relatively simply to do. It's also a great suggestion, goldmuss78. Weather seals on complex digital cameras can do a great job of keeping out water and dust so why not on the GPX? Well, there's some degree of dust resistance already but the units are not much more than water resistant. Also, there's a coating over the components of the motherboard that protects the fine soldering of the various components from iron-laden dust and also deters unauthorized duplication. Those black rubber rings on both end-caps of the control boxes are actually considered part of the existing sealing system.

- GPS integrated into machines
GPS is really somewhat unnecessary because many people don't need it and most people already have a GPS unit if they are venturing into remote country. Cost~wise, this is a disadvantage to the MFR because they're developed by other parties. Minelab would have to pay a fee to the Intellectual Property owners and then this cost would then have to be passed onto the consumer. This means higher prices and yet another thing that might require servicing or updating. Most prospectors don't want to share their GPS details with others and for obvious reasons. Did you know your detector will erase the flash-memory data on your pocket-GPS? The GPS signal may also interfere with your detector? If you feel a GPS is necessary, then so is a prospector's pick. I can assure you that the MFR will never want to include a pick with the detector due to expense, customs considerations and added weight.

How about a clip mount to clasp your existing GPS unit to the shaft? Again, this is probably going to impede performance in some way by having it so close to the coil.

- Screen (with pictures) to show actually what could be beeping.
The Gold Detectors are quite different to coin & relic detectors. The variety of nugget shapes, depths, composition, orientation and sizes means you simply can't ask for this. Not possible with current technology in relation to Nugget Hunting. On coin/relic machines there's a simplistic display that can give you the values of the target but Gold detectors are usually quite different and much more sensitive. And the more discrimination you apply for Target Identification, then often the less sensitive your detector becomes.

- Smaller control box, with ability to move the battery "onto" the machine itself
I'd like this myself and a smaller control box that integrates the battery might be possible in future releases... although you might want to ask yourself why the battery is to be worn behind you on the harness rig. I believe the battery is likely to cause a conflict with the unit if it is too close to the coil. Sure, some 3rd party 'velcro' batteries can be sourced that you can whack on the side of your detector with a strip of velcro but these are essentially camera batteries and they aren't made by Minelab so there may be a reason for this. Personally, I can't see why we can't have an integrated battery with control box and yes, a backup battery would be more welcome than a secondary coil.

How about a SECURITY FEATURE to deter black market sales and reduce theft? I forwarded this to Minelab last year and the concept utilizes existing assets already on the units.



I also suggested that a V-Flex type 'IX' (information Exchange) chip might serve useful.. like they use on the X-Terras.

Weather proofing
A coil cable connector secure enough that it does not produce falses when jiggled where it connects to the control box.
(or, a coil cable stabilizer near the box)
A lighter, smaller battery, or (if it is small) a slide-in battery and yes, a spare battery with a new detector.
The headphones, no matter what anyone says, are famously inappropriate for detecting, change them!
The security code idea is very cool.

I love the GPX 5000 but it can be better

How about some sort of oscillating reverse osmosis interacting flux capacitor,

Or even some system that certain operators don't get false sigs from the metal they have on their person.



DINGO

I will leave it to Minelab to improve signal performance.

My points are about usability of the machine and stopping the most common failures.

The set up of having $30 worth of batteries stuck to the electronics in the battery unit means a cell failure negates the whole $400 unit.
A single cell pack that slips in a padded cradle (to protect from drop shocks to the cell pack etc) that can be simply clipped in and replaced at will is needed. A single cell LiIon cell would be best.

The shafts/coil stems on the minelab do not cater for tall people and the use of very large coils. There needs to be a design change to grab another 5 inches of shaft extension (ie lengthen the lower coil stem)

The machine could have better counter balance on the box end (especially if big coils are used). Maybe the ability to move the box back another couple inches or even a slot to add a weight on a stem that can be slid out to add weight behind the box by up to 12 inches.

Lead failures have been the only failures i have had (many over the years). Could some good quality gell insulated wire cable be sourced? and some stiffening added to the ends where fatique is greatest. The connectors on the end of the leads need to be improved to avoid loose connections/shorts from coil whip

Tributer

Yep, it is a pity we have to have the curly cords at all. Always a thorn to me. Also at my age I have to put glasses on to read the screen... take em off... put em on to adjust... a nice size screen with better contrast instead of the LCD hard to read thing. Why not colour?

hologram of Jonathan Porter telling me how to use it,

Digs the holes for you.

I just saw a TV show that had an Robotic vacuum cleaner, now if Minelab could mount the coil under this Robot, fit a GPS tracking device to it and a wireless CCTV camera on top we could all sit at our camps sucking back the green tins while ROBO8500 is out looking for gold.
Bugger, now I have to dig it up, wait if Minelab could make ROBO8500 large enough I then could sit on top as it drove me around looking for the yellow stuff ( still haven't worked out how to auto dig the gold )

Any suggestions

Mariner3800

Everything that ya have to add to a ML detector after you buy it in order to get it to work properly should be already added before ya buy it.

Etrac - with a coloured screen.

GPX detectors - EMI direction indicator and strength meter.

(way out there) Geo physics 'sunglasses' the ability to look back where you have detected and show your coil coverage. The ability to see if you have completely covered the ground.

a quantum leap in technology forward again (just like when the SD2000 hit the fields) , as opposed to new timings to get smaller and smaller nuggets.
bedrock

A different ground balance button to the one on the 5000 as it continually
jams when a small piece of grit gets into it

Ruffles

Quiet Bloke wrote:Digs the holes for you.

Some people call this a wife Quiet Bloke , Gold digger

Hour meter

charcoal_chaser, i had one of those the other day.... it was called 'stoppsy' LOL

ruffles wrote:A different ground balance button to the one on the 5000 as it continually
jams when a small piece of grit gets into it Ruffles

G'day ruffles

Its raining here today and there's not much to do, but I just gotta ask how do you get grit in the ground balance button.

I have to say that I have never heard of it happening before, and I can say that its never happened to any of our detectors over the years that have the button on the handle.

May be a rubber sleeve over the handle............

cheers dave