GPZ7000: Info, Tips, Finds

[Northeast]

Sorry LC76, a rookie mistake - I'm getting my cow and sheep profile pics mixed up

I have no idea what Pete's real name is but I know he does one on one training with people. Had a card at Miners Den in Bendigo.
Not cheap but worth it if you iron out the troubles and avoid $140 in shipping costs to send it back to minelab?
I thought I was going ok with the Z as had found some gold and lots of lead but learnt heaps off him in just a couple of hours - and that was just our group training so very little time spent one on one.

 

[SC75]

lol nah I treat it like my first born child.

Probably gets treated better than my kids.

You must really love your Z.

 

[LC76]

So out bush I can get 13 inches with the 5cent coin
Settings are General Difficult sens 9

Apparently it should be between 15-18.
While testing today the Threshold stopped working when changing from High yield to General.
Had to power cycle to get Threshold back.

Kinda expected better for ten grand.

 

[SC75]

I gave it a go this morning and got 16 inch on a 5 cent in high yield and sens on 10.

 

[LC76]

Thanks for doing that little test SC75.
Gives me an idea of where mine stands.

 

[SC75]

Yeah no worries mate. If i tried doing it in General and sens on 9 i reckon it would be roughly the same LC.

 

[LC76]

After losing threshold and power cycling today it ran like a dream smooth as silk.

This machine has me doubting myself,doubting it, thinking it's faulty, thinking it's me.... ect ect.

Going to Castlemaine in the morning with the father in-law and will see if the Z plays nice over there.

 

[Northeast]

LC 76 - I had read of the Z's losing their threshold when changing between gold modes and also when changing between ground types. Fortunately I read about this before it actually happened to mine - otherwise I would have had no idea what was going on. It has happened about 6 or 7 times but hasn't happened for about a month now. Fixed by powering off and turning back on again. And you're right - it shouldn't be happening considering the cost of the machine and it is a known problem - maybe the next software upgrade will fix it?

Re: the 5c coin. When Minelab asked that person to do the coin test did they advise what settings to have the detector in? In High yield, Normal, sensitivity at 20 and smoothing off (i.e. with no brakes on the machine) it probably would get the expected 18 inches. But in general, difficult and only sens 9 I would only suspect that it would fall short of its full abilities. Maybe do the test again with the pedal to the metal? If I get a chance after work tomorrow I'll give it a go in both lots of settings

Good luck down at the 'Maine.

 

[SinHof]

G'Day Northeast,
I had the same problem with my 7000; doing a power-down and re-start seemed to fix the problem but then it started to happen again.
What I was doing differently when this started to happen was not ground balancing over the ferrite ring; going back to gb'ing over the ferrite ring solved the problem. Now some months later there is no problem swapping between gold settings and not using the ferrite, the beast works fine; go figure.
SinHof.

 

[Northeast]

Mmmmm, that gets me thinking SinHof. I used to do the walk and sweep on start up for ground balance. More recently I have been using the ferrite and the issue has stopped. Hadn't put the 2 together as being related!!

Thanks

 

[LC76]

I always use the ferrite ...........hang on today before i did the air test i didnt use the ferrite and had the Threshold cut out on me....so you guys might on to something.

 

[mbasko]

Re: Air test

1. Place the coil on something like a plastic table and away from electrical interference
2. Switch on and reset to factory defaults. Test should be carried out in High Yield / Normal (change from Difficult).
3. Wave the 5c coin over the coil
This will give you a bench mark. You should be able to break the threshold at 45cm/18"

I had written this down to try but haven't done it yet. From memory it was posted on another forum out of an email from Minelab about doing the 5c test.

Here's the link. Was from a phone call to Minelab:
http://golddetecting.4umer.net/t22251-5c-air-test#215337

 

[Northeast]

LC - that was SinHof's good thinking, not mine unfortunately.

Thanks Mbasko. So normal, high yield and must be default smoothing and sensitivity. Will try the 3 different settings now. Still interested to see what it will be when it is run as hot as possible.

Cheers.

 

[Syndyne]

Hi all,

Just a quick one to say I'm having the exact same issues at the moment. Just swinging around the old Stuart Town diggings and still having great difficulties getting it to run smoothly. I've tried all settings, using both ferrite and without, several auto tunes also. I'm just wondering if any of you are in damp ground like myself? All the holes I worked today bar a few were full of water. Still got a few small lead shot to 8-10" depth but also dug a dozen or so holes for ground noise. These were all over a foot deep and very frustrating (I echoed LC's sentiments today in wanting to wrap it around a tree! Haha!). It seems to pick up ground despite balancing close around the area. Seemed that every few metres or so it was completely out of balance. Lift the coil slightly and she would let off a nice loud groan. Once I'm up in the drier area it seems to abate somewhat, though ground noise and high EMI are still an issue that I can't find a work-around for just yet.

I've also noticed it picks up the Iron Bark roots easily and gives a nice moan when nosing around trees. Dug a nice hole for an old burnt branch today. That charcoal sounds very sweet at the surface.

Almost went back to the SDC today out of sheer frustration. Hopefully it's a temporary issue. I'll try a full reset tomorrow along with the coin test.

EDIT: (just as phone died) Was going to say that it could possibly just be damp conditions if we are all swinging on similar moisture content? Something Minelab need to investigate I think.

Cheers,
Shauno.

 

[Northeast]

Syndyne, roots and charcoal were an issue for me - seem to be able to ignore them a bit more now with more use. I didn't reckon it sounded like gold but I had to dig a crap load of them first to make sure

BUT I DID FORGET ONE MAJOR THING I LEARNT WITH THE SDC!!! When we bought the machines we had to wait a few weeks for the Z so used the SDC. It drove me nuts by working fine and then (what I thought was randomly) making all sorts of pings and pangs. Seemed to be no rhyme or reason at all. I reckon it took me 3 days before I worked out the mobile phone in my right pocket was setting it off every time the control box went near it. Phone now kept in pick holder/hip bag thing on left side. Not a single issue since.

Could this be the culprit for others having issues??

 

[LC76]

Every time i go out i put the phone in Aeroplane mode to save battery and cut down on EMI.
That is i turn off everything except for GPS because i use a map app to track everywhere i walk and mark locations ect.

I learnt pretty early to turn of mobile data(4G,3G,H) to stop the interference it would cause.

 

[mbasko]

What are you running in Syndyne. I had a few false signals in General around Stuart Town but none in High Yield although, as you know, the ground was a lot drier then.
Interestingly the only tree roots I've had signals on were holding a lot of moisture but again haven't had a lot of trouble with them in the mostly dry conditions up to the last month or so.
It does take some getting used to. In the first 25-30 hours of use I was ready to trade it in but wouldn't now. Haven't been in really wet ground with it yet though.
Hopefully I'll be over Wednesday to compare what's going on.

 

[Northeast]

Bugger, was hoping it might have been an easy fix.

I've never actually turned it to plane mode or turned it off altogether as I keep it with me in case the school calls if one of the kids are crook, etc. EMI isn't a big issue for me but might try it next time anyway and see what happens.

 

[Syndyne]

Mobile is always switched off and left in the vehicle. I learned that one long ago! Very high EMI area out here though.

Main settings used in the drier area (that picked up small gold just under a gram between 2 and 10" deep) were HY, Difficult, Sens: 12, Volume 9 (headphones), Smoothing: Off. All else factory.

Got to test a couple minor settings on an un-dug target (that was a nice 0.6 nug at 9" depth) a couple days back and noticed that Smoothing: Low pretty much masked it out without really pushing hard into the target area. Anything below Sens: 9 and the target response was gone completely. Both GB methods (ferrite and walk and sweep) heard the target easily in the above main settings.

Definitely looking forward to comparing mbasko! A little reassurance wouldn't go astray. It can be a little frustrating when learning blind. I'm sure it's just the damp conditions causing most issues. Bring back the drought!

Cheers,
Shauno.

 

[Norvic]

With tree roots, here in inland NQ we are currently as dry as, but still one type of tree consistently gives signals off it roots. Always when you cut into the root there is heaps of moisture. We call it the cheese tree (soft wood), apparently it is cut up and fed to the cattle when grass is scarce. Was so with the PIs but more so with the Z, seems to be no work around, except the signal is somewhat broad and supple but so is gold sometimes.
With the Z for recovery purposes I have no metal on RH of me (Right handed), that way you can stretch out the right arm to test a handful without getting false signals. She`s a sensitive machine and requires some special treatment, and if you`ll come from using VLFs, bypassed the PIs, this is would be more pronounced.