Minelab GPX4500 tips, settings, questions

[DrDuck]

I recently had a chat about this with a very experienced prospector who is known to members here, and his opinion is that the 4500 is an excellent detector, especially when used with some of the new coils that are available, and more or less comparable with the 5000, except that it lacks a couple of timing settings.

 

[Mickybees]

My new 4500 seems to run smoother then my mates old 4500 but in saying that he still finds more gold then me he's has years of experience on me I only started a few months ago ..

 

[user 4485]

I recently had a chat about this with a very experienced prospector who is known to members here, and his opinion is that the 4500 is an excellent detector, especially when used with some of the new coils that are available, and more or less comparable with the 5000, except that it lacks a couple of timing settings.

& that about sums it up. Fine Gold timing is probably the only real discernable difference.

 

[user 4485]

My new 4500 seems to run smoother then my mates old 4500 but in saying that he still finds more gold then me he's has years of experience on me I only started a few months ago ..

Some people that held onto their old 4500's rather than upgrade when the 5000 was released actually like that the 4500 runs a bit more "edgy" & not so smooth. A mate of mine always gets gold with his & most would find it "noisey" how he runs but he understands what it's saying.

 

[Mickybees]

That's right mate the more you use it the more you understand the machine the t few times iv found gold the machine hardly had a sound about it more just a change in threshold noise until I scratched the surface then got the call on the machine I try run mine as quiet as possible I hate walking around with a noisy machine

 

[user 4485]

Yeah it's a bit of a fine line mate. Too quiet & you'll be missing the faint threshold changes - too noisey & those same signals can get swamped in the noise. It's one thing that I reckon has the most to do with personal preference & takes experience to be able to walk that fine line effectively. Some just don't like the "noise" & others don't consider it noise but an electronic language.
I don't know that anyone can set up someone elses settings/threshold & say they're ideal as we all have different hearing & tolerances. I find once I'm getting used to the machine I can start ramping things up more & the "noise" does become a language. I think it's more about finding what's tolerable for yourself & trying to keep that level running as smooth as possible.

 

[Mickybees]

I'm looking for a 11" coil and was wondering what is the best Iv heard a lot of good things about the new Coiltek elite range and just wondering if that's my best option?

 

[user 7268]

Have you looked at the 12" Evo Nugget Finder

 

[Mickybees]

Have you looked at the 12" Evo Nugget Finder

No I havnt I might check it out do u think it's better then Coiltek elite ? Cheers

 

[user 4485]

As cheaper alternatives there's nothing wrong with the Minelab Commander 11" mono coils. You can pick them up cheap now & also Nugget Finder Advantage 12" mono.
The newer coils have a better target response but these now unfashionable coils were finding gold, & even the small stuff the new ones are hyped up for, over many years not that long ago (& still will). Just another option if budgets important.

 

[Teemore]

There seems to be no doubt that the new NF Evo and Coiltek Elite coils are a step up.
Gets to be a bit like Holden vs Ford ........ some are NF fans others swear by Coiltek (Coiltek for me).
BUT at the end of the day you still have to have the smarts to be in the right area ..... no coil or amount of time swinging it will find gold unless you walk over it.

Coils/detectors are the tool .... both need a smart operator.

Plenty is found with the SDC and GPZ as well.

Decisions, decisions decisions ...
Good luck with yours,
Cheers T.

 

[Mickybees]

Thanks guys I have heard the Coiltek elite are great also have heard they can get noisy at times so not sure

 

[Davent]

I recently got a NF evo 14 x 9.
Ive only used it 3 times. 1st time it was super quiet, and I picked up bits of junk.
Gave it a real good go yesterday, a good 7 hours, it was a bit noisy yesterday, and I got quite a few false signals when I bumped the ground, or even hit spear grass with it.
Played around with a few different settings, turned the gain down a tad, and ground balanced after I got a lot of signals, it blanked out once over a star picket, and kept falseing for a few swings after I moved away from it, but as soon as I balanced it again, no worries. Its a good, light sensitive coil.
I picked up tiny bits of trash that sounded like coke cans, I mean tiny, hard to find even in your hand.

 

[BigWave]

We all have our favourites, but after trying many, my go-to coil is still the 11" Commander mono that came with it. It's got a great balance and is a good all-rounder. If I've finished a patch with it, then depending on depth, I may try the smaller 8" for shallow ground, or deeper with the 17*13 NF Evo, but I always start with the 11" mono.

 

[Mickybees]

My 4500 come with a 11" DD Iv never used it I heard its crap I use my 8" mono Minelab 90% of the time but now I'm wanting to find stuff a bit deeper but don't like swinging a big coil around all day so my next coil will be 11" or 12" want something light enough to swing all day and good enough to find the smaller stuff to

 

[Heatho]

!!" DD is a great coil.

 

[Dignit]

Hi Mickybees
I know where you are coming from. I was at your point about November last year after buying my 4500 in August. I bought the Elite 11" mono in Dec and used it constantly over Summer. I did find it unstable in high heat but brilliant in the cool of morning and evening. I found about 30 pieces of small gold all in the morning or evening. Nothing over 1g. At the end of summer I bought the 11" Commander after seeing BigWave doing very well with it. I find tiny gun shot pellets with it. It is a very stable coil. I found my first nugget over 1g two weeks ago with the Commander, weighing 1.93g. I was very happy.
When I spoke to Minersden about which coil to get for better heat stability in high mineralised ground, further north near Inglewood, they agreed the Minelab was the way to go. I was considering a Nugget Finder Evo but they said they are also very similarly sensitive and I may not find any better stability. So they agreed the Minelab was the better choice for where I had mostly detected in the summer.
So in summary my experience is that the new highly sensitive coils are not as stable as you would want in north central Vic in high heat. We are now in to cooler weather so it won't make a lot of difference. There is no doubt the new coils give sharper detection but the older coils are proven gold finders as well.
So, it is a tough call.
Good luck.
Cheers Dignit

 

[Dignit]

Forgot to add....... I've tried my 11"DD and it has significantly less depth and significantly more instability where I detect for gold. I have no doubt it would be a great relic detector in mild ground. However I only search for gold.

 

[Heatho]

Quite a lot of people who detect for gold use DD coils, they actually give more stability and less spurious noises, they reject EMI much better than mono's, so yeah they do have their place on the goldfields, they are still extremely sensitive and find tiny targets at good depths, sometimes better than monos in certain timings and conditions.

 

[Davent]

I liked using my dd that came with my4500, untill my mate found a half grammer with his sdc. Called me over to swing the 45 over it. It wouldnt brake the threshold. We fiddled with the settings, nothing. Switched it to mono, nothing. No sound at all. I was thinking my 45 was faulty, untill he pulled a slightly smaller bit from a previous find out, and placed it on the ground the dd had no trouble seeing that piece, even though it was smaller. The half grammer was a bit porus, so maybe thats why? Anyway, havent had any confidence in the dd since then, even though it is very stable and quiet.