Minelab GPX5000 tips, settings and questions

[Rambling rude]

Hi Willo, I have my threshold about the 10 o'clock position.. Gain is around 8-9 with stabilizer
set one or two marks either side of the gain setting depending on the ground conditions.
I use a booster instead of headphones, but I think the same applies. for the target volume I am set much lower at around 3-4 when using the booster. i know some who set target up around 15 when using headphones which would blow my ears out...if i find the coil is getting to noisy I reduce the target volume by one and this nearly always settles things down, then ground balance is as quiet as a mouse...

Cherri's for now and happy new year
RR

 

[Heatho]

Was out for a swing the other day around some diggings with Kingsolomon and some mates and there was a nasty signal that made detecting very difficult, was a deep wide pulse about every second or 2.

There was a fence about 50m away but didn't investigate if it was electric, just moved a few hundred metres up the road and it ran very smooth.

Sound like an electric fence????

 

[mozzie1957]

Possibly. My 5000 has made some pretty strange noises at times, 'specially anywhere within cooee of power.
Fixed all that when I purchased an Anti-Interference coil. Run in DD and also happy to be used in Iron Reject if needed.
Took care of all the noises from power, other machines and so on.

 

[Heatho]

Must have been the fence. Only had my 11" mono with me. Will take my DD with me there next time, should run smoother.

Thanks mate.

 

[nuggetino]

Do the AI coils run much quieter than the DD coils on the GPX? My 4500 is giving me grief in some of the areas i go prospecting despite running the 11" DD coil. Same sounds you describe with the 5000. long bleeps with a second or 2 break. I found diggings by other detectorists in this area so wondering how they get by or perhaps they scan extremely slow and listen between bleeps. No electric fence or visible power line nearby. Must be another source of EMI

 

[Heatho]

Same as you described, wonder if the DD in cancel will get rid of it. Mine was the same in any setting with the mono, even with the Rx gain turned way down. Then moved a bit down the road and all was fine. Closest house was 2km away.

Actually raising the coil up high in line with my head reduced it but down low on the ground it just kept bleeping every second or 2 also. Hmm I wonder if someone has put some type of emitter nearby to deter detecting???? Either because they don't like it or.............. protecting a patch?

Was still getting targets but was difficult.

 

[micks nugget]

hi
took me about 4 mths prospecting on weekends and holidays to pay for the machine and gear
mick

 

[casper]

it may not be entirely the machine that matters

it might also be the mind of the owner that determines if it pays for itself

that might sound harsh but alot of people dont completely open themselves to good luck , either due to fear or subconscious thought patterns etc

i have heard that 90 % of people who buy any detector dont find more than a couple of hundred bucks worth of gold.

research , dedication , methodical approach to digging every target and learning to understand your machine will make a difference.

out of the tens of thousands of people in the country involved in it there are thousands of people who earn an income , and maybe every year there might be 5 or 10 at a guess who crack a big one and find a massive patch to retire from.

i totally agree ..... read my signature line

 

[mozzie1957]

Do the AI coils run much quieter than the DD coils on the GPX? My 4500 is giving me grief in some of the areas i go prospecting despite running the 11" DD coil. Same sounds you describe with the 5000. long bleeps with a second or 2 break. I found diggings by other detectorists in this area so wondering how they get by or perhaps they scan extremely slow and listen between bleeps. No electric fence or visible power line nearby. Must be another source of EMI

Noise from power lines, towers and general atmospheric noises can all be cancelled out by using this coil. In heavy mineralised ground they can get a bit noisy.
I've found it to be a lot quieter than the DD. Depth, and sensitivity, a tiny bit less than the DD but small price to pay to be able to detect areas I couldn't do before unless
running the DD in cancel. And THAT cost heaps in depth.

 

[micks nugget]

hi mozzie
I owe a 18" ai coil for the 5000 they are good especially with older machines ie sd 2000
I can work near powerlines but if I go under them most times the 5k goes nuts
u will lose some depth compaired to a normal mono also the ai is far more smooth in noisy
ground
hopes this helps
mick

 

[Ben78]

AI coils are hard wired the same way the a DD coil is wired in cancel, ie one coil +ve one coil -ve, the DD has two individual coils whereas the AI coil has a single mono coil twisted in the middle into a figure 8. Personally I would just go for a DD in cancel mode where you need EMI performance because you can then always flick the RX switch to DD or Mono - so you get 3 coil variants in one coil compared to one coil in the AI models.

 

[lucky]

Hi all
I,m jumping ship from garrett and am looking at getting a 5000.The wife says go get one(happy wifey happy lifey god bless her)i noticed that the big package deals from december are no more. Not sure if I should waite or just go buy it now.The other thing i,m not sure of is what other mono coil should I get, I was thinking of an 18 inch round spoked. Any advice would be greatly excepted

 

[Guest]

http://www.goldcitydetecting.com.au/gpx5000.php
About the best deal/s I have seen at the moment. If you have a Minelab dealer nearby ask if they can match it or put something together for you?

 

[loamer]

Good question: depending on where you detect, the spoked coils can get caught up in small twigs etc, but with a skid plate that shouldn't be a problem I guess. - some people love them, some don't. On clear ground though, they are fine. That's a fair old leap to the 5000 so it make take some time to get used to the settings. there are few 5000 users on the forum who have kindly posted some recommended settings. If you get the 5000, it probably should come with at least the 11" mono. Once again, depending on where you are and what you are looking at (depth/ground/geology etc) will usually determine what type of coil you may wish to run on that particular area. For example, if you want to play on mullock heaps, it may be a tad big - same as if on deeper ground, the 18 would be preferable. But, good luck with the purchase and as I said, there are users who should be bale to help and I know there are posts on this forum already.

 

[lucky]

Thanks for the replies guys
mbasko - We have just sold and are moving to hervey bay qld. brisbane gold had megggggga package for six seven or six eight from last december and should have ran up to the 14th of this month,but its stopped now. I had a look at the one you posted up and might run it past them on tue,thanks mate.

loamer
I had a big learning curve with the 4500. it had a coiltek gold storker or nugget finder? mono. The reason I thought of the bigger mono was that where I found my little bits with the smaller coil just might be worth running over again with 16 or 18 round mono for anything that may be deeper in the same ground.Clermont is where we are going again this year and vic towards the end of the year. The 5000,s come with 11'' mono and 11''dd so if I can get a good deal I'd like to get a bigger round mono and a speaker so I don't have to use head phones

 

[loamer]

Lucky - you are spot on. Get a bigger coil and re-do your patches. At times I will run several different coils and then even maybe throw on a bigger DD - depends on the soil conditions. If it is persistently noisy due to that mongrel red clay pockets for example, I may use a DD to cross check. I pretty well use only Nugget finders now - I find they are more responsive, better connections (that is a biggy), lighter and I like the coil to shaft connection set-up - just a bit more robust in my opinion. The other coils are fine (minelab/coiltek etc) - just personal preference. I have seen some new detectors running crxp coils - sort of defeats the purpose and at times the coil selection, care, maintenance and upgrades can be overlooked. I flog the skid plates - cheap and easy to replace.

I use a speaker as well - the under chin ear plugs are no good for me - I am too tall, they are too delicate (mine were good but had a plug adaptor - one more headache i don't need) and I tend to get them caught up. On windy days, I still carry my old Koss headphones in my day-pack. The wind can tend to 'hide' small threashold changes that are our bread and butter. I tend to lean in towards the speaker when the wind picks up and walk around in a permanent stoop :lol: Don't forget - the volume settings need to be played with when swapping over.

 

[Guest]

http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/141163426626?nav=SEARCH&sbk=1
This one might be worth a drive to check out to & make an offer.
As with any GPX off ebay check the serial no., hologram, purchase invoice etc. & get the warranties etc. transferred to your name before handing over the cash [if it checks out ok & you did decide to purchase].
Has 18" coil + others included.

 

[lucky]

Hi mbasko
Thanks for keeping an eye out,looks like a good buy but I,m poopen my duds just thinking about spending all that money and winding up with a knock off..... lol. I,m tending to think that a registered dealer and no worries about a genuine article is the way to go. I figure if I get out on a fortnightly or monthly basis and find a bit more of this addictive element I should be able to pick up a few more coils new or second hand (and justify this big spend)

Hi loamer
Do you think a 16'' or 18'' spoked nugget finder would be a good option to cover what the 11'' mono misses?

 

[RottenRon]

Hi all
I,m jumping ship from garrett and am looking at getting a 5000.The wife says go get one(happy wifey happy lifey god bless her)i noticed that the big package deals from december are no more. Not sure if I should waite or just go buy it now.The other thing i,m not sure of is what other mono coil should I get, I was thinking of an 18 inch round spoked. Any advice would be greatly excepted

G'day mate.

Don't know if you've had a look at them yet by check out the Garrett ATX. See if you can hire one from somewhere like I did. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Check out my rather long winded post, https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3134&p=2
Sorry about the length of it, but I couldn't help myself.

I think you might find some of my comments worthy of consideration. But anyway, good luck which ever way you go.

Cheers, Ron.

 

[lucky]

Hi RottonRon
Wound up biting the bullet yesterday and got a good deal on the 5000 from brisbane gold.
I did read your post the other night but thought after using a 4500 after running my infinium up at Clermont last year it was like chalk and cheese. I've only had garretts up until know, gti1500,infinium and an atpro,they all work well and the infinium is great for beach work. I bought the infinium because of the claims made of its gold detecting capability. I spent 2weeks in the fields for about 3 or 4kg of scrap metal and 4 days with a 4500 around the same area for about 4 or 5gm of gold,7 bits all up 6 sub grammers. I'm a bit shy of the garrett hyp now and I know I'm still at the bottom of a big learnig curve on the 5000 but I'm banking on it to pay off.

i