GPZ7000: Info, Tips, Finds

mbasko said:

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"

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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

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So in Castlemaine right now and just redid the coin benchmark test.

For high yield normal 9
I got 18 inches

For high yield difficult 9
I got 13 inches

So looks like I might have just been on some really wet salted EMI infested ground lol.
And lack of experience meant I didn't know how to deal with it.

Oh well we live and learn.

Edit to add........ Time to find some gold.

Same here LC. Moved up into drier ground today and she ran sweet. Pulled several lead shot (28 in total, some at ridiculous depth) and bagged a little 0.1gm nug after lunch at 7" deep.

Also slowed my swing way down today and let the tracking do it's job. I kept it to a five second duration for a full swing. The targets still came through loud and clear. Still using HY, Diff. Sens: 12, Vol: 9 w/headphones. Balanced on the ferrite.

Hope it improves for you and that good gold shows up!

All the best,
Shauno.

Haven't had a chance to coin test tonight but am heading out tomorrow for a detect so will try then.
I see you got the 18 inches LC - good work. Sounds like it has restored a bit of faith for you ?
Did you end up with anything for the rest of the day?

28 bits of lead shot Syndyne - how frustrating!!!

Yeah nothing today but junk.
The Z purred like a kitten today after slowing down and backing off the settings a bit.

But your right it's comforting to at least know the machine is working within it's expected range.

So I'm happy to know now that it's just me needing some more practice in the more challenging conditions.
Really didn't want to have to post the Z back to Minelab.

Northeast said:

28 bits of lead shot Syndyne - how frustrating!!!

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Haha! Yeah, comes with the territory. Pretty standard for out here. Worst day in the same area was 90 bits of bird shot using the SDC and raking. I'm just pulling the deeper ones left -still the best indicator for gold left about

Cheers,
Shauno.

Hi lc76
I was told by minelab the test should be done in normal mode, I get it at about 14inches! My problem is the people that have a machine that operate around the 18 inches have a 20% better machine which i think is crap. so i rang minelab back and they said its near enough. (Angry)
I have since had a black line appear on my screen, so i sent it back under warranty which they fixed but did not even replace the plastic screen which has a few scraches and i thought it would be part of the part needing fixing. I also asked them to test is my machine was running at the correct output which on the document they sent back says it is and its due to of operater ability or something like that.
Not happy as i think the 5000 has us covered cause they have all the coils to go deeper already

I ran mine on Saturday and compared it side by side with a 5000 with I think it was a nugget finder coil (Dig'n-it will have to clarify). We tested 3 different size nuggets at various depths.

With a nugget around 2g the depths were pretty comparable. But on smaller nuggets and larger ones, the 7000 was definitely better (about 10% advantage).

Now all that being said there are a few variables

1: these were rounded nuggets - the 7000 will perform a lot better on reefy gold.
2: I only realised yesterday that the knee support I was wearing on my right knee has metal inserts which may have reduced my ability to have the machine running at its best. (I was under the impression they were nylon inserts). I had assumed it was just noisy ground so I will check this out next week and do some tests to see if support makes any difference.

Hi jezza28

I know the frustration of dealing with Minelab but don't back down if you know you are right.
Minelab have always done the right thing by me...... Sometimes it can take some convincing though.
I had a faulty SDC 2300 awhile ago and had to provide video evidence before they would believe me.

But after that they were great.

Make sure when doing that coin test that you do it in the bush away from EMI (no radio, phone, ect.)
Good luck... Hope it works out for you.

Evening all.
Bit of a random question re: using the Quicktrack button and the ferrite.
Can't say I REALLY understand the whole ground balance thing but get the idea that using the ferrite is to ground balance out the various minerals that might be in the ground you are going to detect. Stops a lot of the hot rock noise.
However, how does the ferrite know what is in the ground that I am about to detect? Or is the ferrite just full of all sorts of different things that are 'likely' to be in any mineralized, gold bearing ground?
This is why I initially started using the 'walk and sweep' method with the quick track button - seemed that it would be more specific to the area that I was working that day.

I am now wondering though, if I walk and sweep or ferrite at the start of the day and then whilst detecting actually come across a hot rock (frequent occurrence lately) could I/should I quick track over the hot rock with the octopus dance just as I would the ferrite? Would this be even more specific to the area I am detecting? Could I then run my hot settings without pinging off on these hot rocks? I know the quick track dumps all the data gathered so far but...

Or am I barking up the wrong rock pile?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. And I'm putting this out there because I haven't had the chance to get out for about a week and can't see an opportunity in the next week Maybe someone else will get the chance to test.

P.P.S. And just had another thought. Someone suggested in the SDC thread to turn the sensitivity all the way when doing the noise cancel. Will be trying this with the Zed next time I'm out.

SteelPat said:

I ran mine on Saturday and compared it side by side with a 5000 with I think it was a nugget finder coil (Dig'n-it will have to clarify). We tested 3 different size nuggets at various depths.

With a nugget around 2g the depths were pretty comparable. But on smaller nuggets and larger ones, the 7000 was definitely better (about 10% advantage).

Now all that being said there are a few variables

1: these were rounded nuggets - the 7000 will perform a lot better on reefy gold.
2: I only realised yesterday that the knee support I was wearing on my right knee has metal inserts which may have reduced my ability to have the machine running at its best. (I was under the impression they were nylon inserts). I had assumed it was just noisy ground so I will check this out next week and do some tests to see if support makes any difference.

Click to expand...

Steelpat and I compared my GPX4500 (new model) and new NF Evolution 15" spoked Mono against his Zed. Buried gold nugget targets were 0.5g at about 4 or 5 inches, 2g at about 8 or so inches, and 7g at about 12 inches. We tried a range of settings on both machines. Cheers

Evening,

Tried the ground balance of hot rocks today whilst out and about (as per my post above). Didn't work at all. Wouldn't quieten the rocks down (like the ferrite does during GB) and when the detector came of the rocks it made the detector go bonkers on all the ground around it. But worth a try. :/

Cheers, Northeast.

Just got off the phone to EE Day and SONS in Ballarat. They said 2,3 weeks until the 19 inch are released and they still have no idea of the $$$.

Here is a great tip for all of you Z users! Dont strap it to your quad bike!

well that blows.... hope you sorted something out for the day mate.

i'd hit the dislike button but we dont have one.

Northeast said:

Evening all.
Bit of a random question re: using the Quicktrack button and the ferrite.
Can't say I REALLY understand the whole ground balance thing but get the idea that using the ferrite is to ground balance out the various minerals that might be in the ground you are going to detect. Stops a lot of the hot rock noise.
However, how does the ferrite know what is in the ground that I am about to detect? Or is the ferrite just full of all sorts of different things that are 'likely' to be in any mineralized, gold bearing ground?
This is why I initially started using the 'walk and sweep' method with the quick track button - seemed that it would be more specific to the area that I was working that day.

I am now wondering though, if I walk and sweep or ferrite at the start of the day and then whilst detecting actually come across a hot rock (frequent occurrence lately) could I/should I quick track over the hot rock with the octopus dance just as I would the ferrite? Would this be even more specific to the area I am detecting? Could I then run my hot settings without pinging off on these hot rocks? I know the quick track dumps all the data gathered so far but...

Or am I barking up the wrong rock pile?

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Hi Northeast,

Both Ground Balance methods work fairly well, though I settled on the Ferrite GB method as it was easier and much faster than the walk and swing style GB. Just my personal preference for the ground type and seemed to be a better option for me in the very damp ground. Dry ground might be a different story but I haven't had the chance to swing on any just yet.

As far as the hot rock noise goes, I've also picked a couple up here and there that it would not balance out, but would suggest not to try and balance these out too often if it can be helped as I've seen far too many circumstances on these forums where those hot rocks can contain gold.

I guess you could lower the sensitivity and throw it into Severe Ground Type to lessen the chances of picking them up, but that's not really the point of this machine. You definitely want it set at more of an optimal/high performance combination for depth and sensitivity -particularly if it's a known or well worked area. Food for thought however.

Hot rocks are usually present with most detectors and are par for the course on some goldfields I guess.
Hope you get it running to suit.
Cheers,
Shauno.

davent said:

Here is a great tip for all of you Z users! Dont strap it to your quad bike!

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/6002/1476336249_20161011_2128572.jpg

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Bugger!

davent said:

Here is a great tip for all of you Z users! Dont strap it to your quad bike!

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/6002/1476336249_20161011_2128572.jpg

Click to expand...

Shit mate must of been a bad day out I would of jumped on the quady and gone flat stick off a cliff.
Love my Z.

Ouch that hurt I bet

hey Davent,is that the quad that you took 2.5 hours to rescue out the gully?
and was it your mates detector or your own?