Minelab GPX6000 release, general information and questions

[mbasko]

Can't "add to basket" either unlike all other models suggesting low or no stock!
At least one middle eastern dealer I looked at was the same. It doesn't look to me that they are getting truck loads of them either?
The USA hasn't even received a first batch as yet! We've at least got a couple through.

I doubt that the GPX6000 left it behind. Not enough of them here or in use.
More likely left behind by a SDC or QED :lol: O
P.s. the more people keeping old tech the better :Y:

 

[Moneybox]

Yeah same was not required but was making sure I was on the list as serious, just seems there is a huge shortage compared to people on lists of the gpx, will come just gotta wait, not something we are use to these days hahaha waiting

Ha ha, if you were African or Middle Eastern you would have got as many as you wanted, with spare batteries and 17" coil thrown in! Seems like minelab have completely forgotten their roots and don't give two hoots about the people who bought their earlier detectors and grew the company into what it is today :awful:

Do you really think ML looks after the Africans? I went to buy one from South Africa purely to get the 17" coil ( already have a 6000 purchased in Australia) the price when converted from rand was app AUD $ 15,000. Google ML African dealers if you don't believe.
Great little nugget finder with both 11 and 14 but still the 4500 still finds more in weight so far on all our trips.

Yes, same here. We just arrived home and dropped in to a couple of spots for a swing on the way home. The GPX6000 is a pleasure to use and dead easy on the controls however just because it finds all the tiny bits that the GPX4500 skips over that doesn't necessarily mean that you come home with more gold. If I had been swinging the 4500 I'd have scouted about and found better sized gold instead of spending all day digging tiny fragments of lead, rusty steel and tiny nuggets.

Usually I find less nuggets than Mrs M but more weight in gold. This time the role was reversed. Apart from my 15.78g sunbaker Mrs M found more gold by weight using the SDC2300 than I found with the GPX6000 although I dug a lot more targets.

I previously had problems connecting the Bluetooth but since following JP's advice I've had no more problems. The slow battery charge is still painful but I purchased a second battery to overcome that. I saw somebodies comment about the lousy skid plate but even though I purchased three spares the original is still wearing quite well after several days scraping across the rocks. I was offered a NF or HD skid plate but chose the ML originals so that they fit without worrying about tape.

Detecting more targets doesn't necessarily equate to more gold...

 

[Harald Hardrada]

Yeah same was not required but was making sure I was on the list as serious, just seems there is a huge shortage compared to people on lists of the gpx, will come just gotta wait, not something we are use to these days hahaha waiting

Ha ha, if you were African or Middle Eastern you would have got as many as you wanted, with spare batteries and 17" coil thrown in! Seems like minelab have completely forgotten their roots and don't give two hoots about the people who bought their earlier detectors and grew the company into what it is today :awful:

Do you really think ML looks after the Africans? I went to buy one from South Africa purely to get the 17" coil ( already have a 6000 purchased in Australia) the price when converted from rand was app AUD $ 15,000. Google ML African dealers if you don't believe.
Great little nugget finder with both 11 and 14 but still the 4500 still finds more in weight so far on all our trips.

Yes, same here. We just arrived home and dropped in to a couple of spots for a swing on the way home. The GPX6000 is a pleasure to use and dead easy on the controls however just because it finds all the tiny bits that the GPX4500 skips over that doesn't necessarily mean that you come home with more gold. If I had been swinging the 4500 I'd have scouted about and found better sized gold instead of spending all day digging tiny fragments of lead, rusty steel and tiny nuggets.

Usually I find less nuggets than Mrs M but more weight in gold. This time the role was reversed. Apart from my 15.78g sunbaker Mrs M found more gold by weight using the SDC2300 than I found with the GPX6000 although I dug a lot more targets.

I previously had problems connecting the Bluetooth but since following JP's advice I've had no more problems. The slow battery charge is still painful but I purchased a second battery to overcome that. I saw somebodies comment about the lousy skid plate but even though I purchased three spares the original is still wearing quite well after several days scraping across the rocks. I was offered a NF or HD skid plate but chose the ML originals so that they fit without worrying about tape.

Detecting more targets doesn't necessarily equate to more gold...

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/3960/1624266067_6000_finds_20-6-21.jpg

Phil,

Definitely, Great little machine is the 6000 but you get hung up digging sub gram nuggets which you would have skipped over with the 4500.

example in photo, 30 small nuggets for the day with the 6000 but the 45 got only 4 but for more weight and that was the same almost every time we used those two detectors.
Also checking 6000 finds with the 2300 there was not one nugget found with the 6000 that the 2300 with standard coil would not pick up. But better machine IMO than 2300 purely due to increased coverage area.
Looking forward to trying the 17' when I can get one.

 

[davent]

Maybe use the the 6K until you find a couple of little ones, then swap over to the 45 with a 14" or 17 x 13 and see if there is any bigger deeper ones about? Or just keep plodding along.
I detected a patch recently with the zed and 12 " nf, and pulled some small bits as well as a few much better bits, got 22 bits for 15-20 grams (some still in acid) my mate got 48 bits with the sdc and 14x9 for a little bit more in weight. But he had a ball!

 

[PhaseTech]

And the bottom line is.....Minelab make very good gold detectors ickshovel: :goldnugget:

 

[Graybeard]

Just bought a GPX6000 detector. Heart stopper @ $8000 just hope its money well spent. I've been using the sdc2300 and the GPX5000. All I can say for certain is that the 6000 runs circles around the SDC. I've seen with my own eyes and ears how the SDC misses small targets that the 6000 picks up with ease.

My concern is .... does the 6000 pick up gold at depth? is it better than the 5000? I guess I'll find this out shortly for myself. I live right next to the gold fields.
I just wanted an opinion from someone on this forum whos got a 6000.

 

[Moneybox]

I've not found anything deep yet most likely because I haven't swung over it. I'm looking forward to hearing a good sized deep target but it'll have to wait for a few weeks for my 40e permit to come to fruit.

I found less gold in weight than I would normally do with the GPX4500 because I spent a lot of time digging tiny nuggets with the GPX6000 that I would usually walk over while seeking out something suitable for the 4500.

 

[grubstake]

Here you go:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=606964#p606964

 

[grubstake]

Somebody was asking recently about hiring a 6000, but I'm blowed if I can find their post. FWIW, this advert just popped up on Gumtree (please note that Butler is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia):

 

[mbasko]

"FIND ALL GOLD: Small fragments to large nuggets and everything in between can be accurately located with this one detector."

Anyone buying a GPX6000 & not believing the above or not wanting the "small fragments" will be dissatisfied. Said all along & still believe it won't be for everyone (Phil?).

Here's a post I put on another thread with similar question:

JP probably sums it up best here: https://www.detectorprospector.com/...ommentary-tips/?do=findComment&comment=166955 & here: https://www.detectorprospector.com/...ommentary-tips/?do=findComment&comment=167044
Explains it better & more technically than I could.
I 100% agree with him that the advantages of the GPX6000 over the 5000 (& even GPZ7000) are ergonomics + the smaller gold sensitivity.
JP states that the reality is that the GPX6000 follows the same performance curve as the 5000 when it comes to large gold at depth.

IMO until a larger coil (or coils) is available for the GPX6000 then a 4500/5000 will have a depth advantage once fitted with a coil over say 12-14" on larger targets.

Those with a GPX4500/5000 + SDC combo, or have a GPZ7000 ower: , will likely find the need for a GPX6000 redundant unless they want more scope in one machine to replace 2 (GPX/SDC combo) once larger coils become available or just want/need better ergonomics.
The fewer 6000's out there the better

I wouldn't say it's better than the 5000 but I wouldn't say it's worse either!
Hopefully the 17" coil will shed more light on the large target at depth discussion?

 

[Moneybox]

For those of you out and about swinging the GPX6000, which coil is your go to coil?

The 11 inch Mono?

OR

The 14 inch Double D?

:Y:

I'm using the 11" Mono because I don't like a coil where only one half works properly. If I poke the RH side of the DD over a potential target it would most likely be missed altogether.

 

[Swinging & digging]

Doesn't a DD have a blade shaped magnetic field search area where as a mono has a concentric one meaning without significant overlap each swing you potentially miss targets. :idea:

 

[Moneybox]

Doesn't a DD have a blade shaped magnetic field search area where as a mono has a concentric one meaning without significant overlap each swing you potentially miss targets. :idea:

Even the Mono needs a significant overlap because the area of detection is reduced the deeper you go however much of our gold is found on or near the surface. I like the way the Minelab mono coils have good detection beyond the diameter of the coil. If you poke it under a bush or next to a rock you will very likely detect a target under that obstacle, something missing on many of the aftermarket coils. My DD is next to useless on the RH side.

 

[grubstake]

Doesn't a DD have a blade shaped magnetic field search area where as a mono has a concentric one meaning without significant overlap each swing you potentially miss targets. :idea:

If I understand Jonathan Porter's explanation correctly, that "blade-shaped" central search area where the two coils overlap is only applicable to VLF double-D coils. Apparently with a DD coil on a PI detector, both sides actively transmit the pulse, but only one side receives the return signal (which matches what Moneybox is hearing).

 

[Alchemist]

On all previous PI DD configurations the TXand RX coils require such specific parameters you couldn't transmit on the RX.
For instance a typical Minelab DD TX coil will have an inductance of 300 micro Henries and a resistance of 350 milli Ohms, this means the wire will be pretty chunky having a cross sectional area of about 1.2 mm2.
The DD RX coil will have an inductance of about 450 micro Henries and a resistance of 6 Ohms, this makes the wire quite thin in comparison, with a cross sectional area of about 0.08 mm2.

There is no way you can combine these two coils and generate the required pulse, but you could theoretically combine them during the recieve period, the complexity of switching circuitry required would likely not be worth any gains.

I know JP likes to use the DD setting with a mono coil since there is less attenuation of the RX signal due to input switching topography, but I don't know how this stands with the 6k.

Cheers
Kev.

 

[PhaseTech]

A DD coils basic function is the same on a VLF or PI expect that on a VLF the Transmit and Receive happens at the same time.

Coil switching on previous GPXs only changes the characteristics of the Receive pulse. The Transmit is always the same whether you are in DD, Mono or Cancel. With the 6000, the coil switching for the DD coil isn't discussed in the Manual, but its behaviour is pretty much like a DD coil in Cancel on the earlier machines. The only difference I can see is the signal response isn't inverted. But it's still crazy sensitive.

There would also be a slight difference in parameters between the emi and salt cancel modes but they perform very similarly.

 

[Meerkat]

With the 6000, the coil switching for the DD coil isn't discussed in the Manual, but its behaviour is pretty much like a DD coil in Cancel on the earlier machines.

From what I have witnessed the 6000 in its EMI mode with the 14DD is not as quiet as a DD in Cancel mode on the earlier GPX.

 

[Bonacini]

This is really good stuff I love when the threads get some good chat happening,

So probably a bit early but does anyone know if one of the 6000 could has been opened up to see if there is a differences are between the new mono and old mono and new dd to old dd.

Does the new coils have more pins on the plug meaning more cables running down?

Curious to know if the coil has something to do also with the two-sense or the coil is pretty standard in design!

 

[Alchemist]

Nenad's post reminded me of the cancel mode, on previous X models, where the TX and RX must both receive, but combined in antiphase, hence the reduced response.

 

[davent]

Had a muck around with a 6k this afternoon.
Spent about half an hour going over a patch I've got over 100 nuggets from.
Got 6 more.
This thing is amazing. I found 2 little nuggets, about the same average size I usually get, in an area that I have been over dozens of times with the zed and nugget finder 12". The signals were so clear and sharp I felt I couldn't have missed them with the zed, but I did.
Another spot I got the last 4 from was a tight area a mate had been over with his sdc, and he got 48 little nuggets and speccies. The 4 I got were on the edges of his digs. The area is about the size of a king size bed!
All in all, I loved it......I want one as a patch finder and patch cleaner.