Minelab Gpx 5000 - using Fine Gold

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Joined
Jul 12, 2015
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Location
Tarneit, VIC
Hey guys. I'm just a bit worried I'm only targeting the small stuff. I have found plenty of subies around the .1 and .2 I just watched a YouTube vid and the bloke says the fine gold setting will miss targets at 18" down. Don't know what to believe as I am new to the 5000. Any help with settings would be much appreciated. What settings are other members running to?

Regards
Chuky boy.
 
Half your bloody luck having such an excellent machine, ChukyBoy. All the best with it.
 
Chuky boy said:
Hey guys. I'm just a bit worried I'm only targeting the small stuff. I have found plenty of subies around the .1 and .2 I just watched a YouTube vid and the bloke says the fine gold setting will miss targets at 18" down. Don't know what to believe as I am new to the 5000. Any help with settings would be much appreciated. What settings are other members running to?

Regards
Chuky boy.
Good ol' YouTube :lol:
The depth of gold using Fine Gold will be relative to the size, type & lay of the gold; the ground your detecting; the coil/coil size your using; other settings - gain, stab, etc. etc.; again most of which are dependent on ground, area & particular setting/situation.
From the size of the gold you have mentioned ( .1 - .2) there will be no timing, or detector for that matter, picking those up at 18" plus in mineralised ground! I know there have been some deep subgram finds with the GPZ & also using the new Coiltek & NF coils but 18" & over is a big ask on those.
As far as the special timings go Fine Gold will go deeper than Enhance or Sens Smooth in bad ground but if the ground allows it there are better timings to go to for deep nugget hunting:
http://www.detectorprospector.com/g...-gpx-4000-4500-5000-manuals-timing-charts.htm
 
Chuky....as per what mbasko has said.....and in addition, to put your mind at ease....while out in the field with your current settings...although not definitive, try an air test with a range of material/size targets on the ground your working...this will at least give you an idea of the "strength" of the output from your coil to target..then minus perhaps 5-15% distance to allow for mineralization (less % for items that can rust as this will have a halo effect when the target is in the soil breaking down)...
 
Depth is not gauged by using a particular timing. It's determined mostly by coil size and using the the most aggressive timing that the ground you're working will allow. General rule of thumb, Sensitive Extra will give you greater depth than Enhance, and Fine Gold timing in my opinion is a half way timing between the two.

For depth I stick to Sens Extra, if the ground is too noisy for this setting I'll use Fine Gold, and if still too unstable I'll switch to Enhance. If you want big gold deep, use big coils... 14" and 16" are in my opinion the best size as they still have good sensitivity on small gold as well.

If you go down to 11" and under coils you will get more of the sub grammers, which are the bread and butter options you need to keep the interest up, but will limit your chances on the larger, deeper stuff.

Timings are only as good as the prevailing conditions allow, and matching the timings with the other settings to gain maximum sensitivity in that timing, is what you need to achieve. Gain, Stabilizer and audio settings, including using boost with diminished stabilizer settings can have a dramatic effect on penetration depth, and signal clarity of the deeper targets.

Experimenting on the fields you visit, in preference to using other peoples advised timings will get you to your maximum depths far sooner, and vastly speed up the learning curve, including your ability to get the most out of your machine ;)

Wal
 
Thanks guys for all the feedback guys. It all helps. I might go out this arvo and try much around with a few settings after work. Thanks steelpat. I have got a .4 bit I can run some tests on. My problem is once I get out there I just want to hear ok straight into detecting.
 
Chuky boy said:
Thanks guys for all the feedback guys. It all helps. I might go out this arvo and try much around with a few settings after work. Thanks steelpat. I have got a .4 bit I can run some tests on. My problem is once I get out there I just want to hear ok straight into detecting.

Just wanting to head straight into detecting is the biggest mistake most new to the game make Chuky. That puts you into the category of needing luck to find gold. There's two categories amongst the detector brigade... those relying on luck,... and those that have the ability to create their own luck.

The latter is by far the best category to be in, and if you put the time into mastering your machine, even at the expense of lessening your current detecting time on the paddock, the rewards will be well worth the efforts. Test, trial and error, and observation, are the best teachers when it comes to detecting.

Wal.
 
I just bought new 4500 with the coiltek elite
I went to clermont, used FP settings played with the gain and stabiliser
till it ran reasonably smooth, still the occasional funny sound, ground balance
every 1/2 hour or so. Did not go out of enhance.
Would I have been better searching in send extra?
My main area will be clermont and areas around Mt perry and Gladstone.
Just in bush looking for areas.

Thanks
Polky.
 
Don't want to hijack Chuky's thread with which settings are best for which locations Polky, as there's too many variables depending on weather, ground moisture, and heat of the day alone. When I'm up in that area, or any area for that matter, I stick to Sens Extra whenever possible and only switch down to Enhance when absolutely necessary.

You have the ability to de-tune Sense Extra within the setting combinations and similarly boost up Enhance with appropriate setting variations. The trick is to test a piece of gold within each timing as aggressive as possible, and still maintain a reasonably stable threshold. Sticking to one timing all day is only a good thing if you know you're in the best and most sensitive timing for the conditions. My philosophy is run as aggressive as you can to put the odds higher in your favor.

Wal.
 
Chuky, I know where you are coming from with wanting to just get into it.

I found with the Zed that if I dont spend at least 5 - 10 mins making sure machine is set properly, I may as well not be out detecting.

Good luck!
 
hmmm
Good information WalnLiz ditto steelpat.
I must admit I am in the off we go mode using the fine gold and factory settings.
I am getting a way better ear signal wise lead/gold vs junk.
We recently found some nice specimins and are keen to revisit the site for a closer look.
We had the GPX5000 on fine gold with the 9 inch mono.
Tell me if I am on the right track re my next plan of attack.
1/ rake the site and do a grid search using the same settings.
2/ change from mono loop to double D and redo area. ( would you move off fine gold ? )
1443424068_quartz__gold.jpg


I am also thinking of getting the 7000 as I own the 5000 with a mate.
What do you reckon?
 
Sorry chucky just though you were asking the same as I was. Know what ya mean when out, just wanna search for GOLD. That's why I love this forum.
Fellas with yrs of experience teaching us. Gonna take Walnliz advice,go to bush with
some lead targets of difference size and p red active.
 
Chuky the other thing I always do is carry a test nugget of about 0.3 gram. I bury it in the hottest ground and then vary my settings soil timings until I hear it the loudest before I even start detecting. Don't be afraid ti bury it down 25 cm or so, with the 5000 you should be able to fine tune your settings accordingly.

One of the things with the more aggressive settings is that you will find more hot rocks, but that "ground noise" could betray a deeper target.

Also remember to ground balance even if every couple of steps, a out of balance detector will miss gold.

Ian
 
polky said:
Sorry chucky just though you were asking the same as I was. Know what ya mean when out, just wanna search for GOLD. That's why I love this forum.
Fellas with yrs of experience teaching us. Gonna take Walnliz advice,go to bush with
some lead targets of difference size and p red active.
Don't worry polky our time will come when we walk over that ounce nugget. ;)
 
Hi dig n it haven't had much time with either the 4500 or the 5000 yet but the 5000 is difinantly finding the yellow stuff. In saying that the 4500 did just as well. It all comes with time I guess. I have started playing around with a lot more settings and it is starting to pay off.
 

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