Hi from Bathurst

[stevo]

Hi my names Stephen and I'm from Bathurst NSW. Well after 22 +years at my current job I'm about to be made redundant and quite frankly I'm looking forward to it, was really starting to become groundhog day to tell the truth.
I have always been interested in gold prospecting having done some panning and detecting in the past, but due to my current job have not had the time to really give it a go. Now that shortly I will have plenty of time on my hands I intend to give it a good thrashing for a six moth period before I start looking for another job..unless I find the big one of course
I will be very shortly in the market for a gold detector and my main pick of machine at this point in time is the Minelab GPX 5000. Have been reading about the new Garrett ATX and that nearly changed my choice of detector but I'm still not convinced it is as good as a machine as the GPX 5000, I'm looking to really punch down deep into the ground. Price wise the ATX does looks very attractive I must admit and is very tempting. On a last note which retailer in OZ has the best price on a GPX 5000.

Cheers
Stephen

PS. Anyone from Bathurst here on the forums?

 

[Reeks]

Hi Stephen, welcome to the forum. Hope you got a nice redundancy, 22 years is a long time in the one workplace. Was it the rail industry you were in?
Best of luck on the gold.
Reeko

 

[stevo]

Not rail, it was Manufacturing.. Food Processing.

 

[Heatho]

G'day Stevo, you're in a good area. ATX is a very good detector from all reports but the GPX 4500 or 5000 are the go, they are a lot more expensive but probably the best you can get at the moment. Wish I lived closer to the gold.

 

[Brumble-Gum]

Gday Stephen
Welcome to the forum. If you can afford it go the 5000 they are the best machine. If the dollars are scarce go the ATX.
First thing I would do is get yourself a State Forest Fossiking permit from the Forestry on Panorama Av. There are quite a few State Forest spots around Sunny Corner, Oberon and Trunkey that will keep you out of trouble for awhile.
Well done getting your package. I myself took one 15 years ago from the simple lot. Best thing I ever did.
Good luck with your detector choice.

 

[Guest]

On a last note which retailer in OZ has the best price on a GPX 5000.

You'll probably find that Minelab retailers are all around the same price. What may differ is what they can or will package in with it.
I'd work out what you want then contact a few like Miners Den, Nuggets from Downunder (Mudgee) etc. See who comes back with the best deal.
As a minimum I'd ask for gold vial, plastic scoop, pick, full control box cover & cable protector. You could also ask about an additional coil, booster/external speaker, carry bag/case, area maps - whatever you want & see if they'll do a deal for you.
The closer to home you buy it will be easier if you have any issues though.

P.s welcome to the forum & might see ya out & about in the Central West.

 

[stevo]

Thanks guys... that permit for state forest sounds like the go will get one for sure. Can anyone get the nuggetsfromdownunder website working, seems to be down for me or did Kim take it down when she sold up?

 

[Guest]

No they were working on it but now gone all together?
Give Scotty a ring on 026372 0082 (Nuggets from Downunder business no).
Nice bloke for a kiwi :lol: - he'll help you out.

 

[Guest]

http://www.nuggetsfromdownunder.com/

Website is back up & running.

 

[stevo]

Thanks

 

[Brendo]

Hi Stevo,
Good news mate, I live in Raglan and have been keen to meet up with someone to do some detecting with. I"ve just bought a Minelab Xterra-705
from Scotty at Mudgee and I have to say, you won't meet a nicer bloke. If you want to catch up for a beer/chat just give me a ring on 0448455072
cheers...
Brendo...

 

[stevo]

Hi Breno, will catch up with you soon mate, busy with work at the moment as I wind things up at work towards my redundancy in late May then will have plenty of time on my hands. Get out and practice with that 705 and get to know it. I find youtube is great for tutorials on setup on the 705, I'm still pretty much a novice on mine as I haven't had much time to play with it. Did you by chance buy the gold pack edition 705? thats what I bought from the Mudgee shop mid last year.

 

[prospect61]

Hi stevo, I have the Garrett atx, the only down side is the mono coil, it is 20" it is so hard to get a good smooth swing, I was watching some guys in the Vic triangle, one had 8" the other was the 10" mono on there gpx4500 and a 5000, they were finding gold I had walked over, I could have got a gpx4500 with 3 coils on eBay last month for $3900.00 but opted for atx. I maybe swinging the DD too fast, I am low and slow now but only relics so far no gold.
Hope I made the right choice, if you can, buy the minelab 4500 or 5000, those units are deadly from what I have witnessed and the accessories are huge, the atx gets very heavy after a while, it take x8 aa batteries, you cannot hear the low threashold of 7/8 without headphones while brushing coil on under growth, on warm days you really don,t want to wear them, so it puts you at a disadvantage over the minelab.
I am looking at getting mine tweeked abit, external battery and external power pack.
a new coil from garret will set you back around $730.00 compared to prices of coiltek.
hope this helps
Len

 

[stevo]

I'm getting the 5000 for sure, mate has one and he loves it and he is doing pretty good with it in way of finds out here around Bathurst. Bought his at the Mudgee shop late last year.

 

[Brendo]

Hi Stevo,
Your dead right in suggesting utube for tutorials, I've been doing exactly that and am coming along in leaps and bounds. Took it down to the showground today for a self lesson and found about $15 in coins. Will definitely hit it again after the show!!!
Been thinking about doing some gold detecting and have been studying areas of interest. When your redundancy is all sorted, let me know and we'll meet up and swap war stories!!!

 

[sususydney]

Hi Stevo, welcome! Its Good to hear your looking to prospect a new friend .. I have recently been hunting with a gold bug pro my self, just started. The GBP is my first metal detector and no complaint, it works quite well on the depth at about 12" for a coin; as for old/silver I havent found a depth enough one yet unless I go out to like barthurst , the gold bug pro works well with coin shooting(and gold) and budget wise its a great starting mahine because it works with 19hz and I believe they works fine, well it al depends on the person using it aswell. The gpx5000 may be good for depth especially at that price; i think it got like a metre deep for a big nugget as I have seen on youtube.. i think you ot other item to invest your $ on aswell like gears costs equally to a metal detector. As for me I have spent $1300 on a gold bug pro + spare batteries/clothes/headphones postage money was like $120 so it adds up; oh and get a pro pin pointer as well to save you time. I struggle to recover a lot of small target of metal or atleast 30mins to find out it wasnt gold. it was a huge experience of frustration but it was worth learning.
Let us know what you got! And Hope you find a big nugget soon. :lol: