gpx 4000 settings

[mono man]

hi guys this happend to a club member here in OZ On monday night (2/6/0 I returned from a trip to W A where I set my GPX 4000 totally differently to my normal settings.

I had a ball and enjoyed detecting more than ever before – that is until things went wrong (more about that later)

I use the 4000 equipped with a 17†elliptical mono (Nuggetfinder – one of the original fiberglass models) and a Supersound enhancer (to give my 74year old ears a bit of help)

During the trip I never had to change to a DD coil as the Nuggetfinder purred along beautifully on all the different types of ground I detected.

In the past I have never been able to get the gain on my machine above 7 or 8 at the utmost before the threshold became so unstable that I was unable to distinguish small variations or subtle targets.

Minelab say that one should run the gain as high as possible, so with that in mind I decided to try to run without threshold to see if I could increase the gain

Firstly I switched off the enhancer and bit by bit reduced the threshold until it vanished. At this stage it was replaced with a faint â€BIPâ€. I continued to reduce the threshold until this “BIP†had disappeared and the machine was totally quiet.

I then increased the gain from 7 to 15(maximum) and the machine remained quiet.

I then switched on the Supersound and increased the volume setting to about 10 o’clock.

The machine now gave a very stable soft hum which I could not decide if it was the unheard threshold being enhanced or the hum of the electronics in the control box.

However let me assure you that the sound was so stable, sweet and smooth that it was a pleasure to listen to.

Detecting with this setting I started to find smaller gold nuggets at far greater depth than I have ever found before.

We were in small gold country which was evidenced by the fact that none of the operators found any large nuggets (at one stage there were 12 of us).

You can turn the enhancer volume up to maximum, which further enhances the sound of the targets, but then you must reduce the volume setting on the back panel of the control box or you will blow your ears apart if you pass over a discharged .22 casing.

Initially there were 12 of us in the group and detectors ranged from 2200’s, 3000’s, 3500’s and 4000’s.

I called across a member of the group with 30 years detecting experience and he could not hear a faint target I had found – he had a 3500.

Another member found no gold in the first three days and asked me to tune his detector to my settings.

He found 6 nuggets the next day and found gold every day thereafter.

Let me repeat – the sound coming from the earphones was so sweet and stable that it was a pleasure to listen to.

I was detecting minute targets right down on the caprock at between 5 and 8 inches and every target was a definite sound – not just a waver of the threshold.

Theory tells us you can’t detect without threshold - so was the sound I was hearing a very faint unheard threshold being enhanced ????

Theory (Minelab) told us when the GP Extreme was launched that you could not detect in Deep and Sensitive at the same time but practice showed otherwise.( So much for theory)

Hopefully some of you out there may be able to answer the question on the sound I’m hearing?

Also if I’m detecting smaller targets much deeper could I be missing larger deeper targets.?

And, by the way, eventually all the 4000’s were tuned to the above setting.

I mentioned before I had a ball until things went wrong.

In our group 4 members had GPX4000’s.

Three of the 4000 owners came home early due to various problems.

One member from Nth Qld left early due to his not being satisfied with his 4000 (intermittent problems with the on/off button).

Another member came home when the On/Off switch on his detector failed completely. (Evidently a common fault as Ian Aitkin admitted this to me on the telephone and I have seen detectors in the field that have had their switches replaced by a different switch when returned to Minelab because of this problem.)

My detector failed and I came home 15 days early due to not having my problems sorted out to my satisfaction on the phone.

So there you have it -- 3 out of 4 GPX 4000’s failed for various reasons and, believe it or not, the one that did not fail us was a detector brought back from overseas by a member when he went to America on holiday.

It would be very interesting to hear if any of you out there have tried the above setting -- If not then try it and let us all have the benefit of PRACTICAL tests.

[nuggethunting]

Hello Mono Man,

Wow .... Welcome to the forums for starters. You have a lot of questions, so I will try to tackle some of them from what I know.

First, I had great luck hunting with all the Mienlab's, going back to the SD2000. The GPX-4000 is an amazing detector. I really loved the Sensitive/Smooth feature since many of the areas here in Arizona were covered with ironstones/volcanics or even just concentrations of black sands in the washes.

As far as the Gain goes, I try to run that as high as possible, but making sure the detector is smooth and stable. Some places this might be 9-10, but other places maybe as high as 14. I never ran 15 on the Gain here in Arizona. That high of a gain on the GPX-4000 would be really unstable and much tougher to hear the faint whisper type targets.

I noticed in Sensitive/Smooth I could run a higher gain than in Normal timing or Sensitive/Extra.

I recommend always using a Threshold. A low or high threshold can cause you to miss targets.

I never used a signal enhancer on the GPX-4000, but know they will increase all background and detector noises. If you're using them, more than likely you will have a noisier sounding unit, but the small targets will stand out a bit clearer.

You mentioned the GP Extreme and what Minelab stated (you cant find deep gold with it in Senstive/Deep). Well that is one of the only settings I used over here in the US and I found a lot of deep gold. A matter of fact, several of them over 3/4th of a pound at depth.

For the most part, the GPX-4000 was really reliable. I had a problem after several years of use. The push button ON/OFF failed and I sent it back in for repair. I guess it was some type of ribbon cable that burned apart and wouldn't allow the detector to turn on.

Hope this helps a bit,

Rob Allison

[Paseclipse]

I'm gonna give these setting a try and see what they sound like since I have the same euipment.

Now for the reliability of the 4000, I've had mine since February of 2007, I haven't had ANY problems at all and I've put in hundreds of hours behind mine out in the field hunting meteorites and gold (mostly meteorites). I do have to say there were a couple times where I had difficulty turning it n, but a good firm press of the on/off button took care of this and it fired right up.

Del

[ric]

Hi Mono man, Monoman61, why are you coping/editing posts by others??? naughty naughty,

Here's the current thread and how it's travelling.

Tuning the 4000

Testing in Australia not so much on the settings but the low to no threshold is the issue here at this time. Without threshold with some level to it, is showing to us if the GB out it near impossible to detect that it is out. Feedback and debate continues.

Paseclipse

Hi, Reading what you posted on how your switch played up a little, that was my first sign of a problem before my 4000 switch retired its self. BTW the replacement toggle switch has now died too. It gets a pounding. At least I have the 4500 to use.. , yes it's been recalled but i'll hide it if they come knocking on the door.

Nuggethunting

Hi Rob, is anyone over in the US testing the CTM bigger mono's or the NF 12" mono?

Ric

[FlakMagnet]

monoman,

I was wondering why bogene changed his name for posting over here.

Then I reread your monoman post on the original bogene thread on the Oz forum

and see that you say you are new to that forum and have just bought a 2nd hand 4000.

So perhaps you are new to all this.

What ric has pointed out;

to post something...especially info as interesting and potentially

helpful as this is...where it appears as though it is yours,

is not how to gain friends or win trust,

both of which are very much needed in this hobby.

'nuff said.

Flak

[mono man]

monoman,

I was wondering why bogene changed his name for posting over here.

Then I reread your monoman post on the original bogene thread on the Oz forum

and see that you say you are new to that forum and have just bought a 2nd hand 4000.

So perhaps you are new to all this.

What ric has pointed out;

to post something...especially info as interesting and potentially

helpful as this is...where it appears as though it is yours,

is not how to gain friends or win trust,

both of which are very much needed in this hobby.

'nuff said.

Flak

hi flak if you read the post properly you will see that i staterd it happened to a club member not me

[mono man]

Hi Mono man, Monoman61, why are you coping/editing posts by others??? naughty naughty,

Here's the current thread and how it's travelling.

Tuning the 4000

Testing in Australia not so much on the settings but the low to no threshold is the issue here at this time. Without threshold with some level to it, is showing to us if the GB out it near impossible to detect that it is out. Feedback and debate continues.

Paseclipse

Hi, Reading what you posted on how your switch played up a little, that was my first sign of a problem before my 4000 switch retired its self. BTW the replacement toggle switch has now died too. It gets a pounding. At least I have the 4500 to use.. , yes it's been recalled but i'll hide it if they come knocking on the door.

Nuggethunting

Hi Rob, is anyone over in the US testing the CTM bigger mono's or the NF 12" mono?

Ric

hi ric whats wrong with sharing information and tips to get the best out of your machine i thought thats what a forum is all about i know bogene and ill be talking with him in the next couple of weeks and if he has a problem with me sharing his settings and tips then im sure he will let me know as i staterd before this happend to someone else not me

[ric]

hi ric whats wrong with sharing information and tips to get the best out of your machine i thought thats what a forum is all about i know bogene and ill be talking with him in the next couple of weeks and if he has a problem with me sharing his settings and tips then im sure he will let me know as i staterd before this happend to someone else not me

Hello, Mm, Firstly you posted 3 copies of 3 posts and posted them in 3 threads only this 1 has a minor change at the beginning but blended into the original post giving the FALSE impression that all these 3 posts are yours.

Now suddenly you know how to quote text which is the way all real prospectors relate international referring to other members posts.

Sharing information is fine as long as credit is due to the 1st poster. Which you have not done in any of the 3 threads you started. No where do you credit Bogene with these posts.If you know Bogene why not get him to post his concent here?

To borrow flaks phrase. Nuff said..

Ric

Edited..

[bogene]

Hi All,

This is my first post on this forum and I'm doing it in defense of a friend of mine.

Mono man is a fellow detectorist belonging to the same club here in Australia that I belong to. He told me that he was going to post my findings on your forum and I had no objection as I believe that we all need to share any information that we may have.

It's a pity that he copped all the flack that he has as I believe that he was genuine in his efforts to share information for the benefit of all.

I would like also to say that I like what I see on your forum where the members appear to have respect for one another as opposed to some members who post on the forum where I opened up the thread on this subject.

Some very interesting information and questions have been asked about these settings and their possibilities on our forum which may be of interest to you or you may be able to help with answers and suggestions.

If you are interested enough I suggest you go to the Finders Forum on:-

www.finders.com.au

Enter the forum site and then go to the thread headed

Tuning the GPX 4000.

Any information or suggestions or findings would be highly appreciated if you would post them there or here.

One of the most recent to come in and I quote:-

wormslayer/gpex3500

Joined: 09 Sep 2007

Posts: 12

Location: Creswick

Posted: 16 Jul 2008 13:18 Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guday, Bogene,

Got to run your settings Sunday for a few hours on a good spot that has given plenty of gold. Took a bit to get the settings on the audio side right on both detectors. For the gold i ran a 8" mono as this coil has proven best for this spot.

Running over a target area with the 4000 then the 4500 (heads taped together) I was surprised to raise 6 signals out of a well covered spot. Each target was deeper than I expected by 2"-3" than what gold has been found here before.

So 5 nuggets and 1 boot tack after digging. Your settings on the audio side warrant more research in the field. BTW each piece was sub .1 of a gram at 5"-7". Not bad Bogene not bad at all.

Regards Ric

Seems almost impossible to me but then I see no reason to question the post as I see no benefit to the member to tell "porky pies" (lies where I come from)

The forum also lists on page 3 the original settings I used, and still do, which you can have a look at which I will also post here if so requested.

Cheers -- Keep happy -- and keep swinging.

Bogene