bugwhiskers

Hi Rob, Once the new SMT board has proven itself a reliable performer I would be very happy to send you one to try for yourself. Nobody would disagree that a bit of competition would be good for consumers and it may even jerk the slack out of the LV service department. The mindless detractors are forever badgering me to release it. I guess they would take great delight if a "3rd party" mylar strip failed in the first 1000 or so due to inadequate field testing and required an expensive and reputation damaging recall. Regarding the following quote: P.S. At the recent Minelab Seminar they made a statement about their line "Best Metal Detection Technology." They said if this wasn't true any company could challenge them to have that line removed, but they can't cause it's the plain truth. Minelab does have the best technology to date, not saying that can't change in the future. If you look at the Minelab web site, their GPX4500 is marketed as a Gold Detector. Any user knows they will also very happily find any type of metal including trash. If you look at ALL their PI patents you will see them referred to as Metal Detectors. I guess corporate marketing spin and propaganda doesn't work on Patent Examiners. regards bugwhiskers PS How much would Multi millions of dollars of Australian Taxpayer funded Government grants and humungous profits on each detector sold have helped create the "Best Metal Detection Technology."?

Good on you JP, trying to defend the indefensible. How about attacking the ball and not the player. As always, sycophantic fanaticism rules your head and consumers rights take a back seat. Jennifer is talking about damage done by incompetent repair staff and/or poor manufacture, not harsh handling by the user. regards bugwhiskers

I take my hat off to you Jennifer Bond. There are many supposed prospecting forums that are nothing more than covert ML marketing tools. Posts such as yours would be deleted immediately and your butt banned. There is only one way to jerk the slack out of a company that is resting on it's laurels and monopoly and that is to publicly shame them into action. regards bugwhiskers

Quote by WheelBubble (Hoss) ...on the same note if you open anything thats made today you will have the same complaint... By way of comparison have a look at the following link: http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/ Most of their boards sell for around $100 and the reliability is legendary. The price and quality comparison, lightyears apart. regards bugwhiskers

Hi JP, As a fellow prospectors best source of information on Minelab's range of detectors I am sure you have just overlooked telling the guys here about a new forum. I gather as you were the very first non Admin person to join that it must be a very interesting site. Even if the guys don't read the posts the pretty pictures you posted there will delight them. http://disgruntledgpx4000owners.ipbfree.com/index.php? regards bugwhiskers

Hi Steve, No trick question that one. Of course its a new GPX4500. If you ask me the same question in 2 months time the answer may be different. This answers your question but the story doesn't end there. There is absolutely nothing morally wrong with scutiny especially when consumers best interests are involved. If with my electronic knowledge I can see people paying too much or too frequently and say nothing then I should be more accursed. Microsoft have by far the lions share of the PC market for Operating Systems. When was the last time you heard anyone sing their praises? Consider the profits they have made over the years, can you see the expected benefits in their current product? No matter how much you love a company or it's products there comes a point when the price is too high and the improvements over the last model just aren't good enough, then you revolt. I just reached my threshold a little earlier than you. regards bugwhiskers

Hi QldSandy, Just a quick question requiring a yes/no answer. Do you believe Minelab and their very expensive detectors are above scrutiny ? regards bugwhiskers

Hi JP, There is nothing this post of yours that goes anyway towards answering the question. As there are now 3 of you on the bandwagon of trying to stop these guys from reading the reference material I suspect it is one hot potato. The following post is an excellent opportunity for you, I suggest you take it and leave the spin for the politicians. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProspectinginOz/message/8728 regards bugwhiskers

Hi Inhere, You obviously don't remember the "Prohibition" lesson, the more you try to deprive people of something, the more they want it. Thanks for your help. regards bugwhiskers

Hi Inhere, I reckon the guys here are old enough and wise enough to look for themselves and don't need to be advised by you that it isn't worth a read. The thread originator very cleverly avoided getting his butt banned by writing in a jocular manner. The mystery deepens with JP refusing to answer questions on the matters raised. regards bugwhiskers

Hi Chuck, I'd say it bodes well for White's if the testers don't want to hand the detectors back! regards bugwhiskers

Hi Steve, You will have to agree that there is a very limited market for such a machine as the majority of prospectors just want to find gold no matter how small. Most of the guys in the small group are not so young and have dug more than their fair share of "ground noises" and ferrous trash. I did not post the info as a tease but because you did entreat me five times. It is refreshing to see you have a balanced view of the prospecting scene. As a citizen in the land of the free you would probably be horrified to know that some of the so called "Prospector" sites in Oz would ban your butt forever and delete ALL your previous posts for such heresy. This is of course after the rabid Minelab Jihadists had finished with their derision of you. A recent thread at the MSN Gold detecting site was removed because it stated that pictures of the Nemesis could be seen at Prospecting Oz. regards bugwhiskers

Hi Steve, The following link is a must read for all GPX4000 owners, the topic is "SETA - the truth revealed". On entering it appears that important posts 2 to 23 are missing, judicious use of the "previous" button at the bottom of the page will reveal those posts. http://groups.msn.com/GoldDetecting/genera...666350029673401 This topic may "disappear" any time. regards bugwhiskers

Hi Steve, I live in what is called the Golden Triangle of Victoria Australia. Records say that over 20 millions ounces of Gold have been pulled out of the ground here, and you can bet there was a lot more that was never recorded. In the early days with VLF's there was hardly a weekend when a largish nugget wasn't found. When the SD2000 arrived the number of finds accelerated. Obviously this couldn't go on forever so things slowed. ML started making their new platforms with enhanced ability to find smaller gold and the trend continues. This move also opened up markets such as the USA where the gold is typically smaller. I am working on a detector to find and discriminate the larger and deeper targets in atrocious ground that are out of reach of any current platform. This task specific detector is for the use of a small group and not for general sale. It is not ML bashing but pure fact that the 13 year old MPS ground balance system still in use in current models has holes for certain targets at certain depths. If you desire I can email you a scan(for copyright reasons) of Bruce Candy admitting as much in a published Magazine article on the SD2000 in 1995. regards bugwhiskers

Hi Steve, I used to have an SD2000 and a Garrett Infinium. Neither of them impressed me so they were sold off and I have used the money to fund development of my own PI design which is still a way off. You can view some of my early, publicly shared work at Geotech forums under Projects\ Universal PI micro. I occasionly go detecting with friends who have a variety of ML detectors, they detect, I dig. What really drove me to sell off and make my own was a request from a friend who lost the small ornamental nugget from her necklace somewhere in her backyard. I arrived with the SD2000 and found lots of assorted ferrous junk but no nugget. She was a little disappointed and very bewildered that the machine I was using was called a gold detector. Needless to say, I am looking forward to putting the Nemesis to the task to see if can earn it's stripes. regards bugwhiskers