Minelab GPX 4500 = questions?

(questions)I just HAVE to say something about my GPX 4500. I just went outdoors for the first time and turned it on. I performed the noise cancel, which took about a minute. I then ground balanced (set to 'fixed' and using the button on the handle) and proceeded towards my buried bullets. Each bullet gave a very wonderful waver of the threshold. I set the Iron Discrim. to '10' and waved the loop over an old square nail and it blanked it out momentarily. I see that I am going to be spending alot of time and energy with my new unit. There really was not much point to this post. Yesterday, I paniced when I read through the Owners Manual and about made a post asking for help. But a friend of mine new a friend that owns one and he told me that it's nowhere near as difficult to use as the Owners manual was SEEMING (to me) to suggest. I am just plain proud and happy with this purchase.
I have my Deus and Racer for certain scenarios, and now I have a Pulse Induction machine for certain campsites (ets etc) that will get me down to the hardpan, although I haven't been able to find the hardpan in the campsites that I have been hunting. This GPX is like owning a freaking Rolls Royce!!! LOL!!! I am absolutely, and without shame, exactly like a kid with a brand new little red wagon.
I tell ya! I'm as tickled as I can be about getting to own one of these!!!! I was in the right place at the right time and I pounced on the deal.
So, in closing, let me say this....so that there will at least be a bit of purpose to my post......if you buy a GPX, don't let the Owners Manual intimidate ya. Just use the Quick Start quide (and, if your lucky, talk to a friend that uses one of the GPX series) and then enjoy. And Daniel, you were correct. I believe that this has opened up new possibilities to my few Civil War campsites.....and skirmish spots. Heck, it would be fun just to take it into the woods anywhere and see what is way down below our feet, in terms of metal objects. I'll hush now. Happy Metal Detecting to all of ya. kevin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2016 05:31AM by Kevin B.

Congrats on your purchase.

Can't wait to see what you surface using it.

BTW, I hope you have a high quality shovel.

I'm genuinely excited for you Kevin. I have been talking about the greatness of pulse machines on the forums for a while now and I'm always excited to see others take the plunge. Especially when they get amazed at the performance. You're gonna need a big strong shovel. I think I still have some DVDs on the GPX machines that I could send you. I'm not sure where everything is after moving but I will look for them for you. They explain the settings and what each one does.

Sharp was my favorite timing for finding bullets and larger items. It wasn't shabby on buttons either.

I think Sensitive Extra was the one I used for cleanup on sites for nailing small brass.

Daniel Tn Wrote:
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> I'm genuinely excited for you Kevin. I have been
> talking about the greatness of pulse machines on
> the forums for a while now and I'm always excited
> to see others take the plunge. Especially when
> they get amazed at the performance. You're gonna
> need a big strong shovel. I think I still have
> some DVDs on the GPX machines that I could send
> you. I'm not sure where everything is after moving
> but I will look for them for you. They explain the
> settings and what each one does.
>
> Sharp was my favorite timing for finding bullets
> and larger items. It wasn't shabby on buttons
> either.
>
> I think Sensitive Extra was the one I used for
> cleanup on sites for nailing small brass.

Daniel. I gladly buy those DVD's because I'd like to learn all that I can about it!!!! I ran it in my yard (power lines everywhere) and when 'noise cancel' was finished, the threshold was as smooth as a Merle Haggard love song. Plus, I appreciate the info on those timings. I was using Factory. I was able to run my RX Gain up to it's highest setting with no problems! I'd love to know where you set your Iron Disc at. I have heard that 10 is good, and that 6 is good, etc etc. But from the info I have been picking up here and there, the iron Disc will not be very effective past 6 to 8 inches. Now, I don't know this from personal experience. But I WOULD love to delve into those timings and see what they are all about. Mean-while, I'll keep studying the manual.
I bought a long handle shovel (trencher is the actual term for it on the label) from Lowe's like Aquachigger suggested and I have that sucker as sharp as a pocketknife (almost). Fiberglass handle. I ate some deer steaks this afternoon, as I feel that I will be in for alot of digging this weekend. I know right where I am going to start the GPX maiden voyage this weekend. I am all tore up about it!!!!

My advice...keep the RX Gain to factory preset or lower. If not, you will increase likelyhood of getting an overload "blanking" signal on larger/shallower items.

Iron disc, I usually ran pretty low. On the early GP machines, the iron disc wasn't good at all. It has gotten a lot better with the GPX machines. The surefire way we learned, was on the deep sounding signals, was to go ahead and dig a big round plug. Then flip it out of the hole. Then stick the loop kind of down in the hole. If the signal stayed smooth and didn't breakup...keep digging. If it broke up/nulled the threshold, then it was probably deep iron.

Congrats Kevin! Can hear the excitement in your post. Can't wait to hear about your outings.

Kevin
Glad you like , its fun to get a new toy
Now I have a question for you that have used the tdi, atx and any of minelab gpx's. I've got the fever for another pii machine. I've had a tdi and really only used.it.for.coin hunting. And should have kept it for relics but that's hindsite. So I've got a.deus and want a complimentary machine, can either of the other pulses hunt coins like a tdi? I've heard the other 2 are deeper especially on relics. Can anyone that's used them all chime in.

Bflo Wrote:
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> Kevin
> Glad you like , its fun to get a new toy
> Now I have a question for you that have used the
> tdi, atx and any of minelab gpx's. I've got the
> fever for another pii machine. I've had a tdi and
> really only used.it.for.coin hunting. And should
> have kept it for relics but that's hindsite. So
> I've got a.deus and want a complimentary machine,
> can either of the other pulses hunt coins like a
> tdi? I've heard the other 2 are deeper
> especially on relics. Can anyone that's used them
> all chime in.

The short answer to your question--- not really.

The TDI series are the only PI where ground balance manipulation can be performed

And this manipulation along with the high/ low conductor switch position makes the TDI so different.

Now a person can use a pulse detecor like say a ATX, but low conductor coins are the ones an op would be after---- as high conductor coins sound much like iron/ nails.

I do have ATX, I never have ran a TDI-- but have followed closely.

The GPX would more or less be similar to an ATX in this respect--- with the GPX somewhat overall deeper than ATX.

I'm sure some GPX users will chime in.

Paul ( Old California) who post here does use his ATX in old park settings chasing low conductor coins. He has posted some old deep nickels he has found in that setting.
And naturally he would take a gold coin or 2 as well.
His ground for his area from reading is very high mineralized--Vlfs are severely handicapped.

Daniel, will the GPX detetcors retain my settings or will I need to reset on each trip?? I know that the toggle switches will stay the same but will the digital settings (I want to use Sharp timing on my first time out) stay where I set them after I power off and then power on? It won't irritate me to reset the machine as I have a cheat sheet that I will carry with me in my front pocket until I actually become a bit more proficient with the unit. Also, do you use the bungy cord to help hold the machine up or does it get in the way when digging a target? I appreciate your feedback. Thanks.....kevin Daniel Tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My advice...keep the RX Gain to factory preset or
> lower. If not, you will increase likelyhood of
> getting an overload "blanking" signal on
> larger/shallower items.
>
> Iron disc, I usually ran pretty low. On the early
> GP machines, the iron disc wasn't good at all. It
> has gotten a lot better with the GPX machines. The
> surefire way we learned, was on the deep sounding
> signals, was to go ahead and dig a big round plug.
> Then flip it out of the hole. Then stick the loop
> kind of down in the hole. If the signal stayed
> smooth and didn't breakup...keep digging. If it
> broke up/nulled the threshold, then it was
> probably deep iron.

It will retain the settings. I didn't use the cord either.

Kevin, I think your arsenal is about as good as it gets. This is going to be fun for all of us....go get um!

Congratulations Kevin with the GPX, you're not kidding the GPX is like having a Rolls Royce.

Bungie cord is great on larger coils, but for the smaller Commander 10" x 5" DD or 11" coils you can get away without the bungie. I've gone to using a hipstick for the larger coils especially the 15" Detech DD Sprial, a hassle using any form of support but it does take the weight off the arm.

For relic hunting, Got the GPX down as far as settings are and very comfortable with it, but yet to master the GPX for park hunting as I do the ATX. I'm hoping that will turn around, see great potential with the GPX going deeper over the ATX for old coins at parks if I can get the GPX dialed in.

Yeah, Daniel's tips got me going and he mentioned getting the Commander 10" x 5" DD coil. Glad I did its my favorite GPX coil and its deep for it's size, slap that onto your GPX and its like swinging an XLT even with the battery tucked inside the GPX housing pouch.

Congrats Kevin! Every Relic hunter needs a good PI, glad to hear you made the decision!

Paul

Bflo -- I have had all generations of the TDI and most of the GP-GPX machines too. I have not ran an ATX though.

On coins, it is doable with the GPX but as Paul said, it would be best with one of the smaller coils like the 5x10. With the RX Gain set at just 1 or 2, it will still be deeper than most all VLF machines on the market on coin sized objects, even if they have larger coils. The problem is, the audio channels are always open and there isn't a way to mute or silence one of them. So you are going to hear everything in the ground...from tiny pieces of aluminum foil to soda cans, and everything in between. You will have some idea of the conductivity of the target...due to most US coins being high conductive and thus giving a low tone. BUT the audio fatigue you will get from hearing ALL the targets, can be a bit on the brain. It would be like taking your favorite VLF machine and putting it just at iron reject in a 2 tone mode, and hearing everything in the ground. After a while it will get on your nerves if you are in a signal rich area.

What Minelab could do...but probably wont, since they don't really listen to customer suggestions...is to make a GPX platform machine where you could indeed turn one of the audio channels off. Just like on the TDI. This would help the audio fatigue BIG TIME...and would be the basic equivalent to using a modern VLF machine with disc set to around pull tab range.

The only way I would spend that kind of money on a Detector is if I lived in Gold Country. Or I hit the Lotto then I would have one just to have it. LOL!

Harold,ILL. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The only way I would spend that kind of money on a
> Detector is if I lived in Gold Country. Or I hit
> the Lotto then I would have one just to have it.
> LOL!


Yes, the price is what kept me from buying one for a while. I have wanted a PI detector for a couple of years now. Always waiting for the right moment. It finally came. I had to sell an expensive airgun (EDgun) to get this machine, but I'll save and hopefully buy the airgun back. Going detecting today. The maiden voyage. I have had wonderful help from Wayne C, Daniel Tn, and Tommy C. in getting me up and running. And i really appreciate it....ALOT!!!!! And a couple more, too, but names escape me for the moment.....I apologize for that. But for all who have been a help to me......THANK YOU!!!!!! I MUST say, because it's true, that Daniel Tn is/was VERY instrumental in my even WANTING a PI machine. I kept reading about him talking about the Minelab GPX but when the price was mentioned.....I would just remove the possibility from my mind. Thankfully, opportunity knocked. I acted. And now I'm going hunting with one. I have never seen a detector so well built. They thought of everything.
If any of you ever watch Aquachigger's channel, he switched from a gray looking round, solid, 11" DD coil to a gold looking open coil DD coil. He seemed to like it better but I don't understand why. But I'm going to get good with the stock DD coil before I start buying stuff for it. Anyway, I am rambling. Everyone have a GREAT Saturday!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2016 06:56PM by Kevin B.

I went hunting today with the GPX. I had my Iron Reject at 6. Approximately 85 % of my targets had that 'blanking' done to them. I went ahead and dug one and it was a tiny piece of a nail.
Should I start out with SHARP timings or should I stick to NORMAL? What advantage does SHARP timings give? Extra Sensitive? Are these advanced settings that I should try later after becoming accustomed?
I dig several pieces of camplead including a melted three ringer in the bottom of a hole that had white sand about a foot and a half down. The sand has hardened into chunky feeling. I found the melted three ringer in a chunk of that chunky sand (for lack of a better word.)
I ised it without the bungee cord and I was able to use it with no problems. The bungee cord was problematic when digging. Anyway, I appreciate all of the help that I have been given. Daniel, if you happen to run across those DVD;s I would love to have them. I'll pay ya for them and shipping etc etc.
Going to a major site tomorrow. Today was a small site in town.

Kevin, I don't know if you have a cover yet or if it came with one but Bob at Eureka Worx builds a very nice one. I just got this one last week and the build quality is superb and very balanced with battery mounted in side of control box.

eureka

Walt,

From the GA-FL line

Silver microMax, CTX 3030, Excal 2, ATPro

Fletch88 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kevin, I don't know if you have a cover yet or if
> it came with one but Bob at Eureka Worx builds a
> very nice one. I just got this one last week and
> the build quality is superb and very balanced with
> battery mounted in side of control box.
>
> eureka


Fletch88, and forum member sent me a pic of his with the battery mounted on the side. His looked great!!!! Yes, I would love to lose the battery backpack, although it didn't really bother me yesterday. I bet that when it gets hot outside, the backpack will really be a pain!!!! I just wonder how a side mounted battery would feel after about 4 or 5 hours of straight hunting. (with a few candy bar breaks in between). I appreciate the link!!!! I gotta have one.

Kevin,

This chart may help you out some in which timing to select and why. The more severe the ground is, you will want to use the Normal timing or one of the others. Sharp does pretty well in most of our TN dirt.

Where does the battery go? Is it not in the unit, been studying on the 3 big PI"s; ,tdi, atx and gpx,s if I were to get another PI. I don't think I like the battery being separate if that is the case. Never seen a gpx in person and guess I haven't paid attention on the videos.

Thanks Daniel. Yes, that is useful. I took my unit out yesterday using Sharp timings along with a program that I found. I hunted with my buddy who has an F75SE, He found twice the stuff I did and I was twice as tired as him. I did find a scabbard tip (flattened) at 4 inches. And two round balls (.69 cal) at around 4 inches. I was really expecting this certain pine forest to 'light up' because the pine straw is so deep and it is right next to a large encampment. I blame my lack of success on my being a rookie. I did make sure to have a perfectly steady threshold. I was hunting at around 8 to 9 RX Gain. The soil in this area fluctuates for mild to moderate mineralization. I ain't giving up just yet, but yesterday, everything was set up on the machine so that the threshold was perfectly smooth and unwavering. I did find a few 32 cal buck balls. About three of them. None too deep. I was looking for the DEEP bullets that the plow had drug under. Or maybe even the odd plate. LOL I think that I was over-setting my sights. Still....more to follow.

Can someone answer the battery question? I see a separate. box hooked up to headphonez, I assume it's.an.amp. surely you don't have.to hook up.an amp.and a battery and have them dangling. Be tough to pay 5k for that kind of setup.

Bflo, I had a chance to swing one last fall. The battery is separate and can be mounted in a pack on the harness or in a pouch on the cover. The box you spoke of may have been an external speaker that can also be used with the unit. I tried it but due to the location I used the headphones to knock out interstate traffic. Enjoyed the unit though. Picked up smalls (drip, buck ect) extremely will.

Where is this 5K$ thing coming from?...GPX4500 can be had new for just north of 2K....will have mine within a week.

Minelab has been dumping inventory as fast as they can to grow cashflow and keep the share price of their parent Codan from falling.

Nothing wrong with that - and makes for bargains for new buyers. Pity about the faithful former purchasers who want to sell thear gear.

Deflation is ugly.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

I was swinging a 4800 last fall. Having one over the other what would be the + or - on owning one of the two?

The GPX battery has a built in amp/booster. It is one unit that is tethered to the detector via a coiled cord. Some guys buy a different battery pack that is smaller and they mount it in a pouch on the control box cover...this eliminates being tethered to the machine but does require an external amp to plug the headphones into. The gold screamer pack comes with the small battery and amp, and clips onto the box cover or goes into the pouch on the box cover (like the Worx).

Kevin -- Give it a little time. If there are deep targets there, the GPX will get them. Pulse machines like to be ran low and slow.

I couldn't get an answer on the GPX Classroom Section on the other forum. After I perform a noise cancel and ground balance. I can hold my coil in the air and have a perfectly smooth threshold. And when I lower it and start to slowly swing, the threshold begans to be slightly erratic. I re-ground balance (Fixed Mode and using the button on the handle) and the threshold contiues to be slightly erractic. The Stabilizer is on Factory Preset (I forgot what the exact F.P. setting is as I type this but is this a situation where I would use the stabilizer?
I am waiting for the temp to reach 32 degrees where I can go detecting. It says on the Owners Manual that 32 degrees is the lowest operating temp. That's kind of a bummer since I am all would up to try some new settings from the Hochstetler Youtube channel. By the way, he sets his stabilizer at 3, but he uses a GPX5000. Oh....I found a deep carved bullet yesterday. I think that my problem is lack of deep targets. Seems like 90% of the time, when I scape the leaves away, the target starts nulling (like it does on a nail). Sometimes I will dig the target anyway, and sure enuff, it is a freakin nail! lol I am gainging much more confidence by using the machine. I mean, it pounces on all of my buried bullets in my test garden with no problem. So I'm thinking, if it's not pouncing on bullets in my campsite area, then the VLF's have scarfed most of them up. But still, it's worth having this machine to find those bullets that fell into a stumphole, or got mashed into the ground by a skidder, or is covered by 4 inches of pine straw and whatnot. By the way, it's snowing here. I might not get to go after all.

kevin.......if your getting a stable threshold in the air, but its a bit off when swinging, then its ground noise and your probably overdriving the machine a bit. I prefer a tamer timing with a higher sensitivity than the reverse. Go to a tamer timing and then run the sens/gain as high as conditions allow. you may also be running your threshold a bit high too. Set it to "just" audible.

Kevin, sounds like you may be in an incorrect soil timing. But lets start at the beginning.1) make sure your coil cover is not containing mineralized dirt. 2)double check the coil connector tightness at the control box. 3) do a factory reset. 4) noise cancel.
Now I don't know what your dirt is like but there is very little dirt that I have encountered out west that the ENHANCE soil timing will not handle. Double check your switches on the front control panel and make sure you are not accidently in custom mode. Deep mode can also be a little noisy at times so I would try general mode. Now put the soil timing switch in Enhance. When you ground balance, do it twice as the GB in enhance can be a little finicky on the 4500 (not so on the 5000, they fixed it). Make sure you are not touching the ground as you are pumping the coil. Your machine should run smooth unless you are around an EMI source. If still having problems try a MANUAL noise cancel, reduce gain, try a smaller coil, etc...
I am not sure you have figured out the difference between a target that is nulling due to discrimination and a target that is overloading. If you are running a small coil such as the Minelab DD 5x10 or a Coiltek Joey DD they have a real problem with overloading where as it is not near the issue with the DD 11R. Try this- leave your back panel screen on discrimination while hunting. When you get a signal to null reach back and turn your discrimination counter clockwise to zero. If the target still nulls it is overloading not discriminating, raise your coil.
These are only my opinions and I don't claim expert status. I have had my 4500 since shortly after their debut but only used it for nugget hunting.
HH
Merton