the 5000

[FlakMagnet]

I took a GPX 5000 out for the first time yesterday for two hours in the El Paso mountains

which are fairly well known for being a particularly difficult place to hunt.

Most of us refer to it as basalt hell and because it is adjacent to the Naval research base up near Ridgecrest,

it also has a huge potential for EMI overload.

Here are a few things I noticed in that two hours with the 5000;

The Ground Balance is better and faster overall and it stays balanced better in 'Fixed'.

(I did not mess with Tracking)

The 5000 runs quieter, maintains a smoother threshold and was (bravo!), noticeably less affected by EMI.

I think most people would characterize these as subtle but noticeable differences

HOWEVER these subtle differences represent huge advantages to a prospector who is interested in getting the best out of his machine.

The 'Fine Gold' setting, as most people have been saying, is an addition that makes the 5000 capable of finding

some kinds of gold that previously was not possible with a P.I.

I need to use it more but it is very sensitive to small targets,

slightly more sensitive than the new 'Enhance', which also has been improved.

The 5000 handled basalt better than my 4500 and although ironstone and hotrocks still set the detector off

the hits were not as shockingly loud and were identifiable for what they were most of the time.

I have a suggestion for Minelab.

Put a Coil Connector Stabilizer on every Minelab that goes out the door.

These 2 cheap little parts basically stop all cable movement where it attaches to the control box

which eliminates a huge potential source of falsing.

It was designed by Montana Bob Dansie years ago.

I have used one on every machine since the 3500 and it is a real fix.

Every new Minelab customer should have this on their detector in my opinion.

(see pic below)

fwiw,

Flak

[Dakota Slim]

That's a very good point about the "Montana" stabilizers Flak. Not only do they help limit falsing, they help protect the cable connections in the fitting that connects to the control box.

[garimpo]

Thanks for the report Flak....always good to hear your take on things....dang you

forgot to show the nuggets you found!!!!

[Seeker]

There is a ready made stabilizer in the handle itself, undo the two screws slide the cable thru .....replace the two screws.............Geo

[FlakMagnet]

Yes George that's a possibility- it takes much more time to

unscrew those handle screws each time you change coils though.

And, the cable looks like it would be on a slant toward the box

and I would worry about that loosening the connector.

It's all in what works for you I guess and I'm partial to the Montana solution.

All the best,

Flak

[DolanDave]

Thanks Flak,

Keep us posted on it as you get to learn it more. Looking at getting one soon also.

Dave

[Jonathan Porter]

Flak your comments mirror my own, this past week I have been doing cross comparisons with my 4500 and finding the 5000 to be much more stable and smooth, one 8 gram nugget did not even register on the 4500 due to EMI and the ground conditions.

JP