GPX-4000 Programming

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi,

This is based on my reading of the GPX-4000 brochure. So it will need confirmation.

But I think a real key to the GPX-4000 is the Search Mode three position switch. You may choose from three settings - Patch Finding or General Detecting or Deep Detecting. Each mode has been preprogrammed at the factory for the described type of hunting.

But if I am reading correctly, each mode may be customized as the user sees fit, and those customized settings will be saved automatically when you shut down the machine. This means you can have three complete custom setups that can be selected at the flip of a switch. What is stored is any funtion set through the LCD control system. Certain key and often acessed funtions, like threshold, are independent and accessed though physical knobs and switches.

Although these three saved setting are labeled from the factory, it appears to me that they may have been better off just to call them Mode 1, Mode 2, and Mode 3. I could start with Patch Finding but tweak it for hunting salt water beaches and save it. Now it is really a Beach Hunting program instead of a Patch Finding program, so giving the three modes names may not have been the best idea. The factory presets can be restored at any time, however.

Anyway, I hope I'm reading this right. I can envision having the machine setup to find nuggets and then having a second set of settings to work a found target, accessible at the flip of a switch.

Hope I'm reading this right. Please chime in if it does not sound right.

Steve Herschbach

[nuggethunting]

Hello Steve,

That is the way I was also understanding it, and we can only hope that is the case. It sounds like you can edit the three modes to the users desired choice. Since the "patch finding" default setting might not be the best patch finding setting for Alaska or Arizona. I'm hoping we can customize the settings to what we like, and then again change and re-save them when we want. This will make the GPX-4000 really stand out above the other detectors if this is how it will really work.

I order six of the GPX-4000's and they are all pretty much accounted for. I have another four ordered and hoping the arrive soon!

I know several guys that actually have them right now in Arizona, so I'm hoping to hear some more feedback before the weekend ends.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[Jonathan Porter]

Steve, your should be a Minelab tester. You are absolutely spot on, I also wondered about the naming conventions with the search mode options, when you could easily change them to whatever you liked after the fact. I have not had sufficient time to fully investigate, but it would seem to me Minelab have made the presets inline with lab testing which they feel will be of benefit to the end user, but at the same time have not written the selection is stone by offering the operator the ability to fiddle. I have to check on this but there might also be some changes that are not menu driven (or switch for that matter) that might be associated with the different switch postions in the search mode (PATCH, GENERAL and DEEP).

One of the things that springs to mind is the PAUSING effect on ground balance (see our first video), there is no set menu or switch function that controls pausing effect yet I am pretty sure this has been modified to suit the different search mode options (mainly PATCH mode I think).

Your post is very insightfull Steve, especially when you consider you've had to garner all your information from only a brochure.

JP

[Reno Chris]

Hmmmm....

I'm kind of confused here.

I asked on the AZO forum if user programmable setups were savable, and got the answer from both Bob and JP that no, the user needs to write down the settings (so he can re-install them manually) if he wants to use them again at some future time - it is not possible to save them.

Here Steve is saying that he thinks the user setups are savable and everyone agrees.

The AZO thread in question:

http://arizonaoutback.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=4698

So I'll ask again, as maybe there is some mis-understanding. If a user sets his machine up a certain way and likes it, then goes to another location with much different ground conditions and needs to re-adjust his machine for the new location, can he save the old settings from the first location on the GPX 4000 for future use, or is it necessary to write them down and then re-install them manually when later returning back to that first location?

I'm not trying to give anyone a hard time, just wanting to figure out the features of this new machine. Maybe its just that we are using different terminology. Part of the issue is just that they are so new and so few folks have had much experience with them.

Chris

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi JP,

Thanks for the kind words. I've guess swinging these silly boxes for over 30 years has given me a feel for detectors. It also helps to read every word posted by people like you on the net!

I can't wait to get my hands on a GPX-4000. You can bet I'll be giving it a workout over the next year, not just for nugget detecting but for coin, jewelry, and beach hunting.

Thanks for the confirmation and if you find out anything about modes having inherently different base tuning then that would be very important to know. At some point I need to correlate each GPX-4000 control with exactly what it is that is adjusted at the circuit level. Some people don't care as long as it works, but it helps me to know the priciple behind a control so I really understand the trade-off in adjusting it. And there always is a trade-off!

Steve Herschbach

[nuggethunting]

Hello Reno Chris,

I know there seems to be some confusion on what can be exactly done with the machine. If you follow all the forums it sounds like people are talking in riddles, but I believe it's the pure excitement of the machine being out!! I can't wait to get some hours on the new GPX-4000 and then get over some old gold patches and even some patches that are laced with nasty iron stones!

If the new GPX-4000 can keep personal settings like JP mentioned I'm even more excited. Going to be slick to be able to save 2-3 prospecting settings and then even change them when needed.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Chris,

My guess is JP took you to be asking whether there was a "save to" location where you could put programs and then later retrieve them. I think they are just automatically retained wherever you have them, unless you reset to factory defaults. But no way to move from one memory location to another. A small difference but confusing.

Steve Herschbach

[montana]

I played around with it today and there isn't a way to save a program and recall it later. It does save the last program you had set in it when the machine was shut down. If you bring the factory presets back up you lose the custom settings you had in it. I see no problem but it would be nice to have the ability to save a program for a specific area. I only fired it up in the yard so I could play with the settings. Have no Idea what it will do on the patches yet but I will be out there at sunrise. We'll be doing some comparisons with the 3500 with some test nuggets which won't be a true test but will give us an idea how they compare on air tests and freshly buried targets. I will say that it is a snap to work through the menu and change settings. Newbies won't have any problem with the operation of the detector. They will need a little experience to tell them when they need to change things. I like the fact that I can tweak the gain in mellow ground, or turn it down when things get nasty. I think it will be a winner. The battery and charging system are really nice. ----Bob

[Denny]

Montana Looking forward to hearing how tommorow goes.We shure are lucky to have guy,s out there that can explain and help us out. Thank,s D

[lemons]

G'day all, Chris, I know where you are going I think. What would be nice, is a Memory Bank or. . . even a flash-card port for exchanging data with the machines memory; something like we use in cameras.

Am I correct in reading that an extra wire is in the plug to the coil? Not at all sure on this point, but my X-Terra has a basic memory to save settings, I don't think it's too long a bow to draw that a data port accessable by users is too far away.

JP, do you use the handle knob for the programing function with the new machine?

From reports to date, the new machine is a step away from dreamworld. Perhaps ML have decided to take things a pace at a time. Couple of reasons for thinking this: the gap between the GP3500 and this new offering is not that great. Going apace will keep many owners in the loop unless the NEW GPXXX is so far removed to make everything SD / GP obsolete.

I like a digital interface. . . I have always been the guru of programing our video recorder at home.

I still belive a newer machine is in the offing. . . but when? Looking forward to field reviews.

lemons

[montana]

Lemons. The GPx4000 is in no way anything like the GP 3500. Nobody who runs one for 5 minutes will ever think so. There are so many new features that in 4 days of playing with it I've only scratched the surface. You can keep it simple and have a great detector. You can change settings and programs until you have programs that eliminate hotrocks while totally eliminating that bugaboo interference we had to deal with here in the states, and lose very little depth or sensitivity. You can work ground easily that drove you batty before. You don't have to believe me. It will all come out in the next few weeks. It also may not be the right thing for the turn on and go guys.-----Bob

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Bob,

Got a GPX late yesterday, and got about an hour on it before it got too dark to see. Need to get a headlamp! I can't say I learned much except A. the GPX is less prone to interference than previous models and B. You are right, this is not a GP 3500! The audio is totally different. Obviously being digitally processed. The bottom line is I'll need to retrain my ears.

I went along with each new Minelab model, and it took little to go from one unit to the next. Maybe a new swtch to learn, but in most ways they got easier to operate. Not so the GPX-4000. This is a radical break. Sure, a novice can use the presets and get going easy as pie. But to really learn this machine is going to take some time and study for sure. It is not just a GP 3500 with an LCD screen.

Steve Herschbach

[lemons]

Thanks Montana and you too Steve. I'm a dedicated ML user so don't take my slide towards skepticisim too mucch to heart. I happen to think the digital interface can be milked for several models and that is what pisses me off. It's like buying a computer; you buy a propriety brand and you are stuck into using their products forever. Get yourself the generic model of the same thing and you can plug N play to your hearts content.

It's marketing that I disagree with not the product.

thanks for the info, guys.

Lemons

[montana]

Steve . You were right about it saving three programs. I just couldn't understand all the techy terms . Once I sat down and threw the manual away and got all that techy crap out of my head the lightbulb came on. It was simple and I wrote the programming procedure in laymans terms and will post it as soon as I figure out how to get it out of my office program and onto the forum. I never have been able to understand an operators manual that has anything to do with electronics. I now have one program for deep ground , one for shallow hotrock infested gullies which also totally wipes out interference, and one for patch hunting.----Bob

[nuggethunting]

Hello Montana,

It was my understanding now after playing around with the machine here at home that you could "edit" the three pre-programmed settings. Those new settings would stay until you reset the detector back to the default settings. However, it would have been nice if Minelab would have allowed you to have (3) pre-programmed default settings and maybe 2-3 "empty" slots where you could store your own personal settings.

Let me know if this sounds right with you. I will be out around Rich Hill this weekend with mine.

Talk with you later,

Rob Allison

[montana]

Rob. As you will see, three programs saved is no problem and you will understand why they went that way. You can change any setting instantly as you refine each program . Not all the functions are savable and I think the reason for that will become apparent as we get used to it. I might wander down to the Hill this weekend probably sunday. I 'll be watching for you.---Bob

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Rob,

Three saved settings is a lot. After all, for most of us we have had a single set of favorite settings we have used on older units for most of our hunting.

You can tweak each of the three modes any way you want, and your custom settings will be saved automatically. You can go to any of the three modes by just fliping a switch. If you hold the On/Off button a few seconds, a menu comes up allowingyou to reset any one of the three modes back to factory preset, or all three modes if you just want to start with a clean slate.

Steve Herschbach

[montana]

Steve. You can make changes quickly and easily and it automatically saves it into the program with the new settings. It really is easy to work with. It's just the manual that threw me for a couple of days. The manual is going back in the box. When the lightbulb went on I understood it completely. When you have a chance to use it you'll be blown away.----Bob

[Steve Herschbach]

Hi Bob,

Been there, done that. Got about 6 hours on the GPX-4000 so far. I'm not claiming to know anything much about the unit as compares to previous models for sheer performance but I feel comfortable now putting my GP 3500 up for sale.

Only problem for me now is it snowed last night. I was lucky to have taken yesterday off from work and get a day in before winter started. Everyone is going to get a 6 month leg up on me getting real field use on the GPX-4000. I wish they would put new units out in the spring instead of the fall!

So go have fun for me!!

Steve Herschbach