%%% 4500 vs 5000

[beepinpete_WA]

Hi Guys n Gals

Well, weve all clocked a good few hours up now runnin the 4500/5000, and one thing i really would like to hear is ??

A General feeling of the percentage of advance of the 5000 over the 45000, not only in the percieved or achievable depth,

but also in the handling of the two detectors, running all the Minelab and after market coils on the market.

Personally i have a figure somewhere around the 15% - 23% mark, but please keep in mind the fact that i have been

running all the minelab versions from the 2000 to the 5000 and prior to that the VLF xt 17000/18000.

Over here in western australia the main advance we have noticed is the leap in smoothness & sens at greater depths running a Mono coil

on the very rough heavy ironstone areas and salt laden areas/lakes, both of wich we can now tame very well with a Mono coil..

How does the 5000 run on your hunting ground ????? vs the 45000 mono combo ??

Also: who of us has used the 45000/5000 on the relic/beach grounds and what was your findings on these types of grounds ?? .

Personally after runnin the 5000 i have a few, and i mean very few times, gone back to runnin a 45 and No Sir! i dont like it..

Pete in WEST OZ :ausflag:

Pete in WA :smoke:

[FlakMagnet]

Hi Pete,

Nice to see you posting here, in fact it's an honor.

I guess if I put a percentage on the 5000 over the 4500, it would be in the 15 to 20% range.

Area's of improvement for me are;

the over-all quietness of the detector is unquestionably better,

the handling of EMI is 'WAY better.

it is easier to Ground Balance.

The new Fine Gold timing has put the 5000 into a new realm for finding smaller and more porous gold.

I have not tried Sensitive Smooth timings very much but it has been 'rewritten' for this detector and it was already good in the 4500.

It is much easier to work with in highly mineralized ground.

All the coils I have work well with it;

the stock coil is unbelievably good,

the two NFA coils (14 and 17 elip), work really well and so does the Joey.

The additional increments on the Gain setting are helpful and I find I can generally run at a slightly higher Gain overall.

The layout change on the front end is a small but valuable improvement.

Little things that could be improved;

A coil stabilizer clip should be integrated into every ML detector to keep the coil cable from

flexing at the point it attaches to the control box.

Every Minelab I have handled does the same thing, it will false if that coil cable flexed and a simple

clip will virtually eliminate a large source of false signals.

The little cable that plugs into the Smart Point connector is very easy to snag.

Not sure if it could be better routed to the box or perhaps made a bit more robust.

Overall this is by far, the best detector i have ever owned and whatever it's small short comings may be,

I am happily impressed with this machine.

[nuggethunting]

Hey Pete,

Found several pounds of gold with the GPX4500 between Arizona, California and Alaska. That being said, without a doubt the GPX5000 is better. The unit is so much more stable, smoother ground balance and much more user control and new timings.

They both are great units, but if you can justify the extra cash, I would invest in a GPX5000.

Just my thoughts,

Rob Allison

[DolanDave]

Hi Pete,

I have to agree with Flak, and Rob. The 5000 is so much more smoother. EMI with it is almost non existant. I love the sensitive extra, smooth, and the fine gold settings. Hot rocks are hardly ever heard. I have used the 5000 on 1 beach in California in the relic/ beach mode, with incredible depth. The only problem hunting some beaches ( Dont put those two words together ) is you are digging increadable deep holes and finding tons of trash to include aluminum, iron, bottle tops, ect which sounds good on the detector, so using a vlf on beach combing is the best bet. I would love to run this machine on the beaches of Nome Alaska with a very small coil in fine gold setting though

Dave

[Steve Herschbach]

My recent trip to Australia convinced me the Fine Gold timing is worth it's weight in gold. I used it 90% of the time to purposely head into the worst ironstone patches I could find. It ignores hot rocks nearly as well as Enhance or Smooth but hits most gold much harder than either of those settings.

But to be fair to the 4500 for those in milder ground or less severe hotrocks it is a very good detector indeed.

[beepinpete_WA]

Flak,Rob,Dave,Steve

Nice Input guys,

Flak- thanks for your nice comment mate

Steve- i have to agree with the deep rubbish on the beaches, man i nearly dug to china a few times on the beach

last week for junk, i was using a coiltek 14" round salt coil that day, but one thing i did notice was i could get

the depth to hit down through the present beach depth all the way down to the old sand depth, this was noticed after

i saw that i was digging down until i hit a seaweed layer, and then the targets were down under that weed, so it gave

me the chance to hit the old beach profile without needing to wait for storm cutback..

I totally agree with all the other comments on the 5000's smoothness and downright sens on the hot ground out bush,

and the sheer amount of ironstone species i have been finding due to the hotrocks being cancelled out better is

another bonus of the 5000, i do hope Minelab are working on the cancelation of the Magnetic hot rocks as these

are still get through sometimes, but overall ITS A BLOODY RIPPER!

Pete in WA

[houghy]

I have a 4500 and detect in the pilbara in western australia.The friends i go out with both have 5000,s and the first time i went out with them i had all intentions of having to go home and convince the missus to let me upgrade to keep up with everyone else.I haven,t had any reason to upgrade as i find just as much as they do.I will say that they definately are a bit quieter though but we both find a lot of small nugets around .1 of a gram as up here most of the gold is small biggest average around 10 to 15 grams.

If i was buying a new detector i wouldnt hesitate in buying a 5000 but i tell people over here if they want to take up prospecting and dont have the money to do so to buy no less than a 4500