Topics

46

Information on the new developments / Can a GPX Series detector perform any better than a GPZ or SDC ?

« on: July 10, 2016, 01:47:10 am »

After testing so many boards and trying out new settings to specific customers orders and can now say that obe board does not fit all detectors.  Boards that were created for the GPX4500 do not work on the GPX5000 due to the different input gain profiles of each detector. I was baffled as to why the input stage gain was only a multiplier of 33 and the GPX4500 has a gain multipier of 47.  It is easy to figure out, if you measure the resistors on both detectors you will find that both detectors have an inverting input connected to a 10 ohm resistor while the feedback resistor in the 5000 is set at 330 ohm and the 4500 is set at 470 ohms. When compared side by side in normal mode the 5000 shows significant depth loss on most solid gold targets. The point is that the 4500 is a better deep gold detector in both enhance and normal modes. So why is the 5000 taking a hit in the gain of the first input stage?  The answer is the fine gold mode. Fine gold uses an output pulse that is much the same as enhance but what is differerent is when the receiver comes on in relation to the transmitter turn off and ground decay. I would be thinking that having the receiver turn on in fine gold with similar front end gain of a 4500 would cause too much residual ground decay to get into the detector and make it noisy. So the cure was to use less gain but this causes the other modes to lose performance. It is very simple to test this and prove it by using a 4500 and 5000 and trying depth tests by using a test bed with buried objects. Apart from this difference between the detectors one could increase the gain in a 5000 to match the deep gpld performance but fine gold would become noisy. The only other way is to use a variable gain input stage so you can run as much gain as the ground minerals will allow. We invented the low noise variable gain input stage some 5 years ago and have fitted well over 1200 detectors with this sub board. The next phase is nower noise input stages that can make use of the low impedances of the coil and low ohmic resistance of the input back emf blocking and conductance Fets, All the later model detector use the standard low noise AD797 as the input stage but after some observation i discovered that the very low noise of these components could be made even better. The 1Hz to 10Hz noise specification is a lot higher than the higher frequencies that the ic is designed for, it has very low noise of 1nv/hz but not at the very low frequencies that the pulse induction detector looks at, the AD797 jumps up to 7nv/hz at these low frequencies and as this low frequency component drive the integration stages it seems that some sensitivity can be lost in the noise. The mission was to keep the noise floor under this level and keep the low frequency components under 1nv/Hz at the critical 1Hz to 10hz range.  Well it has been done with a choice of 2 sub boards 1 of 0.82Nv/Hz and one of 0.52Nv/Hz.  The greatest trick was to keep the slew rate very high,dampen any overshoot and keeping common mode noise under control by using a differential 2 stage amplifier and converting back to single ended output.  The whole design was built from scratch and it is a serious upgrade to install in any pulse induction detector, be it a SD2000 or later detector.

47

Information on the new developments / Latest mods testing

« on: April 28, 2016, 01:38:27 am »

Compare to the standard gpx5000 video

http://youtu.be/ugokTBX2qjk

48

Information on the new developments / Testing standard gpx5000

« on: April 28, 2016, 01:35:45 am »

Done this as a reference to compare new mods.

http://youtu.be/9G1EXVft8ok

49

Information on the new developments / Testing the latest mods with Matt Kevlava

« on: April 24, 2016, 04:44:39 pm »

Today we went to Talbot to test the latest upgrades, the video can tell the story better than words.

http://youtu.be/4MvTZA1BYKI

50

How to repair faulty detectors / Faults in early GPX power supply switch electronics.

« on: April 02, 2016, 07:38:11 pm »

Under certain conditions (fully charged LiIon battery, unit switched off and back on in less than 30 seconds), as the internal voltages ramp up, the FET Q108 can be turned on for a few milliseconds and get destructed by the remaining charge in C145. This can happen to 4000 and 4500 detectors, if it happens to you then most likely there will be a burned spot on the bottom of the circuit board. The transistor is a BF820 , you can replace the transistor but you can blow it again by the same method as switching the detector on and off too quickly.

If you have an older 4000 or 4500 we can carry out the factory mod that will stop this from happening. It involves increasing the emitter voltage by adding smd diodes and one resistor change to increase the current through the transistor to overcome the voltage drop of the series diodes.

Note... The transistors used in the gpx are made by zetex, now called diodes. The transistors are not normal types but low saturation voltage types, they are rated at 20 volts at 3 amps.

51

False information / Other Forums

« on: April 02, 2016, 04:07:11 pm »

I have not read any other forums for maybe close to 24 months, but today i went and had a look at some of the forums as i was asked why i stated certain things on some other forums.

Some person /people or group are indicating that they are me and causing trouble, these people need to be made aware that if they continue to to cause trouble then it might be necessary to have the situation referred to a lawyer that specialises in bringing these people to account.  If you see any postings on other forums indicating that it is myself please ignore the content as i do not post on other forums except for Geotech, and maybe only 2 or 3 posts a year.

It is bad enough having my customers telling me what is told to them by detector dealers, you know the dealers that want you to buy a new detector and make them profits.

Things like, "Mods do not work"   Better tell the formula one teams to stop modding their vehicles...
                  "Mods void your warranty"   Saying this is in contravention of the trades practises act.. it is not true and not enforceable, this was tried on in regards to GMH trying to wiggle out of warranty obligations when new vehicles were modded by the Holden dealer team special vehicles business. Mods do not blow up a detector or cause any more stress on the electronics than if it was modded or not.

The public must understand the detecting industry, it is full of self serving nasty types of people, they will be a friend to your face and knife you in the back, 99% of prospectors are really nice people but there are some real nut jobs out there, some of the worst back stabbers are some of the detector dealers, they will say and do anything to stop you modding your detector and want you to buy a brand new detector, except that a modded older one can be many times better than anything that is new on the market.

The big companies "HATE" any form of upstart competition and use their financial clout to reduce competition or "ANYTHING" that can affect their profits, the industry is a "DRIP FEEDER" and by that i mean it is just a slight change between one model and the next, the functionality between detectors is much the same, you could look at it this way, a GPX5000 is just a modded SD2000, the base functionality is just the same. There are many ways to skin a cat and at the end of the day you have the same skinned cat.

As for warranty issues... I warranty my work for "5" years, fully transferrable.

And our mods beat the pants off a standard detector... and that is guaranteed.  The new mods that are about to be released even more so..

52

How to repair faulty detectors / Common faults

« on: March 26, 2016, 08:56:50 pm »

Most common faults with the older detectors such as SD 2000 2100 2200 is the input N channel Fet going noisy , short circuit or open circuit. This component has around 185 volts of clamped back emf from the coil across the drain to source connections, mind you that this part is rated at 200v or some are 240 volts it can still fail by a number of causes.  Removing the coil when the detector is operating can generate high voltage that can blow it up. A bad coil connector pin and socket on the coil connector, or shorting coil wires can cause it to pop.  The device is very old, it have a ohmic loss of 10 ohms and that is bad, newer replacements are only 1 or 2 ohms loss, it makes a big improvement when driving the LM394 differential preamplifier.  It is easy to find, follow the yellow coil wire to the circuit board, using a multimeter find the connection to the black transistor with 3 legs, unsolder and replace with the same part VN10 or get a new input get with instructions from me. The pins are in different positions and needs explaining on how to do this.

53

Information on the new developments / Current project on redesign of input stages.

« on: March 26, 2016, 08:44:59 pm »

I want to keep a lot of information from prying eyes, there are those that love to twist any positive into a negative if it has any effect on their own detector sales.
Anyway, our newest design is redesigned upwards start to finish, we have removed the ML input amplifiers and taken the 80 mv pp noise down to sub 20, we have reduced the signal to noise ratio from 1nv/hz to 0.56nv/hz
This is a huge difference, we have also matched the coil input to the input impedance of the coil (dynamic impedance) not resistive and this has allowed better amplification of the smallest signals. We have also converted the signal to 2 x differential feeds to greatly reduce unwanted noise. What does this mean?  The newest upgrades will leave everything else miles behind, this is the pinnacle of todays low noise technology. The next steps are in DSP but that will be many months off in the distant future.

54

New Detector accessories / The latest upgrades are now entering testing stages.

« on: March 25, 2016, 04:54:43 pm »

After months testing different designs we have come up with (in my opinion) an upgrade that is extremely well suited to the GPX series of detectors that will (in my opinion) definitely go deeper and much more quiet than any other detector currently available.  Will a moddified GPX go deeper than a 2300 on small gold? (imho, yes it will) Will it go deeper than a 7000? (imho, yes it will) Please do not take my word for it, come and side by side test with what ever detector that you have, i am sure you will be very very surprised at the test results.

Now for the best news, we are moving to Ballarat, we will be right on the Canadian diggings so that we can test the performance of detectors at our new test site.

Will will also be offering training on both modded and unmodded detectors, I have been detecting since 1980 and have a massive collection of information on using detectors. I also have extensive knowledge on coil design and electronics, been doing electronics since 1978. Currently working on SAR ADC and filter algorithms for noiseless detecting in noisey environments, differential signal conversion for current detectors.

55

General Discussion / Joining the forum

« on: March 22, 2016, 10:45:19 am »

When you join the forum the email that you use may be rejected. It is because of spammers bombarding the site with requests to join up. We use an automated spam reject system and sometimes gmail yahoo hotmail and others get caught. If you use a real email, such as aol optusnet bigpond or similar it will not be a problem. If you get rejected just send me an email. The forum would be destroyed if it was infiltrated by spammers, we do everything to stop them getting in.

56

General Discussion / The GPZ7000. A touchy subject.

« on: February 25, 2016, 09:42:53 am »

The jury is still out on the GPZ 7000 , some like it, some hate it, some say it gets gold others miss, some say it misses gold others get.  So now there is an unbiased testing of the 7000 in the March edition of Gold Gem and Treasure magazine that is published in Australia. 

I would definately read the article before spending your hard earned dollars, stay informed.

As a personal bit of input, i tried a 7000, but i love my own modded GPX 4500 more and more.

57

General Discussion / Evolution coil Elite Coil with a Fully Upgraded GPX-5000

« on: February 19, 2016, 03:25:41 pm »

I have been receiving much feedback on the Nugget Finder Evolution coil using a fully modded GPX-5000 and a standard GPX-5000.

On the standard detector the Evolution coil was chattery, but when the modded one was used it could bring in one of out 10 gram test targets nice and clear at good depth.

A standard GP-3000 and the standard GPX-5000 could not hear the targets.  Testing was carried out in Nth Queensland by BM.

As a side note, the Elite coil i understand is the same design as the Evolution, the same performance is most likely to be similar.

Correct me if anyone knows different.

58

General Discussion / Do you want to use your GP or GPX near powerlines with a Mono coil? We have it.

« on: January 04, 2016, 12:21:20 pm »

We all know what happens if you are using a GP Extreme 3000 3500 or GPX 4000 4500 4800 5000 detector near powerlines, the detector will go absolutely crazy and you will be forced to use a DD coil in cancel mode with a huge amount of depth and sensitivity loss. The latest set of upgrades that i have been working on solves most of the issues with power line noise, but in removing power line noise one would think that there is some sacrifice in depth and sensitivity.  This is not the case, the detectors are much more stabile and more sensitive, the detectors also ground balance better and target signals are enhanced at the same time.  We have identified much more of the older components that contribute to noise generation in the detector, we have replaced these noisy and detrimental components for newer ones that make the the performance utterly fantastic.

If you "Really" want the Worlds best detector then the newest upgrades are the way to go.   To give you an idea on how good the latest upgrades perform..  Using a GPX5000 with 10" X 5" Commander DD coil in any timing with factory default settings.  0.06 gram  Standard detector : Rub it on the coil to get some response.  After the Noise reduction and component changes : 5-6 cm    0.1 gram  Standard : 8-9 cm  Upgrades : 12-13 cm and this is not with the variable gain mod or frequency mod being fitted! 

These will be know as the 2016 upgrades.

59

General Discussion / One of our customers strikes it rich using our latest mods.

« on: November 22, 2015, 05:38:42 pm »

http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/09/23/4318151.htm?site=centralvic




http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/09/23/4318151.htm#.VgNteMmM5Uo.facebook

60

General Discussion / More component upgrades for the GP GPX Detectors Nov 2015

« on: November 21, 2015, 04:06:56 pm »

If you see a cheap GPX-4500 or a cheap GPX-5000 it might be a good idea to hold onto it, I have been very busy working away on some changes to the circuitry that makes a very big difference to depth, by careful component selection and additional active filters we can remove a lot more ground noise while cutting out the radio interference while increasing the input gain to get greater sensitivity and depth. More to come after Beta testing. The current upgrades allow you to get the relative same performance as a SDC2300 without the coil size and type restriction. Depths greater than the GPZ-7000 are obtained and also no coil size restriction.