ho hum

by ray attard
(Karratha)

We all know the 7K is heavy and that's why minelab have included the harness u all to assemble and adjust to carry the weight of the machine.

Most who have a 7 and have the harness adjusted properly are over the whingers that moan about the weight.

Granted u will have a weight issue going up a hill side but hey simply adjust your bungy cord to suit, which takes all of 40 seconds to do.

Mate of mine has pinged a 57oz piece at 1.1m and has had the 5k with a large coil over the same area and it didn't find the target.

To say a 5k with a large coil would have found the target that the 7K did is a load of hogwash simply because if u didn't have that large coil on u will never have found anything because I don't know 1 single person that switches coils and detects the same area twice if they have found a target.

The 7K comes with a 14" coil end of story thus u compare what the average prospector swings not with what he should have or might have swung but what is glued to the end of the detector shaft.

I would say from what I have seen that the 11" mono seems to be the coil of choice followed by the 17x11" and for small gold the 8" commander or the 8x6 coil for small gold. The 14" Elite coil has now earned a very good reputation for its performance, something u may need to test. The beauty of the 7k is that so far this one coil has managed to find what a assortment of other coils have detected and all without changing coils and wasting time going backwards and forward to your camp.

The 7k has its moments like any other machine but u can almost certainly overcome the hiccups.

Price isn't an issue coz there are many ground penetrating radar machines for prices that well and truly exceed $20k and there are other machines that compete in the market place yet no one could be bothered yet they whinge about a new product which Minelab release that the vast silent majority find as a game changer.

Sure the 7k finds small gold but who the hell is whinging about finding gold. The GPZ cant find gold if u haven't walked over it and it sure as hell is giving the bulldozer a run for its money.

geez I'll give someone else a chance.

regards
Ray

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Oct 02, 2015
Rating
starstarstar 		using the new 7000
by: David T

I am 74 years of age.....with rotor cuff problems and having had back surgery on 2 occasions....weight was never an issue..in fact no shoulder or back soreness at all...even after detecting for 6 hours straight. The 5000 certainly gave me shoulder issues.

The arm strap is too narrow and caused bruising on my forearm...using a piece of old toweling helped overcome this. I would wake in the early hours of the morning with pain and pins and needles in my forearm and hand....but after being home for 2 weeks....this has stopped.

The clips which hold the rechargeable battery to the detector are very fragile...be careful when attaching the battery....i broke one clip and needs to be replaced...I am told this will be done by Minelab under warranty.

The harness at times comes apart when bending over to dig a target...very frustrating...maybe i should lose some weight around my girth.

Performance...216 nuggets in 7 weeks...the largest 3.4 grams...with only 5 being above 1 gram. So...sure it is great on small gold...but the jury is well and truly out on its ability to find large gold at depth. My inability to find larger gold I put down to the machine being so noisy on mineralized ground that small indications of a target cannot be heard. Additionally even though I used the later supplied ferrel....there was only minor improvement in controlling the background noise. Maybe its me at fault...but when you outlay over $10000 for a detector for hobby use only...then I believe I have a justified expectation that Minelab should have built this ability into the detector before putting it on the market.
Whereas I was finding an ounce of gold every 3 weeks...a mate of mine who we were camping with and is very experienced and very capable was finding an ounce of gold every week. After a couple of weeks he gave away using the 7000 and went back to the 5000. I think that speaks volumes.

Yes ...in summary...it is a good machine....but...value for money wise...for a hobby detecting 74 year old....and most of us out there are retirees.... stick to either the 5000 or 2300.


Aug 17, 2015
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		agree with ray
by: Anonymous

i agree with ray. i have owned a 7000 for 3 months now, at first i hated it but i took the time to learn the machine. now i love it.a hipstick solves all the weight issues.this is my first year detecting and i have only been on thrashed pushed ground. so far on 6 trips i have 3 ounces.god knows how much i could find if i actually knew what i was doing.i regularly find pieces sub grams at a foot deep.
Jun 23, 2015
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Unbiased and Real?
by: Bill

I was tossing up whether to include this comment or not as Ray is involved in the Minelab Dealership in Karratha.

However as you are aware we are not involved in any way with Minelab or any other manufacturer so we also need to be unbiased an fair to other contributors.

I disagree with some points of Rays though;

Weight IS an issue for those physically challenged and much of the target market for Detectors is Older Folk - the reality is that the machine is at lease 40% heavier than the 5000. If you read our commentary we suggest you check this yourself by "Rent and Try" before you buy.

Price IS an issue if you are just an occasional user and not spending a lot of time detecting. It is just not cost effective - better off buying a 5000.

If you are after small gold you don't need the 7000 to target it.

I do agree with one of the major benefits that Ray mentioned and that is that you do not need to change coils with the 7000 - just settings - so you can go over the ground for small gold then follow up with deep settings to get the big nuggets deep.

I also agree with his assertion that people do not change coils - and that is why there is so much gold left for good operators.

p.s. Wouldn't mind a pic of the 57 Ouncer to put on our website!

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