Boosters

Hello in Australia. It's cold and snowy here in Butte Montana right now but spring is just around the corner. Anyway I was doing some research on getting my detector to go a little deeper to find bigger nuggets. I run a 5000 with a 17 x 13 evo nf. I have been metal detecting for a few years now and am learning alot. It seems that everyone has a booster these days {except me}. I was wondering if these boosters will enhance a deep target better than just relying on the battery on the 5000. I have found one nugget at 18" with the evo coil, so I know the ground is fairly deep. I would just like to know if a certain booster is any better than any other type or if I should just rely on the machine and coil { which I would suggest to anyone because it is so sensitive and yet go so deep} If anybody has any thoughts please let me know. Thank you

mtsapphiretom

Detectors and coils used : minelab 5000, 17 x 13 evo 14 x 9 blitz mono
Male
Posts : 5
Join date : 2017-01-21
Age : 58
Location : Montana USA

View user profile Send private message

Your gpx5000 already has a built in booster in the battery that's why you can run an external speaker from it as well, the booster is only triggered when a correctly wired external speaker is plugged in to it, it does not come on with headphones plugged in so that you don't end up with hearing damage, you can add a booster "enhancer" that is wired like the headphones and you then have control over the volume to the headphones, and you can also run an external speaker from it as well.

Its a useful add on to many earlier detectors that had poor volume control but its primary function is to "enhance" the target signal response making it more pronounced over the background noise, I use a booster on all of my detectors as it will definitely increase your finds as you can set it to suit your hearing level and it will make those iffy and vague target signals more pronounced so you don't so easily miss them or discount them as ground noise, also you may consider adjusting your "tone" level as well because as you get older and your hearing starts to diminish you will better hear sounds with lower tones than high ones. (fact)

The object is not to make the detector scream but to make it more suitable for your hearing level and make the target responses easier for you to recognise, also you will find that you will have to make adjustments in your detectors menu to lower the levels of settings like target volume,signal response and so on.

au-fever

Thank you for your response. I knew about the one in the battery, but I was wondering if these "enhancers" or "boosters" will help at depth. I know the ground is fairly deep and am worried that I might be missing a target if I don't know what I am listening for. I can't afford a dozer to push some of the ground. I have looked at video on the BZ Booster and the Steelphase and they both seem to enhance the clarity of small gold at some depth. I am just wondering if either of these will go down deeper or if I should just forget about these and concentrate on learning the subtle signals.

Like I said the enhancer will help to lift the target signal response but will not increase the detectors depth, but in effect if it can lift the target response out of the surrounding ground noise making it more recognisable as a possible target then its got to be an improvement anyway, detecting deep ground takes patience and has to be done in a slow methodical manner, as they say low and slow with the coil, from my own experiences I can tell you that apart from a few exceptions all the deep gold I have found over the years could very easily have been walked away from as more often than not the response is vague and broad just like ground noise, its only when you start to investigate it and scrape away the dirt that it will improve due to layers of mineralisation and so on.

Also choose your time to do it, early mornings when the ground is quiet and cool will increase your chances as well, some people like to detect at night for this reason also, manually setting you detectors frequency will also help as lower frequencies will give you better depth, ask around and see if you can get some settings to try from someone who is using the same combo of detector and coil and find out what works best for them.

cheers

au-fever

I'm not sure what you mean by frequencies. Like I said I am still fairly new to the game. Nobody around here has a minelab that I am aware of, that is why I like to read your gold forum. It really gives me some good ideas. Even though it is winter here I went detecting on a southern slope a couple of days ago where the snow had melted and got a nice low high signal. Once I got through the first couple inches of frost I dug a total of 18" and got a 7.8 gram nugget. I can get fairly good depth but I am always afraid of missing targets. That is why I was curious about these enhancers. Thank you for your comments. They are greatly appreciated.

mtsapphiretom wrote:I'm not sure what you mean by frequencies.

Page 59 GPX 5000 manual under "Manual Tune"

High frequency channels can be slightly more sensitive to smaller
targets close to the surface. Low frequency channels can
give a little more depth to larger targets, but the difference
is only marginal.