Why don't the new machines have GPS?

[robby4570]

I've been familiar with GPS in the CTX 3030 and GPZ 7000 for over a decade. It's phenomenal in my CTX 3030, a very useful tool indeed. With the advance in technology in the past decade, it should be a no brainer to incorporate a very good GPS into higher end detectors. Is it cost to engineer and incorporate it? Is it the belief that there would be no or not enough demand from detectorists worldwide? I've been using an app on my phone that is no longer available and not being supported by the developer (who has vanished) prior to getting my CTX 3030 and still use it when swinging one of my other detectors. Logging hunts is a critical tool to me. As it stands now, I will not buy a new detector from any company until GPS is incorporated. So, I guess I'll stick with my CTX 3030 and the detector manufacturers lose out on my money (and I buy expensive high end gear, so...). My money is on Minelab or Nokta to be the first to incorporate GPS in a NEW line of detectors.

C'mon all you Detector Manufacturers, get with the program and give us what we need!

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[sprchng]

Never saw the need for the GPS in my CTX or any other gadget I might have. If it adds even a couple of hundred to the cost of a detector , that equals the value of a couple months of detecting finds or more in the venues I have at my disposal and the number of available sites drops daily,,,,no brainer that it is a poor value. If I was doing a lot of wilderness hiking to detecting sites I can see the value if you used it to find a pre-plotted area but your own photos of the paths you detected show how much ground is missed even when using it. For ground coverage efficiency nothing will beat a string grid if you want to go to the effort. I felt the GPS was the biggest detractor and wasted feature on the CTX.

 

[robby4570]

Never saw the need for the GPS in my CTX or any other gadget I might have. If it adds even a couple of hundred to the cost of a detector , that equals the value of a couple months of detecting finds or more in the venues I have at my disposal and the number of available sites drops daily,,,,no brainer that it is a poor value. If I was doing a lot of wilderness hiking to detecting sites I can see the value if you used it to find a pre-plotted area but your own photos of the paths you detected show how much ground is missed even when using it. For ground coverage efficiency nothing will beat a string grid if you want to go to the effort. I felt the GPS was the biggest detractor and wasted feature on the CTX.

Well, not saying you have to use it, but I think you are the exception rather than the rule. Every time I post a screenshot of a hunt I get swamped with requests to know what "app" I'm using to track my hunt. Buy the toolbox and only use the hammer if you want but I'll keep using it, it's a great tool for me.

 

[DWerk]

I use an older Garmin Montana 680 when I want to check coverage while detecting. I also use it to access some of the remote woods/trail sites. I have been checking our WWII POW Camps and CCC Camps and it does come in handy getting to them as some are really remote woods and abandoned towns.

 

[Wild Willy]

The last thing I need is a heavier, more complicated detector. I realize the weight is minimal but ,at my age, I need "simple". Oh, to be young again!

 

[laplander]

Robbie back when the CTX was on the forefront and a lot of detectorist were swinging them very few knew how to utilize this very useful feature. Heck most didn't even know there was a clock lol I personally had finds spots from multiple countries and it was the ultimate for gridding. There was always a lively discussion on price and battery consumption. I wouldn't hold my breath for this option because the newer generation machines a smoking the CTX on performance and weight.
HH Jeff

 

[Picketwire]

To me, it is just like the spyware in your car, tv, cell phone, etc. It would be a great way to prove you were trespassing or place you close to the scene of a crime or like the cell phones of the people in the Capitol on January 6, track you down for a supposed crime. Also a great way to reveal your secret spots if the detector is stolen. Where I live there are many spots with petroglyphs on private property. The owner's of the property fear the government would take over their property to "preserve" these, if the government found they existed there. Cameras with GPS are not welcome there. It is like any good tool, firearms included, great for some things, dangerous for others. I'm glad many found it useful. I can do without. JMO

 

[sprchng]

I think the manufacturers would find it a losing proposition if they made the GPS a feature that was an optional item like a package with additional coils that many offer. If it added weight and cost to a machine most who felt it would be useful would just buy a reasonably priced stand alone GPS unit that they could use anywhere as well as detecting. If it added a pound and $200 to the cost of a Legend I know I would prefer a GPS I could stick in my pocket when I went I went hiking or fishing.

 

[robby4570]

The last thing I need is a heavier, more complicated detector. I realize the weight is minimal but ,at my age, I need "simple". Oh, to be young again!

I hear ya, but there's plenty of folks that could help you learn a new machine. I'm 68 and find my CTX3030 simple to operate. There's no reason the new machines should be more complicated than it. But I just think for those who do want it (and I'm betting there's a lot) it would be nice to have...

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[TMAC in PA]

I purchased the CTX 3030 specifically because of the GPS capabilities. Griding an area is fine for a small area but when you are detecting farm fields with multiple acres to cover griding is not really something that you have time for. Unless you hit a hot spot or a home site in the field of course. Saving your hunts, marking your find points and creating way points to track back to are game changers to me when covering large fields. I also would love to see a new Minelab with GPS technology

 

[Coin Rescue Inc]

https://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/en/produit/go-terrain-application.php
Are you looking for something like this?

 

[Coin Rescue Inc]

I had the APP installed but I needed to activate it. That took a few tries to get the email out of my spam email file since it came from overseas-(I assume)
So just now I got it activated.
It looks ok but is only free for a two week trial. The a yearly fee with two options

 

[pmh]

While it can be a useful tool for some, it comes down to money and demand. Its an added cost to include GPS, and most people arent too concerned with covering every square inch of a location. There are various stand alone apps that you can add to your phone if you want GPS tracking, but the reality is, GPS has a fair enough margin of error that it can leave gaps in spaces you think youve covered. If you're wanting to use it for generalized "I've scouted this section" of a lrage area (say a big farm field or wooded area so you know what regions have been somewhat covered), you can always use your mapping feature on your phone to drop a pin or with apple maps "send my location" sends coordinates of where you are at the time so you can look back later and check where youve been on that site in a general way, not an inch by inch coverage

 

[robby4570]

https://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/en/produit/go-terrain-application.php
Are you looking for something like this?

No, I'm wondering why the new crop of machines don't have a GPS receiver built into them like the CTX3030 and GPZ7000 have had for decades...

 

[robby4570]

I had the APP installed but I needed to activate it. That took a few tries to get the email out of my spam email file since it came from overseas-(I assume)
So just now I got it activated.
It looks ok but is only free for a two week trial. The a yearly fee with two options

Yeah, it's aimed at Deus users, if you don't have a Deus, it's pretty worthless and when I tried it out, it had lots of bugs

 

[robby4570]

While it can be a useful tool for some, it comes down to money and demand. Its an added cost to include GPS, and most people arent too concerned with covering every square inch of a location. There are various stand alone apps that you can add to your phone if you want GPS tracking, but the reality is, GPS has a fair enough margin of error that it can leave gaps in spaces you think youve covered. If you're wanting to use it for generalized "I've scouted this section" of a lrage area (say a big farm field or wooded area so you know what regions have been somewhat covered), you can always use your mapping feature on your phone to drop a pin or with apple maps "send my location" sends coordinates of where you are at the time so you can look back later and check where youve been on that site in a general way, not an inch by inch coverage

It's not for a one time hunt in an area, I use it for trending of targets, and area coverage after I cover an area in multiple directions. If you try to follow your path exactly and not account for the built in (on civilian units) deviation, you WILL be disappointed.

Look at the areas I have covered in this park...

And now look at where the targets are...

Here you can see there's been few targets...

And this area has been a target rich environment with areas yet to be covered...

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