Chilli
Bronze Member
Hi guys. Been doing some getting to know the Algo for a couple of weeks. Have done a bit of trial stuff with a couple of guys. One has a Gpx4500 and the other a GPX6000. Tried the Garrett 24k on some targets for some comparison.
Its a nice looking unit but at present comes bare, no coil, battery or headphones. My Algo cost $2275, coil $525, power bank battery $80 and headphones $60, all in Aussie dollars. Just shy of 3k all up.
Couple of things I dont like, coil connection to shaft is solid plastic with no rubbers and a pain to line up the holes, the area the power bank sits in allows too much movement of it (i fixed it adding some adhesive neoprene to give it grip both on the power bank bottom face and the area the Algo weakly grips it) doesn't budge now at all. Speaker volume is too soft and top shaft section twists at times.
Handle is hard plastic too which is disappointing, no foam grip.
Dual purpose buttons can be fiddly too for anyone with big hands, they're pretty small. Icons on the small screen at times appear too small, Id like a bigger screen, I carry readers when using it.
Pics of the crap coil connection and some Neoprene fitted where I said.
Unfortunately I did my back in before I got out for a serious go and am recovering slowly.
Ok. Tried, tested out on the actual Vic Golden Triangle areas where I live.
Here's one area.
I tried some little bits the Garrett can get ok, one is around 1/40th gram, the other a small vial of minerals with gold specks in it. The concentration the Garrett can get no worries.
The Algo with an Evolution 12" was blind to both sitting on the surface so it wont retire a hot VLF. Could it do better with a smaller coil? Maybe but the 12" Evo is a pretty hot coil. Will see in a couple of weeks when I recover and try a smaller coil.
By the way, neither the 4500 with a bigger eliptical Evo nor the 6000 with 11 mono got them either.
These.
Ok so tried a 2 oz nugget out to see the difference in settings, Ultra Fine down to Large gold modes.
This was where I tried those modes. I let the gold for the picture be seen, but trying it out it went right under the wash out. I know its not perfect but these days you could go for months and months before you got a slug this size and I really wanted to get an idea of what the modes could or could not do.
The nugget.
Here is where I tested it. Wrapt in a tissue so not to damage it scraping it back out
Ok. Was 12 inches.
Ultra Fine just got it, you would stop to check the signal out and investigate. Not a banger signal, just a signal.
None of the other modes could get it at all no matter what you did. Only Utlra Fine did.
After several other trials in various spots my conclusion was that going through the other settings from Ultra down to Large simply desensitised it overall and slightly reduced depth. I didn't see Large gold as an option to seek large gold deeper than Ultra Fine could do. I saw it as an option to use the Algo in a quieter less sensitive to minerals and tiny annoying targets way, where you are just listening for larger targets not getting held up on every tiny speck of whatever or tiny birdshots.
I did not see it gain depth, to me it lost a little.
Against the 4500 and 6000 there was not a huge difference to be honest on the 2 oz bit. They were an inch or two better. I was surprised as I was expecting them to blitz the Algo but they didn't in this case. They were better, but not hugely.
I got lots more to try when I get better from this back but im not disappointed in the Algos performance overall. A hot Vlf is still alive for the weird specimens and tiny flakes I have no doubt, the Algo doesn't retire them.
Its a nice looking unit but at present comes bare, no coil, battery or headphones. My Algo cost $2275, coil $525, power bank battery $80 and headphones $60, all in Aussie dollars. Just shy of 3k all up.
Couple of things I dont like, coil connection to shaft is solid plastic with no rubbers and a pain to line up the holes, the area the power bank sits in allows too much movement of it (i fixed it adding some adhesive neoprene to give it grip both on the power bank bottom face and the area the Algo weakly grips it) doesn't budge now at all. Speaker volume is too soft and top shaft section twists at times.
Handle is hard plastic too which is disappointing, no foam grip.
Dual purpose buttons can be fiddly too for anyone with big hands, they're pretty small. Icons on the small screen at times appear too small, Id like a bigger screen, I carry readers when using it.
Pics of the crap coil connection and some Neoprene fitted where I said.
Unfortunately I did my back in before I got out for a serious go and am recovering slowly.
Ok. Tried, tested out on the actual Vic Golden Triangle areas where I live.
Here's one area.
I tried some little bits the Garrett can get ok, one is around 1/40th gram, the other a small vial of minerals with gold specks in it. The concentration the Garrett can get no worries.
The Algo with an Evolution 12" was blind to both sitting on the surface so it wont retire a hot VLF. Could it do better with a smaller coil? Maybe but the 12" Evo is a pretty hot coil. Will see in a couple of weeks when I recover and try a smaller coil.
By the way, neither the 4500 with a bigger eliptical Evo nor the 6000 with 11 mono got them either.
These.
Ok so tried a 2 oz nugget out to see the difference in settings, Ultra Fine down to Large gold modes.
This was where I tried those modes. I let the gold for the picture be seen, but trying it out it went right under the wash out. I know its not perfect but these days you could go for months and months before you got a slug this size and I really wanted to get an idea of what the modes could or could not do.
The nugget.
Here is where I tested it. Wrapt in a tissue so not to damage it scraping it back out
Ok. Was 12 inches.
Ultra Fine just got it, you would stop to check the signal out and investigate. Not a banger signal, just a signal.
None of the other modes could get it at all no matter what you did. Only Utlra Fine did.
After several other trials in various spots my conclusion was that going through the other settings from Ultra down to Large simply desensitised it overall and slightly reduced depth. I didn't see Large gold as an option to seek large gold deeper than Ultra Fine could do. I saw it as an option to use the Algo in a quieter less sensitive to minerals and tiny annoying targets way, where you are just listening for larger targets not getting held up on every tiny speck of whatever or tiny birdshots.
I did not see it gain depth, to me it lost a little.
Against the 4500 and 6000 there was not a huge difference to be honest on the 2 oz bit. They were an inch or two better. I was surprised as I was expecting them to blitz the Algo but they didn't in this case. They were better, but not hugely.
I got lots more to try when I get better from this back but im not disappointed in the Algos performance overall. A hot Vlf is still alive for the weird specimens and tiny flakes I have no doubt, the Algo doesn't retire them.
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