  During the last decade we have carried out a systematic study of the $\beta$
decay of neutron-deficient nuclei, providing rich spectroscopic information of
importance for both nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics. We present an
overview of the most relevant achievements, including the discovery of a new
exotic decay mode in the fp-shell, the $\beta$-delayed $\gamma$-proton decay in
$^{56}$Zn, the first observation of the 2$^+$ isomer in $^{52}$Co and the
latest results on the heavier systems $^{60}$Ge and $^{62}$Ge. We also report
on our deduced mass excesses in comparison with systematics and a recent
measurement. Finally, we summarise our results on the half-lives of $T_z=$
-1/2, -1 and -2 neutron-deficient nuclides, and analyse their trend.
