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Yes, Geotech's video in another thread about carbon rods shows this clearly.. The rods don’t react when the detector is in multi-frequency beach mode (where the rod’s signal is filtered out just like a salt signal).. I'm thinking about times when I'm not using my detectors in beach mode.. For me it's a bit like noticing a weird engine noise when I'm driving along.. It could be nothing and have zero effect on the car's performance, but my mind won't rest easy until the noise is gone.. I know that's probably irrational and I agree that for many years no one realized there even was a problem.. But now the problem has been brought to our attention, I can't stop hearing the weird engine noise.. And for simple peace of mind I'll fix the problem even though it might not be a problem at all.. I don't need additional background noise when detecting, where I'm constantly second guessing myself wondering if that iffy signal is the rod or a juicy bit of gold.. Just like everyone else I like to squeeze the most out of my detectors, and this means that from now on I'm using plastic lower rods even in salt water.. Maybe an overkill but also peace of mind..

Mike and I were having a little private discussion behind the scenes about his problem where I was reassuring him he would be fine with his warranty, and he was. He let the store he purchased at deal with it, good move. He's unable to post being a new member he's exceeded his posts limit however, here is his reply so the thread can end on a nice happy note. MichaelHill I'm not ignoring you guys on the thread, the site says I have reach my maximum amount of post for the day, never experienced that on a forum before. I'm assuming it's cause I'm a new member on a "probation" period? Maybe it will allow me to post an update tomorrow. Anyway, great news. I was able to exchange the unit for a brand new one at the store it was purchased at, so now I have a brand new Equinox 900, and it is fully updated. I was elated to hear they would exchange the unit no problem. Hopefully I will be able to post tomorrow 👍

I have always prided myself in my ability to cherry pick gold targets by digging that “gold sound” and in general I have probably done ok at it. I know that I have gone back to places I have cherry picked to dig trash out of desperation thinking I must have left gold behind, and in most cases I did not leave much. Yet just when I am giving myself a pat on the back a really trashy target will turn into gold. Many nuggets that sounded really bad for various reasons. With jewelry there was that balled up gold chain that sounded like crap, and that irregularly shaped pendant. Most ear rings get left as small foil targets. In the end we never know what the items we did not dig are, and given my years and volume of gold dug I can only assume I have left a lot of gold in the ground. Pounds probably. It’s just a time thing. I know many gold patches that once seemed full of targets, trash and gold, but years later now we are struggling to find any targets at all. Regular parks replenish trash faster than we can deplete it, making cherry picking a necessity, but most soccer fields around here there is not one bit of aluminum to be found. Time, and how good is the site? A general park gets tons of people, tons of trash, odds not so good. So cherry pick. Soccer fields? Prime time jewelry site so people hit them and dig every aluminum signal until they do actually deplete out. Don’t know, no right or wrong about it really as long as we are having fun doing whatever we are doing. A few finds….

There is no MakNok now - it’s just Nokta.

No, it's not a required step.

This is a very good idea and will probably also be the quickest way to find out. Although with three coils available I would need two more rods to change them frequently.

Do the Minelabs require the factory reset after installing the update like the Legend does?

If you're really that curious, why not just detach the coil from the shaft and hold it in your hand and sweep a bit next dive. Use it for a few yards until you can tell if there is any falsing difference than when it's attached. (Don't wear a wrist watch that arm!)

I’m hoping that whatever the Vortex brings to the table in terms of performance improvement over the Apex, Garrett brings SOME of that improvement to the Apex in terms of an update. If it written in C or code a language that can be compiled to run on the Apex platform, why not. They could “Muntz” the code to allow a little more adjustability and performance over current code in the Apex. It’ll bolster sales of both products-AKA- “New and improved Apex, and for even more performance, upgrade to a Vortex”.

I have no way to create a mold right now and it will probably be a job to be done within two weeks. Certainly, with all the coils I can't go more than 20 points without encountering false signal, and in spite of what it sounds like, the rod might instead have some weight, because only moving the detector really slowly will reduce the effect. I am not contradicting @midalake or confirming without first testing with a plastic rod end... We shall see

A great year and a great partnership!

Yep, I was most concerned at him saying it "lost power", thinking he accidently knocked out the cord while the update was taking place causing it to fail, which technically isn't a warranty claim unless Minelab are nice. When he described the situation better the point it failed was when the detector does its reboot during the flash, it just went black on the screen as it's meant to do, and never got past that and locked up. That's why I told him to be very clear with Minelab what happened, explain it well. It may well just need the battery disconnected to fix its "lockup" and then it might restart and be fine, but that's best left for Minelab service to check out. I'm sure his warranty is fine, as it's clear he wasn't in the wrong. Updates are done in a way that's far safer than it used to be, and firmware recovery should work if something goes wrong, until it doesn't. I wouldn't be too concerned about doing future updates, in most cases they're perfectly safe, you've got to be pretty unlucky to encounter a problem. Knowing Minelab that's likely the last ever update for it anyway.

Most cars look the same, or very similar, do the same stuff yet they're different brands. No way in the world are Minelab licensing anything to Nokta, they're likely their biggest competitor. Minelab are chasing Nokta down on a lawsuit that they could probably chase other brands down on too, yet they're going after Nokta, a really old patent too, but it's all they had to go after them with so they are. Nokta are doing their own thing for sure, and so far the most successful at chasing down Minelab, they're the ones forcing Minelab to release these new lower priced models, they've got Minelab worried.

Coiltek better be ready and have a whole lot of the 9" Round Elites over there pending its arrival, the other notable coil of choice would be the 14x9" Nugget Finder EVO, while avoiding the 12x8" EVO, it's a bit rough on it and plenty of people giving that report. The 12" EVO seems a reasonable choice too, along with the 11" Coiltek Elite. I'm been following the Aussies also and the 14x9" EVO and 9" Elite seem to be the general consensus for the best two readily available coils for it. The Sadie is very over-rated in my opinion, unless size matters it's not a good choice as the larger spirals are more sensitive and deeper. Dealers intending to sell it, it would be wise to have those two coils on offer. Hopefully Algoforce can ramp up production enough to meet demand, that's been the biggest issue so far with the detector well received. USA's over 330 million population is a big jump from Australa's 25 or so million, add NZ on and it's just over 30 million combined, nothing compared to USA. People with a bunch of coils from their GPX will have some fun trying them all out and working out their favourites, most coils will work well, the ones that won't the detector will mostly let you know during calibration by Ultra Fine mode (the most sensitive) failing calibration. Coils that fail that I'd be iffy at using on my GPX too, especially if another one of the same coil passes it, it can be used to diagnose problematic coils 🙂

Used twice, found gold both times with my 6000. Excellent condition. $265 shipped OBO

All I can say is they need a better setup. There are gold mining operations that turn a profit mining what they are losing.

It’s always seemed like Minelab must be licensing tech to MakNok?? With the similarities of the coils used on the newer machines to the GP style boxes they used on the older Nokta FORS machines and the constant trade off of “race to the bottom “ mid to entry level machines in the last year or two it just seems like there has to be some kind of agreement otherwise there would be lawsuits??? I’ve used a few MakNok machines (fors, kruzer, legend) since they’ve came out but just never enjoyed the audio. They just seem to sizzly to my ear and I was never able to get to like the tones. Fortunately we’re in an age with many options!!!

I'm rootin for garrett for sure. Imo, minelab still leads in the smf technology. In my mild soil, the legend just didn't stack up with the nox, heck, the vanquish worked as well for me. Not to say the noktas are bad, just seemed to be lacking in a few areas. I got an early apex and loved the setup, build quality, coils and pretty much everything about it. Except in performance. It just didn't have it in the smf area. I hope for their sake, they've blown this out of the water. I'll wait a bit on this though to see what the verdict is as i know there will be all eyes on it hard and fast. This is the only thing keeping me from buying a new xt elite right now.

Great find damatman88. 14K Rose gold is always beautiful and close to 6 grams is well worth the price of digging pull tabs. If I had a well used beach near me the digging it all maxim would definitely be a requirement, but I don't. Digging is absolutely impossible at the coin, jewelry, relic and gold prospecting sites nearest me. There is just too much trash on these public property/land sites and not nearly enough rainfall to keep them looking good after digging it all. Since this is the XP Deus 2 forum, right now the only reason I still own one is because of the very descriptive audio capabilities of Deus 2. Those audio capabilities extend into the gold vs coin vs aluminum trash audio discrimination realm. Anyone that hasn't experienced this live, in person, repeatedly, has no clue since no other detector I have ever used including the Legend and Manticore has the depth of audio capabilities to come remotely close to what a Deus 1 or Deus 2 can do. By no means is Deus 2's audio perfect or even 80% correct on those targets. There are too many variables, but its nuances can be heard and learned. I am still learning everyday and being disappointed and surprised by these nuances.

Look for reasons to dig, not reasons not to dig. “It might be gold” is a pretty good reason to dig. “It might be aluminum” is a great reason not to dig and leaves plenty of gold in the ground for others to find. For every aluminum signal you get there is a corresponding gold signal. Ultimately it is the user deciding which it is because the detector sure does not know the difference. There is no such thing as a gold target or an aluminum target, they are one and the same. On any given target it really comes down to how lucky you feel. Reading the site matters. If it’s a great site for gold jewelry you better dig them all. On sites where a jewelry find is less likely, you can get pickier. Educated guessing at best.

I agree. If they are serious about being waterproof they need their own line of coils, neutral weight in water and obviously with waterproof connections. Be fun if they were GPX compatible with an adapter but I’m guessing not. Truth is if they intend to push a performance edge borrowing ideas from X-Coil for some truly unique and affordable coil options would give them a competitive advantage.

Summer time............🎶

I agree Chase. I've always said that it's impossible for an induction balance metal detector to distinguish between aluminum trash and gold jewelry. The information derived from induction balance is just too limited, and dare I say "crude" to make that distinction. My mere and probably hopeless hope lol, is that with said new technology, Garrett hasn't been able to make that distinction, but rather significantly improved upon it.

I see lots of Minelab, Garrett, FT brands, and even White’s still. Denver is obviously a more sophisticated crowd I guess, probably does not hurt having you in the group.

Unless they are departing from induction based principles for metal detection, that's probably not happening. Right now audio based and graphics based nuances on target ID "sharpness" can give clues on irregularly shaped targets like canslaw and even bent tabs, but it's not something I would regularly bet on unless limited by time on site or number of allowed dig holes. On the beach, you just scoop it and go. Ring pulls, pristine pull tabs, aluminum screw tops, forget it.