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Testing The Garrett Apex / False Signals - Issue Solved


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 ...So comes an additional coil for Garret Apex ... it's 13 "Detech Ultimate ...

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1 minute ago, phrunt said:

The competition really has something to worry about when Garrett comes out with their second generation high end Multi Frequency machine as with all these aftermarket coil options

Agree, but the Apex is not the one worth jumping ship for.  Hopefully, 2nd gen addresses the shortcomings (tone limitations, recovery), but they appear to be brand fixtures at this point.  Rooting for Garrett to prove me wrong, because having multiple coil options is a great thing.

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7 hours ago, EL NINO77 said:

 ...So comes an additional coil for Garret Apex ... it's 13 "Detech Ultimate ...

I guess for some people, with certain applications and/or with mid-size to larger-size targets to go after, some of the 'aftermarket' search coils might be helpful.  For me and the types of places I usually hunt, big-size coils are not the answer.  Helpful at times, yes, but not when a location has too many targets, too closely spaced and at varying depths.

I know we can'r simply go by a coil brand or model / size just because a similar coil worked OK on a different make & model due to different circuitry.  In this case, I used to evaluate and use several Detech coils on Minelab FBS series models, and most of them were okay.  But I tried a 13" Ultimate on a couple of other brand detectors and didn't care for the weight and balance, nor the performance.  I've used some bigger-size NEL coils, a brand I like better, but the coil and detector were not a good match for the location I worked.

To me it is interesting to see how many people gravitate to larger-size search coils.  With the Apex and for the variety of urban and remote places I go, I'm comfortable with the Ripper mounted on one unit as a general-purpose coil.  I'll give the NEL 5" 'Sharp'some serious time and most likely it will fill a void and be mounted on my 2nd Apex.   For open grassy parks or hitting a plowed field, the new 'Raider' DD is likely to be my coil-of-choice and I don't see a larger-size coil providing me much improvement n smaller-size coins and the like.

I am going to check out a few aftermarket coils n some 'depth tests' on US coins, but I am not holding out hopes of improvement.

Monte

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  • 2 months later...

Last news ....  Summary of the situation , I have sent back my Apex to my seller in Paris a the beginning of December because of false signals.

My seller called me today saying that some of his customers ( in France ) have the same pb as mine ( false signals ) . Concerning my machine he said that I should have an answer very soon from the Garrett Europe support.

As I have been waiting for 2 months now the delay is quite long , but with the covid everything goes slowly and I can understand that . Hope that the issue will soon be solved ...

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I'd be more surprised if the problem wasn't solved.

If you plan on another coil check out the SuperFly for it. Should make for a well balanced light machine.

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  • 1 month later...


Good news, I have eventually received my Apex back from the European Garrett support ... 🙂
My seller ( Bruno at Lutece detection in Paris ) told me that the pb ( false signals etc see above ) came from a faulty coil .  So I received my Apex with a brand new Viper coil , plus a 5X8 Ripper coil that Bruno asked me to test.

I decided to restart the tests from the beginning with the static tests on my tests boxes / different targets at 
different depths. The results were good for both coils , but I decided to try first the Ripper in the field ,
because I have been very impressed by its light weight ( 330g instead of 400g for the Viper ) and I like light machines ... 
And also because in france we often detect in iron infested sites , the Viper is a little too big for that 
and for me the Ripper has the perfect size for searching small/very small coils in nail beds ..

So I went to one of my favorite testing locations , a wood near a small town . 
The soil there is infested with iron trash dating from the medieval up to modern times.
A very good place for testing machines in a very difficult iron trashed environment.

I will give more details in a new thread , but to summarize the Apex + Ripper have done an excellent
job   🙂 . First the Apex has an excellent iron filtering , it was almost silent on the nail bed , just beeping
on the good targets , very impressive . The Apex is also very fast , it is much more reactive than a Vanquish or
even an Equinox . The signals on targets are very sharp and accurate , perhaps a little too sharp btw ,
but it is just a matter of getting used to the audio I think .

Also the wireless headphones MS3 Zlynk are excellent , no latency and very reliable.

For info I used the MF mode during all this test

No treasure found during this short outing, mainly 1st WW rubbish , but again I have been very impressed
by the Apex with the ripper coil. Clearly at Garretts they have designed/tested the Apex to work on high iron trash environments., as stated in their Apex marketing brochure. And it looks like they have done a very good job ...

Just a few things that I do not like , for example the shaft which is clearly outdated 

Now I need to confirm all this and detect more hours with the Apex to check that everything is ok  ,
no more falsing etc , I will detail all this in the new dedicated thread ... 

 

A few pics below , the Apex with a Quest X5 , the Viper and the Ripper coils , the Apex + Ripper weight , and the wood ..

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Funny how different people like different things. I really like the rod on the Apex, though Garrett could upgrade the twist locks. Only brand I’ve seen where those have to be assembled on arrival. But once done, they work. I think the rod is exceptionally stout, no wiggle. The grip and my hand get on just fine. I prefer S rods on detectors under three pounds, so good there.

There is actually very little not to like about the Apex, and I am happy to hear this one had a bad coil. My own use of the Apex has been pretty positive, and had me scratching my head in puzzlement at some of the negative reports. Batch of bad coils?

Anyway, good news, and inspired me to order my own 5x8 Ripper coil this morning. From my use, that seems like it would be a perfect match for the machine.

garrett-apex-metal-detector-herschbach.jpg

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2 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Funny how different people like different things. I really like the rod on the Apex, though Garrett could upgrade the twist locks. Only brand I’ve seen where those have to be assembled on arrival. But once done, they work. I think the rod is exceptionally stout, no wiggle. The grip and my hand get on just fine. I prefer S rods on detectors under three pounds, so good there.

There is actually very little not to like about the Apex, and I am happy to hear this one had a bad coil. My own use of the Apex has been pretty positive, and had me scratching my head in puzzlement at some of the negative reports. Batch of bad coils?

Anyway, good news, and inspired me to order my own 5x8 Ripper coil this morning. From my use, that seems like it would be a perfect match for the machine.

garrett-apex-metal-detector-herschbach.jpg

Hi Steve.How are you  using this sleek looking Detector for your area and what do you like  about it  for your type of  hunting  ?

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2 hours ago, Dances With Doves said:

Hi Steve. How are you  using this sleek looking Detector for your area and what do you like  about it  for your type of  hunting  ?

I'm checking the model out, but have done little detecting over the winter, so still on it. Mostly evaluating for general park use, plus odds and ends. I'll write something up one of these days now that it's warming up and I can get out again, but want to get more hours in first.

The control box is ruining larger, boxier models for me, that's for sure! :smile: 

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  • The title was changed to Testing The Garrett Apex / False Signals - Issue Solved

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