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1 hour ago, Captorofsin said:

Apex vs nox 600 at the beach.

The only thing that doesn't make any sense to me is about most of these beach detectors (including the apex) is that the entire machine is NOT weatherproof/waterproof.

It seems like a beach a detector would be at least weatherproof. Considering the salt air and considering that salt air is very bad for electronics.

 

- The Minelab Equinox is waterproof 3m ( control box + coils )

- The Garrett Apex has a rainproof control box - coils are waterproof

- The Minelab Vanquish control box has no specific protection - coils are waterproof

Look at garrett.com apex tech specs ,  minelab.com equinox vanquish tech specs

 

 

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59 minutes ago, Captorofsin said:

Is there is difference between multiflex (Garrett) and multi IQ (minelab).

Most of my honey will be at the beach (fresh and salt water) and parks.

 

Multi IQ is Minelab's latest version of VLF simultaneous multi frequency detecting. They have been making and more importantly constantly improving their simultaneous multi frequency technology for 23 years (I think, could be more). The Equinox 600 and 800 have the most advanced form of Multi IQ technology along with a ton of adjustable settings and features. The versatility of the Equinox detectors is unmatched. They can do most forms of detecting=beach, turf, relics and gold prospecting extremely well. The fully waterproofed claim is debatable. Dropping it in the surf and retrieving it pretty quickly should not be a problem. Submerging it for a few minutes in calm surf or freshwater at a few feet (less than 10) depth should also not be a problem. If there is a problem you have a no questions asked, 3 year warranty for water damage. I would not personally dive with it. Snorkeling, maybe. I wouldn't use it in any type of high pressure water situation.

Minelab's Vanquish models also use Multi IQ technology but not on the same scale and with the same features as the Equinox and the Vanquish control box is definitely not waterproof. Contrary to what someone said earlier, the Vanquish works GREAT at most saltwater beaches. In Florida, you should have no problems using it.  It is really made for dry, wet and very shallow calm surf and tidal pool hunting. It would definitely have some problems at some west coast beaches with high amounts of black iron sand and volcanic rock sand. So, think of the Vanquish as a very simplified, super easy to operate, grab and go version of the Equinox. Like the Equinox, it will do very well as a coin and jewelry hunter in modern parks that have lots of aluminum trash with some more recent iron and steel targets like bottle caps, screws and modern nails. Same performance at the beach. I would not recommend the Vanquish in older, iron infested relic sites.

Garrett's Apex is Garrett's first attempt at a VLF simultaneous multi frequency detector. There is zero way that its form of multi frequency is as advanced or as versatile as Minelab's Mulit IQ. It should do perfectly well at any normal Florida beach. It is a good quality entry to mid-level detector that would compete directly with the Vanquish series.

Looking at the Vanquish vs the APEX, the Vanquish detectors lack one huge thing that the APEX has which is some form of manual ground balancing which at least for me in the very mineralized dirt I often hunt in is a huge deal and makes them more entry level than the APEX. That issue should not be a problem in your mildly mineralized Florida dirt. The Vanquish target ID accuracy and depth is superior to the APEX which goes back to Minelab's long experience and success making multi frequency detectors. Some excellent detector users on this forum have reported that the APEX does better as an iron infested site relic hunter since it deals with near surface iron targets better than the Vanquish. I would agree with that. Target separation, like ground balancing in vey high mineralization, is not where the Vanquish excels.

None of the Fisher models you have mentioned are going to drastically out perform these other detectors in YOUR expressed detecting situations. The F75, Patriot and CZs are excellent but very old school detectors with dated technology. None of them would be on my top 10 list of saltwater beach hunters. Submerged diving in salt and fresh water, the CZ 21 would be near the top of the list, however.

The only detector I would seriously add to your list of possibilities is the Nokta Makro Simplex........

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My labs been tweaking their multifrequency technology for 23 plus years and Garrett just starting to toy with that technology.

Again, I will be mostly hunting Florida beaches (saltwater and fresh water) and parks. 

In an "nutshell", go with the nox 600, right?

 

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I can't remember where I saw this. But I saw some sort of adapter for a metal detectors handle. It was a piece that you put right up under the control box that way the weight of the metal detector is not being supported by the control box but it's being supported by this adapter that can go up under the control box.

Does anyone know anything about this?

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17 minutes ago, Captorofsin said:

I can't remember where I saw this. But I saw some sort of adapter for a metal detectors handle. It was a piece that you put right up under the control box that way the weight of the metal detector is not being supported by the control box but it's being supported by this adapter that can go up under the control box.

Does anyone know anything about this?

I think the thing you are thinking about can be McGuivered by just cutting a slice off a pool noodle hollow out the center to fit the handle and cut a radial slit the ring to enable you to replace and remove it and voila, you have a ring that takes the direct pressure of the control box off your wrist and hand and enables you to loosen your death grip on the vpcontrol box handle.  That's what this "adapter" is really for.  Never seen the need for this personally, but no need to pay big bucks for something you can home brew.

43 minutes ago, Captorofsin said:

I was entertaining the idea of the CTX 3030. Just for the price tag of right at 2400.00, I don't know if I can justify that purchase. I'm thinking that would be way overkill for just beaches and parks.

Not so much overkill as you are not getting good value for the money.  The CTX uses older generation ML multifrequency technology (FBS2) vs. Equinox (Multi IQ) -it has non-adjustable, slower target response (bad in high density iron or trash) and less sensitivity to mid-conductive gold jewelry type targets, is bulky and heavy compared to Equinox, requires battery removal to charge the batteries which means you are constantly cycling the waterproof o-ring seals (which have been known to leak), has arguably  unnecessary bells and whistles such as GPS, and is much more complicated to set up and operate from a user interface perspective. In it's day as ML's top of the line multifrequency detector, it was known for it's accurate and informative visual target ID and sophisticated discrimination programming which enhanced its reputation as a deep silver target machine.  Folks are anticipating ML's answer to the CTX using the Equinox's state of the art Multi-IQ multifrequency tech.

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17 minutes ago, Captorofsin said:

I can swing $650 to $700. 

I could not justify paying $2,500 like with the CTX 3030

The 600 is great and is likely all you would need (one forum friend here kills it with his 600, so from a performance standpoint the 600 is great), but do enough research to convince yourself that you can live without the features that you might be leaving behind with a 600 purchase vs. the 800 including: numerous non-ferrous bin tone pitch and volume adjustments/customizations (600 only allows ferrous tone adjustments); the two higher single frequency options (20 and 40 khz) which can be useful in circumstances of high power line noise or micro target detecting; the gold modes which have some advantages jewelry hunting in dry beach sand and parks; greater range and presets of adjustability on recovery speed and iron bias; manual noise cancel adjustment; and the addition of a custom user search mode memory slot that allows you to instantly call up a favorite custom adjusted search mode of your choice independent of any other on-the-fly mode changes you have made.  HTH

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