Steve Herschbach

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.

There have been a couple outfits try and bypass Minelabs chip protection, but my advice is don’t go there. You currently have six coils to choose one, as Jeff has explained. Three from Minelab, three from Coiltek. That’s it for now. Coils by Minelab Coils by Coiltek

Then I’d grab the X-Terra first, same story, different VLF, though the Monster is a little hotter.

If there is anyone out there with a Lobo ST, it appears there is a need for a good, clear set of circuit board photos, that can then be marked up with notes. There are bits and pieces of info scattered about, but I’ve not found a clearly noted Lobo circuit photo despite some time with Google. Tesoro Lobo ST Data & Reviews

I work only with the dealers that the manufacturers say are their legitimate dealers. I recommend dealing with nobody but official dealers, period. Anyone that is not an official dealer authorized by the manufacturer, is selling the detectors against the manufacturers wishes, and more often than not are scammers and rip offs. If the price advertised is well under the manufactures minimum divertissement price, then the advertiser cannot be legitimate. Period. They are violating the manufacturer policy, and would be canceled. The fact they are still doing it screams counterfeit. If you want to know who legitimate dealers are, only trust the manufacturer, as they designate who is and is not legitimate. Referring to third party dealer listings is a road to disaster. They can be a starting point, but then you still have to check with the manufacturer to confirm the truth. Aliexpress and Alibaba are loaded with counterfeit product. eBay is not quite as bad, but still plenty of rip offs. Even Amazon to a lesser extent must be watched, as they offer goods from other parties, and scammers do exist. The only solution? Work with manufacturer sanctioned outlets. Anything else, use extreme caution. People do buy cheap counterfeits, then resell as used, and if caught “I did not know.” Buyer beware.

Welcome to the forum - nice little nugget If I was going to Southeast Alaska, I would take the Gold Monster before the GPX 5000. The gold in the region is generally very small, and in general it’s hard rock country, not placer. Glacial terrain, high mineral coastal belt. The mineralization calls for a PI, but a GPX 5000, no matter what coil, will never match a good VLF on small gold. A GPX 5000, I would get either an 8” Commander Mono, or Nugget Finder 6x8 Sadie Coil, and try to run Sensitive Extra The problem with small gold is you need a hot detector. But a hot detector struggles with bad ground and hot rocks. It’s a balancing act. Sensitive Extra may be too hot for your area, so use Fine Gold instead. It can handle the hottest ground, but it misses more gold than Sensitive Extra. And the fact is neither setting on a GPX 5000 will be good on the smallest gold, that a Gold Monster can easily hit. Frankly, I’d go SDC 2300 before GPX 5000 for your region. With an eye on the new GPX 6000. But for working with what you have, I’d grab Gold Monster first. If the ground defeats it, then GPX 5000 with Sadie coil. Glacial terrain offers complex challenges for metal detecting, with gold almost anywhere or nowhere. Glaciers are like bulldozers, mixing and making a mess of everything. Placers are very new, generally lean. Learn about things like moraines and eskers, and study where water flows around existing glaciers for clues. Gold placers can exist in lateral moraines halfway up valley walls. Like I say, use your imagination, and put the coil over everything. Good luck! Glaciers and Gold

"this year, do not know exactly when, hopefully sooner than later" "close to testing stage" "confident this will be a good machine" "simultaneous multifrequency, but also many single frequencies" "in the Simplex housing, but this is not a multi Simplex, but something new" "coil will be completely different from Simplex" "some upper shaft differences" "lower shaft will be carbon fiber" "user replaceable, changeable battery; field swappable" "not going to be priced as low as Simplex, but will be competitively priced versus the competition (Equinox)"

Another related thread... More here

There are two threads going on similar subjects.... More here

“As proven today, the finding of military ordnance from the Civil War is not uncommon in Maryland, and these devices pose the same threat as the day they were initially manufactured,” the fire marshal’s office said. People are encouraged to report such discoveries to the authorities and remember that even vintage artifacts can be deadly. In 2008, a man who collected Civil War relics died after a cannonball he was attempting to restore exploded.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bomb-squad-detonates-civil-war-cannonball-found-maryland-n1262276

I am careful to look after our rights, and so prefer not to detect grassy areas when bone dry. Too much risk of turf damage. So I actually like the rare rains in my area, and hit the parks hard when the turf is moist. Easier digs, and less likely to leave dead spots. As far as time, I am rabid about avoiding people, so a rain storm helps me more than hurts. Early, late, whenever.... my main goal is to avoid eyeballs, and I generally leave when more than a few show up. I do not like at all being watched when I'm doing any kind of urban metal detecting.

This time I do not want to be one of the first, assuming they do finally appear. I'd like to see a better track record for reliability this time before I pull the trigger, so will let some other brave souls take the plunge first. The lack of transferable warranty in particular is a bugaboo, as it makes buy and try an expensive proposition. It cost me around $400 this last go just to satisfy my curiosity. That's fine as it was not unexpected (should not have bought the extra battery for $200), but the reason mainly is the person buying it got no warranty, even though two years were left on mine. Anyway, that left me in less of a rush for the next go.

No complaints about either the Garrett Pro-Pointer AT or Fisher F-Pulse. Both are great, but the Garrett is probably the easier for most people. The F-Pulse is easier to get lost in the menu settings, but also tougher, less tip wear. I tend to grab the F-Pulse as it also handles high mineral ground better, plus I like that it uses AA batteries instead of 9V. In either case I rarely use a pinpointer while nugget detecting. I always have one around though, as they can be useful for deep trash targets more than gold. Off center nails are my most recovered target, not nuggets. I’m only pulling it out for hold if the nugget sounds very large and is in bottom of narrow hole in hard digging ground. Then the pinpointers helps insure I don’t hit a trophy nugget with my pick. All detectors - turn on pinpointer first, then turn detector on nearby and noise cancel. Never lost a pinpointer but use no special tricks in doing so. I just hate losing $100 bills enough that it does not happen. Fisher F-Pulse and Garrett Pro-Pointer AT

Reset never hurts, though it may not work in this case. Still, here it is. Owners manual page 56-57: ML 80 Factory Reset Factory Reset will return the headphones to factory presets, and will unpair all paired wireless devices. 1. Turn the headphones off. 2. Press and hold the Multi-Function button for approximately 10 seconds, until the headphones beep twice and the Status LED flashes pink. 3. Release the button. The headphones will now be in pairing mode with the LED indicator flashing blue and red.

Great post Jason, Thanks!

Yeah, I really liked the audio, and the audio options on the Impulse, and took to it immediately. I am satisfied with both the depth and the discrimination capability. The machine worked perfectly in fresh water, although there are reports that salt water use has been more problematic. I wish there was more transparency there, but people do not seem to want to go public, perhaps because the issue was belittled when it was mentioned a couple times? Whatever, but something is up with saltwater stability, but I've got no idea what the exact issue is, nor how widespread. I hated to let the machine go, but am hoping a more polished version will appear someday in regular retail channels. I'm picky about some stuff, and the kludge that is the current battery system proved more a turn off for me than I thought it would be. I'd have kept it if not for that. I'd also have to hear more positive reporting from saltwater users also, before I'd consider the AQ again, so my eyeball is more on the gold prospecting version now.

Nothing that is enough that anyone has noticed or found it. The update gives you 4 kHz. The previous one added F2. The one before that repaired some silver disc mapping. That’s it really. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/13347-equinox-software-update-30/

I’ve had no problem with email and Doc. Do the phone numbers not work? https://docsdetecting.com

Check this site out Gold In the world visualized

I think Garrett still has a decent shot, if they can digest the White's acquisition and use the tech infusion to help catch up. Apex + V3i = ???? ATX + TDI = ??? At least they have a coherent product line, with both Multi and PI products. First Texas? I called the old Fisher going away, then Tesoro, then White's. Sorry to say FT is next on my "weak player" list. Not so much lack of resources, as lack of vision. Half the product line is literally last century. They made some big bets on multi that failed, and are now making big bets on PI in a way that baffles me. Chasing the beach market first, while Minelab continues to mine the miners? I can't think of anything more niche than beach PI, so FT had better have some non-PI product in the pipeline somewhere that will impress people used to Equinox. Bottom line is they are strong financially, so not likely to go away, but they may just finally be what they really are now - Bounty Hunter. A low cost retailer supplying big box stores with cheap detectors. Give up on trying to do cutting edge, and just go mass market all the way. That's my expectation for First Texas. So for me it's kind of a grudge match between Garrett and Minelab, with Garrett suddenly finding itself getting lonely out there. They really do not have much product I'd want right now, but they could fix that if they wanted to. A new 24K? I'd get one before I'd get another Gold Monster. A light ATX with light coils for $1999 or less? I'm sure it would sell well, and I'd look hard at it if the physical design was right. Garrett could do it, but the current crew is getting pretty old. Do they have the burning desire, that's the question I have. But at least they seem to have woken up to the threat, and made a strategic move to respond. Finally.

It's where the majority of sales are. That simple. They also have to get as big a jump on the counterfeiters as possible, so the early sales in Africa are all important in that regard. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/13913-minelab-2020-full-year-report/ When they decided to sell the Gold Monster in the U.S., you'd think they'd have put in a standard rod and 12V charger. But that would have slowed things down, and somebody pointed out people would probably buy it anyway, so why bother. That's kind of what we are down to with this. Actually, in my opinion White's made a better Gold Monster in the 24K due to that oversight, but unfortunately it was too little, too late for White's. And now even that option is gone, though hopefully not forever.