Jeff McClendon

24 minutes ago, JohnnyDigs said:

Yes that I did and I was also in all metal with my tone break set in between 9-11. But my question is if you can hear a difference between say a coin and a piece of trash metal like brass or aluminum.  Is there something I should be listening for. 
 

example- when I was in those settings and swinging away, I sometimes I hit a target that sounds clean and strong thinking it was a coin but when I dug it up it be a small piece of brass.  Is there a sound that would give me the ability to really tell if it’s a coin or just some junk metal.  I mean not that I’m not digging it up anyway but I guess I’m trying to see if it’s something I need to listen and or just learn in time meaning, maybe it’ll be scratchy, or a mix of grunt with a high tone beep   or is it always going to be either a beep or a grunt and never a combination. And I also understand that if it is close to my tone break, it might do that but being way above the tone break, I’m asking if there is also other sounds, I can look out for that. Will give me hints on whether if it’s a tight, circular object or Elongated or on its edge or whatever 

The statement you quoted me on was about telling the difference between ferrous/non-ferrous using Pitch tones. 

I did not make any definitive claim about me personally telling the difference between a coin and aluminum trash using Pitch tones and I am not going to either. I merely stated that if You practice, you might sometimes be able to with a little glance at the target ID.

I generally use 6 or 60 tones on shallow to mid depth coin sized targets when coin/jewelry hunting. There is a lot of information within those tones about certain regularly occurring coins and certain, regularly occurring aluminum objects like pull tabs and aluminum screw caps that can be learned if you want to go to the trouble. Most people don't want to go to that trouble and some people will probably start taking shots at me for even saying it's possible. 

2 hours ago, JohnnyDigs said:

Just out of curiosity, how? Will there be a little grunt or break or some sort of chirp? I really like pitch because I feel like it separates really well I just know I’ll be digging way more which I’m ok with also but I’m just curious 

Pitch Tones (plural) on the Legend is 2 tone, ferrous/non-ferrous audio and the tone break will occur where it is set by default in each Park and Field mode. Make sure you are using the A or G discrimination pattern and iron volume level is loud enough to hear. Try it out on some test targets to get the volume levels right for your hearing.

HF coil batteries are in the lower shaft. If you have a dead HF coil battery, they are not expensive and they are ridiculously easy to replace.

So, you didn't try the charging clip on the 10x5" HF coil? If you do try it make sure you get a solid white light on the coil to show it's charging.

On 12/15/2023 at 12:48 PM, phrunt said:

Yup, just chuck it out, the Axiom it was made using was such a poor performing unit compared to the 6000 I was sure there had to be something wrong with it based upon a few people here's comparisons to the 6000 which claim to be similar performance while the one X-coils has is a long way behind in especially depth but also sensitivity,  it did work fine though with ground balancing and general use, it just didn't perform well and this coil improved it, unfortunately it's very hard to get their hands on another Axiom in their country so this coil was made off that detector to suit that detector.   Maybe it will work on Jeff's, he has had a DD coil with his Axiom that didn't work in fine mode 🙂

 

I never expected and really don’t want the same extreme sensitivity to really small gold that the GPX 6000 will hit. Along with that extreme sensitivity on the 6000 comes extreme sensitivity to everything else detectable in the coil’s detection field including EMI. 
 

My Axiom even with conservative settings has no issues detecting 0.03 gram flakes and smaller near the surface using the 11X7” mono or DD coils. 
 

Anything smaller than that is VLF territory for me anyway. 
 

The replacement 11X7”. Focused Core DD coil that Garrett sent me ground balances better than the one it replaced. Sometimes I can get it to properly ground balance on difficult dirt and run well enough in Fine/Slow with sensitivity on 3 or 4. The 11X7” mono has zero problems ground balancing and running the identical settings in the same dirt. That’s kind of weird…..

I would like conventional DD coil choices too.

Otherwise, I am happy with my Axiom.

I thought really hard about it but that had nothing to do with how it detects. It does just great for me, ergonomics are good and it has the best EMI handling I have ever experienced.

I sold my Nox 800 instead to a great new owner who absolutely loves the 800 as much as I do.

However, I think the Manticore is Minelab's worthy successor to the Equinox 800. It took awhile for me to come to that understanding but, that is what I decided and I am going to stick to that.

4 hours ago, JohnnyDigs said:

Ok so then when I see people in pitch, some are able to specifically call out targets but how do they do this if the pitch is always the same but only the volume tells them how deep it is 

I really apologize if I sound stupid but it’s just to interesting for me not to ask🤣

I see guys that are so good with pitch that they literally know what is in the ground without even looking at the numbers.  They do it all by sound. 
 

I kinda wish we could have both tonal pitch and volume pitch in 60 tones but I guess it doesn’t work that way 

You would get a better answer just by doing some testing/training. 

Just get a small target like a #6 shot gun pellet or other target that weighs less than 0.25 grams, get a little dirt and bury that target 2 to 3" deep. You don't have to bury it in the ground, just use a container that is roughly as wide as the coil you are using. The dirt can be potting soil or just sand. Try detecting it in M2 with the discrimination patter on A or G using the multi tone options and then try detecting it using Pitch. 

I don't know anything about what the "people" you see calling out targets are doing so I can't answer that.

I do know that I can sometimes usually tell ferrous from non-ferrous using Pitch and that I can tell a deep target from a shallow one and a small target from a large one for starters. You should be able to do that too with a little practice. Who knows, you may be calling coins from trash pretty quickly using Pitch and with a little help from a quick glance at the target IDs.

For my hunting style, the Axiom is a better choice. I do like using my GPX 4000 for relics and deep coins but I just like the Axiom's press the button for on demand iron ID with typical Garrett iron grunt audio instead of using iron reject on the GPX and having it on all the time. Like Steve H and Chase said above, that could create unwanted target masking. I do like how the GPX iron reject is incremental but being threshold based, it to me anyway is more prone to masking.

If you just want to hunt for gold nuggets you have lots of choices from dedicated VLFs and pulse induction detectors.

If your area has mostly sub gram gold, a VLF like the Fisher Goldbug 2, Minelab Goldmonster 1000, Garrett/Whites Goldmaster 24K, Nokta Gold Kruzer, Nokta NuggetFinder 2000 and the XP ORX with the white HF coils would be good choices. If you want to also hunt for sub gram gold nuggets plus relics, coins and jewelry eventually there are also some great VLF choices for that too that have simultaneous multi frequency operation like the Minelab Equinox 800, Minelab Equinox 900, Minelab Manticore, Nokta Legend and XP Deus 2. Those detectors have excellent dedicated gold prospecting modes that easily rival the sensitivity and mineralized ground handling of the dedicated gold prospecting detectors listed above them. All of the detectors listed in this paragraph are $1600 or less if you shop carefully. If you are current or former US military, Minelab and Garrett offer 15% discounts for many of their new detectors.

There are some used pulse induction detectors that are good for a wide range of gold nugget sizes from 0.1 gram small nuggets and up. They are not cheap even when buying used. If you can find a Minelab SDC 2300, GPX 4000, 4500, 4800 or 5000 for $1500 or less that actually works, buy it. The Whites TDIs are good too but they simply will not hit sub 0.25 gram and smaller nuggets consistently. 

3 minutes ago, JohnnyDigs said:

question if I may 

so even if im in 60 tones I can still hear depth of target by the loudness or softness just like pitch tones?

Since 60 tones, 6 tones, 4 tones, 2 tones and 1 tone on the Legend are more similar to square wave audio…….no you will not “hear the same loudness or softness just like pitch tones”

Goldfield’s one tone VCO and 2 tone Pitch VCO-voltage controlled oscillator audio has audio that can dramatically increase in volume AND dramatically changes pitch over a strong target. That change of volume and pitch is less pronounced on deeper/weaker targets.

Square wave type audio like the Legend’s 1,2,4,6 and 60 tone options increases in volume on stronger targets and has softer volume on weaker targets depending on the audio gain setting. Square wave audio does not change pitch however unless the target ID changes.

Try it out for yourself.

As far as VLFs, if I was helping you (Steve H) with updating this list, I would suggest adding the Nokta Legend, Equinox 900, Manticore and Deus 2 (much better with V2.0 software).

If I needed a Tesoro addiction fix (thankfully I don't), Deeptech sure makes some really nice detectors.

3 hours ago, TampaBayBrad said:

I never did the software update, so I don't get the red #'s. I would surely dig a 24 though if it was solid and wasn't bouncing. 24 to 27 stands a good chance of being a nickel although sometimes a pull tab. (if you want to dig a nickel) If it's bouncing to other #'s besides 24 and grunting and not on the center line, I probably wouldn't dig. You should be able to hear the nickel as a solid hit sound among the iron grunts and see the nickel as a dot on the nonferrous line even if there is iron nearby.

Hi stateguy,

I am learning the Manticore just like everybody else. Quite the detector for sure.

I don't know what kind of sand your were hunting in whether very low, low, moderate or high amounts of magnetic sand. 

I hunt on turf mostly, haven't used the Manticore at a saltwater beach yet so anything I say here needs to be considered with that in mind. Also, the dirt I hunt in has moderate to high amounts of magnetite particles, enough to easily cover a magnet with sand sized particles if I roll it around in this dirt for a couple of seconds.

My Manticore has been updated and I have the red numbers turned on, iron volume turned up and I usually hunt with the horseshoe button engaged so all target IDs are accepted.

I regularly get red numbers and black numbers on most targets from surface to 8" deep that have a target ID below about 30. That definitely includes nickels and I am talking about standalone nickels, not nickels with an actual iron target nearby.

I totally agree with everything TampaBayBrad said above.

I will dig any target that has a target ID from 24 to 27 even if some numbers are red, it sounds like it is coin sized target, the dot at least starts on the center line (even though it may "bleed" downward a bit) and like TampaBayBrad said it has a "solid hit". That solid hit is very key to distinguishing US nickels from other targets including modern pull tabs.

So, some red numbers on buried nickels may be "normal".

I will probably get some grief for saying this from people that don't want to hear it (literally) but the Manticore using its Normal and Enhanced audio themes (all I've used so far) if recovery speed stays between 3 and 6 or so, is very capable of giving some major amounts of "descriptive" audio response information that can be learned and depended on. So learning what a US nickel sounds and responds like with all of the Manticore's visual and audio aids can make digging them almost guaranteed if you learn their tendencies opposed to modern oval and rectangular pull tabs for instance. It takes some practice and no strategy is ever perfect, but the "tells" are there for anyone that wants to take the time to learn them.  

I enjoyed using the one I owned for relic hunting in mild to moderately mineralized ground even though I had constant EMI issues due to it being an Aussie detector battling with 60 Hz USA electricity. 

It was just OK, nothing special for smaller gold nuggets below 0.5 grams.

As soon as the ground mineralization became more difficult, it was pretty useless. 

Hated to sell it but it went to another good home in Virginia USA for relic hunting.

Have those spouses swing an ORX and they might think differently. 
 

They are really easy to operate too with just enough features to get serious. 

On 8/17/2022 at 12:31 PM, Steve Herschbach said:

There was one big shift in the order, as the Fisher Gold Bug 2 went up $100, and the XP ORX went down $150. That changed my view of the ORX in a big way. It wandered a bit when it came out with coils and price, but now has settled firmly into its' role as XPs nugget detector, and an excellent VLF option at $599.

XP ORX detectors with HF 9" round, HF elliptical, or one of the X35 coils and WS wireless audio headphones, charging cables, etc are available in the USA, I mean the entire package with great coil, headphones and remote (some dealers are including a nice XP finds pouch) for $549. 

I don't care much for the ORX coin modes, but I was always comparing them to something they aren't meant to be=original Deus full featured coin modes.

 But those two gold prospecting modes are no joke. A coil that will run at 14, 31 and 81 kHz plus with a little disc IAR and iron volume On, you get a two tone VCO gold prospecting/relic hunter/micro gold jewelry hunter that weighs about 2 lbs. 

That is insane.......thank again to Nokta Detectors (and XP).

Compare that to a Minelab GoldMonster 1000 with one coil for $799 to 999 US that takes 30 seconds to ground balance......I could go on but there is no point.

Or buy a Nokta Score for 449 euros.

I totally ditched the GPX 6000 for the Garrett Axiom and I am not sorry I did one bit. The Axiom, even with the weird focused core DD coils that I am still trying to get used to, is just a more fun and much more sensible detector to use and it is plenty sensitive to sub 0.1 gram gold.

Right after I ditched the GPX 6000 a friend of mine decided to sell his GPX 4000 in great shape with two coils and two good batteries for $800. Needless to say, I bit on that deal. 

So, I have two extremely capable PIs and too many super versatile SMFs that are great at gold prospecting to count. I can't find enough time to use them all!

After hearing about the Manticore M8 coil knock, maybe I will hold off even longer on buying an M8. The Manticore even with the 11" stock coil is super sensitive to small gold already.

The biggest difference between the Simplex models and the AT Pro, Etrac and Legend (aside from what has already been mentioned) is the audio quality of the tones on the Simplex models. Some like it, some don't mind it and a lot of people absolutely do not like it. In comparison, very few people complain about the audio tones on the AT Pro, Etrac or Legend. It's like salt and sugar. The difference is that big for some. 

Working on V1.09 was really fun.

Speaking of Garrett, for me, the Apex would be an even better detector with just one simple change. Offer 1, 2 and maybe 3 tone audio as an alternative to just 5 tone. Should be simple and could have been easily done with an online update. Didn't happen eventhough many suggested it.

You and I and many others could go on and on about constructively improving the Equinox 800 but Minelab decided to do something completely different with the 700/900. I don't know who they were listening to but I would love to know.......WHY.

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

I can't agree with that, as much as I think it's absolutely fantastic Nokta regularly update their firmware (on the current hit detector neglecting others) they have had to do a lot of updates that should have and could have been done while in beta testing prior to release.  Sure, some are customer feedback, which could possibly have just been tester feedback had it been tested properly, but the list of updates says it all really and I guess many of them have been long forgotten, there was also hardware issues with the USB controller, flash tool and speaker that could possibly with luck have been picked up with more testing.  I'm not knocking Nokta, I think they've done a brilliant job with the Legend and I give them 100% for the updates they have been doing, still had they have done many of them prior to release it would be a much better experience for the end user, remember the days without firmware updates? All of these updates they've since done, nobody would get.  As much as we like to support Nokta's efforts, it was not even remotely ready at release.

Changelog of the firmware versions they release the updates for, others are suppressed or just noted as "various bug fixes" which all programmers know are bugs that are too embarrassing to admit, don't worry, even Minelab use this generic term on their firmware updates 🙂

System Software V1.13 (2023.10.16)

Updates Made:
This update allows for easy switching of the Bluetooth headphones connection between AccuPOINT and The Legend, and better compatibility with your devices.

System Software V1.11 (2023.03.01)
Updates Made:
1. A new level “0” has been added to the Iron Filter (IF) setting in the Park, Field and Goldfield modes. In addition, a new level 9 has been added to the Iron Filter (IF) setting.
There has been no change to the levels 1-8. Level 9 will become handy when trying to discriminate some unwanted mid-conductors such as shotgun cartridges as iron.

2. The Backlight setting has been reconfigured as below:
The Backlight setting’s levels have been increased to 6 from 5. Levels 1-5 in the software version 1.09 is now equal to 2-6 in this version. Level 1 in this version is now the reduced level.

3. The automatic Backlight setting has been reconfigured to work as below:
a) When the automatic Backlight setting was on, the automatic Backlight was not activated when the pinpoint button was pressed to turn on Tracking in the Ground Balance screen. This now has been updated.
b) When the automatic Backlight setting was on, the Backlight was turning off once you exit the Settings menu. This now has been updated so that the Backlight goes off within the normal time-out period.
c) When the automatic Backlight setting was on, the automatic Backlight was not activated when the pinpoint button was pressed in the Notch Discrimination Pattern. This now has been updated.
d) While in Automatic Ground Balance, the auto backlight will now be lit until the ground balancing is completed.

4. M3 multi frequency in PARK mode has been updated to prevent coins from being masked by aluminum foil.

5. Bottle Cap Rejection setting has been added.
When the device is in multi frequency, select the Recovery Speed setting and press the pinpoint button. When you navigate with the right and left buttons, you will see the letters “bC” appear on the right side of the screen. You can adjust the bC value between 1-8 using the + and – buttons. When the bC is 0, it means that it is off.

6. Ground Suppressor setting has been added.
It is used to eliminate false ground signals in tough terrains. To access the setting, select the Recovery Speed setting and press the pinpoint button. When you navigate with the right and left buttons, you will see the letters “GS” appear on the right side of the screen. You can adjust the GS value between 1-8 using the + and – buttons. When the GS is 0, it means that it is off. It is recommended that you leave this setting at off position unless needed.

7. The audio emitted as the Tone Break points are changed while in 60-Tone, has been modified with increased bass.

8. Audio Gain setting has been activated in the Gold Field Mode.

9. Warning tones have been added to the buttons.
The buttons will now emit a warning tone in the following cases:
a) To indicate the minimum and maximum levels of settings.
b) When an inactive setting in a specific mode trying to be activated.
The loudness of the warning tones will work directly proportional to the Volume setting.

10. Bluetooth Chip Version will now be displayed.
When the Bluetooth headphones are paired with the device and the Bluetooth setting is selected, press and hold the Discrimination button. The Bluetooth chip version will be displayed in the clock section. When the button is released, the clock will be displayed again.

11. The loudness of the Volume Level 1 has been reduced in PARK, FIELD and BEACH modes.

12. General improvements have been implemented.

System Software V1.09 (2022.07.12)
Updates Made:
1. Iron Filter and Stability settings have been added.
When the device is working in Multi frequency, select the Recovery Speed setting and press the pinpoint button.
Letters “IF” (Iron Filter) will appear on the right side.

Iron Filter (IF) setting ranges between 1-8 and the default value is 8. Default value 8 is the same as the previous versions (v1.05, v1.07) Legend with no iron filter setting.
Lower IF setting will increase the probability of ferrous targets to be classified as non-ferrous targets and vice versa.
Stability setting (st) is the fine tuning for the IF setting.
When the IF is set to 8, the st setting will be inactive in the Park, Field and Gold Field modes.
When the IF is set to any value below 8, the St setting can be activated by pressing the right or left button and can be adjusted by using the + and – buttons.
NOTE: The st setting in the beach mode is different than this new st setting!

2. A new multi frequency (M3) has been added to PARK and FIELD modes.
Ideal for humid, wet and/or conductive soils.
It reduces the effect of moisture in soils which can cause falses. It also weakens the response of targets generating 10-11 IDs such as coke and aluminum foil.

3. Tone Pitch has been added.
In Tone Pitch, as the coil approaches the target, the audio frequency will change in proportion to the signal strength. It can be selected from the number of tones setting and is shown with a P.

4. Audio Gain setting has been added.
Audio Gain setting will increase the volume of weak target responses.
In the PARK, FIELD and BEACH modes, after selecting the volume, press the pinpoint button. Letters AG will appear on the right side. You can adjust the AG using the + and – buttons between 1-6. The default value is set to 3.
Audio Gain does NOT increase depth.

5. Mute function has been added.
On the main screen, press and hold the Frequency button to mute the device.
Letters “AO” (Audio Off) will appear on the right side. You can unmute by pressing and holding the Frequency button.
Even if muted, the device will revert back to unmute in the custom discrimination pattern (notch), ground balance and settings menus automatically.

6. Auto sensitivity drop in the custom discrimination pattern
When you select the custom discrimination pattern (notch), the sensitivity drops down to 5 automatically. However, if you are using the automatic notch, you may not want the sensitivity to be lowered. In this case, press the Ground Balance button once to revert back to the current sensitivity. Letters “CS” (current sensitivity) will be displayed on the right side.

7. Hearing the audio through the speaker and the Bluetooth headphones at the same time
When the Bluetooth setting is selected, if the Bluetooth HPs are paired, press the up button and select 2.

8. Reverting Back to Factory Defaults
After selecting the user profile in the settings menu, press and hold the pinpoint button until letters Fd appear on screen. Fd will disappear after 2 seconds.

9. Discrimination Pattern is now saved.
Default discrimination pattern for PARK, FIELD, and BEACH has been defined as “F (Ferro-off)” and as “G (Ground-off)” in the Gold Field Mode.

10. Mineralization Indicator
In the ground balance menu, press the discrimination button to activate the mineralization indicator. Letter GI (Ground Indicator) will appear on the right side. When you press the discrimination button again, it will revert back to Ferro Check and FC will appear.

Ground Mineralization refers to the naturally occurring minerals in the ground that affect a metal detector’s performance. There are two main types of ground mineralization: Iron particles and salt such as saltwater beaches. This causes the ground to become conductive. Both produce false signals that mask targets.
Left side of the mineralization bar shows iron particle mineralization and the right side shows mineralization due to salt. The right side works in multi frequency only!

11. The selected setting in the settings menu will now blink for easier viewing.
12. The default threshold frequency level in Park, Field and Beach modes have been changed to 10.
13. Threshold parameters have been updated in the Park, Field and Beach modes.
14. Audio during ground balancing has been updated.
15. Ground balance and pinpoint function parameters have been updated. In automatic ground balancing, if the ground response is too weak or if there is metal where you are trying to ground balance, the detector will now drop the ground balance value to 0 automatically.
16. ID stability has been improved for changing ground balance values.

System Software V1.07 (2022.04.14)
Updates Made:
1. Beach Mode Multi-W and the Pinpoint in this mode has been improved and updated.
2. Bluetooth headphones pairing criteria have been updated. The device will now search for the headphones it has been paired with initially and try to connect to those. This will prevent the device from connecting to other Bluetooth devices when the Bluetooth setting is on. If you want to pair the device with different Bluetooth headphones (other than those it was initially paired with) you must delete them from memory as explained in the manual.
3. The sensitivity value will now be displayed also in the Target ID section.
4. The ground phase value calculated through automatic ground balance as well as tracking will now be saved.
5. Multi-1, Multi-2, Multi-D, Multi-W frequencies will now be saved. The device will start with the last frequency used.
6. The default Number of Tones for Park and Beach modes have been changed to 2.
7. The default Tone Volume level of ferreous tone has been updated per each mode.
8. The Ground Balance menu icons and the tones have been updated.
9. The battery bar levels have been updated to be more linear.
10. Bugs have been fixed.

System Software V1.05 (2022.03.16)
Updates Made:
1. Pinpoint function has been improved.
2. M 1 Multi Frequency parameters have been updated.
3. Audio alert for Automatic Frequency Shift (Noise Cancellation) completion has been extended.
4. Factory default Tone Break value has been changed from 11 to 10 in Park mode.
5. Ferrous Off Discrimination Pattern has been updated to reject IDs between 1-10 in Park & Field modes.
6. Threshold audio level has been increased in Gold mode.
7. Audio response during ground balancing in Gold mode has been updated.
8. Backlight levels have been re-configured.
9. Bugs have been fixed.

My point is, I hope Garrett if they are releasing a SMF detector, have its problems and features ironed out better than this.  Yes, it's fantastic they do it, but they're using users as testers as much of this should have been resolved before release, as every programmer knows though, once software hits the wild, the bug reports flow in far more than small scale testing.

Many of these improvements listed, I have a feeling Jeff, you would have noticed yourself and reported had you been one of their testers.

Nope, you just don't get it.

The vast majority of that change log list is the beauty of the Legend and its willful co-creation between the end user and Nokta. Sure, there were some bugs in V1.04, 1.06 and 1.08. Those versions were quickly pulled as soon as Nokta or end users reported issues.  Digalicious and I were both beta testers for the huge V1.09 change log along with a few other end users. So, V1.09 was the culmination of a really careful, creative collaboration between several of us end users and Nokta and they could not have been more open to suggestions and accommodating. V1.11 was literally created from suggestions by anyone that was willing to download and test the V1.10X beta version. 

So, no Simon, you are wrong about how you are perceiving this entire process. Sure, Nokta could have just stopped at V1.05/1.07 as soon as the saltwater issues were taken care of. The Legend would have been a fine detector. But Nokta wanted to make it better and they knew that the best place to go for suggestions to do that was with their customers and they trusted us.

Thankfully, XP have been very open to suggestions for Deus 2 and have been fairly quick to correct missing features between the main RC and the WS6 Master puck and to improve/upgrade other features that end users asked for. End users also informed XP of bug issues with two of their software updates that were quickly corrected.

I can only wish that Garrett and Minelab would consider this kind of true creative collaboration and actually trust their customers to make suggestions that could make their detectors even better.

10 hours ago, Digalicious said:

Let me guess...the Legend? 

There was nothing broken on the original firmware Legend. Almost all the updates were a result of user requests for even more features and settings. The closest thing to a "fix" would be the addition of the iron bias control, and the salt stability control. Before release of the Legend, Nokta already had an iron bias control ready to go, but there was debate (for good reasons), whether or not they should include it at release. On second thought, the only actual "fix" I can think of, was that the original Legend was chirpy in very heavy salt conditions, hence the addition of the salt stability control. That salt issue should have been caught by testers. 

 

I totally agree. The Legend except for its saltwater handling was ready to go at release. It worked for me right out of the box. Found a small 14K hoop earring.....first target ever with the Legend with steel safety pins all around it.

Once Nokta fixed the saltwater issue and added user adjustable iron bias it was totally done. Two of the updates just like two of the XP Deus 2 updates were buggy and had to be almost immediately updated again...it happens.

Simon, I too really hope that Garrett will get their hopefully upcoming SMF AT type detector into the hands of at least one super experienced (doesn't make inane/insane YouTube videos for heaven's sake): USA West coast beach hunter, one USA East coast beach hunter, one gold prospector from the Western USA, one from NSW and WA Australia and plenty of actual USA and European clad and steel core hunters along with the normal relic hunters from North America and Europe at least.

I would buy a SMF Garrett AT type VLF if it was comparable to a Nokta Legend/Equinox 800 or slightly better just to support Garrett. For me it's not a rah rah USA thing. I support Nokta and XP's SMF detectors for the same reason. Those detectors work great where I live for a wider variety of detecting situations than Garrett's single frequency AT detectors.

That will be a hard hill to climb if Garrett is legally going to avoid Minelab US patents. The Apex did not bother Minelab one bit as far as US patents or actual real Equinox competition.

On 12/28/2023 at 4:43 PM, raziel900 said:

I also have the deus 2 since it came out and I hunt exclusively in dense vegetation the coil hits every branch, shrub or stone in very narrow spaces, for my hunt having a metal "chatter" is of no advantage because that chatter distracts me from possible deep small ancient European targets...Having said that, I was stopped for a few months due to the summer heat, I updated and noticed this chatter... harmful for my type of hunting

I asked you about your settings and you provided them.

I asked you to simply tap or hit your coil with your hand to see if maybe there was a problem with the coil itself. Since you are using the Sensitive program (me too) I thought that would be a simple way to diagnose a coil problem. At least for me, tapping the edge of the coil with my hand using the Sensitive program does not create coil knock audio responses.

You stated that you always ground balance and that your soil has very low mineralization. I have never experienced coil knock audio responses when using Deus 2 and the Sensitive program even with Ground Stabilization on 1, sensitivity on 95 and the mineralization meter on my Deus 2 is usually halfway to completely full=moderate to high mineralization. The soil around here ground balances between 84 and 89.

I definitely hear coil knock audio responses using the Goldfield program if I have not done several ground grab ground balances even with sensitivity on 90 unless I am using good coil control and there aren't lots of rocks and vegetation.

Do you have another coil to compare with your 9" coil?

If I was having the issues you are describing, I would get that coil checked by XP or at least communicate with them via their customer support Contact email service.

1 hour ago, raziel900 said:

I don't understand, with the 2.0 update they ruined the threshold again like at the beginning when it was just a sound without mutations?

The threshold tone only audibly changes using Pitch tones when there are non-ferrous notches set or iron discrimination is used with iron volume level set very low or off in all of the modes except Goldfield and Relic. In Goldfield and Relic, the threshold tone audibly changes when Disc IAR is set to 1 or above and iron volume level is set very low or off. 

So it's a reference threshold that changes on any target IDs that are rejected in the discrimination pattern. If the ground itself is generating target IDs and those target IDs are rejected, the threshold tone will audibly change.

I don't think Deus 2 threshold helps to amplify very small target audio responses. At least there is nothing about it being a "live" threshold in the manual. There is really very little information about the Threshold tone itself in the manual. There is a section about Tones and Threshold but XP is using Threshold as another word for Tone Breaks in that section of the manual.

I personally don't like to use it unless I have iron volume turned very low or off for some reason when using Relic or Goldfield. The faint background chatter is a better form of "live" threshold when I can hear it.

As far as I can remember, the threshold has been this way since the beginning and has not been "ruined" in V2.0.