Nuke em

I think that it will be better than the Nox . It has 60 number to (50 inc 10 Iron) on the Nox , all i want from that is a better spread of good targets instead of almost all good low tone and low tone junk in the same place . It has the FE bar unlike anything on the Nox . 60 tones or 6 , 2 , 1 . And has near enough the same frequencies . 

It will be better built and has 3 years warranty . 

I am upgrading to the Pro instead of the basic pack. 

The Deus 11 is just a replacement for the Deus 1 for me . I have wanted multi freq from XP for a long time and being light , cordless , multi freq and waterproof ticks all the boxes on that . It even has the XY screen. 

I think Minelab is going to be in a very difficult situation now. 

I dont doubt they will be bringing out something soon but they will most likely price it to high and by then most will have what they want . If its what i want then i will just have to wait another year plus . 

The Deus 11 and Legend Pro are going to break the bank as it is .

I have decided to buy this machine . I think it will work well and i also think Minelab is going to have a big thorn in its Equinox side with this one. 

But it wont replace my Nox. I will give Minelab a chance to bring something out that i want .

As for the Deus 11 , thats a straight swap for the Deus 1 plus cash.

9 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

So did Minelab with the CTX 3030, but it's an all to rare feature. Still none with an audio alarm setting to tell me it’s time to quit. 🙂

Its never time to quit . Or so the younger me says !

The price in the UK will £1399 . So maybe around $1500 in the US.

On 10/15/2021 at 8:38 AM, palzynski said:

From my infos ( local French dealers ) , XP will release a new SMF VLF detector by the end of the year. 

Thats what i have heard a few months ago. 

I use the Bluetooth , used to use the WM08 on my older Nox in the past but found the supplied headphones to be better on their own.

In fact i have found a cheaper alternative to the Minelab version . They are August EP 650 B . Thats all i use now.

On my new Nox i have never used the WM08. 

3 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Things a person can't have........

Minelab Equinox 800 with V8, V10, and V12 Vanquish coils (no, they won't work)

Equinox on left is my gold prospecting detector, on a telescoping rod for packability. It is normally rigged with the stock or 6" coil. The one in the middle is a late prototype, a little rough for wear at this point in time. I keep it rigged with a stock rod and coil for park detecting. And the one on right is rigged with a steveg rod. I normally use this with the large coil for field hunting, or a stock coil for wading and/or mask & snorkel use.

Anyway, the Vanquish coils are just rigged for mockup purposes.

And some people may even want this.....

Minelab Vanquish 540 with Equinox 11" round coil (no, it won't work)

 

I am happy with the coils they have . The Vanquish works well with its coils and the Nox works well with its coils . 

I think i might have to buy that 15 inch coil for the Nox soon , again !

I quite like the Vanquish . I have used my 540 4 times and found 2 Gold rings on the first search and a few Silver rings along with £60 in coinage. 

I bought the Nox 800 again and that seems to find things but the Gold is missing this year . 

On Friday i will take the 540 to the beach for the long tides and get on the sand . 

The only thing i have an issue with on the Vanquish is that when using it on the beach if there is Seaweed the Vanquish sounds off on it . Minelab needs to sort that one out . The Nox doesn't do it on my settings .

As for my moan about headphones in the past. I have found that if using the WM08 there is more chance of interference from EMI and phones cut out than if you use the phones on there own . 

I have also found a nice cheap alternative to the Minelab phones on Amazon , they are August EP650B . Not CB only B . They pair perfectly .

9 hours ago, Bash said:

If I'm understanding this thread correctly, the problem that needs to be addressed is the "natural" reproduction of the audio signal input into the headphones.  It seems most headphones produced for the listening consumer market color the sound by favoring bass frequencies.  What detectorists are looking for is essentially the same thing an audio engineer/producer is looking for - accurate reproduction of the input signal. An audio engineer would never mix down an album using "boom box" speakers. They would insist on a quality studio monitor with a frequency response that didn't favor any particular frequency and reproduced all frequencies as given. 

If I was unhappy with the audio quality I was finding in consumer headphones, I would start looking at headphones specifically made for mixing accurately reproduced audio, as opposed to headphones made for casual listening.

They will cost more... 😉

I have found suitable phones and bought 6 of them. Maz Super Red's are the best since the old Gray Ghost NDT . perfect for Minelab machines.

2 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Unlikely since the Equinox update was derived from Vanquish in the first place.

Pity , I have seen that the Vanquish loves Crown caps .

6 hours ago, palzynski said:

Carbon fiber yes but carbon is expensive so that the Vanquish price would not have been the same with carbon shafts. However I have replaced the lower and middle shafts on mine with carbon shafts , this was rather to save weight than protecting the paint ... Actually. I saved around 100grams with these 2 carbon shafts ...

Yes the Vanquish is very easy to set up , no mess with the settings , just set the sens to max , choose the detection mode , and the machine is ready to use ...

Vanquish 540 vs Etrac , the Vanquish will be lighter 1,3kg vs 1,8kg . I have been using an Explorer XS in the 2000s and this machine is not the lightest ... I am not a beach specialist I use my Vanquish inland only , however I am looking forward for your beach tests with the Vanquish... 

 

I think my next search will be with ET , after that the 540 . Probably Saturday next week. Work till then.

Yesterday i took my XP ORX to my dealer and swapped it for the Vanquish 540 Pro .

I know i have said a few things in the past about it and i said i wouldn't buy it . Well i have .

When i opened the box i saw the red (still yuk) , thank %$&* for a box cover lol

I unpacked it and put it together and apart from the awful colour i thought it was well made . Apart from the battery cover which i think will cause trouble . I think there will be a few breakages . I also noted the different shade of red of the cover. 

The control box buttons layout is fine but like other machines i have seen the coil lead goes into a tight spot in the side of the control box. Chubby fingers might not like that .

Unfortunately the upper 2 shafts are painted , they should have been Carbon Fiber , i can see the paint being chipped a lot like they do on the ET / Explorer's .

The stem locks look good but i dont like the coil bolt idea. Desi Dunne said that on his last video i saw before he passed away. Its a pity the middle shaft didn't collapse up above the top one like the Deus does . Could have collapsed to around 20 inches instead of 30 in.

The coils look a good size and the small one will be good for Irony / trashy places . Pity the target numbers weren't 99 instead of 40 .

I tested a few coins and the depth seems good at full sen's and the recovery speed seems good .

I checked my new Maz headphones to see if they worked with my adapter and they do , i also paired the headphones out of the box and listened to them . They seemed ok but both sets of headphones seemed quieter than if just going without headphones. That might affect targets being heard for the hard of hearing . 

I will also not be using the batteries out of the box , being only 1.2 volts and not 1.5 v that many disposable batteries have i will use disposables and use rechargables as back ups. I am used to getting a lot more power from batteries and Minelab's tendency to chuck any old stuff into the box ( batteries / Headphones ) lets them down and the RNB batteries of the ET prove that Minelab could do a lot better . 

On the Nox there was an update that helped with knocking out crown caps , i think the Vanquish could do with that update if it can be done.

Overall it looks not to bad a machine but like the Nox did it will have its place . I wont use it everywhere . As i think most that know me my ET is my main detector and Minelab will have to come up with something much better to prize my hand off that . 

I still think that Minelab have made a machine that looks to much like a red Garrett Ace just in time for Garrett to come up with something that might be a lot better at the same price ? 

I have to say the Vanquish is mega easy to set up . If Nokta/ Makro didn't think of it Minelab could have called this machine the Simplex . I will call it " Piece of q!55 " . I hope it finds my beaches a piece of q!55.

If my beaches look right late next week i will use the 540 then . Before that i need to find some bicycle tyre innertube to put over the upper painted shaft to stop it scratching on the stones on the beach . 

Getting back to topic . When are we going to see some real tests on the Apex ? Like beach and depth and recovery speed trials ? 

So far its been a bit lame , and i see that the machine might be released for sale in the next month . 

Just wondering myself and a dealer has thought it too , why the 6 in width of the coil ? Is it because the recovery speed is slow ? The Nox has an 11 inch round coil and is fast and so does the Deus . I am used to slow recovery speeds but would like answers to the above questions or my money could be held back.

1 hour ago, Sandheron said:

 

Isn't your go to machine an etrac? I'm not trying to pick holes here but you are not making much sense to me. 

Yes the ET is my main machine. But a cheaper backup scout is worth having. 

If the 540 can make its money and pay for itself then i wont make a loss if i sell it later . I always try to find enough to cover any money lost when selling . Thank goodness its got a box cover !

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Wow, you are buying a red detector with a 1/8' socket, something you said you would never do and as demonstrated the ID numbers are the same as Equinox.  I think you are slipping Nuke, I thought you had greater resistance than that.  

Yes i know. Not all the ability of the Nox is bad. 

I do have new headphones that work well with my Minelabs and i have adapters so the 540 is worth having . I wanted to sell the ORX anyway so might as well see what all the fuss is about with the 540 . And not being waterproof it will be easily repairable if it went wrong after warranty if i kept it that long . I live only 40 miles from Steve Cox the Minelab repairer here . Taken machines to him in the past.

3 hours ago, phrunt said:

The Nox pod is a PCB, Screen and a housing, Minelab don't do circuit board level repair even on the GPZ, if a part has a fault like the PCB fails the entire PCB gets replaced in other detectors, the pod and screen won't be the expensive part and also let's face it, ,the Nox without the coil, battery, shaft and accessories is hardly an expensive detector..  They have said they'd sell a new control pod to people who's fail outside of warranty so I think that's more than acceptable.  It'd rather a replacement than a waterproof detector that can be opened up, my watches over the years are never the same once the battery gets replaced, their waterproofing is never as good.

Its expensive enough. I dont like non repairable machines that much and would rather just replace early or not buy again.

1 hour ago, Sandheron said:

Firstly hi, long time lurker.

Interesting reason on why you have found no gold this year. Does your ET discriminate out gold that has been dropped before March? I have found a reasonable amount on the same beaches you detect on with the nox, some of which was a nice low tone. If you do not like the tones on these minelab machines it does not take long to change them to whatever sound you prefer. 

I have had over 75 Golds on those beaches. 55 with FBS . The Nox just doesn't cut it for me.

But I am getting the Vanquish. 

I want a cheappie backup . Though that could be said of the Apex too. 

I am selling the ORX to pay for the Vanquish. 

I will also use my adapters and Maz Super Red headphones on the 540. Damned good sounds.

Its been quite hard this year on the beaches with all this virus. And our beaches are mostly Silver magnets which I have had lots so far. £665 in coinage to on 30 trips. 

But for me it was the lack of after warranty repair to the Nox box that I don't like. Too costly if it went wrong. 

8 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

If you want competitive depth tests you will have probably have to wait until after the machine is for sale.

All decent VLF detectors made these days get depth within about an inch or less of each other. I’m sure the machine will perform well, and just as sure it won’t somehow blow everything else away.

VLF is pretty much as good in depth at it can be. Its all about recovery speed now.

Interesting that the coil is only 6 in wide. Does that mean it is a slow recovery speed? 

I will compare it to my soon to be had V 540 when get them. 

But as I use the ET I'm not much bothered with hyper fast recovery speed. Just want damned good target info if anything.

On 6/9/2020 at 1:00 AM, Jeff McClendon said:

Respectfully, you reckon wrong on those patents. Most of the other experiences you relayed in your message are your opinions and I respect them. I have not had the same experiences as you for sure.

Jeff

Today i went out with my ET on what is probably the trashiest and difficult beaches in the southeast of the UK . 

It is where I almost always go and even if the Nox was good in parts of those beaches I could not get decent target info or separation of targets . Today my ET found me more in those areas . Still no Gold this year but that's because of the lack of visitors and the Chinese bug.

Afterwards I took my Nox and its coils and other bits I wanted to sell to my dealer and sold them. I have now paid for my Apex and I feel it will be a good machine , its not a main top ender but if its at least as good as an Ace 250 or even a 400i then It will sell well.

I was told by my dealer that the patents for the FBS have all run out so I can only imagine that is where Garrett has got its ideas from.

My experience with the Terra 705 over a 8 year period from 2011 to 2018 got me £9850 in coinage and 14 Gold rings and around 100 Silver rings , on top of the finds by the ET and Explorer's I have used in that time . The Terra on UK coinage was very accurate especially in airy sand and shingle . I cannot say the same for the Nox where it comes to numbers . The numbers are shared with so much trash that on my beaches it slows you down. 

The Nox has found me 7 Gold and around 70 Silver rings over the time I have used it since release. But the finds I found were not outside the scope of the ET or even the Terra in the right places (dry or wet) . 

And as I have said about headphones , all Minelab machines should be given in the box high toned headphones that match the tones of the machines. Many people say the Nox isn't deep and that the ET isn't too. I say set up right and with the best headphones that sound off higher give better depth . 

I have found minute pieces of trash on the beaches with the ET and Explorer's and with my ET at the time I found a Celtic Quarter Stater (10mm diameter less than 2 gram) . The ET finds low conductors just fine. And I found a Roman Minim coin which was 3 mm in diameter at 5 or 6 inches back in 2006 (now that's small) ! with an Explorer 11 or SE .

But in the end its all to do with the headphones , if you hear the targets you will find them , if the targets are quiet because of low bass headphones you are likely to miss them . Especially if in trash of similar types. 

I can hear a pull tab and a 20p coin in the same place with my ET and know the 20p is there . I have had £1 coins in trash and I have heard them in low tone rubbish . I could never do that with Koss / Nox and other Bass toned headphones and I bet not many others could neither.

In fact my at the time Explorer SE found all 4 of my low tone cut Quarter hammered Silver Henry 111 / Edward 1 Pennies . They are very low toned and around 7 mm in size. Cut quarters are Silver Penny coins of the Medieval times that have been cut into 4 quarters . They are then called Farthings . They produced Half Pennies and proper Farthings later in the early Edward years I think. I have a few of the Halfpennies and 2 cut Half Pennies of Henry 111 and King Steven .

If the Apex is based on the FBS I wont be complaining , and as it says its Multi Flex . My guess is that it is based on the V. Flex and has the FBS too . As all those patents are now past there dates I reckon.

As for depth of Garrett machines , I wont complain about that either , here in the UK on digs Ace users are renowned for taking home very decent finds of all types . Most decent targets in the ground are usually in the first 8 inches and most reasonable machines will do that . 

Garrett machines are better than many think. And now they are venturing into Multi Frequency .

The X.Terra are brilliant on dry tops and the numbers were accurate on UK coins. Cashless society is killing that now.

Also my thread about headphones applies here.

The Nox has 40 numbers and most low tone coins are in most low tone rubbish. 

On the ET it is so easy . and the tones are brilliant. Again my headphones thread.

Minelab need to supply the right headphones with high toned fluty machines. Or depth and difference in target I.d. cannot easily be achieved.

Anyway Nox is going. Maybe Minelab will tempt me to a new machine or maybe not ? 

2 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

If the Apex actually turns out to be an excellent detector I think (it is already happening on USA Ebay btw) not only will the old stock Ace series sales get hit hard, but the sale of new AT Pro and AT Gold units will also suffer along with the Simplex, Vanquish 540 and Nox 600 here in the USA. The sell off of used Ace series, AT Pros, AT Golds along with GTI 2500 has already begun big time on Ebay and on Craigslist at least in my area.

Cal Cobra, it is my understanding that the Apex is 5 tones, pitch is not adjustable, tone breaks are not adjustable, tone breaks may not be the same in different modes.......?  I am just glad Garrett is producing a detector with more than 3 tones!!!!!

Jeff

I don't think its a replacement for the cheap Aces. Its more of a replacement for the 300i and 400i etc . 

The GTI is old and way past its sell by date I think. 

The AT types are being replaced by a better model later I think I heard or read . 

As for the Simple X  LOL , the price of that machine should insulate it a bit. But the Simple X is simple though not too bad , it does love Iron a bit I have heard a lot .

As for the tone breaks and tones . 5 are enough , multi tones as Cal_Cobra said aren't important . With only 40 numbers on the Nox and supposed 50 tones in multi and its very much harder to tell tones on the Nox than the old Terra 705 I think the Garrett is better . Even the lack of advanced settings like the Nox wont matter much . The 99 numbers on the Apex are a much better deal than the 40 on the Nox in trash etc. 

I am so convinced of the Apex that along with buying the Apex I am going to buy another E.Trac to give me the better tones and overall target info and at £750 new from a certain dealer cannot be missed . It will give me the capability for many years along with my other ET. 

I am also selling my Nox 800 and all its stuff that I think I wont need. I have had a love slightly hate relationship with that machine for all the time I have had it and being a throw away machine once the warranty runs out makes it much more expensive than a top end machine if it went wrong later. 

It does do the job in most places but the target info is so vague where I need better info that the ET for me with the right toned headphones (see my Detectors and Headphones thread) makes the ET a better machine and quicker for i.d. and recovery of targets . Even if slower in recovery speed. 

Minelab for me made an awful move when selling out to Codan . They are a public company only really thinking of the shareholder and since the ET's release they have been dragging their feet in the relic / coin machines for the last 12 years .

The CTX was way to heavy , still lacks coils , it is cumbersome and complicated in the field to master the more awkward menu and being waterproof a bit more risky for repairs after warranty . Though no where near as bad as the Nox.

The Nox . Too me looks cheap in construction , had many issues with water getting in , and very poor target info. Worse than the Terra 705 in target info by far , really !!

The Vanquish is a step backward , looking like an embarrassed "red" Ace 250 and the Apex has well and truly caught Minelab on the wrong foot.

Even if the tech in the Apex is based on FBS and V.Flex I think it will work well and neither of those systems are a let down for me. 

I'm not anti Minelab , I have had many and will always have an ET for as long as I can swing a detector . But they have let the side down too many times and in future I will be checking the machines out in the shop before even considering buying them. 

And in my last thread I started , why put in the box low toned bass headphones with a high toned fluty toned machine ? Low toned headphones make it harder to hear deep targets when in multi tones and defeats the purpose of the multi toned machine and its edge in target info as a whole.

I think i might have found an alternative headphones. 

They are called Maz headphones. I have bought them from Tony Hunts shop that is part of Crawfords metal detectors here in the UK . 

If the 2 pairs are what I want then I will buy another 2 .

He has 60 he says . He also says that the ET is being run down to deletion and they are selling for £750 which is £500 less than their original new price. I will buy one I think, I will always have an ET . Which means the Equinox will go in the near future. Waterproof isn't vital for me right now.

I along with other people I know just feel the ET is a better machine, target info and tones are better , who cares about weight and 1/4 inch sockets, the ET still delivers . That's why headphones are important. Now to see if the new Maz phones are what I want or find another alternative.

I will still buy the Apex and get the money for that by selling unneeded spare bits including unwanted Gray Ghosts etc .

If Minelab brings out a new machine soon it can wait , it will take an awful lot to beat the best . ET rules OK 

12 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

I've never tried Black Widows but when I bought my Fisher F75 the online seller threw in a brand new set of Jolly Rogers (and several other bonus items as a matter of fact) for free.  I was so unimpressed that I used them for spare parts.  But, always worth mentioning, headphone performance is a personal preference so likely some out there love the Jolly Rogers.

 

Were the Jolly Rogers low toned or high toned ? Bass is bad for Minelab's.

12 hours ago, RickUK said:

Richard,surprised about Gordon Heritages GOG phones as they are usually pretty good,but then although i own a Equinox i dont use wired headphones with them,currently using a set of Crawfords Predators which are decent,but just ordered the Garrett wireless headphones for the Nox the one that also allow you to use the Garrett probe wireless through the headphones as well and will see how those work its mainly more for hearing the probe through the headphones more than anything.

Do BJ make a set of special headphones for the Equinox ?? if not i think he can make them upto a special order i could be wrong on that one though.

You and your multiple headphones you are getting more like Martin Gardner with his multiple same brand detectors 🤣 🤣 

Martin has loads of headphones but most are old .

Martin has a Surfmaster  pro , Deus box , ORX , Vanquish 540 , E.Trac , Explorer XS , Simplex , Multi Kruzer and he is getting the Apex .  I warned him against buying the Vanquish but he didn't listen , that and the Explorer and Surfmaster should go I think.

The problem I had when using the Gog's was that when I found a 5p on the surface on the beach it sounded like it was 10 inches deep. Tones are one thing but I think the phones need a volume control too.

BJ  ?