Chase Goldman

Steve tells you all about it right here.

I do too, but its another thing to buy when I already invested in their current wireless pulse dive pinpointer to go along with the Simplex...so now that's likely incompatible. Ideally it would be nice if they supported both their custom legacy wireless system and BT as ML did on the Equinox.

Love it too, great audio and build quality for the price. Unfortunately, afraid it will not stand up to the elements and sweat over time as it has no IP dust or water resistance rating.

I just move one ear cup up and off my ear and slide it back behind the ear while pinpointing or conversing with my detecting buddy. Not all that hard. One draw back I have found when using integrated wireless pinpointers is having to go through the process of switching off the pinpointer in the event I have to re-scan the hole with the detector coil. With a standalone pinpointer I just scan the hole as necessary then resume pinpointing without switching off the carrot. I use both wireless integrated pinpointer or standalone depending on the detector that I am using at the time.

Bob - as a matter of fact, if you haven't already done so, you should go back and hit the iron infested parts of the old farmhouse with the Equinox at sensitivity around 15 or 16 and see if you can eek out any shallow non-ferrous targets amongst the iron. You might even give Beach 2 a go at it as it has a lower transmit power that might not light up the iron as much. Diversity is key when you think a site has dried up. You never know when an odd setting or different detector may suddenly light up some dormant targets.

Eclipse is a good one. I like it.

The ground balance point on Vanquish is a fixed reference but that reference point varies depending on the mode you are running so it is likely not the same as "0" on the Equinox. Monte explains it in this post.

Believe me, the silver and gold are the gravy. Detecting, especially with friends, is the mashed potatoes. Even without gravy I like me some good buttered mashed potatoes. I don’t keep score, I do like to nab quality finds, but I am never going to complain if someone gives me the opportunity to detect any spot that has great history and good potential regardless of the outcome. Thrill of the chase. (Pun intended).

Good idea to “Ace” the newer house. That’s why I switched to Deus after we took our break and did find the one or two brass items. Was otherwise ignoring the penny range signals. The silver lining take away from all this is that you pretty much confirmed that you vacuumed up 99% of the quality targets. Turns out I was lucky to eek out the silver quarter and gold plated clasp which appear to both be pure luck finds because I found the junk targets (can slaw and falsing nail) that got me to pull the plugs in the first place. The quality targets were masked (likely edge-on quarter and micro jewelry piece masked by a nail). I never heard them coming, but they were pleasant surprises. Like I said, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Oh, and that rusted, mid twentieth century deep-sea game fishing reel I dug up? Gives new meaning to the phrase “dirt fishing”. I know you can’t possibly vacuum up an entire soybean or cornfield before I can get down there again, so game on brother!

I like the move to BT as well, but just going to 5.2 does not guarantee low latency audio, they have to embrace the LC3 codec as well. If they don’t at least hook up to the LC3 codec (hopefully) or APTX (LL or Adaptive) the SBC latencies will be abominable- regardless of 5.2, but I’m hopeful they know that. Also, not sure if an LC3 compatible hardware (headphones) are on the street yet, which could be an issue at launch. One drawback to going to BT is that it breaks their current integrated wireless pinpointer compatibility scheme which presently relies on their proprietary 2.4 GHz protocol. This obsoletes the ability to bring my existing wireless Nokta pinpointer forward from my Simplex. That is a downer if there is no solution to bring that feature to their new detector other than having to buy their forthcoming (?) BT wireless pinpointer. Hope that gets appropriately addressed.

Just a quick post to say a big "Thank You" to Bob (F350) for the invite (well I kinda invited myself, but that's okay). He is a great host and makes sure you are fully hydrated and caffeinated, as the situation warrants. Holding off on a more detailed post until I have a chance to photograph my few finds. Bob has kind of set expectations perhaps a little higher than deserved for the actual find but it was silver at least (with an interesting story to go along with it - let's just say sometimes its better to be lucky than good) and here's a glimpse. More to follow. All I can say is can't wait to get together again in Bob's detecting paradise situation. Glad I'm sort of in the neighborhood just a couple hours away. Bodes well for a fun fall and winter before the vegetation takes over again.

I agree with you and others here that state NM does not have to be better than ML/Equinox or even Vanquish to have a successful launch to their new SMF detector. I hear you clearly but think some folks may be reading too much into my post. Let me explain by revisiting the context of my original post. I was responding to members who let their unbridled enthusiasm for the brand set up potentially unrealistic expectations of what NM is likely to accomplish with their FIRST SMF release. In my analysis I never said that NM had to leapfrog ML to be successful, I was only pointing out that NM's development history and ML's own long journey to Equinox would make it unlikely that they will leapfrog ML (as some were either expecting or hoping based on thier posts and that even NM themselves were hyping). I say this despite NM's unquestioned success and reputation for delivering top quality, feature packed detectors. And while I think it is possible, perhaps even probable that the NM SMF machine will outshine Apex, the fact is that Garrett beat them to the punch nearly two years after Nokta first started talking about SMF with detector naming contests etc. and here we are, with another year behind us, and still not even a thumbnail sketch of what this SMF is going look like or be capable of doing. In short, NM has an uphill climb to even clear the Apex bar. Until we see some concrete specs, details, or demos of the forthcoming unit, it is hard to judge where the NM initial SMF release is going to fall on the capability and performance spectrum. Nevertheless, it looks like NM is getting close, are willing to start hinting at the product with teaser ads, and I am looking forward to them entering the SMF detector fray. Just saying that folks should keep their expectations realistic. Regardless of where NM ends up, just getting a new SMF detector on the street will be huge as any competition in this sector is only good for us detectorists and the hobby. But again, lets be realistic about impact. Other than detector enthusiasts like many of us on this forum, who is going to spend money on a detector that is not as good a value as Equinox, Apex, or Vanquish if they already own one of the aforementioned detectors. Equinox has a huge market share, Apex probably captured additional "never Minalab" enthusiasts and others. So again, NM has has some signficant headwinds to overcome - just a fact of life when you are the third to arrive at the party. Again, rooting for NM, just keeping expectations realistic. As a side note - I apologize if people misinterpret the above message as somehow disrespecting the brand or being a debbie downer. That is not my intent. I need to see hardware not "wishware" or "hopeware" to gage and assess a brand's success ceiling and I think I have been pretty consistent in that stance.

You're very welcome.

I know how you feel. I like toys, still.

Or not...nothing announced at Detectival. 3 years of teases with no concrete info continues... Probably still a few months away before we see solid specs, pics, or vids then additional testing and finally production release. [Nokta knows it is important not to stumble out of the gate on this one - high stakes]. Hopefully something in the Spring or at least in time for summer. No crow will be eaten until real users get their hands on the thing and we can get some no-spin reviews... And folks ... remember to set your expectations at realistic levels for a first gen SMF. It would be super impressive for Nokta to leapfrog Garrett and Apex at this point, much less ML. Still rooting for them because their detectors are feature packed.