Chase Goldman

Yeah, but no one should be expecting a Porsche at that price, to be fair, so that should have been clear without any reviews. And even Garrett didn't try to pass it off as an AT level detector. So let's keep that in perspective while throwing the vegetables at it. Also, I have now seen two definite thumbs down reviews (one of those frankly showed ok real world hunt performance - but I get why the machine isn't bringing anything to the table for that detectorist) and one "meh" from D/P members reviewing the Apex. Not exactly a sample size you can hang your hat on. Again, cheapest multiple selectable frequency unit on the market. Not expecting much from the first gen Garrett multi vs. 4th+ gen multi from ML that resides in Vanquish. Multi in the Apex just gives it more salt beach stability then any of their other VLFs. I never expected it to outperform Vanquish in multi with its more advanced signal processing and iron bias algorithms. Still have not seen a lot of hunt videos of it being used in the various SF modes, especially 20 khz. At least it can be ground balanced, something the Vanquish has a lot of trouble handling in my soil, so I can only get away with an Equinox for most situations. Garrett definitely has work to do on advancing the multi signal processing and overall recovery speed, delivering true all metal (at least in SF) would be good and providing a little more sophistication and customizing in the tones departement when they roll out the Apex's higher end successor.

Obviously that works but if your WM12 and Booster are chest mounted not sure why you need it wireless from there to your H/P, just plug the phones into the booster and tuck the wire. Unless you are removing your harness or whatever you have the WM12 and Booster hooked to) you still remain untethered from the detector which is the main goal. The only logical reason to use B/T would be to get rid of the wonky reception of the WM12 altogether (GPZ>BlutetoothTransmitter (via H/P Jack) wireless to BT H/P). I must be missing something unless your goal is to keep the booster in play. In that case, you could hook the booster up to the H/P jack on the GPZ then hook the transmitter into the Booster jack. I think having to deal with two wireless systems simultaneously just sets you up for a multitude of issues ranging from propagation issues and latency delays, to having to deal with batteries in the WM unit, booster, AND the bluetooth transceiver. But if that works for you - don't fix what ain't broken, I suppose.

If you are enjoying the challenge, then that's all that matters. You might just stumble onto a combination of beast mode settings and that would be fun.

If you want depth and speed, the Ultimate 13" coil on the MXT is a great match. You shouldn't have to work this hard tweaking a machine to get what you want (unless you are simply enjoying the tinkering - which is what the V3i excels at most). You are comparing the V3i ultimate depth to the MXT based on something someone said. Yet you have a perfectly capable MXT sitting right there that can get it done and be deep with that ultimate coil. Is the infinite tweakability, spectragraph, and MF worth it for what you want to do with it considering what else you have in your arsenal? If you are enjoying the challenge and tinkering, that's one thing. When it turns into frustration, that's another. To me the MXT was a high water mark for Whites in integrating capability and tweakability (love those analog knobs) of key parameters with relative ease of use. A classic.

Exactly. You want maximum versatility (i.e., minimize the need for specialty detectors), especially in water, - Equinox 800 is recommended. If you want gold detection ability equivalent to Deus - the ORX fits the bill nicely as it's Gold mode is identical in features to the Deus Gold Field mode. Either the 800 or ORX can do vlf gold detection well, as Steve mentioned. ORX is an OK coin, relic, and jewelry detector that omits some key features of Deus (some key tone options - notably, full tones and pitch, variable tone breaks (I am ok with just 3 tones as long as full and pitch were also provided), and variable iron volume, and non-normalized target ID) that would otherwise make it a slam dunk value coin alternative to Deus - and that has perhaps limited its appeal to those who do their homework and learn what ORX does and doesn't bring to the table vs. Deus for coin, jewelry, and relic hunting. ORX still a much better alternative to the Deus lite option (no control box, just wireless phones). Finally, yes you can put the ORX in the water with the kit - but it is still additional minor claptrap that has to be dealt with so it is a workaround solution just less optimal than for a rig designed from the ground up to be used in the water. It should be noted that some unknown percentage of Equinoxes have experienced leaks when submerged, but it appears that Minelab is fully standing behind the Equinox by honoring the warranty no questions asked when this occurs.

Even though you are asking about your friend's setup EMI, I just have to ask you why are you doing it this way instead of plugging the b/t r/t right into the headphone jack? It sounds like you are chaining two wireless systems together causing the wireless propagation delays and latencies to add up. Plus you would be susceptible to dropouts by two wireless systems. Where are you mounting the WM12 and b/t combo?

Coming from Deus, I consider myself pretty adept at tonal nuances and can definitely differentiate aluminum junk and pull tabs from gold rings and nickels using full tones. I also use Equinox pinpoint to "footprint" targets but it definitely would be quite a stretch for me to claim to be able to do that for differentiating nickels and pull tabs. More power to you on that ability. Kudos to you.

Thanks for taking the time to go through that detailed comparison. I would like to know what your Deus "Iron" program is, abenson. On Deus, discrimination plays a big role in countering the effects ferrous down averaging of non-ferrous targets. That is why I am not a big fan of Gary Blackwell's "no disc" setups like the "Sonar" program. First of all it "burns" a tone in a multi tone setup. 5 tones becomes 4 tones, 4 tones becomes 3 etc. So for a 2-tone setup you have to use a 3 tones and push the down break down to the iron breakpoint. If you simply use disc + iron volume - no need to burn a tone and you also gain the advantage of disc mitigating ferrous down averaging of non ferrous. For more "2-tone personality" I use pitch tone combined with iron volume. I get the iron grunt for anything below the iron disc breakpoint (I typically set it betweeen 7 and 10) and a VCO-like pitch tone (set at the highest pitch audio frequency) for everything above the ferrous breakpoint. That makes non-ferrous audio pop in nail infested sites and as an added bonus, if you are relying on visual target ID, the non-ferrous IDs are more stable and less susceptible to ferrous down-averaging with disc enabled.

Caleb - Search around this site and the net for various recovery techniques that detectorists use to limit yard damage during recovery such as cutting flaps rather than plugs in sod and capturing the removed dirt on a towel so it can be more easily and effectively replaced back into the hole. Learning how to recover detected targets while leaving no trace on manicured yards or sensitive areas like parks, churches, and ball fields is just as important a skill as learning how to detect the targets in the first place. This will enable you to be invited for a return visit to a permission from a stranger and to not incur the wrath of grandma or maintenance personnel when detecting in yards or public sites. Here's a post to get you started:

Really? How do you do that?

Same here.

The only ones I have been able to find are the Panasonic BTG-S10's (link below) which were expensive and I think out of production now. Otherwise, none other listed on the Qualcomm APTX product listing site (filter on APTX LL and headphones). https://www.aptx.com/products/panasonic-btg-s10-bone-conduction-headset

Because of the way ML marketed the Equinox, it is a common misconception that the 5 through 40 khz single frequency components are what are combined to create the multifrequency spectrum of the equinox. That has been proven by third party spectrographic measurements to simply not be the case. In other words, 5 khz single frequency and it's performance has nothing to do with how Multi behaves. Do some searches on the forum (e.g., Equinox multi frequency spectrum - one example from this very thread below) and you will learn that the multi spectrums have little if anything to do with the any of the single frequency components. They are comprised of combinations of two or three odd frequencies that do not line up with the single frequency settings. Frankly, whatever the chosen single frequency components that comprise the various Multi frequency mode spectrums is not as important as the signal processing algorithms which also differ from mode to mode. 4 khz is also noticeably quieter than 5 khz which leads me to believe that Minelab is field testing a new signal processing algorithm to reduce noise overall and may incorporate that algorithm (not 4 khz) into a future iteration of Multi IQ. Depth is so dependent on so many variables that it really can't be ascertained by what people think is in the ground and their anecdotal field performance. There are no guarantees that you will find things at 12 inches and that is really pushing it for an 11 inch coil anyway in nominal ground. I can tell you that I have had highly variable depth performance with Equinox including finds exceeding 15 inches in wet sand and nothing deeper than 3 or 4 inches after hours of repeated hunting at some highly mineralized relic sites. The Equinox is no better or worse on simple detection depth performance than any other modern vlf out there. They all perform about the same for a given coil size within an inch or so. Effective depth, the depth at which a target can be accurately ID'd vs. simply detected (beeped) is the thing that varies most from detector to detector. The Equinox seems to be above average in that regard. HTH

Excellent find. Keep hitting that site.

I’d do it if they took the Pro-find 35 off the list.

A number of great “pro tip” detecting nuggets in this post.

Bingo!

Simon - The context I answered your question was from the perspective of the typical Ace user. Not you nor me. This person typically does not have unlimited means to own mini - monsters or detectors north of $5K US or to get a Vanquish for primarily coinshooting a favorite football pitch site or in my case to get a Tarsacci simply to see what it can do, not because I need one. They are looking for value, 2 x $400 is a lot of money to them. The are looking for a performance/feature bump and ease of use and have jobs that limit their detecting time in the field, so don't have the luxury of learning the ins and outs of a top end detector even if they could afford one. Simply looking to take their detecting to the next level but not necessarily to the pinnacle of detecting, so it IS likely they will only stick with Apex. It will meet their needs even if it wouldn't meet ours. They are not detector nerds and they are probably brand loyal to a fault. They may see no need to go beyond the AT Max. They are not you and me, but they are likely the majority of detectorists out there. You understand and focus on the detector not the typical detectorist and that is why you have trouble understanding why they WOULDN'T pay double the Apex price for a better detector. We are the outliers. Chase

I want to like the above two posts but I'm on "like" probation until tomorrow. (Thanking too many people on their response to my odd 2-cent piece beach find). See how I turned that into cheap self promotion. Anyway, in focusing on Simon's comment, I forgot to also thank Walt for his review and congrats on the nice finds. Nail board tests etc. notwithstanding - the Apex will hold its own under most detecting situations based on what I have seen of the unbiased "real world" in-the-field videos so far. But there are definitely higher priced detectors that do beat it on separation, discrimination, tones, and other features such as multiple SMF profiles.

2 reasons both related to the Value that the Apex brings to the table vs. similarly priced competition: #1 - Having a stable beach detector (a la Vanquish) #2 - Getting a relatively inexpensive detector that you can run over a range of individual frequencies (a la Equinox 600, but $250US cheaper). I know I sound like a broken record, but people are really sleeping on this feature which I consider even more significant than SMF on the Apex and something (along with the ability to ground balance) that the Vanquish does not have. Also, wireless audio is really starting to become a popular and standard feature the Ace series does not have without investing another $100 in a 3rd party or Garrett wireless bolt on accessory. Overall, features wise, it is a pretty signficant upgrade over the older Aces without much additional investment. Not a bad move for an existing Ace user and they still have the Ace as a backup.

Pretty sure XP beat them by about a year with the USB rechargeable, wireless connected, PI MI-6 pinpointer. As Steve stated, Detectorpro beat everone to the PI-based pinpointer.

Yep, this is a fairly common problem. In some detectors such as the XP Deus, adding some discrimination, while still allowing the iron to be heard via iron volume helps to mitigate this phenomenon versus running with zero disc.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Andres-pencils-fantastic-cleaning/dp/B076GNXD35

So far, Andre’s Pencils and some Scrubbing Bubbles solution. Will take any advice for further cleaning the obverse crud, but may just leave well enough alone at this point as the detail is mostly sufficient and still retains some of its “dug” patina personality.

I knew you’d ask that, so thanks for not disappointing me, Chuck. Still working on the obverse crud on the motto, but the “IN GOD” portion looks like large motto, but not disappointed in the least. A little GB Amateur inspired numismatic history on the coin... 1864 being the largest mintage of the 95% copper coin at 19.8M (with an undetermined minority number of the Small Motto variety), it is not surprising most found are 1864. That mintage steadily decreased to only 65,000 in 1873, its last year of circulation mintage. Over 17M of the total 45M minted for circulation were returned to the mint, melted down and used as planchet stock for pennies. The two cent piece was struck in response to the massive hoarding of all US coinage during the US Civil War and as a counter to the privately struck bronze trade tokens that were commonly used at that time for commerce in response to the hoarding.