Chase Goldman

Yep. Circle S is Siladium (Stainless Steel alloy) from ArtCarved.

Just FYI - With Equinox you have to GB separately for each mode and also, you could also GB separately for each single frequency used if you are still hearing ground feedback. But what you are experiencing is not ground noise due to out of whack GB but it does sound like EMI, as you surmised. Once you go to single frequency, the multifrequency mode profile (e.g., Field 1) disappears and all you are left with is the models default or user adjusted settings. (Disc, tone settings, and recovery speed settings) associated with that mode. IOW 5 khz in Field 1 will behave just tge same as 5 khz in Park 1 save for the mode associated tone and recovery speed settings. Note that there is no iron bias filter when in single frequency. Nope. It usually goes as you describe with the lower single frequency settings being more susceptible to typical generalized EMI. The exception is 4khz with the newest software update which appears to run a tad quiet than 5 khz. There are of course exceptions to this for specific narrow-band electromagnetic noise sources or strong emitters like invisible dog fences. You are probably getting bombarded by multiple sources of EMI - power lines, cell towers, a nearby cell phone, residential WiFi, other radio transmitters, fluorescent light ballasts, etc. All those sources interfere with each other and create local maximum and minimum noise fields. Furthermore you detector is affected by RF noise picked up by the coil acting as an antenna and also noise that is directly absorbed by the microprocessor electronics in the control head (nearby cell phones are the typical culprit in the latter). Finally, time of day affects load on the power lines (how much current is flowing) which translates into time dependent noise generation. Finally, he degree of humidity in the air can have a variable effect on noise levels as well as lightning discharges. Try re-running noise cancel if you change frequencies. HTH.

MXT is a classic and I am hanging onto mine for posterity. Good deal. I don't think I could give up my 800 for it, but glad you were able to score one and I am sure ML has something up their sleeve for next year anyway, so good as time as any to take the plunge. As an amateur radio hobbyist from way back, I like knobs and toggle switches vs. membrane switches and touchscreens.

The other thing to remember is that SMF is not the universal mode that solves world hunger. There are situations (such as high EMI mentioned above) and specific target objectives (deep silver/small gold) where single frequency (SF) might be advantageous over SMF. That is why ML provided SF as an optional mode on its higher end Equinox detectors that is absent on Vanquish (in fact ML recently released an update to ADD a new SF to the Equinox). Even Garrett threw that option in on Apex. There are certain "specialist" detectors (e.g. XP Deus, Gold Monster, and some Nokta detectors) that optimize and take advantage of specific single frequency or multiple selectable single frequency modes to enhance performance on specific targets or in high iron situations vs. SMF detectors. That all being said, Vanquish also does quite well without having a single frequency mode and despite fewer flashy bells and whistles vs. Apex, definitely appears to be the better value than Apex at this point and is quite a good detector for the money regardless of Apex. As far as the 340 being a sleeper, I guess I would rather trade up to the 440 or 540 (like you did jt) to get the additional tones and essential features like more tones and pinpoint the 340 lacks. I find that people come to the realization that they have trouble with the compromises associated with seemingly arbitrary features being left off simply to create price tiers. This can be extended to the point that once you get to the 540, a valid argument could be made to just go ahead and move up to the greater versatility of the Equinox 600 for about $150 more than a normal pro pack price. But since you got such a smokin' deal on your pro pac at about 400 and change, jt, the decision was easier for you to just grab the pro pack. I get that. Anyway, hope you are having fun with it.

Speaking only of the Equinox to Apex comparisons I’ve seen, Park mode does not mean that the Equinox was not run in zero disc mode. FYI. Park mode simply establishes the MF profile used. The user can then adjust disc as they see fit. From what I’ve seen in the Apex to Equinox comparisons it was indeed apples to apples with disc turned off on the Equinox while running zero mode on the Apex.

Uh oh, watch out. You might catch the relic bug. Nice finds. More where those came from...

Just to be clear, Dave, I reiterate that I was not referring to any specific individual or detector and I have used that Harry Potter Wand comment to refer to anyone who thinks any one detector can do it all or those who have unrealistic expectations on the performance of any one detector and the find themselves disappointed when it cannot work miracles (I usually am referring to those with Equinoxes who have bought into the marketing hype), which of course no detector can measure up. BTW I have an MDT on the way and will see if it can actually “conjure up” some CW relics from some of the nastiest dirt around.

If cost is an overriding consideration and your are open to considering other brands, there may be better overall values out there for what you want to do, the Equinox 600.or an 800 at just a slightly higher reach, price wise come to mind but there are a few other models of various brands that fall into the same category at about the same or even less cost but with the performance you seek. Within the Garrett brand others are are recommending suitable higher performing alternatives to Apex.

Yep, that is another option. I've done that too. You still need the headphone jack adapter plate to do that configuration.

Agree with Simon. The anecdotal AT Max (13.6 kHz) small gold finds described earlier could merely be opportunistic surface finds that could be picked up by any functional detector. Furthermore, the AT Max is probably sufficiently different in design from the Apex that no performance correlation could be drawn. Finally, just because you can "successfully ground balance" a detector to hot soil conditions doesn't mean the detector will have any appreciable depth performance under those conditions. It just means you've tuned out the ground feedback noise. John Edmonton is an excellent detectorist with tens of thousands of hours on Garrett machines. It is all he knows and he doesn't really consider that any other brand has much to offer him. He makes some spectacular finds but I think that is more a testament to his skill and perseverance. I shudder to think what he could do with a machine devoid of the inherent limitations of the flagship Garrett AT line and Ace Apex machines he favors such as poor recovery speed and the less sophisticated signal processing and tone customizations.

Tom, I mostly agree with your list except personally not a fan of the WS5's. You are limited to that over the ear headset configuration because the WS5 does not have a removable puck. WS4 Puck is more versatile in its wrist and stem mounting options as a visual TID interface (with wired phones adapter plate into which you could plug an APTX LL BT transmitter to retain wireless functionality), more water resistant than the WS5's (WS4 can actually survive full submersion), and you can mount the WS4 puck on a number of third party over the ear headsets purpose built with a compatible WS4 mount, duplicating the WS5 functionality with a lot more versatility. But that’s just me. I know a lot of folks that swear by their WS5’s. Just putting it out there FWIW.

I think he wants to be able to use the puck as a visual TID interface. Your best bet is to get a wrist mount like this (about $25) And then get a wired headphone adapter plate for the puck like this (about $20): Then you can plug any mini wired phones into the puck on your wrist and still remain untethered to the stem and coil. Just glance at your wrist as needed to view the target ID. This is the way I started out...in about 2 weeks I was springing for the full Deus with control box. Lol. Deus lite was just too limiting a setup for me. But it is workable as I described. Alternatively, you could get a stem mount (see pic below) for about $25 and plug an APTX LL BT transmitter ($25) into the headphone adapter plate jack and go wireless with say Equinox BT phones. Trond wireless APTX LL BT transciever.

I bet if you ran it 10 separate times turning the machine off then on between every run you will get something that averages out between the iron audio on and off results (IOW no statistically significant difference between the two @ 4/8 or 5/8).

It will work as well as the Ace detectors do today with some added salt beach stability and middle of the road depth, ID, and perhaps below average target separation vs. its higher end competition. Basically, it is right where it should be for it's price class, perhaps just a tad high when you compare it against Vanquish.

Agree, Iron Audio is just an audio tone break/level for all targets that ID below the discrimination setting or below a TID of 35 in zero mode. It’s setting plays no role in the processing of ferrous target signals. It is just an audio volume level filter. Wonder what the Apex apologist crowd will come up with next. SMH. On a side note, it would have been interesting (uninteresting?) to compare the Apex in 20khz vs. the F19 as a true head-to-head SF comparison (although I’m sure the results would have been the same - or possibly worse).

That statement on its own makes absolutely no sense. Iron audio settings should have no impact on performance in zero mode. I applaud you for going ahead and making the video in an objective manner even though you knew yourself it was just a ridiculous claim. SMH.

ML updates the Update Utility along with the firmware so you have to load the update utility that is released with the new software. The utility contains the new firmware along with all the other previous firmware releases to allow you to roll back if you don't like the newest firmware. I am only familiar with the windows version of the updater, but I believe what I have written above applies to both the Windows and Mac versions of the updater. HTH.

Equinox. They are still going to have to make it a compelling enough buy over Equinox if they plan to charge much more than Equinox. One approach might be to introduce Equinox 1000 at $1000 or even at the 800 price point and then drop the Nox 600 prices into the entry level and Nox 800 into the mid-range. It is tough to argue that any of these entry level detectors come close to even the 600 in terms of features performance, and versatility. ML could almost own the whole range from $100 to $1000 detectors with the Vanauish and Equinox lines including a $900 to $1000 "high end" Equinox-CTX hybrid variant that incorporates the best of both the Multi IQ and FBS2 worlds. Gonna need some accesdory coils, though ML. Get on it if you are not going to enable 3rd party coil manufacturers to play along. Bad move.

My disappointment is not so much in the tepid MF TID performance at depth as the fact that Garrett seems either unwilling or unable to put emphasis on recovery speed performance as an important detector attribute. I suspect that when Garrett gets beyond their 1st generation of MF, they will have refined their signal processing to the point where they can start approaching where ML was 2 generations ago (now on their fourth generation of MF and 8 to 9 SMF machine designs under their belt). But if Garrett continues to ignore recovery speed capability and tone customizations, they are really going to fall behind the curve versus their competition.

Agree. The real Achilles heel with Vanquish though is the fixed GB. You can somewhat work around that by notching out -8 and -9 in the mode you want to use but if you want to use different modes to interrogate targets in zero discrimination, forget it because you only have one program slot and if you shift out of a mode it forgets your custom settings. Fix those 3 things and it takes the Vanquish to a whole new level in terms of versatility across different mineralization levels....but that's way off topic. Got my Deus in 2015 and the control box, coil, and WS4's are still going strong though the original LF coil just sits around and blinks now as I almost exclusively use the HF coil.

It would basically sound the same. Iron volume works whether or not you are running all metal, it is just that the iron discrimination breakpoint changes at the point between the low tone and the iron tone, if you are running disc. In all metal (more accurately zero disc mode) or in disc mode you can turn iron volume all the way off. Steve breaks it down pretty well here:

I started about ten years back with no clue on what I was doing armed with nothing but a bounty hunter tracker and a beach full of pull tabs and bottle caps.

Still have my Tek Delta. I really learned how to detect with that machine and keep it around for sentimental reasons.

Yeah no offense, just ribbing you, hence the smiley. Yeah, I got the large white 15 inch coil as part of an upgrade package from FT to install DST into my T2. It is overly heavy and an under performer. A total boat anchor IMO. You are better off going with a Detech Ultimate 13" or similar. The Detech is a great coil and got one for the F75, I kept. I included the large white coil in the package deal when I sold my T2 a couple years back. HTH.

Well, I didn't know you knew that because you didn't mention it in your post and you asked folks to chime in on differences - maybe I am overreacting Anyway, I guess my point was not so much about the interchangeability, but the fact your accessory coil selection will be limited because the T2 is intentionally not wired up to accept concentric coils unlike your F75. May not be an issue if you don't plan to get more coils, as you say but later on you talked about noticing additional coils out there. The concentric really makes the F75 a bottlecap killer. And while truly somewhat different than the F75, the T2's DNA was sufficiently close enough to the F75's in performance that the additional limitation on conetrics made it not worth it to me to have both detectors in stable. It is a great detector in its own right and has great ergonomics like the F75, I just felt the F75 brought more versatility to the table. HTH.