Dances With Doves

33 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

People seem to forget Garrett is one of the most successful companies in the industry, time and again making products that leave their competition flat footed and dreaming for years. Ace was the Equinox of its day. Look how long it took Minelab to respond to the AT series with Equinox. Yes, Equinox rocked, but not until after Garrett ruled that arena for many years. Garrett literally defined what all terrain means with the AT series. The Garrett pinpointers redefined that market, to the tune of endless copycats. I’d posit they have done proprietary wireless better than anyone. Anyone that thinks their units do not perform has not given them a fair go. Frankly, they are the quiet company that us flagship nerds tend to overlook as they sell huge numbers of mid-range detectors and define detecting for a large portion of the U.S. market at least. They have deep pockets and top engineering talent. If I have to bet on one U.S. manufacturer above all others it would be Garrett. They are a marketing powerhouse. Their website, catalogs, and informational videos put First Texas and White’s to shame. Their social media game is unrivaled in the industry. This is still their game to fumble in many ways. If they sold stock I’d buy some right now.

Who knows, with this new direction, maybe I’ll even see my LTX eventually! 

Imagine if they did a wireless pinpointer that went off the  control box like  sunray  for a target Id pinpointer with the sounds of the  Apex.I would like that.

Since they already have the mold they should   release a nox with the 9by 12 and the 5by 8 for same price.That would bring new life to it's sales.For the 600    release it  with the 7by 10 coil for 25 $ less.Sell all 3 of the coils in a package for 395$ and many would jump.

8 hours ago, phrunt said:

Thanks, I'm lazy and have the 11" on as I used it last for prospecting, I love the 11" for gold prospecting, ground coverage and sensitive. It found me a bit on it's last journey too 🙂

I'll put the 15" on and try again and the 11" in 5kHz didn't find any missed silvers with a few attempts.  I found the Vanquish in Jewellery mode and v12 found silvers I missed with the Nox, not sure if that was coincidence but found 5 in an hour or so, so very unlikely that was chance but with everything metal detecting there is a lot of luck involved, there is no way to know you've hit that exact bit of soil before.  We need super accurate GPS that colours in every spot you've been in a set radius like the old school Dos game Styx, had to get rid of all the black 🙂

 I heard the xterra with   15" inch coil and 3kz. was    deep on     US silvers but never tried it .Before I sent it back because of loose connection ,   the xterra 70 with Tornado coil with 7kz.   found me one of the  deepest wheat pennies I ever dug.

7 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Hi Chuck, 

some people do not like the Equinox and really like the Vanquish.  I will leave that one alone. I like both for what it is worth but I'll let you figure out which one I pick 9 times out of 10.........it won't take long to guess.

The Mi-6 XP pinpointer works fantastic with the ORX. Another possible upgrade are the Quest over the ear headphones that the WS audio puck fits on. Outstanding headphones. Even Chase likes them!!!!

Rob Allison is a fantastic dealer and a really good nugget prospector and person.

Jeff

 Hi  Jeff. What would be that 1 out of 10 times that you use the vanquish?Hunting for shallow clad? 

The  metal detector you don't have will never  find  you anything. Getting   a nox is a  good move.It can do so much compared to most machines.My explorer user friend just found an 1856 seated quarter in a pounded park with his new nox  .I found half a  walker half with mine. His quarter was very deep.

You earned all those coins.  Have you ever heard of anyone ever finding a fractional California gold coin.That would be a tough  target. That would be a coin for the nox to find in park2 or field 2 modes or the gold modes. 

Would  love to see the nox and 6inch coil on that test with all   it's different options. 

35 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

By then you may also be seeing true second generation Multi-IQ product, something even Tom will have to pay attention to. Minelab generally never really comes into their own with a product until the second generation. First generation tends to be proof of concept. Even Tom is swinging an Explorer 2 instead of the original. 

Hi Steve. Did you sell a lot   of explorers in Alaska?  I got mine before they ran out of them because of demand in   early 2000.

20 minutes ago, EL NINO77 said:

I think Garrett goes for it sensibly .... and put on a Apex coil which has a very good coefficient of Depth / Separation ... and EMI resistance ..

Reduced weight and improved detector balance is another plus ...

They definitely did enough enough testing to know what they're going into.

Since I own a sufficient amount of 6x10 "Mars Sniper coils on various detectors .. and among other things in the multifrequency Spectra V3 ... I can say that the coil on many coin size targets reaches about 85-90% of the range compared to the 12X10" coil in slightly mineralized terrain .. on very small targets it is also 100% reach ..

Add to that the improved separation of the 6x10 "coil and you get the same detection efficiency as with the standard 11" coil ...

In heavily mineralized terrain, 6X10 "coils can already lose more depth than 11" coils.

Also a great size coil for a newbie to start  out with. 

10 minutes ago, Cal_Cobra said:

Doubtful, he's rather stuck to his Explorer2, although over the past year he's been given a number of beat downs relic hunting, and is starting to say things like "the nox is better in iron".  Yet he's still looking at the machine in its totality, and he loves deep turf silver cherry picking and I would give a nod to the Exp2 over the EQ on that one, especially given he has what, 15+ years of experience on his Exp2. 

I personally do not care much for park hunting that much these days, as why kill yourself all day for a couple of mercs, when you can go hit stage stops, ghost towns and other late 1700's - 1800's sites for busts, seateds and perhaps a few pesky barbers 🙂 Seriously though, once you get addicted to digging western frontier history, parks just kind of loose their appeal. 

I'm impressed that Garrett pulled this off, but I'm also very content with the success my EQ800 has brought, so I'm in no hurry to try anything new, this machine has done more then I imagined it would finding coins at extreme depths, noodling around in iron and opening up old hard hit sites.  I should make a log of everything I've found with my EQ800 since I got it, definitely been dozens of seateds, a lovely 18K jewel encrusted gold ring (first hunt actually), a rare $1 US gold coin, a few rare silver coins, tons of relics, it's really exceeded my expectations and I barely even dabble with the advanced settings (other than the new iron settings, which BTW work great).

So I'll wait and see what Garrett has up their sleeve with their AT SMF Apex and also waiting to see Nokta's entry into the SMF arena.  You have to love this hobby 🙂

Even in turf hunting the nox has pulled many coins out for me. The one        place the explorer might have an  advantage  is where the pulltabs are thick.Pulled out 25 coins out where my expert friend and his explorer only pulled out 2  before this.Many nails here. Me and same  friend   pulled over 30 deep coins on   different place on a side hill where things were getting tough with the explorer .This time he had a nox too.He is stubborn with his explorer,but not like Tom.He saw my success with it.

10 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

 

Pal,

Similar reasons as Steve - 

• As Steve says - there are situations where EMI dominates the MultiF modes and a single frequency option can often resolve this.
• In my case, relic hunting in thick iron and mineralized soils, I find that single frequency tends to perform better for me.  For one, it ensures I am hitting on a frequency reasonably optimal for the mid-conductive relics I seek (brass buttons and buckles and lead projectiles) and it it eliminates the low frequency components that tend to hit harder on buried iron targets.  Even though Equinox has single frequency options, I still tend to favor my Deus or Orx for relic hunting  because the Deus/Orx provides better audio modulation than Equinox (I do like to occasionally switch back and use Equinox Gold mode because of the VCO like audio).  MultiF as implemented on the Equinox does provide target ID at depth better than single Frequency in mineralized soils, but the advantage is marginal.  I bring both Equinox and Deus to my relic hunts.  Also have similar success on coke and coal in farm fields that were tended by steam engine tractors.
• I have found the main advantage of Multi F on a salt beach or when hunting in mild soil conditions without thick iron junk.
• Some users have reported that operating at 10 or 15 khz single helps with better IDing of non-ferrous junk like aluminum can slaw.

This is a great quote and pretty much sums it up.

I like having the  single frequency options.In my basement with a 1/10 grain  piece of gold I found   sniping in upstate NY I could not hear it in mf because of the emi. When I   turned  down the sensitivity to make it stable it would not pick it up  . I  then put it 40 kz. and it picked it up no problem at the 3/4 inch   mark  at a setting of 24  . In one spot on a  certain part of a hill the emi was very bad I could not use it in park 1.I then put it in 5kz. and it  was stable enough that I was able to find a couple of Indians.I like having the options.  . 

The one thing I like is the fun of trying a new machine to see what it can or cannot do.Makes detecting more interesting when you try new things.  Having fun when you detect is what it is all  about  .

1 hour ago, Cal_Cobra said:

Definitely wasn't expecting this, kudos to Garrett on getting on the SMF bandwagon!

Maybe Tom will like  a Garrett       machine better then the Nox for  your secret spots you guys hunt.   I  liked having a explorer  too,but the nox can do so much more.  He should have a nox at the spots you hunt.Tell him that he can take the coil     and lower shaft off the explorer and use his  Sunray   as a pinpointer if he is that attached  to it.I did it with  the Infinium to  speed up  my digging time.It is a great pinpointer.I love your videos.You have been getting better coins than Tom the last  few years. He seems       like a fine fellow to hunt with.    

3 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

As far as dunking, there is also the 1/8" headphone socket. I agree this is probably more "rain resistant" without an accessory cover than a Vanquish, but not sure it would survive any submersion at all, even a brief dunk, without modification.

Garrett Ace Apex parts explosion

 

For those who hunt the wet sand it  could be  better then vanquish for  protection from  salt spray,and for   Great lake hunters  from sweet water spray.

2 hours ago, phrunt said:

It's like they directly responded to my "black eye if the pinnacle of what they can make is another Ace" statement 🙂

Although this detector is pretty cool I can't wait to see what they come out with to be the pinnacle of the AT Series.... they now have the technology to build on to replace that with something pretty special, and there is no way it will be long until it hits the market as they can't let the Ace series new leader be better than their flagship.  I'll wait for that before I get myself a new toy.

Good on you Garrett.

 Simon,ask Garrett to send you a machine to test in your famous coin fields.With over 57,000 views your a big hit.Do a video  and you  would        get  a big response.

looks like a solid machine for the money.Garrett did 3 things that were important.The ace  series was a huge success.  The pinpointer style of the    pro pointer that everyone does now  ,     plus the At  series of screened waterproof machines which people like and other company's now do.This new machine by Garrett is because of something minelab did great with  nox.They will sell a lot because they  know how to market a machine.

1 hour ago, Rick N. MI said:

The Gmx isn't hard to get the coil on the bottom and sweeping the coil as you detector. It swings so easy in the water you don't hardly feel it. It was when I would stop that coil wanted to float to the top. I was using the 6" concentric coil. And the sound when the coil would lift in the water. Turning sensitivity down made the sound quieter. With max sensitivity, isat turned up would remove the sound with a loss in depth. The Gmx is different when you run it in a lake.

I haven't nugget hunted before but the 24k/Gmx is more sensitive to tiny gold than the Gold Kruzer that I can see. The Gmx runs quiet. The Gold Kruzer is noisy in deep mode. It helps turning the volume down on the headphones.

The Gmx is so sensitive that it reacts to the water when the coil is lifted. Turning sensitivity down helps. Increasing isat helps.

I am pretty sure my At gold control box  wants to float to surface, bringing the  5by  8 coil up off the bottom.I don't remember it being  to  loud when it did it.It   being   not   as sensitive as Gmx.

6 hours ago, Rick N. MI said:

The 6" concentric coil floats to the top to easy. It works ok when I'm sweeping but when I stop and lean the detector against me the coil floats to the top. Turning sensitivity down does help some in the water. Also Isat works with the sensitivity max.

 

Going to be use my Gold Kruzer now.

 

I liked the Gmx a lot on land but not lake hunting. Probably perfect for streams.
 

For sale in the Classifieds

Is the Gmx better then Gold Kruzer on land?How hard do you have to push in water to get coil to bottom with Gmx.

17 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

What would really Kick Ass from CoilTek is a 10" Ellip DD coil for the Equinox.   Trevor, please talk your wife into allowing the team at CoilTek to make one.  I promise it will be a stellar seller.

14 hours ago, phrunt said:

An SDC in a normal package even if it has to be a CTX 3030/GPZ style housing would be better than it's current configuration but I am sure they could do better with modern technology, supporting changeable coils (and a range to choose from), wireless audio, built in speaker (that's loud enough) and a normal and mineralised mode would be pretty special.

The current SDC always reminds me of my daughters Lego metal detector.

If they made that coil for nox ,  I wonder of they could wire it so it's  more  in tune with the gold modes vs. other modes   to make it even better for gold .Also can the       nox use a concentric coil  or is it like the t2?

Hi Gerry. For bark tot lots  and for freshwater hunting for small gold , what would be better the nox or gmx ?    This would be with their 6 inch  coils.

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

I've always had an interest in the AT series after my experience with the Ace 350/Euroace, it's one very deep detector with an aftermarket coil on it, I use the Nel Tornado which is 13x12", I really didn't like the stock coil, it was useless for the depth coins are in my environment.  

It's also terrible in junky areas but in my big wide open fields it's a depth demon, especially on small silvers.... I have found a silver in my front yard with the Ace that I missed with the Equinox and 11" coil, it was an eye opener to me.   Have some junk anywhere near a coin on the Ace and it's all over and what I've seen in videos on Youtube about the AT's and it's not much different, especially the videos Calabash does.   I might take my Ace out tomorrow and see if I can find anymore silver in a place I'm really struggling to find any now.... you just never know. 

I would not be at all surprised if the AT Pro is a good detector when the right coil is fitted, you just don't hear of many people using it except those "affiliated" with Garrett.  Maybe I need to hunt around to try find some reports from actual users of it, I just don't like venturing far from this forum, it's a nasty world out there. 🙂

We'll have to see how this Apex turns out maybe Garrett is coming back into the game 🙂

  I think you  are doing good in  your coin fields.I would start by digging some iffy hits if you are starting to run out of good signals.That is how I got my gold coins. With the nox play with settings to see what   does best.Get a hit and play with the recovery setting. Do a noise cancel since silent EMI can cause   depth loss.  You can bring 2 machines and compare a signal.If you have nox try 50 tones .That move helped me a lot. You may  have  different    results.Good luck.

Even though I got a lot of silver coins where a old  pier use to be.  The iron audio of the AT  Gold would  wear you out in heavy iron. I  much  prefer the soft sounds of the Nox.You have to use what you  feel comfortable       with.I like the AT when the targets are more   spread out and bottle caps in the mix.

I have found way more gold with the AT gold then with my Xterra 70.That was because it would go in the water.I would choose the xterra and the 9inch   concentric and 6inch DD both in 18KZ over the AT   Gold any day for turf gold.I could interpret the xterra much better  for that situation.Metal detecting is a thinking game.Do things that help you  do better  and always have fun.

26 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Great, thanks I'll check it out.  Thanks for the reference.  If the AT MAX has a capability that other AT or non-AT detectors lack, I would be interested in that.  If he is just trying to make lemonade out of a lemon (probably an over harsh analogy) or just knows the AT Max well or is so experienced he could be successful with a pinpointer on a stick, then that is another story - .  Either way, I'll go figure it out for myself. Thanks again for the pointer.

It would be more accurate to say  he is a ring  legend.

41 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Ok that doesn't make a lot of sense because the AT Max has the lowest operating frequency of the three AT series detectors (13.6 khz  for the Max  vs. 15 khz for the Pro vs.18 khz for the Gold) which would make it the least sensitive to gold overall.  It is like taking a flat head screwdriver and saying it works better on a phillips screw because it has a bigger handle rather than just using the right phillips head driver for the job.  In other words there are other tools more suited to the job of detecting small gold jewelry than just trying to use a detector with jacked up gain.  Perhaps it works better than the Pro for that task but the right tool might be the Gold.

Hi  Chase.Skip sh13  from   Friendly      Metal detecting forum  in  Stories and pictures of finds posted it on march 20.The thread was called-Sometimes  a new area can really pay off.He seems to be a gold legend over there.Have a good day.