palzynski

It would be interesting to know the percentage of users detecting on mild soils and those detecting on mineralized soils , this over the world. In Europe we have mostly mild soils . In the US and other continents I dont know ...  

Yes the Apex is a very good detector , especially in the iron trash, which is a huge advantage for my kind of detecting . 

I just still have some concern about interferences that I solved last time by stopping the Apex , disconnecting /reconnecting the coil cable connector and restarting the detector. Hopefully it happened only once over 6 outings with the Ripper coil. Never had this kind of pb with a Vanquish for example . 

For info on my bed tests I have exactly the same depth results between an Equinox Park1 or Park2 and a Vanquish 540 , this for equivalent coil sizes.

I use moderate mineralized ground ( from 80 to 85 on the Garrett Apex GB scale , I dont remember the GB value on the Equinox and I dont have this machine any more .. )  

On 6/18/2021 at 6:48 PM, kac said:

. I find it way better than the Orx in iron as it does not mask out like the Orx did, the main reason I dumped the Orx.

For me the Apex and the Orx/Deus have similar perfos in iron , which means that both are excellent . I cannot say up to now which one is the best , I will do more comparisons in plowed fields this summer .  But the XPs have still the weight advantage vs the Apex , almost 300g difference .  On the other hand the Apex is multifreq and has some interesting features like the iron audio button ...

I will have more infos in a few weeks ...

17 hours ago, kac said:

...

Hunted mostly in zero mode with iron audio on and only picked up 2 bottle caps, rest of the iron I could hear clearly which is a huge difference from the Orx.

...

I also agree on this . I use rather RELICS instead of ZERO  , and when I have a doubtful signal , I activate the IRON AUDIO which tells me if it is a ferrous target or not.  For me it is a big plus compared to the Deus /Orx because there is no dedicated/direct access AM button on the XPs , at least on my Deus Lite WS4...  

Looking forward for your next outings reports ... 

4 hours ago, kac said:

 

Hit a park for about an hour to give it a try and the audio reminds me of something halfway between the AT Pro and the Ace series. Very abrubt clear signals. Going to take me a while to get used to it as I am so used to vco tone hunting.

...

Yes I agree on the "very abrupt clear signals" ... it took me a little time to get used to these sharp signals compared to the soft signals of the MLs but on the other hand these signals are short and accurate , and very reactive on targets.

I have been a little disappointed at the beginning by this audio , but the more I use this machine and the more I appreciate it because it is fun to use and very efficient in the field.. 

If you want to save weight , the Ripper coil is the right tool , it is 70g lighter than the Viper this makes a big difference ... And it goes almost as deep as the Viper 

6 hours ago, kac said:

Does this issue happen with the viper coil at all too? Curious if there is an issue with the coil or the control box. Could be the coil where something is over heating and failing which might explain why unplugging the coil and putting it back fixes it.

I am getting the viper coil here, 6x11 is a bit more versitile for what I want to use the machine for.

Actually when I received my Apex last autumn I only had the viper coil and I did 6 outings with it and I had false signals during 2 outings . At this moment when I had the pb I just try stop and restart the Apex which did not change anything and I had not yet the idea to unplug and plug the coil connector in the field . Perhaps unplugging and plugging the connector would have solved the pb I dont know ...

So I sent the Apex / Viper back to my seller who sent it to the Garrett support . Eventually I received a brand new Viper from them without any explanation about the pb . I just did 2 short outings with the new Viper coil and had no pb with it. As my seller sent me a Ripper coil to test,  I decided to focus on the Ripper . As I said above I only had one false signals pb with the Ripper during 6 or 7 outings , that I solved by simply unplugging plugging the coil connector in the field.  This story is still not clear for me and Garrett does not not help providing no info about the pb ...

Yes the 6X11 is a good coil for open areas like fields , the 5X8 is more dedicated to small iron trashed areas like yards , gardens , paths , woods with vegetation etc , so both are interesting . The Raider is certainly the deepest coil in clean soil but probably a bit heavy compared to the Viper and Ripper...

On 6/12/2021 at 5:38 AM, kac said:

Did you install the latest update for the Apex? Wondering if that fixes anything your running into.

Will be getting one soon and the stock smaller coil. Need something light to poke around the woods with, your forest look a lot like the ones we have here in New England.

Yes I installed the 1.28 one month ago . It did not solve the "false signals" because it occured again ( only once during 7 outings with the Ripper ) . If it happens just stop the machine , unplug and replug the coil connector , restart it , and everything should be ok ... The only difference I noticed when using the 1.28 is the backlight activation when pressing the MENU button , I did not see other differences vs the prev version . From what I have read on the Garrett internet site they have improved the detector stabiility on the wet salt beach , but I only use the Apex inland ..

I appreciate the Apex lightness and iron filtering , you should not be disappointed by this machine I think . I am looking forward for your results in the field ...  🙂

For info my Apex settings during this last outing : 
RELICS , SENS 8 , MF , GND 83 

HH

My cousin proposed me an outing today on a 1st ww area near my village.  Finally I decided to use the Apex /Ripper again as I am very confident with this detector/coil now . 

My cousin proposed me to dig , so I had just to sweep the Apex and listen to the signals,  cool ... 🙂

My cousin was expecting 1st ww war relics , and me coins as we were quite close from a little town. We did find at the beginning 1st ww ammunitions but no coins . Hopefully at the end of the outing we found a very nice Napoleon 1st "garde imperiale" button in a very good state, dating probably from 1814 , a year of battles between Napoleon 1st and the coalition ( Prussia , Russia , Great Britain )...  French 1st Empire relics are quite rare and we were very happy to find this nice little button ..

Now I have 15 hours with the Apex/Ripper , again I am very happy with this machine because of its very reactive audio , performances in iron trashed areas and its lightness... 🙂

About the cons I noticed that the Ripper connector is difficult to insert/remove in/from the control box. Garrett should pay more attention to this kind of details , I dont know if that occurs on other Garrett detectors , I will try to find a solution ... 

11 hours ago, Erik Oostra said:

 

Looks like the 2 batteries sizes are different on the pic above  ... Just an optical illusion ? 

2 hours ago, Kaolin washer said:

and by the way this was just a 15 minute hunt,

12 coins / 15 minutes which means almost 1 coin every minute , not bad  .... 🙂

I am not a beach hunter but from the feedbacks that I have from local sellers/users , very few people use Deus/ Orx for salt beach hunting over here . They mainly use the MLs Equinox, Elite etc  which are known here as killers for beach hunting.. This is probably why XP is currently developping a MF machine btw ..

The ORX and Deus are rather references for inland hunting over here , especially in iron trashed areas ..

3 more outings with the Apex/Ripper . Wood and forest , moderate to high iron trash . 

THE GOOD NEWS :

- I confirm my previous feelings ; the Apex is a fast machine and fun to use , I have used it for coin and 1st ww relic hunting and it works very well. I like the short "bips" on targets. The Ripper coil is excellent , very accurate , very light , sensible to tiny targets , great separation and easy pinpointing with a good depth .
Excellent MS3 wireless headphones etc ... 🙂

THE BAD NEWS :

- I had false signals again during my last outing ,  this as soon as I started the Apex... 🤔   As I was using the MF mode , I decided to try the single freqs. The 20 and 15kh were still noisy , only the 10 and 5khz were quieter and I decided to carry on with the 10k freq.

A few minutes later , I decided to do a test : I stopped the MS3 and the Apex , unplugged the coil connector, replugged the coil connector and restarted the machine . And miracle , the false signals had totally disappeared after this , even in the MF mode... And I could detect up to the end of the outing without any pb ... Weird ...  The good thing ; now I have a bypass in case of false signals 🙂 .. 

However I have never seen such a behaviour on a detector , I will call my seller tomorrow about this , so that he can inform the Garrett support .. 

CONCLUSION :

Up to now I have a total of 6 outings with the Apex / Ripper , total time 13 hours. Apart from this false signal "mystery" , the Apex is a very good machine especially for European areas which require fast detectors because of their often high iron trash density...

To summarize :

- fast and reactive
- very light  ( especially with an home made front carbon shaft , a new foam handle and arm rest / 2,1 lbs with the Ripper ) 🙂

Now I will focus on the Viper coil , I will open a new thread for the Apex/Viper testing..

2 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Apex is not submersible - if you follow Carolina, he's a hard core beach/water hunter so his machine is going to have to be able to take a dunking.  Apex doesn't fit the bill...

ok I saw some other people on the forum using the Apex for beach hunting , but they certainly use it away from the water..

I hope that Garrett will soon propose a fully water protected machine , it should not take a long time because they already have the electronics with the current Apex ...

On 4/26/2021 at 6:04 PM, Carolina said:

Thanks but I feel being tethered to the machine uncomfortable as well. As age crept up on me my CTX became an issue so I bought a set up for it. After awhile that became bothersome so I put the CTX down as well. I probably should sell it as well. Thanks for all the tips though.

Hi ,

The lightest multifreq machine is at the moment the Garrett Apex : 2,6lbs/1,17kg with the stock 11X6 Viper coil . And this can very easily be reduced to 2,4lbs/1.07kg by just replacing the rubber handle and the arm rest with lighter parts.

For info an Equinox with the 11 stock coil weighs 2,8lbs ( 1,26kg ) . 

On 6/1/2021 at 10:06 PM, Bill (S. CA) said:

... The Apex is in my view is a salt water beach sleeper that offers excellent performance for a very attractive price point.  There were eight guys hunting when I was there and they all had a certain brand of machine that pretty much owns the beach these days.  In comparing finds with them the Apex held its own.  I have used that certain brand of machine since it came out and can tell you that you don't lose much, if anything, with the Apex.

I am currently testing the Apex inland but I have a very experienced friend who has tested it at the beach on the French west coast ( Bretagne ) and he said that the Apex goes deep and is a very good beach detector.  

From my standpoint I am not a beach hunter but I have a static test at home (a box filled with sand + salt water ) with a 2 euros coin at 10 inches depth , and I noticed that the Apex goes deep in the salt sand and hits the coin with both the Viper and the Ripper coil ...   I have the 1.28 update

And regarding the inland Terra world ??? 🙂 🙂

Third outing with the Apex/Ripper. A less difficult area , a forest near a town. Modern coins from the 16th to the 20th century can be found here. Sandy moderated mineralized soil with medium iron trash . 

A bit lucky because I found a coin on the first signal  🙂...
I know the Apex audio very well now , it is very reactive with short signals on targets I like this . As I already said the iron filtering is excellent and the Apex likes iron infested areas , however it is sometimes a little chirpy with erratic "bips" but I am getting used to this now ... I hope that Garrett will filter/eliminate those erratic signals in a future software update ..

Total I found 3 coins , a 1770 louis XV copper coin , a 17th corroded copper coin and a 1966 demi franc nickel. 

The Apex is fun and easy to use , it is a light machine with the ripper coil. The audio is more basic than the MLs but it works very well  .

My settings during this outing :  RELICS mode , sens max 8 , freq MF

The corresponding pics below , plus a pic of the Apex electronics board rear side done at home ..

Todays outing with the Apex/Ripper in a different area , a wood occupied by 1st WW german camps, dating from 1918 .  Sandy low mineralized soil. 

Usually I am not a war relic hunter and rather a coin hunter , but as I was invited by a friend who is a 1WW specialist I thought that it was a good occasion to test the Apex in a different environment from the previous roman outing.

1st WW camps are quite difficult areas for detectors because they usually contain a lot of iron trash , and lots of big irons like rusty tin cans . They are different from older medieval of roman sites. Medieval or roman sites contain hundreds ( thousands .. ) of rusty nails then much more  targets than 1st WW camps but smaller . In both cases excellent areas for testing/comparing detectors ..

I have spent 2 hours detecting in this wood with my friend . 
And as usual the Apex performed very well . I start to know this machine very well and I am always impressed by its excellent iron filtering and the sharp signals on targets. I found the Apex audio to be very different from the MLs Vanquish and Equinox , and actually closer to a Deus/Orx . The Ripper coil is fun to use because it is light and very accurate , and it goes deep for its size.

No incredible find during this outing , mostly 1st WW ammunitions : German(Mauser) and French ( Lebel ). And a british 1st WW small buckle etc .. See the pic below .

Again the Apex is  very polyvalent and fun to use in the field , even in these quite difficult 1st WW camps areas. I like this machine ... 🙂

My settings during this outing : freq MF , sensitivity max , JEWELLERY mode

If I had an improvement to suggest to Garrett, I think that their coils could be a little lighter , 
especially the Viper and the Raider , this compared to the competition ( the Vanquish coils for example ).

Next time I will go to a park hunting for coins , I already know that the Apex will do a good job there ...  🙂
 

17 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

...

Both the Equinox 600 and 800 setup with the optimum settings for the conditions, will easily hit targets in the .05 gram size and even smaller out to 3 inches in air tests and 2 inches in mineralized ground with their gain on 2/3 rds or less strength. So will the Gold Monster 1000, Deus, Orx, Gold Racer, Gold Kruzer, Gold Bug II, Gold Master 24K and many other higher frequency VLF gold prospecting specific detectors. The Apex I recently tested (for the second time) could not do that. Neither can the Vanquish models, the Simplex or most other detectors operating at less than 19 kHz. With those same targets basically touching their coils at full sensitivity, yes they could detect them. In the ground......Nope. That is just not what they were made for. So micro jewelry and very small gold prospecting are best done with detectors that are easily capable of that function.

....

 

captorofsin said in his initial post  "... I will be searching mostly beach, homesites, and parks. Jewelry and coins. I really am NOT concerned with prospecting or relics.... " . 

Does he need a max sensitivity on 0.05g grams targets ?  Certainly not for coin hunting ... Jewellery ? I dont know ...

3 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

...

Also, Alain.......this forum has repeatedly addressed the Equinox 600/800 frequency issue. Three immensely qualified field testing/consultant/experts who are current members of this forum have stated multiple times that the Equinox 600 and 800 set on Multi are using exactly the same frequencies in Park, Field and Beach modes.

I am just an end user. But, I have personally owned and tested an Equinox 600, Equinox 800 and all of the Vanquish models and I specifically tested their sensitivity to very small targets many times. I have also had the opportunity to do the same with the Garrett APEX. The Equinox models when setup correctly are far more sensitive to smaller targets of any conductivity compared to the Vanquish models and the APEX. I am not bashing the APEX or Vanquish here. This is just a fact. 

Jeff , 

 I will not compare the 600 vs the 800 , I only compare detectors that I have tested in the field , and as I said I never owned a 600. But I know very well the 800  I have between 150 to 200 hours with it the field ( inland coin/relic hunting , mild soil , mostly iron trashed areas ) and during this time I could compare it with the competition , particularly vs the XP Deus , that I use since 2013 . 

On the other hand ,  ok lets say that the 600 has exactly the same audio/freq same abilities as the 800 . Even with this I would still prefer the Apex to the 600 for a single feature ; the iron filtering .For my kind of detection the iron filtering is the key feature , rather than depth , this because I spend almost all my detecting time on iron trashed areas. 

Now as we have a disagreement , it would be interesting to have other users opinions on the Apex , inland and at the beach. May be up to now there are only few feedbacks because the machine is very recent , and probably more infos will arrive during the coming weeks/months. I hope so anyway ..

11 hours ago, kac said:

....

Personally I like Garrett as a company and the Apex seems to be well supported with a new software update they just rolled out. Weight and the S-Shaft I would lean towards the Apex over the 600 along with the vast number of coils out for it. Only downside is it is splash proof so your safe in the rain but you can't dunk the control box if you plan on doing any water hunting.

 

 I agree the Apex should not be underestimated , it is lighter than the Equinox (Apex/Viper/1.2kg vs Equinox/eq11/1.3kg ) and yes a S shaped shaped is more ergonomic than the Equinox straight shaft  .

I am currently testing the Apex for inland hunting and it is a very good machine , easy to use and very efficient in the field. 

I have a very experienced friend who has tested the Apex at the beach ( French coast ) and had excellent results with it . The Garrett MS3 wireless headphones are probably the best on the market. And the Apex is for me easier to use than the Equinox , the audio is more stable with sharper signals on targets .

Concerning the freqs , the Apex runs higher than the 600 ( Apex: 5,10,15,20khz - 600 : 5,10,15khz ) then it is probably a little more sensitive to tiny targets than the 600 , at least for small coins.  However even if I know the 800 very well,  I have never used a 600 then this has to be confirmed ... 

1 hour ago, Captorofsin said:

Apex vs nox 600 at the beach.

The only thing that doesn't make any sense to me is about most of these beach detectors (including the apex) is that the entire machine is NOT weatherproof/waterproof.

It seems like a beach a detector would be at least weatherproof. Considering the salt air and considering that salt air is very bad for electronics.

 

- The Minelab Equinox is waterproof 3m ( control box + coils )

- The Garrett Apex has a rainproof control box - coils are waterproof

- The Minelab Vanquish control box has no specific protection - coils are waterproof

Look at garrett.com apex tech specs ,  minelab.com equinox vanquish tech specs

Hi , 

I would add the Apex to your list and remove the F75 , then :

-  Vanquish ( release 2019 )

-  Equinox    ( release 2017 )

-  Apex        ( release 2020 )

Those 3 detectors have been designed recently, while the F75 is a little outdated now  ( release 2006 ).  The Apex is very polyvalent and performs very well either at the beach or even in high iron trash inland areas , and it is also easy to use . The Minelabs are a little deeper but a little unstable in the iron trash . Just my opinion ..  

HH

10 hours ago, 67GTA said:

"Compared to the XPs the Apex is probably quite close to the Deus in terms of separation , but the Deus has the edge concerning its weight ( 800g for the Deus instead of 1150g for the Apex/ripper )." 

Are you saying it separates on the same level as the Deus? I would have to see that to believe it. From my experience the Deus is the king of separation in iron. That would imply that the Apex also beats the Equinox, T2, and F75 at separation.

Yes the Deus is the king of separation in iron , but I have been surprised by the Apex during this "extreme" outing in thick iron trash . At this place I usually find from 3 to 8 coins with the Deus , and the Apex/Ripper found 6 coins , and this quite easily . So there is definitely something special with the Apex in iron trash .  I need more hours with the Apex to confirm this however . 

Concerning the Equinox the Apex easily beats it in the iron trash to my opinion . The Equinox is too chatty , it does not filters enough the irons for me.  I know that some people in this forum will not agree , but I have no doubt on this , at least for my European conditions ( mostly small coins in mild soil with thick iron trash ) ...

Yes the T2 it has very good separation and electronics , but its design is dating from 2006 , a little outdated now ; too heavy for me ( 1.6kg ), no wireless headphones  etc ..