palzynski

Hi relicmeister , From what I know XP will release their first multifreq machine in the coming months . it will probably a "fast mf" detector to be very efficient in iron trashed areas like the Apex , and as usual a very light machine. Future will tell ..

In France/Europe we have hundreds of coin types/sizes/weights dating from the antic /medieval to modern ages , ranging from 0.5 to 30g so that we only use the VIDs as an indication , except in very specific situations . Perhaps that this is probably why XP has not really focused on this VID normalization but rather on reactivity / iron filtering / ability on nail beds etc ... To summarize this VID feature is interesting but it is not the most important thing for us . Just my opinion as usual ... Of course it would be better that those IDs are normalized as it is very useful in other countries like the US which are a big market for XP I imagine 🙂 ...

About the weigths : 11 x X35 --> 470g with coil cover 13X11 --> 590g with cc See :http://www.xpmetaldetectors.com/metal-detector/category/accessories-deus/ So quite a big weight difference between the coils ... Concerning field results , I only know the 11 coil old version ( not the X35 ) , it is deep on big coins at depth in clean soils if you use a low freq like 5khz

Just one important thing when setting such bed tests ; ensure that there are NO iron bits remaining in the ground that will be used for testing. Otherwise the results will be falsed. The ground must absolutely be iron free .. A detector in the all metal mode can be used for extracting the iron bits before filling the box/bucket ..

Yes nice set up I have a similar test garden with 4 boxes filled with different ground thicknesses. The targets are simply set down under the middle of the boxes. The first boxes are filled with inland mild ground and the 4th filled with sand and salt water. I use these boxes since 4 or 5 years now and they are VERY helpful to test different settings of a machine. Of course field tests are the most important but you learn a lot of things with these kind of test gardens... On the pics below I was testing the Garrett Apex ..

I have the Minelab Profind 35 , it has a major difference vs the others : the iron disc , a big plus in iron trash areas or to locate big ferrous at depth. I have also heard people complaining about its reliability however mine is working perfectly since 2 years now ...

I went today with my "new" Apex for a short outing to a third test location to double check that the "false signals " issue has been solved by the new Viper coil sent by the Garrett support . It is an iron infested path in a wood where I have tested the Vanquish 540 a year ago. - First the Apex/Viper is very stable , no more false signals .🙂 - Second I have been very impressed by the Apex , it is almost silent on the iron trash, with sharp beeps on good signals . I confirm that the Apex iron filtering is excellent and better than the MLs Vanquish and Equinox in iron trashed areas. 🙂 It is the third outing with the Viper new coil without any pb , then I consider that this "false signal" issue is now solved. I will continue to test the Apex but will post my reports in a new thread ...

And it is the opposite with the Garrett Apex , their coil cables are too small for tall guys ...Just at the limit for me hopefully ... More testing from the manufacturers before delivering to the customers would probably be a good thing ... 🙂

Hi ,I had an issue with my ML80 headphones a year ago. The ON/OFF button was broken . I sent it back to my seller and they sent me a brand new one. May be it is related with your pb I dont know ... Anyway those ML80 buttons are fragile compared to the Garrett MS3 headphones for example

Is the soil mineralized or just mild ? thx

Hi Dug2gld , what is the difference between the Tarsacci and the Deus , is the Tarsacci better than the Deus in iron trash ? thx ...

Looking forward for your tests in the field . I found it excellent in high iron trashed areas , and very sensible to tiny targets . .. Yes it looks like a very nice coil ...

Chuck, if I understand well you are looking for a beach detector and not a ML, why not the Apex ? I have never tested it at the sea but my seller ( Bruno of Lutece Detection in Paris ) has seriously tested it a few weeks ago at the beach in Bretagne ( French West coast ) . He told me that it is a very good beach detector ... And this guy is very experienced ...

Hi Ridge Runner , If I had an advice it would be : do not live in the future but rather live in the present. If you look for a multifreq detector there are 3 excellent machines available right now : The ML Equinox , Vanquish and probably the Garrett Apex. I say probably for the Apex because I have not yet finished my tests and I need more hours with it , but from what I saw it is a very good machine especially in iron trash areas . Hope that helps a little ... 🙂 Alain

Yes it is for me what makes the difference for me beween the Apex and the ML mulifreqs ( Vanquish , Equinox , Etrac ... ). the Apex is almost silent in high iron trashed areas while the MLs are noisy and quite unstable there . On the other hand the MLs seem to be deeper than the Apex on big coins in low/medium iron trashed areas

Concerning the rod , I prefer the Vanquish or Deus telescopic rods . They are faster to assemblei in the field. They can be adjusted very precisely and they are lighter than the Apex rod, at least for the Deus. Just my opinion A quick summary of the Apex pros and cons from my standpoint : ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - The things that I like about the Apex : . excellent iron filtering on iron trashed areas . fast and reactive/accurate on targets . sensitive to tiny targets like small/very small coins as well as bigger ones ( multifrequency ) . the thin control box . simple to use . the excellent MS3 wireless headphones . the excellent Ripper coil - The things that I do not like about the Apex : . the rod . the weight/balance which is good but not as good as a Deus or Orx: ( Apex ripper 1140g , Apex viper 1210g , Deus Orx 800g ) . no dedicated backlight button . the running freq mode ( 5,10,15,20, MF or MS) not displayed on the main detection screen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So globally the results are largely positive up to now .... to be confirmed with more tests ... Ha yes my seller told me he has now a few Apex customers having the false signal issue. He thinks that Garrett had a pb with some of the first hundreds of Apex delivered to customers ... But he does not know exactly the technical reason . Apart from that the weather is warm over here , 22 celsius deg today ... 🙂

Good news, I have eventually received my Apex back from the European Garrett support ... 🙂 My seller ( Bruno at Lutece detection in Paris ) told me that the pb ( false signals etc see above ) came from a faulty coil . So I received my Apex with a brand new Viper coil , plus a 5X8 Ripper coil that Bruno asked me to test. I decided to restart the tests from the beginning with the static tests on my tests boxes / different targets at different depths. The results were good for both coils , but I decided to try first the Ripper in the field , because I have been very impressed by its light weight ( 330g instead of 400g for the Viper ) and I like light machines ... And also because in france we often detect in iron infested sites , the Viper is a little too big for that and for me the Ripper has the perfect size for searching small/very small coils in nail beds .. So I went to one of my favorite testing locations , a wood near a small town . The soil there is infested with iron trash dating from the medieval up to modern times. A very good place for testing machines in a very difficult iron trashed environment. I will give more details in a new thread , but to summarize the Apex + Ripper have done an excellent job 🙂 . First the Apex has an excellent iron filtering , it was almost silent on the nail bed , just beeping on the good targets , very impressive . The Apex is also very fast , it is much more reactive than a Vanquish or even an Equinox . The signals on targets are very sharp and accurate , perhaps a little too sharp btw , but it is just a matter of getting used to the audio I think . Also the wireless headphones MS3 Zlynk are excellent , no latency and very reliable. For info I used the MF mode during all this test No treasure found during this short outing, mainly 1st WW rubbish , but again I have been very impressed by the Apex with the ripper coil. Clearly at Garretts they have designed/tested the Apex to work on high iron trash environments., as stated in their Apex marketing brochure. And it looks like they have done a very good job ... Just a few things that I do not like , for example the shaft which is clearly outdated Now I need to confirm all this and detect more hours with the Apex to check that everything is ok , no more falsing etc , I will detail all this in the new dedicated thread ... A few pics below , the Apex with a Quest X5 , the Viper and the Ripper coils , the Apex + Ripper weight , and the wood ..

It is a common error for beginners to try a detector in a yard . But such areas near houses are the worst locations for learning MD because they contain a lot of trash : big and small irons , aluminium bits/foils etc ... The good thing to do is to find a "quiet" area , away from houses , buildings and powerlines . Open fields or woods/forests are good places where to start. As said above the Vanquish series are very reliable machines and I am quite sure that it will go much better for you and your 540 in a quieter area 🙂... HH ..

Yes perhaps electrical interference . Move to an other location and retry your 540 . If you have still the pb then it could be a faulty machine.

Yes the frequency is the only setting that I change on the field. I have a 9 HF white coil. - 14 khz for low iron trashed areas - 30khz for high iron trashed areas. - 50khz on ultra high iron trashed areas but I rarely use it because of a too important loss of depth 5 tones or fulltones HH...

I think that an "Impulse GR" , GR for Gold and Relic dedicated to inland hunting on both hot and mild soils , with good iron disc and without salt compensation/waterproof to reduce the costs , would probably be a success story because the market of inland gold prospectors and relic hunters is much bigger than the beach detecting one to my opinion. I would be the first to buy such a machine if it performs well , and if it is not too expensive of course , around 1500e ? .... Or even less ... 🙂

Yes but Lamborghini is a niche market ... I hope that they will soon propose a low cost model, say at around 100 000$ .... 😄

Sorry this ring definitive model is a little too expensive for me at 45000$... Unless CARTIER offers special discounts for detectorprospector forum members... 😄

It would be interesting to know the number of units per model sold by each brand/manufacturer. Then we would have a clear idea of the winners . Concerning ML , their last 2 VLF detectors , the Equinox and the Vanquish , are very good machines . They have done a very good job , so it is logical and normal that their business is going well ...

Hi , From my standpoint I find the Equinox a little too complex for a beginner. I would personally go for a simpler machine Then you need to define your detecting conditions : - do you detect in the water ? --> then you need a waterproof machine - do you detect on high mineralized soil ? --> then you need a ground balance setting - do you need a light machine or has it no importance for you ? etc .... And yes take your time before buying ... HH