palzynski

Hi Rich , thanks for the info , at least I know that I am not the only one having this pb ... 🙂 Unfortunaly I have loaned my Apex to a friend so I cannot wiggle the cable to see what happens as you did ... I am looking forward for the Garretts answer ... Alain

From what I know ( an info given by my dealer ) , the biggest market for XP is ... Russia . btw I am not surprised that the 9 HF coil has a great success everywhere . I just did an outing yesterday evening with in an open field and it is a killer .... I always use this HF coil on my Deus , it is so efficient that I do not even need to try something else . I just prefer the Vanquish in parks and woods/forests because it is a little more powerful and accurate , and with the Vanquish I can see the VDIs which is not possible on the Deus WS4 .

Ok a good thing those new coils but from my standpoint the major issue with the Apex is the audio/electronics rather than the coils ( the 6X11 stock coil is a good coil ) . So I am still expecting a sofware update from Garrett ... btw I have just loaned my apex to a friend who is a very experienced user ( 30 years detecting vs only 22 🙂 for me ..) ,, he is also a metal detector dealer , I will post his opinion as soon as I have it ..

There are exceptions to this , Xp is a dedicated hobby metal manufacter and it is a success story . Why ? Just because they make excellent products ... Because they listen their customers and have excellent engineers .. And a top level boss , I know that he tests himself the new products/versions , not sure that it is the case in all the detector companies ..

Hi, If your soil is mild ( not too mineralized ) and you hunt on low to medium iron trashed sites , the ML Vanquish is a very good choice , its perfos are the same as the Equinox . With the V10 coil It is lghter than the Nox and simpler to use. And also cheaper . Even the Vanquish 340 at 200$ is an excellent machine ... Just there is no headphones bluetooth on the 340 and 440, only the 540 has the bluetooth. Btw the Vanquish audio is similar to the Explorer audio. I had an Explorer XS at the beginning of the 2000s .. If you detect on iron trashed sites , then the XPs Deus and Orx are very good choices .. HH

Hi , With a standard style detector like the recent Minelab Vanquish 540 V12 (12X10inches coil) , a big coin will be detected at max around 30cm /12inches no more. For a big target like a trashcan probably around 2 feet max. I say probaby because I have never done this test it is just an estimation... If you know the trashcan approximate location an idea would be to remove 1 foot of dirt say on a 8X8 feet surface above the target ,then sweep the detector again at the bottom of the hole ( using the ALL METAL mode if the trashcan is made of iron ) then you would have a good chance to locate the target if it is is buried at 3 feet ... Concerning the Vanquish 540 I took that example because it is quite cheap machine ( 400$ in the US ? ) , it is powerful , simple to learn , which comes with a big coil which could do a good job for what you are looking for ... And of course you can use it for coin / relics searching , as said by GB_amateur above .... HH

I have the last Vaughan Garrets's Favorite finds booklet , I like it, lots of nice finds from USA and other countries very interesting .. . Yes you dont need an expensive detector to do well, and even sometimes it does not take a long time to do ( very ) well ... 🙂 In the booklet there is the story of the "Stirling hoard" UK treasure , the guy found 5 gold Iron age torcs with an Ace 250 , he was only five days into learning his brand new detector !! ... See pic below . Detecting is also a matter of chance , a lot of incredible finds have been done by entry level detectors , this is true for Garrett but also for other detector brands ...

Good choice you cant go wrong with that one .. 🙂 Just a few things I use my 540 with a V10 coil which is lighter and almost as deep as the V12 stock coil. I use the JEWELRY mode which I find better on iron trash areas than the COIN mode and also because the JEWELRY discri pattern is set from 0 to 40 that allows to pick up some old very small coins that display only +7 VDI ! With the COIN mode such very small coins would have been be notched out ... Looking forward for your feedbacks , HH ...

I do not like the Equinox on/off side button either . It tends to autoactivate or even reset the detector when it is in a rucksack. Hopefully ML has changed this design on the Vanquish ... 🙂

Yes the Deus/ORx coil selection is large . The most used coils over here are the 9inches round coils , because they are very poyvalent and lightweight. The 11coil is more suitable for big coins at depth in low/medium iron trashed areas and the small elliptic for small/tiny targets in iron infested sites . You cant go wrong with a Deus/Orx plus a 9inches coil ... The only thing the XPs are not the best at the beach from what I know ...

I made a 2 parts carbon shaft for my Nox to save weight because I find the nox front heavy with the 11 coil. I saved 150grams vs the stock shaft. Saving weight was the only reason why I swiched to a carbon shaft on the Nox. Actually I did the same on my Vanquish , I switched the low and middle shafts to carbons shafts , saving 100grams doing that.. On the Deus/Orx there is no real need to do this they are so light that I use them without any change ... 🙂

Probably the best machines at the moment are the MLs Equinox , Vanquish and XPDeus/Orx ( with no order of importance ). The MLs are more dedicated to low to medium iron trashed sites and beach hunting, while the XPs are more dedicated to inland areas from low to iron infested iron trashed sites. Yes the MLs have a learning curve because of their specific audio. I would say 10/15 hours to get used to them, so it needs a little patience . Perhaps you should look at some youtube videos to see if you like this audio or not ... Actually I find the Equinox a little too complex I prefer the simpler Vanquish ergonomy , also the Vanquish coil set V8 V10 V12 is excellent. The XPs audios are more "classical" and can be considered as "bodybuilded Tesoros" like someone wrote in this forum , so they are quite easy to master especially the Orx which is a simplified version of the Deus.

Hi , here in France most Deus users use the Deus Fast nr3 mode which is , as says Chase , excellent in iron trashed areas with its 18khz freq and very good elsewhere. I did not really try the Gmaxx nr5 mode 8khz because Deus fast is already perfect for what I am doing , Probably Gmaxx is more suitable for big targets at depth in low iron trashed areas with its 8khz relatively low freq. Nice find your Civil war spur btw ...

And add a dedicated backlight button . On the Simplex you must go into the menu to activate it , too complex... You must use a torch to see the buttons when doing the operation by night with the Simplex. And the most important lighten the coils , the simplex 11 coil is too heavy 480grams ( 430grams for the Equinox 11 coil ... )

I am not a specialist but I know that this kind of stuff can be very dangerous under certain conditions , I hope that you have all the informations about this ...

So today I went back to the previous field , trying to reproduce the false signals pb and see if I could improve the situation . This time the false signals had mostly disappeared and the Apex worked correctly !! Strange .. So I found some typical targets of this area , one german button , a cartridge , some bullets , schrappnells etc ... See pic below As the Apex was ok I could concentrate on the detector behaviour again . I confirm that I am not a fan of the Apex audio 🤔:, I find this audio too chirpy with a lack of accuracy when on a target , compared to the Equinox , Vanquish or Deus/Orx which work much better for me ... So actually I am not really happy with the Apex mainly because of this poor audio ( this apart from the false signals issue). It is a pity because the machine is really very well built .. I hope that Garrett will provide an update to improve this audio behaviour , especially when the Apex is used on iron trashed sites ..

Chase and kac , Nothing proves up to now that these false signals comes from EMI. It could come from something else .For example when I was using my Goldmaxx or my Xterra during rainy outings with a high hygrometry level these detectors were often failing with random noises after less than one hour detecting , this because of the condensation progressively occuring on the electronics board. For detectors that are not IP protected like the Goldmaxx and the Xterra it is very easy for the humidity to get into the control box through the speaker control box opening for example. So for the moment I have no idea where the pb comes from for the Apex ... And it seems that sometimes the pb is not repeatable even for agiven location see my next post. So now I will wait from Garrett's answer on the issue , we will see what they say ... It looks like that somebody else in the forum ( coinboy ) has the same issue as mine btw ...Look at Abenson's last thread .. Kac, the pb happened either with the wireless headphones connected or not if I remember well.

Hi coinboy , have you read my report/thread on the Apex ? I have the same pb as yours , false signals , So we are at least 2 on this forum having this issue ... I know that other French Apex users have also this pb ,so it looks like Garrett might have a major issue with this .. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/14043-testing-the-garrett-apex-false-signals

For me it is a fault because I went to 3 different locations , and I had troubles on 2. So it occurs too frequently to be considered as a minor issue ... From now on I will use my other detectors ( Deus Vanquish ) because I am sure that they will work everywhere ... Yes "wrap in tinfoil" I had this idea too, I will try this thanks .. 🙂 About the weight the Apex weights 1,17kg without cc , not so far from the 1,13kg of the manual. But yes they should learn to weight a detector at Garretts ( and Noktas too ) ...😄

I think I tried singe frequencies but it did not change anything . I will redo a test to be sure about this . However the Apex should work correctly even using MF like the others multifreqs ( Equinox , Vanquish ) do ...

Hi , my answer at

TESTING THE GARRETT APEX ------------------------------- I have followed for the Apex exactly the same procedure already used for the other detectors that I have tested in the past : a) static depth tests , b) field tests . For info I live in the North of France, the soil is low to moderated mineralized there . The iron trash varies from medium to very high. I have used the Apex inland only ( no beach detecting ) During this test, I will compare the Apex with the Vanquish and Deus/Orx that I know very well and which are in the same price category ( Apex 600e ,Vanquish 540 pp 550e, XP Deus Lite/Orx 650e ).. The Deus/Orx are a reference over here. And the Vanquish is a very good machine . So all what needed for a realistic comparison .. 1) First impressions : ---------------------- The Apex is very well built , I like the thin control box which is much more compact than the Vanquish control box. The lithium battery is a plus. The shaft has a little outdated design I would have preferred a telescopic shaft like the Vanquish , but it is easy to mount and seems robust. The Apex weights 1,17kg without the coil cover , 1,23kg with the cc , so more than what indicated in the manual ( 1,13kg ). The Apex 6X 11 coil weights 400grams without the cc , it is a little heavy compared to the Vanquish V10 coil which weights only 360grams. The Apex coil shape is a little unusual , long and narrow , almost rectangular , but this has the advantage to provide an important ground coverage par sweep compared to circular or even elliptical shapes. The Apex is easy to use . The manual is short , only 25 pages this is a good thing. The wireless headphones are very well build, they have no noticeable latency. and they worked well during the test. I just noticed a few drops out but nothing dramatic 2) Static depth tests : ----------------------- 2 depth tests have been done , one using a big copper 10grams coin at 28cm ( 11 inches ) depth , the other using a small 3grams bronze coin at 15cm ( 6 inches ) depth. See pics below. I have always used the MF mode during this test. As I expected the Apex does not hit the big 10grams copper coin at 11 inches , so the Apex does not go as deep as for example a Vanquish plus the V12 coil. This is due to the small width (6inches ) of the Apex coil and it is quite logical. However the Apex hits the small 3 grams coin at 6inches , the same result as the Vanquish and Deus so a good result. I noticed at this moment that the Apex audio signals on targets ( coins for example ) are quite sharp. Actually I found them too sharp , as if there was a little iron in all the coins that I was testing. The Apex audio is a little unusual and I would have preferred softer signals actually .. So conclusion of this part the depth tests are ok , the Apex audio is a little surprising with these sharp signals on targets , but probably just a matter of a few hours detecting to get used to it .. 3) Field tests : ---------------- I have tested the Apex at 3 different locations, where I always go when testing new detectors : - a plowed field which has been occupied by a camp hospital during the 1st WW. So quite a lot of iron trash ,plus aluminium fragments , etc .. and interesting things like buttons, buckles , etc .. - a wood near a small town containing medieval artefacts among a very high density of iron trash - others fields near a big town Total detecting time : 8 hours 3.1) plowed field : ------------------- I went 3 times in this field with the Apex. During the 1st outing everything went ok . Actually I do not like the Apex audio ,I find it not enough accurate compared to the Vanquish/Deus and too sharp on targets as I said above . And the Vanquish VDIs are much more accurate that the Apex VDIs .. Then I started to have serious troubles with the Apex .. 😬 During the next outings done in this field there I have been constantly bothered by FALSE SIGNALS. The Apex was randomly beeping while no target under the coil. There are power lines quite close to the field but I have never had such pbs pb here with other detectors Equinox , Vanquish and Deus. During the 3rd outing in this field I have even decided to leave the area after 15 minutes because it was impossible to detect due to the erratic signals. 3.2) wood : ----------- The outing in this wood has been more positive.I had very few false signals there and the Apex did a good job in this area infested by little ferrous. I even found a nice medieval buckle missed by the other detectors. I have appreciated the 11X6 coil which has very good separation abilities . As I said I am not a fan of the Apex audio but it worked ... at least in this area. 🙂 btw it has rained during all the outing , so difficult conditions , and I had no pb with the high hygrometry , a good thing 3.3) other plowed fields : -------------------------- During this outing we tried 2 fields In the first field I had the same pb as above , false signals again .. There was a gsm antenna not far , perhaps this could explain the pb . But not justify it , because other detectors work very well here .. It went better in the second field where I found 2 coins. My friend found 3 coins with his Deus . So quite a good result for the Apex here.. One more thing I do not like with the Apex , the backlight activation. To activate it the menu button must be pressed 6 times, then the + button 1 time ,. Total 7 times ... Same thing for desactivating it.... On the Vanquish 540 you just have to press one time the dedicated button it is far simpler , I usually just need the backlight a few seconds to check the VDI , so the Apex backlight is almost unusable for me ... The Apex should have a dedicated backlight button .. CONCLUSION --------------- At the moment I have decided to stop the Apex tests because of this important 'false signal" issue . This is not normal that the Apex cannot be used at places where other detectors work perfectly well. 😒 I have never experienced a pb like this actually. I do not know where it comes from, EMI or others ... I have informed my dealer about this pb and he will contact Garrett. I hope I will have news on this soon.. and a solution to fix that pb , so that I can restart the tests. btw I have tried all the settings to get rid of the "false signals" issue , reducing the sensitivity , ground balancing , changing the channel , etc ... With no results up to now ... I think that the pb is more related to the Apex electronics/software or coil design ... Future will tell

The Vanquish 340 is lighter than the Simplex. The 340 weights around 1,2kg while the Simplex weights around 1,4kg. Part of the difference comes from the coil weights , the Vanquish V10 coil weights only 360 grams while the Siimplex 11 coil weights 480grams. This makes an important difference . At the moment the lighter machines are the XP Orx ( 750 grams) and XP Deus ( 850 grams ). If you have a tennis elbow using a harness like the Minelab harness could be a good idea whatever the detector you use.

Hi , I agree with Chase, the Orx is perfect on iron trashed areas. Concerning the settings I use COIN FAST mode , 14khz on low to medium iron trashed areas , 30khz on high iron trashed areas. I rarely use 50khz because of the important depth loss. For info I have a white 9i HF coil I know a little the T2, it is a very good machine , I used the FA mode when I had mine , very efficient on iron trashed areas .. but monotone .. Happy hunting ... BTW I have just seen that this is an old thread dating from 2019 .. So I am a little late on this ... 🙂

And the Vanquish is just the opposite , a VW pink beetle look-a-like with a Porsche motor in it .... 😀 ... Honestly I prefer the pink beetle with the Porsche motor .. 🙂