palzynski

Yes I agree with you Steve there is an optimum coil for a given target size. Concerning the air tests they are too far from the field results, so I do not do them any more it is a waste of time to my opinion. So I just keep on doing ground tests with my boxes filled with mild ground . I have been doing these tests since several years now , and the max depth I measured with VLFs for a big coin is around 11/12 inches , so very similar results as GB_amateur's and yours ... Btw from what I saw in other threads , only PIs go deeper , 15/16inches for a big coin with a TDI GB off . And it looks like the impulse AQ will be rather in the 20inches range for such a big coin We will know very soon now .. . 🙂 Of course with reduced iron disc capabilities for the PIs ..

The ORX is very similar in terms of performances ( depth , separation ) to the Deus . Just it is simpler to use for a beginner . 12 modes on the Deus can be a mess for a beginner… On the ORX there are only 4 modes : 2 coin 2 gold and the necessary settings thats all. And at 700e with the ORX you have a control box , more fun to use than the small buttons of the Deus Lite headphones ( WS4 or WS5 ) .. I just found that the Deus "fulltones" audio is missing on the Orx , it is limited to only 3 tones …

I never tried the elliptical 9.5 HF coil , however I have been using for several years now the 9 white HF coil on my DeuS WS4. For gold hunting I do not know but for coin shooting it is a great coil , perhaps the best coil that XP has ever made up to now …And ultra light , the 9 HF coil itself weights 320grams plus 20grams for the battery at the top of the lower shaft. The only thing to remember is to use 14khz freq on low iron trashed areas, and switch to 30khz on trashy areas. Concerning the depth perfo , probably the 9i HF coil will be a little deeper than the elliptical 9.5 on large nuggets . It is just a guess ..

Yes I agree with you , after hundreds of hours detecting with the ML explorer , Eq 800 , now the Vanquish 540, I still find the ML multifreqs audio a little complex , they "talk" all the time compared to other brands like Tesoro , Xp , Teknetics and so on . ML multifreqs are not really "silent search" machines … 🙂 Probably a lack of audio filtering on the irons . However when you get used to them they are very good machines , very sensiitive to targets of all sizes , from tiny to bigger ones . This is why I have a Vanquish 540 plus the 3 coils … Just my opinion

In fact the lower shafts are carbon shafts that I made myself to save weight. Like the middle shaft which is also a handmade carbon shaft . My Vanquish 540 / V10 coil only weights 1,06 kg with carbon lower/mid shafts and 4 lithium AA batteries ( instead of 1,2kg before modif ) , see pics below … carbon lower shaft dimensions : length 630mm , ext diameter 19mm , thickness 1mm / weight 70grams carbon mid shaft dimensions : length 500mm , ext diameter 22mm , thickness 1mm / weight 50grams

COMPARATIVE DEPTH TEST OF THE V8 V10 V12 COILS ( VANQUISH 540 ) : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have just received my V10 coil so I could do a comparative depth test of the 3 Vanquish coils on my test boxes. This on my usual targets , a big copper coin 10g at 30cm ( 12inches ) and a small bronze coin 2g at 17cm ( 7 inches ). The boxes ground is moderately mineralized and free of iron targets. A) Depth test / 10g copper coin at 12 inches : 1st. 540 V12 : A quite clean signal / high tone 2nd. 540 V10 : A weaker signal / high tone 3rd. 540 V8 : No signal B) Depth test / 2g bronze coin at 7 inches : 1st. 540 V10 : A sharp signal / medium tone 2nd. 540 V12 : A less clean signal / medium tone 3rd. 540 V8 : A weaker signal / medium pitched tone So a little conclusion from this quick test : the V12 is the most sensitive coil to big coins say from 5grams and more , and the V10 the most sensitive coil to small coins say from 1gram to 5grams. About the V8 I have no specific test with very small targets but I have some experience with it on the field and I know that the V8 is very sensitive to very small shallow targets like shotgun pellets. There is nothing really new with this , of course there is a link between the coil size and the target size , but I wanted to confirm this with the Vanquish .. From my standpoint , as I usually look the more often for small coins between 2 and 5 grams , clearly the V10 coil is the most interesting for me. It is a powerful coil , lighter than the V12, I expect very good results with it on the field … Coils other infos : - Vanquish coil sizes / weights ( without coil cover ) V12 : 12in X 10in / 440 grams V10 : 10in X 8in / 360 grams V8 : 8in X 6in / 310 grams

I would not recommend the wm08 little box , I had often drops out ( short loss of transmissions ) with it and I am not the only one noticing this .... I do not use it any more . I prefer using the ML80 Wireless headphones which are very reliable even if they are less reactive due to a little greater lag.

As it is not documented by ML I will forget about powering my Vanquish with a power bank for the moment 🙁 , I will carry on using lithium AA batteries even they are not rechargeable, 15 hours autonomy with the lithium is quite good 🙂 ... Concerning the battery vs li ion reliability, actually since I use my Vanquish I had a few accidental power shutdowns due to little impacts , for example when putting the detector down on the ground before digging . I suppose that such micro impacts move the batteries a little bit just enough to stop the electronics. I have added a piece of foam between the batteries and the cover to block the batteries ( see pics below ) and it looks like it has solved the pb. I would not have had this issue with a li ion battery I think ..

Nice chart , just 2 things. .. First concerning the weights, in the "real world" the Vanquish 540 + V12 coil weights 1,32kg , the Simplex 1,42kg . This would give 1 Apex , 2 Equinox Vanquish , 3 Simplex+ And I would have added a "battery type' item , li ion or AA batteries , with of course a plus for the detectors powered by a li ion battery ( Simplex, Apex , Equinox ) and a minus for the Vanquish ...

Thanks El Nino , actually I was interested running the Vanquish only from a powerbank ( without AA batteries ) because I think that a single battery is usually more reliable than 4 , mainly because of the limited number of electrical contacts ( 2 instead of 8 ) So you get the same result as me , logical . However I will not complain to ML about this as there is no reference to the usb port use in the Vanquish manual 🙂.... So the end user is not supposed to use this usb port I imagine .

Thx , still does not work on mine. I will ask to the ML support over here in France ..

I tried this , a USB connected to a computer but it does not work either ..weird

This question comes from an other thread however I preferred to move it here… Actually I have plugged a powerbank ( 2200mAh ) in my Vanquish usb port and the Vanquish does not power on , nothing happens … I do not understand why it works on your Vanquish and not on mine ...😩

Yes the only thing I do not like on the Vanquish is the 4AAs power system. A li/ion integrated battery would have been lighter , more reliable with a much more compact control box. Actually I am wondering if the Vanquish USB port could not be used for powering the Vanquish so that the AA batteries could be replaced with a li/ion powerbank ..

Just for info concerning the detectors weights ; I measured 1,42kg incl. the coil cover for the Simplex+ ( instead of 1,3kg from the Nokta specs above) . And 1,33kg for the Vanquish 540 V12 incl. the coil cover ( 1,3kg from the ML specs above )

80 grams makes an important "sweeping ergonomy" difference when this weight is located at the end of the shaft ( for me anyway … 🙂 ) . Actually I am trying to find the best Vanquish detector/coil combination for general detecting for me and perhaps this could be the 540 +the V10 coil ( to be confirmed on the field ). Concerning the money, as I sold my Equinox with 2 coils I can afford to test all the Vanquish coils … 🙂 But I would have preferred that the 540 at 440e was proposed with a V10 coil as stock coil rather than the V12 which is the bigger one . Or that ML offers the choice between the coils , as XP does with the Deus or the Orx .. I dont know why ML did this V12 choice with the 540 , this while the 340 and the 440 are proposed with the V10 coil ...weird ... But probably the most interesting thing I learnt from this test is that a"low cost" V340 at 240e seems to perform as well as much more expensive machines, ( for coin hunting on mild soils I mean) , so at this price it is clearly a bargain … And even the 440 at 340e will be a very good choice , except for those who need wireless headphones who will go for the 540 ..

COMPARING THE VANQUISH 540 V12 WITH THE VANQUISH 340 V10: I had the occasion to borrow a Vanquish 340 from a friend who bought it just a month ago . I had the time to do my usual depth tests on my test boxes , and measure the detector/coil weights. DEPTH TESTS : ( the ground is moderately mineralized ) : - 10grams copper coin at 11inches : The 340 V10 detects it with a slight high pitched signal , so very good news because this coin is deep. The 540 V12 is a little deeper which is normal because of the bigger size of the V12 coil. - 2grams bronze coin at 6inches: The 340 V10 detects it with a sharp medium signal, the same result as the 540 V12 actually. An excellent result for a 240e entry level machine ... 🙂 WEIGHTS : Vanquish 340 V10 : 1160grams ( without coil cover ) Vanquish 540 V12 : 1250grams ( without cc ) - V12 coil : 440 grams without cc , 500 grams incl cc - V10 coil : 360 grams without cc , 400 grams incl cc - V8 coil : 310 grams without cc , 340 grams incl cc Then the V10 coil is 80 grams lighter than the V12 ! This makes a big difference knowing that the V10 is close to the V12 in terms of depth perfos . Actually I found the V12 a little heavy after 2 or hours detecting .. And the V10 should do better than the V12 on iron trashed areas because of a lower iron masking ... Following this test I have ordered the V10 coil for my Vanquish 540 , I am waiting forward to use it on the field ...

Actually I have been working a long time in a software development company so I know it takes time (then money ) for implementing software functionalities , even simple ones … So I think that ML has decided to limit the functionalities of the Vanquish to be able to offer it at a competitive price, starting from 340e. But only ML could answer to this , I do not know if they look at this forum … 🙂 Concerning the Apex I do not know yet... If I have the opportunity to test it , I will follow exactly the same procedure as for the others , bed tests , field tests on different locations. Usually after 15/20 hours of testing I have a good idea of what can do a detector , obviously only for my kind of hunting ( coin/relic hunting in European areas, mild soils , inland).

From what I saw on my test boxes and on the field, 5khz is optimal only for big coins/conductors , say 10grams or more. I do not know the weight of your silvers , but for coins of 5grams or below ,higher freq like 10, 15khz will be better than 5khz. This is the reason why I like the MultiIQ because the machine does automatically the job for you scanning all the freqs … I like the MultiIQ because even if I do not find any big coin , the machine will manage to find a small nice thing so that I am always happy at the end of the day … 🙂

And the results of today's outing with my Vanquish 540 fitted with the V12 coil : 3 coins , one 50 centimes 1922 , the other 10 centimes of the 1920s , and an older liard de France copper coin from the 16th century. All the 3 corroded the soil is acid here, only silver coins are in a good state in this area. The area is a forest close to a little town were I go for testing new machines , the testing area is around 300 X 200 yards , and it is difficult to find new targets here... The soil is sandy , low mineralized , low to medium iron trash. The Vanquish 540 audio is almost the same as the Equinox 800 , so very accurate with an excellent iron disc. The All Metal button helps a lot in case of doubtful signals , the more often it tells you that there is a ferrous under the coil. I very often used my pinpointer today with this big coil , it is of great help to center the targets . Comparing the Vanquish and the Equinox , I would say they obtain very similar results in this area, so a very good result for the Vanquish . I just found the Vanquish V12 coil a little heavy after 2 hours detecting , so I will probably order the V10 coil to lighten the machine while keeping good depth performances.

Perhaps a Nuremberg token, or a 16th 15th hammered copper coin but I could not identify it because too damaged. All the coins of this area date from 16 15th century. Yes the Vanquish is really a "fun to use" machine like Bashin was saying in an other thread , he found the right words actually ... 🙂 Fun to use and powerful . Actually I sold my Equinox 800 yesterday to a friend who will use it for rivers prospecting and beach Hunting. I will just keep 2 detectors , my Deus HF and the Vanquish 540 ., it is enough for what I am doing .. Actually we did some depth tests yesterday he was impressed by the Vanquish , and this guy is very experienced ( 25 years detecting ) ... btw the lithium batteries duration is around 15hours on the Vanquish

🙁 .. Actually my monofreq initial question was asked to Chase … I understand that you Steve spend a lot of time answering to all the questions to all these people with over 13000 posts since 2013. Actually I wonder how you succeed to manage all these things in this forum .. 🙂 I never required any answer from anybody in this forum. If it takes too much time or bothering or whatever , just do not answer . And If I can help by answering to others questions , I will continue , unless you do not want it .. Just do not want to bother anyone ...

In fact this is what I was going to answer to Steve , If I had to use a single freq on a given area containing bricks , hot rocks , ferrrous I would switch to my Deus HF , because of its very efficient audio on such difficult areas . Yes I agree with Steves "For me the single frequencies are more useful for what they do not detect than what they detect". Using an Equinox at 5khz will probably be interesting for searching big targets ( cache Hunting for example ) , because it éliminates small undesirable targets .

Ok you use monofreq for gold prospecting and prevent EMI . Btw on a big coin at 11inches depth on my test box I have noticed that the Equinox 5khz freq is a little better than Multi . But I prefer to use the Equinox Multi on the field because I do not want to miss small targets like a small hammered coin even if I am rather looking for medium/big coins in a given area . I am not a gold propector and usually few EMI where I go , so always on Multi . One of the reasons why I like the Vanquish because I do not really need this single freq feature ...

I always use the Multi mode on my Equinox to benefit of the advantages of both high and low freq at the same time.. I very rarely use the single freq mode .. Why do you use the monofreq on your Equinox ? I am quite curious on this thanks .. Otherwise you are right we will have a better idea of the APex ergonomy after having tried it on the field .. BTW I have just looked the Garret Apex official video today . Very nice video , very clear , they have done a great job with this video. I like the Apex audio which looks to be more stable and silent between targets than the MLs Equinox and Vanquish . To be confirmed on the field ...