glacialgold

14 hours ago, Hombre91 said:

I wonder how long before they offer better coil options with initial purchase

Those larger coils seem to be standard issue with entry level detectors, from what I'm seeing:

Garrett Ace: 11x8.5
Minelab Vanquish and X-Terra Pro: 12x9

The Legend is right there with Minelab with the LG30 12x9, and it was the LG 28 11" previously.

Frankly, I'd prefer the LG24 as the stock coil if was I starting all over again, but apparently the manufacturers must see a preference in users wanting a larger stock coil on their new machine.

Or maybe there's a large enough of a market for accessory coils that they expect a high percentage of buyers to make supplemental purchases on those items, who knows?

Wow -- very detailed work!

I'll keep this information in mind should I ever accumulate enough gold/silver jewelry to considering selling for melt value. Thus far I'm only at about 4g gold and 9g silver. So, a long ways to go.

1 hour ago, gilgsn said:

From a newbie's perspective, the VIDs and sound need some interpretation...

Yeah, I spent many hours digging trash and a only a few coins when I started detecting - location was modern schoolyard. Once I internalized the "good" VDIs abnd sounds, got my swing speed refined, and learned how to narrow in on a good target, my trash-to-keeper ratio declined massively.

Welcome from southern Indiana.

In terms of a new quality "turn on and go" detector, I'd say something like the Nokta Score ($379 list price). For another $50, however, the Double Score has more features. Both are simplified versions of the Nokta Legend, which at around $500 competes with top tier machines.

The Garrett Ace series are also good beginner detectors, but you're going to find more capable machines in the Nokta line for a lower price point than the higher end Aces. The Minelab Vanquish series and the XTerra Pro are also cheaper and less pricey than the some of the Ace detectors, yet still have more capability.

For what it's worth, the easiest high-quality/"serious" detector I've ever used is the White's MXT Pro. Three knobs and a couple switches, pretty self-explanatory, and the digital display actually tells you what it thinks the target is. That one is 20+ year-old tech and company no longer exists, so the only sources are in the second-hand marketplace.

6 hours ago, mn90403 said:

Be careful with the toothpick vs putting some super glue on a metal piece.  Did you try the super glue with the paper clip end first?

I tried fishing around in the jack with a paper clip, but couldn't get it to hook on to anything to pull out. Would it have been a better choice to use for super glue delivery vs. a toothpick?

After around 1.5 years detecting, I finally dug gold today!

4.33g 10k women's wedding band found using the MXT Pro (thanks, @Jeff McClendon!) with the 18x4 Detech Arrow at a local sports complex. It was about 2" down, and rang up as Ring, P-tab. Never had any luck previously with those type of signals, but this once sounded super clean and I gave it a shot. Glad I did! 

Testing it at home, the ring registered as a 36-37 on the Legend and a solid 19 on the Nox 800. I would likely have not dug the target on the Legend, but it did land at the very bottom of my "penny" range on the Nox, which would have made it a "maybe" dig.

The thing of it is, digging anything gold was one of my big detecting goals for the year, and I had pretty much given up hope by this point. Lowered expectations = good luck, I guess! 

Well dangit...I couldn't get the broken part out with small tools, and the super glue trick didn't work out. I stuck a small straw inside the jack to hopefully isolate the broken part from the jack wall itself, and then put a toothpick with a small glob of super glue inside and touching the broken adapter piece. End result is the toothpick totally stuck to to the inside of the jack.

After that fail, I put a few drops of acetone in jack to dissolve the super glue, so I guess I'm looking at a fresh start on removing the jam. I probably need finer tools and/or a better technique here.

PI would be interesting to see.

I'm struggling to imagine what they could do in terms of offering at new VLF at a premium price price point. Smaller and ligher alone wouldn't do it (at least for me), and it feels like game-changer improvements on the VLF front are in the rearview mirror.  

Relative newbie here -- some of you guys have been swinging since before I was born! 

2016 I got an Ace 400 and fiddled around with it occasionally. In summer of 2022, I puchased a Nox 800, started putting in regular hours on the machine each week, and found I really, really enjoyed the hobby. I then joined this form, which also amplified my interest in detecting. 

Based upon the discussion in this forum, I picked up a Legend in Fall 2022, and that one has been my primary swing since. I'm probably something like 60% Legend, 30% Nox, 10% MXT Pro at this point. 

On 12/18/2023 at 9:33 PM, JCR said:

I too have really had fun & good success with my recently  aquired MXT. Headphones, as always is a must. 

Definitely need the headphones back in action.

With the MXT external speaker not having any volume control, it's always at max level and makes some, ahh...conspicuous sounds. No cute little bleeps and grunts from this machine, no -- more like a foghorn crossed with a dying cow. The kind of sounds sure to attract the attention of anyone within a say, 200 yard radius.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

I'm going to give the forceps and paperclip suggestions a go, but I'll save the super glue option as a last ditch manuver -- if I miss the target and get glue stuck inside the jack itself, it feels like i'd have a more permanent issue on hand.

2 hours ago, markinswpa said:

The replacements finish did not match the original,

Interesting. The longer cf shaft also didn't match the original in terms of finish -- the original cf mid-shaft has a shiny finish, while the longer version is dull.

2 hours ago, markinswpa said:

I contacted Nokta and was told the problem was with the lower shaft.

Definitely not the lower shaft in my case. I can disconnect the lower shaft entirely and still make the connected cf mid shaft flex slightly and creak by hand with minimal force. Not the case at all with the original aluminum shaft.

2 hours ago, markinswpa said:

Other than that I will say I really enjoy using the machine.

Oh definitely. The wobble and creaking are annoying, but the machine still behaves excellent as always -- it's just hard to get used to the annoyance when the original build was rock solid.

Hi there-

Has anyone else experienced a slight wobble/looseness with the Legend's carbon fiber mid-shaft?

I got the upgrade kit when it first came out and noticed the carbon fiber version didn't feel as "tight" as the original aluminum version. Nothing major, but a noticeable and annoying wobble and creak, especially when swinging quickly or with a larger coil. I ended up going back to the orginal aluminum as a result. Otherwise I was perfectly pleased with the LG30 coil and new armrest, which were the other two components of the upgrade kit.

Just today I got the longer version of the carbon fiber mid-shaft. I ordered it for a couple reasons, first being I find my swing works best with both the Legend shafts as fully extended as they can be without experiencing wobble. I'm not super-tall by any means (6 foot even), but find I'm most comfortable with a wide swing stance and radius. Second reason for purchasing the long version of the mid-shaft was thinking the extra length could be used keep another inch or so of mid shaft inside upper shaft as additional bracing against wobble.

Turns out the latter idea wasn't true. The longer carbon fiber mid shaft wobbles and creaks as much (or even more so) than the regular length one. Even inserting it as back as possible into the upper shaft still feels loose, and I can actually move the shaft back and forth with the lock mechanism fully engaged. This seems weird because the profile of both the carbon fiber and aluminum shaft and their respective ends appear to be identical in shape and size. (I should also add neither version of the cf mid shaft came with plastic or rubber plug that caps off the lower shaft.)

My low tech/temporary solution was to simply insert a couple wooden toothpicks inside the small gap where the mid-shaft locks into the upper shaft and then break them off, leaving the wooden tips in the gap. This method solved most of the wobble and creaking, but feels quite unsatisfactory as a long term fix.

Anyone else have a better soluption?

16 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Is that the MXT Pro I sold you......get that baby fixed!!!!

Sure is!

I've been having a blast with it hitting low trash parks using a 12" concentric coil I picked up on ebay. I had never used a concentric before, and man...the pinpointing with it is a dream. Definitely wanting to get the headphones back up and working in this cold weather.

Slender forceps sound like a viable option. The jack is too small for the needle-nosed pliers I have to fit inside.

Hi there-

I have an odd question and wasn't sure where it put it in the forum. Since the issue occured while coinshooting, I figured I'd drop it here.

Long story short is a cheapie 1/4" headphone adapter broke apart inside the audio jack on my MXT Pro, and a piece of it is still lodged inside the jack. It's not like the adapter snapped off inside  -- it's more like upon attempting to pull it out of the jack, the adapter disassembled into it's component pieces, and the tip portion and a tiny, hollow metal tube protruding out of it is what's stuck inside the jack (I think). Whatever piece(s) is lodged inside is about 1/4" - 1/2" in from the surface of the box.

Like I said, cheap 1/4" adapter from a set of cheap headphones I was trying out.

Good news is the external speaker is still blaring just fine, so the machine isn't out of business by any means. I'd like to have the headphone option functioning, however, and obviously don't want to damage anything in the process.

Is this a problem anyone else has encountered? I'm wipe open to kind kind of solutions you might have.

Thanks!  

I'm on a couple of the Legend Facebook pages and see these update complaints all the time. Maybe it's because the Legend I got has updated seamlessly each time, but my thinking has been that most of these complaints are end user errors on the download or in poor choice of settings in the field.

Although the deluge of these kinds of reports makes me think either there are some problem machines...or there's something more malicious going on like a coordinated smear campaign.

Anyways, I've found the FB groups somewhat informative from time to time -- and the volume of posts and replies is very large -- but the quality and depth available on this forum far surpasses anything on FB. 

@Chase Goldman Excellent comparison test, thanks!

4 hours ago, phrunt said:

So, what's the final verdict by everyone that's bought one, is it worth me getting one?

My overall take is the Accupoint has some nice options (for those who want them or would use them, at least), but it's by no means a game changer.

Biggest positives:

• Pairs with headphones, seamless pairing/switching with the Legend updated to v1.13 
• Screen to indicate setting status, like sensitiviy, Bluetooth off/on, ferrous/non-ferrous signal setting, etc.
• Different tones for ferrous/non-ferrous targets (optional, can set single tone for both, or can elminate non-ferrous from registering entirely)  

Biggest negative:

• Slightly less pinpointing depth (~1/2" on coin-sized targets) compared to the Garrett Carrot, at least in air tests. YMMV depending upon local soil conditions.

Take these notes with a grain of salt, however, since I've mainly only used the Carrot. I do have a Minelab Pro-Find 20 [cough] but find it, ummm..."unpredictable" in terms of its performace on any given day, and easily half as sensitive as the Carrot.

Per @Digalicious and @JCR's recovery speed discussion, I dropped the recovery speed to 4 on the coinshooting Gold mode program and hit a couple of well-trodden parks today.

Quick hunts here since I was detecting between errands, so I can't say anything super definitive. The lower ecovery speed setting did seem to reduce the clipped signals a bit. I also noticed nickels moved back up to center around 25 rather than 23, and quarters locked in at 50/51.

ETA: Yeah, I know the Legend is running in the 20-40kHz range on Gold  and that runs counter to discussion about lowering both recovery speed and freqency, but I figured I'd try out the recovery speed piece on this program since I can't lower the frequency below 20kHz in that mode. 

Welcome, @GooniePirate! Lot's of great stuff here, and you'll find plenty of advice on all kinds of new machines.

With the sun setting so early on DST, I haven't had a chance to go out after work lately for a relaxing bout of coinshooting. As a result, I've been fiddling around with some programs at home, waiting for the right weather and free time to test them out on the ground.

This morning I ducked out before breakfast and tested out a coinshooting program in Gold mode at a nearby schoolyard. I'd noticed in air tests that gold mode had solid depth on coins, and wanted to try make the mode work for coinshooting. So, here's what I tried out:

Gold M
Sensitivity (adjusted in the field, settled at 25)
Recovery speed 6
IF 3 / St 3 / BC 0
AG 2
GB auto
Noise cancel auto
Custom notch, keeping 23-27 and 38-57

The test site was a small section of a schoolyard I've hit many, many times with the Legend, the Nox, and the MXT Pro. Lots of modern clad, a few rings (silver at best), and plenty of aluminum (shredded cans, puil tabs, and small foil) and pencil erasers.

I'm not accustomed to running in Gold mode or pitch tones, so the audio part took a little time to get used to. After an hour of detecting, I pulled a quarter, a dime, 4 nickels, part of zincoln, as well as some aluminum scrap and pencil erasers. Nothing exciting, but still what I call good results for a brief period on hunted ground using new settings. I should add the coil was the LG24.

Normally I run Park M 1/2 in 60 tones all metal, but otherwise similar settings to the ones listed above. In Park and in my soil, nickels center around 25, but can hit at 23 if deep, and sometimes a 26/27 if shallower. In the Gold program, nickels hit at 23/24, and showed 1-3 ferrous bars for some reason. I found pencil erasers sounded great but stayed right at 27. The quarter was a weird one, 2" down and jumping from a 47-55. (I'd typically see quarters at a rock solid 50/51 in Park.) Today's quarter, however, was like 6" from a metal piece of playground equipment, which may account for the odd signal.

Overall, it was a fun experiment, and a chance to learn how the machine behaves differently in Gold mode. I don't think I'd use this program on a new location, but this test indicates it has some merit on previously-worked ground catching targets missed with more traditional settings.

8 hours ago, JCR said:

Why sell it? Keep it & use it for added depth on cleaner ground.

Agreed. Also, true if one has a bit of a coil habit. 😉

One quirk I have noticed with the Accupoint involves volume and headphone pairing.

For some reason, I experience a faint whine/hum when connected to the headphones (or earbuds) at the low volume setting. That same background noise, however, disappears at the high volume setting. Not a big deal at all, and even though the high volume setting is way too loud for my ears, it's easily solved by decreasing the volume on the headphones. And when using the low volume setting, the faint whine/hum isn't a big deal at all.

Anyone else notice this same thing?

After a little time in the field and some air-testing at home, I'm still a big fan of the Accupoint. It does seem be a tad less sensitive in its max sensitivity settings (7-9) than the Carrott at max, but I'm OK with that status since I expect to get fairly close to a coin-sized target in the ground with the first hole.

The chart below is a fun little air test project I did with one of our twins (5th grade) as an exercise regarding the wonderful world of spreadsheets...and pinpointers 😄 The headers rows (two separate tables) are for the pinpointer + sensitivity setting, and reported values are in inches. He did all the measurements and data entry, while I double-checked his work.

Welcome, @Rembrandt! This is a fantastic forum with an abundance of resources, and extremely knowledgeable, helpful members.