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Just wondering when the SMF comes out.

I recently picked up a Garrett Ace Apex with 3 coils for a very good price locally. This is the second one I have owned. I spent the last few weeks doing some indoor and outdoor tests as well as some park hunting to get reacquainted with it. I stated on the Garrett forum that I would give the Apex another chance and do some infield testing against the Equinox and Simplex and report back. I had a chance to spend about 5 hours at a relic site over the weekend and do just that. The site has had mixed usage since the late 1850’s and includes Military artifacts as well as more modern house site items. The site has been hammered over the last 6 decades and so I thought it would be the perfect test. Ground is 4-5 bars on the F75 and is for the most part loaded with iron except farther out where we will usually just find fired .58 cal bullets, shotgun and .22 brass. I started with the Apex 8.5 x 11 coil out where we usually just find bullets running MF, custom program where everything is accepted over 20 and sensitivity all the way up. My goal was to just see if I could find bullets, no comparisons were done. I quickly found out the sensitivity was too high as I got a lot of false signals and chased a few ghost signals. Once turned down 1 bar the Apex ran smooth. I managed to find 4 .58 cal bullets and a few .22 and shotgun brass. Deepest bullet was 6 inches and was a very jumpy signal. I’ve done a video in the past digging bullets with the Apex in this same area if you want to see it you can find it in the Garrett forum. It’s under 10 things I like and 5 I don’t like about the Apex. Unlike the Equinox in this same area, the Apex has a real hard time identifying deep large targets vs small .22 brass. The signals are jumpy in both regards and hard to determine depth. Next I moved to an area close by that has produced quite a few buttons and dropped bullets in the past. The area is very trashy in places with glass shards and square nails. I used the Equinox 800 with the 11” coil running Park 1, 50 tones, iron bias F2 0, recovery 4, Multi and sensitivity 22. The Equinox 600 can be setup exactly the same way. I proceeded to mark 8 targets that came in at as low as 1 up to the highest being 15 on the Equinox. All of these targets were located in the trashy areas. The Simplex 11” coil Park 2 was able to see all but 2 targets, one being a small pewter button about 3 inches deep the other being a fired percussion cap also about 3 inches deep. The Apex 8.5 x 11 coil unfortunately was only able to see 2 targets. The first being a large pewter button maybe and 1 inch deep the other being a fired percussion cap on the surface. A small Navy cuff button laying on the surface (that only read 1 on the Equinox) was surprising invisible to the Apex. Granted there were a lot of iron signals around it. Last area, the house site. This time I started with the Simplex 11” coil running park 2. Now I know what some of you are going to say. Why use the larger coils in trashy sites? I wanted to see what the stock coils would do, I consider the 8.5 x 11 the stock coil for the Garrett machines. Yes I may have gotten better results with the Apex using a smaller coil. Anyway, I located and marked 4 targets with the Simplex. The Equinox was able to see all 4 but did struggle with one, all explain in a minute. The Apex was able to see 3 out of the 4, but was totally blind to the one the Equinox struggled with. Target 1 was a modern penny about 1 inch deep and was not a problem for any of the detectors. Target 2 was a small piece of decorative brass about 2 inches deep which all the detectors saw. But the Apex numbers were all over the place where as the Equinox was a solid 14 and the Simplex a solid 44. Target 3 turned out to be a 1929 S wheat penny at 5 inches deep. The Simplex read 66-68 and could get the signal as I rotated all the way around it. The Equinox struggled, first direction I tried got nothing but iron grunts. But as I rotated around it, I started to get a choppy signal that would bounce up to about 17. The Apex got nothing but iron grunts no matter what I tried. Signal 4 turned out to be a 1946 dime at about 3 inches and was a good solid signal on all the detectors. I also located 2 old clay marbles while I was walking around the house site. In a relic hunting scenario, the Equinox and Simplex have a clear advantage over the Apex. The Apex likes round objects and does the best on them and has a fairly accurate ID. Odd shapes are not it’s strong point for sure. But for someone who only wants to dig coins, it could be great. I will also say that of the 3 the Apex was most comfortable to swing and I think I like the wireless headphones the best on the Apex. In the future I plan to take the same 3 machines to a ghost town and the beach to see how they stack up against each other. I will say that the more I use the Simplex the more I see just how great a value this machine is. For the money you can’t beat it.

Been using the Simplex with the SP 24 for a year now and have done really well with it, especially in trashy areas. Just won an xp orx which came with the hf elliptical coil and I just ordered a 9 inch x 35 coil. Detected a couple of places with the orx and it doesn’t seem to separate out the trash that is close to a coin like the Simplex. I’m wondering if the x35 coil I’m getting can be setup to do as well as the simplex in trashy areas. Thank, Jim

In a recent interview Dilek of NM said the company has no plans of making a concentric coil for the Simplex unless they get enough requests/feedback from the customer base that they’d like to have one and would buy it. So, how many of you would buy one if one were available and what size do you think would be best. If you don’t want to write anything, at least give a thumbs up to the idea if you like it so NM can get an idea of the demand or lack thereof for such a coil. I’m going to suggest a 9.5” coil. The benefits of a concentric coil are that in lower mineralization they tend to ID better, pinpoint better, and inch for inch give you more depth than a DD.

This may require some out of the box thinking. In a relatively recent interview with DetectorShop Italia Dilek said there are future plans for the Simplex that she couldn’t discuss right now. Sounds pretty intriguing given that NM is an innovative company. What are your guesses about what the future might hold for the Simplex given that we know they have no desire to make it any more complex. This should tell us the plans aren’t necessarily feature driven. Then again…I do believe it was Dilek who had also discussed the idea that high end machines could be made more affordable by breaking them down into a series of software packages. For a beginner, once you outgrow a startup package you could buy progressively more advanced packages, growing with the machine and paying for it in more affordable increments. The Simplex may also be powerful enough to run as a two box attachment similar to that of the Garrett GTI-2500. What do you think might be the possible future of the Simplex? I know it doesn’t get us anywhere to speculate, but I think it’s fun to think about and see what people come up with. Over time we see how it ages.

Trying to download updated software from makro website to simplex detector, in order to be able to use 9.5x5 coil. Not able to update. Downloaded app, but wont find the detector, wont update detector. Anyone else had this issue?

Looks like the new SP35 12.5”x13.5” coil is about to become available in the US according to Big Boys Hobbies. It’s been available in the UK for a bit now. Looks like a coil I might like to have. I grew very fond of the Detech Ultimate 13 for my V3i, and considered one for Simplex, but can’t get past the white color. Instantly I become annoyed at white coils for black machines and wonder what on earth for…. Anyway, that’s my own OCD issue. The SP35 looks like a reasonable alternative. Who else is considering it, and why?

What a surprise, the Simplex getting better.........Dilek mentions the update at the end of the video

I see a lot of comparisons between the Simplex and other mid price/mid level machines out there like the F75, AT Pro, etc. These days it may be possible to find a used F75, AT Pro, etc for the price of a new Simplex or close. Maybe even with an extra small coil. Like a 5” DD or a 5x8. Throw in buying an extra coil for the Simplex and maybe even price. Simplex I think only 2 year warranty, so that will be gone eventually , non user/field replaceable battery. There are tons of arguments either way, more coil availability, supporting a US company (although buying second hand), Garrett and Fisher get back to you quickly and service pretty darn good even if you bought used. I’m not a fan of my ACE300. It works. Just tones and buttons, display, not for me. So guessing the AT Pro would not be for me either. I love my F22 however. Guessing a bit different from the F75 but perhaps tones, VDI, etc is similar. I hear good things about how well balanced it is, was a benchmark in its day. I already have a 600 multi and Seahunter pulse and most of my hunting is in midwest parks and homesites so waterproof/salt not necessary. Although weatherproof is nice for rain! Would you get the used F75 or the Simplex? Better yet, would you trade a Simplex for an F75 if the right deal came along? (I have a Simplex already but waiting for warm weather). Would anyone even make that trade? Thanks for your thoughts.

I get these finds every day. They are impressive. https://www.noktadetectors.com/the-best-selling-detector-of-the-year-continues-to-astonish/

Had a gent call me and wanted to talk about how to get his Ravin crossbow set up correct. The discussion wandered to a few other things bow hunting related. One topic came up was he was using these lighted nocks on his crossbow bolts. These things he uses cost $20 each. The reason he uses them is there are some expensive horses that share the field where’s he hunts deer a lot. He hunts off the ground hence bolt trajectory being flatter after a shot can make finding shot bolt difficult. And sure doesn’t want to leave a bolt with sharp broadhead in field very long. So I recommended he get himself a metal detector, namely the Simplex for its costs, waterproofing and coil size and collapsibility and to discontinue the buying of the expensive lighted nocks.. Told him what Simplex cost. He pulled up on Amazon while he was talking to me and liked what he saw. So there you go I might just have sold a detector and maybe even got someone new into the hobby. Just thought I would share. Cheers.

Just ran across this video. It blew my mind. Didn't know this was even possible. It only works for coins. My Nox and Vanquish struggle with this because they tend to pinpoint on the outside edge of the coils. The SP24 coil works better than the SP28. Wonder if the Deus or other detectors work the same?

Greetings All, Has anyone switched to a carbon fiber lower shaft for their Simplex? I've read a few posts about people switching over to them, but do they make that much of a difference?

looking to see what the best settings to use to find deep targets

A coil issue has been found in the first U.K. deliveries of the Simplex. Some, not all, detectors have exhibited false signals after the coil gets wet. Existing customers that experience the problem can get the coil replaced. Nokta/Makro has identified the cause and is purging the bad coils from the supply line. This may result in delivery delays as the situation is being addressed. As far as I know no U.S. deliveries have been made yet, and this may delay those deliveries for those with orders already in place. Proving once again that waiting a bit is not a bad idea when new detectors come out.

Hi Folks, First Post on any site,first metal detector. Reaching out to the more experienced detectorists to ask if anyone has seen or heard of problems with the Nokta Simplex +. Last August I purchased my first detector ,a Nokta Simplex. The Battery was at 3 bars ,half charge, when taken out of the box. My job of 140 hours a week, never allowed me to go detecting once last Summer. I put the detector in the closet . Yesterday I got it out to look it over and charge it and it still had 3 bars. I properly connected the charging cord and charged it 3 hours. It still only had 3 bars. So I turned it on and let the battery decharge until it showed no Bars and exclamation point. I hooked it back up to charge and gave it 3 hours. To my disappointment it would not take a charge at all ! Is this Detector known to have battery problems ? The battery cannot be replaced by me, only factory. This was my biggest fear of an internal battery. I am thinking maybe for all its hype. It being a good dependable detector. Very dissappointed that before I even have a chance to try this exciting new hobby I am pretty negative. $300+ Dollars wasted ? Any help from you folks would be so appreciated. Tim

Hello I have a simplex + that's almost a yr old I love it but recently it's giving me a hard time when charging it.. Seems to be a short in the adapter that has prongs on it. Has anyone else had issues with this? I'm so frustrated...

Well after over a year since selling my last detector I have re-entered the game again. I was intrigued by the Nokta Makro Simplex+ so I bit after watching and reading reviews. I have been a loyal Kellyco customer over the years so I saw they had a package deal with the WHP and PulseDive pin-pointer. I know that’s a Nokta package but Kellyco has always been good to me. It came today and I got the headphones and pin-pointer wirelessly hooked in and all systems charged. My previous systems have been a Garrett ACE 250, XP Deus, Nokta Fors CoRe and now a Simplex+. Looking to get to know this machine in the field.

Anyone observed on full charge without use how long it takes the battery to deplete to maybe 1/2 charge? Wondering the dormant time on the battery and if it should be stored full charge or depleted somewhat?

I have just purchase and received the Simplex +. This detector is a upgrade addition to my already collection of detectors. Thanks to all for the ID information that has been posted here. This will help me a lot. I have never had a detector with a DD coil before so I am trying to get use to how it react to coins. To all that has purchase the Simplex + has anyone notice the screen icons flicking or has a heylo look on the screen? I notice this two days ago when I was out detecting. I have already been blessed on my first outing with the Simplex and found a 1943 Walking Liberty Half Dollar. My first ever. I was just shocked. That's all for now. Everyone have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and stay safe...

I see NEL will be releasing a full coil range for the Simplex in December, should make it an even more versatile detector than it already is. https://nel-coils.com/index.php/en/the-news Also noticed that Detect-Ed is now making carbon fibre lower shafts for the SImplex, resolving the issue of lower shaft flex. https://www.detect-ed.com/collections/carbon-shafts/products/simplex-carbon-shaft

Kellyco seems to be selling the Simplex with Green wireless headphones and Pulsedive PP for $340. I just got one of the Pulsedives for my Nokta machines and have to say it is incredibly stable. Not as sensitive to tiny stuff like micro gold or foil bits but overall an awesome pointer. They work very well with the wireless headphones. Thought I would pass this on, I'm sure other dealers will probably have the same/similar offer.

Just before fall in Sept, sent my Simplex to my nephew in the US as he wanted to get started in metal detecting. Gave him the newest 8.5 round DD coil. Still had a spare Simplex control box sitting here and the new 5x9 coil. Decided to make a project out of it. Thought I would make a custom handle for it to attach to a round tube straight shaft. Its super lightweight with 4 thick rock hard coats of epoxy. By the way, its a perfect, comfortable fit for my hand. A project to keep me busy on those rainy days. Recently finished it off with 5 coats of spray on Truck Bedliner paint. The new handle was mounted on a round tube straight shaft with a White's lower rod.. Still have to tidy things up a bit. A higher sitting Bounty Hunter arm cuff was attached, making everything fit and feel very comfy. Overall now balances better, feels lighter and easier to swing than the stock straight shaft.

I was thinking about getting another coil for my Simplex and I was just wondering if any of you have tried either one? Kellyco has both for a little over a hundred but show a coil cover for them is 12 dollars . The only thing it said about the coils that they were DD coils. I’m more into coin hunting with this detector so I’m thinking 8.5 but like to hear from anyone that has one are the other. Heck post your opinion even if you don’t have any. Chuck