Any one using the Simplex on wet salt sand or in the water?

[ejudasf]

This thread is 2 years old, but I used my Simplex yesterday for a couple of hours.

First off, I know that multi-freq machines and pulse machines really shine in the salt water and black sand areas of the beach. I also know that we can't get everything from the ground that has been lost.

With that being said, what I have learned is that there is a lot of trial and error when using a new machine.

So I started with the beach mode, and a ground balance of 0.0. Sensitivity at 3 or 4 bars. The machine was still very chatty, and not comfy using it like that. After some time, decided to see what pin point sounded like. Too loud going toward the wet sand. Very annoying.

Now I tried all metal mode with a threashold. It seemed to be more stable. It was stable in the water, but not while a wave was moving over the coil. Too much falsing. But in the water, it seemed to perform okay. I found a few pieces of rusted, penny sized iron, in the dry, wet, and water. The threshold seemed to have slightly nulled in all 3 instances over the target.

I did not try Park 1. My failure for that, but I will try other setting next time. (Which will be tomorrow)

I'll prolly stick with my Excal and Sov, exclusively at any beach setting. I will continue to 'test' the Simplex+ a few more times before deciding if it should be a backup to the backup in a time wasting situation. But you never know what you will find.

Until next time. Oh!, Im in Jax, FL.

me

 

[C.J.M.]

I used my simplex + on the salt water beach here up in Maine found no issues at all very stable with little to no chatter and supper depth!

Is this the 2.78 simplex and did you ground balance for beach hunting?Thanks CJM

 

[Portagee Diggah]

Hi

I used to have the Tesoro Vaquero and AT Pro.
The Simplex has some nice features that Garret and Tesoro did not.
i.e. Front Light, Vibration Mode, Mute, Iron Volume, and some more that I can not recall right now.
For an Authorized Dealer I have a great experience with El Dorado Metal Detectors ( https://www.eldoradodetectors.com/ ) very nice people.

Best Regards

Adolfo from Monterrey, México.

The extra features don't matter if you don't you them .

 

[Treasurechic]

I live in N.H. and have used my Simplex at the beach 3 times this year. I don't use the stock coil I use the SP22 round coil. Not alot of people use that coil but I love it! It reminds me of my Sovereign coil. Anyway back to the beach! Ground balanced to O and using that coil it runs quiet in beach mode in the wet salt and will find you plenty of targets IF they are actually there. As another member said the technology of the VLF machines today cannot be compared to that if machines from 20 years ago. Many people still assume this to be true. Yes there are definitely some newer VLF detectors out there that flat out stink in salt water but some like the Simplex do very well. All that being said salt water beaches vary just as much as inland soils do so your beach may be a different scenario.

 

[Portagee Diggah]

I'm just getting one for Southcoast of Mass. Hope your advance is helpful.
Keep them coming

 

[ejudasf]

Is this the 2.78 simplex and did you ground balance for beach hunting?Thanks CJM

I did ground balance to 0. And the machine is version 2.78 with the stock coil.

 

[Portagee Diggah]

Haven't gotten anything in wet sand . Ground balanced to zero and got only false signals. What gives. False advertising.

 

[vlad]

I did a search on beach and salt in the Simplex forum and am not finding much at all. Would like to hear how it does over wet salt sand and wading in the salt water if anyone has done so. It seems that if it does OK, it may be an easy to pack back up detector for when I fly places ... once things open up again.
Also may be a possible good start for the grand kids too.

People seriously overstate saying a single frequency VLF will not work in wet salt: maybe not as proficiently as a multi but they get the job done, If there is a beach mode that normally cuts down a little on the front end (transmit power.) In discriminate add a little iron discriminate to null out the wet salt, The Fisher 1280X Aquanaut works great and is very little affected by wet salt or harsh mineral., because of working at 2,75 kHz, but is not going to be super sensitive to thin band gold rings though. Back in the day the Tek 9000/8500 & Mk-1 were really good as was the Fisher 1260 and Whites 5000D, The Compass X-100 could be chattery if you cranked the transmit and sensitivity up (it was a higher frequency) and we kept it cut down. The biggest cause of chatter is cranking it up too high. And going back even more the VLF-TR worked in salt too. The only unit that did not was the BFO. Doing the ground balance neutral or a slightly negative will smooth it out and a "double ground balance" of adding some iron reject will cut out the positive effect of salt and should have you up and running. Set your sensitivity lower than where you usually run it starting out. It might help to use a little faster swing too. (The old PRG or Phase Readout Gradiometer TID was a TR-ib invented by some NASA engineers to find Spanish gold on Florida beaches and came out in '72, and would hit a quarter at almost 12" on low mineral beaches and this was before any motion circuit was invented. If it had black sand forget it, but in low mineral worked just fine.)

 

[tvr]

People seriously overstate saying a single frequency VLF will not work in wet salt: maybe not as proficiently as a multi but they get the job done, If there is a beach mode that normally cuts down a little on the front end (transmit power.) In discriminate add a little iron discriminate to null out the wet salt, The Fisher 1280X Aquanaut works great and is very little affected by wet salt or harsh mineral., because of working at 2,75 kHz, but is not going to be super sensitive to thin band gold rings though. Back in the day the Tek 9000/8500 & Mk-1 were really good as was the Fisher 1260 and Whites 5000D, The Compass X-100 could be chattery if you cranked the transmit and sensitivity up (it was a higher frequency) and we kept it cut down. The biggest cause of chatter is cranking it up too high. And going back even more the VLF-TR worked in salt too. The only unit that did not was the BFO. Doing the ground balance neutral or a slightly negative will smooth it out and a "double ground balance" of adding some iron reject will cut out the positive effect of salt and should have you up and running. Set your sensitivity lower than where you usually run it starting out. It might help to use a little faster swing too. (The old PRG or Phase Readout Gradiometer TID was a TR-ib invented by some NASA engineers to find Spanish gold on Florida beaches and came out in '72, and would hit a quarter at almost 12" on low mineral beaches and this was before any motion circuit was invented. If it had black sand forget it, but in low mineral worked just fine.)

I've done well with some single freq detectors. DetectorPro Underwater with the big coil has pulled some very deep targets up for me; like the 1280X it runs a lower frequency (2.4 kHz). My biggest complaint with that detector is that the audio needs low signal boosting. It is very hard to hear the faints; the detector detects things well but they get lost in the ambient sound of wind and wave.
Have also done well with the F75 over wet salt sand running in all metal. It is essential to keep ground balance spot on with it though. I can find some fairly deep targets.

Have you tried a Simplex? I keep thinking about getting one to try, but I've got a couple walls with detectors hanging up on them and would need to either sell some or clear out a space to hang more.

 

[vlad]

I've done well with some single freq detectors. DetectorPro Underwater with the big coil has pulled some very deep targets up for me; like the 1280X it runs a lower frequency (2.4 kHz). My biggest complaint with that detector is that the audio needs low signal boosting. It is very hard to hear the faints; the detector detects things well but they get lost in the ambient sound of wind and wave.
Have also done well with the F75 over wet salt sand running in all metal. It is essential to keep ground balance spot on with it though. I can find some fairly deep targets.

Have you tried a Simplex? I keep thinking about getting one to try, but I've got a couple walls with detectors hanging up on them and would need to either sell some or clear out a space to hang more.

The Headhunter is a improved copy of the1280X and at the same frequency: I just want more than a beep and dig now. (Do not know why I keep saying it is 2,75kHz like the V3i) I wondered about the Headhunter with the big DD--I had a Diver before. I normally use a CZ-70 or 3D literally everywhere. I am considering a Simplex and a Legend or EQ to take back to the Philippines, EVERYONE there is crazy about finding gold from WW2. (I hate to burst their bubble but the US took 20 tons from their Treasury out on a sub the USS Trout.) And there is serious prospecting there--and no detectors, and I have a F-19 to take back now. Anything I do not need I can sell for a nice profit. My limit of detectors depends on what I can put in checked baggage, Wish I had my MXT back too.

 

[vlad]

I've done well with some single freq detectors. DetectorPro Underwater with the big coil has pulled some very deep targets up for me; like the 1280X it runs a lower frequency (2.4 kHz). My biggest complaint with that detector is that the audio needs low signal boosting. It is very hard to hear the faints; the detector detects things well but they get lost in the ambient sound of wind and wave.
Have also done well with the F75 over wet salt sand running in all metal. It is essential to keep ground balance spot on with it though. I can find some fairly deep targets.

Have you tried a Simplex? I keep thinking about getting one to try, but I've got a couple walls with detectors hanging up on them and would need to either sell some or clear out a space to hang more.

Is the Simplex good for gold nuggets?

 

[tvr]

Is the Simplex good for gold nuggets?

Don't know, haven't tried one yet nor do I recall reading reports on it's use looking for them. Perhaps someone who has tried it looking for nuggets will chime in.