My Simplex + arrived on the 27th, the day before Thanksgiving here in the US [size=small]
(for foreign to the USA readers)[/size] and most of my initial evaluation has been indoors, Bench Testing a number of samples, or I my and Test Bed comparing features and performance with other makes and models. We also have had rain or wind, and received 10" of snow on the 1st which kept hunt areas covered for about a week. So today was the first opportunity for me to take the Simplex + afield for some actual detecting and not just learning and comparing.
Report on Weather and Conditions: It was more cloudy than sunny, and although we
briefly warmed into the 40's, it was when we had a 10+ mph W or WNW wind that kept the wind chill about 32° to 36° that I started to cut the hunt short.. Due to a lot of recent moisture from rain that followed and melted the 10" of snow, the low area of the park I had planned to hunt was a little 'soggy,' so I moved a little farther south toward the rodeo grounds. That was fine, too, because it did provide a bit more iron debris for me to deal with, and I like to search in iron-troubled conditions. It would have been better with a smaller-size search coil, but for now I'll live with the round 11" DD standard coil.
Report on Audio Response with Modes Used: The Simplex + did a very good job of responding to nails and other odd ferrous trash with the desired Low-Tone audio, and I heard a very nice higher-tone from the coins [size=small]
(and some old beaver-tail pull-tabs)[/size] I came across. I was hoping for silver today, but the chilly wind cut down on the 'fun' part of getting out. I will be cleaning four wheat-back pennies tonight along with some additional modern change. By
"modern" I am referring to the coins minted after the last year for silver which was 1964. They removed a lot of big older tress from the park and re-contoured it in the latter '70s, as I was told, and all the earth moving mixed coins around at various levels. Most of the coins I found were in the 4" to 8" depth range, but a few recent losses the last several years were at 1" to ±2".
Park mode's 3-Tone audio sounds good to me, but it does need a brisker sweep speed for better performance and I like it in a trashier environment. That also means I'd want to be using a smaller-size search coil than the 11" DD, so I'm holding off on hunting trashier areas, or those with more brush or building rubble, until Nokta / Makro gets some smaller-size accessory coils out for the Simplex +. Hopefully that will, be early next year when we get back to pleasant, more huntable weather. I'll keep hoping for something in the 5" to 7" diameter size-range.
But that was fine Saturday [size=small]
(yesterday)[/size] because I have been hunting some of these out-in-the-middle park areas for the past coup[le of months and I know that there is a lot of open area with ample spacing between targets, be them good or bad. And since they are not only few-and-far-between but also at deeper-than-typical depths, the Field and Beach modes were going to work the best for me and provide needed depth-of-detection, and also do it with a more comfortable low-to-moderate sweep speed. As I mentioned, I believe, in my original post for this thread, I like the audio responses of both the Field and Beach mode, and in more open areas I prefer to use a good 1-Tone or 2-Tone audio, all based on the amount of Discrimination.
Another reason I like to use the Field and Beach modes is because of their audio response. The Park mode relies on a more processed audio in order to assign the target conductivity range and give the designed-in Tone ID. The Field and Beach mode audio is more of what I call a 'cleaner' or more 'pure' audio that isn't 'processed' like the Park mode. And using the Field and Beach modes still gives Simplex + users a choice between two types of audio. The Field mode has a VCO enhanced response with the VCO ramping up mainly closer to the search coil such as out to roughly 6" or so. The Beach mode, on the other hand, has a nice pure audio and is Non-VCO enhanced. Both have their goods and bads based on what the user likes to hear for the particular site conditions and amount of trash and non-trash and average depths of targets engaged.
To give an example, I hunted an area where I encountered quite a few nails scattered at 1" to 3" deep and it varied from 3" to perhaps 8" from center-of-nail to center-of-nail. I was using the Field mode and noticed that almost all of the nails I encountered were silenced by rejecting the 1st Disc. notch segment and their VDI report was almost always a '4'. I rejected that first prompt in Field mode and the few coins I was able to find in that mess ...
being limited by the bigger-size coil ... had a more pronounced and hearable higher pitched audio due to the VCO response on their near-proximity position. Checking, I could still hear them in the Beach mode and Park mode, but an 'edge' in those examples favored the VCO enhanced Field mode. When I moved away from that area I accepted all notch segments again in Field mode.
Report on Corded Headphone Use: I started out using only the built-in speaker because there was no one around to annoy, and also because the wind hadn't picked up. But when clouds moved in and blocked the limited sun and the accompanying wind made it harder to hear ...
and my ears were not liking the colder chill ... I then got the ¼" adapter and my corded headphones. Every make and model detector will behave differently based on how they engineered the circuitry in general and via the headphone jack. That's why I like to keep two or three different headphones in my Outfit so I can use the pair that performs the best with the detector I use. I was glad I had my 'back-up' headphones along, too, because that helped make yesterday's hunt much more pleasurable.
Notice my
primary-use Headphones in my Signature below? The Gray Ghost XP are exclusively for my wireless XP ORX unit, but the Killer B 'Hornet' is my main-use set of headphones. When preparing for the day and only loading up the Simplex +, I forgot to grab my Killer B's.
I enjoy the headphones I use because they have a 'tank style' ear-cup that covers the ear instead of pressing on it, and that makes them comfortable, plus it helps block outside noise ...
and wind!
I did have along a pair of White's Pro Star headphones that I keep in the vehicle in case someone forgets to bring headphones or if I am letting someone use a 'loaner-unit.' This set was/is still in working order and hasn't had the head-band piece snap-off at one or both ear-cups like the last seven or eight sets of Pro Stars have.
I put them on because they do have the 'tank-style' ear cups, but I was already prepared for the less-than-pleasant audio. The Pro Star headphones,
when you have a good pair that work, can sound really good with a lot of detectors, but I discovered soon after I got my Simplex + that even though they use 50 Ohm speakers, they are terrible! Way too loud and even, you might say, punishing. Then I remembered my 'back-up' Killer-B 'Hornet' headphones. Yep, I have two pair just to be prepared.
I have a small plastic ammo box that I carry a back-up set of 'Hornets' and extra Pinpointer, plus one or two sets of AA alkaline batteries for a detector, and I remembered I brought it with me to use the Pulse-Dive Pinpointer. My Killer B 'Hornet' headphones use 150 Ohm speakers, but they also have a 'limiter' switch to help deal with loud, shallower targets if needed. With the Pro Star's I have to change the Simplex + Volume Level or turn the headphones volume down a lot. I had tried the Pro Star headphones shortly after getting the Simplex + and the deeper targets were not the problem. It was the shallower targets that are very loud.
It's strange, but with the 150 Ohm Killer B 'Hornet' headphones, the audio responses I get, shallower to deepest, are all very good, easy to hear, and that is at full Volume and with or without using the Limiter switch. I quickly found these headphones to be my favorite with most of my detectors, and my #1 choice to use with the new Simplex +. I'm hearing impaired and headphones that are wimpy or have a more muffled sound just do not work well for me.
So here's a heads-up about headphones. With any detector, be sure to check out more than one headphone model because some just might not sound good to you at all, but another headset might be just fine. I can tell you that the Simplex + has very ample depth-of-detection and really good audio for each of the four modes. So when you add an accessory to the Simplex +, such as headphones, make sure you select the best pair and not fault the detector for something that is not really a detector issue.
Report on Results: I only used the Simplex + a couple of hours Saturday, and only worked the Park mode for maybe 10 minutes or so. The rest of the time was split about 50/50 between the Field mode and Beach mode, and since a lot of the nails and smaller iron discards were shallower, I preferred the Beach mode's Non-VCO audio to the Field mode VCO enhanced response when dealing with both iron and non-iron. In that really close nail and coin site I did favor the VCO of Field mode, but because most of the targets are more scattered, I like the Non-VCO Beach mode. It's a toss-up and, for me, I know I'll use these two modes just about equally.
Because it only takes two button-presses, either direction, to shift from Field-to-Beach and back again, I usually checked most of the targets I located in both modes before recovering them. Both of those modes produced much better responses on the deeper targets than the Park mode, but that was to be expected.
Search coils should be worked ±2" off the dirt for best performance, and that was easy at the park because I just cruised the coil along the top of the grass blades. The Simplex + is very light and well balanced, even with that 11" DD coil. I can't wait to see how it will be with a smaller coil for a day-long adventure afield. In my e-mail to Dilek I did mention what we have already read on a few Forums, and that is users have complained about the 'time-out' limit when making adjustments to different functions.. From an avid user standpoint, the Simplex + is nice because once you have selected the settings you want to use, and turn the device 'Off' in the search mode you prefer to use, it starts back up almost where you left off the next time you use it. The Automated Ground Balance [size=small]
(pumping the coil about 3-5 times from 6" to 1" from the ground)[/size] was quick and efficient. I intentionally found a couple of problem spots to do a Manual GB and all worked fine.
I did take the Simplex + close to some power lines, but didn't have that much of an EMI issue. At home, however, especially here in my den, I have a lot of EMI. So much so that,
while I am glad I do for setting my unit up the way I want it, the noisy behavior can be very annoying. It can leave the impression that this unit doesn't work well or won't get good depth of performance afield. If you have or acquire a Simplex +, don't let that EMI distract you. Take the unit out to a few huntable locations and give it a workout. As my settings described, I started out with all modes set for Full Sensitivity and a time or two I had to drop it down one segment. That was easy to do with the excellent design that has nice buttons for quick access and control.
Oh, I can't forget the unit's Pinpointing ability and display feature. Even though it is an 11" round-shaped Double-D coil, I was able to do some excellent and exacting pinpointing of most coins, unless they were on too much of a canted angle. And I seldom glance at the visual display to see the method they use to show a target's centering, but it was actually kind of fun with the Simplex +. Instead of using a horizontal or vertical graph with lines that fill or decline, this device has more of a 'BullsEye' image and nicely shows you when you get your located target centered. And with most coins in a flat to relatively flat orientation to the search coil, they will pinpoint and be located at, or almost at, the center axis of the search coil.
And to wrap up my comments on Pinpointing, I also used my new Nokta / Makro Pulse-Dive Pinpointer yesterday. I really like it! My Makro Pointer, that I've been using faithfully now for almost 5 years, continues to work just fine and I've never had a problem with it, but I might make a change. I might mount my Pulse-Dive Pinpointer on my gear belt and move my Makro Pointer to be used on 'Quick-Hits' like a tot lot or some other place where I usually don't need my gear belt with pouch and digger. The Pulse-Dive Pointer is just a little longer, but it feels good in the hand, is quick-and-easy to turn On & Off or make adjustments to the target report [size=small]
(Vibrate, Audible or Both)[/size] or Sensitivity level without having to make a bunch of presses and confusing steps all with one button.
This is just a quick report on how my day went yesterday with the Simplex +, forgetting my primary-use headphones, then remembering I had my good back-up set, and how well the search modes performed for me. My eyes get achy and it takes me a while to type things out, so even though I started this about 10:00 PM last night, I had to get up and take some breaks to wrap this up now. That did, however, let me get my final coins for 2019 cleaned during the night. If you have any particular questions about this new Simplex +, just ask away, here or via an e-mail. I can tell you that I am really pleased to have this device in my Outfit, and it is going to be a regular-travel detector for me in my vehicle and go wherever I go in the future.
Monte
A very long but well written review. I don´t own the Simplex yet,but I´ll buy it when the coil gets smaller.
Keep me limbered up as I can to be ready for ne search coil introduction.