My First Water Hunt Using The New Garrett ACE "APEX" Detector This Year

[John-Edmonton]

Read the manual last night, went through the different programs to familiarize myself to the APEX and charged up both the wireless APEX Module and the Garrett MS-3 wireless headphones. Got up early, did a pre-function test, and the components worked as they should. I had been planning my first water hunt for some time for today, so I thought I would use the APEX. To keep it simple, I hunted in jewelry mode, @ 5 KHz hoping to get a silver ring or coin. I manually ground balanced the APEX prior working the shallow water. I also attached the Garrett shoulder sling on the detector, in case I accidentally dropped it, the electronics wouldn't go in to the water. It took a little time to get used to the 5 different tones, and being able to adjust the iron audio is a real blessing.


Hunting in jewelry mode, I dug all the repeatable signals, and was pleased to see how easy it was to get a nice clear high tone on the audio, for all three coins.





Here are the coins I dug. This location gave me 3-4 silver quarters last year using the Garrett AT Max. The AT Pro just didn't seem to have enough depth to get a silver here. Getting a silver coin in the water with the APEX was a real surprise!

 

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[Mudflap]

Silver right off the bat! Great start for the new detector.

 

[John-Edmonton]

Thanks. I am orientating myself to this unit. I dug all repeatable signals in jewelry mode.

 

[vferrari]

John,

Great to have someone operating an Apex here to ask some detailed operational questions. Here goes, if you don't mind.

On other detectors I have where you can change frequency (Equinox, Deus), I have a set up so that you don't really have to dive into a menu to do it just hit one button and you can cycle through the frequencies. That way you can quickly apply different frequencies to the target to interrogate it and see how it responds to different frequencies to make a dig decision. How easy is it to change from multi to single frequency and to step through the frequencies on the Apex. Do you have to dive deep into the menu settings to do it?

Also, regarding the modes, are those just different discrimination patterns with multi or single frequency independently set?

Does iron volume work even if iron is discriminated out or does it only work in zero mode?

Finally, is recovery speed fixed on the Apex or does it vary with mode or frequency setting?

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

 

[John-Edmonton]

John,

Great to have someone operating an Apex here to ask some detailed operational questions. Here goes, if you don't mind.

On other detectors I have where you can change frequency (Equinox, Deus), I have a set up so that you don't really have to dive into a menu to do it just hit one button and you can cycle through the frequencies. That way you can quickly apply different frequencies to the target to interrogate it and see how it responds to different frequencies to make a dig decision. How easy is it to change from multi to single frequency and to step through the frequencies on the Apex. Do you have to dive deep into the menu settings to do it?

Also, regarding the modes, are those just different discrimination patterns with multi or single frequency independently set?

Does iron volume work even if iron is discriminated out or does it only work in zero mode?

Finally, is recovery speed fixed on the Apex or does it vary with mode or frequency setting?

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

Well, it's very simple to navigate around the different programs, frequencies and other settings. The "mode" button is strictly for the different preset modes, including a programmable mode. Plus, as all the previous GTI, ACE, and AT Models, you can notch out any selected target(s) you choose. The menu button gets you to the frequencies choices, sensitivity, iron audio, volume, back light etc. Using the "+" and "-" buttons allow you to go to 5, 10, 15,20,MF KHz and salt mode. Iron audio is available in all modes, should you want to use it, and always adjustable. You can turn it off with the push of a button.

The recovery speed on the APEX is fast, and fixed. I found a couple of common US dimes and as I figured, the APEX banged very hard on them. I also tried a US quarter, and as I guessed, it also hit hard. For Canadian coins, hunting with the iron audio turned on to a comfortable audio level, and listening for both the iron "grunt" along with the high pitch alerts you to a dime, some nickels and a quarter. Some nickels will read in the low 50's with a steady sound. Pull-tabs generally read a strong double beep in the low 50's. Deep pull-tabs will not always give a double beep. Beaver tail pull tabs read in the mid 50's with a nice sounding audio. If you don't dig them, you could miss out on a nice gold ring.

I got a silver Canadian quarter with a VDI of 83, and buried it vertically in the ground. I did get an audio reading in all directions swinging the coil, however, the audio tones varied considerably. Swinging the coil over the quarter with it orientated in a parallel position to the center of the coil, gave a distinct double beep high tone. When swinging the coil over the coin with it lined up in a perpendicular aspect to the center of the coil, it gave a mid tone sound bouncing around in the mid 50's. I could not make the audio disappear completely at any particular swing direction. The top of the silver coin was down 1/4" in extremely wet soil.

Below are my finds including some hunts in the woods and parks. I am still learning the APEX. Adjusting the operating frequency makes a substantial difference when hunting for low conductors vs. high conductors. For general hunting in parks, I used the multi-frequency mode.

If you like the ACE machines, you are definitely going to love the APEX.

 

[vferrari]

John

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated. Keep posting those finds and let us know how you are getting along with it. Thanks again.

V

 

[Mat in MA]

Does the Apex have adjustable threshold or is it silent running?

 

[John-Edmonton]

Does the Apex have adjustable threshold or is it silent running?

No adjustable threshold. I sometimes run it over the eyelets on my shoes to make sure that it's on.

 

[John-Edmonton]

John

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated. Keep posting those finds and let us know how you are getting along with it. Thanks again.

V

Will do!