When I received my Nokta Simplex three years ago I was anxious to take it out on a test run. I hadn’t any place in mind to test it and honestly I thought for the price it had to be just another… I was wrong!
After reading the manual and charging both the detector and the wireless headphones I went out to my non-descript test area in the backyard. I say non-descript because it’s a small area with a few coins scattered here and there and with no preconceived layout or plan. I used to have a large well planned test garden at the old house but an F4 tornado took care of that.
I set up the Simplex with a few basic settings and quickly fell in love with the target “responses”. Loud, clear and crisp and though I had forgotten what was buried the ID was right on the money when I dug the item. I was impressed.
A couple of days later I took it to a few local sites to see how it performed and to get more used to the various search modes, settings, push pads and idiosyncrasies. I have to add too that I have never been a fan of push pads. Surprisingly the Simplex+ was pretty straight forward and it didn’t take long for me to get comfortable with it and that was encouraging.
Since then I’ve been out a few more times, I’ve bench tested and spent a lot of time experimenting with different features like sensitivity, notch, iron volume and especially readouts. I also buried a few coins at different depths and various angles (flat vs. vertical, etc.). I’m enamored of the Simplex and becoming quite comfortable using it despite not getting out in the field as often as I’d like.
I’m bringing all this up because I believe feeling comfortable and being intimate with your detector is extremely important. Learning its features, its controls, programs, responses and nuances is vital to making it work as it was intended and making you a successful detectorist.
Please also keep this in mind when drooling and oohing and aahing about the newest model that’s about to be released. Yes it will probably have a few new (minor) features that your detector doesn’t have but just how much better is it than the detector you’re now using and feeling comfortable with? The one you’ve just spent months mastering and feeling one with? Is it worth the money and will it make that much of a difference in the finds you come home with? And once you get it where will you take it?
Not telling you to not buy that new machine, only that mastering the one you have now might be more important to your success. I’m older now and not as inclined to go bananas over every new product on the scene, and I’m also wiser in that I worked for a metal detector manufacturer and understand the need to have a new product every year. It keeps the excitement going, your name out there and it keeps the coffers full. It’s business as usual!
I’m encouraging you as well to look at the detector you’re now using and ask yourself “have I really mastered this machine?” Have I worked with and tried all the various features and do I feel at home with it. Also read/reread my post from 2017 titled “Is it the Detector or is it You?”
It’s your money and it’s your choice whether to buy that new detector or not and if you take the plunge be sure to give it it’s due and learn it inside and out. Master it before judging it and if and when that next new detector hits the market think twice before shelling out your hard earned money again.
Just an ole man talking….
_____________________
_______________
Stout Standards 
“dead nuts” on Richard! there is a definitive advantage in “knowing” your equipment!. after all, why spend “real money” on a detector and “not” use it sufficiently to understand it.in my view, that, in my opinion, borders on the absurd, and in a big picture perspective, is totally obtuse. now if one has unlimited funds, then acting in that irresponsible manner can be justified by an individual, however it is NOT conducive to an overall satisfying experience in the hobby. just “throwing” money at equipment without taking the time to properly understand ,and learn, is an exercise in futility, and will lead to disinterest, and subsequent selling of the equipment .
the lord “helps those who help themselves”, and those who are inclined to “not” do what is called upon to be successful detectorists have “only” themselves to blame!
(h.h.!)
j.(starting to feel “alienated”in our great country!)
JT why is it when you reply to me you have to use the term “dead nuts”? I mean I may be 81 but….
hi dick! no refection on you or your age.it’s just a saying to convey that something ,or someone is 100% correct! …just sayin’
(h.h.!)
j.t.
Just busting chops….
dick! in your latest photo, can’t help but notice how content, and peaceful you look! it’s almost as if you have witnessed the “rapture”,and want to convey to others how Wonderful it truly is! just sayin’
(h.h.!)
j.(seeing “white” balloons in my sleep!) t.
Hah, hardly the rapture, trust me. 2022 was a truly difficult time for me and just hoping for a smoother transition into 2023.
peace be with you! dick!
(h.h.!)
j.t.
Hi ‘Ole Man’!
Never have you written truer words. Now have a browse through some of the FB’s detecting pages…there’s a lot of missionary work to be done to even get them to read the User Manuals.
Perhaps it’s a reflection of modern society…instant expertise.
“Perhaps it’s a reflection of modern society…instant expertise….” Sure sounds like something an old guy would say.
Yep, it does, and I am!
I have to laugh at JT’s “dead nuts” but it’s ‘crushed nuts’ that always makes me wince.
Yeah I wish he’d find another way to agree with me. Every time he says it I look just to be sure they’re still there…
And this is the end of the discussion…
Hi Dick.
I cannot understand anyone not reading the manual. Being relatively new to metal detecting and coming from a technical background, perhaps it’s ingrained. Getting the V3i early on and reading the manual was very helpful in understanding the technology and its potential and also its limitations. You would think it was an elementary
Absolutely and I was always amazed at how many little things I missed when reading it prior. I had many “aah” moments, and that V3i manual was worth quite a few rereads. Hope all is well over there…
Hi Dick
All good here. My response seems to have only partially uploaded🤐 elementary step.
I was reading recently some chap’s dissatisfaction about how incredibly chirpy his detector was when maxed out on sensitivity and how he couldn’t get to grips with it. I couldn’t be bothered to refer him to the instruction manual. 🤔 A basic understanding of the functionality goes a long way to understanding any piece of equipment but it seems people just expect to put no effort into anything these days.
It’s called instant gratification John as well as “I have to beat the other guy”…. I’m afraid too the chattering/sensitivity thing will only get worse. Seems to be the norm with all new detectors today.
years ago, standard procedure indicated one should “turn gain down” to cut back on chatter. now whether this was accomplished with analog circuitry, or digital circuitry, it was “always recommended to do this, and was, and is, quite effective. ironically, on “most” detectors, just an incremental amount of depth was lost and usually accomplished the objective of a quieter running detector.
(h.h.!)
j.(need to send china some “balloons” for Valentine’s Day!) t.
I believe that the old rule was to keep the new detector at least 3 to 6 months before moving on to the next detector. I know guys who tried out their new detector for 2 or 3 times and had a newest detector in a month. that is way too fast to know the detector. I lost that gumption to get the best of the newest detector a long time ago. Now I keep my detectors for decades so when I go out I am very well versed in what I am using.
It comes with age Joe. Thanks….