Regional software programs for the Simplex

[amcoins44]

Not being selfish to America here. Just trying to tweak the machine to be best applicable for everyone.

Could a software update be written that would allow for the tone breaks to be maybe more helpful for different countries/continents coinage? For example, and not that this may be the best, but could a downloadable update be written for US coinage that would make the high tone break more at the copper penny/dime region, rather than how low it is now? Could even a fourth tone break be written into an update? I'm curious what can be done through downloadable updates.

I agree with others, that I would like to see a longer timeout period be written in to the software when changing settings.

Andy

 

[Sven]

Everyone has to remember this is an entry level, general purpose type detector. Suitable for most world customer situations, applications. For the money, you'll have to be content with what is offered with Simplex programming.

For those who need more personal, specific settings and adjustments, then its time to upgrade to a more sophisticated detector with those
options. A good choice if you want to stick with Nokta/Makro is the Anfibio-Multi. You can have your cake and eat it too.

One thing, if there is enough demand and if an update is warranted, a longer time out as you suggested would be good for new users. Think maybe one to two more seconds would be sufficient.
It becomes pretty annoying having to wait a few seconds too much for settings to click into gear before being able to go detecting-Nokta Impact. Those that can quickly become accustomed to the Simplex menu system, and know what they want settings to be. The current time out duration is not an issue, when making these changes.

 

[pine3874]

One thing, if there is enough demand and if an update is warranted, a longer time out as you suggested would be good for new users. Think maybe one to two more seconds would be sufficient.
It becomes pretty annoying having to wait a few seconds too much for settings to click into gear before being able to go detecting-Nokta Impact. Those that can quickly become accustomed to the Simplex menu system, and know what they want settings to be. The current time out duration is not an issue, when making these changes.

If Nokta ever did that update, I would suggest that they also leave the last setting chosen so one doesn't have to start all over from the beginning every time. But as you stated, this is an entry level detector and I feel that Nokta did a fantastic job and nothing really has to be changed.

 

[James/Washington]

The Simplex+ is a great detector for the price and it's build quality is excellent. It has all the features that were well thought out and needed for an entry level detector. However, I agree that the timeout feature needs to be lengthened and also that the settings should begin where it was last used. There are good reasons for this and would be a good update. And I patiently wait for that 9" coil to be produced! An 8" coil would work as well.

 

[DanielSR]

I don't own Simplex yet, waiting for a smaller coil. Such a 9 "would be excellent! If such a large (small) spool is available, I will immediately buy the Simplex.

 

[amcoins44]

Sven,

Sorry I seemed to have triggered something that annoys you, based on the underscoring you use in your reply. I'm just posing a question. I know nothing about programming and am just curious if something like changing tone breaks is even possible through an update.

I get the feeling that there is a core group who stick to the mantra that this is great as an entry level machine as is and for the price. And yet I see youtube videos exploring the limits of its capabilities and even comparisons to what you refer to as more "sophisticated" detectors like an Equinox or a Deus. FWIW, I have an F75 that I like very much and wanted to check out this new offering from Nokta.

I'm not sure how tweaking the machine through wishing for a different coil is that different from wondering what can be accomplished through software updates. Seems like wishing for a new coil is more acceptable.

Sorry Sven.

 

[Sven]

No your question didn't annoy me. Sorry if you thought it did.
Just a similar question(s) that gets asked over and over again on all the forums and Facebook groups.
And I thought I would make a response as many people are not happy and just want more and more for the same price.
For example, Garrett is not going to give some one who just bought an Ace 150, AT Pro features, settings,etc., if it was update able...
they are going to tell you, go buy an AT Pro. Kind of what I was posting. If the Simplex isn't doing it for you, then upgrade to the next level.
The natural course of events when a new detectorist buys their first machine, they will want to upgrade.
One thing Dilek was saying the Simplex is an easy machine to set-up and operate, perfect for the novice and Pro.
By making too many changes, adding this and that, you end up calling the Simplex, the Complex.
Posting, replying to comments can be taken the wrong way....when its not meant to.

 

[Monte]

The more I've been able to work my Simplex[sup]+[/sup] in different urban Coin Hunting locations, the more I enjoy it. It's a detector I not only like to use, but one I usually want to use.

"Entry-Level" is simply a reference to a lower-end price-point in any manufacturer's product line. Nokta / Makro have several current models that are in what many would call a mid-price to upper-end price point with the Racer 2, Impact, Kruzer series and Anfibio-series, and what the Simplex[sup]+[/sup] offers is a lower-priced model that has a lot of the popular and desired features found on the other models.

All of these units provide the consumer with ample selections for most needs, such as available search modes, different audio Tone ID between modes, an All Metal mode and the user has Automated as well as Manual Ground Balance capability. Also [size=small](almost, except for Beach mode)[/size] full-range Notch Disc. capability and [size=small](almost, except for Beach mode)[/size] full-scale Iron Audio Volume control in the Disc. modes. Adjustable Back-lighted Display, and definitely ease-of-operation. The other devices simply cost a little more because they offer more modes and/or adjustable features to suit the overall consumer market. Not everyone wants or needs a full-set of adjustments to tinker with. I know I don't, and I'm a very aavid detectorist who will soon start my 56th year of following these devices around.

They didn't describe the Simplex[sup]+[/sup] as a 'kids' detector or a 'beginner model' but simply referred to it's retail price point. Thanks to getting the Simplex[sup]+[/sup] in-hand, setting up my mode/program settings and working it afield, it also helped nudge me to thin out about three or four more detectors as I trimmed my Detector Outfit to units that are very serviceable, durable, and provide me with the 'fun' I want to enjoy.


Monte's 'Wish List' for the Simplex[sup]+[/sup]: I have narrowed my "Wish List" to just 4 things.that I feel would make it more versatile and enjoyable to use afield. They are:

1.. Naturally, as everyone has pointed out, the 'Time-Out' needs to be increased to something more like 5 seconds to 8 seconds.

2.. If possible to re-program with an update, allow the full-range of Discrimination Accept / Reject in the Beach mode.

3.. Also if possible, make the Iron Audio Volume [size=small](the First Three Notch Segments)[/size] adjustable in the Beach mode so I don't have to listen t the full-volume iron response.

4.. Smaller-size coils, please! Not everyone needs an 11" coil for pastureland, fields, beaches or wide-open grassy parks. I'd like to see a 5" DD and 7" Con. for the Simplex[sup]+[/sup].


Time-Out: Yes, it is too short and could be increased a little. However, once familiar with the settings and button routine, it can be easier, and once you have all modes set the way you'd use them, you're done and seldom have to mess with the Time-Out annoyance.


Settings: The Simplex[sup]+[/sup] has several very useful features that can be set for a desired level to satisfy most users. Most of the common function changes will affect all search modes, such as the Volume and Frequency Offset. The Iron Audio Volume is only functional in the Field and Park modes, and they can be set individually, such as I use 1-Bar in Field and 2-Bars in Park. Also, the Discrimination Accept & Reject for individual Notch segments can be set as desired so that each Disc. mode, Field, Park and Beach can have their own settings based on user-preference. I like the 3-Tone Park mode for a lot of typical urban park and school hunting or yards and similar places, but overall I favor a good 2-Tone Audio.

Thus, I mainly use the Field mode or Beach mode, and often switch between these two modes during my search simply to hear the different audio responses. The Field mode features a VCO enhanced audio, while the Beach mode does not feature a VCO audio. That provides me the option to quickly shift between these two search modes. They both provide better depth-of-detection than the Park mode, and a good modulated 2-Tone mode can give me a lot of audio information as well. Personally, I kind of enjoy the Beach mode so far in the urban Parks and yards I've had the chance to hunt , but do occasionally shift to the Field mode when I want to hear a VCO response. Also, if a yard or vacant lot or other place has a lot of nails or other iron in the mix, I switch to Field mode because it uses only 1-Bar of Iron Volume.

I NEVER use more Discrimination that the Ferrous / Non-Ferrous break-point, and most often I like to keep my Discrimination set low enough to just accept most common nails. Most of those have a numeric VDI read-out of '02' to '04' on the Simplex[sup]+[/sup] so, if the first Disc. segment is rejected [size=small](which covers the '0' to '5' VDI range)[/size], most nails will be rejected. Therefore, I keep my Disc. modes set to Accept the entire Disc. range and simply rely on the Iron Audio Volume to alert me to problem ferrous trash in an area. If it gets too annoying, I can turn Iron Volume 'Off' or simply Disc. out the 1st Notch segment, if possible, meaning I'd be in either Field or Park mode.

Once the user has determined what settings they want to use, either the individual Mode choices or the common functions for all Modes, they should be done and ready-to-hunt by simply selecting the search Mode they feel best fits their needs for a particular site.


Memory: Other than the Ground Balance setting, if you adjust the settings in each mode as desired, then when you shut the Simplex[sup]+[/sup] 'Off' it remembers those saved settings and also the mode you were in at shut-down. Like I stated, I used the detector enough to know the settings I preferred for each mode, and I saved those setting so it is usually ready-to-go when I grab it and turn it 'On.' I also mentioned I like the audio of Beach mode a lot, so regardless of which mode I happen to be using at the time, when I want to turn the device 'Off' I first select the Beach mode. If I had made any settings changes on a site search, I simply adjust them back to what I like, then if I prefer the Beach mode, that's what I am in when I turn the unit 'Off.'

When I head out detecting again, I just turn it 'On' and I am in my last selected mode and settings so I am ready-to-go! I start hunting and enjoy the experience.


Coils: That's the only option we still don't have, but I am certain the good folks at Nokta / Makro are working to get us at least two optional search coils. For me and my wants-and-needs, a 5" round DD would me nice, and a round 7" open-frame Concentric would likely make this a more often used model with a 7" Concentric mounted. Those would really add to the versatility of the device.

I don't want or need any different Tone ID options, and since I prefer a 2-Tone audio mode for most places I like to hunt, having the Iron Audio match the Ferrous Break-Point is just fine with me.

If I confused anyone, I'm sorry. I know many don't have a Simplex[sup]+[/sup] yet so I just wanted to share my thoughts about this excellent detector. Questions? If any shoot me an e-mail.

Monte

 

[Monte]

I spend a good deal of my hunt-time away from the urban environment where we encounter a lot of power lines, transmission towers and all sorts of EMI challenges. Therefore, it sometimes slips my mind to talk about because I usually don't have those types of interference issues. But since I got my Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup] the day before Thanksgiving in late November, all of those out-of-the-way locations were inaccessible due to being snowed in and the access road closed until April. All but one, that is, and it's closer to my elevation and just had frozen ground.

So my first trips out to use the Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup] were in accessible city parks here where I live and some neighboring towns. Learning this device I made sure to work each mode and, as I usually do, I was keeping the Sensitivity as high as possible and using no Discrimination. So far I have only had EMI issues when I was too close to power lines with a transformer box on the pole. I could reduce the Sensitivity level to help counter the issue, or walk a little farther away, and it is a good size park so I just moved off a short distance.

I did make use of the Frequency Shift to see if that could help, and it usually did help, but I noticed something in checking the three Disc. modes and listening to the EMI that caused the unstable behavior of the Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup]. I also noted this when I was evaluating several hand-held Pinpointers I use and had purchased to check for EMI. What I noticed was that if I am in a quiet environment and the Frequency Shift is at the default 'F2' setting, all of the search modes performed just fine and there wasn't anything unusual about the audio. But when there was more noticeable EMI, and I left the Frequency Shift unchanged and the same setting for al three Disc. modes, some were a little noisier and some a little calmer than the others. Just a note to be aware of in case you intentionally want to search an EMI plagued location so you can select the best Mode as well as Frequency Adjust setting.

Of course, some places might be just terrible for inducing EMI noise and making a detector very jumpy and unstable, such as right here at home in my den. From the computer and lights and such in this area on my house, almost every detector experiences some amount of EMI. A few I have now parted with as I thinned my detector stock were much more affected by EMI than the Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup], but I was glad to have some terrible EMI right here at my computer desk while adjusting all the settings in my Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup]. Maybe you can figure out why if you read my comments in several points I made in the post above. Hint.

Now my comment on the 12 kHz Operating Frequency the folks at Nokta / Makro chose to use. Personally, I think it was a smart move because it is a very an idea frequency to provide versatile performance in handling the detection of a wide-range of conductivities we typically encounter. Very low conductive gold jewelry, small buttons, some coins, like the USA 5¢ piece, and on up through the mid-conductivity range and to include the higher-conductive brass, copper and silver coins and jewelry items. George Payne, the design engineer who brought us the Ground Cancelling VLF detectors in mid-'70s when he worked for White's, then patented the VLF-Disc. motion-based Discriminators when at Bounty Hunter, was also the design engineer who developed and introduced visual Target ID when he and others started the original Teknetics, and he later wrote up a report on why, when he was with Discovery Electronics, he chose to use 12.[size=small]5[/size] kHz for the Treasure Baron detector.

By that time I had owned or used many, many detectors that operated at so many frequencies it had become interesting to me to learn the strengths and weaknesses I noted in performance on targets of differing conductivities. Some operated at less than 1.[size=small]8[/size] kHz which was way off from the early TR's that were ±100 kHz frequency. By the latter '70s I had settled on using detectors that operated at 15 kHz for my 'general-purpose' models, and changes I made in mid-'83 left me using only a couple of models that used a lower frequency and the bulk of what has worked well for me for the past 36+ years have been detectors working in the 10 kHz to 15 kHz frequency range. That's only ± 2.[size=small]5[/size] kHz from what George Payne determined to be an 'ideal general purpose frequency' of 12.[size=small]5[/size] kHz.

Note, if you will, that my Nokta FORS CoRe is 15 kHz, the Makro Racer and Racer 2 function at 14 kHz, and there are the single-frequency Kruzer and Anfibio also at 14 kHz. The default frequency of the 'selectable' frequency Impact, Kruzer and Anfibio is also 14 kHz. My favorite Tesoro models work at 10-12 kHz, and one of my XP ORX is selected to work at 14.[size=small]4[/size] kHz.. I used to use the Compass Scanner series at 13.[size=small]77[/size] kHz, White's MXT series and MX-7 at 13.[size=small]89[/size] to 14 kHz, Teknetics T2's and Fisher F75's at about 13 kHz, and so on., Like I said, for over 41 years now, the majority of the makes and models I have relied on work in that 10 kHz to 15 kHz frequency range and the Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup] ideally fits right in there at 12 kHz.

While on Frequencies and EMI I guess I'll add a comment I've made elsewhere that I don't have any EMI issues with the hand-held Pinpointers I use. For one thing, I always set my detector down during target recovery so it is away fro me and the target spot, and with the search coil further away from the Pinpointer. I just evaluated several new Pinpointers earlier this month from different manufacturers, both VLF and Pulse type. One is my trusty Makro Pointer that I have been using regularly since early January of 2015 without any issues at all.

This Pinpointer works at 11.[size=small]6[/size] kHz and the new Nokta Pointer I had which was stolen, also operates at 11.[size=small]6[/size] kHz. My Makro Pointer doesn't cause any problems at all with EMI around any of my detectors, and I just added the new Pulse-Dive Pinpointer to my Outfit. It is a pulse operation device at an Operating Frequency of 3 kHz and it, also, works fine w/o issue. My Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup] was interfered with a little by a couple of the other Pinpointers I tested, but the only two that stay in my Detector Outfit are my trusted Makro Pointer and the new Pulse-Dive Point as my Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup] works just fine with either of them.

Okay, enough rambling. It's still dark o'clock and not warm here, but we might get a few showers and a warming trend by the end of the week and I plan to get out detecting again with the Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup] in-hand to get a start on the new year..

Monte

 

[Monte]

The Filed mode features a VCO-enhanced audio response, while the Beach mode doesn't have VCO.

Both modes provide comparable depth-of-detection and both produce a single-tone on non-ferrous targets. The primary difference between the two is with [size=small](Field[/size]) or with-out [size=small](Beach)[/size] VCO audio.


I'm curious what most folks seem to prefer. It's tough for me because I do like a VCO enhanced response, at times, but I'm also very comfortable w/o VCO. I use a 3-Tone Park mode when in trashier conditions, but most of the places I'll be working the Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup] for a while are more open areas with low-to-moderate trash. Most of the junk so far has ben nails or some other iron debris, but rather scattered and not frequently encountered. For the more open sites like this, such as wide-open parks, private grassy yards, beaches. farm fields or other similar sites, I mainly enjoy hunting with a 2-Tone audio mode and have some models that feature a VCO audio and some that don't.

The Simplex[sup][size=medium]+[/size][/sup] gives us the option to pick between the two, and as I have mentioned in several recent posts, I like both the Field and Beach modes and the option to quickly select between the two. I guess if I was posting a reply to this question myself, I am kind of favoring the Beach mode's audio response just a bit more than the Field mode. So I ask, am I just an odd-ball in this respect, or do others kind of like the non-VCO Beach mode? I wondered ... so I'm asking: Which of the two modes to you prefer when it comes to the audio?

Thanks for your thoughts.,

Monte

 

[amcoins44]

[size=medium][/size]I'll put in my 2 cents since i was the OP. I'm strictly a jewelry/coinshooter at parks and schools. My main machine is an F75, and one of it's best features for me is the 4 tone option which notches in nickels.

I'm not a fan of VCO, and with the park setting on the simplex rather crippled in depth and dropping the VDI at rather shallow depths, i favor the beach mode.

As i said in the OP, i would still like someone with programming knowledge to tell me if a software update could shift the tone breaks. For me in the US, the high tone would be more helpful at a higher VDI.

Just asking if it's possible. Not trying to stir up trouble. I know it's a lot of machine for the money, but there's nothing wrong with wanting to make it it's best.