Nexus Standard MP V2 Metal Detector - It's Like Tuning A Drum - Part One

Before I start this two part blog I'd like to state that I'm not connected to Nexus Metal Detectors in any way, I've purchased their products with my own money. I've decided to write this blog because their isn't a great deal of information out there on the Nexus brand. 

Like most things nowadays, mainly due to social media, everyone has an opinion, good, bad or otherwise, they spread far and wide by a simple press of a button. The damage occurs when 'said opinions' are uninformed, this can have a negative effect on products, services and someones hard work. I try to live in the physical world as much as possible ... obviously I have a few social network sites and this blog, but it doesn't take priority over my existence in any way shape or form. Existing in an 'online world' where the priority appears to be about the views, subscribers and likes is just not an option, I see all of this as 'white-noise', catering towards the ego and narcissistic tendencies.

To me, being human amid this infiltration of technology has started to make our existence feel very shallow, the smarter technology gets, the stupider the human-race becomes, that might seem like a harsh assessment but I've got to call it the way I see it. What's the point in putting the effort into something when you can just press a button and all that effort is done for you. Don't get me wrong, I'm both intrigued and interested in the latest developments but I try to keep my views measured, I have no interest in hype, fashion or running with the crowd. Over the last 30 years metal detecting has clearly come on in leaps and bounds and it has been made accessible to pretty much everyone. Lets not forget that it's within the mainstream companies interest to produce easily accessible machines because the more people that get into the hobby, the more money they make - from a business point of view that makes perfect sense to me. Before I start writing about the Nexus MP V2 I'd like to state that this isn't a "digital VS analog" discussion, it's simply my viewpoint and experience using a high end analog machine and my overall viewpoint on things.

I've always been interested in frequencies, every single aspect of our lives are a series frequencies, the human body is like an antenna and we're receiving millions of messages from the world around us every second of our existence. Spiritual healers and Reiki masters have the ability to tune into their 'life-force frequency' to promote healing within themselves and others. Having been a drummer all my life I've understood the importance of 'resonance', this is what we listen for when we tune drums. Every drum you tune has either one region or a series of regions that they sound fantastic in - how do we know what region sounds the best? we have to tune them to find out, what you're wanting to do is get the top and bottom drum skins to resonate/communicate with each other, you don't want them to be fighting against each other. When you get both skins tuned correctly the drum will sing and its frequency and resonance will be  controlled to the point where only minor adjustment is needed, occasionally, to bring it back up to pitch.

The Earths Vibration & Resonance

The above process of tuning a drum is not an exact science, it's more of a sense, companies have to tried to bring out products that make the process 'easier and more accessible' but most of these items are gimmicks, you can't short cut the process of tuning drums and you can't short cut the process of learning. The smallest of increments make the most difference when tuning anything, look at the micro increments that are used to tune into different radio stations. Some argue that digital drum samples are better than an actual drum sound, this however is a myth to me. Digital drum sounds might be easy and convenient to set up but you don't have the ability to fine tune them using 'micro increments and adjustments', electronic drums will never sound natural. 

So what does all the above have to do with Nexus Metal Detectors? it's really very simple, with all their machines you have the ability to fine tune the detector within the tiniest of increments. For many people out there this might not be an easy or convenient way of detecting but when you get this process right you've got one hell of a machine in your hands. I decided to purchase the Standard MP V2 detector because I wanted a machine that I could connect with, I wanted something that was powerful that gave me the ability to adjust everything myself without being trapped within the constraints of a digital machine. It was purchased as a friendly companion to my Equinox 800 - Click Here For Equinox Blog. Just like any other machine be it digital or analog, you have to put serious time into learning the language, without doing this then you're wasting both your time and your money. The machine alone doesn't find the trash and treasure, a combination of the detectorist married to his machine does. I've spoken about this point in my blog Blinded By The Numbers, Consumed By The Tech.

Nexus Interface 

When researching Nexus I couldn't find a great deal online about the brand, there's some YouTube videos and a few lightly used forums so I didn't have a great deal to go on. After scouring the web I found old posts about people selling them on or slagging them off for not running stable .. blah blah blah. This was simply the 'white-noise' I mentioned before, so I took zero notice of any of it. The only thing I will say in response to what I've read - it's clear to me the people that tried the machine and didn't like it clearly didn't set it up right or take the time to both learn and master its language. I worked with my MP V2 extensively at home before I took it out in the field, I wanted to know every single quirk and idiosyncrasy, I was determined to make it an extension of myself. This might all sound rather dramatic and over the top but I knew straight away the MP V2 was a serious machine and failing to understand and connect with it just wasn't going to be an option. Initially it was a little overwhelming and I struggled for most of my first hunt but by my second trip I can genuinely say that I felt completely comfortable with it and it was a total joy to use.

For me personally the Standard MP V2 brings out "the art" within metal detecting and plays into my intuitive side, there are a series of elements that add to its performance and are important to understand and get right, these are the initial ground balance, coil height and swing speed. If you get these three things right then the machine comes alive, occasionally you might have to review your ground balance, but this is something I've always done when using a machine with a ground balance option. Being a slow recovery detector it benefits from a medium to slow swing speed, I use a swing harness to aid me in this, also the harness helps you to get into a nice 'swing rhythm' without feeling any fatigue. Even with the 'fast recovery' silver scout coils I still recommend a medium to slow swing speed, this allows the detector to pick up and register everything in the ground. The Nexus is a really deep searching detector so you want to be hearing the whispery deeper signals. 

Pocket Watch Casing 

The 'slow recovery' aspect of the machine moulded around my style of hunting perfectly, I don't swing fast I like to be as thorough as possible, carefully scanning the ground as I go .. if you're into swinging super fast and racing around trying to pull as many targets as fast as possible then Nexus isn't for you - metal detecting isn't a race or a competition.  If you're someone that carefully investigates the ground beneath their feet in a highly detailed manner then Nexus could be the way to go.  I believe careful investigation will reap the most rewards, this had already been proven in one of my fields. I've carefully combed this specific permission endlessly with my Equinox 800 using all the available coils, it got to the point where I just couldn't get any more registering targets. The first time I took my Standard MP into this field I pulled another two Tom-back buttons, both giving off a lovely 'ghost signal'. The second time I went back to this specific field I pulled a few more buttons, an axe head and a lovely pocket watch casing, all from areas I'd searched carefully with my EQ 800.

This isn't to say the Equinox isn't a fantastic machine it just demonstrates that when you use the Nexus MP V2 in the way it's designed to be used it's more than capable of pulling targets out of areas you thought had been thoroughly searched. This point explains why my Equinox and Nexus are companions, my longterm approach on my regular permissions is to initially use the Equinox until targets dry up and then take the Nexus in to go over the area/areas with a fine tooth comb.

Slow & Steady

Setting The Machine Up

The best thing I can do is explain how I set the machine up, if you choose to purchase a Nexus I'm sure you'll find a way that works for you. However there are a few rules to follow, prior to setting up the ground balance you want to try and find a piece of ground free from metal objects. The Procedure is as follows.

1. Turn The Machine On

2. Make Sure The Switch Under The Console Is Positioned To The Right 'All Metal Mode'

3. Turn The Threshold To Just Past 12 o'clock 'Quiet Steady Hum'

4. Keep Sensitivity At Zero 

5. Start Ground Balance Procedure

In some locations this can be tricky because a lot of hunting grounds are littered with iron and trash, if I can't find a perfectly clear piece of ground I'll do my best to find a piece that contains 'the least' metal objects I can find - I try not to get to anal about it. On most of my sites I can usually find a tiny piece of ground that allows me to ground balance accurately. One aspect to understand is there's going to be certain situations that you're not going to be able to get the machine running at its optimal level, the aim is to get it running the best you possibly can in the situation you are in. However I'd like to point out that even if the Nexus isn't running at its optimal level it will still be running better than most machines out there and even with the sensitivity set to 0, the Nexus is still deeper than most other machines.

Once you've found an appropriate spot to ground balance start to gently pump the coil up and down above the ground. What we're looking to achieve is a steady and consistent resonance of the threshold. Don't rush this process, the ground-balance knob only needs to be adjusted in "micro-increments". Using the 'tuning a drum' analogy, you want the detector to be tuned into the ground, instead of adjusting two drum skins you're adjusting the machine to communicate and resonate perfectly with the earth beneath your feet.

I've noticed some people on a few YouTube videos pump the coil and then stop pumping to adjust the ground-balance. I would suggest you practice pumping and adjusting the GB both at the same time, I feel that doing it this ways allows for more precision.  The video bellow demonstrates the process that I've just explained. Don't shake the machine violently up and down whilst going nuts on the GB dial, this isn't how you tune any Nexus detector.

Once you've got a steady threshold tone with little to no deviation, then you can perform the same process but instead of adjusting the GB you're adjusting the sensitivity. You want to turn the sensitivity up as much as you can get away with whilst still having a consistent threshold tone. When you first start out using the machine it's advised that you keep the sensitivity setting at zero, the MP V2 still goes really deep without any sensitivity adjustment. I don't go crazy with the sensitivity, if it's too high you will suffer a lot of false signals. Once the above process has been completed the final element is the threshold, you want this to be a quiet hum, I set mine to the 12 o'clock position and I might modify as I go along. I like to have it 'just' audible, this way you're going to be able to hear those all important whisper signals, if you don't have a threshold tone you are liable to miss the deeper objects. The threshold on the V2 is super sensitive so don't go crazy with it, even if you can't directly hear it it's still working away in the back ground. The only time it don't function is when you have it set to zero. Note : Threshold may need adjusting depending on coil size and frequency.

Click Here For Part Two