Nexus 'A Discipline Within A Discipline'

I've gained a few more subscribers over the past few weeks most always come with questions which I'm more than happy to answer with the best of my knowledge. Most enquiries are about my Nexus machines, a lot of people have never heard of them and are intrigued with what they're all about. I've always stated that Nexus machines aren't as straightforward as they might seem, it needs to be understood that they're a fully manual metal detector and if you don't learn to operate them correctly you're wasting your time

Zero Automation

Operating Any Nexus Is A Discipline Within A Discipline - What Do I Mean By This?

I'll use drumming styles as my example, most drummers who can play rock music can turn their hand to pop music, and visa-versa. People that play punk can usually play rock, a completely different style of drumming to almost anything else is Jazz. It falls under the drumming umbrella but it's a separate discipline that needs to be studied, many rock/pop players can't play jazz and many jazz players can't play rock or pop. This is how I look upon operating a Nexus, it falls under the metal detecting umbrella but it's a seperate discipline that needs to be studied. 

When people see its ability to unmask and the depth that can be achieved, people need to understand that there is zero automation, the user is responsible for setting it up and adjusting it as they go. If you're not prepared to put the time into mastering both the operation and language of a Nexus then you're going to be wasting both your time and money. I've been mentioning all these points for years now and a lot of people just aren't listening.

Coil Sizes 

All Nexus coils are handmade and they range from 4' inches all the way up to dual 30' inches, on digital machines the larger coils provide more ground coverage. In regards to depth, I personally didn't notice much of a difference between the 11' inch stock coil compared to both the 6' inch and the Coiltek 15' inch coil when I was swinging my Equinox 800. Not only do the larger Nexus coils cover more ground but they go deeper the bigger they get, I have coils ranging from 4' inches up to dual 20' inches and I can state with 100% confidence that they progressively go a lot deeper as they increase in size. 

A True Threshold

Another point I've explained many times over is the threshold, I'm yet to come across a digital unit that has a true threshold. People that come into the hobby via a digital platform don't seem to understand the purpose of a true threshold. It enables the machine to punch deeper, on my Equinox 800 and Legend the threshold was pointless, it's a reference tone which doesn't enable the machines to go deeper. Nexus is the only true threshold in the world of IB metal detectors and depending on how you set it up, it will enable you to hear the super deep targets. My rule of thumb is, the smaller the coil the louder I have the threshold, when swinging the larger coils I'll have it 'just audible' or suppressed depending on ground conditions.

Unmasking

Nexus is a precision tool and the settings can be modified microscopically, to enable them to unmask to the best of their ability you have to have the discrimination set to an 'exact'. For me, as with all my machines, I run the discrimination at the lowest possible setting. It also needs to be understood that the language the Nexus talks when hunting in iron is very different to that of a digital unit. When hunting in iron without understanding what the machine is telling you, you're literally pissing in the wind.

Ground Balance

Everything stems from the ground balance, it enables the machine to operate at optimum levels, if it's not correct then the machine will run unstable and the discrimination won't be correct. If and when the ground conditions change you have to modify the ground balance, the machine will tell you when it's unhappy because you'll get excess noise at the end of each swing.

My advice to anyone thinking of buying a Nexus is simple, open your mind and take the time to master their operation, this takes hours of use in the field. If you rely on automation and require pointless bells and whistles then don't buy a Nexus.