Vertex Adroit

[Mike(Mont)]

You know with the crazy prices of silver, you could buy about 17 ounces of silver with that money. (Actually you can’t buy 17 ounces since the price went up.) Silver could go up ten times ( some say twenty times!) but you might not be able to buy an Adroit for anywhere near that price after the rush hits, so that is a difficult decision. Silver might not go nearly that high, and maybe there won’t be a rush on the Adroit. If you find a bucket full of silver coins you will be well off. But that might not happen. Decisions, decisions.

But if you are going to wait for somebody to give out their design for good locator, I really doubt you get anything nearly like the Adroit. No doubt it is advanced electronics. I assume they built off the Ajax Alpha design with many improvements. And for half the price.

[Mike(Mont)]

I was working with the MDRI mode in my yard on freshly dropped silver. Long-timed buried is going to be better but this way I can do many practice tests. I close my eyes and spin around a few times and toss the target then spin a few more times so I don’t know which direction the test target is located.

I known the instructions say to hold the antenna level but I found it works much better—at least in this mode—if I aim the antenna down about 10 degrees. I do a sweep with the antenna at this angle. It just seems to lock on my test target better. When u walk I keep the antenna a little closer to level. Also it just seems better with a little more distance to start out with, like 20 or 30 meters or so. I don’t know about that but I was able to hit the target better. I guess it just makes a sharper angle. Best to come in from the North. As long as the target is to the South you can walk in an East or West direction and pick up the line.

[Mike(Mont)]

I just looked up the user manual for the Ajax Alpha and the Adroit manual is nearly identical. No doubt the Adroit is a near clone with a couple of differences and a few things missing. There is no search data storage. There is no vertical balance indicator or compass. The Adroit seems to have more advanced electronics and filters. Of course the biggest difference is the price. It costs about half as much as the Alpha and probably about half the weight. I’ve never used the Alpha so I don’t know how it compares. The Adroit does have a frequency adjust which might come in handy depending on how your local magnetic field strength compares to the factory. I guess I need to work with it some more. I compared the field strength at Kansas City, Missouri to where I live and I am 4% higher. I’m guessing they kept the frequency the same as the Alpha so I need to test some more.

[Mike(Mont)]

After reading the Ajax Alpha User Manual ( you can do an online search) it explains how to find distance better than the Adroit manual. Just as an example let’s say you detected the target due south. It tells you to move over 25 meters staying 90 degrees from the target line but it explains it better because you are supposed to keep the main unit pointing south (in this example because you were aimed south to start with) and as you choose to walk either east or west (90 degrees from the line) the antenna with stay aimed at the target. So after you walk 25 meters the antenna will no longer be pointing due south—it will be angled one way or the other depending on which direction you walked. At this point you hit the button and it calculates the distance depending on the angle of the antenna.

My explanation might sound confusing but the target might be in any direction. I just used the south because it’s easier to see that you would walk east or west. But whatever direction the target is you have to walk 90 degrees from the target line to get an accurate distance calculation. And you have to keep the main unit pointed so it stays parallel with the original target line. The Adroit instructions do not explain this very well. Yes, the diagram shows the main unit parallel with the original target line but the instructions don’t say this,

after carefully reading the Alpha user manual I’m not sure there is much of any difference in the two locators as to the search procedure.

[Mike(Mont)]

I just checked my WhatsApp messages and found a short video showing the RMS mode for the Adroit. Actually they sent it to me Jan. 14 but I didn’t have my notifications set to “on”. Nothing much but they show holding it near a fluorescent light and it gives a signal. So I tried it and yes, my RMS mode is working. As they explaining in their how-to video, when out in the field if you don’t get a signal, there is no target.

[Mike(Mont)]

I got my first repeatable response in the RMS Active mode today. I lowered the ground balance until it became unstable then raised it one number. I don’t recall what number I had it set at. Then I raised the sensitivity until right before it became unstable. I think that about five numbers. I walked maybe 30 meters and the signal got a bit confused like it wasn’t as solid. I realize now I should have tried to find the source,, maybe start the search over again but I tend to get hyperactive and I went off on another tangent. But I can go back and try it again. It was in a city park with an underground watering system so it could have been something to do with that, I don’t know. Anyway I feel like I’m making some progress. Obviously I didn’t know what I was doing. My guess I should have aimed the unit down at the ground but I wasn’t thinking too clearly.

[Mike(Mont)]

Seeing how the Adroit modes ADRI (automatic) and MDRI (manual) are so similar to the Ajax Alpha I started thinking the RMS modes appear to be similar to the Ajax Iota. But the Adroit has two RMS modes Active and Passive. In the Active mode the Adroit transmits and receives and only receives in the Passive mode like the Iota. The Iota say range is 200 meters. I suspect the Adroit RMS mode is similar at least in the Passive mode.

in both RMS modes the user does not need rod-handling skills. In the Passive mode the RMS sensor is fixed—it doesn’t swivel—and in the Active mode the Antenna can swivel but you don’t go by where it is pointing—it is not used for directional locating, you still go by where you are aiming the fixed RMS sensor. That has to be extremely valuable for those who have difficulty with the swivel rods. So the RMS modes are not affected by wind. Around here that is a huge benefit.

[Geo]

If I had your knowledge and abilities in dowsing, I would never touch an electronic device again.

[Mike(Mont)]

I don’t consider myself a dowser. I can do it on occasion but mostly it just bewilders me. There are only a handful of real dowsers in the entire world. I’m not one of them. Yeah, my love of electronic locators is an obsession, an addiction—I eat, breathe, and sleep it. Like one guy in the Eagles band said, from the moment I get up in the morning until I drop off the sleep it’s all about the Eagles. That’s me with locating. I don’t want psychiatric help. LOL

[Mike(Mont)]

After messing with the Adroit in my yard I am not sure how much it actually guides you to the target. It vibrates when it is pointing at a target but after that it’s kinda up to you to follow the antenna even though it shows the target icon. It seems once you start moving towards the target as long as the antenna is straight ahead it will show the target icon. But I’m not sure it is actually anything more than just an indicator that the antenna is centered. In other words if you were to aim the whole unit off to one side it will still show the icon when the antenna is centered. No matter where you aim the whole unit if the antenna is centered it the target icon shows even if you are not aimed at the target. This is during the target tracking phase. So you have to get the original line and stick with it, but in the early phase it definitely vibrates when directly aimed at the target. So that’s good.

The instructions say as much, if you veer off too much you need to start over during the tracking phase. So it’s very important that once it gives you the line that you need to stay on that line. And as long as you follow the target indicators you are good to go. It will keep you on that line if you follow it.

[Mike(Mont)]

It’s possible I am picking up gold in just about every direction seeing how there is no range adjustment in the automatic mode ADRI (2250 meters) so it could be picking up targets everywhere. So I guess I need to get out in the country to get a better idea of what is happening. That’s what the instructions say on the Adroit and in the Ajax Alpha.

i really like the automatic mode because it gives a tone and vibrator when it is aimed at the target. Manual mode does not give any signal other than the antenna swinging towards the target. That is not so reassuring. Maybe if I find a good target it will be more pronounced.

[Mike(Mont)]

I’ve been having some brain fog lately, okay, more brain fog than usual, LOL Add in my hyperactivity and it’s a recipe for disaster. I can’t seem to understand or follow the instructions. I read where targets need to be long-time buried and I applied it to all modes, but I’ve learned that’s only for the RMS mode. The other modes automatic ADRI and manual MDRI can detect fresh-dropped targets like any other frequency discriminator. Maybe not as strong but it works.

In the ADRI mode I thought there was random beeping but it fact it was alerting me to a target. I mean how slow can my brain work? Just a beep here and there I thought is was the unit saying you are in the search mode. I kept saying this is distracting, but in fact it was alerting me to a target. You have to zero in on it to get a more steady tone. I know it sounds so simple but the tone just gave me a brain freeze. Well, at least I am making some progress.

I’ve always said it is difficult to learn how to do something from a set of instructions. So much easier to have someone show you and observe if you are doing it correctly.

[Mike(Mont)]

BTW, the Vertex Adroit is in no way associated with the Electroscope Vertex.

[Mike(Mont)]

I was practicing in my yard with the manual mode MDRI and I thought I had a lock-on. I relaxed and the rod moved over to another spot. It was the line to my test target. I must have been controlling the rod when I thought I had the lock-on. I tried this a couple more times with the same results. I just have to let it go to find the right line. It was impressive!

[Mike(Mont)]

I was thinking, well, sort of, in the automatic ADRI mode where it vibrates when you are aimed at the target, instead of following the other steps that require antenna swing just mark that line and then move over a ways and repeat so you get two lines and the target is at the intersection. That way no need to depend on the antenna swinging.