Nokta Simplex
Nokta Simplex Lite Target ID Chart and How to Read It
Quick answer
The Simplex Lite reports on a two digit 0 to 99 scale with iron at the bottom below roughly 15, foil and small gold in the teens and twenties, mid conductors through the 30s and 40s, and copper, clad and silver coins from the high 60s upward. It also signals targets by vibration.
The Simplex Lite at $249.00 is the stripped back member of the Simplex family, built around a 9.5 inch waterproof DD coil with vibration alerts alongside audio. The vibration feature deserves more attention than it usually gets: for anyone with significant hearing loss, and for anyone working beside surf or traffic noise, a machine that can tell you about a target through your hand rather than your ears is a genuinely different proposition.
What follows are the target ID bands to start from and, more importantly, the method for replacing them with your own measured numbers. Nokta does not publish a per-target lookup chart for this machine, and the bands below are owner-reported readings on the Simplex scale rather than a specification.
Top pick
Nokta Simplex Lite
A 9.5 inch waterproof DD coil and vibration alerts at the lowest price in the Simplex family, which makes it the sensible pick for hard of hearing detectorists.
Price was accurate when this page was compiled and changes often.
What do the numbers mean on the Simplex Lite?
The ordering below is physics and holds on every machine. The digits are a starting map that your own ground will redraw.
Iron generally reads below about 15 on the Simplex Lite scale while copper, clad and silver coins read from the high 60s into the 90s, with gold spread across the foil and pull tab bands between them.
| Target | Typical band (0 to 99) | Also in this band | Dig or leave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nails and small iron | 0 to 15 | Wire, rusted scrap | Leave on a coin hunt |
| Large iron | 0 to 20, unstable | Flat corroded plate | Confirm from two directions |
| Foil and wrappers | 15 to 25 | Small gold, thin chain | Dig when hunting jewellery |
| Small gold | 15 to 35 | Foil, small tabs | The jewellery band |
| US nickel | 25 to 35 | Small gold, lead | Dig, a reliable gold proxy |
| Lead weights and shot | 25 to 55 | Tabs, alloys | Reads by mass, common near water |
| Pull tabs | 33 to 50 | Mid size gold rings | Site dependent decision |
| Screw caps | 45 to 60 | Heavy gold, scrap | Common on modern ground |
| Zinc cent | 52 to 62 | Caps, alloy scrap | Dig while calibrating |
| Copper cent and clad dime | 68 to 78 | Silver dime, brass | Coin band, dig |
| Silver dime to quarter | 70 to 88 | Clad coins, tokens | Dig every stable signal |
| Half dollar and larger silver | 86 to 95 | Large copper | Dig, little rubbish reads here |
Owner-reported bands rather than a published Nokta lookup table. Confirm the target ID scale and search modes for your machine in the Simplex Lite user manual.
What does the vibration alert actually change?
It gives you a second channel. The catalogue records vibration alerts on this machine, and in practice that means target information reaching you through the grip rather than only through headphones. For detectorists with hearing loss it is the difference between a usable machine and an unusable one. Beside surf, wind or a road it is useful for everybody.
It does not replace tone information, because a vibration tells you that something is there rather than what it is likely to be. Used together, vibration for detection and the screen for identification, it is a workable way to hunt for anybody who has struggled with audio. If audio is the part you want to improve instead, the tone options across the range are covered on the tone profiles page.
How does the 9.5 inch coil affect the numbers?
The Lite ships with a 9.5 inch waterproof DD coil, slightly smaller than the 11 inch coil on the Simplex Ultra. A smaller coil separates close targets a little better and gives up a little depth and coverage on open ground, which means marginal deep targets may report a less certain number than they would on a larger coil.
That matters for how you read the bands above. A confident number from a shallow target is trustworthy, and a number that arrives faintly from the edge of detection is an estimate. The relationship between coil size, depth and target size is set out on the depth chart, and the depth calculator lets you put your own soil and coil into the question.
How do I calibrate the Lite to my own soil?
- Collect the usual suspects. Nail, foil, pull tab, nickel, zinc cent, copper cent, dime, quarter. Add whatever rubbish dominates your local sites, because that is what you are really learning to reject.
- Bury them where you hunt. In representative ground, not a flower bed. Mark the row with something non-metallic so you can find it again next season.
- Read at two depths. Two inches and six. Note both the number and how confident the machine sounds, because confidence at depth is the real measure.
- Test the vibration too. Learn what a marginal target feels like as well as what it sounds like. The two channels disagree in useful ways at the edge of detection.
- Write it down and keep it. A measured card in the bag beats any chart published by anybody, including this one.
Sources
- Nokta Simplex Lite user manual, target ID and search mode sections
- Nokta Simplex Lite published product listing specifications
- Nokta Simplex Ultra published listing features
Frequently asked questions
Is the Simplex Lite waterproof?
Its coil is a 9.5 inch waterproof DD, and the Simplex family is built around waterproof construction, but the product listing used to build this catalogue does not state a submersion depth for the Lite specifically. We do not print a depth rating we cannot source. Check the figure in the Simplex Lite user manual before taking it into water, and see our waterproof ratings page for the models where Nokta does publish a number.
What is the difference between the Simplex Lite and the Simplex Ultra?
The Lite is the stripped back model at $249.00 with a 9.5 inch waterproof DD coil and vibration alerts. The Ultra sits above it at $299.00 and is published as fully waterproof to 16 feet, 5 metres, with a fully carbon fibre shaft retracting to 25 inches and a weight of 2.6 pounds. If you intend to submerge the machine, the Ultra is the one with the published rating.
Who is the vibration feature actually for?
Primarily for detectorists with hearing loss, which after a few decades in this hobby or any noisy trade is a large group. It also helps anybody working beside surf, wind or traffic where audio detail is lost to background noise. Vibration tells you a target is present rather than what it is, so it works best paired with the screen for identification rather than as a complete replacement for tones.
Can I use Simplex Lite target ID numbers from a forum?
Use them as a starting point and nothing more. Numbers posted online come from somebody else's soil, coil, settings and firmware version, and any of those can shift a reading by several points. The only chart worth trusting is the one you produce by burying known targets in the ground you actually hunt and writing down what your own machine reports at two different depths.
Does the Simplex Lite use the same scale as The Legend?
Both present a two digit scale, and the conductivity ordering is the same on both because that ordering is physics rather than a design choice. The processing behind the numbers differs, and The Legend offers simultaneous multi frequency profiles and selectable single frequencies that the Lite does not. Coin bands land in broadly similar places, while the low and mid bands diverge enough that charts should not be transferred between them.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published specifications, manuals and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Target ID numbers, depth figures and settings vary with soil chemistry, moisture, target size, depth, orientation and firmware version, so treat every figure here as a starting point and verify it against your own machine's manual and your own ground. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.