Minelab Equinox tips and questions

For anyone who missed it in the other link, Instruction Manual can now be downloaded: https://www.minelab.com/__files/f/326548/4901-0249-1 Inst. Manual, EQUINOX 600 800 EN.pdf

Some light reading for the weekend

If it can sniff out deep Silver coins & ID coins amongst trash , then its very well priced

After messaging with a long time UK detectorists He / we

think the Equinox is targeted for the European market against XP

Im certainly very happy with my 4 year old CTX , always still learning something about it

OldGT said:

Finally the day has arrived...So who's picking theirs up ASAP and who's sitting back waiting for feedback/honest reviews?

Tempted to just take the plunge.

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A little bit of both here. Season starts April 1st, Snow is melted and it's warm.

Trash said:

If it can sniff out deep Silver coins & ID coins amongst trash , then its very well priced

After messaging with a long time UK detectorists He / we

think the Equinox is targeted for the European market against XP

Im certainly very happy with my 4 year old CTX , always still learning something about it

Click to expand...

Yep, I took a guy out CTX3030 training recently - still a great unit. I was going to sell mine as I haven't used it much of late, but not sure....
I will probably wait to compare it to the Equinox

I was told by The Prospectors Pick in Bunbury that their shipment is expected 5th or 12th February.

On the other subject I don't deny that Minelab design good detectors and have in the past made some excellent products but to say that their recent offerings were not extremely troublesome is just burying your head in the sand. Anybody who has not experienced these problems has not truly put their machines to the test in real Australian outback conditions where they should have been designed to operate. The one thing that amazes me is how they seem to have avoided the US lemon law because if the same applied here many of us would have had new machines or major upgrades. In fact they have performed upgrades during the warranty period, free of charge and some without being requested so we have to be thankful for their excellent warranty.

However I sincerely hope that Minelab have done their R&D in the presale period on the latest offering. It looks like being the type of machine that we would all like to ad to our prospecting arsonal.

"Anybody who has not experienced these problems has not truly put their machines to the test in real Australian outback conditions where they should have been designed to operate."

Got to disagree there sorry.

madtuna said:

"Anybody who has not experienced these problems has not truly put their machines to the test in real Australian outback conditions where they should have been designed to operate."

Got to disagree there sorry.

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No need to apologize tuna if you got a trouble free machine. Perhaps I over stated it a bit but many of the early SDC2300's and GPZ7000 failed to please and I doubt there'd be many who didn't truly believe that.

OldGT said:

Finally the day has arrived...So who's picking theirs up ASAP and who's sitting back waiting for feedback/honest reviews?

Tempted to just take the plunge.

Click to expand...

I'll take the plunge when I put the coin together Christmas, School Holidays and back to School expenses have scun me.

Moneybox said:

many of the early SDC2300's and GPZ7000 failed to please and I doubt there'd be many who didn't truly believe that.

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Most in the "failed to please" bracket failed to adapt to their new machines as they were quite different from what they were used to i.e. GPX etc.
Not saying there weren't actual failures or things that could have been made better, because there was, but the truth is most had a lot of trouble adapting particularly with the GPZ.
I copped heaps mainly on another forum for singing the praises of the SDC early on. I got one reasonably quickly after release. IMO it's a great detector still but won't suit everyone. Most that gave me shit early on now own one - go figure hey :lol:

Moneybox said:

madtuna said:

"Anybody who has not experienced these problems has not truly put their machines to the test in real Australian outback conditions where they should have been designed to operate."

Got to disagree there sorry.

Click to expand...

No need to apologize tuna if you got a trouble free machine. Perhaps I over stated it a bit but many of the early SDC2300's and GPZ7000 failed to please and I doubt there'd be many who didn't truly believe that.

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I was one of the first to get an SDC Phil, still to this day the only problem I've had was the battery issue, though it didn't take me long to work out what was causing it. I'm still using the same batteries and don't get the shutdown issue at all. Each to their own mate, I'm not having a go, just stating from my experience.

I don't own a Zed but a few mates do and have had some issues pop up but hey they find some decent gold with them too.

I might phone the dealers tomorrow and see what the plan is over here, I looked on a couple of sites and it said coming soon, But I thought that the UK was getting them first, Maybe they have not updated their pages yet and it is on sale already, I don't know, I should of checked sooner. :Y:

Scrap that... my bad

I was going to say that the only thing I would of liked to see on the Equinox is a integral cable system. But I guess you can't have everything.

hAyyoUinAU said:

I was going to say that the only thing I would of liked to see on the Equinox is a integral cable system. But I guess you can't have everything.

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Thought the same when I first saw it but on the +ve side, the 3 part handle and cable will make it backpack and aircraft friendly.

Yes. Very true

mbasko said:

Moneybox said:

many of the early SDC2300's and GPZ7000 failed to please and I doubt there'd be many who didn't truly believe that.

Click to expand...

Most in the "failed to please" bracket failed to adapt to their new machines as they were quite different from what they were used to i.e. GPX etc.
Not saying there weren't actual failures or things that could have been made better, because there was, but the truth is most had a lot of trouble adapting particularly with the GPZ.
I copped heaps mainly on another forum for singing the praises of the SDC early on. I got one reasonably quickly after release. IMO it's a great detector still but won't suit everyone. Most that gave me shite early on now own one - go figure hey :lol:

Click to expand...

I'm one of those who knocked it early but still went out and bought another one. They find gold where other machines can't so there are times when only an SDC will do the job.

I bought the another second hand, barely used, off this site and took it out two weeks back. That brought back the memories. It konked out each time I put it down. The arm rest was foulded every time i picked it up. The coil was floppy and scratchy to adjust at the knuckle. I tried to avoid flattening the coil each time to sort me target from the soil but that just meant that it fell on its side (not a fault, just annoying). I never realised how badly the coil floats, it would fould up when I pushed it down into the water. I tightened the screw but the joint feels dry and unlikely to last.

I'll tape the batteries and apply a dob of solder to the positive terminal.
I'll zip tie a sheet of 1 mm black plastic to the inside of the armrest alowing it ti still fold when needed but keeping it open when in use.
I'll wait until the coil knuckle wears out at the end of this season and return it to Minelab for the upgraded components.
It will most likely need a new audio plug by then anyway.

Last year we sent the SDC back to Minelab for the audio plug repair. I forgot to mention the floppy coil syndrome because I had fixed it by inserting a bush made from a yogurt container. They replaced all the swivel and knuckle parts anyway. The new components are smooth to operate and lasted an entire season without even needing adjustment. The material used in the replacement parts is far superior to the original.

We just received the SDC back from Minelab after getting a new audio plug. It's all fixed but I failed to mention that the shaft slides were worn out. They wouldn't have noticed becouse I punched the little pins out in the field and applied a smeer of araldite under the rubber wear pad to raise it to the original height. It now makes firm contact with the shaft again and holds it from collapsing while in use. Unfortunately it won't last but that machine is now out of warranty. Hopefully we'll be able to buy parts.

All this wouldn't stop me from buying another Minelab machine if there's nothing better but I don't like modifying anything I buy new and I shouldn't have to.

True MB you shouldn't have to make mods to fix things. I guess some of us are too accepting of these things.
I hope that the Equinox can also bring about some changes in other Minelab machines.
Hands up everyone that would like to see a SDC (or GPZ) in a lighter, cheaper, traditional detector format but with similar wireless options etc. It can be done!!

I doubt it can be that easy, the GPZ and SDC use a lot more juice than the Equinox ever will. Even with lithium.
They are 2 very portable machines..... and crammed with all the goodies.

You could throw an SDC 2300 on the ground with rocks..it is rough and rugged. I would not try that with an Equinox.

I would rather Minelab utilise the screen on the GPZ7000 like the 3030 does with target display... would be cool to get some sort of a visual..wave or something.
But that is also just being picky... GREAT MACHINES....

If anything the Equinox really killed off the GM1000...dare I say. But I think it could be true. Unless they knock down the price of the the GM to 800.

I still think the GM is a little bottler of a machine, for those who still prefer a Gold based machine without the bells and whistles quite a few will pick the GM over the EQ and vice versa, but with the EQ in the high frequency mode I don't think there will be much between them.