Minelab Equinox tips and questions

t3hricardo said:

Hi guys,

looking for a advice from wiser ones what set up to run on sydney beaches with my nox600 which I got 2 days ago. I noticed that there is lot of background noice when I run it on default settings beach 1. I tried noise cancel too and auto ground balance . Sensitivity is on 20, when I bring it down it gets quieter but I dont want to loose depth. Sometimes I had to bring sensitivity down to around 14. Is there anything that I can set up differently for better performance? I am a bit of new to this. Cheers !

Richard

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Hi Richard, I run my Nox 600 at factory settings on Vic beaches no probs but Beach 1 is best for dry sand and if you go on the wet sand flick over to Beach 2 and see how you go.
If you have to lower the Sensitivity because of background noise you won't be loosing depth because running a higher Sens with noise means you're not going to hear the deep faint targets anyway, so better to run it lower and smoother which should help you hear more faint targets.
Just my thoughts anyway.

I always run ground balance tracking on the beach.... It's just to unstable otherwise...This way I can crank up the sensitivity to suit the beach. Usually 22 to 23 :Y:

Thank you guys! I give it a go on wet sand with beach 2 and all the above mentioned. You all are legends! did not expect so many replies in such a short time. many thanks!

Regards,
Richard

Also don't forget, mobile phones can create extra noise too.

Well, the armrest cuff finally broke on my 600. Is anyone using an upgraded armrest yet? I understand that all the X-terra armrests are compatible with the Equinox, but the shipping costs on most of the metal ones on Ebay practically double their cost!

I think I've settled on a good program for the type of detecting that I like to do (trashy old bush homesteads mostly with very mineralised soils, focus on pre-decs):
- Park 1
- Notched out from -10-12 and 38-40 which seems to be excluding most .22 bullets and casings for me while still catching buttons, and kills a lot of wrap-around falsing
- Manual GB, auto results in user insanity much of the time
- Iron bias to suit conditions but typically 2-3 at the moment
- Sensitivity as low as 12 in some super trashy areas with big iron still gets results, typically running 18-22

I was previously using default Field 2 but these settings seem to be lethal, cuts so much of the rubbish out and lets you focus on repeatable signals. I guess I could lose some smaller gold objects but I think it's a fair tradeoff, and I strongly suspect I would still be able to pick up say something like a crown silver that might be nudging the high end of the notch with the way that the Nox's ID's jump around.

Hi Everyone, my brother and I have the Equinox 800 and wanted to be able to pack the detector easily in a back pack when going bush or on the motorbike.
I designed and manufactured this so it allows the control unit to be removed from the stem without tools.

If anyone wants one you can let me know :Y:

Its easy to install and makes use of the original mounting bolts.
The bolt and screws I will send with it are stainless.
No modification is required to the detector so you can return it to standard any time.
It will be made in black ABS. (You can see my wife asked me to make it in pink but the material I used is not exterior rated)

I am just a fellow enthusiast, not a big manufacturer. I have tried my best to create a good reliable part. Some parts will have signs of being trimmed and filed so they fit correctly. I'm not making a living selling these, I just made them for my brother and I but others have asked for it so I figure I offer them to everyone.

I'm asking $28 each plus postage.

Postage Australia:
A 500g prepaid satchel is $8.75. I can fit 4 or 5 in a satchel for the same price so ask your Nox mates and maybe you can combine postage.
Express Post 500G Satchel is $11.50

I can also send the overseas but please ask around and try and combine purchase with a friend etc. Postage cost is the same if I send one or five so it greatly reduces the cost to you if you combine with friends.
$30 postage to most locations for a satchel that can fit up to 5.

Nice build

awesome innovation

Cheers :Y:

Does anyone know where I might be able to get one of the headphone screw in fittings for the Equinox, want to make up a lead for the 6.35mm headphones. I know I can buy a made up lead, but a bit costly at $75.00 to see if it make any difference with better headphones. It is not a thread that I have dies for.

Graham

Hi all. Got board with tv today so crome castded some YouTube gold and metal detecting videos. As I have just purchased a Equanox 800 I was looking for something on this. Lots of American and English vids but came across this one.

https://youtu.be/4GDpDOXI2b4

Mainly this bloke was testing Australian coins at depth I found it to be of some value, no pun.
I think he tended to over do the coil passes though a bit too repetitive.
The gold mod was interesting as well although I think he was getting a lot of chatter from his mobile phone.

Anyway If you find a YouTube video on the Nox you think is worth putting up then please do.

Wife and I each have an Equinox 600 for use on the beaches. Recently we purchased a set of Grey Ghost noise limiting headphones each so the small amount of hearing that we have might last a few more years instead of being blasted by unwanted metal items when looking for gold. Have tried them in our back yard and they work a treat. We purchased the adapter cable that goes from the Equinox screw in fitting to the 1/4 inch jack so we could use the Grey Ghost headphones on the beach.

This afternoon we went to one of the local beaches for test run. I was first to set up and wife told me that the headphones were good as she could hear my Equinox going through the set up. I could not hear a great deal and tried to adjust the volume on the head phones and after a few seconds decided that something was wrong only to find that nothing was coming through the headphones, it was all coming out the speaker at the back of the Equinox. Bit of fiddling to make sure that all was seated correctly, but nothing at all through the head phones. So an hour or so was spent wandering around, but the surf noise made it too difficult to hear much, so we came home.

Tried the water proof headphones that have the same screw fitting and they worked, but the adapter lead would do nothing to stop the speaker working. Rang Reeds Prospecting and they did some testing and could find nothing wrong with the adapter leads that they had. I was informed that the adapter lead MUST have head phones plugged in to stop speaker working, so back over to the shed and tried the Grey Ghost headphones with no result, tried a couple of sets of old head phones and they all worked and did what they were supposed to do. So a bit more testing on the Grey Ghost that we have and the best that we can get with them is a ticking sound when the black switch is switched, so our hopes of using the Grey Ghost on the beach have come to nothing. This is just a heads up if anyone is going to buy the adapter lead that apparently some headphones may not work.

Graham

unfortunate outcome Graham. Good headphones aren't cheap to replace, especially if you have to buy 2 new pairs!

I suspect you're using a stereo adapter.
Some headphones will work with this but some will not depending on how they are wired.
I also suspect you are using the Original Grey Ghost headphones & they are wired to cut the GPX internal amp in. That will be your issue if so.
To get the speaker to cut out & the Grey Ghost headphones to work you will need to get a 1/8 male mono to 1/4 female stereo adapter.
These may be hard to source as I've heard of issues seating some 1/8" male plugs into the Equinox due to the type of fitting/s Minelab use.
I'll see if I can find something that may suit?

DD, they will not be a total loss as we mainly intended them for use on the GPX that we have for gold :Y: :Y: and just thought as they are good at blocking out other noise they would be good on the beach, but not so at this stage, might try some small experiments, but do not want to cause any issues with the Equinox.

Graham

Did you buy them specifically for the nox or as general use phones? I bought the Grey Ghost Amphibians with the Equinox screw in lead. The sound quality is excellent and no adaptor required. The down side of course is being nox specific, you cant use them for other detectors.
Rusty

Ah, you answered my question before I asked it.... Im a sloooooww typist.

mbasco, I did try to set it up prior to buying the adapter lead, but was unable to find a plug that would go into the Equinox and have a little bit of holding ability, so the adapter lead was purchased. The wiring does appear to be stereo, bit hard to check contact in the bottom of the 1/4", might have a look tomorrow when it a bit warmer outside. Do not worry too much about it, it was an experiment that did not go as planned, we have other headphones that we can use, it was more a warning to others that might go along this path.

Graham

I read elsewhere previously that the GMonster & Equinox have a unique 1/8" setup.
I recently bought headphones from PhaseTech (Nenad) with an adaptor that works on both the GM & XT705.
give Nenad a call. He may be able to help you out or give advice

The audio set up isn't unique in the GM or Equinox.
There are a number of detectors that use headphone wiring to trigger or turn on/off specific audio features.
As detectors put out mono audio you only need 2 x channels so the sleeve connection is used for other audio "triggers".

In the case of the GPX by wiring an external speaker to the tip & ring only of a TRS plug the GPX battery senses that the sleeve isn't wired so triggers the inbuilt amp to drive the speaker. A speaker wired normally (tip, ring & sleeve) won't trigger the amp & will lack volume. You can wire headphones (or re-wire stereo headphones) to do this but it's not recommended & most aren't. They are wired to tip, ring + sleeve so as not to blast your eardrums. I'm assuming the Original Grey Ghosts are wired tip & ring only for increased volume but then noise limited to blank the very loud responses unlike the specifically made/wired Equinox Grey Ghosts.

In the case of detectors that have an external speaker like the CTX, Equinox, GM etc. then when using normally wired stereo headphones (tip, ring, sleeve) the detector uses the sleeve connection as a switch. It senses that the sleeve is connected & shuts the external speaker off. This is why the Original Grey Ghosts (or other GPX headphones wired to trip the batteries amp) won't work or won't shut down the external speaker. The detector can't sense a sleeve connection.
There are a few makes for the GPX wired like this giving the effect that the headphones are better/louder when in fact the GPX amp is what's driving them.
By using a mono to stereo adapter the mono plug essentially bridges out the ring & sleeve connections tricking the detector into thinking the sleeve is connected & shuts off the speaker. The headphones should then work as they are supposed to.
There is a knowledge base article from Minelab written in regards to the CTX audio that addresses this issue.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/doc/member-docs/4485/1563448012_kba_21-3_ctx_3030_audio_options-1.pdf
Hopefully the above can also help with headphone selection on these detectors?

P.s. you might be able to use this https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com.au/ulk/itm/370810193141