Minelab Equinox tips and questions

[ProspectorPete]

I'm same as you RM, I've not done much coin shooting or beach hunting as my Xterra 505 and Makro are not user friendly for either but I'll grab a NOX in a few months to hit some beaches and the odd park when I'm looking to kill a few hrs.
Reviews look good so far :Y:

 

[Syndyne]

Great reports gents.

I hope karma rewards you well for the ring return Wally! That was certainly good fortune for the owners. :Y:

Now I'm really looking forward to seeing how one handles out on the goldfields, both on relics and smaller nugs.

Cheers,
Shauno.

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

[video=480,360]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGqdYyXi27U[/video]

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

No point swinging and Equinox over goldfield ground that ZED and I have been on. I dig EVERYTHING!!

lol

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

I should leave a sign.

"ZED WAS HERE" lol

 

[Wally69]

Great reports gents.

I hope karma rewards you well for the ring return Wally! That was certainly good fortune for the owners. :Y:

Now I'm really looking forward to seeing how one handles out on the goldfields, both on relics and smaller nugs.

Cheers,
Shauno.

Both Challenges accepted :Y:

 

[Trash]

Hey Rick

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

Hey Rick

https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...5049_ef641213-3965-47f7-8492-9daa9c0445c0.jpg

I want one. lol. That's cool.

 

[AussieTex]

Right now I think I am going to sit on the fence with the Equinox. I want to see how the Makro Multi Kruzer versus the Equinox 800 testing fares. I have seen some videos on the Multi Kruzer and the stability in salt water seems to be impressive and the features of the detector seems to rival if not beat the Equinox in some things for more or less the same price as the Equinox 800. I do like the 99 TIDs of the Multi Kruzer which seems to be very stable in the videos.

I also want to see how both of the detectors handle EMI. I took my EMI detecting machine (Explorer II with WOT coil) out to the beach over the weekend and found that everyone on the beach must have an electronic device on them since I could see the gaps in falsing when no one was around or I was further away from the tide-line motorway. The Multi Kruzer evidently has some Enhanced EMI protection (re:specs on flyer) that might be useful if it is something that the Equinox can't deal with well.

Of course the Multi Kruzer doesn't have the highest frequencies (Gold Kruzer does tho...) that the Equinox 800 does so in that aspect it is kind of more like the 600 but I would rather use a PI machine doing the goldfield searching thang.

 

[1968falconxt]

I'm same as you RM, I've not done much coin shooting or beach hunting as my Xterra 505 and Makro are not user friendly for either but I'll grab a NOX in a few months to hit some beaches and the odd park when I'm looking to kill a few hrs.
Reviews look good so far :Y:

I am curious as to why you think the 505 is not user friendly for coin shooting? it is a pretty basic unit to operate.

 

[Tim_2260]

I had a look at some of the online stores and they all seem to be sold out, well at least the ones I looked at. I think I left my run a tad late and will have to wait for more stock to hit the shelfs. I know there was a lot of hype about them and I am guessing when they finally released it everyone rushed out and snapped them up. Reading all the reviews has made me even keener to get one. Guess I will just have to keep reading about them for now. Thanks to all those posting up their experiences with them. Tim.

 

[ProspectorPete]

I'm same as you RM, I've not done much coin shooting or beach hunting as my Xterra 505 and Makro are not user friendly for either but I'll grab a NOX in a few months to hit some beaches and the odd park when I'm looking to kill a few hrs.
Reviews look good so far :Y:

I am curious as to why you think the 505 is not user friendly for coin shooting? it is a pretty basic unit to operate.

Yep should be pretty basic to use which is why I originally bought it for a cheap easy to use detector to keep in my work van, detect parks at lunch times.
I find the numbers jump around a lot and hard to lock on a target at times, tones jump a lot on the one target and signal varies, almost like there's an issue with the 505 (maybe the issue is me though), I purchased new and it's only seen a few parks, I did use it on damp sand at a fresh water lake and it did better than in the parks afterwards, maybe there's moisture or crap between the coil and cover?
I'll get it out the shed and give it a good look over and fresh batteries (were replaced last detect) and see if it's any better, I've just not liked it since new and was a quick impulse buy the day we were heading off on holidays and I wanted a cheap detector to play with in the park.

We are heading away to the beach for a week followed by a week camped on the Murray before Easter so I'll take it with me and the instruction book and give it a red hot go in dry sand and parks before relegating it to the granddaughter, but fingers crossed I end up gelling with it :Y:

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

I think I have it pretty well sussed out.

If you already have a higher end VLF detector over the $1500 mark then there is probably no real reason to get a Equinox.

If you don't have a good VLF then the Equinox is probably a good idea.

For someone like me who has a GPZ 7000 and a Makro Gold Racer, it seems like a good idea. And anyone else who has a high frequency VLF or wants multi frequency might benefit for what the Nox has to offer.

The Equinox will make relic hunting and coin shooting a lot easier than the Makro for sure, and give more depth. I won't be using it over ZED for the goldfields, so if someone asks me if it is good for gold hunting, my answer is "No more than my Makro!"

So for me it is a yes, for the days I am not on the goldfields, but I am in no rush. I will wait for a bonus pack to come out or for some newby to get frustrated and sell his.

One thing I have to admit is Minelab has done extremely well with both quality, and quantity for that price. And they realised this way they can cater for a wider audience and move a lot of units. WIN WIN

 

[1968falconxt]

I'm same as you RM, I've not done much coin shooting or beach hunting as my Xterra 505 and Makro are not user friendly for either but I'll grab a NOX in a few months to hit some beaches and the odd park when I'm looking to kill a few hrs.
Reviews look good so far :Y:

I am curious as to why you think the 505 is not user friendly for coin shooting? it is a pretty basic unit to operate.

Yep should be pretty basic to use which is why I originally bought it for a cheap easy to use detector to keep in my work van, detect parks at lunch times.
I find the numbers jump around a lot and hard to lock on a target at times, tones jump a lot on the one target and signal varies, almost like there's an issue with the 505 (maybe the issue is me though), I purchased new and it's only seen a few parks, I did use it on damp sand at a fresh water lake and it did better than in the parks afterwards, maybe there's moisture or crap between the coil and cover?
I'll get it out the shed and give it a good look over and fresh batteries (were replaced last detect) and see if it's any better, I've just not liked it since new and was a quick impulse buy the day we were heading off on holidays and I wanted a cheap detector to play with in the park.

We are heading away to the beach for a week followed by a week camped on the Murray before Easter so I'll take it with me and the instruction book and give it a red hot go in dry sand and parks before relegating it to the granddaughter, but fingers crossed I end up gelling with it :Y:

Mine locks on to targets well. I know what you mean about the jumping ID numbers. That is a problem I have and often get my mate with his 3030 to come and tell me what the target likely is. I have learned that pretty much if the target ID is jumping around a lot (mainly 32-36) it's a bottle top or can and not a goldie. I've only ever found gold coins when I get nothing other than a repeatable 32. However, I still get bottle tops with that number too

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

Speaking of ID numbers.
Is tone more important than ID numbers?
I remember seeing a video, I can't remember who, but he was a professional, and he said to put tape of the screen and ignore the numbers. Go by the sound he said.
I never did that with my racer, because one of the reasons I purchased a Makro was I liked the large numbers. But after spending a lot of time using it, I did understand what he meant.

Does each ID have a specific tone?
Is that how these machines throw a number, by correlating a tones frequency or pitch with an ID number?

If so, I can easily understand how numbers can jump around more. As would the tones pitch. And if so, wouldn't different manufacturers program the ID display timing/refresh differently? And faster machines might jump around more? And then also the placement of ID and numbers.
My Makro seems to be a lot like others... 0-99 ID numbers Non Ferrous to Ferrous
Where as the Nox has its own -9-40 or something. And to me that is a smaller range to squeeze everything in.

Maybe I am thinking too much about it....

 

[PhaseTech]

Crown caps are made of ferrous and non ferrous metal. A fresh one can give a good pretty solid ID, but the longer it sits in the ground the more likely the ID will jump around. Every detector has it's own little tricks of ID'ing them. The target Trace on the CTX is often very useful by displaying a splatter of random IDs. But wine bottle and old soft drink screw lids are another story.....

 

[ProspectorPete]

Ok 1968falconxt that sounds similar to what I experienced on the few sessions with it and didn't have much confidence in it due to the amount of guessing and digging foil, bottle tops and other various junk, I'll aim to spend some quality time with it and try digging only solid target ID's then, thanks for the tip :Y:

 

[Danny13]

Speaking of ID numbers.
Is tone more important than ID numbers?
I remember seeing a video, I can't remember who, but he was a professional, and he said to put tape of the screen and ignore the numbers. Go by the sound he said.
I never did that with my racer, because one of the reasons I purchased a Makro was I liked the large numbers. But after spending a lot of time using it, I did understand what he meant.

Does each ID have a specific tone?
Is that how these machines throw a number, by correlating a tones frequency or pitch with an ID number?

If so, I can easily understand how numbers can jump around more. As would the tones pitch. And if so, wouldn't different manufacturers program the ID display timing/refresh differently? And faster machines might jump around more? And then also the placement of ID and numbers.
My Makro seems to be a lot like others... 0-99 ID numbers Non Ferrous to Ferrous
Where as the Nox has its own -9-40 or something. And to me that is a smaller range to squeeze everything in.

Maybe I am thinking too much about it....

Hi H , you can program it to give you a different tone according to type of target sets

 

[Wally69]

For those that hold me to account....that would be me. I had stated that my first intention wa to take the NoX to some of my honey holes to see what I had missed with the 705, if anything.

Did a small detour on the way home from work this evening to one of my favourite honey holes. For thos that have followed my 'Nugget Hunting Practice - the by-catch' you might recall my excitement of finding my first snake buckle, pre-pre-decimal coins and the hand forged pick heads that are currently soaking in molasses for rebirthing. The area is relatively small and every hole has all sorts of junk in it.

I had a bit of trepidation stepping on the ground I have rum the 705 over numerous times, I have dug every clear target and dozens of unclear targets in this 20x50m patch. I had heavily discriminated due to the abundance of dumped rubbishy and had parked this spot on the promise that I would buy a CTX to do it anymore justice.

I put it on Park 2 and changed to all-metal, to my surprise 5 paces in locked on to my first clear non-ferrous signal beside a ferrous signal in a spot I relieved a couple of Victoria penny's. A small target at mid depth - 1c - should not have missed this with the 705 but the neighbouring trash would have been the culprit.

Down the hill a bit chasing a few bits of lead and boom - hit a deep King George penny, with a couple of other responses on the side. One a nail and a 19 response a bit further away and a bit deeper was surprised when that unmistakable silver colour of a florin popped out of the hole. Checked the response on the ground for a 32....I think....can't really remember, it could have been 27. But lifted the coil to see what happens. The same high ID stayed right up until the limit of no signal where it registered a 19. Two feet away out pops another KG penny with a bit of lead next to it.

Only had a little time, so walked to another hot area........BOOM......I could believe, in amongst the rubble and iron, mixed with a hint of a high skwark, out popped the missing half of my snake buckle arty: :rainbow: arty: :rainbow: arty: :rainbow: arty: :rainbow: :rainbow: :rainbow: arty: :rainbow: arty: :rainbow: arty: :rainbow: arty: :rainbow: arty: :rainbow: arty:

Job done

 

[Danny13]

Great stuff Wally - nice pic. Did you up your recovery setting? To isolate the ferrous targets from non-ferrous ?