Minelab Equinox Unveiled!

[Steve Herschbach]

On 9/17/2017 at 4:49 AM, strick said:

It's 4:30 AM here in California and I'm drinking coffee not Kool- Aid. The comment on the video about the CTX becoming second tier did raise an eyebrow. The screen on this new machine appears to be basic and kinda resembles the Deus's screen. One of my favorite features of the CTX is Target Trace. I see nothing mentioned on this new machine about that.  I don't see Minelab  chewing their foot off yet with the CTX although sales will likely go down some with the introduction of this new machine.  I think they are making a machine that can compete with the other manufacturers at a certain price point to a certain group of customers. It would be nice to get a metal detector that can do everything for under a grand... and if this thing can do exactly what my CTX does but faster then I probably will get one.... but something tells me this will not be the case....time will tell....so this morning when I head out the door for a hunt with my CTX and Deus in the back seat of the truck I know that I have two of the best machines out there. 

strick 

I am kind of shocked that with all the people at Detectival not one could manage to get some decent closeup photos of the detector? I watched all the videos looking for a decent screen capture of the display and they all are full of reflections, etc. This enlargement of the studio photo is about as good as it gets at the moment...

What we have is a fairly standard target id system. I like the big, bold numeric display, but what is distinctly is not is a CTX display.

People of course focus on depth, but when it comes to target id accuracy how you display the information does matter. White's with the SpectraGraph and Minelab with their two dimensional display offer the ability to see multiple target id responses simultaneously. Most detectors like the Equinox give you one number one swing, then another number the next. This is because many target do not have a single target id number, but many. Ferrous targets in particular often give off a shotgun blast of target id numbers. Most normal single number display systems show you the dominant result, which can trick a user into thinking a bottle cap is a coin. The White's and Minelab advanced displays can show all those various ferrous numbers all at once, making a bottle cap quite obvious. White's has an accumulate function and the CTX has target trace, which can be used to "paint pictures" of probable mixed target id items and even give results on multiple items under the coil.

So let's just assume for the sake of argument the Equinox equaled the CTX for depth. It will still be limited by the nature of its display to a single id result at a time. For this one reason alone the CTX will still find favor with some people. Those who hunt by ear would be less concerned by this - then it boils down to audio nuance and frankly only using one can sort that out for people. This post indicates the CTX is better tuned for silver and the Equinox more for low conductors.... http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,131291,132250#msg-132250

"How is Multi-IQ different from BBS/FBS? Multi-IQ uses a different group of fundamental frequencies than BBS or FBS to generate a wide-band multi-frequency transmission signal that is more sensitive to high-frequency targets and slightly less sensitive to low-frequency targets. Multi-IQ uses the latest high-speed processor(s) and advanced digital filtering techniques for a much faster recovery speed than BBS or FBS technologies. Multi-IQ copes with saltwater and beach conditions just as well as BBS/BFS, however BBS/FBS still have an advantage for finding high-conductive silver coins in all conditions."

It is obvious the Equinox will have advantages over the CTX for target separation, and the Equinox 800 on small items via the 40 khz operating frequency. The CTX is still likely to have the edge for target id nuance simply because of the display. I see no reason why the two can't co-exist in the product line. There are other things like the stout design, GPS, large battery, that all differentiate the CTX from the Equinox. Choose one or the other or both, but they are both separate and viable products. The models that are feeling the obvious heat are the X-Terras - will they be discontinued or just reduced in price? And maybe the Safari since it lacks the display nuance advantages? It would seem to be at risk of being discontinued. The E-Trac seems a bit more of a toss up but this recent announcement indicates it will remain a part of the Minelab lineup for now. I don't know, pure speculation on my part, but fairly obvious I think when you consider it.

[Steve Herschbach]

I have seen people talking about USB slots on the side of the Equinox pod. Folks, it's a waterproof detector. No slots. Besides, just watch the videos - people are pushing those "slots" - they are additional control buttons. They are marked as to function in the photo above but too blurry to make out - still looking for a clear screen shot. Upper left appears to be the power button.

[Steve Herschbach]

OK, the Russian video below has shots of the machine from lots of angles in HD video. Here are the controls....

Upper left is clearly power. Lower left looks like backlight. Upper right wireless. Lower right a little person? On the GPZ that is my user programmable button.

 

[flakmagnet]

It would be fun to hear a translation of the Russian vid. It appears they may have gotten into more detail than the other ones that have been put up. 

[Guest Tnsharpshooter]

Some pics of the box for Equinox 800 model.

Notice detector battery run time.

If my eyes are correct says minimum 12 hours run time.

http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,131291,131490#msg-131490

[Steve Herschbach]

 

[Cabin Fever]

Thought for sure any new Minelab was going to have Auto, Auto Plus Sensitivity  like the Monster, CTX, and E-Trac.. Unless I'm missing something?  I have kind of grown to appreciate the Auto sensitivity at times.  It's nice to have especially when I get in lazy mode and don't feel like pushing to the limits towards the end of the day.  

Bryan

[MikePfeiffer]

3 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I have seen people talking about USB slots on the side of the Equinox pod. Folks, it's a waterproof detector. No slots. Besides, just watch the videos - people are pushing those "slots" - they are additional control buttons. They are marked as to function in the photo above but too blurry to make out - still looking for a clear screen shot. Upper left appears to be the power button.

Steve, here is it

They said it is a magnetic charger and USB port.

Video

 

Around the 5 min mark.

[Steve Herschbach]

Thanks Mark, I did catch that. I was referring to people on other forums thinking the buttons on the side of the pod looked like standard USB slots in the photos. I should have also done what you just did and highlight that there is a USB port, but due to the unit being waterproof it is via the magnetic charger attachment. Thank you very much for the clarification!

In case anyone is wondering who the Minelab guy is in the hat in the video above, this is a screen capture from the Minelab GPZ 7000 Ground Balance video....

[Col Douglas]

3 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

 

 

What we have is a fairly standard target id system. I like the big, bold numeric display, but what is distinctly is not is a CTX display.

People of course focus on depth, but when it comes to target id accuracy how you display the information does matter. White's with the SpectraGraph and Minelab with their two dimensional display offer the ability to see multiple target id responses simultaneously. Most detectors like the Equinox give you one number one swing, then another number the next. This is because many target do not have a single target id number, but many. Ferrous targets in particular often give off a shotgun blast of target id numbers. Most normal single number display systems show you the dominant result, which can trick a user into thinking a bottle cap is a coin. The White's and Minelab advanced displays can show all those various ferrous numbers all at once, making a bottle cap quite obvious. White's has an accumulate function and the CTX has target trace, which can be used to "paint pictures" of probable mixed target id items and even give results on multiple items under the coil.

So let's just assume for the sake of argument the Equinox equaled the CTX for depth. It will still be limited by the nature of its display to a single id result at a time. For this one reason alone the CTX will still find favor with some people. Those who hunt by ear would be less concerned by this - then it boils down to audio nuance and frankly only using one can sort that out for people.

It is obvious the Equinox will have advantages over the CTX for target separation, and the Equinox 800 on small items via the 40 khz operating frequency. The CTX is still likely to have the edge for target id nuance simply because of the display. I see no reason why the two can't co-exist in the product line. There are other things like the stout design, GPS, large battery, that all differentiate the CTX from the Equinox. Choose one or the other or both, but they are both separate and viable products. The models that are feeling the obvious heat are the X-Terras - will they be discontinued? And maybe the Safari since it lacks the display nuance advantages? It would seem to be at risk of being discontinued. The E-Trac seems a bit more of a toss up but maybe a price reduction there? I don't know, pure speculation on my part, but fairly obvious I think when you consider it.

Plus a software upgrade (free or paid for) for the CTX, will ensure it stays as Minelab's premium coin machine.

Col