Why So Many People Not Sure Of The Equinox?

[dewcon4414]

Oh man i want that white coil.   Ive tested various colors on my coil....... seems here in the Gulf white is best.   So i spray paint the front quarter of my coils.  

[Mountain Mike]

I saw where someone mentioned that minelab says FBS is more sensitive to silver coins than Multi IQ. For anyone with that concern I would ask would you rather find silver or gold? Its not that the EQ is not as sensitive as a FBS machine. Its that it is more sensitive to different targets. I have a gold tennis bracelet with diamonds that I can rub on the bottom of a CTX or etrac coil and they don't make a sound. They don't see it because its a really low conductor without anything round. FBS likes round objects. The only gold  that FBS detects well are rings and coins (round). Based on the gold nuggets I have seen the Equinox find I believe it will open up the possibility of finding other jewelry to me. It should hit the earrings, chains, and pendants that I have missed over the years. I love finding coins and deep silver with my Etrac but they are rarely valuable. I think the Equinox will give me an advantage finding more valuable targets. I can live with live with that even if I miss the occasional deep silver.

[steveg]

Mike --

While I largely agree with your post, and totally agree with you with respect to your sensitivity comparisons between FBS and what will likely be the case with the Equinox, I did have one comment.  You asked "would you rather find silver or gold," but I think that's an easier question to answer on the surface, than in practice. 

Of COURSE I'd like to think that an average hunt at a local park could yield a gold ring or two (similar to how an average hunt at that same park might yield a silver coin or two).  But I think it's fair to say that the reason more folks target silver, as opposed to gold, is that one can set up a machine (and their mindset) to TARGET silver, and to minimize the junk digs -- thus managing to maintain a fairly good trash-to-treasure ratio.  If I pick a good site, I can come home with a couple of nice "treasures" at the end of the day, when targeting silver.  However, the inability to do that same thing with gold, is -- I believe -- why it's not targeted by more folks.  Multi-IQ, I am confident, WILL hit that very low-conductive bracelet of yours, and so theoretically, it will allow such objects to be found -- objects that FBS is simply BLIND to.  HOWEVER, while the Equinox will SEE the small gold items that FBS won't, I think it's fair to say that the Equinox will likely not make it any simpler than several other high-frequency machines to figure out WHICH of those signals are the gold bracelet or earring or whatever, and which ones are pieces of the myriad small trash objects buried in most areas.  Said another way, using either machine-based and/or "mental" discrimination is an effective way to significantly increase your chances of digging silver.  NOT SO, for gold, for the most part.  Unfortunately, discrimination does not exist yet that allows one to target gold anywhere NEAR as successfully as one can use discrimination (either "mental," or machine-based) to target silver.

Beach hunting, where you "up your odds" a little, makes sense.  Nugget hunting also, where there are a higher percentage/ratio of "good" targets in the ground in some areas, makes sense.  I think the Equinox will do well in these areas.  But I have a hard time thinking the Equinox will allow me to effectively "park hunt" for gold, in a similar manner that one can effectively "park hunt" for silver...

I'm still waiting for a machine that can allow me to target gold as effectively as I can target silver (i.e. a similar trash-to-treasure ratio), but that technology simply does not exist yet.  Obviously, there's WAY more to it, than just making a machine that is very good at "seeing" the gold.

It will be interesting to see just how well people can utilize the Equinox's sensitivity to gold, in other than a prospecting or beach-hunting scenario...

Steve

[Mountain Mike]

steveg

That's a good point steve. I was not trying to Imply that one could go to a public location and snipe jewelry. I was gearing the post towards new detectorists. There seems to be a lot of folks with no or little detecting experience in line for this detector. I am just trying to help them understand why somebody like me with an etrac would want an Equinox or why one would want one more than another. I was just saying that the equinox will hit some targets that the FBS cant see. You cant dig it if you don't know its there. That is good info for new people to know that sniping jewelry is impossible.  If you want to find jewelry you just have to make up your mind to dig all non ferrous signals and realize its gonna be a long day with a pouch full of garbage and hope you get lucky. 

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, steveg said:

It will be interesting to see just how well people can utilize the Equinox's sensitivity to gold, in other than a prospecting or beach-hunting scenario...

Steve

Yep.  That would be relic hunting, as many desirable relic targets are mid conductors like brass.  Add to that improved performance in mineralized soils and high recovery for dealing with iron infested sites and you have a potential winner.  The Deus relic hunting community is already reaping the unanticipated benefits of the recently introduced HF coils which were also marketed as primarily prospecting coils.  Multi IQ potentially ups the game further and is generating excitement.

[BeachHunter]

My Deus with the HF Elliptical Coil works very well for me at the beach, even on the wet sand.

So I’ll be using the Equinox to compliment the Deus and vice versa.

[steveg]

 

4 hours ago, Mountain Mike said:

steveg

That's a good point steve. I was not trying to Imply that one could go to a public location and snipe jewelry. I was gearing the post towards new detectorists. There seems to be a lot of folks with no or little detecting experience in line for this detector. I am just trying to help them understand why somebody like me with an etrac would want an Equinox or why one would want one more than another. I was just saying that the equinox will hit some targets that the FBS cant see. You cant dig it if you don't know its there. That is good info for new people to know that sniping jewelry is impossible.  If you want to find jewelry you just have to make up your mind to dig all non ferrous signals and realize its gonna be a long day with a pouch full of garbage and hope you get lucky. 

Mike --

Gotcha.  Understood.  I was "nit picking" a bit, I know.  I just wanted to clarify that while I would LOVE to target gold jewelry sometimes, it's not very easy in most environments -- even when you select a machine that can effectively "see " a higher percentage of the gold targets that are lost/in the ground, as compared to most other units.  But yes, your overall point as I mentioned is spot-on; there is NO DOUBT in my mind that the Equinox will hit targets that FBS does not have a prayer on...and as such, makes it worthy of being AT LEAST a "complementary" machine in the "arsenal" of many...

Steve

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Yep.  That would be relic hunting, as many desirable relic targets are mid conductors like brass.  Add to that improved performance in mineralized soils and high recovery for dealing with iron infested sites and you have a potential winner.  The Deus relic hunting community is already reaping the unanticipated benefits of the recently introduced HF coils which were also marketed as primarily prospecting coils.  Multi IQ potentially ups the game further and is generating excitement.

Chase, I agree!  I should have worded my last sentence more clearly, to say that "it will be interesting to see how people who are TARGETING GOLD can effectively utilize the Equinox in other than beach and prospecting scenarios/sites."

But like you said, if you utilize the Equinox's sensitivity to low and mid conductors in a relic-hunting mode, or in an "UK hammered coin hunting" mode, things like that, then yes -- there will likely be some very effective uses of the Equinox's so-called "gold sensitivity."

I'm really interested in what's being said in various places recently, about using the very high frequencies (Deus, mostly) to effectively unmask non-ferrous targets in iron-infested sites.  A VERY interesting application of such frequencies, that is probably not what was primarily intended by the manufacturers/engineers...

Steve

[NSC]

On 1/22/2018 at 11:20 PM, Chase Goldman said:

I truly wonder what percentage of detectorists are actually able to pay for their machines with their finds.  To me, as a working stiff and family man, I cannot find enough time off to be able to detect as much as I would like to or would have to to be able to "pay for my detector."  If I had the time due to being retred but on a VERY limited income or even unemployed, it seems that more import life expenses would take priority.  If payback time were a factor in my detector buying decision I would be just paying off my Tek Delta.  I only ever cash in clad and selling "collectable" finds is not an option and I do not find enough unreturnable jewelry to really cash in.  Also, thinking about my detector that way smacks of work and getting as far away from the stresses of work is a primary reason why I detect.  Lol.

Hi Chase,

Us Aussies have it made in this regard. $1 and $2 coins in general circulation can make for some rewarding hunts.

My old Xterra 70 is still used by me with a 15" coil for modern coin drops and these modern finds have paid for all my machines many times over.

A lot of hours were put in to get the total coinage and some early mornings / late nights. Sometimes  multiple $2 and $1 coins are pinged in one drop, so you might pick up $10 or $15 in one hit if you are lucky. Our $2 coin is smaller than the $1 coin so they are very commonly lost. $2 coins can add up quickly.

Us detectorists downunder hope a $5 coin comes out soon

Happy swingin

 

[dewcon4414]

On that gold....... a lots going to depend on how much foil you want to dig still.   Thats not changing.   Other gold jewelry........ the ET/CTX will find you just are ignoring it and concentrating on silver avoiding the trash these target fall in.    Try.....disc out the higher range and have a dig for gold day.   The machines going to find some smaller gold jewelry than our current machines......... its still not going to be deep and its still going to be foil.   BUT.......i expect more of the small stuff is going to be posted.   If you have a golf swing or like to have your coil more than a couple inches off the sand........ you best work on that now.

[Mike Hillis]

HA!  HA!

The post title suckered me into reading a sales pitch.  Way to go.

I'm only looking at the Equinox out of curiosity as it doesn't offer anything that would help better identify non-ferrous treasure in non-ferrous trash, or see through walls better than others.   In reality,  just owning one would be a time waster for me, but hey, itches got to be scratched, right?   The good news would be that one could scratch his itch and still get most of his money back afterwards if they moved early, unless of course it deploys with glitches.  Will it continue to generate a itch or will it fade?   Right now my itch is fading.   

What I really like about the Equinox though, is the way it is stirring the waters of detectorland.   
HH
Mike