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You are right Fred. I lived in Alaska for almost forty years. The places I lived were a bit remote, in that they were not close to any town. So you could step out your door and possibly run into a bear or belligerent moose. It is true that people in Alaska that live in or very near towns and cities may not feel the need to go armed, but in most other places they do have a need to go armed. If you want to enjoy the outdoors in places like this you should take into consideration that you may run into trouble and need to defend yourself. Self defense is natural for all living things.

I carry my 357 when roaming the wilderness here in Idaho....more to protect my little pup from wolves or coyotes, than anything else(or perhaps from 2 legged weirdos!), but luckily never needed it. In big bear country I prefer a good bear spray. To get this topic back on GOLD, here’s some Gold Monster fun from a new spot I found this week! ?

Yes phrunt, I do understand the difference. I just posted that because many people who do not and never have lived in remote situations just cannot understand what it is like to live where you have to be extremely careful about what is around you and where you are walking. Their lifestyle cannot prepare them for even thinking in terms of life and death encounters with wildlife. Like you said, where you live the most dangerous animal is a farmer's sheep. lol

I don't have a distinct preference for S rod versus straight shaft as I have had both types be very comfortable, and I have had examples of both types that were very uncomfortable. I have never held the Multi Kruzer but have had my hands on the Gold Kruzer recently. This is one of those S rods that works well for me. I am a thin guy with smallish hands and the Gold Kruzer grip and arm cup are really good for me. People with really large hands and large forearms may feel that they are too small. The one I have is very stout, very solid with no annoying wiggle. The hand drip is rubber and should stand up to in water use better than foam type grips. The arm cup is narrower than most and made of a flexible plastic with no foam lining. Again, nice for in water use for me at least since there is little slop in the arm cup making it comfortable for me to use without an arm strap. For comparison the Equinox hand grip is slightly too large for my hand and not as comfortable. It's the best Makro / Nokta rod and grip for my arm and hand so far, but we all know how that goes. One person's good fit is another's bad fit so no manufacturer is ever going to get 100% on rod and grip designs.

Matt, you and I are having a communication problem. I am not being defensive. You asked for my opinion directly so I gave it to you. I also am the forum admin who is quite sure that members who have been here longer than you have heard about this quite enough. I have agreed that this is a real issue so commenting that the Equinox is not designed to hit large silver right under the coil is again either not reading or not understanding my post. There is no reason to apologize per se because your concern is valid. The thing is, you only need to bring it up once or maybe twice. Minelab heard about it already, and so repetition gets you nowhere. After a couple times you really are just trolling the forum. I am therefore, just like the "loose rod" issue, telling you and everyone else that if we get new posts on this subject they will be consolidated to this thread. You and anyone else who feels like continuing to discuss this are more than welcome too - as long as it is on this established thread. Nobody is saying you can't post about it all you want, but let's keep it all on this thread. That seems pretty simple to me. I honestly am not concerned about whether anyone likes the Equinox or not. My only real concern is keeping the forums running smoothly. Metal Detectors & Coins On Edge

Hi Matt, Whether it is an issue or not is up to you. I prefer to look at it as a fact. It will either stay the way it is or it might change. If you are asking me if this bothers me, well no, it does not. It clearly does bother you. That said, I personally reported this to Minelab about 4 months ago when steveg first discovered it and reported it. So while it does not bother me, I obviously thought it something that deserved reporting. I do differ with people trying to make it out like other detectors do not have “issues” with on edge targets. Any knowledgeable detectorist knows otherwise and trying to present Equinox as being unique in this regard is not factual. I am too busy making finds with my Equinox that other machines can’t find. If I find something with my Equinox that the X-Terra can’t find, I am betting that would bother the X-Terra owner. Why won’t the X-Terra find it? Because they are all flawed? How about the stuff my Equinox finds that an E-Trac misses? Is the E-trac defective? Should not more expensive detectors be able to find stuff that a less expensive detector does find? All detector’s miss stuff. All I am saying is that this particular problem has long since been noted and discussed. It is a fact. Minelab may or may not change anything regarding it. Great, we all on the same page. You know how many silver dollars I have found in over 40 years of metal detecting? One. Half dollars? A handful, most over 30 years ago, with the one I found last year with my Equinox the first in a long time. If any were on edge I did not know about it. The fact is these are rare large targets, the odds they are on edge even lower. From my perspective the risk odds here are statistically nil. But that’s just me. You may feel very concerned about this and I am not belittling your concern. The question is what to do about it? As I said, maybe it will change with an update in the future, maybe it won’t. Your only decision left to make at this point? Keep your Equinox or not. That is your decision to make one way or the other. If this makes you not like the Equinox, I get it. Ditch it and use something else. Not so worried about it, think a fix may be coming.... then keep it. The only decision that is in my court that is relevant is that all further discussion of this topic will be limited to this thread. Any posts about it elsewhere will get moved here. This forum is for people who like, enjoy, and want to have fun with the Equinox. Beating a dead horse for months is not fun - it’s beating a dead horse. If you are still an Equinox fan despite this, then hang around. If your only reason for being on this forum is to reintroduce this now old subject over and over on unrelated threads.... there are other forums that kind of stuff.

Hello and good week end to all !Went for a session this morning lots of eyes only searchers,i spend 2.5 hours digging on everything then end back to the exit stairs and decided to give a last go,i had victorian coins and yessssssss i strike GOLD so it is my 3rd precious metal finds in a row so well happy i havent clean it yet.But it hasn't been a while i striked gold like that . So the Lobo has proven again his abilities to find stuff in extreme condition .I am still looking for a 5.75 concentric for another lobo which i had had tuned to concentric. RR

After finding my first silver coin last August, I recently found my oldest coin. It is in very poor condition but, it is a special find for me.

I used baking soda and water to clean the coins since I don't plan on selling them.

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I understand everyone's view and did not mean to start anything against bears. Really, I was only attempting to add a little humor. In truth, I am not a hunter and LOVE animals. I don't even like seeing coyotes shot. But not everyone agrees because we all have our own situations and locations. In the "True Story" I spoke of, me and my buddy were hitchhiking across Alaska and in very remote areas. I would never shoot my partner. But we still get a good laugh about that conversation to this day. But I still do not underestimate what a bear can do. For instance, I was in the forest service, and when they drop you off in Alaska to fight fires, they give the Squad Boss a 12 gauge shotgun for the bear, JUST IN CASE. Not that anyone is going to go after them but if you know grizzlies, and you come upon a mother and her cubs by mistake, it'll likely be the last time. Sometimes a shot in the air may stop a bear. Plenty of situations when it hasn't. Secondly, in Wyoming's yellowstone national park, a bicyclist was attacked and killed a week after my family arrived there for vacation. It shocked us. But unfortunately it happens every year. It does not take much research to find all of the people mauled by bear who were not looking for trouble. Plenty of stories like this here in the states, in bear country. BUT... do not get me wrong. I DO NOT advocate shooting any bear, grizzly or otherwise. We are here to live with them. I carry a gun not just in Alaska but in my home areas of Arizona as well. Unfortunately, we have a lot of rabid animals and sometimes the mountain lion that are hard on their luck will stalk you. The gun is good to just scare them off. And then we have the crazy drug runners and such. I could go on and on with stories. Guns here in America are just for those JUST IN CASE situations. And honestly, I would much rather be talking about gold over guns

Where I live in remote Alaska, the bears are so big they can kill you just by looking at you.

There is a lot of information coming out posted by LE JAG - his name is Denis and he has been the field tester for the Manta project for at least 3 years. He is a very experienced beach hunter and has used most of Eric Foster’s PI machines including the fabled Aquastar. He is the guy with the detector in the full-on test (in French) of the Manta which Steve posted a link to. I’ll stick it here for convenience. https://youtu.be/G8sdp4RG73g Why somebody who lives in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona should be so fired up about this machine is a good question to ask. I just love the story of how Alexandre posted about the Manta in 2016 on the Geotech forum which Carl Moreland (chief engineer at First Texas) runs. Contact was made and Alexandre shipped a prototype to El Paso. Result - First Texas bought the project lock, stock and barrel and put Alexandre’s team on the payroll. Testing of pre-production Fisher PI’s are expected to start soon - how soon? I don’t know. Availability depends on the results of testing of actual pre-production examples by experienced and respected beach hunters. That process will start sometime in the not-too-distant future (I do not know when). If things go well, production would follow and the new machine would be announced - complete with its “Fisher” name - and online content showing what it can do. Some of this online content will no doubt be produced by First Texas (Russ Balbirona, Director of Marketing at FT is an excellent producer of such things) - some will likely be produced by folks who have handled so-called “Marketing Test” examples and - as is intended - have shared their experiences. This is all completely normal in “detector world”.Right now, First Texas are not the ones stirring up the you-know-what about this, it’s little old me. I am pleased on many levels by the promise this new machine holds and my travel trailer is ready to haul my skinny self off to California as soon as I get my hands on one - all those goodies - all that black sand.

On the dry beaches i do its so cluttered with trash and those crown caps are every 2 or 3 feet in all directions . On land you have time but beaches change with every tide . And if there are machines that deal with those caps better than the Nox and quicker then you miss out in finds . Checking all those damned crown caps would get you nowhere if looking for treasure . I now give up when doing the dry with the Nox looking for the coins that come in from 14 to 17 . It means i possibly lose 10p , 20p 50p and even the odd Gold ring . But when i use another machine i will hunt those things then . Coin hunting is no longer my main aim like in the past , maybe on special busy days i will but not normally . Its just not there like it used to be . Its the Gold i am looking for and that means lower down the beach like last week when i found the 22k ring . That's got me even more interested in Gold hunting . Tomorrow i am out with the Nox again on my beaches but i wont bother with the tops much , i will work the tide out and hope for Gold or Silver . On Tuesday i will be taking Mum out with me for the day and first for a couple of hours i will check a beach 25 miles from home to see what its like . Time to venture further . I saw another beach 35 miles East from home that will be on my hit list next month but when using the Nox i wont use it on the tops if i find lots of crown caps about .

I keep getting requests for at least one forum with a looser format and in particular a place where people can make "that first post" and introduce themselves. So here it is. Meeting people and getting to know them often means general chit chat and such. Anything is pretty much ok here but more than ever it is important people abide by the forum Prime Directive - treat others with decency and respect. Past history and baggage from other forums is not allowed here so just leave it at the door, or do not enter. This is the forum most likely to see new members and so all "Forum Info" posts are also archived here for those who want to know more about how the forum software works, etc. Other than that - enjoy! Now a little history for those totally new to the forum. I used to hang out on all the other forums. The problem over time is I kept bumping into rules. No mentioning certain brands or dealers for fear of offending sponsoring dealers. That will never happen here as the forum members come first. The one that really irritated me was no links to all sorts of things, like other forums. Here, if the subject matter is relevant, please link to it! No silly "Google it" games etc. And then there are the trolls. People who just like to stir things up. Childish and rude people. Tons of off topic garbage to wade through to find decent information. Etc. I just got tired of it all because over time it all got worse as forums became more commercial. I started these forums to escape all that and with the goal of attracting like minded people who are also tired of all the nonsense. So the main thing here is very, very simple. With the possible exception of this forum, keep discussions on the particular forum subject matter. Be a decent person and better yet, try to help others. On topic, be good - it really is that simple here. New Member Signup - Click Here! Lost Password - Click Here! Forum Tips & Tricks Advanced Search Tag List/Index

Had fun flown 38 minutes out of bethel alaska and detected for 2 hours

NICE....!!!!! Let me guess....???? Not Florida....sooooo maaaybeeee…. Idaho????? Better than my spot, I got skunked again today on gold.....but I killed it in the lead, shell casing, square nail, and a couple modern pull tab dept.!!!!!

Yes Kodiak, I know. That is the main reason I never went there. God put those bears on that island for a reason and I have no reason to visit. My friends always tried to get me to go there to hunt deer. To me it is not worth having to fight bears to keep your deer. I'm probably guilty of keeping this thread off the topic of detecting and instead dwelling on side issues. For that I apologize and will quit.

Nuke em - you get 2 demerits for failing to check the forum daily! Lol Steve started a thread about this in April Since then info has emerged about the status of the Project at Fisher - coming along nicely apparently.

A mate of mine has a Multi Kruzer and he says it works on the salt wet . I have seen one at my local dealer and apart from tones and the S stem i like it . I have to admit i am tempted to buy one . Now coinage is harder to find on beaches i could sell my Terra 705 and along with my £350 coming back from the sale of the Explorer 11 would have enough to buy a Kruzer . I will be passing Detecnicks on Tuesday , i might be coming home with a Kruzer ? Or not ? My E.Trac with good tones and near perfect target id can deal with the dry tops on my trashy beaches if i sell the Terra . The only other thing i am worried about is that along with almost everything else , it has been made obsolete by the Equinox ? .

Paul, Good catch on the mechanics of your rig. You can get to know them pretty good so you stay safe. Now for that body of yours ... you said: "While I was out yesterday evening with the 19 I realized I am not up to speed with it yet... My shoulder was killing me in no time. Not the perfect starter coil for the season. Think I will break out the ZEQ 800 today and see how she goes...." You must work your way into things. (Fred's advice.) I'm here to tell you the worst thing about the 800 is its weight. (What? The 7000/14/19 is the heavy beast you say.) I've been using the 800 90% of the time lately (100% on the beach) and I've gotten a few aches and pains from it and my digging arm for sure. Yesterday I stuck in an overnight-er with the 7000/14 and I now know why many 'dislike' it for the weight. I've lost my edge over it and it has an edge over me. Given a few trips I'd be back in shape but by the end of the day I could only swing the 800. Slow out there big man. You'll have to work your way into Norvic's condition again. It's too bad you couldn't do some yoga while doing all that driving. You would be more ready for the weeks ahead of you. Muscle pain goes away with time and a good massage but don't look for Trent when you need that one! Good luck. Mitchel

So today I chose to test another aspect of the mighty Nox. So to set the stage I had 4 to 4.5 hrs to detect. It was out in the Nevada desert around lovelock/ rye patch area. The area is dry for the most part. Which means we can run hot on the settings. I ran the Nox on gold 1, all metal, 22 on the sensitivity. So I also had my Gold Racer with me to test my replacement 7.5 x 4 coil. I started with my Gold racer as a way to test the new coil and find a target to test the Nox on. I found a target in about 3 mins. Was a 1.1 grain gold nugget. I then tested this nugget with the Nox and it hit on it hard. Now I did have to put it back as I first recovered it with the Gold racer. The ground was dry and not really packed so putting it back was the same as finding it with the Nox in the first place. The area was dry and the nugget was about an inch down maybe a little less. Now this area has been hit hard by me and others with my gold racer sniper coil, the gold monster sniper coil last time I went out. Plus gold bug2 and a SDC2300. In the hands of people that know how to use them. This is our claim so we know it well. Yet this one was missed after 2 seasons of heavy detecting. Right near the surface. The Nox hit on this nugget harder then my Gold racer did. I used this target to test the other modes on the Nox. I found that park would not hit on it. Nor did beach. I tried out the fields as well. They didn't really want to hit on it solid like. Last mode I tested was gold 2. It hit on it but was kind of weird on the sound side. TID bounced around a little, but so did the gold racer. Fact is i dug the target only because it repeated and on this claim you dig what repeats period. That is about it for this target. I placed the gold racer in the truck and went full time with the Nox. I scanned the rest of the hot spots on the claim, finding nothing. So I went over the ridge to our other claim which has been pounded harder then the first. Got down in the wash and on the bedrock. It is shist bedrock. Think thin Domino's shoved against each other standing on edge. I got a good hit. The TID was hitting -9 -8 with a 2 mixed in. But the sound was a clean zip, both directions. I cleaned the over burden of the top, taking it down to close to clean bedrock. The sound got louder and the TID stayed the same. I was starting to wonder if it might just be a good hot rock. But I cleaned a few grains of dirt out of between the schist and there was a little yellow flake. It weight .5 grains. That is a flake (check the pic). It was an inch down and between schist fingers. After taking out the nugget I scanned the area again and still had the hot rock signal. The nugget was sitting on top of a section of hot schist. That is impressive. Remember I said this was a heavy detected area. I personal used the gold monster over the top of this area. As did my gold buddy with his SDC2300. Less than a month ago. A few other things I wanted to note. I found that you can tell a hot rock by moving the coil slow in two different directions. A hot rock or mineral ground will zip only one of the two directions. But a nugget will zip both directions slow or fast swing speed with the Nox. Bottom line, would I replace my gold racer with the Nox probably not. But if I could only keep one detector I own, it would be the Nox no question. If you are truly looking for a one detector unit it has to be the Nox. If you want to be able to swing on the beach one day in the water, the park that evening and the gold fields the next morning, all with the same detector the Nox fits that bill. The fact that the Nox can hit on a .5 grain flake in schist under an inch of overburden, Is awesome and it was not a weak sound ether.

Just when I started to learn more about the AT Pro my buddy recently gifted me, I received my 600 from Fedex. I brought it out in the backyard after charging it and buried a penny down 8-9" deep. I heard a good signal up to 4" above the ground. I went over it with the AT Pro and 8x6 coil and heard it an inch above the ground. I am armed and dangerous now :-). It has been a long time since I've had a top-of-the-line detector and now I have two of them. Life is good ?

Thanks a bunch. I found it bottle digging as a kid.

You are not the only late reply - I can’t believe it took me this long to read this. Great report Stephen and congratulations - you are one of only a handful of people who has found a gold nugget with Equinox. And on your first attempt! Beware the blocking of target id number 1 and 2 in some modes by default. If a mode is used while nugget detecting and these are blocked out then almost all gold signals will be either reduced or completely eliminated. I have found Field 2 or Park 2 both to be the next best thing to the Gold Modes but you have to hunt all metal or watch the notches. Click for larger version.

No offense at all Kiwi but I get the impression you've never been around Grizzlies? Blackies are one thing (and they have their moments also) but Grizz can be a different ballgame. Used to cut timber in AK on Chicagof Is. (grizz) and had one experience (didn't go bad) here in Mt. Actually had two scary ordeals just with Blackies here in Mt. but they also turned out ok with no shots fired. What I do is pack a .41 mag (warm fuzzy feeling) and also a pocket air horn. When I get in tight/thick brush I give a few toots on the horn to let any bears know I'm coming. Haven't had a bear incident in years...as long as you make plenty of noise and don't surprise them. Generally they hear you coming making noise and leave before you ever see one. Unfortunately that grizz may/or may not move on hearing you coming? I think the last thing anyone wants to do is have any incident with Grizz….much less have to shoot? They can be unpredictable and if it comes to you or him...I completely understand a decision to shoot (and that's if you even have time to draw your weapon)….. jmho

Been about a month since I've found any but this little guy gave me some redemption...finally!!!!! Supposed to rain hard all weekend so I aborted a trip. Don't get too wet Reese and good luck over there!!!!!

Hey thanx guys!!!! I'd been getting a little frustrated lately so this little guy helped with that. When I left the house I'd forgot my little nugget vile but thought "well I never find anything anymore so who needs it?" and continued on to my spot. Found the redemption noogie right at the end of my hunt, stuck it in my lip, headed for the truck and got about 150yds within sight of the pickup. Then I stumbled on a rock and down I went and accidently spit the noogie out onto the ground...oh shit!!!! Took about 10 min. but I managed re-find it with the Monster....wheeeeew...close one....lol

Not what you said here re bottlecaps. What changed?

Don't forget to use Park 2 on the dry sand so you don't miss out on all the on edge silver... the results might just "shock" you... HH

I agree with Steve, the Keene mini in the photo is simple and works great

Thank you Steve! I appreciate the very thorough and helpful response. Keene seemed to be my initial pick, something like in your picture there is ideal. Just trying to get a gauge of what the community thinks.

I went out this morning actually to try out my new Quest Xpointer. I haven't been out in a cpl because of getting my truck ready for my fall road trip with tuneup, tires and battery. I went to this field I hunted really hard last year with my Etrac and early this spring with my Equinox 800. I was pretty confident there wasn't much left to find with the exception of a few pennies I knew I had passed on and I knew about where they were because I was going use them for trying different sensitivity and recovery settings. When I got to the park I thought why not try field 1 here just to see if I can find any more clad. I set it up leaving open 12- 14 and 21 - 38. I set the sensitivity at 23 and recovery 7. I also used 50 tones. I started to wander toward a spot I knew where a penny was and try out my new pinpointer. The foot traffic area of this old field I had hunted really hard with my other detectors knowing I had left a cpl pennies. 1st off I found 3 pennies and expected to find them and about 5' away I got a solid 30 and found a quarter and not far away another one. Well I ended up finding 9 quarters in an area 50' x 450'. I couldn't believe it because I had hunted the exact same area very hard with my Etrac and this spring with my Equinox. I hardly believe that using Field 1 is why I found that many quarters but the evidence seems to point that way. All the quarters were 6" or less deep. I also found 2 dimes. I hunt areas in Park 2 I have hunted in Park 1 and have never found much more in Park 2. I am going to try Field 1 in a cpl other places I have hit really hard just to see if maybe I am onto something but I really believe I just missed the clad I found today during my other hunts

It would be nice to have a drone overhead videotaping the coil coverage on a hunt. I think that would be very enlightening. I was out 4 1/2 hours this morning with the Eqx 800 at my favorite park. The first 3 3/4 hours were fresh real estate but not finding anything older than a Jeffy I decided to spend the last 45 minutes in a section which has produced very well. I found a Jefferson nickel at about 4.5 - 5 inches and a Wheatie between 6 and 7 inches. I could have sworn I'd been over the place I found the nickel at least 3 times in the past. Likely hit the spot with the Wheatie at least once. The penny was in a trash infested location so maybe it was masked previously (hunted with the F75). But the nickel should have been cleanly signalled with any of my detectors. (Hunting in Park 1, noise cancelled and ground balanced, sens. = 21, custom 5 tones, iron bias = 4, recovery = 5, no discrimination.) I'm agreeing with you, Chase. At least in my case I'm sure my coil coverage is far from complete.

Believe me, Matt is taking advantage of that fact. This particular dead horse is being dragged to several venues for its beatings. Lol. All kidding aside, for dry sand beach hunting where this MIGHT be an issue, nothing prevents you from using Park 2 or Field 2, if you are that worried about it, Matt. Those modes will work just fine in the dry sand (wet, not so much). Not many, if any, other detectors would even give you that option if they had a similar "blind spot". Accordingly, IMO it is a non problem and that is why I am concerned ML might actually TRY to fix it and inadvertently break something I DO care about. Furthermore, theoretically, the Beach modes, being low frequency weighted, should not hit that hard on gold, either. Far from being histrionic about that, folks are killing it out there plucking gold goodies off the beach. In fact, I have found my Equinox gold targets exclusively in Beach mode. Fretting about a very niche, low probability target situation is not worth getting stressed out over, IMO. If you are not finding keepers at the beach with Equinox (where it impresses me the most), then, yeah, Equinox is not your cup of tea.

I should be out detecting right now but with this underway it's full speed ahead until it gets done. Really should have been on this sooner and thought I was two months ago when I started the whole thing. I can't complain in the slightest however because I have some really great detecting coming up this year!

Randy, What Tom was saying is Blank all segments first, then use all metal in DETECT mode to scan a desirable target's ID, record it, so you can go into the accept/reject SETTINGS screen and manually individually accept back in the desirable targets by their recorded TIDs you obtained in AM mode and manually stepping through the range using +/-. Tedious but doable. The Equinox is set up in detect mode assuming you are only going to reject a few trash targets you encounter, not most of the range, so it is impossible to do from there unless you have a sample of every piece of trash you might encounter. Agree the CTX sounds easier to setup in this regard and appears to be the tool for the job because you are going purely by TID, not audio, and the CTX can be more selective in this regard.

You notice there are two people and one of them has the gun. When I went backpacking Alaska with my buddy, he started razzing me saying ... "what are you doing with that gun? That .40 cal isn't going to stop a bear." I told him that he was correct, it likely would only anger the bear. But it doesn't have to stop a bear. It just had to slow *him* down. He gave me a blank white stare. True story.

That pc got me stumble, too. It is so thin, it doesn‘t really matter anyway Did a short hunt today at my nearest beach.. ~12€ and finally a wedding band in the scoop: Figured it‘s just a pretty much worthless tungsten ring, nice find though

Paul was the fellow that introduced me to the Hipstick, in fact sent me one. Since then even with the 14 it is always on the belt, like the pick it is a necessary MD accessory of nugget hunting. Thus I`m going to reinforce what Fred says, Hipstick & Swing-arm is the go with the 19, Paul. Back to our friendly big nugget challenge, my batteries are charged, just spending a few quality days with the grand kids a Deus, a CTX and a Nox chasing a few coins in their parks and having fun in the big smoke. Now that exposure to the big smoke no doubt will get me longing for the bush and into nugget chasing mode. May the biggest nugget win and may we have a few drinks and a good old brag wag around a camp fire to celebrate and repeat it all again in 19. Regardless is going to be a red hot, no pulling punches, blood & sweat challenge. For the first NQ punch put the toys away, grab the Hipstick & Swingarm and go with the big gun Z.

The more you use the Equinox the more you'll get used to the way it identifies a good target. I hunt iron infested relic sites and have had the same issues you are talking about with the iron falsing. Chase has some good info in his posts, take the time to read them and others on the subject. I still primarily use my Deus with the HF coil because I recognize falsing on it better. However, one thing I have done to get a better understanding of the Equinox is take both my Deus and Equinox to a site and compare signals. It's a lot of work and takes away from your detecting time but I would encourage you to do the same thing with a detector you know well. You will learn a lot and find that in some cases the Equinox will find targets your other detectors can't. One thing I've noticed with the Equinox is that when you get over a good target the numbers stay tightly grouped even when next to iron. For example, if you had a dime next to a nail and you circled the target, for the most part you would get 25-27 TID with an occasional null/iron grunt or TID jumping into the 30's. If you're over iron or junk the numbers are all over the place and change as you circle the target. This is where 50 tones is helpful because if you're in 2 tones or 5 tones the signal can sound great but the numbers could be anywhere in the tone break range. With 50 tones if it's junk the signal sounds crappy, if it's good the tone as well as the TID stays tightly grouped with an occasional odd tone. Also, to reinforce what Chase already said, ground balance when needed and this being a high gain machine, reduce the sensitivity when you get in thick iron to cut down on the noise.

Hey you stole my old coins settings. ?

What I have gotten from reading the postings here and on other sites about the Park 1 "coin on edge" issue is that (1) it's not an issue with Park 2, but at the price of a little depth; and (2) the issue may provide argument in favor of digging certain one-way signals. No scientific tests, but on a related note, in places with a lot of old, iron trash and nails, I have had more luck with Field 2 than any other mode in finding silver Mercury dimes. It's all about the odds, so the best approach is probably just to test out the modes for yourself on actual hunts (including switching modes on found targets before digging), to see which is likely to get you the most finds in the places you hunt.

Big problem? You hunt and find a lot of half dollars, large silver rings, or other large silver on edge with other detectors? Of course not, because those targets are rarer than gold nuggets. That’s not to say the issue is not a problem or does not exist, but puffing it up into a major flaw is not the right answer either. All detectors struggle one way or another with on edge targets. This issue was first noted way back in February, but gets rediscovered every month, each time with this “wow, look what I discovered” post that simply repeats what people who have been paying attention have known for months. Not only is this a minor issue, but any continued hammering away at it is nothing more than trolling at this point. It’s been going on four months now after all. Any mention of it going forward will be moved to the thread that is now this forums “official thread” on the subject... http://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/6645-i-just-did-a-coin-on-edge-test/ Will Minelab address this in an update? Possibly, but as Chase has noted care must be taken not to break something else in the process. In the meantime it would be a real shame if a focus on this is keeping anyone from going out and using a great detector to make great finds.

Thanks for your time and effort with the video Mark. When I started this thread I didn't mean to rain on anyone's parade but it's just that I have seen a few videos on this subject and my inquisitive nature wanted to investigate further. I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to retrieve good stuff whether "coin on edge" or not or for whatever other reason. With proper MD techniques and the proper settings, it can only get better for me. After all, with approx 60-70 hours on mine, I've scratched off 2 bucket listers, over a dozen silver coins, several dozen wheats, rings, tokens and a ton of clad. Irrespective of some of its early reported faults, ie; arm cuffs, wobbly shafts, etc. I have come to like this machine due to its simplicity and power. Far easier to maneuver around its settings with only the movement of my thumb. And, much lighter and easier handling than my Safari however I have not dug anything deeper than I have with the Safari and that's probably because my coil has not passed over anything deep yet. My confidence level with the Nox is such that if and when the 800 is plentiful and there is no wait for it, I'm buying it.

Uh, nope. Not speaking for anyone else on the forum, but I am personally not in the business of trying to convince folks to keep a detector I would rather not see someone else swinging next to me on the beach. I welcome rash overreactions like yours if it keeps Equinoxes off the street. Don't need the competition. Seriously, only you can convince yourself you should keep the machine. You seem easily swayed by videos, second and third hand accounts, rather than getting out there and getting some swing hours on it yourself. Words are cheap and finds are king. If you are not making saves with the machine then bail. You should not base it on what others tell you, or by videos, or forum posts. That may be what you need to hear to make a buy decision, but you have already done that. The machine is in your hands so go swing it and decide for yourself. The good news is that you can probably recoup your investment, so why does your head hurt? If you still need third hand proof, then check out the incredible finds pasted all over this forum. That should convince you to go out and at least get that new coil dirty. If your Equinox can't convince you on its own, then no one on this or any other forum is going to be able to either. HH

All these months you've been waiting, I assume you've been reading the positive reviews as well as the (fewer) negative ones. It's now up to you to decide. After you get the detector and try it out you should have all the info you need to make the decision.

My VLF detectors are rapidly sorting themselves out and I am satisfied I am doing about as good in that regard as can be done. There really is only one area of metal detecting left that is bugging me. 2019 Update: The Manta is now called the Fisher Impulse AQ - see Fisher Impulse AQ Detector Data & User Reviews The Garrett Infinium was the first waterproof ground balancing PI and not a bad first effort. White's TDI might have improved on it but White's never did a waterproof TDI. Surprisingly, Minelab has never done what I would consider to be a true waterproof saltwater beach hunting PI. The SDC 2300 really is a prospecting detector first and second. I finally ended up with the Garrett ATX, which currently sets the bar for a waterproof ground balancing beach and water detector. Yet the ATX housing was designed more for military use than beach detecting. The coils are overly expensive due to an integrated rod design. Worse, the detector weighs in at 6.9 lbs and cannot be hip or chest mounted. In a sign of faith I am going to sell my ATX and wait on whatever First Texas has in the works. As Rick Kempf posted here previously, First Texas hired Alexandre Tartar and purchased the rights to produce a version of his Manta PI Project. And to quote First Texas engineer Carl Moreland from this thread "Yes, we've hired Alexandre. Yes, we are working on PI. I was personally working on PI before hiring Alexandre, but now we are seriously working on PI." Fisher has not made a PI since the Fisher Impulse was discontinued back around 2013. This collaboration with Alexandre Tartar gives me hope that First Texas can get something out in the next year or two. My bar is low - a waterproof ground balancing PI at least as good as the ATX in a more ergonomic package. Seems fairly doable. Another company that may come out of nowhere all the sudden is Nokta/Makro as we know they are working on a PI. I don't know, but I think this is First Texas' game to lose at this point. So there you go, ATX going up for sale and a spot held open for whatever company can meet the challenge. Good luck First Texas - I am rooting for you!