TennesseeDigger

This is great news! I like the Equinox a lot, and I have found old deep square nailes, while giving off a high tone, are bouncy and not consistent in signal relay. what is the 6” coil MSRP?

I’ve been hitting an old youth center from 1929 the last few weekends. Using the equinox working a small corner I finally found some keepers. The Indian head was a solid 19/20... thinking I had another Zincolin.. dang 4 inches down out she popped! the silver Washington 1954 was 6 inches down near some iron, but gave a nice consistent high tone. happy Hunting!

I really like the Equinox 800. Since getting it I rarely ever use my Etrac and Deus. Using the etrac I could call the target and depth in some cases about 70% of the time. Equinox? No way. The depth gauge is pretty bad. Shallow 1 (tick or inverted triangle) deep? Who knows. I’m hoping minelab comes out with a patch or something as it’s fairly useless. Anyone else having this issue or is it just me? 9/5/18 - Minelab Equinox Software Update Released

Thanks for posting!

Yes! But what I have learned is in park 2 GB, noise cancel, speed 6, iron bias 2.. Is this. Clipped jumpy VDI that when I turn 90 is gone.. it’s a nail. Usually a severely rusted or bent nail. Now on two occasions, I got a repeatable high tone, when I turned 90-180- and back it was still there, but jumpy.. one was a merc and one a silver Canadian coin. Numbers were in high 20’s to low 30’s. In heavy iron I work slow. (Walking speed wise) my sweep speed is normal. Has been working well. i have found that every machine loves big iron, some just give you more information on not to dig. The worst on BIG iron? Deus... it loooooooves big deep iron. The equinox gives me clues to dig or not.. so far it has been working.

Wow!

Yes sorry.. it popped in my head today during a conversation with a guy about the equinox hunting... and I haven’t been on in a week or so. I read your comment and answered my question... thanks!

Excellent posts! i feel your pain. In Tennessee I have done the exact same thing at a school built in the 1930’s. At first I did the “drunken sailor” detecting. Walking aimlessly around looking for silver. I did this with the Fisher f70, at pro, at max, deus, Vaquero. Etc.. no silver. Enter the Etrac. I was determined to dig silver. So this area 100 yards x 400 yards long I started grinding. In the middle I ran a wide open screen and found a 9 inch deep wheat, of nice soft sandy soil..... clue 1. This perpplexed me. Why was it so deep? Well I went to the county tax assessor office and found an old platt of the area and the school.... low and behold a long gone baseball field was there! in this area I dug 4 mercs, 5 wheats and 2 Rosie’s... only the Etrac AND Equinox gave me the depth and target ID to find them. I had a buddy with an at pro.... I called him over.. “Think I have deep silver” he came over.... sweep .... sweep... nothing. The at pro couldn’t even get a signal. This made me a believer in the Etrac. Im going back to this old school and regrid... painfully slow to see what I’ve missed.

Steve, So I know Minelab has iron clad written in stone confidentiality agreements on “testers”.... does this agreement last forever? Is there a sunsetting clause? Im curious because you ( and a select few others) have been testing, using, and experimenting with detectors in a variety of conditions for a long time. That insight, is huge to the data and testing nerds like myself. Thanks!

So Im curious... with Makro/Nokta we saw a ton of You Tube videos on the Kruzer in various settings. Even Dilek posted on the machine on the forums before it came out. Even the AT Max we say a little here and there on the unit. Where was the early info on the Equinox? I know there was/is a "gag order" in place, and boy did they do a good job... not a word from anyone hardly! But when does the gag order lift? 1 year, 10 years Never? I'm interested in the "seasoned" testers that were able to use early models. These early thoughts to me are a real gem on what was changed, improved, altered. Any ideas?

Great..Thanks Steve! These look awesome. Gotta pick one up if I can find them!

My Garrett Carrot is on the fritz.. random signals, not deep, or it beeps on everything. So its still under warranty and I'm going to send it back, but in the mean time I need another one. I'm not real sure I need a water proof one. I rarely hunt in the pouring down rain. I'm looking for one that is sensitive, simple to use and will last. I have heard the XP version has too many adjustments so that one is out (Even though I have a deus)

https://imgur.com/gallery/plMLq So I’m frustrated. Im using the Minelab Equinox 800, had it for 3 weeks. Pulled a silver Rosie this morning in a 4 hour hunt. My issue is when I find a target. I have a “clue” based on shovel symbols in depth, but trying to pin point, wiggle back method I’m always off. Sometimes by 4-6 inches laterally. So I sweep, locate, pin point and dig plug... not in center, and most of the time way off.. inches off. This is happens multiple times each hunt. This is time consuming and I can’t find a remedy. I’ve used 12 different machines in 1.5 years, and never had this problem. Anyone have target locator I’d or pin pointing issues?

Etrac for me. I had a V3i... after spending about 40 hours with it (maybe 6 detecting) the other 34 trying to figure it out... I let it go. It has a library of congress size menu system, sub menus and settings that if changed, may alter other settings from other sub, sub menus.. This drove me nuts! The Etrac as Steve stated is very simple and deep on coins.

My answer? It depends. If you took me to a site and said, "This place is loaded with iron." I'd have no doubt the deus is coming with me. If you said, "Well its a pretty clean site." Than I would take the Etrac. The Etrac for me is the deepest machine I have used on coins. Nothing touches it... so far and I've used maybe 10 to date.