Jump to content

What Makes Multi-iq So Good?


Recommended Posts

28 minutes ago, mh9162013 said:

So I can say, "I want to search _________." Then you, Steve or some other expert make a good recommendation. That's great and for some people, that's enough. For me, I want to understand why Widget A was recommended over Widget B, as opposed to just accepting the recommendation and going on my merry way.

You can start by reading most of the articles here....

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I feel like Steve on this question , it is just by experience , thousands of hours detecting , that you learn that such a brand/detector is good for nugget hunting , such an other brand/ detector is more dedicated to coin hunting and so on … It takes a long time to learn all those things …  It has been 22 years I have been detecting now and I still learn things while detecting  ...

So if you are a beginner or less experienced  , the best thing to do is to think to what you  exactly plan to do with your detector , then discuss of this with experienced people , like in this forum ,and they will help you for finding the machine(s) that you need ..

About the "why" question ,  sometimes even very experienced prospectors do not always know why such detector is better than an othe ron the field  . Often only the electronics engineers that have designed the detector electronics and coils have the technical answer on this ....

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your question "WHY" has been answered repeatedly in this thread. It is up to you to figure out if you want to be a detector or a detector user.

I also like to do dowsing. That is why I like metal detecting so much. Dowsing is 99% up to me and 1%  up to the functioning dowsing rods or sticks. At least with a metal detector a good deal of the work is done by the metal detector depending on its quality. The rest is up to the person using it. Your F2, just like my Vanquish 440 does a lot of the work and a relative beginner or casual user can have some success pretty quickly if they are using those detectors in a detecting situation that those detectors were made for.  My Equinox 600 and my Equinox 800 do even more of the work but not all. In fact those two detectors challenge me to know more and more BECAUSE they are so capable by design of handling so many different detecting situations.

You have heard this from me before on this and the other forums where you have asked similar questions. No metal detector I know of will do the majority of the work for you. Follow Steve's and many other peoples suggestion and study, practice and do testing on your own instead of trying to find just the right answer somewhere outside of yourself. There is no secret to this. You have to put in the hours or..............not.

Jeff

 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, mh9162013 said:

Sure, but the question remains, "why?"

Knowing the why is like knowing how to fish. As opposed to every time you're hungry, asking someone to give you some fish to eat.

So I can say, "I want to search _________." Then you, Steve or some other expert make a good recommendation. That's great and for some people, that's enough. For me, I want to understand why Widget A was recommended over Widget B, as opposed to just accepting the recommendation and going on my merry way.

Can you articulate better why you are asking.  Just because you want to understand why is not necessarily a good enough reason.  For example, do you want to know to make you a better detectorist - I think we have established that it is not necessary for that.  Do you want to be able to impress your friends and fellow detectorists?  Again, probably not a good enough reason for some to take additional precious time out of the day to do that.  Do you want to be able to dispense advice to your fellow hobbyists?  Just tell 'em to read Steve's guides. Problem solved.

It's kind of like a twist on the old Radio Shack commercial tag line - "You've got questions?  We've got questions."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's been said the the Q in Multi-IQ stands for some kind of electrical thingy.  That is actually just an old wives tale.  What it really stands for is the Aussie version of the UK's Q Branch.  They differ in that instead of Aston Martins they modify Utes with machine guns behind the blinkers.  Currently they are working on adding an invisibility cloak to JP's Ute. 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Can you articulate better why you are asking

TL;DR: Curiosity, learning and I want to know if there's a conflict of interest. 

 

There are several reasons.

First, I'm naturally curious and like to understand "what's really going on." For example, there's this famous legal case involving Reading pipe and a breach of contract. The case involved a homeowner refusing to pay the final payment for a house. The homeowner claimed that the contract  for the house project required the use of Reading pipe, but the builder used a different brand which was functionally the same. The builder and homeowner litigated whether there was a breach of contract with the "wrong" pipe being used. The court said there was no breach even though the builder clearly did not build the house as specified in the contract. So what was really going on? The builder and homeowner probably had some sort of personal or business disagreement that had nothing to do with the pipe. And for whatever reason, the homeowner wanted to stick it to the builder and used the wrong pipe being installed as his excuse, i.e. it was a pretext for withholding payment. Does it change the legal theory of substantial performance? No, but it's a neat and fun fact (in my opinion) to know.

Second, there's the practical reason for wanting to know why. So when someone recommends detector A over detector B, I want to know why. It may not change whether I listen to them or not, but I can at least make a more informed decision. For example, Brandon Neice loves his Minelab products. Why? Well, at least PART of the reason is because he's probably got a business arrangement with Minelab. As another example, why do many of the prominent "influencers" on Youtube use Garrett products? Again, at least part of the reason is because they probably have a special arrangement with Garrett. So when Aquqchigger or one of the Hoover Boys recommends a Garrett product, you have make sure it's b/c they truly believe in that product, are getting paid to make the recommendation or something in between. My belief is that if they can make a few bucks or get a few free trips or products out of a decision they were going to make anyways, they tell themselves, "why not?" I could be wrong, but that's my theory. But If I'm going to listen to what they have to say, I want to know why they are recommending what they're recommending. For the record, I believe all of these influencers believe in the respective companies they represent, but they might embellish or recommend their respective products with a little bit more enthusiasm than they might otherwise.

Third, I want to learn. I've tried reading plenty of guides and articles, but sometimes, either my question isn't answered or the material is too technical for me. I've tried reading Candy's "white paper" about metal detecting basics and theory. I've tried 3 times, but after the first few pages, it goes way over my head. I've also read the threads and articles about Multi-IQ, but they didn't answer my question that I've asked here. Many of you gave advice and insights that I had not read anywhere before. Yes, the idea was probably expressed elsewhere, but not in the same way that many of you put it. For instance, I never read anywhere, that "assuming you won't search beaches, will dig everything, are willing to put in the time, etc. an AT Pro or Fisher F75+ will find you basically anything the Equinox will find."  Sometimes, wording things differently will get a better understanding in someone else. I saw this firsthand when giving a rookie some detector buying advice. He didn't understand why the question, "hey, I want a metal detector, what do you guys recommend?" could not be effectively answered without more information. I explained to him that we need to know more information, like what his budget was, where he wanted to search, what he was looking for, etc., and then we could provide a better recommendation. I used the following car analogy: "if someone came up to you and said, 'I want a car, what should I buy?' you wouldn't be able to answer it. A sedan, pickup truck, minivan, SUV, sports car, etc. are all vehicles and do a great job at what they're designed to do, but a terrible or so-so job in other applications. Until you know why the person needs a car, you can't give the best recommendation." The light bulb went off with the guy and he explained his need for the metal detector.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

No metal detector I know of will do the majority of the work for you.

I know that and I've known that for a very long time. But I didn't know how this would manifest itself in reality. For example, I've become fascinated as of late with the "Tesoro roll" where you will adjust the discrimin or other knobs on the Tesoro machine when over a target to help determine what's in the ground. That seems like a lot of fun and a very satisfying way to determine what your detector is picking up. But I also figured this was a skill that took many many hours to master. I also figured that something like...Multi-IQ is a technology that negates the need for much of that skill out of the equation. Or at the very least, reduces the amount of skill needed. So, in my mind, the answer to the question of "what makes Multi-IQ so good?" in relation with Tesoros was "it gives you the ability to do the Tesoro roll without having to put in the time and effort of learning that skill."

Ok, so is the above accurate? Perhaps not, but even if it's accurate, I know it's an oversimplification. But it's an oversimplification that I can understand.

Look, I'm not that bright and I'm slow to figure things out. I love science and engineering, but I'm too slow to figure it out fast enough to make a living doing it. Hence, I relegate it to my hobbies. And instead of annoying a boss or client for being too slow, I get to annoy you guys, I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

For instance, I never read anywhere, that "assuming you won't search beaches, will dig everything, are willing to put in the time, etc. an AT Pro or Fisher F75+ will find you basically anything the Equinox will find."  Sometimes, wording things differently will get a better understanding in someone else.

This is more for coin size objects in my opinion, the Nox will find small gold and targets like that much better than the At Pro and F75 will, due to having higher frequencies available.   I personally think my T2 (similar to F75) will find any coin my Nox will find especially if I was digging everything that beeps, my Nox will just be far more accurate with the ID's helping me to dig less.   It will not find small gold near as well as the Nox.

There is always going to be ifs, buts and maybes 🙂  Often with metal detecting it seems there is no guarantees, no absolute right answer, there is always variables.

Thanks for the clarification.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Is that the approach you took with the information that has been provided to you on the subject to date?

No. If you read one of my most recent posts/comments, you'll see that I did do a lot of reading, but didn't understand what I read or they didn't answer my question.

 

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Have you read any of the external references recommended to you.

I have (even before starting my thread) and they didn't answer all of my questions, hence creating this thread.

 

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Who would have a conflict of interest?

Anyone who recommends or touts a product or company for reasons that go beyond simply wanting to share an opinion. Often times there is a financial motivation, but not always.

 

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

So have you detected any ulterior motives in what people have posted based on your house contractor analogy?

Not here, no. But my house contractor analogy was made primarily to demonstrate my natural curiosity.

 

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

This seems to be a common theme for you.  Ulterior motive - so what is your conclusion based on what people have posted.  Who is trying to sell a book or detector here?

I'm not using the ulterior motive example to say any of you guys have ulterior motives. I'm just using that as one example as to why I ask "why."

 

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Have we gone way over your head?  I don't think so.

 You're right, you guys haven't (at least that I can remember).

 

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

We have repeated ad nauseum themes like "there are no absolutes in metal detecting", "knowing your machine well or knowing its "language", regardless of what it is, is important to success" and  "no one detector does it all".

Yes, these have been said over and over, but even fewer examples given. That's why I appreciated phrunt's post so much in that he gave me the answer in a way I hadn't heard before.

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Do you REALLY want to know why Multi IQ is better or do you want to know why the Equinox is popular?  

That's a good question. I never thought of the issue that way and assumed they were the same question. If you can answer this second question, I'm listening.

 

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Maybe this exercise will help - Why don't you tell us now what you would tell someone who was pondering an Equinox versus Brand X and feel free to make up the scenario in terms of what the "rookie" needed it for and we can critique your response to the rookie and "fill in the gaps" in your logic or knowledge about the Equinox.  Have you ever previously been asked or recommended the Equinox to anyone?  What was your answer?

Yes, I have recommended the Equinox to someone.

A week ago, before making this thread, if a rookie wanted my advice on what metal detector to get, the following hypothetical dialogue might go something like this: (I hope this answers your question)

Rookie: I want to try metal detecting, what should I buy?

Me: It depends.

Rookie: On?

Me: A bunch of variables. What are you looking for? What’s your budget? Where do you want to hunt?

Rookie: Coins and jewelry in parks and backyards and stuff. And perhaps a beach or two when on vacation. My budget is $200.

Me: I’d recommend the Minelab Vanquish.

Rookie: Really? Why not the Ace series by Garrett?

Me: Those are good detectors, but they’re old tech…like 10 years old. And while they’re good machines, they’re not as modern as the Vanquish. But being modern isn’t what makes the Vanquish a better machine. It’s better because it uses multi-frequency tech, which allows it to more accurately determine what’s in the ground. The better you can determine what's in the ground, the less digging of trash you can do (although you'll still do a lot of it). But most importantly, you say you want to detect a beach. Assuming a saltwater beach, the Ace detectors won’t work in the wet sand…or at least won’t work very well.

Rookie: Oh, ok. Can I go into waist deep water with the Vanquish?

Me: Yes, but I wouldn’t recommend it, as one dunk in salt water and the Vanquish is likely toast. If you want to use your machine in situations where it can get wet, you need it to be waterproof.

Rookie: Is there a waterproof version of the Vanquish?

Me: I wish. There’s a new machine called the Simplex, which is waterproof and is really good. But it’s not ideal for saltwater beaches. What’s perfect for beaches and parks and yards is the Equinox. The problem is, the Equinox is well above your budget…think paying at least $500 for a new machine, likely closer to $600 or $700.

Rookie: Ok, so why is the Equinox $600 and the Vanquish $200?

Me: The Vanquish is just barely $200…or maybe it’s $250. There are several versions of the Vanquish with one being…$400 or so? Either way, the Equinox is more expensive for several reasons. First, it’s waterproof to 10 feet…or is it 10 meters? Not sure, but it’ll handle a dunking in the ocean no problem. Just don’t dive with it. Second, it has wireless capability for headphones. Third, it has special modes or settings to handle other environments, like gold prospecting. The additional settings is useful for experienced detectorists, although I don't fully understand how as I usually hunt with default "modes" built in to the detectors.

Rookie: Gold prospecting? I like the sound of that. But wait, I told you I wanted to search for jewelry, which includes gold rings. So will the Vanquish be able to find those?

Me: Yes. But gold prospecting is different from looking for gold jewelry. The former requires higher frequencies to find the tiny gold nuggets and stuff. Also, gold prospecting machines can usually better handle the “harsher/hotter” soils that gold is often found in. Also, in most machines, gold jewelry will be detected as aluminum trash in many situations. The Equinox and Vanquish are supposed to do a better job of differentiating, but they're not perfect. So to go for gold rings, you'll have to accept a lot of trash being dug up.

Rookie: So the Vanquish can’t really be used for prospecting for gold, got it. Ok, so I can get a decent machine for $200 or so. But what about those machines I see online from China for like $50. Are they any good?

Me: I honestly don’t know. But one of the advantages of buying from a well-known company, like Garrett or Minelab is the communication. They both offer great customer service and warranties…at least compared to some fly-by-night company from China that sells on eBay.

 

I don’t know if that answers your question Chase, but that’s basically the extent of my “recommend a detector” conversations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good thread everyone.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...