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Equinox Books Any Good?


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Curious about thoughts on the Andy book and the Clive books(3) on the Equinox. Are any of them preferred over the others or more useful?  Does one writer communicate or convey the information better than the other?

I’m personally looking for something to expand on the manual and add some field context to the settings/modes and maybe a bit of less basic detecting technique or skills and tips.  I have a 600 so also hoping the book is not too biased to the 800. 
 

The Minelab Equinox 600 800 Metal Detector Hand book

The Minelab Equinox: “From Beginner to Advanced”

Skill Building with the Minelab Equinox Series Metal Detectors

The Minelab Equinox: “An Advanced Guide”


Thank you for any insight. 
 

 

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I have Andy"s book , had been using the Equinox for 6 months prior to reading it with success finding relics ,  coins and gold nuggets . Started studying Andy's book and couldn't believe how much it improved my knowledge and confidence , so much so that I have cobwebs on my GPX at the moment . Buy both authors books if you have doubts , you won't regret it .

Happy hunting ,

Cheers goldrat

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Yes, thank you. Good feedback on Andy’s book.
 

I’ve been using my 600 this year and have found silver coins, 1800s coins, and a couple of nicer rings (pic of some of my coin finds so far). Just getting to start playing with the various settings and trying to truly understand how changing each may help me find the hidden stuff or what I have missed. Also picked up a sweet deal on a used 6” coil I’ve yet to try so hoping it expands a bit on practical use of various coils and how one may want to set the settings. The manual helps but it is also kind of vague in practical application. 

I’m still wondering if there is one of the 3 Clive books that might be more comprehensive or complement Andy’s book better?  It seems with the 3 Clive books there could be some overlap in material.

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1 hour ago, nickeldNdimed said:

Just getting to start playing with the various settings and trying to truly understand how changing each may help me find the hidden stuff or what I have missed.

The more I read (here on this site and in books) plus the more I detect with the Equinox, I'm coming to the realization that what you just said may be the real key.  I treat others' settings and experiences as suggestions, but often they don't fit my ear/brain/style/....  That's not to denigrate the books, though.  For what I spend on detectors and accessories, the books are almost "in the noise".  Then again, I like books as much today as I ever did, internet be damned.

Oh, and nice finds!  The Barber dime and 1920 Indian/Buffalo nickel in particular show nice detail.  And I never met a Merc I didn't like.  The one on the right looks like it was dropped on its way out of the mint.

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Exactly. I tried the stock settings and dug more iron and junk. Read some sections in manual again and realized why. Changed some settings and sort of “fixed” my issue. Now I want to work my way back, maybe...  Hoping for a little more context out of the books. But not just some settings from a guy in UK using beach on land if I don’t understand why! I find it part of the fun with this detector. Some days, I just wish I had the F22 out and some limited choices. I may pick up the Andy book and the Beginner to Advanced books to start and go from there but welcome any other insight on the books.
 

Anyway, thanks. I think it is just the photo. The Mercs luckily are in fairly good shape. Unfortunately I need to work on my digging also.  A few of the coins, including the Barber, have some marks from my digging tool. That 1920 Buffalo I cleaned. I don’t know if I regret it or not.  Not to get off topic but here are some before and after pics for fun. 

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14 hours ago, nickeldNdimed said:

Unfortunately I need to work on my digging also.

(Self-) "honesty is the best policy."  😏  I always try to dig around the coin, loosening the soil so that I can remove a plastic scoop of dirt containing the coin, but never touching it until it's out (in my gold pan) and then I find it with my fingers.  I've never heard of anyone who does exactly what I do, although there are enough detectorists out there that I'm sure there are a few.  I carry two plastic scoops (small and large) plus the plastic gold pan.  (A lot of people carry either a sheet of plastic or a piece of durable fabric which is equivalent to my gold pan method.)  (Note:  I don't wear gloves except when it's cold outside, since I'm not putting my bare hands in the hole to get cut, bit, etc.  The scoop does that part for me.)  When the ground is hard packed and especially when digging in tightly packed gravel or crushed stone, it can be difficult for me to follow my 'rules'/practice.  And I've dinged a few, but fortunately (so far...) always modern coins with aren't worth more than face value, nor do I care about displaying them.  I suspect everyone dings a coin sometime, but the key (IMO) is to keep that to a minimum -- something like <1%.

15 hours ago, nickeldNdimed said:

That 1920 Buffalo I cleaned. I don’t know if I regret it or not.  Not to get off topic but here are some before and after pics for fun.

(If anyone calls me out I'll blame the OT part on you.  :laugh:)  Many posts (opinions) here on this site about cleaning.  I'm stricter than most.  The key is to do the minimum amount of cleaning (e.g. water rinse although some feel even that can be damaging, but rather use a soft stick such as wooden toothpick) until you have the coin identified by date+mm.  Then determine if it has numismatic value and stop if it does.  (When in doubt, stop.)  If no numismatic value you can proceed to your favorite cleaning method (many of these exist, too, and several discussed on this site).  If the coin potentially has numismatic value, the path is much more complicated.  AFAIC no one here has come up with a good solution in those cases and there may not exist one.  But as they say "nice problem to have!"

Thanks for the before & after pics of the Buffie.  1920-plain isn't valuable, as I'm sure you already determined.  Most of our USA soils are not kind to 25%Ni-75% Cu and yours is no exception.  But this Buffie has the full date and it's strong.  Note the bands in the Indian's braid and the bone visible in the bird feather.  All those are signs that it didn't wear too much before it was lost.

If you're not aware of the following already, here are coin values, but beware -- these are both retail prices and for certified coins so probably a factor of 4 or more higher than any coin we find.  They also are for 'problem free' coins and most coins that come from the ground are not considered as such; but this site does at least give more info.  Best price guide is Ebay prices realized, IMO, but that takes a lot more searching.  They also have the best grading guide I've ever seen.  Another word of caution -- most people overgrade, particularly their own coins.  It's a similar psychological flaw to thinking every unusual looking rock you find is a meteorite. :biggrin:

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Cleaning is a tough choice! And much depends on the soil, and readability of the coin! 

     I've come to appreciate the varied patina's of coins! And i have not sold any yet! And don't plan too! But the least that you can do to a coin, jewelry, or  artifacts, is usually the best option! There are always exceptions and opinions about this! But it's up to each of us to make that choice!👍👍

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Thanks for the references. I’ve bought the red and blue books for reference and to learn about the coins and have looked up a few. I don’t get too hung up on the values as I’m not likely to find anything that will significantly change my lifestyle. Although I think of all my dirty wheaties as scratch off lottery tickets and once I have a handful I will clean off the date area hoping to find that rare 1943 copper...

But yeah, they are dug coins and sometimes coming out of gravely areas. It is a little disappointing to damage them. I have a plastic trowel I bought for some backpacking trips. I’ll have to try that for scooping the loose dirt out or picking at the plug or hole sides. That’s a good tip.  

I’ll just have to start finding silver/gold coins and jewelry only. They come out so clean! 

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The idea behind my books is to give people the basic skills and detector knowledge to get results with any detector.  I then look at how these skills apply to what the Equinox does well.  Thanks for your interest.

http://www.clivesgoldpage.com/shop/publications/minelab-equinox-beginner-advanced/#reviews

http://www.clivesgoldpage.com/shop/publications/skill-building-with-the-minelab-equinox-series-metal-detectors/#reviews

cjc

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I got my Nox for my birthday in April and still consider myself a beginner. I really liked The Equinox Series Handbook by Andy Sabisch. His "walk before you run" information and strategies are very useful for me.

But Clive's "From Beginner to Advanced" book brought the whole thing home for me. I'm a slow reader and have to re-read most things to get full comprehension, but for some reason the concepts just clicked for me. Clive's explanations of the way the Nox processes signal information and the related TIDs and his graphic representations of the different sounds made it much easier for me to understand. I've read that book 3 times now and  think I grasp the principles involved. In fact, my detecting skills at local parks and my trip to beach have improved to the point that I'm fairly confident that I know what's in the ground before I dig it. Of course I still dig them all just to verify, but I'm probably 70-80% accurate.

I'm about half way into "Skill Building..." and understand it better now that I got the basics down. I haven"t started "An Advanced Guide..." yet because I'm not advanced yet.

Sorry for running on but I finally felt like I had something to contribute. 😉

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