Vibration For Minelab Equinox 600/800 For The Deaf

[greg801]

13 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Are bone conduction headphones a possibility for you?

Not. I have hearing aids, but they are not waterproof

[Valens Legacy]

You should be able to use almost any waterproof headphone unit and add a couple of led's to give a visual indicator. Be sure that you waterproof your work when done.

I have done it on some underwater gear that I use as a backup to the speaker for it, and it has never failed yet.

Just be sure to pick a color that you like and make sure that you use a circuit that will not burn up the outputs.

[Jeff McClendon]

21 minutes ago, greg801 said:

Not. I have hearing aids, but they are not waterproof

Bone conduction headphone can be wireless or wired and vibrate through the cheek bones. There are water proofed versions too. 

[Johnnysalami1957]

How about using a shrouded bright led so it can be seen in bright light?

[greg801]

18 hours ago, Johnnysalami1957 said:

How about using a shrouded bright led so it can be seen in bright light?

This way, I can miss interesting signals, I would have to look at the LED all the time.

 

On 10/13/2021 at 9:11 AM, Jeff McClendon said:

Bone conduction headphone can be wireless or wired and vibrate through the cheek bones. There are water proofed versions too. 

I can't find such waterproof headphones

[Johnnysalami1957]

Mount the led on a a pair of glasses! 

Seems to me vibration is less sensitive to faint signals.

[Jeff McClendon]

6 hours ago, greg801 said:

I can't find such waterproof headphones

To start, I have never used this type of headphones. I know someone that does use a wired brand of bone phones when metal detecting in areas where he wants to have full situational awareness and wants to hear his surrounding area with his ears. He does not have any hearing issues. He has used them either plugged directly into the Equinox control box or plugged into the WM08 module. They work well for him.

So, first, if you really want to keep your Equinox (totally understandable) I would start out with a wired set paired with your WM08 and see if they work for you for general detecting. There are wired supposedly waterproof versions listed on both Amazon and eBay currently. There are hundreds of wireless models listed too and some are waterproof. However, they do not appear to be APTX Low Latency. I am not even sure if that matters with bone phones...........? Personally, unless I was wearing a wet suit head covering or some type of waterproof tight fitting head covering, I would be afraid that bone phones would fall off when snorkeling or if I was hit with a wave. That goes for any type of headphones underwater. Also, I would not dive with an Equinox. I would only use mine in shallower and calmer water, not rough surf, but that is just me.

Here is a link to a wired version by a well know company.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124952950250?hash=item1d17c6b5ea:g:2rUAAOSwDyhgBPYJ

[Jeff McClendon]

The added vibration mod in the Polish YouTube video was great added to the Excalibur. Something like that could be added to an Equinox. However, I am going to repeat.....I would not dive with an Equinox. Yes it is listed as waterproof to 3 meters. There have been far too many reports of the Equinox control box not being waterproof to 3 meters or even 3 centimeters. If you want to work underwater, you should be using a detector that is specifically made for that. The Equinox is very versatile but there are far better detectors for diving than the Equinox especially in saltwater. As another poster mentioned, I would buy a Nokta Makro Simplex (US $254) or the Nokta Makro Pulse Dive (US $160) which both have built in vibration instead of diving/snorkeling with an Equinox. You may spend more than that just to get vibration on your Equinox.

[greg801]

On 10/11/2021 at 12:47 PM, PimentoUK said:

Quote:"Why is it that the vibration does not work directly on the cable and it works through the headphone cable?"

I see the problem here. The Equinox uses electronic switching to determine if headphones are plugged in, then it mutes the internal loudspeaker and drived the headphones.
It measures the load placed on the Right channel, that is between the 'ring' and the 'ground' of the stereo plug. My experiments show 50 Ohms or less is needed to trigger the switch-over circuitry.
Probably the simplest method for you is to short the 'ring' to ground, and use the Left channel ( 'tip' ) to ground as your audio source.

I think the WM08 module would work underwater if it were placed very close to the control-box, so there was minimal water between them. The radio antenna in the control box is along the top edge, centrally positioned. The WM08 would probably need to be fitted into a watertight enclosure, I don't have one, so I'm unsure of it's water rating.

I can't help much with the loop / WM08 issue. The module has stereo output, is it possible to use both L and R to drive the loop, either by directly joining them, or with a pair of low-value resistors ( under 10 Ohms ? ) to isolate L and R.

Is the loop a low resistance ? Perhaps a series resistor may make it easier on the WM08.

I connected a mass resistor with the right channel, the motor rotates slightly and when there is a signal on the coil, it vibrates strongly, only it bothers me that the motor vibrates slightly.

[greg801]

17 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

The added vibration mod in the Polish YouTube video was great added to the Excalibur. Something like that could be added to an Equinox. However, I am going to repeat.....I would not dive with an Equinox. Yes it is listed as waterproof to 3 meters. There have been far too many reports of the Equinox control box not being waterproof to 3 meters or even 3 centimeters. If you want to work underwater, you should be using a detector that is specifically made for that. The Equinox is very versatile but there are far better detectors for diving than the Equinox especially in saltwater. As another poster mentioned, I would buy a Nokta Makro Simplex (US $254) or the Nokta Makro Pulse Dive (US $160) which both have built in vibration instead of diving/snorkeling with an Equinox. You may spend more than that just to get vibration on your Equinox.

I have already dipped the Equinox 800 several times and everything is fine, I know that in deeper water in the lakes there are signals, but you need to know what and at what depth on the bottom. I plan to do so up to 2.5 m in the vicinity of the bathing beach and piers. Hence the need for vibration. I have Simplex + nice machine but not everything, Nox800 yes 🙂