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Minelab Equinox Multi-IQ And Search Modes


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If the Equinox performs like people are thinking, it will take the market by storm.

Don't know about their engineering department, but their marketing department appears to be the best.

 

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If the price is right im keen.Currently got the AT Max on hold because of this new Machine.However i feel this "New" I Q business really isn't far off the same old thing in regard to tweaking the Frequencies.I don't doubt it,s better tuned to hot ground and hope the higher frequencies can hit small gold .Is the coil a DD or a Concentric ???. Would be great if mono style coil as reading signals from all angles improves over certain directions compared to the DD's.

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On 10/3/2017 at 5:45 PM, MikePfeiffer said:

What I was thinking about was more that if the Equinox has the superior technology. How would Minelab justify in selling the Safari for $999, E-Track for $1549 and the CTX for $2499. All the marketing hype for the Equinox sounds good. I just fell I am missing something. Theoretically, you pay more money for a superior machine. With the Multi-IQ, marketing makes it sound like the Safari, E-Track and CTX are old technology.

My guess is the Safari goes away. Price is too close to the Equinox. The E-TRAC and CTX probably stay. Why you ask?

Well, back to that first post and the quote from Minelab "Multi-IQ copes with saltwater and beach conditions almost as well as BBS/BFS, however BBS/FBS still have an advantage for finding high-conductive silver coins in all conditions."

People buy the E-TRAC and CTX primarily because they are possibly the best silver coin detectors available for many situations. Minelab says that does not change, and that being the case why would people still not buy them?

The E-TRAC and CTX both offer two dimensional screen discrimination by way of the dual ferrous/non-ferrous target id numbers. This allows a higher degree of discrimination accuracy than my be obtained via a single target id number. The CTX also adds GPS, color screen with target trace (can show multiple targets at once). The bottom line is they are different detectors that are tuned more for high conductors whereas the Equinox detectors appear to be more tuned for low conductor targets. I will be posting separately about the E-Trac and CTX advanced screen options but long story short there is no reason the models cannot co-exist. The general rule at detector companies is just keep making them until volume slows so much as to make it not worth while any longer. The customers will sort out eventually what models they prefer, which in the end determines which ones stay and which ones become history.

As far as BBS and FBS goes they ARE old technology! The patent has even expired on BBS it is so old. There is no doubt Multi-IQ is new - but is it better? I am sure it will just all boil down to different strokes for different folks.

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 Steve, I'd like to reply to your above post, with some speculation.  This is LONG-WINDED, but please bear with me, as I have been thinking about this a lot...

I am NOT saying this is true, but just laying out a possibility...

Consider the machines that have come out in the last decade, from companies like XP, Makro, Nokta, AKA, not to mention even the AT Pro/Gold/Max, Fisher F19/G2+, etc.  With all of these machines, today, being available for a fraction of the cost of a CTX -- while at the same time offering VERY respectable performance (in some cases BETTER, in some applications, than the CTX), I think it is at least possible that Minelab found themselves in a "pickle."

To elaborate; Minelab has almost CERTAINLY lost "market share" in the "hobby detector" category.  Just the Deus alone is extremely popular, and extremely capable.  And I think Minelab has perhaps been forced, by the realities of competition/capitalism, to have to stop and analyze the economic realities of the situation.

So, what do you do, if you are Minelab, and your flagship "hobby" machine, albeit a VERY GOOD one performance-wise, is way heavy, it has had some reliability issues, and -- frankly, it has been challenged in terms of performance by a number of lower-priced competitors who have really gained a foothold in the market since the CTX's release?  What do you decide, in a closed-door meeting, if you are Minelab?

If it were me and I am the head of Minelab, here's what I do in response, if I want to re-gain market share, and reputation:

1.  I go ergonomic/lightweight.  No brainer.  EVERYONE does that better than I do.

2.  I also go waterproof and wireless.  Again, no brainer.

3.  I take my world-class team of engineers, look at what we do BEST (produce top-of-the-line performing machines), and I improve upon that, with a machine that out-performs all of my competitors in the hobby market.

4.  I do all of this at a price that is at, or below, the price point where my competitors are currently pricing their units.

If I can do all of these things, I KNOW I have a winner, and will be dropping a literal "atom bomb" into the fray...a game-changer.

NOW, this seems like a great plan in order to make a very strong statement as an, if not THE, industry leader in hobby detectors.  But, what problems exist with this plan?  Well, in addition to the enormous engineering challenge of actually taking that "next step" in performance that will surpass the competition, AND doing at a price that is better than the competition, a BIG problem is that I am ALSO, in essence, competing with MYSELF.  In other words, if I am successful with the above 4-step plan, I have done two things (WHILE surpassing the competition) -- ONE, I have likely surpassed MY OWN FLAGSHIP MACHINE in terms of performance, and TWO, I am pricing this unit FAR BELOW the price of my own flagship.  UH, OH...

So, WHY would Minelab do this?  Again, it seems to me that they almost HAVE to produce a machine that at LEAST gives the CTX a "run for its money," because so many of the competitors are really pushing the envelope there.  For the Equinox NOT to "surpass" the CTX in performance would mean, most likely, ALSO NOT surpassing the competition with enough performance to make people choose Minelab, over the competition.  And, then Minelab almost HAS to sell this new machine at a VERY competitive price point -- probably equal to, if not lower than, the competitors, in order to grab back market share "stolen," to some degree, by the competition.

BUT-- that leaves the marketing team in a tough spot.  How do we HYPE this machine, and create enough excitement to get people to try the unit, but at the same time not make it BLATANTLY OBVIOUS that this machine may out-perform all of our OWN units?  The answer, to me, would be to try and "straddle the fence," so to speak; to market it as "WAY better than the competition, and, also, better than our other machines IN SOME WAYS," but at the same time saying "but our other machines still offer other advantages."  They almost HAVE to do that.  IF the Multi-IQ technology, in the Equinox package, actually WERE going to be your best performer (and again, I think the competition is almost REQUIRING that it MUST be), you can't simply SAY "this will obsolete our entire line of other machines."  Seriously -- what would they do with all the E-Tracs, CTXs, Safaris, etc. that are still out there, already produced and in need of being sold?  So, they'd almost HAVE to suggest that this machine falls "below" -- in at least some ways -- their higher-priced units.  Again, that tightrope...talk it up SO MUCH, compared to the competition, that you sell a ton of them and steal back market share, but at the same time talk it down JUST ENOUGH that you don't utterly massacre the sales of your higher-priced units you still have to sell...

Now, I am not saying this IS the truth, but I am suggesting that it is quite possible, from my view.  I don't think the competition -- who is producing in many cases machines that are nearly as good as (and better, in some applications than) the CTX, at a much lower price -- can be ignored, to the extent that Minelab could risk putting out an inferior machine at a higher price.  To sell the Equinox and take market share from the competition, I think the Equinox will have to be a superior performer, at a superior price.  I think this is a largely true statement, and I'd presume that Minelab KNOWS this.

So, while I do not EXPECT the Equinox to out-perform the CTX or E-Trac, I would not be, after thinking deeply about it, surprised AT ALL at this point if it actually does (even while Minelab almost HAS TO say that it "won't do as well as our flagship.")  They have to walk a real tightrope here, in my view.  Talk up the Equinox LIKE CRAZY, in terms of its performance, so as to get people buying it instead of a Deus, or Impact, or Racer2, or AT Max, BUT don't talk it up SO much that people stop buying your CTXs and E-Tracs...

Again, don't know if I am correct with all of this, but I am thinking I am not too far off, and the early videos we have seen showing glimpses of the Equinox prototype's performance so far, seem to lend support to this hypothesis...

Steve

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Indeed a long winded response.

Minelab states that it has potential to obsolete all single frequency detectors.

It doesn’t say BBS, FBS, FBS2 detectors. They also state it is more orientated at low conductors and will handle the ground better.

My CTX wasn’t the greatest low conductor machine out there, I haven’t seen any real performance on low conductors at the beach. When I use the SDC the low conductors are dead easy. No disc, but that is just what it is. You dig.

The CTX isn’t the greatest low conductor machine in the fields either with the standard coil. And  no-one in their wright mind is going to swing that heavy coiltek elliptical for hours. Or attempt a field with that tiny 6”. 

At the beach the trusty Excal has far fewer problems with the environment than the CTX. Even though it has limitations in terms of EMI and ground handling in respect to the CTX.

So basically it’s CTX GAME OVER. They were giving the large coils away, they have dropped the price. Its a great machine, but it was a bit overengineered and underengineered at the same time. The GPS didn’t by a long shot have the same capabilities as a handheld. And Target Trace turns you into a screen watcher. Gaskets here and there turn it into a maintenance machine.

They have learned, they have given us the Equinox. Which is being fine tuned ready for release as we speak. Can’t fault that.

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3 hours ago, scoopjohnb said:

They have learned, they have given us the Equinox. Which is being fine tuned ready for release as we speak. Can’t fault that.

Or, maybe not so fine tuned to extend the life of the E-Track and CTX. Just a thought.

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All Minelab has to do is have everyone arguing about which Minelab is better. That is kind of how it is with nugget detectors. Which Minelab do you buy? If this turns into a huge debate over what is better, BBS, FBS, or Multi-IQ, then in any case Minelab is the winner.

The arguments that really matter are, which is better, AT Max or Equinox? Deus or Equinox? MX Sport or Equinox? First Texas really does not even have an analogous model - CZ-21? F75? Same issue with Nokta/Makro.

Tesoro Tiger Shark? :biggrin:

I am all in. Outside of nugget detectors mine are all getting sold, and that includes the CTX. The only one that stays is the White’s V3i to run my Bigfoot coil. I just sold the White's DFX and the Deus - the Tek G2 is for sale right now. The Impact found a new home with another test person. CTX is next as soon as I get it cleaned up and round up photos.

People may think the marketing is over the top but the reality for me is the Equinox really is in the process of replacing half my detectors.

minelab-equinox-metal-detector-large-studio-multifrequency-waterproof-wireless.jpg

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Good post, Steve.  Good points.  

Like you, my F19 was sold a week ago, making room for this machine.  I have seen enough to be confident that it will at LEAST replace what the F19 was capable of, and become my "complementary machine," to choose for certain sites/certain conditions/certain tasks.  IF it proves to be SO GOOD that it can do EVERYTHING I need it to, and thus relegates my Explorer to "backup machine" status, well, although I'm not EXPECTING that, that would be OK, too!  :smile:

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Same old same old to me.   I don't see the Equinox really replacing much at all.    It will probably be alot like the Deus; one or two frequencies work really good and the rest are window dressing.    

As end all/do all basic treasure hunting metal detecting tool, the Garrett AT series are better designed.   The Garrett AT series is a use anywhere/take anywhere design Mr Charles Garrett would have been very happy with.  The MX Sport/Equinox is locked into a pole design and thereby limited in usage to the normal 

A two digit phase number identification makes it another beep dig detector just like all the others.   No enhanced visual identification to help me find good non-ferrous targets in non-ferrous trash.  No way to compare results. 

Can go on but out of time....back later.

HH
Mike

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48 minutes ago, Mike Hillis said:

Same old same old to me.   I don't see the Equinox really replacing much at all.    It will probably be alot like the Deus; one or two frequencies work really good and the rest are window dressing.    

As end all/do all basic treasure hunting metal detecting tool, the Garrett AT series are better designed.   The Garrett AT series is a use anywhere/take anywhere design Mr Charles Garrett would have been very happy with.  The MX Sport/Equinox is locked into a pole design and thereby limited in usage to the normal 

A two digit phase number identification makes it another beep dig detector just like all the others.   No enhanced visual identification to help me find good non-ferrous targets in non-ferrous trash.  No way to compare results. 

Can go on but out of time....back later.

HH
Mike

It's already "replacing" several of my detectors and I haven't even received the Equinox yet.. I'm not having any grand illusions of the Equinox out performing  every other detector on the market, but I can't think of any other detector out there with this kind of feature package and versatility.. Especially the "Garrett AT series "  Being its a Minelab I don't believe the extra frequencies will be "window dressing" either. Of course I could be wrong and we will soon find out.   

Respectfully, Bryan

 

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