My Equinox " Coming Out " Statement

[Steve Herschbach]

12 hours ago, Daniel Tn said:

I haven't been this excited about a machine in a long time.  I've soaked up every bit of info I can find about it.  I am very happy to see that you are one of the testers Steve.  I've always respected your posts and find that your opinion and findings of detectors often match my own.  My buddy got to briefly use the Equinox at the last DIV hunt in Culpeper, VA. They compared it with the AT Max...and just like my finding with the Max, they found it began to give an all iron report at just a few inches in the ground on Civil War bullets.  They said the Equinox was still giving a good non iron signal down to 8-9 inches.  That is a big plus considering all VLFs struggle in that soil and will make everything read as iron.

I follow your posts for the same reason Danial - we struggle with similar issues.

The Equinox like all VLF detectors will eventually report a non-ferrous target as ferrous at depth. The reason I have been so upbeat about the machine is that in my ground it does seem to get that "extra inch". I usually hunt wide open full tones, and these usually reveal as a ferrous "donut" with a non-ferrous high tone "squeak" in the middle. The borderline ones are interesting because you can almost feel the machine making the switch from non-ferrous to ferrous. They are the targets I like the most as you know they are the deep ones.

I have no idea how this will all sort out around the world. All I can go by is what I observe here, and what I am observing here is good. No matter what, at least this detector does not break the bank to just buy and try. The thing is this is still a VLF and with so many people now using PI detectors for places like Culpepper I doubt there will be a rush to go back to VLFs there. You still can't beat a PI for sheer depth. Those who can't handle all the trash and / or can't afford a good PI will hopefully find the Equinox to be another useful tool in the toolbox.

[mn90403]

I turned in my 'waiting list' spot for a prepaid spot earlier this week.  I put down $500 because I was told those orders were filled first.  I did this with Bill Southern and got his forum member discount.

[TedinVT]

A lot of discussion regarding pre-orders, pre-paying, release dates, finalizing the design, etc.  No discussion about production capacity, ability to satisfy the pent up worldwide demand, best guess order lead times, etc.

I'd love to have one by early Spring, but the reality of that happening is not good.  If there is a demand for a million units, for example, ML would have to produce just a bit less than 42,000 units per month to satisfy that demand in two years.  That's a bit less than 1400 units per day.  Still, I plan to wait patiently and follow the news and comments with eager anticipation.

[Cal_Cobra]

18 hours ago, Tom Slick said:

I'm on a waiting list for the 800. I'm more interested in how far down the list. I don't know if I should start selling my other detectors now or sometime next year! Anyone looking for a Tesoro Tiger Shark, Sovereign Elite, Sovereign GT, Makro Gold Racer, or NIB Fisher F19 ? 

All I can say is good luck!  The Depot has been loaded with detectors for sale since the nox announcement, and almost none of them are moving.  I've never seen anything like this before, but have to give it to ML, absolutely brilliant marketing.  It makes me feel bad for other detector companies, it has to be putting a hurting on their sales, I mean who in their right mind would buy a FTP product or a new Garrett ATM when for the same duckets you can get, what appears to be, a far superior Equinox machine?  That said, I'm still keeping my R2 :)

[Tom Slick]

Brian - You'll notice my Racer 2 isn't included in the above list of detectors to sell nor is my Impact. I don't see the equinox replacing either of them. 

[Guest Tnsharpshooter]

14 minutes ago, Tom Slick said:

Brian - You'll notice my Racer 2 isn't included in the above list of detectors to sell nor is my Impact. I don't see the equinox replacing either of them. 

What you say here may be true.

But not in the strictest sense.

Why?

A few questions need to be answered first.

Are the Equinox coils set up like CTX, meaning contain electronics making them proprietary?

What I am sayin is, the biggest weakness for Equinox may be lack of coil selection (size).

But yes as far as the detector electronics, Equinox may indeed "obsolete" the 2 detectors you mention here with equivalent sized coils, even slightly bigger, or even slightly smaller.

Only time will tell.

Also, besides soil mineral handling, emi handling too, may come into play making Equinox superior on average vs the others.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

On 12/1/2017 at 6:00 AM, Tom Slick said:

Brian - You'll notice my Racer 2 isn't included in the above list of detectors to sell nor is my Impact. I don't see the equinox replacing either of them. 

I've made so many great finds with my Racer2, it's been better than any other detector I've used, until the Impact, but I enjoy detecting with the Racer a lot more.  I still struggle with the Impact ergonomics, which unfortunately takes a lot of the fun out of detecting and slows me down as I need to take breaks to shake off the pain in my hand and wrist throughout my detecting day.

[mn90403]

On 11/21/2017 at 11:13 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

Thanks Tim - that was kind of you.

The only inane questions are the ones that don't get asked. I love answering questions and explaining stuff - should have been a teacher I guess. Discussing detecting and helping people makes me happy, so thanks in more ways than one! 

Just reading this thread/sub-forum for the first time ...

Steve,

You are a teacher.  You teach us and you teach Minelab.

Who else is there to teach?  My kid?  He is on the way and I hope you teach him too!

Mitchel

[Skate]

I would say that if a person truly wants to learn to use their new Equinox when it's released this will be the forum to do it on. I recognize many of the user names here from the other forums and they're many of the more learned folks in my opinion. I get the impression that many people on other sites are hoping that the Equinox will be a failure just so they can lord it over others. My EQ is paid for and i'm #9 on my dealers list when they come out. I won't be selling my Deus, or my excal II as having a good backup detector is as important to me as anything else. I'd rather take what Steve says than the guy who's using detecting to become the next youtube sensation. 

[Guest Tnsharpshooter]

When the time is right I am sure the host here will reveal even more concerning the Equinox.

Actually if folks will remember the MX Sport, the host here got one of those and was quick to point out something wasn't right in its operation.

So in saying this, I am glad Steve has at least used the Equinox some- gotten a feel for it.

If the detector passes muster with him = is a very good start IMO.