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Minelab E-trac, CTX 3030, Excalibur Versus Equinox


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4 hours ago, Randy Dee said:

 

Richard

All of the answers you are looking for are there in the manual (ie) "Tone Volume" Page 43,  "Target Tone" Page 46 & "Tone Pitch" Page 47.

Try Target Tone 2 on page 46  then on Page 47 set your "Tone Pitch" as follows TONE 1 (T1) reduce to 1 (Number 1) this covers all of the ferrous and produces next to no sound for small ferrous items,  then Click on the Accept / Reject button \//X to move forward to TONE 2 (T2) increase the Tone Pitch to 25 this is very high.

Then revert to Page 43 "Tone Volume" (Advanced Setting) this is where you turn the volume right up for the two separate TONES 1 & 2  (25 is full whack) and again using the \//X button to move from Tone 1 to Tone 2. 

I will have a play in the morning , i think i have Iron set at 5 .

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Richard,

I think I know what you are talking about.  I have been a beach SE Pro and CTX user for the last 4 years.  When I hear a US Quarter it bangs on my headphones.  The Equinox does not bang but it is loud enough.  It takes a bit of getting used to.

My audio uncomfortability was so great I had to go back out with targets and retrain my ears a bit before I hit the beach again.  I posted about that yesterday in Feel The Power Of Your 800.  I came to grips with the realization that this is not a CTX or SE Pro.  Maybe you have to know this is not a 705 (I've never used one).

Take the 800 out with some targets and have some fun.  Start with everything turned up (or down) and then play with the Recovery Speed and the Iron Bias.  I think you will find a Sweet Spot that will maximize the 800.  I did.

I also had to do the tone selection but also control the volume of the machine and that on the headset.  I dumbed it down for now but will smarten it up later.

When the numbers come in for the first few walkabouts just dig em.  There are some amazements in store and then you will know what kind of instrument is in your hands and how to play it the best for you.

Mitchel

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Wow Nuke em , something seems amiss . You sound like me on one of those nights detecting and for some reason the mind is not chilled and I don't think I would hear a sinker on top of the sand . ( thankfully only happens once a year .) Something is not right and you need to go get help as Steve says ( whichever one it is you or the detector but the detector is the cheapest option ???) I have not used my GPX on the beach since I got the Nox so it blows my mind your frustrations and I will be waiting for your Ah ha moment when you post it 

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On 3/5/2018 at 6:31 PM, Nuke em said:

I will have a play in the morning , i think i have Iron set at 5 .

sometimes when I go into and out of pinpoint the audio drops super low volume but comes back full volume in a few seconds.  maybe this bug is more prevalent on yours.  This was on a 600.

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Steve, I appreciate your explanation of the evolution of Minelab's multifrequency machines.  I generally agree as to where the Equinox fits in. For me, my Equinox 600 won't replace my Etrac for hunting coins, since it doesn't give me accurate FE/CO and depth, but with its better separation it does complement the Etrac nicely, opening up opportunities for me in trashy sites--I've already seen this.  And it's impossible to ignore the Equinox's modern features--light weight, faster electronics, much easier to see LCD panel, wireless audio, and better arranged settings--removes the temptation to go out and buy an Impact :)  Conceptually, though, I am left with the suspicion that it's a sort of scaled-down version of the next generation of the Etrac/CTX.  Not a bad thing, I suppose, particularly at this price point.

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I think a lot of those comparisons came out of us water hunters.   We know that there are basically 3 VLFs being used in the salt water...... Xcal, CTX and the CZ..... with PIs being mostly nitch machines.   There were and are a lot of advantages this machine offers for beach hunting..... weight, speed, multi AND single freq, simple to use,  MUCH better priced once we added mod costs ect, easy to travel with, TID screen, completely sealed to include battery, AND it appeared it was going to be as good as the BBS/FBS in the water with the benefit of picking up some of the even smaller gold missed by them.  Its overall use as a beach machine should surpass those machines IMO for gold hunting on the beach........ and lets face it we arent coin hunting.  It may not get the depth out of the water, but if it gets the smaller gold it will all average out.   Ive heard a lot of us asking for exactly what this machine gave us over the Xcal........ a great wading machine.   Not been able to test it yet in DEEPER water.... so im guessing here, but it appears it will remove some of the fear people have about dunking the a $2500 CTX as well.  I dont know going in that ML thought this machine may in fact be BETTER than what they have.   When you talk salt water machines you ALWAYS compare it to the Xcal.   Now you have a good option to bringing two machines to the beach..... one for water hunting and one for dry sand hunting for gold.

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