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Early Minelab Testers Question??


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So Im curious... with Makro/Nokta we saw a ton of You Tube videos on the Kruzer in various settings. Even Dilek posted on the machine on the forums before it came out.

Even the AT Max we say a little here and there on the unit.

Where was the early info on the Equinox? I know there was/is a "gag order" in place, and boy did they do a good job... not a word from anyone hardly! 

But when does the gag order lift? 1 year, 10 years Never? I'm interested in the "seasoned" testers that were able to use early models. These early thoughts to me are a real gem on what was changed, improved, altered. 

Any ideas?

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That is not how things work. There are different types of “testers”. Most so-called testers are people given units that are basically completed. They are kind of a last minute check on things looking for bugs, and are commonly the people you see yakking it up about new detectors when they first come out since they are the first people to have detectors in hand. I have done this sort of thing myself.

Then there are the people that are working with engineering early on during the true product development phase. These people often never reveal themselves. If they do, they are usually bound by non-disclosure agreements that in general prevent them from revealing anything learned during that phase forever more. Every bit of what went on and how is proprietary information. No company publicizes this phase with only one exception I can think of ever - Nokta and the Impact via Tom Dankowskis released notes. That was a one off exception and even then may have been a detector mostly finished in all the important aspects. Anything else you ever thought you saw at any point was most assuredly of the first type described above.

Lest anyone think I am making all this up here is an excellent essay on the subject by Dave Johnson at First Texas - About Field Testing.

Long story short if that is what you are waiting for you will be waiting a very, very long time.

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However, if what you really want is a chronological running commentary of late term Equinox development and testing, you might want to look at the earlier posts in this forum that date back to late last year.  It was created by Steve in response to the unprecedented demand for the Equinox due to ML's marketing blitz and Steve, as one of the pre-release tester's posted as much as his NDA allowed. When he realized he was on to a potential game changer, he provided as much information as he could. In the process, this forum had posts that linked to a number of pre-release videos from testers leading up to product launch.  As a result, this forum gave people as much information as possible so folks could have a running start when the Equinox finally arrived. Take a look for yourself and dial back a few months to see what all the early fuss was about.

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Guest calabash digger

Seems like I remember some nay sayers giving a little flak back then on another forum.  I wonder if they like eating crow warm ??

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I would like to thank Minelab for showing me the trust they did in allowing me wide latitude in creating this forum and running with the ball. It has been a genuine honor to have been involved in my own tiny way in this project. Thanks gents - you know who you are. :smile:

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If someone wanted they could write a manual for the equinox just be perusing this forum from as far back as Steve began writing about it. In terms of learned information, this forum has been a reliable, go to source for information on the use of the Equinox. Unlike other forums, the Equinox is discussed intellectually here and that's because Steve and a lot of the posters here are data driven folks and have left the emotional garbage for others. 

If you do some searching throughout the different forum topics you'll see it's a who's who of the detecting world that congregates here.  

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Guest Tnsharpshooter

You know, even the host Steve admits he indeed may learn a thing or 2 from other Nox users.

He's not on some high horse pounding his chest about being a detectorist for so many decades and no one here can really offer him or anyone else any worthy thoughts or info for any detector model or the hobby in general.

Amazing.

None of this garbage here my stick is bigger than yours.

The Equinox is talked about for what it is nothing less, nothing more.

I truly think some folks, oh they read here alright as guests, but they also know if they come in here they will have to play by some rules.

Rules if they violate, the host here will send them packing and quick.

So romper room theatrics here, yeah have no place.

Now, I see folks here have disagreements.

And this is good.

But I don't see these disagreements as unhealthy where mutual respect goes by the wayside.

Yeah EQUINOX is good alright.  One reason why is Steve. One of the many players of seems like a successful team.

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Steve fulfilled what a huge number of detectorists had been longing for; a gathering place that shared detailed information, a site that allowed disagreements as long as they stayed on point and stayed civil, an outpost for early information on new products and how to use them well and most of all an energetic moderator who had earned the right to lead this whacky bunch of people who love what they do. Now it's up to us not to screw it up, and so far it's been great.

 

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Good gosh, there are many people who are better detectorists than I am! Seriously, I am no wizard. I basically cheat by putting in huge hours, talking about the good days, and forgetting to mention the bad! :smile: Good photographers don’t take perfect pictures every time. They take a zillion pictures and toss all but the best ten. That’s my secret to successful detecting. Hours, lots of them.

I like to think of myself as a student of metal detecting. The day I can’t learn from others is the day I die. A person simply asking a question I don’t know the answer to triggers my learning process. I don’t have all the answers - I just chase them down when people ask, and then we both learn something. My favorite line at work... “I don’t know, but I will find out and get back to you.” Pretty grand when you think about it. So thank you all - you help me in more ways than you know.

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12 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I basically cheat by putting in huge hours... That’s my secret to successful detecting. Hours, lots of them.

I wouldn't call this 'cheating' -- just the opposite in fact.    From http://www.thomasedison.com/quotes.html here's a pertinent quote from Thomas Edison (he had many similar):  Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

For every successful person born with a skill that makes it look easy, there are thousands born without the knack but who become successful by brute force.  And note I qualified both types with 'successful'.  There are multiple times as many who aren't successful because they aren't willing to put in the hours of effort, and that includes most who were born with an edge.

 

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