Still On Cloud 9

[Bill (S. CA)]

Steve,

I wish I had the hours in that you do on the Equinox but in the time I have used it the results have, and continue to be, pretty amazing.

Let me share with you a little test I did on Saturday at a very heavily hunted, trash filled park here in LA.  My buddy, Randy, brought his 800 and I brought my Etrac with a Dtech 8" small coil.  I have done very well with the Etrac using this small coil.

We were both digging clad, nothing special.  Then Randy called me over to check a bouncing signal in the teens on his 800.  I scanned it with the Etrac and did not get anything.  No null, nothing.  I could hit the target in pinpoint.  Randy dug down and at about 6" found a little half of a brass locket.  Not a big value item but still, the 800 saw it and the Etrac, even with a small coil, didn't.

There was only one other target of merit that bears mentioning.  Randy got a chirpy "25" on his 800, not real deep, but he figured it was a clad dime. I scanned over the target and once again got nothing.  I tried pinpoint and the Etrac would barely read it.  Randy dug down and around 4" he popped out a clad dime.  I know this stretch of the park we were hunting and there is no way that a clad dime at 4" should have been missed (it was clearly not a fresh drop).  Yet it was.

These two targets just reaffirmed what all of us are already well aware of: the Equinox is a different animal.  Even machines like Etracs, which have ruled the roost so to speak for many years, missed tough and easy targets due to target masking.  The Equinox is able to sniff out these targets so truly the expression "hunted out" does not apply to anyone using one.

Now I just need to work on the "more hours to hunt" part of all this...

Bill (S. CA)

[Cal_Cobra]

On 6/3/2018 at 11:33 AM, Mark Gillespie said:

Yes, Yes, Yes.  I too have not scratched the surface with potential adjustments.

Actually, I've not had a need to .

BINGO!!

Although far from a KISS design, it employs a KISS user interface and default settings.  With it's ability to real-time sample the ground, it's continuously adjusting GB/mineralization adjustments on the fly to aid in better depth and unmasking, and that along with Minelabs superb Noise Cancel go a long way to getting world class depth.  Now you have speed, light weight, ease of use, power, waterproof and a ton of adjustments on top of that IF and when you need them. 

I've found .... for me .... the best detectors are the ones I need to fiddle with the least, the EQ fits that bill for me. 

[Cal_Cobra]

On 6/4/2018 at 9:44 AM, Tometusns said:

I hope these pics will convey how I feel about the Equinox. ? 99% found in pk1, default settings except iron bias set at 3. Sensitivity set to what location dictated. Tom

That's a nice pile of finds ?

 

[Jackpine]

2 hours ago, phrunt said:

I went out on a limb last week and sent Minelab service in OZ a quick email asking if they would ever be doing a solid elliptical coil like the GM1000 or even a solid skid plate for the Nox's existing coils and I got this response from them at midnight OZ time.  Pretty impressive really that they'd reply to an email at that time.

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Hi Simon

Thanks for your enquiry, our engineering team are still working on the 6” round and the 15X12” elliptical coils for the Equinox.
I have forwarded this to the engineering team but unfortunately as they are still working on the current coils that are yet to be released it will be some time before they even start to look at developing something like this.
 
Minelab Service

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So although a long way off, they seem open to the idea, it gives me hope ?

 

Holy Cats! still working on the announced coils?  Oh well, at least we now know they want them to be the best they can be. 

[maxxkatt]

Here is what I think about the 800. People who are somewhere between beginners and intermediate users in terms of skills find the 800 perplexing. People who are pros especially with lengthy experience with Minelab detectors understand the 800 and appreciate what a great detector for the price and many features it offers. It really does replace multiple detectors. But only if you know how to use it properly and understand how to effectively set it up for different ground matrix conditions.

A typical user, lets say an AT Pro or AT Max user (there are tons of them) tends to pretty much use their metal detectors only in one environment and in Pro metal mode or some other mode. So they may have 500 hours on the AT Pro but it is all the same experience.

They guys who really know what they are doing tend to have the $2,000 + type detectors and know how to use every feature effectively.

So when a  typical beginner or intermediate AT Pro user gets the Nox 800 they simply don't know how to use it and become bewildered and complain on the forums or on youtube about this and that. They hear a lot of hype about the Nox series on the forums and youtube and when they get it they find it won't do miracles for them because they don't know how to use it. A beginner or intermediate detectorist will not learn this remarkable machine in a dozen hours. I  include myself in that category. If you want additional detail information on the 800 get Clive James Clynick's book "The Minelab EQuinox series - from beginner to advance book. It is only 111 pages but packed with very specific information on the Equinox 800. There is very little fluff in this book. He does remind you of some maybe forgotten like target ID techniques and specific examples of setting up your 800 for different ground matrix situations. He also give you  hint  how to start easy and learn the sophisticated metal detector and not jumping into the complex settings abilities.

If you are a beginner and only hunt in the standard modes eg park1,2 field1,2 etc then you are only using half of the capabilities of the 800. Take the time to really learn to understand and use this remarkable machine. And it does take study and field time, there are no shortcuts.