Jump to content

How Many Have Reverted Back To The Original 1.5 Version?


Bhogg

Recommended Posts

I feel people are really jumping on the bandwagon before actually spending a little time with the new update. 

Is it different?  absolutely

Is it better than the original version?  To early, all the facts are not in.

I myself love the challenge of testing new stuff, so I'm good with either version.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, the audio on my machine seems to be more enhanced, more detail, can't quite nail it down just yet. 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites


7 hours ago, Cal_Cobra said:

Good points.  You know what would be a great test, is if the Equinox was able to hold both firmware versions at once, and allow one to load either one.  Then you could do some nice A/B comparisons.  Suppose you could accomplish the same thing by bringing your laptop to the field and simply flip between the two firmware versions.  

I like your idea Cal, and these days, as cheap as memory is it would be feasible. I'd also like to see these updates able to be transferred from a cellphone either direct line in or wirelessly. God knows cell phones are now as powerful as some laptops. In some cases even more so. I'm surprised Minelab doesn't also have an App for the Equinox. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I might not have noticed much difference either if I weren't preparing for a seeded hunt. I wanted to use the Equinox. But out of two handfuls of machines it seemed to do the worst with tilted coins, which can occur quite often during planting. It had trouble modulating them. It began to make sense to me when research suggested it had an issue with coins on edge and some rings. Then the update came out shortly before the hunt. I plugged in and updated without blinking when I saw a fix for that very issue. I brought it out and tested it and it was spot on after that. I was happy I could bring it to my hunt. This area lately is Deus and Whites Country. There wasn't the craze for the Equinox here in this part of NY that I saw sweeping the rest of the world, so I wanted to show it off and be different. In any case there did end up being a couple of other Equinoxes and we drove each other's machines nuts until we noise cancelled, but we all did very good. For my first seeded hunt ever, and as small an event as it was 65-70 people, I came home with literally a handful of silver and a token that won me a new pair of headphones, a Minelab hat and new issue of Eastern and Western Treasure. That update came at the right time and it seems to have done the machine good.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two of the things I was not overly "impressed" with as I've been using my EQ800 these last several months were the accuracy of the depth meter and a seeming lack of audio modulation for deeper targets. 

I've been spending some time the last month at a newer park that has plenty of deep coins to find. This park holds mostly older clad in the 5-8" range. I find 2 or 3 coins each visit at the 9" mark where a transition in dirt begins. This is some of the best lawn I've EVER hunted in 4 plus decades of turf hunting. The dirt is beautiful. Almost all the targets are deep clad; quarters, dimes, nickels and Cu Memorials. I haven't found a single wheatie. Only 2 pieces of silver, a 40's Rosey and Walking Half. The Rosey was in some dry hard packed dirt at about 5". The Half was beyond 9", measured.

I have to admit it is a little weird digging deep plug after deep plug and then popping up a 70's or early 80's clad. Not normally my thing.. I'd normally be expecting a Merc Dime, Wheat pennies, Buff nickels. Early Washington Quarters from these depths. But it is excellent practice and I keep hoping to turn up another silver coin, a gold ring or other piece of jewelry. 

I updated my 800 last week and have made 2 visits to see what I think of this most recent version of software. What I've noticed, the depth meter appears more accurate and suddenly, I seem to have modulation to my deeper targets.

Depth Meter: I pretty much quit looking at the little triangles depth gauge months ago as it was just soooo bad. Embarrassing. Everything seemed deep and with a lack of audio modulation for all but the deepest targets, it was challenging to get depths correct. That appears to have changed. Much better now, along the lines of my Etrac.

Second, and more noticeable to me,  is the audio modulation in the two search modes I am using at this spot; Park 1 and Park 2. With most of the coins in this spot running 5-8", it is now easier for me to tell there is some depth there. This was unexpected. I don't recall Minelab listing this as a change.

The modulation isn't so much that it begins to be difficult to hear those deeper targets. I don't need to reach for the old Depth Master. They are still relatively easy targets to acquire. What I mean is that I'm not creeping along an inch or two at a time and finding a questionable signal and working it to see if I can turn it into something good.

These signals are right there and reachable with most of the width of the coil. But the audio is more descriptive. I didn't see this in the update description.  Am I imagining things? It was obvious, I noticed it immediately. 

Summary; Between the audio and the improved depth gauge, I find it easy to know what I am getting into with each prospective target. 

Unrelated. 

On a side note. Pinpointing. I used an Explorer XS beginning when they were introduced followed by an Etrac. I always considered them to be pretty good at pinpointing, the Etrac the better of the two for sure.  I was not impressed with the pinpointing of the EQ800 at all. It seemed to pinpoint behind center, towards the heel of the coil, consistently. It became one of my peeves. A couple months ago, somebody posted about pinpointing problems on Findmall and over the weeks a few chimed in, but more voices said they loved how accurate the 800 was.  This caused me to wonder if I was part of the problem.

The next time I was out in the field, I took extra care to make sure I was 'centered' before digging. To ensure this with the DD coil, I first pinpointed a target to exact center and then I would slowly rotate the coil above the target as i circled about 60* to my right and sure enough, the volume of the tone increased. I wasn't centered.  So, I've included this little step in my pinpointing and I've been spot on, even on deeper targets like in this park.  I do get the occasional coin on angle that is off center, as expected, but I can say that I pinpoint much better now with the EQ800 and almost all of the time, the target is now dead center.

Back to the update.  I don't have a pair of EQ800's or I would do a little testing at my park, one with the update, the other without, and compare the two for differences first hand. 

Interested to hear other's take on the EQ and the new software. Impressions, real and imaginary.

 

Rich (Utah)

 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Cal_Cobra said:

Good points.  You know what would be a great test, is if the Equinox was able to hold both firmware versions at once, and allow one to load either one.  Then you could do some nice A/B comparisons.  Suppose you could accomplish the same thing by bringing your laptop to the field and simply flip between the two firmware versions.  

The best thing is that it seems like Minelab is listening to it's customers, and they actually released a new firmware update, which as we all know they weren't known to do in the past.  Hopefully this firmware upgrade will be one of many to come that can add positive tweaks and bug fixes in the future!  

I left my 600 on the original firmware for just this reason.  Because it took me so long to finally get the 800, I have logged more hours on the 600, so I have a pretty good feel for it and trust the settings.... I updated my 800, and now I can do side by side comparisons between the two firmware versions.  Now I just need some time and a few deep targets to test on.  I am all about the field hunt rather than backyard testing...  so the ability to reach for the other machine (or even carry them at the same time due to the light weight) while in the field, makes me even more happy I chose to buy both.  HEH (Happy Equinox Hunting) All! ~Tim.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, ☠ Cipher said:

I like your idea Cal, and these days, as cheap as memory is it would be feasible. I'd also like to see these updates able to be transferred from a cellphone either direct line in or wirelessly. God knows cell phones are now as powerful as some laptops. In some cases even more so. I'm surprised Minelab doesn't also have an App for the Equinox. 

Memory is so cheap, it likely has enough room for multiple images to be stored.  I've been used to networking devices having the ability to have multiple images since the 1990's, so it's not a new concept.

I agree, why no Equinox app?  I remember someone in Europe wrote a nice one for the Etrac (because the factory app sucked pretty bad).  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mark, and Rick --

Wow, you guys are the only two so far, that are talking about "something" in the audio, post-update...or, at least, the only two that I've seen mention it in a post so far.  And I totally agree.  I've only used it 1 1/2 hours so far with the update, but I immediately noticed a slightly different nuance to the "personality" of the machine, and it revolves around the audio.  As you said, Mark, I "can't quite nail it down," but there definitely seems to be something more, I don't know, refined?  Enhanced?  Accurate?  Descriptive?  I don't know...I can't find the right word for it.  The audio just seems to communicate more "intelligently" its "information" to the user now, as compared to pre-update.  Very hard to describe, but definitely it's there...

I need more time on the machine, to try and figure out if I can find a couple of proper adjectives to describe this "difference," but I would agree with you both that it is definitely there...and is a positive.

Steve

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Rich (Utah) said:

I updated my 800 last week and have made 2 visits to see what I think of this most recent version of software. What I've noticed, the depth meter appears more accurate and suddenly, I seem to have modulation to my deeper targets.

Depth Meter: I pretty much quit looking at the little triangles depth gauge months ago as it was just soooo bad. Embarrassing. Everything seemed deep and with a lack of audio modulation for all but the deepest targets, it was challenging to get depths correct. That appears to have changed. Much better now, along the lines of my Etrac.

Second, and more noticeable to me,  is the audio modulation in the two search modes I am using at this spot; Park 1 and Park 2. With most of the coins in this spot running 5-8", it is now easier for me to tell there is some depth there. This was unexpected. I don't recall Minelab listing this as a change.

The modulation isn't so much that it begins to be difficult to hear those deeper targets. I don't need to reach for the old Depth Master. They are still relatively easy targets to acquire. What I mean is that I'm not creeping along an inch or two at a time and finding a questionable signal and working it to see if I can turn it into something good.

These signals are right there and reachable with most of the width of the coil. But the audio is more descriptive. I didn't see this in the update description.  Am I imagining things? It was obvious, I noticed it immediately. 

Summary; Between the audio and the improved depth gauge, I find it easy to know what I am getting into with each prospective target. 

Back to the update.  I don't have a pair of EQ800's or I would do a little testing at my park, one with the update, the other without, and compare the two for differences first hand. 

Interested to hear other's take on the EQ and the new software. Impressions, real and imaginary.

Rich (Utah)

Very good report, thank you!  Two EQ800's, one with and one without the upgrade would be the ultimate test, I agree.  

Should start giving it a workout pretty soon at some sires I've been wanting to test it and the MMK at, it'll be interesting to see how it does.  I hope it's a button killer, I already know it's a coin killer. 

Cal

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Cal_Cobra said:

Very good report, thank you!  Two EQ800's, one with and one without the upgrade would be the ultimate test, I agree.  

Should start giving it a workout pretty soon at some sires I've been wanting to test it and the MMK at, it'll be interesting to see how it does.  I hope it's a button killer, I already know it's a coin killer. 

Cal

Hopefully, two guys with the Nox will get together, roll back the firmware on one of the machines, and do that comparison.  I haven't really noticed a difference, so far, but if the update did increase the Nox's liking for rusty nails, I would probably want to revert.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...