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  1. The measure of marketing is not by how truthful it is. It’s all about how long people talk about an ad. By that measure the “obsolete” statement was the most successful advertising campaign in metal detector history. Minelab is still getting mileage out of the ad even now. Every time there is a mention after all this time just proves the power of the campaign. Competitors even mentioned the ad in their ads, which is giving Minelab free advertising!
    7 points
  2. Here are my best finds from my last two trips with my new Equinox 800. The site is an old plantation that has been under continual cultivation since the 1830's. All detecting took place in plowed fields with over 180 years of accumulated nails, iron farm implements, and assorted trash. Running the 800 with no discrimination sounds like machine gun fire due to the massive amounts of nails and other iron (I wasn't searching this way though!). I was running the 800 mostly in Field 1 and occasionally in Field 2. Field 1 was a touch quieter. I found 6 Tax Tokens, a V nickel, a buff, and one Jefferson nickel; 5 pennies including one IH; one merc and one 1876 Carson City seated liberty dime. I was very excited about the CC dime since this is a Mississippi site and I have never found one before. Unfortunately both dimes have plow marks. This is not uncommon considering the amount of cultivation. Additional finds included a nice flat button, bridle boss, several brass rivets, heel plate, and other whatzits. The smaller rivet was fairly deep. Considering the amount of trash I was very impressed with the 800.
    5 points
  3. Tonight I went back to the same beach. When I got there someone was detecting 'my area' so I leap frogged the detectorist and then worked my way back. Sure enough they came my way and I went back to my area to see what was left. (I wasn't overly concerned because they walked very fast and had a hand scoop!) The setup was exactly the same except I put on the 11 inch coil. I found I could run it at the same sensitivity (21) but I also bumped it up to 23 near the end of the session. Swinging the 11 is a delight after many sessions with the 15. The beach was similar to last night even tho some big waves were coming in at 15-17 second intervals. The hunt was about the same length of time and when I got back to the area I found an earring (the brass looking one). I slowed down and began finding hooks and bobby pins like the previous night and in the same level of sand. I was able to see it with the 11 and some targets were 10 inches. The little rings (3) were not negative but low tone. The most interesting thing was to find the matching earring from the previous hunt. When I got up this morning and looked at the cleaned first piece I noticed it still had the holder. I thought the second or matching earring would be around some place and I found it. Both coils work on the beach but the 11 is a bit clearer. Mitchel
    5 points
  4. How can it obsolete other machines if it doesn't do what other machines can do? I actually agree with the statement, for all intents and purposes the Equinox has obsoleted other VLF machines. I have a couple other machines I keep for nostalgia and backup simply because I like them, but if I had to buy, or recommend one VLF that would do the best job over a range of unknown conditions it would have to be the Equinox.
    4 points
  5. These were the test results on the scan
    4 points
  6. This is not news per se since it happened last year. Still, it is a big deal because the menu additions in my opinion make lower price versions of the XP Deus without the high price controller much more palatable. The version 5 update includes some new features to the WS4 and WS5 wireless headphones: Reactivity TX Power Automatic Ground Tracking Frequency offset (35 frequencies with the new X35) Iron volume Audio Response XP DEUS V5 improvements to WS4 & WS5 headphone controls These new functions are in addition to those already available via the headphones: Discrimination Sensitivity 4 Frequencies Ground Balance Choice of 1 – 5 audio tones plus, VCO Pitch and Full Tone option. 10 Factory Programs plus empty slots for user custom programs. LCD target identification Volume control Coil change menu Battery level indicator This all means that the $799 XP Deus Starter Package now has a lot of capability that was previously lacking without the high price full controller. The Starter Package includes FX-02 Wired Backphone Headphones + WS4 Display + 9" or 11" X35 Coil with Telescopic Pole MSRP: $1100 Introductory Price: $799 Control the entire detector from just the WS4 Display module alone Adjust sensitivity, discrimination and ground balance Choose your Frequency: From 3.7kHz to 27.7kHz Adjust your volume and select multi-tones Choose your operating program WS4 Display may be used as a Wireless headphone with included headband XP DEUS Starter Package XP DEUS Ws4 "on ear" headphones and WS5 "over ear" headphones. Both have the same menu functions. WS4 LCD display and controls - new functions are secondary controls listed below XP DEUS V5 menu options for WS4 and WS5 headphones So what is the catch? Numerous small options are missing and only available from the main controller, but the big one is the inability to make software updates without the main controller. Anyone buying a Starter Package wants to make sure the unit is pre-loaded with the latest stable version of the software, currently Version 5.2 Other features inaccessible from the headphone controller include the pinpoint button, silencer function, adjustable multitones, notch/multinotch, ground notch, and the four non-motion modes. With the new XP ORX being offered as a "lower price alternative to the Deus" I decided it was time to find out just what the capability is of the low price Deus options and how they end up comparing to the XP ORX. The fact is the base version of the Deus is actually $100 less than the XP Orx so this would seem to be an interesting line of inquiry.
    3 points
  7. ...Multifrequency is a more versatile technology-the operator has the ability to work very well in a wide variety of terrain conditions than a 1-frequency detector.. .... Determine .. Another detector development will be directed to Bi-Multifrequency Detectors ... 2 or more -different weighted multifrekquency programs will work...at one time...
    3 points
  8. I would have liked the VCO pitch audio as an option for the modes other than gold mode with iron volume for discriminated targets underneath (this is how Deus works and it is an effective way to unmask non ferrous in the presence of ferrous) as a well as "normal" tone ID as an option for gold mode.
    3 points
  9. Question, having not used an XRF before and only seen them used by other people - is this particular gun not set up to see non-metallic elements? One would expect some oxygen or sulfur in there, or some silicon maybe. Was your little target dot right on the silvery stuff and nothing else or did it overlap into the black stuff? You and Dave may already have something like this, but here is a calculator to ID a mineral based on atomic percentages such as you get with an XRF. Adjusting the tolerance up to 10% or even 25% or so can be helpful since the XRF isn't always shooting one specific mineral. http://www.webmineral.com/chemical.shtml#.XDbzr1VKiUk
    3 points
  10. Hi Chase, I was not talking Equinox really just Orx versus other prospecting detectors. A roughly 4" x 6" coil is standard for small nugget machines. I agree about more coils for Equinox, but again, back to Orx. I see nothing Orx does better for gold prospecting versus Deus, which is why I started the prospecting thread asking what other prospectors think. Just one glaring example - no ground tracking on Orx? Not a big deal per se but I would have not left a feature like that off a gold prospecting machine. And no ground notch? It appears to me that XP is not will to let Orx be absolutely superior to Deus even when it comes to gold prospecting. A Deus with a HF coil appears to be a better gold prospecting machine than an Orx, and that is sure not how I would have done it. Just the opposite. I would have made sure Orx matched Deus in every way for gold prospecting, then made it even more compelling. This should not even be a question, and the fact it is does not help. I visit most all the major gold prospecting forums regularly, and the simple fact is nobody but me is discussing the Equinox in the gold prospecting world. Almost zero mention, and the lack of positive responses on my prospecting thread is telling. I actually like the machine and am not trying to beat up on it. Mostly I am just sort of puzzled by the whole thing. The big thing is XP adding so much capability to the Deus starter bundle that it is a solid question whether an XP Deus Starter Bundle at $799 is a better value than an Orx at $899. If XP had not added the extra menu functions to the headphones it would be an easy question.
    2 points
  11. From a beach standpoint...... it may not obsolete all of them.... but it sure will put a hurting on them...... oddly i think its going to hurt most water machines that are 2 to 3 times its price..... meaning the Xcal and CTX. Single freq is VERY good in the dry sand...... unlike other single freqs...... the modes/algorithms may well set it apart when using them.... for both depth and sensitivity. Its weak point might be the that large coil..... not quit the depth people were looking for..... so some machines with more coil options may well be its equal on the dry sand.
    2 points
  12. I agree that the ORX misses the mark. It is not priced sufficiently competitively to really even compete with the Deus lite package and used Deus full packages can be found online for about the same price as a new ORX with performance that totally eclipses and exceeds anything ORX can offer. However, I wanted to comment on the coil comments above. The XP HF 9.5" x 5"elliptical really holds its own and typically exceeds the performance of the 6" Equinox coil in restricted swing situations and mineralized ground when hunting relics. I know because I have tested them head to under the same brutal iron and mineralized soil conditions. I call the XP HF elliptical the "laser pointer" because the combination of 28 khz operation and lightning fast Deus/ORX recovery really make the coil a killer in trash pits, around logs, and in hot soil. The Equinox 6" coil has no real advantage over the 9.5" HF elliptical and honestly I wish ML would have come out with an elliptical similar in dimension to the XP offering that would provide the restricted swing advantage and separation ability of the narrow elliptical shape with the ground coverage afforded by the 9.5" long dimension. A missed opportunity by ML in my opinion. BTW, to answer your question, the gold modes on ORX are identical to the Gold Field mode (VCO pitch audio, iron rejection (not disc) all metal mode) on the XP Deus. In my opinion, XP could really move some product by simply offering the ORX package with a buyers choice of any two DEUS coils. That would be killer and I think XP would make some serious coin on volume sales. As it is now, ORX is stuck in some twilight zone world where you can still get Deus cheaper (lite package) with more capability or even a used full up Deus package or new Equinox 800 (also with more capability) for the same price. Really a swing and miss by XP, unfortunately.
    2 points
  13. Iron bias - Minelab Equinox ,,is a bottlecap reject -at Whites detectors, ...such as Silencer -XP Deus, ORx, Gold max power, detectors ... and settings - Mask at Rutus Detectors ...Personally, I've been influenced by the Iron bias settings ...on the detector work... first seen by my detector Rutus Argo , and Whites SpectraV3 .. If you want the maximum separation and the response in the iron, and for the work in the mineralized earth,and depth ...and the partial iron-non-ferrous signals to use Zero or Low iron bias settings-0-1-or 2-max..Setting the Iron bias-the signal filter affects not only the audio signal but also the correct identification and discrimination - TID, so do not underestimate the setting... Even when working on small,sniper coils... For lesser iron infested conditions, or specific conditions, you can adjust the setting to the Iron Bias from 3- to7-8...its compromise..you get less false signals from the iron, and average separation..-You can make this setting yourself over some signals directly in the terrain. Iron Bias 9... it very much suppresses the separation ... but I recommend saving it to the a User program to compare Signal ...
    2 points
  14. Most of us moved on from flogging that ridiculous marketing catch line about a year ago. Thanks for the nostalgia. If you have a real question, we're all ears.
    2 points
  15. The engineers were smart enough to include single frequencies for those rare situations that may occur. They also may have considered the fact that there are detectorists that will want single frequency control as an option, for better or worse. I don't know if you posted your question in humor or not and I'm wondering if you have an Equinox? I am one of those seasoned detectorists that is happy to dive into the machines I use and appreciate the ability to control my own destiny with a new machine. I think Minelab got the electronics correct, but not so much on the cosmetics (stand, cuff, shaft locks) As far as marketing goes, it has been discussed here before and most detectorists decide for themselves how good a machine is, with no thought given to the marketing hype.
    2 points
  16. The site in that video is going to be a subdivision soon. All of it will be gone. I have been back twice since that video. In the video I found 41 civil war bullets. My next trip, we were mainly marking bullets to test the new MDT 8000 detector and did not hunt hard for bullets. I think I found 12 that day. The last trip resulted in 21 bullets. My buddy that hunts with me has got about the same...so all in all, 3 trips have produced around 100 or little over that, bullets. Still plenty more of em in there. I always used this spot as a testing area for new detectors. Gonna be sad to see it gone. Other relic hunters in the area have recently found it and have been hunting it some. The Nox does fairly well there for a VLF. It is not a pulse machine but does better in disc mode than any other VLF on the market that I've used.
    2 points
  17. Like Gerry I am a little late to the party as I boarded a tug about the time Strick posted his coin. Although I basically found NOTHING the entire weekend but 1 button and a couple common relics this was still one of the best hunts I have ever been on. Just being there as my partner was making these fabulous finds was one of the highlights of my detecting career. Even though Strick mopped the floor with me the entire weekend I still had so much fun, only once in a while feeling the sting of humiliation. LOL Just basking in the glow coming off my friend I needed shades. I like going to the heaviest iron a site has to offer and bearing down on it. So I had been going over a small area of heavy iron with my Deus with the HF elliptical most of the day for nothing. When he first called me over I could not believe how beautiful that dime was. Then when he called again I could tell by the look on his face he had a big find. That gold coin looked so awesome laying there. I must ruefully admit my friend taught me a lesson that day I won't soon forget. He taught me that maybe if the iron isn't producing you may be better off casting around. Don't focus so intensely on the nail beds, something better may be right over yonder. Like Strick I had not been hunting much lately but his finds have renewed my desire to find my own bucket list items. I feel new vigor and excitement for relic hunting and can't wait to get back out there again.
    2 points
  18. Daniel Teague Published on Dec 27, 2018 - Took the 4800 to the bad dirt bullet site with the new to me DeTech Spiral 15" coil. Also had the Nox 600 with me with the 12x15 coil too, just to play around with it.
    1 point
  19. 1 point
  20. I haven't felt like my F-Pulse has functioned correctly since I received it late last year... but I attributed it to operator error, and not giving it the learning curve time it deserves (I have been too quick to revert back to my old standby). But after reading through this thread, I want to see if it is me or the device, and may end up contacting Fisher customer service. I really want to like it! I think the PI tech is awesome for my use, if I can connect with it. I have a detector pro pistol that I pull out every now and then, another PI pointer... good stuff. But my carrot performs for me day in and day out, so when I'm heading out in a short hunt window, I usually grab that one. ~Tim.
    1 point
  21. Yes Chase, the function I miss the most on the 800 is a lack of vco pitch in other modes besides gold.
    1 point
  22. I hope not I've only been detecting since 2014 but I know how lucky I have been these few years with some of my finds. Being the OCD type the "Beep and Dig" is working well....... helping me to unwind after a days work dealing with other mens hysterical wives and their sometimes spoiled horses. I like your videos and have watched them all. Merton is down playing it a bit. He actually dug more then I did it seemed but I just got lucky and found the patch. I will note that my detecting buddy is looking into getting a new detector...one who's name starts with a M and ends with a B. Hunting with friends is more fun then hunting alone no matter what were looking for. Good luck out there fellas! strick
    1 point
  23. The only time I switch to a single frequency is when there's enough interference in the area with power lines or a strong electric fence in the area and a noise cancel doesn't do do it's thing enough. When that happens, I switch to my old friend, 15KHz and after a fresh noise cancel, I'm usually good to go for that hunt. Good luck! -Bill
    1 point
  24. Not really. My buddy has an 800 and brought his12x15 coil to test. He had saw a video somewhere that said the recovery speed setting made a huge difference in depth with that coil. On bullets I/We found at this same site, I saw no real difference between how his 800 hit them and my 600 hit them. There were none of them that he could detect that I couldn't. He went thru his recovery speed settings to try and find the best one for him. I think he was on 4 on his 800 when he settled on it and my 600 was on 2.
    1 point
  25. That is an excellent point. Usually a hot VLF is for people after tiny gold, and not only are small coils a little hotter, but they fit into tight areas and actually get closer to the gold. Using my list above here are the smallest coils sizes for each model: Nokta/Makro Gold Racer = 4" x 7.5" DD White's Goldmaster 24K = 6" round concentric Fisher Gold Bug 2 = 3.5" x 6.5" concentric White's GMT = 4" x 6" DD Nokta/Makro Gold Kruzer = 4" x 7.5" DD Minelab Gold Monster 1000 = 5" round DD Nokta AU Gold Finder = 4" x 7.5" DD XP ORX = 5.5" x 9.5" DD Optional coil pricing is also a factor. Any spare coil for the ORX will run around $400 while the other detectors feature "dumb coils" that sell for $150 - $250
    1 point
  26. Thanks for everyone replies. I bought an SDC 2300 and just started using it today. Went over the same areas thinking that it might shoot a little deeper and recover some more gold. No such luck today though I did find a few pieces of lead. It's a little different than the monster and a little different learning curve being a PI detector. I know enough time in the field and i will get the hang of it too.
    1 point
  27. Thanks GB_Amateur I have a specimen that is considered to have 8ozt of gold. When you shoot it with an RF gun the gold is somewhat less than pure. I've seen ranges from 85 to 95% so just as there is no pure quartz there is no pure gold in the field. Field testing and sampling requires an assay and then you find out what was in a rock/specimen after the fact. Then you could say you wish you had kept it in the original form. The large nuggets/specimens just found in Australia will have many ounces of 'impurities' in them that could affect their value but probably not much because they are unique and collector's items now. Mitchel
    1 point
  28. I'd rather go crazy than miss targets which makes me crazy. No iron bias for me.
    1 point
  29. The 15” x 12” Commander mono is a solid performer. I never took to the Goldstalkers personally. There seems to be more housing than needed in the Goldstalker models.
    1 point
  30. That's a once in a life time find.
    1 point
  31. All this knowledge comes bubbling up once’s you pop the top off. Chuck
    1 point
  32. Lithium is still used sometimes as a mood stabilizer. It's interesting how so many of our soft drinks once had medicinal content. Tonic water still does (quinine) if you worry about malaria ? From Wikipedia: "An early version of Coca-Cola available in pharmacies' soda fountains called Lithia Coke was a mixture of Coca-Cola syrup and lithia water. The soft drink 7Up was originally named "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" when it was formulated in 1929 because it contained lithium citrate. The beverage was a patent medicinemarketed as a cure for hangover. Lithium citrate was removed from 7Up in 1948.[3]"
    1 point
  33. If using a DD coil in Cancel, you can often tweak up the machine to get back some of the depth loss. Depending on ground conditions of course. For coin/button sized targets, I'd use Normal timing, and possibly even Sharp depending on the ground.
    1 point
  34. Hi BigSkyGuy, Just me preparing for that trip and thinking loud: As its relic hunting if any possibilities I take treasure hunting detector. Its great opportunity to go after many years to a site with potential so I would try to make most of it. I used Gpx5000 many years in Australia for gold detecting.I tried Bogene settings with and without power lines close.Didnt have much success.Did detect close to power lines and had lot of problems with EMI.even 30-50 meters far it was hard or near impossible to detect.One thing which I noticed helped was to put frequency very low.So try to do manually lower until you can detect or get to the level you can put up with it. Putting in cancel practically you dont have much depth and target has to be quite large.As Fred suggested DD coils are one of better options. I used 10x5 DD coil and it was great but smaller coil smaller area to cover and shallow. Hope you have fun. If you are treasure hunter buy or try equinox and you will be a very happy treaure hunter. Just my personal preference (I have 2 of them). Wish you luck. Stay safe and dig everything. GoldEN
    1 point
  35. Rusty, Glad you are having success with the Safari. With your bad shoulders, you should trade in the Safari for an Equinox 600. It can do more than the Safari, weighs less and is newer technology at a cheaper price too. See if you dealer is willing to work with you and if not, give me a jingle. I accept many detector trades towards the 7 different brands I sell.
    1 point
  36. Yesterday morning i went to one of my beaches and searched from mid day till 4pm sunset . I found the beach looking quite good and thought it would be good for Gold . I started on a small beach first and found a few older Pound coins and other coins that had obviously been there a long while. I then hopped over onto another beach by that one which is normally very good in the Summer wasn't good and i found almost nothing . Going onto the next beach i found this beach to be very different and saw very hard cuts into the higher end of the beach . I started to find many coins amongst the millions of nails and other Iron . Half way along i found a few coins and then got a target that i didn't check on the meter and dug it . I suddenly saw yellow and when i picked it up found it was a 22k Gold ring , it says on the ring 22kDM916 . I also found old early 1900's Pre Decimal coins . A short while later i found a Stainless Steel ring and a junk Shark thing and a 1 Euro , a US 2010 Five Cent and a coin with a hole in it . I then turned around and headed back and finished at 4pm . My finds for the day were £35.72p in coinage , a 1 Euro , a US 5 Cent , an unknown coin , several Pre Decimal coins , a junk Shark , the Stainless Steel ring and the 22k Gold ring . The stone in the pictures is a lot clearer , it might be the Bluetac thats making it dull. I would have gone today but i will on Wednesday morning , not sure it will be the same place .
    1 point
  37. Since I keep records of all my hunts I've gotten into the habit of summarizing the years' finds. First the raw numbers (with 2017 numbers in parentheses): Hours in the field: 263.5 (228). Number of hunts: 80 (65). Common coin (clad, Memorial) face value: $78.68 ($20.65). Different sites searched: 15 (11). [Note: 6 of this years' sites were permissions compared to just 2 last year.] Pulltabs (all types): 382 (524). "Old" US coins (see photo): 22 (8). Wheat cents: 90 (61). By "old US coins" I mean any silver coin, Buffalo nickels or earlier, Indian Head cents or earlier. About 2/3 of my old coin finds have already been reported on this website. The photo (below) shows six silver dimes and six silver nickels ("Warnicks") for a total of 12 silvers. Also shown is one V-nickel (next to the dimes), seven Buffies, and two Indian Heads (bottom row). Also shown on the bottom row are a 1917 Canadian large cent, my first ever (and only, to date) dollar (modern ?) and half dollar (clad ?). The nickels are the big surprise since I hadn't found a Warnick since 1972(!) and back in the spring when a thread was begun (paraphrased) "what are you hoping to find first with your Equinox" I responded "my first ever Buffalo nickel". As you can see I found seven, the first two without dates and then a run of five with dates. None of the coins shown has any value over metal content (silver) or face (the rest) since they are all common dates. My best Wheatie find of the year was a 1924-D which I reported on in detail earlier this year. Although I don't hunt jewelry as many do, I sometimes find some anyway. My second photo shows my better jewelry finds and my best relic of the year, a Civil War cartridge box plate size and front face are quite similar to belt buckels but the backside is different. (I wrote this up earlier in the year -- found on 4th of July!) Just found the pocket watch on my last hunt of the year (Sunday 30 Dec). It's in very bad shape as you can see. I think it's gold plated -- you can see one very shiny spot. Probably never was a valuable piece.... The only piece of jewerly which has more than a few dollars value is the amethyst crystal in the gold bezel. Interestingly that is the only jewelry find my wife has ever wanted -- I happily gave it to her after I photo'ed it. ? So why the change in production (both clad coins and old coins)? There are several small reasons but I think the big one is the use of an 11 inch coil (on the Equinox). Another thing I wrote up previously is that I was 'forced' to use a coil larger than my previous habit of 5 inch to 6 inch diameter and I was able to cover a lot more ground as a result.
    1 point
  38. I know most hunters might argue the point, but I've always wanted a true, motion all metal mode like gold 1 and gold 2 with one small addition, 2 tone option, one for iron and the other for non-ferrous. Even better would be an adjustable tone break. Years ago I hunted with the Fisher F75, in motion all metal mode and found a lot of super deep targets that the other discrimination modes could not pick up.
    1 point
  39. I have the Minelab Safari and it's a great machine. I don't get to use it as much as I like because I have arthritis really bad in my shoulders and it's hard for me to swing anything for more than a few minutes at a time, but the safari is a lot lighter than the Excalibur I had which I really loved. Anyway, when I go to the beach, my Safari loves Silver. I have dug dimes at 14 inches and even found a small Silver necklace at 12 inches. I was really surprised on that one. Of course I get my share of bottle caps, nails and screws but when I search, I don't discriminate and dig everything. Haven't found any gold yet but probably because I don't get to hunt much. Been wanting to go hunting somewhere besides the beach and plan on doing it soon. Well, was just wanting to comment that the Safari loves Silver and hits a really hard tone when you swing over it. Thanks and hope everyone has a blessed New Year.
    1 point
  40. 1992 eh???? That's when I started tecting and that park was one of my first good "hits".... They had done a tearout maybe 25' x 25' right behind the restrooms/concession and I was the first in.....seated, IH's, mercs, my first V and barbers....shield came later in the turf. I can only imagine how beat that park is now. Oh yeah.....I was done with the tearout area and another guy showed up, there was 1 Pepsi can in the middle.... He asked me "did you check under that can?".... I replied "no"....he kicked the can away, ran his coil over the area, and popped a barber quarter!!! Lesson learned.....lol Just another thought..... In my time over there I never did get around to hitting the courthouse? Might be a good one if you've also not tried it? Maybe on a Sun. afternoon about supper time? One other thought....maybe do some research and find out where in the park/fort grounds area where the officers quarters where? Might be worth some door knocking on some of those fancy homes to find another gold coin? GOD I HATE door knocking....lol good luck......
    1 point
  41. Thanks for the kind words, Bryan! You are REALLY making some GREAT finds over the past few days with the 15"... I can't wait until I receive mine! Steve
    1 point
  42. I took my new 15” coil out on Saturday and Sunday this weekend and I love that coil. I agree with others who are saying that it seems to hit harder on deep targets. I also found it very easy to pinpoint. Overall it’s almost identical to using the 11” coil but you cover a lot more ground and it goes a little deeper. It is very light for such a large coil but I did notice the extra weight due to the design of the Equinox. I love the light weight of the unit but, I’m considering adding a small counterweight at the top of the shaft to improve the balance. Results: I found one Civil War Bullet each day and som camp lead. Not that exciting but they were both new spots and there wasn’t much there. I did find a lot of deep memorial cents and modern bullets, shell casings, etc. If there had been any good relics there, this coil would have found them. Joe
    1 point
  43. Yes,.... the 15X12 "equinox coil is deeper than the 11" standard coil, it's like more + 2 sensibility, and it's most visible at high recovery speeds ... where the 11 "coil does not even increase the sensitivity ...Today I tested all 3 Equinox coils on the Equinox 800, plus other coils on the Whites Spectra V3 ..
    1 point
  44. Myself and my Equinox user friend David Hopper and his son Kevin went onto one of my Roman field permissions on Sunday 4th November with both David and myself using the new 15" coils, we were both very impressed with the performance of this coil and the results were very much like what Gordon Heritage had stated in this months Searcher magazine we were impressed with both the depth and signal quality from deep extremely small finds and we had Roman Minims around the 6" - 8" depth mark, I had 22 and David had 8 and these coins were as thin as paper and the size of your little finger nail. The highlight of the day was when Kevin and myself watched David digging a pit to recover his signal from his very rare Roman Vesparsian silver Denarius 69 - 79AD, I said to him are you digging for a grave we had tried both machines over the signal and David recovered his find at around a foot deep (His Pinpointer + 4"). One thing which we both noticed was that we had to turn down the "Sensitivity" 2 or 3 notches to quieten down the ground chatter even though we were carrying out manual "Ground Balancing" it could have been caused by the sheer volume of ground coverage and feedback with a large coil very similar to the CTX-3030 17" coil and the wet soil conditions wouldn't have helped. The weight is very light for a big coil that I didn’t give it much thought all day and that is from an almost 76 year old. It pinpoints with the greatest of ease. To my experience, the 15” Coil is a great addition to the Equinox coil armoury. It is a a great coil to turn to if you have large open fields especially pasture to hunt with moderate trash and just like we proved it is very capable to find the small items at a great depth, on my Roman fields there is next to nothing other than Roman coins and artifacts to be found but on my other permissions where I find the abundance of Medieval hammered silvers I can see this 15" coil hitting the small hammered silver farthings, half pennies, whole hammered silvers and cut quarters & cut halves. Myself and David were detecting close together and using Kevins coil photographs I believe there is a lesson to be learnt why I am hitting more signals and resulting finds than David and I have mentioned the cause to David in the past and for the uninitiated take a look at Davids coil it is dry and clean whereas mine is muddy and wet and following advice from Neil Jones ( Slow & Low ) always keep your coil flat on the ground like ironing the soil because detectors don't like air between the coil and the soil, David always swings his coil 2" - 3" inches above ground level, on the previous visit to this field with David we both worked the same area and again I had 22 Roman coins and David had 10, like Neil has said before if you are not going through 2 - 3 coil covers a year it shows you are not utilizing the coil sweep correctly to achieve maximum detection depth, which makes sense. That will have to do for my observations of the 15" coil. Good Hunting Randy
    1 point
  45. Equinox being what it is I don’t see why any serious detectorist would not want both the 6” coil and 15” coil. They extend the versatility of the most versatile detector made. The 15” swings like a dream - I used it every day in the U.K. from sun up to sun down. I did a half day in the water at Tahoe with it, not a definitive water test since there was no surf, but again an easy swing in the water. I am used to swinging a CTX with 17” coil however and so my view on this may be skewed. In the U.K. when mud built up on the coil it got heavier and the washers had a harder time holding the coil at a given angle, exhibiting when I would put the detector down and it would want to lay flat. No problem clean and dry. I do think for serious water use a properly designed aftermarket rod would be a good idea, but in general I thought that anyway. Serious water hunters tend to heve issues with most stock rod assemblies so there should be no surprise there. The depth thing my expectation is air tests as always will prove indeterminate as Multi-IQ needs ground to show its stuff. In general in extreme mineral ground the coil should hold its own or perhaps lose a small amount of depth compared to the 11” coil because the larger coil “sees” a much larger volume of soil. In extreme ground this means the machine has to work harder to see targets. In moderate to milder ground the coil will generally match the 11” coil for depth with any increase in depth seen more on larger targets than small. Larger in particular means round targets like coins and especially rings. Equinox loves round targets. I am pleased with how well this coil hits on small targets but it is inevitable an edge will be lost on the tiniest stuff. In my opinion the reason to get this coil is extra ground coverage, with a depth bonus obtainable in many situations. Depth may be adversely impacted in extreme mineral ground and the smallest targets in any ground. It should be obvious that a larger coil will suffer from more masking in dense trash. I have no problem pinpointing with the coil - I prefer to walk around and analyze the target. The targets will shift into place if you do a walk around. Going after the target too quickly with this coil will result in off center targets - take that extra few moments to get it right. For shallow targets or targets out of the hole, either tip of the coil works very well as a pinpointer. So well I stopped using a separate pinpointer on the last week of my U.K. hunt. For me the coil being so light is the big thing. I don’t see how anyone except those very sensitive to the extra weight would not want this coil for beach and field hunting - anywhere targets tend to be sparse and ground needs to be covered to find them. The coil was absolutely brilliant on my U.K. hunt. When I loaned it out at one point the 11” coil made me feel like I was having to do baby steps. This coil unlike most large VLF coils I have owned is going to get a lot of use. I predict that for many it will become the most used coil on their Equinox.
    1 point
  46. There are a lot of posts with good information but every once in a while one comes along that is so densely packed that it's worth bookmarking for repeated reading. Steve, you've created another one of those. Thanks!
    1 point
  47. Ok - got that straightened out an downloaded from the link you posted above instead of the link 66 Audio support sent me and the headphones updated to APTX-LL and confirmed with the "+" symbol on the Equinox so we are good to go. Great backphones for summer use and being water resistant don't mind wearing them at the beach and in foul weather. Not made for a full dunking by they will get the job done in waist deep water. Great sound, great ergonomics and if you shop around, they can be snagged for less than $100. I recommend these for warm weather detecting.
    1 point
  48. Since leaving Alaska I have to admit my solution to getting cold is to quit and wait for it to get warmer!
    1 point
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