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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!

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.

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

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.

These were the test results on the scan

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.

...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...

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.

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

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.

I stopped reading there.

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.

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.

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 ...

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.

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.

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.

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.

I am an avid metal detector user and I like always being at it. Just because there is no gold prospecting for me in a given time frame is no reason to not go metal detecting for gold. There are a lot more ways to find gold than prospecting, and so jewelry detecting is very high on my list. If you like finding a gold nugget, I do not see how you could not also be excited about digging up a gold ring. Jewelry detecting and nugget detecting share many common traits, not least being the hunt for gold. Both also require a high tolerance for digging trash items, and both are best done with detectors made for the purpose. It just so happens that the detectors best used for nugget detecting are often the best to use for jewelry detecting. In other words, a lot of you guys are already outfitted for this! There are two general ways to hunt for jewelry - on dry land, or in and around water. Let's leave the dry land for another article and focus on the water detecting for now, since I am gearing up for a water hunt myself right now. Almost any detector, with the remarkable exception of the most expensive one you can buy, comes with waterproof coils and can be submerged to the control box. Minelab PI stock coils are not warranted waterproof but only water resistant so it takes aftermarket coils to get them up to speed. But they are a poor choice for wading as there is probably no machine I would like dropping in the water less than a Minelab GPX 5000 with high amp battery attached. Detectors that can be hip or chest mounted offer even more flexibility for wading applications. Few nugget detectors are fully submersible, but there are some, most notably the Garrett AT Gold, Infinium and ATX, all waterproof models. Jan 2019 note: see also Makro Gold Kruzer and Equinox 800. Water detecting can be broken down into fresh water and salt water detecting. Fresh water detecting is pretty straight forward since fresh water is invisible to your detector. The tuning and operation of the detector is similar to what you do on dry land. All you have to worry about is keeping the electronics dry, and recovering targets underwater. Fresh water swimming holes are great for jewelry detecting, and there are many fresh water stream and river opportunities for gold prospectors. Any good gold prospecting detector also works well for freshwater beach hunting. The Garrett AT Gold has an obvious edge for being waterproof. The Tesoro Lobo gets special mention for being convertible to hip or chest mount. In fresh water VLF detectors usually have an edge due to large amounts of trash often being present but PI detectors do have their place in fresh water detecting. The only way to know is to just give it a go and see how much trash there is. The nice thing about beaches though is the digging is easy compared to what nugget hunters often face. Salt water adds a whole new dimension. Salt water is conductive, and therefore a hot metal detector can actually get a signal from salt water or wet salt sand. Many prospectors already know the issues surrounding salt and alkali flats. Detectors that are used in salt water need some way to tune out the salt signal. The problem is even worse on beaches that have mineral content, classic black sand beaches. A white beach composed of broken down coral and shells is no problem at all, but add volcanic material and the issues compound. Most prospectors would not be surprised to hear that pulse induction (PI) detectors have an edge in dealing with salt water scenarios. There is an unsolvable conundrum however. The signal for salt water and small gold items, like post earrings or thin gold chains, actually overlaps. When you tune out the salt water, you tune out these items also. There is no solution to this problem with existing metal detectors because of the way they work. It is possible to find these items at the beach using a hot detector, like a White’s Goldmaster or Fisher Gold Bug 2, but you must be on bone dry sand. Any attempt to get near wet salt sand with these units will result in the sand acting like one giant target. Most mid-frequency gold machines handle salt water beaches to varying degrees. They will generally have no problem until you get on sand currently seeing wave action or actually in the water. The higher the frequency, the less able to handle wet salt sand. The Fisher Gold Bug Pro at 19 kHz and Garrett AT Gold at 18 kHz are not happy on wet salt sand. They can be made to function but only by losing a lot of depth. The Tesoro Lobo has an alkali setting and White’s MX Sport a salt setting specifically designed to handle wet salt sand. In general though these detectors will all work better higher on the beach and have an edge on small rings, earrings, and chains that other beach hunting machines tend to miss. The Minelab Eureka Gold and X-Terra 705 have low frequency options that make them well suited for beach hunting. The Eureka can be hip or chest mounted, but be aware the stock coil is another that Minelab does not warranty as waterproof. The PI detectors fare better, the Garrett Infinium and new ATX having an edge again for being waterproof designs. The White’s TDI and Minelab series do well but must be kept dry. The TDI models except the TDI SL have an advantage in being convertible to hip or chest mount. Be aware that turning off or not using a ground balance system can often add extra depth with a PI on white sand beaches. The TDI and GPX 5000 can turn off the ground balance setting, and the factory default on the ATX before ground balancing offer possibilities on low mineral beaches. For 2019 see the new White's TDI BeachHunter. For serious salt water beach detecting hunters turn to detectors not normally used for prospecting. Ironically, this is because the general lack of sensitivity that makes prospectors eschew these models makes them ideal for salt water. Multi-frequency VLF detectors are not very good prospecting machines but they excel in salt water. Two detectors that vie neck and neck in the salt water VLF market are the Fisher CZ-21 and Minelab Excalibur. On the PI side the Garrett Sea Hunter, Tesoro Sand Shark and White’s Surf PI are the three popular models. Minelab Excalibur II waterproof metal detector There are lots of options but if you ever want a specialized waterproof detector for both fresh and salt water and want to make a safe choice, get a Minelab Excalibur. It is probably the most popular water detector made and for good reason. It gets the job done with minimum fuss and will work well anywhere. I am a PI guy myself however. I have used the Garrett Infinium extensively trying to deal with salt water and volcanic sand and hot rock conditions in Hawaii. I have had success with the model but it is difficult to deal with, suffering from an inability to ground balance into the salt range and susceptibility to EMI interference. Huge numbers of posts exist on how to try and get an Infinium to behave in salt water. The new ATX has taken steps to address these issues but the jury is out there yet. I will be giving the ATX a good go in Hawaii soon. My latest water detector is a White's Surf PI Dual Field to back up the ATX. I have had good luck in the past with the White's Surf PI models and recommend them for people interested in a waterproof beach PI. Again, a simple unit that gets the job done, and at a bargain price. Where to hunt can fill a book, but really boils down to two things. The first is that the best finds will be made where people who wear quality jewelry congregate and engage in some kind of physical activity. On fresh water beaches where items get dropped is generally where they stay. The second item comes into play more often on salt water beaches. The waves and seasons concentrate items on layers, much like placer deposits. They sometimes bury the items too deep to find, and at other times expose them for easy recovery. Beach watching can teach you a lot. There is the towel line, where people set up shop for the day. Lots of items get lost here. Then there are the places where people tend to play beach sports, like Frisbee or volleyball. Best of all, are areas in the water where people congregate, with areas where people can actually stand on the bottom being best. Items dropped in sand obviously sink over time, but hard sand will resist this longest and keep the targets close to the surface longer. Extremely soft sand swallows items quickly and is not a good place to hunt. Areas where the sand tapers into a hard rock or coral bottom can be very good when the overlying sand is shallow enough to reach that hard layer with a detector. Beach detecting is very popular, but beach hunters have on tremendous advantage over prospectors. The finds are being constantly replenished. There is no beach, no matter how heavily hunted, that does not have the potential for finds. The more activity there is the more items are lost in a given period of time. The finds made by beach hunters can rival the best made by prospectors, as not many gold nuggets come with diamonds attached. I know for many prospectors it is about getting out into the middle of nowhere and away from the crowds. Beach hunting is not for everyone. But you can hunt early in the morning or even on rainy days, when people are few and far between. As more and more areas accessible to prospectors get hunted out, it is possible other places are near to you where gold may be easier to find. If you have a detector already you certainly have nothing to lose by giving it a go. Hopefully this post has at least made you consider the possibility. As always, volumes more information can be found just by Googling “beach detecting forum”. Here is an example of a hunt at White's Surf PI Pro and Platinum Rings in Hawaii I got four platinum and three gold rings over a couple week period. One of the gold rings is white gold so it looks like only two gold. All fairly plain men's bands reflecting the rough surf area I was hunting. There is a picture of everything I dug at the link including the junk. All the platinum I have ever found was rings, and when platinum peaked at over $2000 an ounce I cashed in over two ounces of platinum. Another very successful hunt was Detecting Gold in Hawaii with the Garrett Infinium Please note that unlike my prospecting outings I do not spend every hour of every day in Hawaii detecting. These finds are being made hunting on an average of two or three hours a day. I am not one to just sit around so detecting keeps me busy. And a good vacation can be paid for in finds or at least subsidized with some hard work and a little bit of luck. Waterproof VLF Detector Comparison Guide Some gold and platinum finds made by Steve in Hawaii

Hello all! One thing that I have not seen or heard since the Nox has been out is what people are finding for Spanish treasure and relics with the Equinox out on the FL Treasure Coast. Of course ever since the Nox has been out there has not really been any storms to get some good beach erosion going on. Out of curiosity, what settings and mode are folks using for the relic/treasure hunt on the treasure coast beaches, including the iron settings. Can't wait to hear the answers! I plan on being down there for a couple weeks in Feb and if the weather gives some good erosion I'm gonna be out there with the 15' coil swinging away! But even if the weather doesn't "cooperate" I'll still be looking for that modern bling in the Beach modes. I think I have to be the only person that goes on a FL vacation that hopes for a NorEaster

OK, let's talk XP ORX. This is an offshoot of the XP DEUS that is set up more specifically for gold prospectors, though it does still retain some basic coin, jewelry, and relic features. Everything nugget hunting has been moved front and center, with other features pushed to the background. The XP Orx features the two new high frequency (HF) coils as one of the two options at time of purchase - either the 9.5" x 5" HF coil or 9" round HF coil. The new X35 coils offer three lower frequency coil options compatible with the Orx. The older black low frequency (LF) coils are not compatible with the Orx. XP ORX metal detector for gold prospecting and more The Orx like the Deus is a selectable frequency detector. You can choose from one of several frequencies depending on the coil you are using. The frequency is dependent on the coil. The ORX high frequency coils give you a choice of three operating frequencies which cover most detection needs. The optional X35 coils have five frequency options. All primary frequencies have numerous offsets available to help alleviate electrical interference, but these shifts are so small as to make no performance difference. Ignore the statements about 21 frequencies and 35 frequencies as marketing games. The round 9’’ coil runs at 15 kHz, 30 kHz and 50 kHz. The elliptical coil has a higher top end frequency 15 kHz, 30 kHz and 80 kHz. The optional X35 coils run at a lower range of 4 kHz, 8 kHz, 12 kHz, 17 kHz and 25 kHz. XP ORX coil options and specifications For those familiar with the XP Deus there are some key differences. The rod / shaft assembly has been remade out of injection molded plastic, eliminating the aluminum and rubber grip. This both lowers the cost of the rod assembly as one of the more expensive parts of the Orx to manufacture plus reduces the weight even more. The Deus is the lightest high end detector made and this shaves even more grams. The Orx rod and coil only weighs 770 grams or 1.7 lbs if you put the controller in your pocket. Another big difference is in the wireless headphones. All controls have been removed except power and volume. This means that unlike the Deus you must have the controller with you if you want to make any tuning changes at all. Other wireless headphones options are not listed in the accessory list in the ORX User Guide (see image at bottom of this post) and so I can only conclude that the other XP wireless headphone options are not compatible with the Orx. I have used the Deus HF elliptical coil and there is no reason to think the performance of this coil is any different using the Orx controller instead of the Deus controller. The coil itself is the detector after all and the coils are the same whether used on a Deus or an Orx. The only difference is in how the functionality is accessed and what features are available. The Orx controller as has been noted earlier is set up for gold prospectors first and foremost. Click images for larger versions.... XP Orx controller and basic functions XP Orx basic screen functions displayed The Orx does not display target id information until a target is found. Then a pop-up screen appears, showing the target id number and a variable "iron probability" meter. XP ORX target id and iron probability meter The long story short is I have used the XP Deus with elliptical high frequency coil and I believe performance here will be identical. And as far as I am concerned the Deus HF coils are right up there with the best high frequency gold prospecting options out there. I am not a hair splitter, so from my perspective there are quite a few good detectors in this category. Rather than try and determine what finds gold better than the others I tend to focus more on big picture aspects to determine the machine I prefer over others. Things like weight or how waterproof a detector is can sort things out fast, and personal preference issues like feel on arm and how the audio sounds make a big difference to me. This is just my opinion but the appeal of the XP Orx is the very lightweight and very compact design. There is no other option as light on the arm except perhaps the for the Fisher Gold Bug 2 if you hip mount the control box. Then you are attached to the rod assembly by the coil cable. Not a huge deal, but the Orx being wireless gets rid of the possibility of that cable hanging up in brush. On the other hand the Orx is priced a little high compared to the other gold prospecting competition. This is not a problem per se as long as you get all the features you need or want. However, if it was I and I wanted to make this detector to compete as a gold prospector I would have made sure the Orx could lay claim to being at least as good at gold prospecting as the Deus and it would be best if the Orx actually could be said to be the better gold prospecting option compared to the Deus at least. Yet when you dig in it seems XP limited not just the coin hunting features but also some prospecting features. The big standout is no ground tracking on the Orx. Now I am not a huge fan of ground tracking but when you need it you tend to really need it, and for XP to leave tracking off the Orx when it is included on the Deus seems like a particularly poor choice since this is a detector intended for dealing with extreme ground conditions. Tracking comes at a cost normally, but it can be a huge aid in highly variable ground. I can live without it, but given the cost of the Orx as compared to the competition this feature should be included. The other items I am not sure of is ferrous handling. The ferrous tone break appears to be preset and not adjustable on the Orx though you can change the pitch of the ferrous tone. Instead of an adjustable tone break XP appears to be relying more on the iron probability meter for making decisions regarding whether to dig ferrous or not. I may be missing something but I don't think at this time that you get to choose where the dividing line is on what reports audibly as ferrous and what reports audibly as non-ferrous. Consider the jury out here on this question until more information is found. Most people don't care about it anyway, and it may that the Orx reliance on adjusting the IAR (Iron Amplitude Rejection) serves well enough that adjusting the breakpoint is not required. I am not really making any determinations here but I am just trying to lay out some details in hope it will help people make their own decisions. I have plenty of detectors that will detect small gold as well as the Deus or Orx so for me personally the thing that keeps me coming back to the XP machines is the crazy compact and lightweight design. Yet in looking over the features and price I personally lean more towards the Deus instead of the Orx. It seems to me XP is being stingy with features given the price and for just a little more money a Deus can eliminate questions about whether those features would be missed or not. If I had to buy right now I would be more inclined to get a Deus with 9" X35 coil. The top end frequency there of 27 kHz should do just fine on small gold and I would get features missing in the Orx. If I really needed extra high frequency hots I could add a high frequency coil as an option later. More to the point, XP is saying this is a lower price option to the Deus. Technically that is true of most Deus models, but as of V5 XP has added enough capability to the WS4 module that the $799 Deus Starter Package actually offers the Orx competition at an even lower price. In that regard XP sort of shot themselves in the foot by upgrading the WS4. Anyway, that's just a few thoughts from me on the Orx versus the Deus. I won't even attempt to get into the Orx versus all the competition other than to offer this chart below giving a big picture comparison. Given that the Orx is aimed at gold prospectors, and given how there is almost no mention of the detector on the prospecting forums I am very curious to hear people's thoughts on this model. Is XP doing the right thing here for prospectors? Or is it a swing and miss? Opinions? XP ORX Information Page XP ORX User Guide Over 30 khz (LF) gold prospecting metal detectors 1/2019

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.

Having several different single frequencies is one of the reasons it obsoletes the others. You have your Multi Frequency of course which in of itself will knock most VLFs out of the water, but if you do want or need a single frequency, it’s there at a punch of the button. The Equinox obsoleted all but one of my Detectors, the Minelab Gold Monster which is just too fun and unique to get rid of. From day one I think everyone took this obsolete claim way too literally.. Most adults are aware of the hyperbole surrounding us on any given day. I’m not sure why it offended so many people. Bryan

That's also how it works in politics

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.

Yes Chase, the function I miss the most on the 800 is a lack of vco pitch in other modes besides gold.

Nice! Although that Carson City dime has one of the highest mintages of any -CC in any denomination, it's still a great find, particularly in the Eastern US. The condition of your two dimes are pretty high except for the dings, which unfortunately degrade them severely (as I'm sure you know). Still, that -CC is a trophy in my book.

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.

I think they are scared to venture from the path they carved with the Deus. The Orx should of had a wired coil and been less money. I would pay $600 Canadian for one. ($450 US dollars)

To me he’s talking a form of disc or pattern hunting. It may work well for those with time limits much like a beach guy Recent drop hunting trying to cover as much beach as possible.....but it’s not something I’d do a lot.

Better shot of the Nugget

I'd rather go crazy than miss targets which makes me crazy. No iron bias for me.

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.

That's a once in a life time find.

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]"

At one time 7up contained lithium citrate, the name was attributed to the extra lift given when you drank the soda and the atomic mass of lithium (7). I enjoy a good bottle dig now and again. It's been a few years so I'll have to make a point of it this spring to find a dump.

If you are using this out of the water 23 could be ok if you have a sifting pouch. With the Equinox line, if you want to discriminate against small objects you will need to dial back your sensitivity. I do not do much saltwater hunting, but when I do go in the water I dial it back to 16-18 depending on target density. On dry land in an old park I am almost always at 16 to avoid things the size of 22 lead have me chasing a target with my pinpointer 6-8" deep for 15 minutes. GL and HH!

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.

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.

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......

http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,157902 88junior on the Dankowski site identified these as matrices for a linotype machine. They are essentially molds, each representing a single letter that are assembled by the machine into lines of the desired words. Molten lead is then used to form the type from the matrices (called a "slug"). The type setter can then assemble whole lines of type at a time instead of each individual letter one at a time. The funny thing is that my grandfather operated a linotype machine for a living from the 1930s until he retired in the 1970s. He even made me a slug with my name on it when I was a kid. I did find letters in the recessed areas. Thank you to those who took a look or responded.

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

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

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 ..

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

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!

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.

OnX Hunt is the phone app that has overlays for state, forest service, blm, private properties and gives land ownership information. The company is based in Missoula MT and I spoke with them last week. They said it lists patented claims but not registered claims. I told her it would be a huge market boost for her company it they included registered claims. She typed in some info on her computer and they can access the info of LR2000 and upload claim info for each state. She will have a meeting with the other owners of this company and she feels it will be beneficial to add it to the app and it is not a difficult problem for them to include it. I will keep everyone posted.

Since leaving Alaska I have to admit my solution to getting cold is to quit and wait for it to get warmer!