Steve Herschbach

The proper splice and some of that waterproof sealing shrink tube and you will be in business. Put the shrink tube on before you splice!

If you need one I have a cut off extra I can mail you. Would just need your mailing address via PM. Let me know.

It would be easy to make the belt longer. Just need the right size belt clip set and more webbing. Any decent backpack supplier would have them.

Have to wait for JW or whoever measures first. I sold both my 7 lb detectors and I actually am boycotting heavy detectors from here on out, even if that means I use something less powerful. So my harnesses are gone or I’d already have given you a number to work with. But I am sure JW or somebody will put a ruler to work soon.

I agree but unfortunately I have high frequency hearing loss. It’s all about what we can hear and everyone has different ears and different audio processing circuits in their brain. You can have great hearing but still be tone deaf. I had a hearing test recently and my ability to hear sound is identical in both ears, but my ability to comprehend words is lower in my right ear. So my audio processing in my left brain (our brains are cross-wired) is deficient. Interesting stuff.

Interesting that the coil above is a DOD coil same as the Minelab coils. That implies more stability in bad ground than non-DOD solutions. The big question mark that needs answering is the dongle situation - please Minelab, provide Nuggetfinder with the needed parts!

Now that’s some serious corrosion!

Welcome to the forum, thanks for joining!

Very late to comment here but here is my two cents. I always use 50 tones but leave it at the default pitch setting. I do lower the ferrous tone volume from 12 to 4 however, which makes ferrous a very low level puttering sound to my ear. I like hearing the ferrous as it alerts me to potential target fields but I don't like getting beat up by it.

Well, I hope I did not nudge you the wrong way! There are no perfect detectors, though these days a person can get close. Things like feel on the arm and audio are very subjective and mean more than most people give those things credit for. Anyway, given your decision do look at this thread and especially the video posted there. The video especially is superb for what you are desiring. Minelab Equinox Tones & Advanced Tone Options and some commentary here about the 50 tones setting may be helpful although in your case 5 tones is probably a better choice as you get more customization.

It would be smart that with this being what the future multifrequency model will be housed in to be designing the circuit board and coils, etc. with an eye towards that future purpose. In other words when designing Simplex I would be designing for SMF with the single frequency model just a step and a test bed along the way. The board may very well be multifrequency capable.

I never bothered with the strut stuff as I was ok without. Anyway, I know a really large guy that used one and his only issue was the waist belt was not long enough, most of the rest has plenty of adjustment but if it won’t fit around your gut not much you can do, so he just left it unhooked at the waist and it actually worked fine. I think you’d have no problem, but at most might have to just put an extension on the waist belt. Easily done with the common plastic buckles and some extra nylon belt.

Thanks Rick, I am glad you could confirm that rumor as not true. 👍 With FT apparently under a pretty firm gag order I am sure it is hard to find out anything at all so just knowing the project is alive is good enough for me. Ergonomics and price aside Minelab really has done a good job putting power in prospectors hands, so it really is only the beach detecting arena where I see lots of room for something innovative that can make a genuine difference in results. I have always been puzzled why Minelab did not take a GPX and stuff it in a beach housing but I guess they have been satisfied with the dominance the Excalibur achieved in the market. That has left this opening for FT to exploit. It's about time... it has been over two years now since I had a new detector on the horizon I could actually get excited about! 😎 I suspect the coil is proving hard to make in volume and there may be a high reject rate. It would make sense if I were FT to make 100 or more machines to calculate out the true manufacturing cost once production line kinks are worked out before setting firm retail and wholesale prices.

Were it not for Denis (LE.JAG) saying it's in production I'd think we were just getting our chains jerked again. I find this tidbit to be particularly disconcerting.... "Also someone sent me a message saying Andy Sabisch visited the plant and they weren’t going to produce it because of complications and was going with the dirt machine." That would be a real bummer as it is the beach machine I am most interested in. I have a hard time believing the nugget machine could do more than match detectors I have already used in the past, so the beach machine with its promise of PI performance coupled with a ring focused discrimination system seemed to me to be a real possibility for a genuine breakthrough more so than the prospecting model. It's wintery here now but my clock is ticking towards spring. I hope this unit appears in the next couple months or I will have to start considering other options for my summer. Right now I was kind of gearing up for a summer highly focused on beach detecting but lacking this model I will probably focus more back on nugget detecting after a year long break.

Well, it’s been over a year now since I sold my GPZ 7000. My Garrett ATX went away also just prior to that. It has been odd being without the top gold machine on the market for over a year, which has not happened to me since I got my Minelab SD 2200D back in 2000. I’ve switched up to each new Minelab that came along since then. No beach PI is also something that has not happened to me in a long time. I’m surprised I did not experience some kind of withdrawal symptoms, but it’s been a fun year with my Equinox so I can’t say I really missed it. In both cases I have basically just been waiting for something new to come along as I don’t see myself ever going back to either the ATX or GPZ now. The ATX there just has to be something better, and the GPZ is getting too long in the tooth now for me to want to dump that kind of money back into getting a new one. I’ll wait for whatever comes next from Minelab since I have my eye on something else right now anyway. The QED stays on my radar but I have to say my real interest right now is in the new Fisher Impulse AQ and Fisher Impulse AU models that are rumored to be out soon. The AQ is intended for saltwater beach use, while the AU model is going to be a dry land gold prospecting model. I’m 99% sure at this point I will get one of these detectors in 2020. I don’t see myself getting both however, so I am curious which may be more versatile. The beach model lacks a ground balance control so it will not make a very good prospecting detector. The prospecting detector however may do quite well on beaches, but I am not sure it will have the advanced PI discrimination capability tuned for gold ring targets that the AQ is touting as its main selling feature. I need more details but right now I’m leaning towards the beach model. I can’t imagine the prospecting model doing more than perhaps matching the SDC 2300 so no big breakthrough there over what I have used before. The beach model however my crack open a new level of performance that could make some beaches come alive again, the rare advance in technology that happens only once a decade and the type I tend to try and take advantage of. I also have to admit pounding ever depleting nugget patches is losing its luster for me also. I love beach detecting and if the Impulse AQ is everything I think it might be then hitting the black sand beaches may be a far more productive way to get gold and gems than hitting the nugget patches. I have not done any serious beach detecting in several years now, and 2020 just may turn into The Year of the Beach for me. If nothing else it would give me another excuse to go back to Hawaii!

Good times George! I love detecting in Hawaii and used to make it over there a lot, but have not been back in a couple years now and no plans on the horizon. Maybe if that new Fisher PI ever gets released.....

Lovely looking beaches... welcome to the forum!

I hate to comment much anymore about this versus that as my answer is always the same these days. I have probably hunted more bad ground than most people with VLF detectors and there is no ground in which the Equinox is not going to be my choice. That includes anything I have found in the western U.S., with the nastiest being the magnetite laden serpentine bedrock areas of the northern Sierras. I have not bothered with the ORX because XP coils are the detector, and I have already run the XP elliptical HF coil on the DEUS. Switching the controller will not change anything significantly so while I find the ORX tempting just to play with from a practical perspective it would not see much use. Personally I prefer the 48 kHz Goldmaster 24K for the type of detecting that might call for XP HF coil, but that has more to do with coil and battery options more than anything, as I really like the XP Goldfield mode. The bottom line though is between Multi-IQ and the single frequency options plus the Modes and settings I can make the Equinox sing and dance in any ground as well as I can expect from any VLF. I keep a Goldmaster 24K still just to have access to a set of closed coils plus a concentric coil option but I generally still want to grab the Equinox first. If it can’t handle it, I’m pulling out a PI/GPZ type detector. Whatever an Equinox can’t handle some other VLF is not going to make enough difference to matter in my opinion. Due to that I don’t comment much as it just seems like I am biased towards one detector and at this point that is probably true. I am to where switching horses on VLF detectors just wastes my time. There is benefit to settling on one unit and learning it so well it talks to you and I’ve made that choice. The only world where I perk up much now is at news of something new in the PI/GPZ world. I can’t see myself ever getting another machine that does not offer true multifrequency operation. I suspect therefore the only detector that will end up replacing my Equinox will be made by Minelab but I am interested in seeing what Nokta/Makro has to offer for multifrequency. Is anyone else even in the game?

Since your main issue is with audio I don't know if anyone can really answer this for you. Everyone has strongly individualistic opinions on audio, to the point of two people strongly feeling just the opposite about two detectors. The 800 has no more depth than the 600 so you should already know what the performance is like. You can customize the audio more on the 800, but will that be enough to satisfy you? Honestly, I sure don't know. The DEUS is perhaps more what you are looking for, since you seem to like the ORX, but the DEUS does offer more audio customization features.

When you watch this video and see the people and equipment at work and then watch the Garrett or White’s factory tours you get a real sense of why some U.S. manufacturers are falling behind in the technology. Tour Of Garrett Metal Detector Factory White's Electronics Video - Factory Tour

Having been a dealer for 35 years I have a low opinion of most dealers these days. Many stock nothing and are merely middle men drop shippers. If you have a problem with your purchase, they tell you to contact the manufacturer. The majority know less than most of the members on this forum about detectors. I get messages constantly from people needing help with their new detector because their dealer is useless after they took the money and it fuels a lot of forum posts. When I sold detectors I NEVER sent my customers to the manufacturer for help. If a detector had a problem, I replaced it and I dealt with the manufacturer on the warranty issues. There are days I want to be a dealer again as it is so easy to compete against ones that think they owe the customer nothing after the sale is made. Folks, if they take your money they should earn it, and after sales service is part of that deal. Frankly, were I a manufacturer I would ditch them and just go factory direct. Why split the profit with drop shippers? There are some rare knowledgeable dealers who do back their sales up with service, but they are few and far between. Given how poor most dealers are big box stores are no worse, and may actually be better at issuing no question asked refunds. Having had my rant when I need stuff I deal with the few independent dealers I know who stand out for superb customer service. Many on active on this forum.

It’s only possible because people reward dealers for doing it. Keep your money in your pocket until your dealer has it in stock. Why give people interest free loans? In production does not mean available to purchase. They probably have manufacturing kinks to work out.

XP Metal Detectors - Technology and performance at the heart of your passion. Discover our brand new film! A Patrick Foch video.

Minelab decided to emulate Garrett and put together their own group of social media “stars” called the Detexperts. I thought it was a good idea since social media is where most of the action is these days. I am not talking just Facebook, but also YouTube, Instagram, etc. The thing is I figured when Vanquish hit the streets we would see all sorts of activity from the Detexperts, and there has been nothing. Zilch. I would have thought Minelab would send them all a Vanquish or something to roll out a social media blitz. Ironically it is people who jumped on the early buy at Dick’s Sporting Goods that are posting all the videos. I have to admit I am puzzled by Minelab’s marketing at times and can’t really figure out what the whole Detexpert thing was all about. It seems like something they just started and then promptly forgot about. Maybe they just wanted to hand out a few free t-shirts and that was it.

Here is a copy of the original Manta video Rick copied to vimeo.... And this also.... https://www.dropbox.com/s/yjfb1ah42fyhvmt/10-10-2 Manta Titles.mp4?dl=0