Steve Herschbach

Minelab Vanquish 540, click for larger version.... Minelab Vanquish 440, click for larger version.... Minelab Vanquish 340, click for larger version....

Don't forget the 7" x 10" for Equinox. In fact all three Vanquish coils should be made available to Equinox owners!

What's New in Version 4901-0249-5-EN Manual updated for Firmware Version 2; changes to Equinox 600 back light settings (page 32) and Iron Bias setting for both Equinox models (page 52). https://www.detectorprospector.com/files/file/39-minelab-equinox-600-800-user-guide/

Published on Sep 30, 2019 by Relics & Rings - “I'm using the Minelab Equinox 800 relic hunting a few places and comparing signal with the new iron bias feature F2 on deep targets. My ground is moderately mineralized so deep targets can be masked by my ground. So does F2 improve the signal over FE? you be the judge.”

Gee, turns out this fake mock-up from the Russian site looks nothing like the actual Vanquish. Shocking. As I have been trying to point out, these guys make stuff up out of thin air. Something to remember on the next go round.

The Equinox battery is replaceable.

The line between ferrous and non-ferrous is blurred and every detector, simply by picking the point where they decide ferrous and non-ferrous splits, is applying a form of pre-set iron bias. In general, just for example, Fisher detectors are more biased against ferrous, and Nokta/Makro detectors less biased against ferrous. Newbies in particular hate digging ferrous so machines aimed at them have a high ferrous bias. The situation here is similar and the trade is always the same. If a detector is set to allow you to dig more ferrous you will uncover hidden non-ferrous targets. Or if you try to suppress all ferrous readings, some non-ferrous gets lost in the process. It’s true of all detectors that employ some form of ferrous identification. So the bottom line is yes, the Equinox has to have had some chosen amount of iron bias applied even at a so-called 0 setting, otherwise you are in a pure all metal mode. Put another way, the only way a detector can detect all possible targets is a pure all metal machine without ground balance. No filters at all. Simply adding ground balance causes targets to be lost. Adding any discrimination causes more targets to be lost. The filters are imperfect due to the near infinite overlap between ferrous, non-ferrous, and ground readings. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/506-adjustable-tone-break/?do=findComment&comment=3852

I think it is fairly simple. Going by what Tom has posted here Minelab simply extended the Iron Bias range in F2 to go both higher and lower. Tom is equating Iron Bias 0 with the F2 setting of 4 and Iron Bias of 9 with F2 setting of 6. This means four settings below Iron Bias 0 and three settings above Iron Bias 9. As Clive has noted it means a faster ramp up in the middle range but Tom also indicates the lower end is not linear and so less "ramp down" on the new low end. Higher settings mean more aggressive rejection of bottle caps but there is never a free lunch, so more possibility of causing non-ferrous to react as ferrous, more possibility of masking. On the low end, for nugget detecting in particular, less chance of small non-ferrous reading as ferrous in mineralized ground, but also more chance of ferrous reading as non-ferrous. Stuff like this almost always involves a trade of some sort. Note that the original Iron Bias settings allow better fine tuning in what is now the "mid-range".

Late breaking news - it is possible the new Minelab Vanquish will be on hand.

Since the Vanquish is not available yet you may be waiting awhile. My best guess is the Vanquish will be shipping early next spring. Pretty much a repeat of the Equinox introduction. I have no idea why people are putting money down on detectors before they are even out yet, but that seems to be something people are willing to do this days. Bill Southern says the Minelab rep will have prototype Vanquish detectors on hand at his meet in Arizona in November. It would be interesting if they will allow people there to do an Equinox/Vanquish shootout. I hear that happened during Detectival and Vanquish was every bit the performer that the Equinox is, though of course with less customization options or a Gold Mode. But the software will be tweaked right up until release and I would not count on anything before that point as being gospel. Minelab is riding a fine line between wanting to beat the competition while not undermining Equinox sales.

The case may be perfectly sealed, but if opened to change batteries in very humid conditions moisture can enter the case. Then when the case is submerged in cool water condensation can occur. The Beachhunter case has more air inside than most waterproof detector cases, and also unlike most others the battery compartment is not separated from the electronics compartment. That is the root issue here really, not the case itself leaking.

Winter is getting a bit of an early start this year. Hopefully a passing spell as I would not mind just the opposite!

Something to watch out for. Extra desiccant pouches in the case my not be a bad idea, along with changing them regularly. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/white-s/612770-tdi-beach-hunter-already-going-back-repairs.html

Chris is rarely seen on forums these days so you will probably have better luck contacting him directly. https://www.icmj.com/magazine/about-us/staff-bio/chris-ralph/

I have used both. I prefer the 10x12 DD for covering flatter areas, and 8” for working in irregular coral or rocky bottoms with depressions or pockets where the larger coil won’t fit. Detecting In Hawaii With The Garrett ATX Garrett ATX Return To Hawaii

Not poked around there myself but here is some general info... http://www.avalonalaska.com/Bonnifield2014District.pdf https://www.blm.gov/download/file/fid/22540

I’m not sure I understand the question. The Equinox in Multi is more powerful on gold than at 40 kHz single frequency, but single frequencies may work better at alleviating hot rocks or certain types of ground. As far as CTX all metal detectors can find gold. The CTX does well on larger gold but not so well on the tiny bits. If you have detectors in hand then performing your own field test comparisons is the way to go to explore the capabilities of the machines under local conditions.

Those 11x13 coils are hollow and would float like a cork.

Quoting Dilek from this post: ”Our first shipment which is to UK is going out this weekend. Other countries will follow.“

I doubt it’s anything anyone need worry about.

Httrack creates a browser compatible mirror of a website on your local computer. Does not matter Mac or PC. The program has all sorts of settings for how many levels deep, file types, etc. but I have generally just copied whole websites. This is the program I used recently to copy the entire Tesoro website to my computer just in case their website went away. and yes, 16 gig more or less.

Well my father is 88 and going strong and my mom 80 and the same. Barring misfortune at 61 I should have a few years left in me. Impermanence is the nature of things however, so tell the ones who matter that you love them today and give thanks for another morning on this planet. Got the drive space... just copy the whole website! https://www.httrack.com/

The SDC out of water is a fine beach hunter though I personally prefer a larger coil for covering a beach. The SDC floats like a cork in water and at $3499 I would not be anxious to test its waterproof integrity in long term saltwater use. Despite the capability the SDC was not designed as a detector for constant underwater use. Sand in the folding mechanism and rods could prove problematic. All that adds up to why you will find few people who use the SDC for water detecting on a regular basis.

Metal Detecting & Prospecting Library

The site runs a small profit and the site itself has value due to the traffic level so my wife would either arrange for somebody to administer it or sell the website to somebody like Gerry that might have an interest. But as you note the site should not be relied on 100% nor should any one storage method.