Steve Herschbach

Does not apply to non-detector items i.e. pinpointers, coils, carry bags, etc.

I am anxious to get my hands on the larger coil. Not for depth, but for ground coverage. Normally I would never use an oversized coil in parks because of the increased risk of target masking. Currently I use a 3” x 17” Bigfoot coil to cover huge sports fields while minimizing masking with the narrow coil width. However, the Equinox 12” x 15” combined with lower sensitivity and faster recovery may make a decent coil for jewelry hunting in sports fields. I will be giving it a good go for that use whenever I can lay hands on one. EQX 06 Double-D Smart Coil The waterproof 6-inch round Double-D coil is very sensitive to small targets, and perfect for finding treasure in high trash areas. It is also ideal for detecting in difficult terrain. A protective skidplate is included. Part No. 3011-0333 EQX 11 Double-D Smart Coil The waterproof 11-inch elliptical Double-D coil provides good all-round performance for general detecting. It provides a good balance between sensitivity, weight, and ground coverage. A protective skidplate is included. Part No. 3011-0334 EQX 15 Double-D Smart Coil The waterproof 15 x 12-inch elliptical Double-D coil provides maximum depth for specialised treasure hunting. It is also great for wide ground coverage in open spaces. A protective skidplate is included. Part No. 3011-0335

Very nice hunts Cal, really appreciate you posting. More and more I see results that are duplicating what happened to me with Equinox on sites where I was not having much luck with other detectors. Its nice to see I was not imagining things. I am seriously not trying to pump Equinox up either by saying it has been a long time since I have seen a new detector producing so well for so many new owners on their early hunts. It’s way past being just a lucky few now but a real trend, especially with gold finds. Been some real terrific coin finds also. Should be lots of awesome reports coming up in the next month as the next wave of machines gets delivered. Those of us with machines already in hand - hit those easy obvious areas now. You might be surprised what that little park just down the street still has left in it. You know, the one everyone gave up on twenty years ago!

Equinox is a really hot machine, and unlike some machines with presets the ones on Equinox are not watered down. The default of 20 is therefore seen as a sort of minimum when in fact it may be too high for some conditions. In heavy trash especially, turning down the sensitivity can really clean things up. I think I am still running my sensitivity too high a lot, which tends to accentuate high end iron falsing. I should probably just turn the sensitivity down.

Well like all things Minelab vs Minelab I doubt either outcome worries Minelab much. Kind of like Equinox vs CTX vs E- Trac vs Excalibur. When all the discussion is all about which Minelab is best with other brands tossed in as an afterthought... what manufacturer would not love those kinds of arguments!!

Because I think you are confusing early forum driven purchases with what happens at the longer run genuine retail level. All the forums combined and all the people that frequent them are a tiny market segment. Watching what happens on forums tells you very little about what the best sellers are and where the real volume is with metal detector sales overall. I made my living for decades knowing what sells and what does not when it comes to metal detectors, and it’s not the big buck machines. The AT Pro is one of the most successful, highest volume sold, biggest buck makers ever in metal detector retail. Believe what you want, and we can compare notes in a year. Hey, I can be wrong!

Not a chance. Not even remotely. The Equinox 600 is not competing with the Equinox 800.

I have kind of beat this horse a few times now but I do think in the long run the 600 is going to be the big seller. Absolutely amazing the feature set it packs for $600 and there is very, very little an 800 will find that a 600 would miss entirely. That includes gold nuggets. Obviously us forum denizens lean in favor of top end models and having “the best” but for the vast majority of regular more casual metal detecting types out there an Equinox 600 is all the detector needed. I would gladly go head to head with a Equinox 600 versus pretty much any other brand and model of detector doing almost anything and not feel like I would be seriously outgunned. And in almost every case there will be something the Equinox 600 will be able to do that the other machine can’t do at all. Just one example. Let’s go relic hunt with an Equinox 600 and a Nokta Impact. Now, that’s going to be a tough competition, but the Impact won’t have me running scared, even though it costs a couple hundred more. I think I could handle that challenge well. Now it’s my turn. Equinox 600 versus Impact in five feet of saltwater. Winner by default, Equinox. Not fair, should have used the waterproof Multi Kruzer? Sorry, true multifrequency wins in saltwater over selectable single frequency. The Multi Kruzer might handle saltwater as well as any detector can running in a single frequency, but Multi-IQ will eat its lunch in saltwater. Same goes for AT Max and MX Sport. Strong competition in every other way, but put saltwater into the mix and it’s Equinox by a mile. And that is the way it goes down the line. Chose almost any detector you want, and an Equinox will go toe to toe against that detector at whatever it does best. But Equinox can then in turn do something very well that other detector can’t do at all or at best only halfway well. Absolutely no doubt in my mind that bang for the buck across a broad range of uses there is nothing that comes even close to the Equinox 600. Equinox 600 Versus Equinox 800

Good reference material: Placer Examination - Principles and Practice by John H. Wells

Reduced sensitivity as Mitchel mentioned is probably the quickest step to improved results in the densest piles of trash. There is no way you are going to get depth anyway, and high sensitive levels cause more ferrous falsing and erratic target id. Don’t forget old school. A steel tine rake can do wonders in cleaning up surface patches.

Yeah Bryan I get this impression of more off the tip directionality with F-Pulse, like it needs to be pointed more directly at the target to get that final rapid vibration, versus a little more forgiving general response off the tip of the Carrot. I definitely am seeing what you are seeing, and like you say hard to put into words or even to show really. It’s also hard to separate what’s going on from the basic truth that I am just way more familiar with the Garrett. Somebody that used the F-Pulse for years and had only a few days on the Carrot might very well feel just the opposite, and so I do think sheer familiarity has something to do with it. It would be fun to give both pinpointers new in a box to somebody that never used a pinpointer before and let them have a go. I think at the end of the day both are top notch pinpointers with a slightly different flavor and feel. F-Pulse maybe a little more finicky, but also more powerful. It probably just depends on the specific person and use as to who favors what, but can’t really go wrong with either.

Thanks for posting that Bryan - I added a link back to the original post and thread. The F-Pulse takes a little getting used to after using the Garrett Carrot (Pro-Pointer AT) a lot. It does want to interfere with my Equinox more than the Carrot. Rather than change the frequency on the pinpointer so far I turn the F-Pulse on before doing the Equinox frequency scan, and that generally does the trick. I have my F-Pulse set for vibrate only, high sensitivity. It does want to signal on the ground after power up, so I do the tip to ground, tap button once retune procedure. One thing I liked a lot initially is probably the biggest difference I see in use. The Carrot ramps up very quickly when you get near a target, and the vibrate mode therefore feels more intense. F-Pulse ramps up more slowly (better modulation) but that means it feels weak on deeper targets until you get closer. In my ground the one touch ground calibration was critical because the weak ground signal is identical to the weak signal from a deeper target. With more hours under my belt now I think the Carrot has a slight edge for actual in use simplicity. F-Pulse takes a little more work and patience, but does deliver a performance edge. Bottom line is I like them both very much and am keeping both for sure. I will have to do a follow up review on both once I get a bunch more hours in. Right now however if I had to recommend a pinpointer to a total newbie I would still probably recommend the Garrett over the Fisher as it seems just a little more direct, a little less finicky overall. Easier to get up and running out of box with no prior experience with pinpointers. According to Carl in the thread referenced above the type of AA battery employed in F-Pulse might cause issues, making the recalibration process posted by Carl and copied above invaluable.

Safe travels for sure! I would enjoy being a nomad but my wife.... not so much. Sounds like a great way to get to know a lot of the country halfway well.

Well, I sold my Garrett ATX and all the accessory gear. First time in ages that I have not had a ground balancing PI detector! I am done with super heavy metal detectors and am not going to consider any new detectors that weigh over 5 lbs. The ATX tipped the scales at 7 lbs. Personally I think there is no reason anymore for a VLF detector to weigh over 4 lbs. To be fair a PI may need a larger power source, so I think 5 lbs is a reasonable weight limit for a high power PI, batteries included. Anyway, I am going to hold out for a ground balancing PI that is at least as powerful as the Garrett ATX but which weighs less than 5 lbs, and preferably waterproof. Hopefully the new Fisher PI can fill the empty spot in my detector lineup. If not, I will wait for something that does. This quote from Carl Moreland at http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,140841,140881#msg-140881 does offer hope... ”Yes, there is a new PI in the works, that is no secret. It's not on my bench, rather it's designed by our guy in France, Alexandre. The electronics are done, we're just trying to get a decent (& waterproof) mechanical enclosure designed for it. At FTP, that's not a fast process, but neither is anything else we do. Spring is out; Summer is highly unlikely; Fall, maybe. No promises.” Knowing as I do how delays happen maybe I can have one of these before I go to Hawaii this December. If not, surely sometime in 2019.

Worst case scenario for a new detector in my opinion. I try to encourage people to stay out of trash heaps until they have plenty of experience under their belt as these types of places challenge anyone’s patience. Here is a thread to help get you going....

You are welcome, and welcome to the forum. There are too many people still waiting to get an Equinox so if people do not want to believe you that’s fine. More detectors for everyone else!

Ha, ha, never hurts to fish for information Mitchel! The only sighting of a 6” coil I am aware of is this Facebook video with a peek at the new 6” coil near the end...

Gotcha. That’s not good! I will have to look at mine to see how loose it is in the lanyard. Since I always use wireless the plug usually stays screwed in the port on mine.

I hunt hot ground. My Garrett Carrot will signal on the ground. The fix is to put the tip on the ground, then power up. That sets it to the ground and then it works fine. The F-Pulse appears to work better if you start it up, then put tip to ground and do the ground calibration as described on page 10 of the F-Pulse Owner’s Manual (see below). Which amounts to nothing more than putting the tip to the ground, then quickly pushing the button once. These procedures are not required for moderate soils or if you are running the units at lower sensitivity levels. I run mine maxed out. I am seeing people say it takes the F-Pulse 2-3 seconds to fire up. It is slower than the Carrot but a second is more like it.

It can if you want or you can tune them out.

You may want to check out this thread. It is long but has many similar tests with videos and commentary. http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/5412-equinox-800-my-take-commentary-and-testing/ And this... http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/5438-minelab-equinox-800-xp-deus-minelab-etrac-nokta-impact-test-and-commentary/?do=findComment&comment=63622

Prior threads... Sand Scoop? Beach Scoops New Stainless Steel Sandscoop Options From White's Stealth 720i Sand Scoop Questions Forgot My Sandscoop!

It was announced as a DD coil back in November - where you been Chuck?

I guess that’s a warning to everyone. Be sure if you are using plug in headphones that the screw cap/plug lanyard is on the coil port with coil attached. Or, if removing coil for transport/storage, make sure the plug is screwed into the headphone port. I would not expect Minelab to have spare WM08 modules for sale as none of the accessory items are. But really good chance contacting Minelab they can round up a plug for you.

Most forums have rules against linking to other forums and so they will not allow their members to link here. Another reason why I started this forum. Forums should be about sharing information and prohibiting relevant links is censoring useful information. On this forum I want people to provide links anytime information elsewhere is mentioned, and no matter if that is another forum or not.