Steve Herschbach

That is an excellent question Bryan and a fair assumption. I have wondered the same thing but Minelab is very tight lipped about exact details of Multi-IQ and so I don’t speak for them on exact details. I have inquired to seek clarification direct from the powers that be. Being a go with the flow guy I have tended to follow Minelab’s lead and when park detecting for coins I use Park 1. When I have wanted to make the machine more sensitive to small items like micro jewelry or gold nuggets without going to the Gold Mode I have numerous times mentioned Field 2 as being my favorite alternative to Gold Mode. This is because of my underlying assumption that Field 2 has something going for it that Park 2 does not. I have absolutely no data from my own actual use however to back that assumption up. It is quite possible Bryan that you have it right and the underlying core is the same with the difference being in the setup. One of the best questions I have seen yet. I hope I will be able to provide more clarity soon outside of us all experimenting to figure it out. As Chase has noted it is the hidden signal processing that really makes the difference and that is probably the most tightly kept proprietary secret that Minelab possesses at this time. When analyzing the manual the difference if any would appear to be subtle. Note that in some cases target id 1 and/or 2 are either being blocked or set to produce a ferrous tone. This is extremely important information for anyone hunting the very weakest targets as those two id numbers are where tiny gold nuggets and micro jewelry/fine chains will appear. Along with thin foil, tiny can slaw, and coke, which is why the default is to reject them.

The reason Equinox is special really is simple. It is because it is truly different. Any detector is a set of parameters. At the most basic it boils down to combinations of frequencies and coils. VLF or PI. Whatever. Take any detector to a spot, and detect until you can find nothing more of interest. Now, by simply changing the coil, you can make more finds missed previously. You have to change the parameters. Hunt a spot to death with detector A. For example a Garrett AT Pro running at 15 kHz. Now switch to a different detector, perhaps Whites MXT running at 14 kHz. Slightly different machine with slightly different coil and frequency. A missed find or two commonly appears because what one machine misses another may hit. Jumping to something like an E-TRAC is an even more radical change, and again new finds may be made. Short of firing up a PI and digging every item out of the ground, most experienced detectorists know that no one detector gets it all. For that reason I am a contrarian. If everyone else is using detector A someplace you can bet I am going to give detector B a go. I have found that being different often pays off for me. The are limits to sheer physical depth. The fact is more depth is not the secret to new finds in many cases. We need different processing methods that can find items missed by what went before. Unfortunately in recent years it has got to where “new” detectors are just old detectors with a fresh coat of paint. I think now people are starting to realize what Minelab has been saying all along. From http://www.detectorprospector.com/metal-detecting/minelab-multi-iq-technology-details-explained.htm ”Multi-IQ is Minelab’s next major innovation and can be considered as combining the performance advantages of both FBS and VFLEX in a new fusion of technologies. It isn’t just a rework of single frequency VLF, nor is it merely another name for an iteration of BBS/FBS. By developing a new technology, as well as a new detector ‘from scratch’, we will be providing both multi-frequency and selectable single frequencies in a lightweight platform, at a low cost, with a significantly faster recovery speed that is comparable to or better than competing products.” and “Within the Multi-IQ engine, the receiver is both phase-locked and amplitude-normalized to the transmitted magnetic field – rather than the electrical voltage driving the transmitted field. This field can be altered by the mineralization in the soil (in both phase and amplitude), so if the receiver was only phased-locked to the driving voltage, this would result in inaccurate target IDs and a higher audible noise level. Locking the receiver to the actual transmitted field, across all frequencies simultaneously (by measuring the current through the coil) solves these issues, creating a very sensitive AND stable detector” and finally “For each frequency the detector transmits and receives there are two signals which can be extracted which we refer to as I and Q. The Q signal is most sensitive to targets, while the I signal is most sensitive to iron content. Traditional single-frequency metal detectors use the Q signal to detect targets, and then use the ratio of the I and Q signals to assess the characteristics of the target and assign a target ID. The problem with this approach is that the I signal is sensitive to the iron content of the soil. The target ID is always perturbed by the response from the soil, and as the signal from the target gets weaker, this perturbation becomes substantial. With some simplification here for brevity, if a detector transmits and receives on more than one frequency, it can ignore the soil sensitive I signals, and instead look at the multiple Q signals it receives in order to determine a target ID. That way, even for weak targets or highly mineralized soils, the target ID is far less perturbed by the response from the soil. This leads to very precise target IDs, both in mineralized soils and for targets at depth.” Got all that? Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t because while I get the gist of it I admit this stuff is over my head. More to the point for me personally it does not matter enough to me to make the effort to get my head fully around all that. There are going to be those that think it’s all hogwash. Whatever. Having used Equinox myself I figured out real fast the basic truth here - Equinox truly is different than anything else to date. That is the Equinox Edge. The secret is in the difference itself, not the details of the technology. We have a rare opportunity to put a detector over the ground that is not an old model with a fresh coat of paint. From an in use operational perspective there are no true experts with this machine. I got a head start, granted, but I have a lot to learn about Equinox because for most of my use so far I was trying to learn a moving target. It’s only now I can actually learn the machine. Again “It isn’t just a rework of single frequency VLF, nor is it merely another name for an iteration of BBS/FBS.” Anyone who takes off the cynic hat and actually believes that statement should really know all they need to know. Fresh slate, we all start from scratch. It is the fact that Equinox is different that makes all the difference in the world. It can’t put finds back in the ground, but if you are going to have a decent shot at making new finds in old ground you have to try something different. And that my friends is why Equinox is special.

There is a reason so many VLF nugget detectors come with a solid 6” x 10” elliptical. Cover the same ground per sweep, but great for poking in nooks and crannies. The coil will not catch on rocks or brush. I have found the 11” Equinox coil in Gold Mode to be more bump resistant in theory than the 10” coil on my Gold Monster if both are cranked up to full gain, but it is all those edges catching that then evens it up a bit. It usually only takes a small drop in sensitivity on the Equinox while in Gold Mode to reduce the bump sensitivity issue. You can also go to my favorite alternative to Gold Mode which is Field 2 and the knock sensitivity generally goes away entirely. Anyone hunting gold in Field 2 needs to open up target id 1 and 2 which are blocked by default. I go farther myself usually opening up everything except -9 and -8 plus possibly -7 depending on the hot rocks. I have an extremely good idea of what most experienced nugget hunters want in a VLF gold machine and the fact is Equinox is different. The coil alone being different would bug many people, and operationally it is a universe away from old favorites like the Gold Bug 2. So I am by no means going to get on some soapbox and tout the Equinox as something every prospector needs. On the other hand my confidence factor in Multi-IQ is pretty off the charts, and due to my faith in the technology I will be pursuing its use as a nugget detector personally. If for no other reason than to aid in further development and to try as always to push it the way I would like to see it go.

Sounds like a plan to me Tom.

Advanced audio tone adjustments is one of the selling points of the 800 vs 600.

Facebook video with a peek at the new 6” coil near the end...

Correct.

When in doubt use the stock settings. That is what they are for. Will it be perfect? Well, no... but oh well. I guess you could dig all the targets out of a two foot square then ground balance. People that have a Deus do just fine with the factory preset ground balance and many never fuss with it. Lots of lower end detectors are preset with no adjustment at all. We all obsess over getting absolute best performance, but for most coin size targets in parks if you can’t find clean ground to balance over you probably have more problems than ground balance. Like masking. Equinox of course will help you there also. That is the simple answer to why CTX owners are going to find that depth is not everything.

A nice thought Simon - thank you. The Google ads do pay for the forum hosting costs which run about $1200 a year. Any given click on a Google ad might pay one to three cents. There is a little left over that pays the heating bill and gives me an excuse with my wife when she questions the number of hours I spend on the forum! I surely don’t worry about the fine details nor expect anyone to turn off ad blockers but like I say - a nice thought

Equinox is a terrific machine in nearly all ways but I agree it will not truly come into its own as a nugget detector until nugget specific coils are made for it. I will be persevering with mine looking for gold because of what I have seen so far. Once this crazy late winter arctic freeze is over here in Reno I will get back at it and will post more results myself. Nearly all the nuggets I have found with Equinox so far registered a solid 1 - 3 reading and one a little higher at 6 if I recall correctly. But that is all really small stuff like a grain or less. Thanks Steve for that great Yuma report!

Great video....

Very well done - this should help people a lot...

Park 2 and Field 2 are “hotter” on small items and low conductors. This can be good or bad depending on what you are doing. A person hunting silver coins may not want extreme sensitivity to can slaw or coke. Put another way many people used to other detectors will think Park 1 and Field 1 are already hotter than what they are used to. Park 2 and Field 2 are so hot they can double as gold prospecting modes. I can hit a gold nugget weighing a half grain (that’s grain, not gram 480 grains per Troy ounce) in Park 2 or Field 2. Note that because the Equinox is a “hot” detector that many modes default to blocking target id 1 and 2 by default, as this helps a lot with can slaw, foil, and coke. However, this is also where tiny gold items and thin cut coins, thin chains, etc may appear. Personally I think Minelab did a terrific job with the Instruction Manual and the pages starting at 22 are worth reading several times until it really sinks in. Click the images below for larger versions.

Got no idea on that one! It may be more complicated than that. But yes, being specially tuned to one coil may make the machine slightly off with another coil. We are talking finest edge performance stuff here. You may want to contact Fisher directly for the latest scoops. Of maybe Carl will notice this and chime in.

My experience exactly in my western magnetite laden soil. I never can speak for conditions I am not experiencing personally except to guess however and I have been as curious as anyone to hear results in the red eastern soils. Sounding pretty good so far Mark - thanks!

Looks like a Camel Desert Fox to me. More videos

Just random variance in components all adding up favorably. You are probably aware Harry that a GB2 is individually tuned to the coil that comes with it, and accessory coils may not have that extra edge. I have gotten a new coil for a GB2 in the past and shipped the whole thing to Fisher just to get them matched as best as is possible.

I am glad you did Dan. I considered doing it but since I have a prototype I was not sure what was shipping. Minelab could have sealed the access area with wax or a special label to reveal tampering and so I did not want to get into all that. Plus I might get asked by the powers that be why I was appearing to advocate people pulling the battery out to look at it, as occurred with you. That’s why I specifically took this photo the way I did a month ago. Minelab appears to be so focused on getting the machine out some things are being deferred. Like accessory pricing. And they have left battery replacement vague I think as they may still be considering what sort of final program they want to put in place regarding that, cost, etc. no matter what, people are determined to try and anticipate problems and are creating problems to anticipate.

It may be that whether the power is coming from the headphone itself or the detector that you still have to turn the headphone on. I have not used mine wired up yet so am not sure.

Thanks for the report - it’s sounding great. I am on the road and mine got delivered while I am gone so I will have to wait a bit to play with one.

Sounds like something dying in the audio circuit but never had it happen to me. Probably overdue for some tender loving care at the factory anyway so I am sure it will be back better than ever soon.

When using any headphone connected to a detector by the cord or cable the power is supplied by the detector. If the wiresless headphones go dead, be sure to have the included cable along, plug them in, and get on with business. The headphones carry a charge far longer than the detector itself however so if you charge them together this is unlikely. Still, the cable goes with me in my kit.

I tend to rotate detectors as the warranty nears the end, especially if they have a transferable warranty. I like to sell them used with a month or two of remaining warranty as it gets me top price. I then get either the same machine new again, or a newer version has appeared and I get it. I have no doubt my battery will be just fine until I sell the machine in about three years.

A ruling on what? Nobody at any point in time has ever said or implied that audio only comes through the speaker and not the headphones. Of course the headphones work. You have to turn them on however!