Steve Herschbach

Mike, the Gold Mode features full on screen target id capability plus target masking. I actually mentioned this already in another post but wanted to make sure I was not getting ahead of myself. Looks like instead of erasing my previous hint I am ok to proceed at least this far. Chase, the modes have disc presets but I can’t get into details quite yet. The bottom line is they are just starting points anyway that generally focus on preset ferrous rejection. The detectors are made for use worldwide, so putting a pattern in Park Mode 1 that was preset for U.S. coins (for instance) would just irritate users elsewhere.

Comparisons are welcome but best posted on the Metal Detector Advice & Comparisons Forum as they will just get moved there anyway. This is a White's forum for White's owners so talk of other brands should be kept minimal or incidental.

The E600 and E800 have identical wireless capability - the only difference in that regard is the packaged accessories. Click for larger version....

Guys, honestly, as a webmaster this is simple. Cabelas online store is designed to either sell product on hand, or show items as being on backorder status. It is not designed to presell unavailable items. Somebody listed the items as being in stock, creating a problem. So they pulled it off for now to avoid creating a can of worms with people expecting quick delivery. You guys do know I have inside information on availability, right? Or am I just wasting my time repeating over and over that the ONLY information that you should pay attention to regarding availability is that issued directly by Minelab? I can assure you I want these things to ship as much or more than anyone, and would not let such an event pass without comment. Until then.....

Possibly. I don’t know at this time.

Detect Speed (Recovery Speed or Reactivity) ranges from 1 to 3 on the Equinox 600 and 1 to 8 on the Equinox 800. Here are how the Detect Speed settings map one against the other: 600 800 - 1 1 2 - 3 2 4 - 5 3 6 - 7 - 8 All lack of function or adjustments on the Equinox 600 is intentional to create a simpler to operate, less expensive alternative to the Equinox 800. The settings on the 600 could be described as the most common likely settings. The additional range in settings as offered on the Equinox 800 are less likely to be used due to the extremity of the machine response at those levels, and as such they can be regarded as “Pro” settings.

A placer is a concentration of mineral that occurs after the original host rock has decomposed. Therefore a placer cannot by definition exist in fresh lava. If you are simply asking if gold could be found in a recently cooled fresh lava flow, the answer is that is extremely unlikely. Placer Geology

Apparently this caused enough problems for Cabela’s that they have pulled the ability to order online for now. Or they already sold everything they had coming on the initial order.

TheHunterGT Published on Dec 29, 2017

TheHunterGT Published on Jan 12, 2018

Brian is at the Minelab dealer meeting but will be back in Anchorage soon.

I am on temporary hold seeking confirmation of just how much I can and can’t say at the moment Mike. Standby... might be the end of day due to time differences.

It took 30 hours for it to be noticed . I will be leaving it to Minelab to provide an exact explanation of this control. Soon.

I am sorry, but there are multiple reasons why I am not going to be engaging in air tests or other direct measurement and comparison tests. I am sure there are many, many people poised to do such tests on actual production units when they become available.

Interest is extreme, somebody no doubt said “get them in the website” and it went from there. Just typical company confusion on details. I keep saying to ignore all product status reports from anyone but Minelab. Still true.

I have to believe that Minelab has to be giving out full price lists on Equinox accessories at their meeting going on right now, and that we will see those prices by the end of the week. I don’t know that for a fact, but it would be nuts to not have that ready for the dealers.

They are ready to be sold. People have been selling them for some time. They are not ready to ship - that’s the difference. Same as any other dealer right now.

First line of second paragraph in original post this thread... Yes I tried all sorts of other things (modes, frequencies, etc.) but that all has to wait. I just wanted to give you all a peek at what the machine can do on tiny gold now that it has been revealed that Gold Mode includes the multifrequency option. The “hot” versions of the Park and Field Modes (Park Mode 2, Field Mode 2) are certainly no slouches when it comes to small gold either. ”Park 2 and Field 2 process a higher weighted combination of the Multi-IQ band while still ground balancing for soil. Therefore they will be more sensitive to higher frequency (low conductive) targets, but potentially more susceptible to ground noise.”

OK, I am warning you all up front - I still am going to be wishy-washy or outright avoidant of certain details still. The dam is cracking but not burst yet. Here are the results of a test run with the new multifrequency (MF) option in Gold Mode. I am battling limited time and weather issues so was actually quite pleased to find any gold at all - a few lead bits often tells me just as much, so the gold is a sort of bonus. Anyway, Equinox 800, Gold Mode, MF, relatively mild ground and so I was pushing sensitivity levels high, 22 - 25. Three nuggets, two of only 0.6 grain each (480 grains per ounce) and one 9.8 grains (0.6 gram). The 0.6 grain nuggets are one smaller, fatter one plus one thin flake. What most impresses me about these are not the gold per se. It is the fact these were found with an 11" round DD coil. I am not in a position to be able to excavate these like an archeologist to determine the exact depth they were found at but I can guesstimate based on the holes and sounds. The two tiny bits were found at 1-2 inches, and the 9.8 grain nugget at 3-4 inches. Just based on this alone and many years of nugget detecting I can tell you the Equinox can hunt gold just fine. How will it stack up against dedicated gold nugget detectors? Frankly, in my opinion that will be determined largely by coils. Operationally I much prefer the 6" x 10" DD on my Gold Monster and hope such a coil becomes available for Equinox. The 11" open web will be "OK" but not a great prospecting coil design which is why no dedicated VLF gold detectors come with one. It hangs up on protruding rocks and stubble and so a solid design would be better, or at least a solid scuff cover. The large coil will false on rocks if struck will at the highest sensitivity levels and low recovery speeds while in Gold Mode and the extra edges just accentuate that tendency. The 6" coil will be nice but more for spot work as covering acres at a time with a 6" round coil....... I want the elliptical. Long story short my Gold Monster is not going anywhere quite yet, but only because of the coil. The big coil can find small gold however, and should give great performance on larger nuggets at depth, more than an elliptical will get. For a VLF however - always keep that in mind. This is not a Minelab PI or GPZ 7000.

Correlate and Best Data on the V series is about a discrimination methodology. By weighting all Minelab is doing is talking about whether a mode "leans" or primarily uses higher frequencies or lower frequencies. In other words, it is about frequency mix and target response, not how the machine discriminates, though that is obviously related.

I live a long way from the coast or any saltwater though I hope to get to saltwater with the Equinox over the next 6 weeks. You no doubt know that at some point both saltwater and small gold read the same, and that attempting to detect one detects the other. Conversely, rejecting one rejects the other. Equinox does not break any laws of physics so that limitation still applies. How a detector splits that difference can vary tremendously with not only the soil conditions on the beach but the actual salinity of the water, which varies greatly at different locations. The bottom line on this one is that while it is obvious Multi-IQ is hot on small gold, what compromises Minelab has had to make for stable beach performance and how they end up acting under actual field conditions I do not know personally. No doubt others are involved in that end of Equinox development far more than I, so I will leave it to them to comment when appropriate.

Mine were - post following soon as I catch up on questions.

Did Equinox ever have one really? This is a question of definitions. The Equinox 600 lacks a "Gold Mode". The Equinox 800 has a "Gold Mode". This is a mode optimised for finding tiny objects in mineralized soil. Is it a "true" all metal mode? What exactly is that? On many VLF detectors a true, raw, unfiltered response can be seen via some pinpoint modes. All metal non-motion response. Next would be a motion based "first derivative" all metal mode, that basically adds motion filtering to the raw pinpoint signal in an attempt to keep an even threshold while in motion. This mode has no discrimination capability at all and just signals targets. This is the classic "true" all metal mode used on early induction balance prospecting detectors. Then came dual channel processing. Many detectors started layering a visual discrimination channel onto the all metal channel, creating detectors like the Gold Bug Pro that have a target id while in all metal mode. The X-Terra has what is called "Iron Mask" while in Prospect Mode, which apparently incorporates a ferrous reject into the channel or employs a layered parallel channel. I don't know the technicalities, just that the feature is there. Are these "true" all metal modes? Not by old school definitions. Gold Mode can employ 20 khz single frequency, 40 khz single frequency, and also now multifrequency. It offers both target id capability and masking capability. Is this a "true" all metal mode? From a technical perspective, not really. I honestly think we are moving past that point. There is a huge amount of focus being given to "how" on the various modes work when what should interest people more is "how does it perform versus the other options that exist". What if it is not a "true" all metal mode but outperforms one? Is there an inherent value in "trueness" beyond our ability to think in familiar terms? I don't think so. Personally I just want things to work, to offer performance edges. To a large degree I am just treating Equinox as something truly new and so holding on to preconceptions may not be beneficial. Only Minelab can truly explain how Gold Mode differs from the other modes as regards under the hood issues. "Well, OK Steve, then how does Gold Mode compare to detectors that people do agree have a true all metal mode?" Good question, one that I and many people around the world will sort out in coming months. More soon.

Both Equinox models can use standard Bluetooth headphones (there will be obvious lag), aptX Bluetooth (barely discernible lag), and the WM08 module (no apparent lag). The Equinox 600 comes with basic wired headphones, 1/8" stereo, the same set that ships with the Gold Monster 1000. These are ok headphones but rest on top of the ear, so not my preferred solution. The Equinox 800 comes with both aptX headphones and the WM08 module. The headphones are lightweight, decent sound quality, fit completely over my ears (but may not if you have large ears), and the lag is not enough to bother me even in the densest trash. It's there on a faster swing but more or less disappears when I focus on the target. For me the extra speed of the WM08 has not been worth needing to get yet another device involved in the process, so aptX is fine with me, and offers a countless array of third party options. I will test all my various Bluetooth phones (like Air Pods) very soon and report. Important Info: Only one Bluetooth device may be paired with Equinox at one time. It is possible to pair up to four WM08 devices at once for training purposes. Or anything else if you can think of another reason but I can't. You must choose to use Bluetooth or WM08 - both cannot be employed at once. The WM08 has a standard 1/8" stereo jack recessed into a waterproof fitting. The opening is about 10 mm or 3/8" so anything smaller than that will plug in directly. Note there is also an o-ring at the bottom of the "well" that could keep a 9 mm jack from being able to seat completely and firmly - a smaller extension may be needed depending on what you try and plug in. As already mentioned, the WM08 allows you to use any favorite plug in headphone wirelessly and so will be an option for those wanting either the fastest speed and/or the ability to use existing headphones people own.

You are a brave man! Good job, and a great help I am sure to anyone looking to do the something similar. I would get another SDC 2300 in a heartbeat if it was packed in a more traditional housing.