Steve Herschbach

As well as a VLF can do - very tough ground conditions at Tahoe with extreme high magnetite content in many areas. The place really calls for a PI detector but it is also a great place to test VLF detectors in really nasty magnetite. Here is a streak of almost pure magnetite exposed on the surface...

No, I have not seen Minelab’s manufacturing facilities. They still do some manufacturing in Australia and Ireland but the bulk is now farmed out to Plexus, a U.S. based company, and manufactured in the Plexus Riverside facility in Penang, Malaysia. From https://www.minelab.com/consumer/knowledge-base/history: “Since December 2009, the Codan Group’s manufacturing service provider, Plexus Corp, a US company, situated in Penang, Malaysia has been responsible for the majority of Minelab’s worldwide metal detector production. Minelab is proud of its association with its outsource partner in Malaysia. Genuine Minelab metal detectors are exclusively manufactured by Minelab in Australia and by Plexus Corp, USA in the Malaysian facility.” From http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/68/Plexus-Corporation.html: “Plexus was incorporated in Wisconsin in 1979 and began operations in 1980. The company was founded by Peter Strandwitz, John Nussbaum, and a group of other entrepreneurs, interested in a venture to design and build computer circuit boards by contract. Located in the eastern Wisconsin city of Neenah, on Lake Winnebago, the new company found the bulk of their early work through contracts with IBM.” Plexus Corp. One Plexus Way Neenah, WI 54956 Public Company Incorporated:1979 Employees:3,150 Sales:$492.4 million (1999) Stock Exchanges:NASDAQ Ticker Symbol:PLXS From https://www.plexus.com/en-us/news/utc-aerospace-systems-recognizes-plexus-with-utc-s: “NEENAH, WI – December 7, 2017 - Plexus (NASDAQ: PLXS) a global leader in providing design and development, manufacturing, supply chain and aftermarket services, announced today that UTC Aerospace Systems has recognized the Plexus Riverside facility in Penang, Malaysia with UTC Supplier Gold status. UTC Aerospace Systems is one of the world’s largest suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and defense products. UTC Supplier Gold status program recognizes suppliers for world-class, integrated supply chain performance. To achieve Supplier Gold status, suppliers must achieve zero escapes (quality rejections), 100% on-time delivery, overall customer satisfaction and a score greater than or equal to 80% on a supplier health assessment.” Plexus Riverside facility: I have no idea what the manufacturing bottlenecks are as regards Equinox. It seems obvious to me however that it is designed for high speed manufacturing processes, and there is no reason why a modern facility like that shown above could not make thousands of units per day.

Great article Doc, thanks for posting! As a two finger typist I always appreciate the time taken to post a lengthy effort such as yours. There is no doubt training or any sort of hands on guidance can boost the chances of success, and often makes the difference between sticking with detecting for gold or just quitting in frustration. Getting some sort of early success is very important for new people, as it only takes two or three outings with no gold for many people before they give up on the idea completely.

I get the impression Gerry you are trying to exclude the high price units from being a choice? Don’t know about that, but I do know I would never go on any trip that was “a trip of a lifetime” or even just a weekend outing without toting two detectors - my GPZ 7000 plus a good VLF. The GPZ for all around power, and the VLF for when the trash gets too bad and as backup. Which VLF I would grab would depend on the exact potential situation. If tiny gold of any type was expected, I would grab the Gold Monster. However, it is limited by the 10” elliptical coil when it comes to ground coverage, and for covering lots of ground in trashy tailing piles I might want a detector that can handle a larger coil, like my Gold Racer with 15” x 13” DD coil or perhaps the Equinox once the 15” x 12” DD becomes available. The Equinox has great potential for hunting tailing piles.

The spare tire made me think of Rolls Royce though I know nothing about cars or toy cars. Some Google searches found newer versions... http://www.odtoys.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_334_735&products_id=20988&language=en

Welcome to the forum Againstmywill, and thank you for the kind words. I have four Garrett pinpointers. My original and oldest is still going strong. A second one I got because I thought I had lost my first one got weird on me rather quickly, with multiple button pushes required to turn it on or off. Basically, it quit working properly in a short time. I never did get around to doing anything about it since I found the first one again I got a third one as part of a package deal, but other than turning it on and off it is unused. And finally, my orange Carrot, one of the first, still going strong. With Garrett product there seems to be high failure rates but they always fix stuff without complaint or delay. Still, you would think after enough warranty returns that the failure issues would be identified and improved. And maybe they have been. I would assume newer ones would be more reliable but I assume many things that turn out to be wrong. I just don’t know. I may as well sell that one I have that has never been used however, especially since I have a new Fisher F-Pulse on the way to try out.

True prototype gear is usually destroyed. At some point I expect I will be running the same unit as everyone else. Testing could be lots of work in theory if it was not something a person cared about. For me the fun comes in being able to communicate with people far smarter than I and learning a thing or two along the way. I enjoy associating with people that have a passion for what they do. Despite what people feel about companies overall on a personal level they all employ great people working hard to make detectors we will like.

I suggest not wasting time and just head for that great silver location that is not producing anymore and go detecting. Most likely the closest old city or town park. Or head to the beach. Whatever. Should not take more than a session or two to sort things out in most people’s minds.

It’s just glitches with their website. Minelab’s going to sell huge numbers of Equinox 600. Tell me of another machine that packs in anything near like the features for $649.

Only XP knows the answer to that question. There are a few rare detectors, like the Teknetics T2, that are designed for and only work well with DD coils. I don’t know any reason however why a concentric would not work on the Equinox and in fact I would like a hot little concentric like the Gold Bug 2 small elliptical concentric but wound specifically for 40 kHz. Like with the Deus, only Minelab knows the answer to this question. At the moment anyway; just another thing to find out!

Yes, although you need to use the included special 1/8" to 1/4" adapter unless your are rigged up to plug direct into 1/8", which I doubt. I have to admit to liking the built in aptx Bluetooth as being fast enough for me and I even like the included Bluetooth headphones, which is something I have rarely ever said when discussing headphones included with metal detectors. The bottom line for me is the WM08 has been getting minimal use, but it does serve as another option for those who feel the microseconds delay with aptx is still too much or who have headphones they would prefer over those included with the Equinox 800. The included screen savers - just too cool! I think detector manufacturers have long overlooked the good will that can be gained by including such small touches with a detector. Usually the feeling is more "why did they not include this or that".

The V series are quite amazing detectors. The color display may be a battery hog but I love it nonetheless - best display on the market, bar none. Tons of fun tuning options, and best of all the machines do perform. Congratulations on the new machine!

Ha, ha, I would never go that far when talking about companies. I spent my life making a living by marketing product. I promise way too much is being read into a simplistic chart. I also promise that people have no idea just how silly and simplistic things can get in marketing 101 at times. Quite seriously, you can say the CTX is better at discrimination based purely on it having a color screen. By displaying colors in different intensities, you are getting more information about the target. More information about the target is the very definition of metal detector discrimination. Therefore, the CTX has better discrimination because it has a color screen. It really is no more complicated than that. On the flip side, what do you need really? 95% of the targets I ever dug metal detecting I dug because the machine went beep, it sounded good, and I dug it. Detecting does not have to be complicated.

Welcome to the forum Randy! The goal on this forum is quality not quantity. People do love to argue it seems and it generates lots of posts and apparent “action”. It may be a good strategy for stirring up traffic but I was convinced that there must be people like me out there who just want a forum to be informative. In particular for me metal detecting has always been about fun and adventure, and wanting to share that fun and adventure via the forums. A whole lot of what I am seeing on other sites these days is not what I consider to be enjoyable at all. I quite honestly just want to have as much fun as possible with the release of Equinox and all that follows. This forum specifically exists to foster the excitement that surrounds the release of a new model. I have never done anything like this before but once Equinox entered the scene I knew I had finally found the detector that I could go soft in the head over. In other words, if you are somebody like me that has decided you are on board with Equinox, want to learn about it, and have fun while doing so - this place is designed for you. It does give me a warm fuzzy hearing from numerous people that it is appreciated and genuinely makes my day, so thank you all.

I already answered the question but I guess conspiracy theories are more attractive. If that is what was going on I would walk away from this project at the first hint of it. There are engineers exuding blood, sweat, and tears right now that are probably going to be asking themselves “why bother” when they read this thread. Each iteration of Equinox has been better than the last. But hey, I am sure all the testers will be just fine with the final version getting rolled back to “X-Terra 705+” because the goal here is to just fit in the right spot on a star chart. From http://www.detectorprospector.com/metal-detecting/minelab-multi-iq-technology-details-explained.htm “While we could have taken the approach of putting the X-TERRA (VFLEX technology) in a waterproof housing and adding a selectable frequency range, this would have been following the path of many of our competitors in just rehashing an older single frequency technology that had already reached its performance limits. Another option would have been to create a lower cost waterproof FBS detector, but that also had its challenges with FBS being ‘power hungry’, needing heavier batteries, heavier coils, etc., and relatively high cost compared to the more recent advances that our R&D team have been making with the latest electronics hardware and signal processing techniques. When Minelab develop a new detecting technology we aim to create a paradigm shift from existing products and provide a clear performance advantage for our customers.”

Real poor year for me also when it comes to jewelry so I feel your pain. 2018 has got to be better so let's just get 2017 wrapped up and move on!

The 600 never was gone. It was just a "website down" situation that had nothing to do with Equinox. It just took a little while longer for the Equinox 600 page to reappear.

No 2D screen, target trace, etc.

The T2+ is kind of like the machine that never was. No mention of it almost anywhere, including the Teknetics website. This thread has more info than anything I can find anywhere else and that's not saying much.

That's this week - I will do that!

If nothing else there are some great deals to be had in used detectors now - for whatever reason.

The final details of the 50 tones feature along with other minor tweaks are being finalized and so I can’t comment on the details of its operation until said features are set in stone. The Equinox 50 tones option will offer more adjustability that the factory preset “full tones” option featured on most other detectors.

Couple videos I have not watched....

I would not read much into the layoffs since they coincide with the move to a new facility. It could reflect an improvement of some sort in manufacturing efficiency that resulted in the need for fewer people. The fact is we really don’t know the “why” of it. I figure if CZX was imminent and really worked as planned then it would have negated the need for a new PI detector. FT making a quick move to acquire new PI tech that essentially promises the same thing CZX was promising makes me think perhaps CZX did not work out as planned. Or maybe just a parallel product path? Whatever, only time will tell, but I am not holding my breath for 2018 either. I am sure they are working as hard as they can at First Texas to get new top end product to market, but the path there can be a long and winding one at times.

Just by coincidence this just got posted at Minelab. He says turn it on while in the water.