Steve Herschbach

Equinox 600 has three modes - Park, Field, and Beach. Each mode has two saved "Search Profile" options or slots for a total of 6. Any change made to a Search Profile made during a detecting session is automatically saved when the detector is powered down. The Equinox goes immediately to the last Search Profile in use when the detector was powered down. Equinox 800 has four modes - Park, Field, Beach, and Gold. Each mode has two saved Search Profile options or slots for a total of 8. There is also a shortcut button to a "User Profile" which can save a copy of any mode separately for instant access. The Equinox 800 therefore actually has the ability to save nine collections of settings. Any Search Profile May be reset to factory default at any time. In addition, the entire detector can be restored to factory default condition at any time. Click for larger versions....

Any video online right now is of a prototype, and the Detectival videos shows dozens of detectors operating in close quarters. The noisy operation there is probably interference. Regardless, the Equinox is quite normal as regards sensitivity. Just push it as high as you want. For some people that means getting to the edge of unstable then backing off one. For others it may mean running a little noisy. My experience is that Equinox can be run hot yet quiet in normal ground and electrical environments, only needing to back off in unusual situations, like extreme EMI (electrical interference) due to close proximity to power lines or some such. In severe ground some reduction of sensitivity may be required. Bottom line nothing unusual or unexpected in this regard.

I don't know that it has been settled on since that can be left to the last second. I am pretty sure there will be only one version internationally so it will have to work for everyone. Still, with multiple profiles you could do different defaults and so that is not a bad idea. On the other hand it is so easy to modify, and the settings save automatically on power down, it is not a huge deal. The obvious most simple default internationally is ferrous/non-ferrous and go from there. Great question and thanks for bringing it up!

This is one of those pictures say it all things. Bottom line - nearly twice the target id resolution as the X-Terra 705 (50 versus 28 segments), with each segment independently notchable (a new word definition?). Personally I think this is a good compromise between resolution and target id stability. The target IDs range from -9 to 40 arranged in an arc for better on screen visibility. The arc is divided into what I am calling"zones" (my term - I don't know what if anything Minelab calls them) for easier identification. When you notch in and out the segment will flash and the target id number will display so no worries knowing where you are.

We obviously share a twisted sense of humor - kind of sick and hilarious at the same time!

Welcome to the forum Chris! I am back now and am going to plow through the backlog starting with oldest first. I personally am not worried about Equinox from a performance standpoint. I just know how water hunters are when it comes to gear and the Excalibur as a true diving detector will continue to have fans, just like the CTX and E-TRAC etc will continue to have fans. It will be interesting to see how it all sorts out over the next year - that's part of the fun as far as I am concerned!

Them's some fine looking chunks of gold pardner Those Rokons are something else - was a dealer back when they had just reopened the business, but unfortunately the parts backup was non-existent at the time so we had to drop them after a couple years. Here I am back in 1993 on the floodplain of Knik Glacier outside on Anchorage on a ride with my wife. She handled it fine on easy terrain but it is something else trying to handle them in the really rough stuff since there is no suspension beyond tire pressure. The big advantage as you know is following goat trails on steep slopes that would tip an ATV over sideways in a heartbeat and navigating in dense trees and such where a regular ATV cannot pass.

When the AT Pro came out in 2010 it turned the industry on its ear. A lightweight, inexpensive metal detector waterproof to ten feet, that did not skimp on features including a LCD readout, speaker, and interchangeable coils. Up to then underwater detectors were more akin to the Tesoro Tiger Shark - heavy, feature limited, expensive, and usually with hardwired coils and headphones. The Garrett AT Pro basically created a new category of detectors - the All Terrain (AT) detector, as much at home in the water as on land. Many manufacturers are still trying to catch up to this seven years later. The AT Pro as a detector however is a 15 kHz discriminating type VLF with no true prospecting mode. That is not to say you cannot find gold nuggets with it. You can. If your intend on maybe going nugget detecting but might not ever get around to it, it might serve. However, if you really intend and want to put in more than a couple days a year nugget detecting there are better options like the 18 kHz Garrett AT Gold. Just about everyone makes a 18 - 20 kHz do it all prospecting detector as listed at Nugget Detector Guide. People have favorites for various reasons but I can grab most any 18 - 20 khz VLF detector and do about as well personally running any of them so I will defer to others as far as the picking of favorites.

Excellent advice from Rick. All I wanted to add is this link to a previous thread on the subject. How Deep Can I Detect Coins & Relics?

Great stuff - thanks!

I have heard of this happening. One possible cause is that the headphone jack is wired to the speaker such that inserting the headphones repeatedly may have caused a weak solder joint to separate. The Gold Bug 2 is relatively easy to open and inspect. If you are under warranty this would in theory be covered but the mailing cost and time may not be worth it. This thread describes how to open up the control box for inspection.

I tried the concentric many years ago on the AT Pro on some magnetite laden ground. It is a very good coil on milder ground but it definitely had a harder time with the ground than a DD coil. Concentrics do have some advantages as regards the handling of bottle caps and other trash in a park type situation however and are worth consideration for sure. VLF Concentric vs DD Coils 6.5" x 9" PROformance Concentric Searchcoil For Garrett AT Pro, AT Gold, and AT Max (same part number all three models) PN: 2222600

An amazing and much sought after find by many detectorists for sure. Made more fun by the fact I had just heard from Brian before he made what turned out to be one of the best "last trips of the season" I ever heard of. A truly beautiful coin - congratulations Brian! It may be like nugget hunting also in that the first one is by far the hardest. I suspect more gold coins are waiting in your future!!

I have owned the original Spectra V3 model plus later V3i models. One of the few detectors I am hanging onto because it is a detector nerds dream. I agree with previous commentary however that the ground balance/ground tracking system is not as good as it could be, and so the idea it is better in bad ground than a F75 is questionable at best. Staying with White's I would rather use an MXT in bad ground while nugget detecting, but I see no reason why the V3i would not serve well just about anywhere for coin and jewelry detecting. Sorry to hear about your fall. I worry a little more about such things myself the older I get!

Hi Skate, I downloaded it to try it but it was unfinished and never worked. Now it appears to have been withdrawn from the market. Do you still have the CTX? I might be able to help you with running the GPS system on it. I have personally been trying to find a decent phone tracking app and while there are many good ones, like MotionX, none seem to let me zoom in close enough for detailed ground mapping.

In the first post of this thread....

They are a variation on drag coils / tow coils. I bumped a recent thread on the subject to the top. I won't comment on the blanket style coil since I have never used one personally. The fact the Aussies have not lined up to buy them is all I need to know.

I have good information that tells me the Equinox will handle mineralized salt water beaches just fine for a non-PI detector. I am confident enough that is the case I sold my CTX. Is it “better” than the CTX? I am sure that will be a subject of debate over the next year. The problem you face is that this is an early announcement, and the main focus has not been beach but coin and relics. Right now you only have three groups (four people) who are testers who have said much if anything. Remember, testers may or may not say anything at all. There is Brandon Neice, who appeared in the Detectival announcement videos, and who is based in Idaho. Brandon goes by Dr. Tones on YouTube There are Derek & Sharon McLennan of the DUG THAT OFFICIAL MINELAB EQUINOX 800-600 GROUP who are based in the U.K. And there is me in Reno, Nevada. Notice none of us is on the ocean. The Equinox has undergone salt water testing of course, but the fact is nobody has produced any solid information regarding that subject yet. I hate to say it, but people for whom those reports are of key importance - you are going to have to be patient and wait for the reports to appear. I know before most about any official reports and most new information appears on this forum with 24 hours of it appearing anywhere, and often times this is the first place you will hear about it. I would also keep a close eye on Brandon’s YouTube page and the Facebook group mentioned above. Previous thread on wet sand beach performance.

The coil is part of the magic for sure. The coil design was not new to Minelab (there are posts on Geotech with similar designs that precede GPZ) and in theory can work with detectors designed specifically to run it. That being the catch - you can’t just slap it on another detector and expect results.

I doubt there is a coil more difficult to manufacture than the GPZ coil. It uses a winding configuration not used in consumer detector models before which facilitates the technology used in the GPZ 7000. There is over 6000 feet of copper wire in each coil! It has to be manufacturered to very high tolerances with no possibility of internal movement. In other words, not remotely as easy to make as most coils and doing it on a volume basis might actually be beyond the manufacturing capability of smaller third parties. Minelab GPZ 14 Coil with Lower Rod and Scuff Cover

Previous thread

No. Minelab simply has not done it yet. Despite my pulling my hair and pounding the floor, and generally being an annoyance! Honestly, I suspect Equinox is in our way at the moment. New machine introductions are an “all hands on deck” thing requiring all available engineers to focus on the effort. There are rumors of third party development also. I have no doubt a smaller coil will appear eventually, but like all things detecting breath holding is not advised. My vote is for an 11” x 8” coil.

The Garrett AT series, MX Sport, and others plus now Equinox have headphone outlets on the back of the pod. In White’s case I complained a lot because the MX Sport has an underarm battery compartment where the headphone outlet could have been mounted instead - a better design. It is more difficult for the AT, Equinox, and other “detectors in a pod”. The rear mount does mean the headphone cable must double back 180 degrees to the operator. This does put strain on the connector and can result in premature cable failure. For above water use I am sure Equinox owners are going to use wireless headphones, eliminating the issue for most users. However, if you want to submerge the pod more than a few inches, you have to use the dongle adapter for wired headphones while wading or the full waterproof headphones. This will create a bend and a strain point. I like the 90 degree idea but even that does not eliminate the issue entirely, and I am not sure such a 90 degree fitting even exists for the Equinox waterproof port. It does not look like that is being supplied anyway per the photo above - it is a straight connector. In my personal use I may very well tie-wrap the headphone cord to the upper handle, relieving the connector of any applied strain. That would be a possible solution. Knowing me I also might not, but if that is the case then I will also have spare headphones!