Steve Herschbach

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 Now it appears to have been withdrawn from the market.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!

I am getting questions via PM instead of the forum.... “Why did they put an external speaker on the Equinox? Is there anyone that even uses them now days? I know a few that have had trouble with the speaker leaking on the CTX” and “I saw a post saying the Equinox may well have a true AM mode like the Xterra does for prospecting. Would this bring it to an equalizing depth against the Xcal and CTX in the salt water? Have you tried the all metal mode and IF you have, could you do a post on it (true all metal, threshold based, does it lock on when the button is pushed or do you have to hold the button). Curious as to if it is something that could be used like an Excal in Pinpoint or if it is just a quick push of the button to go to a non-notched mode of discrimination.” My perception of Equinox is that it is a general purpose all terrain detector intended to take market share from Garrett AT and Deus. It is waterproof to ten feet and does have a multifrequency beach mode. I think it will do well in salt water. I question whether it will replace a true diving detector like the Excalibur with the hardcore water crowd. For people like me who get in the water maybe three weeks out of the year it’s just great however. Whether it proves sufficient for the hardcore water hunters, only time will tell. The all terrain, all purpose intent of the Equinox pretty much demands it include a speaker. It is just a fact that people expect detectors to have an external speaker. The Fisher CZ-7 was an early attempt to make a detector without a speaker (it had a plug in accessory speaker). It was not a well received idea. The Minelab SD, GP, and GPX detectors have no external speaker, and people have been selling external speaker kits ever since. The vast majority of people think a detector should have an external speaker.. Again, we are talking an all terrain detector here that will see more use out if water than in it, not a dedicated diving machine like the Excalibur. The Equinox has four Detect Modes. Park, Field, Beach, and Gold. The Park, Field, and Beach modes are discrimination modes. Everything is discriminated visually by target id and/or tones. You can block or notch out specific target id numbers or ranges. You can also, at any time, by hitting the “Horseshoe” button, go to a wide open “All Metal” mode where all items are accepted, similar as to the way it is done on X-Terra and CTX. This is not a true non-discriminating all metal mode, but a discrimination mode set to accept all items. The discrimination filter is engaged. You can at any time engage the pinpoint mode, which activates when you press the pinpoint button, and turns off when you press it again. It might serve like the all metal pinpoint on the Excalibur but I am a bit doubtful of that. The pinpoint of the Equinox currently “ratchets” automatically to focus on and pinpoint targets. This is still being tweaked so I can’t say for sure, but I personally would not buy an Equinox thinking it will duplicate how the Excalibur acts as far as pinpoint mode goes. It might in the final version, but I would not want to bet on it. The Gold Mode on the Equinox 800 is somewhat like the Prospecting Mode on the X-Terra 705, a threshold based all metal mode. It operates at 20 kHz and 40 kHz plus MF (MultiFrequency) and is too hot for salt water or wet salt sand. It might be good on dry sand for micro jewelry, but that’s it. For wet salt sand or in salt water, the Beach Mode, which only operates in multifrequency, will be the go to mode for most people.

I open this thread each morning expecting to find it gone astray, and instead find good discussion. I want just want to say thank you all for that!

Equinox is every bit as fast as a Deus if not faster. I don’t pay attention to screens when a sweep reveals 16 or 24 targets. I assume numbers are blasting around like crazy. I don’t look at a screen until the audio says I should so it has not made an impression on me as to what it is doing exactly but will check and report back. I can make all detectors fool me. Lots of ferrous items fire off high tone squeaks with any detector. I usually know they are ferrous. I do wonder at times if a coin is co-located with a nail or bottle cap. Something about the little squeak will be enticing. Usually I will pass on those types of iffy targets due to lack of time and desire not to dig any more plugs than necessary. However, if I am in the mood and particularly aggressive, I dig these, and that is when weird ferrous stuff shows up. Old nails on end, etc. Equinox is no different. There are clearly good targets, clearly bad targets, and then there are borderline and questionable targets. If you aggressively chase questionable targets you will tend to dig more trash. Equinox is still a metal detector and acquired detecting skills still matter. I can dig nothing but coins with Equinox if I choose, by skipping anything remotely questionable. If I dig every tiny little indication of a coin no matter what, then junk starts to appear. Learning a detector and where that line is is something all experienced detectorists do and will still have to do with Equinox. Everything that appears on a detector screen also appears in the audio if you run full tones. All a screen does is plot the responses visually. That is not to say a screen cannot be a tremendous aid, even a necessity for those with hearing challenges. I like and enjoy hunting with detectors that have great visual displays. Even then though I am and will always be a person that goes after targets first and foremost because they sound good to me. People’s mileage will vary in that regard.

If detectors with Li-Ion batteries cannot travel by air then lots of Minelab GPX, CTX, and GPZ owners are all breaking the law. Luckily that is not the case. There appears to be confusion here about batteries installed in equipment versus spare batteries. Almost all limits apply to spare batteries. From https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ash/ash_programs/hazmat/passenger_info/media/Airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf

Spring 2016. All units in existence are still under warranty (two year transferable), and White’s will probably extend the warranty on some of these issues since they are known issues.

Batteries as component part of devices are allowed on aircraft - all those laptops and iPads, you know. Part of the Equinox design is ease of travel.

Welcome to the forum! The 5.3 lb. CTX has a two piece rod assemble, and the lower rod just barely fits diagonally in my full size Samsonite suitcase. Packing a CTX for travel is difficult but possible. The 2.9 lb. Equinox on the other hand has a three piece rod, and just fits in my industry standard carry on bag. Underwater headphones will be available for Equinox at launch, with aftermarket phones sure to follow. Waterproof headphones with EQUINOX connector. Can also be connected directly to a WM 08 Wireless Audio Module. Part No. 3011-0372 More Equinox Accessories Listed Here

No way to say without doing direct head to head tests. Possibly more than you are assuming.

The last half of this video shows a Garrett AT Gold being opened up. The information should be useful for Garrett AT Pro and AT Max owners also.

Unless you are doing this as a for profit thing, I agree with Fred. You simply have to see enough gold to get your interest. That varies depending on the person, but for me any decent showing of gold is worth following up on. There will usually be better concentrations of gold in the creek bottom than on the banks, but nothing is 100% in gold prospecting until you prove it. If you have not done it yet, a hand fed sluice box is the cheapest volume sampling device you can get. Before going to a dredge I would recommend shoveling a few yards through a sluice. A lot of this book is overly technical but it is free and describes how the professionals go about it. Some good tidbits in there. Placer Examination - Principles and Practice by John H. Wells

Pretty much all I ever ran while in Alaska with my GPX was the Sharp timing. I generally run the most powerful timing the ground will allow, and Sharp is one of the most powerful Timings on the GPX. From the Minelab GPX 4000-5000 Manuals & Timings Charts: “Sharp is similar to Normal but creates a more powerful detection field. It is capable of an improvement in depth, but is more susceptible to interference and will increase the severity of false signals in difficult grounds. This timing is best used in quiet conditions and can work well in combination with Deep Search Mode with a reduced Rx Gain setting. Sharp is an excellent tool for pinpointing faint signals due to the very "sharp" signal response. Sharp will work best with DD coils in most gold field locations.” Sharp works well if the ground allows, and not well if the ground objects. I get the impression people pick timings based on internet posts or what a friend said, when they should be using the method outlined in the chart below to discover the best timing for the ground they are on. There is no “best” timing. The detector must be adjusted to fit the conditions. “The best timing is the deepest timing with no ground noise”. Minelab GPX Timing Selection Chart - Click on image for larger version

Hopefully not. Heal up well and fast!

They are a finicky, touchy device for sure.