Mark Gillespie

It will need to be something to excite all those guys and gals that have already pre-ordered the Equinox and also the F users from crossing over.  Everyone, I mean all of my hunting  buddies have made up their mind to buy the 800 model.  It's hard for me to believe so many of my hunting friends will completely abandon their tried and tested machines.  Now I must admit, the thought is happening to me too.  I've used 1st Texas machines for some 15 years and this craze is hitting me also.  Why would a person spend $1000-1500 or more for any machine if a $899 could do the same thing?

At times the truth can be very painful.

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 10:33 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

People complain about the big tease, but there is only one reason companies do it. It works. Same thing Hollywood has been doing with movie trailers for ages so it is not even new really.

So true

Did a few test runs with the 12" OZ and the miner John mono 5 x 9 coils today.

Amazing how these two coils acted compared to my 12 and 7 1/2 dual field coils.

First off the 12" OZ coil compared to the 12" dual field coil.

The OZ allowed a gain setting of max where the dual field usually required gain at 7 to be stable

OZ coil threshold hum is more steady even at gain of max.

Actual air test were identical on a US nickel.

Love the way I can pinpoint off the front with the OZ coil.

Dual field pinpoint is definitely more difficult  and requires a larger hole.

The OZ coil is lighter and easier to swing longer periods of time.

Now for my favorite, the Miner John 5 x 9" mono coil.

Far superior in the trash.

Seems to have a little more depth over the 7 1/2" dual field, but this could be due to higher gain settings.

The miner coil can also be pinpointed off the front edge, holes are a lot smaller and recovery time is quicker than other coils.

Case in point, I have several coins buried in my test garden of over 10 years.  These coins range up to 8" deep.  This might not seem super deep, but the red clay dirt of Virginia presents a whole set of issues for detectors to conquer.  I've not found a single VLF machine (White's V3i, XP Deus and CTX 3030 among many other machines loaned to me over the years) that can accurately ID the 8" nickel. 

But the TDI armed with either the 12" dual field or OZ and the miner john coil have no problem giving a very loud, repeatable audio on this 8" nickel.  The 7 1/2" struggles to give an audio every other sweep.

Thanks again Charles...

You might be thinking, what is the big deal, but...

This dime came from a hunted out site using the TDI and the OZ 12" coil.  The coil was loaned to me by GB_Amateur aka Steve.  I have been hunting this small area, maybe 50' x 100' for over 2 years.  This site has given up many silver and copper coins.  The site has also been hunted by two of my hunting buddies using the CTX 3030, Whites DFX, Fisher F75 and of course the TDI.  The OZ coil is super deep in this area and extremely stable.  I also dug over 10 nice large nails prior to finding this dime.  I must admit I had been purposely looking for only the deeper sounding targets and ignoring the shallow one.  I might add one more thing, all the nails sounded about the same, but I dug anyway.  On the other hand the dime sounded strange compared to the nails.  Can't explain the actual sound, but hope to soon, hear it again.   If possible I might try to record the actual audio and post for all to hear.

May be a few days before getting to hunt again, weather will turn much colder this weekend. 

Thanks again Steve.

I too have gained a tremendous amount of interest in this machine.  I also agree with all points Steve.  It might possibly over throw all single frequency machines including the Deus, which I really liked.  If it actually lives up to its claims then many die hard users might switch from their present brand preference.

Always wanted to try one of the OZ or miner John coils on my TD

Years ago on the Tesoro site forum there was 2 guys that took a week per year and traveled around in upper New England area hunting.  They used Explorer and knocked on doors to ask permission.  It was amazing what they found.  They were really good writers as well.

But when the Tesoro site went down all was lost.

The Super Pulse 350 is a 8 x 14" mono coil.

Very good coverage and the depth is identical to the 7 1/2 dual scan coil from White's.  Much easier to pin point than the dual scan coils.

Never had any of the Miner John coils so I can't do any comparisons.  But I will say one thing, even though it is a large coil, it is super sensitive to small, low conductors.

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

From http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,133529,133563#msg-133563

October 18 at 6:47am - Tim Mallory (VP Sales and Marketing at First Texas Products) “When we release it will knock your socks off and will likely have brothers and sisters quickly following... but we are committed to doing it right and we have had many set backs.. but THEY are coming.”

Maybe in 2018?

Very encouraging information.  I'm determined to wait.  I was in line for the F75 following a phone call from Gene Scullion (before he was hired by 1st Texas).   The F75 was truly a game changer for me.

Awesome, fantastic marketing video, makes me want one too.

The question to be is it performance comparable with the Garrett pro pointer and at what cost.

Love the information in the book.  A lot to take into consideration before heading out. 

On ‎10‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 7:53 AM, Mark Gillespie said:

Well my 8 x 14 coil came yesterday and I got to hunt at an old school yard where coal waste has been discarded for many decades. The coil seemed to run fairly good.

Noticed a few things:

Actual ground balance was a little higher (tad over 8) than with my other coils.

Increasing the delay didn't change the GB as much as my other coils.

It was obvious when the GB balance was off by the increased false audio reports.

I could actually run gain to 7, but past that the machine would false in this bad ground.  With the stock coil I usually settle with gain of 6.

Very good coverage.

Felt lighter than the 12" stock coil, but I believe the 12" is a deeper running coil, air test might be in order

I could actually pinpoint better (off the front end of the coil) than the stock coils. My holes were noticeably smaller due to better target location.

Plenty deep enough, I know some may laugh, but I dug beer beaver tails at 6" in this terrible ground.    But I was hunting for gold not coins.

Looking forward to my next chance after Nate passes by.

No gold jewelry found this time.

Short update is in order:

Careful study has indicated the depth of the 8 x 14 coil and the 7 1/2" dual field coil is about identical.  As stated above the coverage and pinpoint of targets is excellent.  But I caught myself swinging to fast not a good thing in bad ground.  Even though the larger coil gives better coverage I tend to prefer the smaller coil.  I can understand how a hunter can get in trouble with multiple targets under the coil at the same time.  I had this happen several times and can say it was a challenge to say the least. 

But I've wanted a true mono coil for several years and couldn't pass up the White's garage sale.  I often wonder if either the OZ 7 1/2 or 12" would be more to my liking.

I like that options too.

Well my 8 x 14 coil came yesterday and I got to hunt at an old school yard where coal waste has been discarded for many decades. The coil seemed to run fairly good.

Noticed a few things:

Actual ground balance was a little higher (tad over 8) than with my other coils.

Increasing the delay didn't change the GB as much as my other coils.

It was obvious when the GB balance was off by the increased false audio reports.

I could actually run gain to 7, but past that the machine would false in this bad ground.  With the stock coil I usually settle with gain of 6.

Very good coverage.

Felt lighter than the 12" stock coil, but I believe the 12" is a deeper running coil, air test might be in order

I could actually pinpoint better (off the front end of the coil) than the stock coils. My holes were noticeably smaller due to better target location.

Plenty deep enough, I know some may laugh, but I dug beer beaver tails at 6" in this terrible ground.    But I was hunting for gold not coins.

Looking forward to my next chance after Nate passes by.

No gold jewelry found this time.

I hunted with mine at an old school yard where coal waste has been discarded for many decades.  The coil seemed to run fairly good.  Noticed a few things:

Actual ground balance was actually a little higher than with my other coils. 

Increasing the delay didn't change the GB as much as my other coils.

It was obvious when the GB balance was off by the increased false audio reports.

I could actually run gain to 7, but past that the machine would false in this bad ground. 

Very good coverage.

Felt lighter than the 12" stock coil

I could actually pinpoint better (off the front end of the coil) than the stock coils.  My holes were noticeably smaller due to better target location.

Plenty deep enough, I know some may laugh, but I dug beer beaver tails at 6" in this terrible ground.

No gold jewelry was found this time.

Steve any idea when you might get your hands on this machine?

Borrowed one from Gene Scullion back when he was a detector dealer and found one of the nicest gold rings ever with the Gold Bug Pro DP.  Lightning fast recovery in the trash.  Thanks again to Gene

Very informative essay.  Different ideas can really pay off.  Thanks.

Interesting, thanks Mike

If the Equinox performs like people are thinking, it will take the market by storm.

Don't know about their engineering department, but their marketing department appears to be the best.

That is an awesome description of coil/filter interaction.

For years I've wanted a good PI machine "TDI", but with a fair amount of true, actual, working discrimination without loosing depth.  So many say it will never happen or rather they just don't know. 

31 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Best bet is to wait 6 months to a year after release for issues to sort out on any new detector. Or just stick with what you have.

I think that is a very realistic prediction, and that will give 1st Texas a chance to finish and test anything in the pipes.