Cal_Cobra

Carl I know you're not working for ML, but as an expert on simultaneous multi frequency technology you likely know a few things about the Equinox technologies. As Sunray will never do it, and ML Is challenged just to get machines out, let alone accessories, how complicated would it be to build a 3rd party inline probe for the Equinox ?

Received my card today, thank you very much! Great to have a little cheat sheet in the field until I get everything committed to memory....might need to carry it for a while Thanks again, really appreciate it.

Wow, BIG CONGRATS!! That's a memory you'll never forget, awesome! Definitely seeing a trend, these things seem to LOVE gold, not a bad problem to have

Steve also consider that their quick start guide, and the Quick Start procedure on page 11 of the manual gives these four steps: 1) Turn On 2) Select a Detect Mode 3) Noise Cancel 4) Begin Detecting! Thats Minelabs words, and exactly what I did my first couple of hunts, and the Equinox performed perfectly. TID was solid, machine was quite, plenty of power as it detected deep targets. So something is going on under the hood that almost makes me wonder if it's at all necessary to GB at all (not that I mind, mind you, it's very simple and I'm used to doing it on my other detectors). Just something that struck my curiosity more than anything, especially as you noted their previous Multi frequency machines did it on the fly.

If you read between the lines on the various search modes, Minelab seems to imply that the ground balancing is done automagically, regardless of whether you do a ground grab or not. For example: Park 1 Multi-IQ processes a lower frequency weighting of the multi-frequency signal, as well as using algorithms that maximise ground balancing for soil, to achieve the best signal to noise ratio. Hence Park 1 is most suited for general detecting and coin hunting. Park 2 Multi-IQ processes a higher frequency weighted multi-frequency signal while ground balancing for soil. Field 1 Multi-IQ processes a lower frequency weighted multi-frequency signal, as well as using algorithms that maximise ground balancing for soil, to achieve the best signal to noise ratio. Hence being most suited for general detecting and coin hunting. Field 2 Multi-IQ processes a higher frequency weighted multifrequency signal while ground balancing for soil. Beach 1 Multi-IQ processes a low frequency weighted multi-frequency signal, and uses special algorithms to maximise ground balancing for salt. Beach 2 MultiIQ processes a very low weighted multi-frequency combination, using the same algorithms as Beach 1 to maximise ground balancing for salt. Not to be confused with auto tracking, but it appears that the Equinox is doing some ground balancing specific to each search mode irregardless of whether you do a ground grab (auto ground balance in EQ speak) or not. Not that I would skip doing a ground grab, but I find it interesting that Minelab seems to be implying they process the ground balancing differently for each search mode, even if you don't do it. Steve do you see this as the case?

Using someone else's setting only works for you if you're hunting the exact same type of environment as they are, like if you're relic hunting and the settings are from the tame grounds of the east coast, but you're in highly mineralized soils in the west coast, then, IMO, it's not a great idea. That was a hard lessen for me to learn, I used to follow NASA Tom's reports religiously, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with his detector reports, as they can be the most comprehensive detector capability analysis on earth BUT his inert Florida soil is nothing like what we have to deal with here on the west coast and in the Nevada deserts. So what may work great for him, can be (and has been for me in many situations) a complete bust for me. I think the key is really leaning what each setting does and when to use it, so that you can set it up for optimal performance in YOUR detecting environment. So if I'm detecting an alkali soil site that my VLF machines can't even ground balance at, and it's loaded with iron, I need to have a completely different approach to setting my EQ800 up then someone in England, the east coast, or where ever. That said, that's not to say that you can't learn a lot about the detector by understanding WHY people are setting up their detectors the with the settings their using so you can modify it to suit your environment. Just my V nickels worth

Thanks strict! I'm slowly learning this beast, I'm still in dig-it-all mode trying to learn what it's audio language is telling me, and what it's strengths and weaknesses are. I'll likely play around with the speed settings a bit this weekend.

I haven't used it, but there's a smartphone app called Tect O Trak you could check out. It's too bad they don't offer a trial version, it's $9.99. The challenge with GPS smartphone apps is they really kill your battery. If you try it, post a review here, would be great to know how it works out. PS - Tect O Trak has a Facebook page you could check out to decide if you want to part with ten bucks to try it out.

If you have the 800, the included wireless headphones work great, why use wired?

Oddly I wasn't getting the double beeps on most of the surface cans. Need to experiment more with the pinpointing, I do like the pinpointing on the Equinox although I am now experiencing the low volume bug others reported. I guess I always was and just didn't realize it. Although given Minelabs track record for releasing firmware updates, I won't be holding my breath for one, but it would be fantastic if Minelab would remedy some of the lingering issues that weren't resolved during field testing.

After what felt like weeks of rain, Sunday was a beautiful warm sunny day, and I was able to get out with some detecting friends and get a solid 8 hours of detecting. Something that's been bugging me, is those darn surface, or near surface targets. Amazingly something as large as a flattened beer can sounds pretty darn good, coming in at a solid 26, the same as a silver dime. Now most machines would overload on a beer can an inch or two under the surface, and you'd likely move on, especially after digging several As the site that was loaded with said beer cans has been known to produce some good old coins, it was hard to pass these, but I gotta tell you that after digging well over a case of them (some were 12"-18" deep, many were shallow), it was defeating. Interestingly for the most part, I did not get that double blip signal indicating a surface target, one or two perhaps, but not the majority. I did raise the coil on a few, and sure you could raise the coil 8" before loosing the signal, but what if it was a rare quarter or barber half (which understandably should register a higher TID# then 26) I should mention that on Saturday a 1907-D $10 gold eagle came out of this site, and last fall a AU condition (PCGS graded) 1913-S Barber Quarter came out of this site, for those that don't know coins, let's just say you could buy a decent used car with that one, or pay for 12 EQ800's with change for gas and a few coils : http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/5666 Don't get me wrong, I dig my fair share of trash, especially in relic sites, where you're usually rewarded (eventually) if you dig all conductors, but there has to be a better way to deal with these cans or like nuisance targets?? HH, Cal

I used the Horseshoe button quite a bit yesterday while I got in a solid 8 hours of detecting on my EQ800 (see my post and results here: For part of the hunt we were trying to locate an old homestead site, and I employed the Horseshoe listening for iron to locate the homestead, which we never found, it was about as quite as could be on that mountain top/side. I also used it to check some iffy signals, ones that would start to give you a high conductor whisper like signal (the kind that gets me exciting thinking there might be deep silver) but each time when I employed the Horseshoe check, I could tell that I was simply getting the tip of a nail or something similar that was falsing. Very handy feature IMO. Still tons to learn, I need to start experimenting with the speed and iron bias settings. To be honest, I have so much fun just getting out and detecting, that I frequently fail to start testing all of the advanced features as it just seems to work fine with the preset settings I guess that's my next step, to start learning how and when to employ iron bias and change up the speed settings. HH, Brian

Finally got a break in the rain in not so sunny Sunnyvale, and got an invite from some detecting buddies to go explore some outback sites. First site they'd already located an old homestead but were searching for two more. After a brutal (for me) hike up a mountain, we didn't find the homestead that was supposed to be up there, but the view was spectacular, so still worth the effort. Did a total of a solid 8 hours of detecting at various spots, and lots of hiking around. I had to dig all of this: To get this: We hiked back down to the site that they'd already found and after hours of finding nothing but bullets, and shotgun butts, I finally got my coil over some keepers. First was a well worn 1886 V nickle, it was so worn that I initially thought it was a token, then a shield nickle, but then in the sun I could see the V. Just a few feet away from that I got the badge looking thing, no idea what it is, looks like a Navy or Marines insignia, anyone have any ideas? Also got a Southern Pacific RR seal: And a couple of buckles: We went to a second site, it was purportedly an old picnic grove. The day before a 1907 $10 gold eagle was dug there, and numerous other coins over the years have been dug there, from reales, seateds to barbers, one guy got a V nickle, the other guy got a toasty IHP and I got the buckle above there, it's marked PAT. MAY 2,1990. The oddball looking buckle looking thingy above it is marked PAT DEC 21, 86. I've never dug so many beer cans, I stopped counting at a case I ran the EQ800 in Field2, noise cancel, GB, SENS between 21-23, everything else default. Didn't seem like I dug any more iron then any other machine, got a couple of nails, and a couple of BIG pieces of iron. If anyone has any idea what that badge looking item with the anchor on it is, I'd appreciate it. HH, Brian

Time for my CZ70 to go to fleabay...cannot ever see using it again now that I have the EQ and MK. Good for it's day, but it's day has come and gone.....hopefully it does ok on fleabay as I also have the Sunray 12.5 coil which people try to price gouge for.

Pretty cool, haven't paired up the headphones to my iPhone yet. Would be cool if they also had a mic

Beautiful dime, full Liberty! A large cent from a park is out of the question in California :( Nice job, I think the EQ has a ton of potential, I just need to keep learning it.

I've never used the Xterra, but the AM horseshoe button on the Equinox isn't a true all metal model in the traditional sense whereas it's a wide open, unfiltered all metals mode. It basically leverages whatever search mode your utilizing and removes all the pre-set notching so it's using zero discrimination. I think it's a very handy feature to be honest, great to quick check a target, or for relic hunters flip it on to quickly locate the iron zones and then go into your search mode of choice.

Nice job guys, the Etrac and Equinox just blew the CZ70 out of the water! BTW double check the mint mark on that quarter, if it's from San Francisco, it's a big dollar coin

I had a couple of deep silver dimes (a merc and a rosie) TID in the low 30's, and a third one was a rock solid 26. The two in the low 30's where softer signals (not quite whispers, but not banging like the one @ 26), so I was surprised the TID went up vs down as you normally see with VLF machines (F75 for example).

That's Steve, I was pretty sure that the Horseshoe button wasn't a true all metals mode, in the sense that traditional detectors have an all metals mode. It was simply not discriminating/notching anything from -9 to 40. I think it's great that they had the foresight to include this feature, great for checking targets, or for searching new sites and trying to hone in on the areas of main in-habitation which typically include tell tale signs of copious amounts of iron.

Steve, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that when you push the horseshoe button, you're not really going into an all metals mode, it's simply running at zero disc, which isn't the same thing. The default programs have already disc'd out iron and the lower end of conductors (like foil), but if you wanted to hunt a site that you wanted to listen to the iron (like a ghost town for example) you could simply press the horseshoe button and hunt in zero disc mode.

Great information Daniel!! Maybe I missed it, but without any mineralization reporting on the EQ, how can you tell if your ground is mineralized? I have lots of sites that I already know the mineralization is high, but how do you tell on new sites that you have no idea? Perhaps there's still a reason to keep my F75

Welcome!!! It's refreshing to come here, the old site I used to spend most of my time at has turned into a mess. I'm also considering moving to Washington or Oregon from California. How are you liking Oregon so far? My family on my mom's side actually homesteaded Oregon (came over the Oregon trail in the 1800's), but scattered around the west coast after WW2. HH, Brian

I think it will be very interesting when we do our ghost town sites. I'm already at least on par with his Exp2/Bandito combo with just the Multi Kruzer, so should be interesting to see how the EQ800 fares. Will be a while before we get to the ghost towns because of the weather, likely won't get to go until the fall. Although we do have a new relic site that looks promising, that I'm hoping we can visit this weekend (I may go solo ).

Especially when smaller coils materialize :)