Cal_Cobra

Tom I'm with you on an elliptical 10" coil, it's been a favorite on my F75 and Racers. Actually that brings up another question for Steve - Did Minelab provide the optional small and large coils in your field test kit? -Brian

This is refreshing to hear! It used to drive me absolutely crazy on my F75, it loved them, especially if they came in a non-default shape (bent, rolled; separated, etc). I don't do a lot of park hunting where I live anymore because most of the parks are fairly well hunted out and I discovered relic hunting, older coins, some great relics and interesting history to boot. That said, from reading your Informative Equinox posts, I may well revisit park and turf detecting when the Equinox 800 is released. It's really sounding like the do all, and do it very well detector - relic, turf & park, beach (salt water beaches yet to be seen).

Very much enjoyed reading your posts Steve. For me it's fantastic to see you testing the Equinox, and your ground is tough like many of the places I detect in California and Nevada as well. For example, Tom and I are on an excursion this weekend and the site we're detecting has some really hardcore ground. On one side of the site my Impact ground balances at 68, if I walk 50 feet away, it ground balances at 22. Matter of fact when I first started detecting today it balanced at 22, and later it could no longer ground balance with ground grab. I went to the other side of the site and as usual it balanced at 68. It's all alkali soil, nasty stuff and it doesn't seem to bother Tom's Explorer2. I bet the Equinox will be fantastic at this site.

Their SEF and Ultimate coils are legendary, as are some of their gold coils, but saw that now their making coils for the Makro Racers too: The Ultimate coil might do well on the Racers if you have a need for a large coil. HH, Brian

Brandon said he's been testing the nox for the past 9 months (and that was a month ago, so make it 10 now). I don't doubt that Steve has also been testing it for an equal time period, and both being bound by a NDA were unable to talk about it, until it was announced at Detectaval, and even then, were apparently exceedingly limited by what could, and what could not be discussed. Now ten months is a long time for a field test, so I believe we will start to see some units trickling out by the end of the year, but then again I'm more of a glass half full versus half empty kind of guy

All I can say is good luck! The Depot has been loaded with detectors for sale since the nox announcement, and almost none of them are moving. I've never seen anything like this before, but have to give it to ML, absolutely brilliant marketing. It makes me feel bad for other detector companies, it has to be putting a hurting on their sales, I mean who in their right mind would buy a FTP product or a new Garrett ATM when for the same duckets you can get, what appears to be, a far superior Equinox machine? That said, I'm still keeping my R2 :)

The Makro Racer2 and Impact headphones are top notch! The audio is outstanding, zero lag, comfortable, and they hold a charge for a long time. Also impressed with how quickly they charge. I carry a USB power brick when on my detecting trips, and can charge the phones in half an hour. To be honest, I absolutely love the headphones and have a pair on my Racer2 and my Impact, it's one of the best accessories I've ever purchase, I'm so glad to dump the wires. I detect in a lot of areas full of brush and it's so nice not to get tangled up any more. Going forward, I'll never buy a detector that doesn't offer a solid wireless headphone option. HH, Brian

I have the MarsMD Tiger coil for my Racers and it's a great coil. The only problem is that almost all of the sites I detect are iron infested, trashy sites, so it's too much coil for me. I usually use the OOR, NEL Snake on my Racers, or the 7.5'' x 4'' coil on my Impact for these sites. Largest I can use is the factory 11" DD, and that's pushing it in the thick of the iron. hh, Brian

Steve don't tell Tom, but he's my gold coin hero too - lol I've been with him when 3 of those 15 gold coins were found, and a lot of it is location. I believe that one of these days, my coil will get over one too, maybe it'll be the Equinox 800 :) We actually have a new (for us) site that's been producing mid 1800's silver, and oddly various early 1900's coins (with a 1870's - 1900 gap, odd eh?). We feel that this site will (eventually) produce one, or more gold coins as we continue to pick away at it. It has, like many desert sites, intense alkali soils, which not only tend to destroy most silver coins (although not gold), but it also handicaps my VLF detectors. The Impact was a game changer when running at 20kHz, but even then, Tom's Explorer 2 had no challenges. I believe the Equinox will solve this challenge. With Tom and I both getting the Equinox 800, it'll be really interesting to see how things play out when we're detecting the same sites. Perhaps his 40 years of experience will trump my 11 or so, perhaps the Equinox will equalize things. HH, Brian

Thanks for taking the time to reply, and share your cat out of the bag testimonial You testing the Equinox is a confidence booster, as is Brandon. As you likely know, I mostly detect ghost towns, stage stops, old home sites, Spanish outpost type spots, and similar early types of sites, primarily in California and Nevada. Most of them have been detected since the dawn of detecting, yet they continue to yield finds for those patient enough, and willing to dig in some of the worst possible conditions (thick iron and being that many of them are in gold and silver bearing areas, they can also be highly mineralized). I have high hopes for the Equinox 800, and you and Brandon are sharing similar thoughts. I know that Brandon also frequents the same type of sites I enjoy detecting (heck even some of the same ones), honestly I don't know if you only detect for gold, or also are a relic hunter? As I mentioned before I've never gotten into prospecting, mainly due to having my hands full detecting the type of sites mentioned above. Now with a detector that's fully capable of being a solid VLF gold machine, and multi-freq beach, park, relic machine, it really opens up options for someone that's arsenal is mainly VLF relic detectors, along with an old multi-freq CZ70 that gets used once a year at the beach when a good erosion event occurs. I think it's time to thin out the heard, and follow your lead Thanks, Brian

So I think what you're saying is that it should do fine at Rye Patch :)

Steve thanks for posting the 600 vs 800 info. I've been following the Equinox since it was announced, and dissecting the info as Minelab releases it. Although I think the 600 is a great deal for the price, for the paltry difference the 800 is where it's at. Aside from the Prospecting mode, and 20 & 40kHz frequencies, there are enough other features the advanced user will find useful that it's money well spent at the end of the day (not to mention wireless headphones and wireless headphone module). I've never been a prospector, but the 800 with it's 40kHz prospecting option is appealing. I'm interested in how it will do, and hoping to try it at Rye Patch, which I know has been pounded to death, but would be an interesting place to test it out. HH, Brian

Tom's testing and insight into his maddening goal of just .1" more of depth makes for a great read IMHO!! I made a cliff notes version to study up on it.