Randy Dee

This post is mainly directed to UK field detecting where we have had social open air gatherings since Medieval times and on fields littered with coke. I used these settings yesterday and I was hopeful of finding at least one gold necklace / chain but alas none, better luck next time. As most of us know it is almost impossible to find a fine gold chain with any metal detector and as it is a long story why but mainly due to Eddy Currents and the metal detector rejecting coke which fits into the same frequency range as thin and fine gold and as here in the UK we find our permission fields littered with coke which mostly emanates from the days of steam engines powering farm equipment and the spreading of night soil as a crop fertilizer and which was collected from house middens and where the ashes from the household coal fires was used to cover the stinking human excrement, these ashes contained large cinders which survive for donkeys years in the soil and give off wonderful signals for metal detectors. This information on how to adjust the Tone Breaks to enhance the chances of finding gold chains during field detecting is only applicable to the Minelab Equinox 800 as it has the advanced settings capability. To alter the "Tone Breaks" it involves making changes to three "Target Tone Dependencies" which are "Number Of Target Tones", "Target Pitch" & "Target Volume". Here is my effort to change the settings to cover the frequency conductive range to give off a signal from thin gold chains in the discrimination zones, at present the default Discrimination zone is -9 to +2 and it is the Zero to +2 segment where gold chains show. So first of all select either "Field 1 or 2" your choice. Then go to "Target Tone" choose 5 tones. Then go to "Tone Breaks" and set the 5 tones as thus T1 = -9 to 0, T2 = 1 to 2, T3 = 3 to 28, T4 = 29 to 38, T5 = 39 to 40. Then go back to "Tone Volume" and set tone segments to T1 = 1, T2 = 15, T3 = 25, T4 = 25, T5 = 15. Then go to "Tone Pitch" and set the tone segments to T1 = 1, T2 = 15, T3 = 25, T4 = 20, T5 = 16. To move from from one tone segment to the next segment use the "Accept / Reject" button ( \//x ). These settings are working for me but then again they may not be every-bodies cup of tea.

I know exactly where you are coming from Steve as I am much like yourself I am truly smitten with the my Equinox 800 and every time out detecting with it I can't stop being amazed at the capabilities and achievements of this machine, since I got it mid February this year I am having some great finds with very small cut hammered silver coins at incredible depths and mostly on fields which I had presumed I had detected to death. My armory of CTX-3030, Deus and Explorer II is gathering dust as I just can't keep my hands off the Nox, and coming up to 76 I can still make sure I put in at least one 8 hour session each week. I first started metal detecting in 1976 and in my 42 years at this great hobby I can truly say I have never been so smitten as I am with the Equinox and I hope it will long last.

Hello David I have looked up your cut quarter and it is a short cross of either Richard I or Henry II and the ROB on the reverse legend is the moneyer ROBERT or ROBERD. Henry 2nd moneyer ROBERT was at the mints of Oxford, Wilton & Winchester. King 1133 AD . Richard 1st moneyer ROBERD was at the mints of Canterbury & Northampton. King 1157 AD.

As some of you may know I am almost completely deaf and cannot manage without my hearing aids and a while back I bought a couple of Phonak FM Receiver shoes for use with my Phonak Hearing Aids and I later bought a Phonak Roger FM wireless transmitter so as to hear music and TV wireless direct to my hearing aids. Today I took it into my head to try connecting my Minelab Equinox WM08 wireless unit with my Phonak Roger FM transmitter and I then paired the WM08 unit with my Equinox then paired the Phonak Wireless transmitter with my Phonak Hearing Aids and low and behold the Equinox signals came belting through spot on and loads of volume, see photographs below.

I will soon find out. I would think "Weatherproof would include rain water" the part with the white crimping bit looks like to me it is made of rubber which will compress and form a seal around the cable and the mid part will tighten down onto a rubber sealing ring so as to make it "Weatherproof".

I have just bought an Equinox headphone plug off ebay and although they are a bit pricey I am sure that they will do the job. At present I have bought the last of this listing but in the sellers listing there is his contact details to inquire if he has more to sell. See link below. Email:pandorawadia2@aol.com https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Headphone-connector-plug-Field-install-able-for-Equinox-600-800-metal-detector/173335428948?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908103841%26meid%3Dc4517e29363746e780941f3eb8285b9a%26pid%3D100227%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D123100339047%26itm%3D173335428948&_trksid=p2054502.c100227.m3827

By the way David was supplied with a new top shaft and control unit within a few days, excellent service from Minelab.

Minelab Equinox Master Class Saturday 26th May 2018. Myself and two friends had an invite to the Minelab Equinox Master Class today Saturday 26th May and we all had a wonderful day of great company in the presence of 47 other guys from various parts of the British Isles. The function was organized by Craig of Crawfords our UK distributor who put up a tremendous prize list for a free draw and all participants got a Minelab Lucky Bag. The whole idea of this function was for the selected Equinox purchasers to meet up with the UK Minelab Testers which included Gordon Heritage, Neil Jones and Sharon & Derek McLennan, and all of the Crawfords staff. It was strange seeing 50 detectorists all using the same Equinox detectors. I had expected more finds to show as we were all in the heart of Roman and Celtic territory of North Lincolnshire but then again the idea was to learn all of the advantages of the Equinox from the Minelab Testers, I did have an unusual find of a Victoria Groat (Four Pence) mounted in a silver frame dated 1838 that is 1 year after her coronation.

Well done a very impressive amount of gold and silver.

I am much like yourself the arm cuff strap is too short with my arm in to latch onto the velcro strip, I found an answer which suited a fit to my large muscle bound arms and that is to thread the cuff strap from one side of the arm rest cup across to the cuff strap slot on the opposite side but instead of folding the strap over to meet the velcro just use a small brass or stainless steel screw and thread it in between the small opened side of the hem of the strap end and you will find that the strap will not pull back through the arm cup strap slot.

Hello Cal A link to an American Restoration Company which reproduce parts for the agricultural steam engines dating to the 1800's. When I was in my early working life in farming 60 years ago these grease reservoirs were the norm on the paraffin driven tractors as well as the then aging steam driven corn thrashers and balers, these grease cups were made of cast steel and I am sure if you poke the center dirt from the bottom of the cup you will find that there is a hole straight through. https://www.restorationstuff.com/ecommerce/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=74 Good Hunting .... Randy Dee

Hello Cal Your mystery object in first photograph is a screw down grease cup with the top part missing, the top would have been just over 1" deep and filled with grease and it would have occasionally been screwed down to pressure more grease to a revolving shaft on a tractor or farm machinery these date as far back as the old steam engines used to drive thrashing machines. Here below is a Google link to many of the same. https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=hp&ei=g_n3WpyyHsTVwQLs-rUI&q=Images+of+a+screw+down+grease+cups&oq=Images+of+a+screw+down+grease+cups&gs_l=psy-ab.12...4428312.4459676.0.4462524.35.32.0.2.2.0.201.4719.0j30j1.31.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..2.31.4398.0..0j0i131k1j0i22i30k1j0i22i10i30k1j0i10k1j33i22i29i30k1j33i21k1j33i160k1.0.OWi0IxFg99M

There is only 7 invites left available. The total number of invites were restricted to 50. There is 2 - 3 UK members from this "Equinox Fan Club" who will be present. I am eagerly looking forward to attending this Equinox Folk get-together. .

Very nice that large lump of the yellow stuff. And your gold finds are much older than my finds. I have an invite to the North Lincolnshire Minelab Equinox Masterclass on 26th May. The masterclass is going to be run for us by Equinox experts and field testers Derek McLennan, Sharon McLennan, Gordon Heritage and Neil slow & Low Jones, I am looking forward to it even as a get together and swap experiences, we have an undetected field adjacent to Ermine Street the Roman Road near Lincoln there should be quite a bit of Roman stuff come up.

To be honest I don't know how Joan Allens have got back in with Minelab after all of the rumpus they made over the CTX3030.

But Richard we are getting loads of the Equinox's here in the UK it is just a case of no one is getting on the forums and telling all that they have received theirs, here up north on a local forum a pal Les put his order in with Joan Allen a month ago and then he was 267th on their waiting list now Les is 3rd just 4 weeks later and another pal (Pistol Pete) 5 weeks ago put his order in with Craig at Crawfords and then he was 147th on Crawfords waiting list this morning Pete rang Craig and asked where abouts he was on the list now and Craig told him he was on the next delivery next week and Pete asked Craig if there was still many waiting on his list Craig said his order list is back over 400 so it looks like what good reports which are coming out and filtering through is provoking other guys to make a move for the Equinox. ============================================================ Here Below Is Les's post referring to Equinox deliveries. Hi all, I’ve just been talking to Billy at Joan Allen, I asked him what the score was regarding the delivery of my new machine. I have been waiting just a month since placing my order, Billy informed me that I am now number three on the list, they just had forty machines delivered and I missed out by three. I have to ring them midweek to find out when they expect the next delivery. At least I’m getting close now and the excitement is growing. I can’t wait to get out and give it a try. Is there anybody else on the forum still waiting for theirs and if so how long have you got to wait now? Regards to all. Les.

Well Steve I have read all of your links to the gold prospecting of yours in Alaska and I am truly fascinated by your expeditions pulling out the gold nuggets and I was so intrigued I was imagining I was there alongside you. Your experience in this gold prospecting is very reminiscent to my hoard hunting and ancient artifact hunting here in the UK. Here below is one of my ancient finds which is published in this months Searcher Magazine it is an Iron Age Harness Fitting and this object gives me the same buzz as what you get with your gold nugget finds, this find is the only one of this type ever recorded.

Well put over Chase. Richard (Nuke em) does tend to seek out negative news even if it comes from the "Fake News Camp". Richard does have his opinion but I do wish he was a bit more on the positive side as he does very well with his finds rate here on the UK beaches I am very close to our UK Distributor (Crawfords) and most of the dealers returned faulty Equinox's comes through him for returning to Minelab and he told me of the over 400 Equinox's sold direct by him he has only had 4 to return to Minelab , and Craig at Crawfords has supplied hundreds and hundreds to his network of dealers and from that direction he has had very few with faults.

My Sennheiser CX 6.00BT wireless APTX Low Latency in ear headset (Ear Buds) arrived yesterday morning and I paired them with my Equinox 800, I went down to my garden test bed and I took out my hearing aids and put in the ear buds and I was amazed at how clear and loud the signals were these are going to be ideal for me during the summer months, but when the Autumn weather returns I will be back with the Avantree Audition Pro Aptx Low Latencey wireless headphones. .

Hello FWest Thank you very much for your very informative reply which I find very helpful and I am now more convinced that I have made a good purchase and these will resolve a problem which I have had for a long time with having to wear my hearing aids under my headphones and from now on by using the Sennheiser Ear Buds only I will get the detector sounds direct into my ears especially during the summer months. Good Hunting Randy Dee

On one of the earlier posts someone mentioned that they were using The Sennheiser CX 6.00BT wireless APTX Low Latency in ear headset (Ear Buds) and he said that they were excellent with the Equinox. I followed his advice and bought a set and I am now waiting for delivery of them, does any one use this type of APTX Low Latency Ear Buds and if so how are you finding them. I am almost completely deaf and have to use my hearing aids under the cupped headphones and as a result my ears tend to become sweated up and I am not sure if all of this dampness will be detrimental to my hearing aids and it is now becoming really hot here in the UK so went with the idea of using the Sennheiser CX 6.00 BT wireless Low Latency ear bud phones, I have also bought the Avantree Audition Pro Aptx Low Latencey wireless headphones and I have used them several times over the past 4 weeks and I am finding them much lighter and with better ear scope to allow me to keep my hearing aids in and with plenty of free space to prevent my hearing aids squealing and whistling, my Minelab ML80 wireless headphones do not have the same loose cup freedom fitting and tend to squeeze on my hearing aids and set them off whistling which is most annoying. Any feedback will be appreciated. Good Hunting Randy Dee

Excellent advice there Chase, like the old saying learn to walk before you run.

Bloody hell that's Dick Smith.

I always thought that Minelab out sourced their manufacturing to Plexus in Malaysia. At Minelab, We Change People's Fortunes by creating the world's best metal detectors. Codan Group’s Manufacturing Service Provider Since December 2009, the Codan Group’s manufacturing service provider, Plexus Corp, a US company, situated in Penang, Malaysia has been responsible for the majority of Minelab’s worldwide metal detector production. Minelab is proud of its association with its outsource partner in Malaysia. Genuine Minelab metal detectors are exclusively manufactured by Minelab in Australia and by Plexus Corp, USA in the Malaysian facility.

I don't think you are far away there Chase with your answer as David was out detecting in blazing sunshine here in the UK (Most unusual for us this time of year with temp 20c+) it could well be a Thermal Sensor problem. David has sent his Equinox 800 back to the UK main supplier and I wouldn't be surprised if the the problem cannot be found now in a cooler environment.