Artie72

Totally agree with both Norm & Chase. I too struggled with the Etrac & had to use home made harness to be able to use it for any length of time. I am over 6' tall & need stem extended, which obviously means knackered arm after 40 year of detecting, so always try to find best way of extending my detecting life! I currently use XP Deus, which is great weight wise. The very best balanced machine (for me) was the XP GMP with the original stem (not the Deus type). I will be out with the Equinox as soon as it arrives & learning it just as I have done with all the other detectors over the years ( UK weather permitting!!). Just worked out this will be the 7th Minelab I have owned. Once more thanks for the great response to my question. Good hunting!!

Wow! Thank you all so much for your responses and pictures. Some very inventive ideas. I agree that a counterbalance will be most appropriate to larger coils but will experiment when my detector arrives & will feed back my thoughts. Thanks again.

I have seen mention on various forums of being able to counterbalance the weight of the coil by fixing a power bank or appropriate weights under the armrest of the Equinox. I know from many years of detecting how important detector balance is (particularly as you get older!) My question is has anyone attempted this yet? If so, what is the best attachment method & What weights have you used? Any pictures and advice would be greatly appreciated. I am still awaiting my Equinox 800 & have gained loads of information from this forum. I now have to wait for that phone call from my dealer!!

10 out of 10!! Only niggles are having to wrap cable around shaft and small battery size (to keep weight down). Great machine & well worth reading this report if you can access digital download or purchase the Searcher magazine.

Just read the test report in Searcher magazine. Very well written & covers all the functions in detail. A smaller section covers field use & illustrates some fantastic finds from previously detected fields. This is part 1 & the second part will cover techniques & getting the best from the Equinox 800. Hopefully this will be in the next issue available from 23rd Feb. Fingers crossed we will have our new detectors by then!!