Cabin Fever

As far as loss of depth with faster speeds.. Today I found an 8” Barber Dime in mineralized ground using a Recovery Speed of 4... Before I dug the Dime I played with the Recovery settings from 1 through 8... All speeds detected the Dime with no problem.. The faster speeds clipped the signal by a good margin but it was still surprisingly good at Recovery 8.. I was running 50 tones in Park 1 with no discrimination, 21 sensitivity, and 0 Iron Bias.. Bryan

I get the same results as you Steveg on most of my silver rings and bigger silver coins.. The only difference of doing the test with no discrimination applied like you said, is that you will hear the Iron grunts.. I have been meaning to go back and do some more testing on different modes but haven’t gotten around to it.. Bryan

Finally was able to get out with the Equinox and do a little hunting. Let’s just say I no longer wonder if the Equinox is deep.. There are a few things I would like improved but depth is definitely not a issue.. My ground is not friendly to most brands of metal detectors..The 1900 S Barber Dime was a full 8”.. The tone was a soft but solid high tone in all directions.. No iffy about it.. I also dug a copper Token the size of a nickel at a full no BS 10”.. Same situation.. soft but solid signal all the way around.. This target was near iron but not in the same hole.. A nice surprise were the Nickels that all came in at a solid 13.. All 6 Nickels I dug today including the 7” 1924 D Buffalo were only Target ID 13.. I dug several bouncy 11-12-13 signals and they were all broken or rolled up Beaver Tails.. The Barber and Indian Head Cents All had bouncy numbers but consistent high tones..The ID numbers seem to up average as they get deep..My biggest complaint is the Depth Meter and Modulation.. The Modulation is great from about 7” and beyond.. Deep Silver and copper has a very nice soft tone so you know your on to a deep coin.. There is very little Modulation above that.. I believe the Depth Meter is calibrated to quarter size targets and I think if it were calibrated to a penny or dime the meter would be more useful.. I know a lot people don’t care about that, but for my style of Turf hunting in manicured Parks, I don’t dig mid or low conductors unless they are deep. Otherwise I would spend all day digging tabs and slaw instead of Old Coins. The Equinox runs very quiet, fast and loves small targets.. Should be a Button Monster for you Relic Hunters.. Anyway, that’s my first impressions.. I only have very few hours on it and have a lot to learn yet..

It’s VCO pinpoint.. Does it get more quiet as you raise the coil further from a coin? If not something is clearly wrong.. Bryan

Just received my Fisher F-Pulse today too.. Very Nice! The build quality is top notch and it out guns the carrot like Steve said by a good margin. Just a really nice looking Pinpointer.. comes across as very rugged. Hoping to get out soon to give it a real test.. Bryan

Does that mean that Minelab does plan on explaining the difference between these modes as far as Multi Frequency Weighting? I had a similar question on the difference between Park 1 and Field 1.. This would be good information to know instead of us having to do extensive testing to try and figure it out. I know we are still waiting for Multi-IQ part 4. Hopefully they will delve in to this topic in that article.. Bryan

I thought Gold 1 and Gold 2 have different weighted Multi Frequencies.. I might be wrong on that one.. good question.. Bryan

Yes, I was definitely looking at it from an Old Coin Hunter perspective.. For some reason the jewelry bug just never latched on to me.. I’m always trying to think of ways to maximize my swing time to have better odds of getting my coil over an old coin.. Bryan

Further testing shows that a lot of the full, newer square tabs that run in the higher teens don’t show much change when swapping over to 5 kHz from Multi.. I does seem to work good for the broken and rolled up beaver tails and other small pieces that fall in to the 12-13 range though.. In ground real world will be the real test.. Bryan

Since I’m snowed in with a new Equinox, I’ve been doing a little basement air testing and playing around.. I don’t know if these tricks will hold up in the ground but I thought I would throw them out there for you guys and gals to try.. I believe park hunters might benefit from setting up a 5 kHz Park Mode to test signals if your primary hunting mode is Multi Frequency.. Rolled up Beaver Tails and broken pull tabs can give a perfect Nickel Signal from all directions.. Pop over to 5 kHz next time you get a 12-13 Nickel signal. If the ID falls dramatically and bounces all over you might be over a Pull Tab or Can Slaw.. A Nickel will hold up to this test only fluctuating by a couple of numbers if any.. I think someone else mentioned a similar trick on Crown Caps.. A Crown Cap that will ID in the mid teens in Multi will shoot up in the 30s on 5 kHz.. I’m going to set up a 5 kHz mode on my User Mode just for this type of target Checking.. Silver and copper hold up to the test with almost no change to ID numbers... If this type of testing holds up in real in ground hunting, it would be a fantastic tool.. I would like to hear about other tips and tricks that others might have discovered with their Equinox. Bryan

Thanks for the report Mitchel.. Make sure you share some photos if you find that vial of Gold. Bryan

I’m hoping it’s because the nugget photos are involving top secret unannounced accessories.. It would be a shame if we didn’t get a solid elliptical coil for the Equinox soon! Bryan

Hopefully that will be very soon!

I think I’m exhausted by all of it. Same with the Warranty threads..

Mine appears to be extremely accurate.. I never did like the wiggle back method and only use it occasionally when I get a couple targets close together that I’m having trouble isolating with a big coil. The pinpoint is directly below the center bolt.. Maybe turn your sensitivity way down and practice pinpointing coins on top of the ground until you get it down. I usually pinpoint from two directions to keep holes small.. It will also help expose nails that are falsing in one direction.. Ratcheting down with the pinpoint button can help too.. The Equinox seems to do this on its own if you sweep the coil back and forth over the target a few times while in pinpoint mode. The Equinox seems to have a very powerful pinpoint and that might be throwing you off a bit.. Hope this helps.. Bryan

Good to see you here on the forum Sube! I learned a lot about the CTX Watching your videos and reading your posts on findmall. Looking forward to your impressions of the Equinox.. Bryan

Thanks everyone.. This site is such a great asset.. I posed the question on Tom’s site and received a surprising tip.. He said Beach 2 is the best mode for deep silver coins.. This is soil dependent so you will have to test it out in your area. I guess it has the lowest grouping of frequencies.. Bryan

I posted this question on another forum too trying to get some clarity.. It seems to me after reading the manual a few times that Park 1 and Field 1 might have the same Multi-Frequency Weighting.. Same with Park 2 and Field 2.. Are the only differences between say Park 1 and Field 1 the stock discrimination pattern, tones, Recovery Speed and Iron Bias settings? If this is the case, I can use Field 1 to basically make another custom Park 1.. This would be good to know.. Bryan

Yes! I set up 50 tones for my programs but I think I’m going to make a custom 5 Tone mode for my User Profile.. It would be cool if the 50 Tone was a little more customizable zone wise.. Bryan

I wouldn’t be afraid to start out in tracking until I found a clear spot.. Bryan

Ya thanks for the reminder to read the manual again. I pick up new stuff I missed each time I delve back into it. Reading Gold Mode 2 it seems to imply that lowering the Recovery Speed can increase ground noise.. Am I reading that right? I know it affects depth but I didn’t think of the ground noise. I figured Iron Bias Settings might affect ground noise.. I’m really socked in with a bitter cold and snow here and can’t head outside to test. I definitely got the new detector curse.. Two waves of snow and now bitter cold most of the week.. Bryan

Very nice first hunt! The Equinox looks like it’s going to be a Nickel Monster! Bryan

More testing. My very thin silver rings read properly on edge. If the ring has any thickness to it, it reads anywhere from iron to 1 and 2 on the ID scale. Silver quarter on edge also reads 1-2. Not happy! Tested on Park 1.. No discrimination..

Wow! That ring on edge thing inspired me to do some testing.. My Equinox does not like big silver on edge! Took a Franklin Silver half dollar and stood it on edge. Reads 1 and 2 on the ID scale while on edge.. I did the same test with an Indian Head and mercury dime and it performed as it should with high ID numbers. I broke out my E-Trac to see how it did on the half dollar and it screamed high silver on edge. I’m not sure what going on with the big silver and the Equinox.. Something’s not right. Would like to hear from others on this. Bryan

This detector really deserves a nice 10x5 or similar coil..I hope they don’t have Coiltek make there 10x5. Both of the ones I had for the CTX and E-Trac were very underwhelming in performance.. I would love to see a very flat, solid and light coil for this detector.. Bryan