relicmeister

Anytime I want to detect a spot that has given up great finds in the past but now they’re very few and far between,  I know the equinox with the 6” coil makes more finds possible. It happens over and over. 

If enough ask minelab maybe they’ll do it. I’d Love  a 10” x6” elliptical myself. 

Thanks. The 6” may be worth getting even if they introduce a 9” coil ( and I hope they do but I’m not holding my breath) I’m doubting that i would have made this fond with a 9” coil only cause I went over this ground with my xterra with 9” coil and Safari with 6”x8” coil. 

Was nice enough in the high 30s to look for a spot to dig that wasn’t snow covered, and I wound up at a creek side cellar hole that was pretty clear of snow. I decided to work the side wall to a bridge that used to cross the creek years ago. Not long into it I got a choppy high signal reached into the high 20s. As it was the same from every direction I New I had a high conductor mixed with iron. I had been over this ground many times with several detectors but until I used the equinox with the 6” coil I never hit on this.   The pictures reveal a really fine condition 1817 large cent with a nice green patina on it and lots of fine details. One of the nicest large cents I’ve ever found for sure. Went home with a smile on my face 

Thanks Reviza

  the fold I’d from Dans metal detecting products on eBay and it’s not hard to install. I believe I did mine before he offered the nox “model’ 

later, in response to a post in this forum, I bought the whites s-shaft from serious detecting, and  replaced my whole upper shaft with the s-shaft although I did have to use a shim which was easy. It’s very strong with zero wobble and with the addition of a 1/2 lb. weight under the armrest to improve balance, it handles about as nicely with the 11” coil as my f75 which is the gold standard of easy swinging detectors. 

   I’m insanely happy with it

Last Sunday was pretty mild, though windy; so I decided to take a hike up a mountain path that goes back all the way to colonial times. 

  I had a lot of fun, and mostly was finding ammo  until I got a good dime signal  I expected a dime but was surprised to see this 1906 Barber dome. 

  After a rinse-off at home I was astounded by the exceptional quality of this coin- just beautiful.    I later found this colonial button which is the smallest button I’ve ever found. This button was 6” deep found using field 2. The equinox really hits on the tiny little items. 

On 12/21/2018 at 6:31 PM, Steve Herschbach said:

People were having issues getting the updates to load, and so this is very likely an update to the updater, not the firmware itself. The latest firmware as Jackpine notes is still 1.7.5

I did the update on a work computer, but I just started using a chromebook . Has anyone successfully updated their equinox using one of those?, or maybe I need to just run it and find out?

Speaking for myself, I know my Nox can operate at much lower temperatures than I can. Expecting an unseasonably mild  day here  today, so I’m excited to be able to get out for a while. 

Peace health and good will to everyone far and wide in his name

I also haven’t had enough time using the 6” coil to say one way or another if iron falsing is any worse than with the 11” coil. I do know I’ve been making enough  finds in sites that the 11” coil didn’t detect to be plenty satisfied with it. I have not used the 6” coil with the original software so I can’t make that comparison. I think it’s quite possible that a mode plus settings combination will be found that mitigates any 2-way iron falsing tendencies that may be present. Maybe even one of the single frequencies?

I’ve been wishy washy about whether I would get the 12x15 coil. UNTIL I started to see the early comments. Now there’s no question that I’m getting one. I’ve called around and it will take a month or so before I would get it and of course we’re now heading into the slow season as far as detecting goes. I’m glad I have the 6” for now It’s been making my favorite sites produce, though not without a tick bite just about every time I go into the woods. 

Thanks Steve, not only a folded shaft, but a folded s-shaft. I know you said you have no real preference between straight and s-shape , but I thought I could get the equinox to be as well balanced and ergonomic as my f75. I think the s-shaft indeed makes the equinox on par with the f75. 

Very nice find and a lesson to us all. I’ve misidentified pewter buttons as shot miniball , and spoonstem as a square nail. Engraving can be hard to see against old tin or any old metal sheet   Hold onto everything until you can carefully inspect it. 

I’ve used the 6” coil several times now and it’s proving to be effective in my most iron-laden sites. I found the reale about 4” deep using field 2, sens 22, iron on. Threshold, 50 tones, GB 0, recovery 6, Iron bias 2.  It was hitting a solid 22. The button was found at about 6” and rang up 18-19.     I am using the updated software and have no plans to go back to the original version as the new has been working well for me  

I just got my 6” coil, and a dedicated lower rod is on the way.  To make on-site coil changes fast and easy I came up with the following system. 

   Each lower rod and coil have the cord fastened near the bottom with just enough slack to flip the coil flat for my carry bag. Then I made the straps shown with adhesive backed Velcro from the $ store. The soft part goes around the middle rod by it’s adhesive backing. But then it extends 2” and the hard part of the Velcro goes on the sticky side of it so one side is hook Velcro and the other side is loop Velcro and then  it is trimmed narrower with scissors. I have one of these on either side of the folding mechanism I installed on my box shaft.   What saves time in the field is that these straps stay on during coil change and securely fasten the coil wire. 

   Also, in my case with the folding shaft I used zip ties to make a loop in each coils cord to go where the folding mechanism is where the cord never interferes with the folding or unfolding of the shaft. I will keep the other coil in my detector bag so I can change the coil during a detecting outing it the situation warrants it. 

  No big deal but easy enough that others may consider doing this method of strapping. A

Got mine on Wednesday. I was on a list for about 2 months but decided last Friday to call around and try to get lucky, which I did. With only a few minutes last night it was clear It will breath life into my pounded sites. Looking forward to the weekend!

I admire his patience but it appears that if you take there time to do the job right you will wind up with a superior repair job. I have a coil that I will fix more or less like the video shows. 

I’m still waiting for the 6” coil, but am considering the 12x15 for improved coverage on fields, which I’ve been doing more lately. I’m wondering if I might be better off getting a cheaper ( possibly used) 15” coil for the f75 for fields, and whether the nox with 12x15 would be markedly better than the f75 with 15”?

I have experienced a very minor, very small amount of this bump falsing when the sensitivity is over 20 ( I hunt primarily in park 2, and fields 1 and 2) and  I’ve always considered it more or less normal, as I’ve noticed similar on other machines. It generally only occurs when the coil bumps or taps into a rock or fallen tree branch, or if I apply pressure to the detector when the coil is resting on the ground. I shall have to keep track of how much and how often I notice it if as you say, Steve, it is not normal. 

Has anyone else noticed this ? 

  I have yet to have a rattlesnake encounter 

or copperhead for that matter, though the latter is inevitable. 

Exceptional find. This is the one Chinese coin

I have ever found. Not sure what period it is from, but I don’t believe it’s nearly as old as yours. It was holed and I have it hanging off one of my display cases. 

46 minutes ago, ColonelDan said:

A “how to” step by step guide would be useful I’m sure to those new the EQX and there’s nobody that could do it better than you.  

Personally, I like the three tone option.  Adjust the zones, assign the tones to your liking and go for it.  No muss; no distracting fuss!  ?

Soldier on Steve...

 

I like your 3-tone scheme, and think a step by step would be helpful for those like me that don’t find such adjustments intuitive. 

So far the only tone adjustments I’ve made have been lowering the iron volume. I have been using 50 tones for the most part, but would give the 3- tones a try. 

Well I don't think better customer service is even possible. Last weekend my Equinox 800 suddenly would not charge. After concluding it had to go in I left a message at the repair center in Illinois. Monday morning they returned my call and issued an RMA and it shipped out on Tuesday m. On Wednesday late afternoon  I got an email from Minelab that they received the unit and would contact me after it's looked at. Less than 24 hours later I get another email that my 800 is in shipment but no details. I replied asking what they found as the problem. Minutes later they replied that faulty units or parts are evaluated in Australia, but that the unit would not charge with a known good charger, and that changing the Lithium Ion battery also did not fix the no charge problem. So I replied again " am I to understand you have shipped a new control pod?," and moments later they replied " that is correct" 

     Tracking says it will arrive on Tuesday. 

   First class customer service, Minelab!

On 7/31/2018 at 4:18 PM, phrunt said:

Here is someone talking about this exact problem with their trimmer? hedge trimmer I imagine

https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=1391377

It's will be interesting if the service center just replaces the battery or hands out a new detector. ?

Probably in 49 out of 50 battery failures you were right, but that leaves the one, when working in a service center in a big city you get hundreds a year so you really see a lot going on.  I worked in the Queensland/Brisbane service center for ASUS and NEC in Australia, we also did a lot of other brands but only out of warranty claims on them. 

They didn't say what they would do but they said to just send in the handle with battery inside and touchpad. I suppose they could send a new detector but then I'd have to return the rest, and mine is modified with s-shaft and folding gadget and I absolutely intend to keep it. These mods make it ultra portable and give it about the same ergonomics as my f75 only lighter. I love it! Doesn't even have any wobble issues. 

I will for sure ask them what they believe the problem was and relate that on this thread. 

Got my RMA this morning, sending in the touchpad, and handle/ battery and they say turnaround time( whether fix or replaced) about a week?

I'll be using my f75 with 10"x5" dd coil until I get my 800 back. I've been doing well with the f75 with this coil. 

Im also now on a wait list for a 6" equinox coil. How can I not get one?

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

The battery is a standard 3rd party 26550 LiIon 3.8V cell. ML did not design a custom battery, so if the battery suffers a premature failure (through no fault of your own or Minelabs'), which they sometimes do, that is a tough break but not something ML can do anything about other than honor their warranty to you.  If It has something to do with the electonic charge circuit, however, then that is something ML should look into to ensure there is not a design or component reliability issue on their end unless they also "borrowed" an existing design charge circuit.

Hard to tell the root cause at this point but it looks like you appropriately  ruled out everything external to the detector as the cause although it would be interesting to know what you were using as the ultimate charging power source (wall wart or high capacity battery including maximum charge current rating).

Get ML to do the right thing, hopefully quickly.

PS, Ft. Bedford (the official US ML legacy detector repair facility) is not servicing Equinox detectors at this point.  They are being sent back to the US ML distribution center in Illinois  for repair/replacement to hasten turnaround time using their on-hand stock of spare replacement units and to proved a centralized clearinghouse to consolidate documentation of Equinox failures.

Good luck. Hope it gets resolved soonest so you can get back to detecting and thanks for letting us know about it.  Something to watch out for.

Thanks for your thoughts about this. 

    I am using a Belkin F8J052

    2.1 amp  power adapter  single USB port

Input 100-240V AC 0.5A 50-60 HZ.  

Output D.C. 5V  2.1A

I used the detector today for 3 hours at a farm site with no problems. Still 2 bars on battery. Tried to charge again but no dice. No reply from Minelab yet

via email or phone