BigSkyGuy

It is possible that what you have found is "white" gold. Often, even gold alloyed with nickel will still not be truly white so it is plated with rhodium. The rhodium plating is thin and often wears off leaving the goldish color underneath. This may be why it is silvery on the outside but gold on the inside due to constant rubbing against the finger and the resulting wear and thinning of the rhodium coating. Just a guess. Good luck!

http://thebottlecapman.com/Collectors Info.htm This site indicates that solid cork was used until about 1915. Cork composite from c1915-late 1960s. Plastic thereafter.

All is not lost. I would try calling around to Minelab dealers in your state, especially those that do not have an internet presence. Look for Minelab dealers that are not specialized metal detector dealers. I was able to find an 800 in stock at a Rock and Gem Shop. I ordered on Thurs and it is due to arrive tomorrow.

The black Minelab bags work great. Room to spare. Kco has them on sale for $30 right now.

Mine still says "shipped" too. Hope you have better luck than I did.

12:32 pm mountain time

I just got the same email from Cabelas drop ship. Glad I did not cancel my back order from Dec. 1st.

Guest. Paid shipping. No tracking no.

This is all it says when I go to tracking (minus personal info that I removed).

Where did you find the tracking number? Thanks!

Ditto

Just checked the Cabelas web site, they are now out of stock on the 800.

Just ordered mine. Thanks Thegoldenone!

Yea, I figured it was a boilerplate message.

Received this from KCo today: "Hello, Minelab started to release to Equinox's February 2, 2018 from Malaysia. Minelab has a shortage of these units here in the United States. They are only sending just a few at a time. Unfortunately we only received 6 out of the 100's waiting. We apologize for the delay, hopefully Minelab continues to send us more very soon. We will keep you posted once we know more. We appreciate your business and patience." I did not preorder until Dec. 1st (after reading Steve's Mercury dime post), so I am well down the list.

Steve, By ground balance number, do you mean the ground phase number? Does Equinox have a mineral strength readout of any kind? Thank you BSG

Thank you Steve for the detailed response. I am used to thinking of "all metal" as superior to discrimination in terms of separation and depth. Perhaps Equinox is now changing the rules in that what we have all taken as gospel over decades may no longer be true.

It seems we are learning more all the time. I am curious if there will still be a true all metal mode. Apparently, the testers found that Field Mode did better on nuggets than the single frequency gold mode. Also interesting to see that the "submodes" have now been identified within the getting started guide.

Hey Strick, The porcelain tube in the first picture was used for retrofitting 19th century homes for electrical wiring in the early 1900s. The tube was used as conduit where the wiring passed through wood beams. This wiring technique was called knob-and-tube in reference to the tubes like the one you found and the porcelain knobs used to tie off the wiring. BSG

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