Chase Goldman

I hear you too and I do think disposable electronics is not not necessarily a good thing in the bigger scheme of things. It is bad for the environment in the long run and plays in to incentivizing or forcing the consumer driven culture to constantly upgrade to the next best thing even when unnecessary or of minimal actual benefit (cell phone industry is a great example of this waste). You make some great points regarding battery form factors and power density vs. weight. You've put a lot of thought into it and I respect that. Thanks for discussing your point of view. At the end of the day, I just hope Garret has put enough thought into the Apex and its battery design.

Equinox battery is user replaceable and if done per the instructions provided by ML will not void the warranty. If you want to have ML do it outside the battery one-year warranty period (detector is 3 years), probably about $50 including shipping. Replacement price of about $50 is about the same with the XP detector products which use 3 bult-ins (4 if you count the pinpointer). Like I said, 5 years and counting on these for me. These are all fractions of the total cost of the detector and not much more than the cost of a new battery by itself. The majority of battery replacements I have read about are warranty replacements due to defects, and XP has been pretty liberal as far as built-in replacements beyond the 5 year warranty. The XP pinpointers having been recently released in the last few years are not even there yet. The "rent a detector" argument makes sense on the surface but in reality, I find it to not be a realistic drawback, especially if you consider the disposable technology model (unfortunate but true) of modern technology evolutiom. By the time the battery dies, a better mousetrap usually appears.

Exactly! And academy award winning performances to boot! Cool name, though. Hope its more than an Ace with a rechargeable battery. Interested in knowing why not. I'm impressed they are taking a step forward into 2020 instead of revisiting 2010 once again like they did with the Max. I've heard a lot of complaints about rechargeable, built-in batteries, but few arguements against them hold much water and usually betray a lack of experience on the part of the nay sayer. Yeah, there have been poor implementations of built-in rechargeable battery tech on detectors and other electronic equipment, but if properly designed and implemented, I have yet to actually experience an issue with using them in a detector. In fact, I now find it a feature, like wireless audio, that is useful and something I look for when buying a detector. I think it is a good move by Garrett to release one with this tech, unless it is non-user replaceable (which I hope is not the case with Apex). Even then, my built-ins on the Deus have lasted over 5 years and are still going strong. So I figure if the Apex battery lasts at least as long and I do have to pay to have it replaced outside the warranty (still we are likely talking $35 - $50 max), I may have already moved on to the Apex Summit IV. I've heard a lot of complaints and myths, like, "won't last all day" - have used mine on 10-12 hour marathon hunts without needing a recharge, "what if I forget to recharge over night" - charge it on the way to the site, or on a break, or on the fly while detecting all using a backup cell phone power bank (cost about the same as a backup pack of 8 AA's and available at most stires where you could buy AA's, nowadays). I get that it feels good to have the preceived security of having the ability to pop some AA cells into the detector, if needed, but that really isn't much different than where the state of modern built-ins and power banks are today. Anyway, my 2 cents and a little bit more on the subject and perhaps there are some holes in my logic, so I welcome hearing the counterpoint arguments.

Glad someone understands the question, because frankly I don't. I find it really hard to decipher the question because of the way its written, for some reason. Can you better explain your test setup because I am really having a hard time visualizing what you are actually doing. Specifically, you keep referring to 5 inches ( "does this fine to 5 inches and then becomes blind to the dimes" - not exactly sure what that means) - do you mean you are simply raising the coil in air. If so, then that is not a realistic test. All you are demonstrating is how much resolution and depth you lose if you are not keeping the coil close to the ground. The air has a completely different "conductive" (not really the correct term when talking magnetic fields) property vs. the dirt as far as concentrating the magnetic field plus the difference in "impedance" (also not the right term, but close enough) between the air and the dirt tends to distort some of the magnetic field. This is not the same as testing over a 1-inch deep dime and pull tab vs. a 5-inch deep dime and pull tab. Your results will be different. So I am not sure at all we are working on understanding a realistic problem or effect here that really matters.

i guess I glance at the screen a lot and so if something changed the associated change in the icon stands out (multi frequency symbol, mode symbol, etc.) The one area where I sometimes get tripped up but usually only for a few seconds, is forgetting to come out of pinpoint. But I have hunted fields before where you don't even get a peep of iron for hundreds of yards, so in that case, I can see where you might not notice you are in the wrong mode because if the machine is not making noise, you are not glancing at the screen (though I have an unconscious habit of running my coil across my shovel blade periodically just to make sure it is still working under those conditions). I understand better your concern now, thanks.

Wow, in 2 years, this is the first I've heard someone bringing this up as an issue. It takes a deliberate push to get into the settings menu in the first place and then several additional pushes to move between settings. Then you have to press another button to even change a setting. I suppose the power button is vulnerable to an inadvertent factory reset (I personally find it difficult to manipulate on purpose much less accidentally), but even then you can simply slide a wool cap or something like that over the control head to keep the button from being inadvertently pressed while transporting the unit and you protect the control head to boot. If you somehow have messed the unit up and are lost because you have deviated far from the defaults, then full and partial search profile resets are available to get you back to square one. Would be interested to know if others think this is a real world problem with Equinox, but not here. This is a Vanquish thread.

Sounds like you simply don't understand the concepts of recovery speed (which facilitates detection of separate closely spaced targets because the detector can reset quickly as it detects target after target as they come into the coil's active region during a swing -detectors with slower recovery speeds, like the CTX, need the targets to be more widely separated to individually detect them than detectors with faster recovery speeds, like the equinox) and proper coil control (e.g., wiggle) that allows you to lock onto single targets within a group of closely spaced targets (like Tom was saying above).. Swinging slower doesn't help if your swing encompasses all the targets and the effect is worsened if your detector has slow recovery speed. Suggest you do a forum search on the the term "recovery speed". Good Luck. i have to agree with you on the nail board tests. My main problem with them is that they are 2-D, everything lying in the same plane. That is not how detecting works in the real world. Tests are good to make very rough relative comparisons, but the best test platform is the field, digging everything until you really know what your detector's language is telling you and then getting selective from there, if you want or need (due to time limitations or because you can't tear up the site) to play the odds.

Plenty of great vendors here who regularly participate in the forum that would love to sell you a Simplex at a great price, I'm sure. You just need to visit their websites or call. It is a great way to show your support for the forum too.

Perhaps, but I was reacting specifically to his "deeper penetration" comment. Neither a more powerful battery nor improved microprocessor would improve depth performance, as we are basically at the limits of what the induction balance principle for metal detecting can provide depth wise. Regarding the battery itself, I hear what you are saying but even on a few 12+ hour marathon relic detecting days I have never managed to run the battery to zero from a full charge. And I have had multiple back-to-back multi hour days without needing to re-charge in between. I do take breaks for lunch etc., and if I am running without a full charge from the beginning, have juiced it up during those breaks with a portable power bank or on the drive to the site if I forgot to top off the night before and anticipate an all day hunt. I have never taken advantage of the capability to charge on-the-fly while detecting, so that is another "emergency backup" capabilty I have never had to exercise. IMO A larger capacity battery would just permanently add weight to the machine for no practical purpose based on my 2+ years using the machine. Battery capacity has been a non-issue so far for me. I know others, though, who have complained about the battery pooping out 8 to 10 hours into a hunt from a full charge. Regardless, I personally don't see the need to take on the weight penalty or a larger diameter handle to stow it in, already too big for me as it is. I wouldn't mind an ergonomic redesign of the integrated control panel, handle now that I think about it and to be fair, battery technology advances might just allow a higher capacity battery of the same weight and volume to be fitted as a one-for-one form, fit replacement. But I would rather see them take advantage of the advances in battery tech to use a smaller physical size battery of the same capacity.

If you are getting such a signal, you said it yourself above, stick your shovel in the ground near the target (don't cut a plug) and try to break the halo to see if you can get it to pop down to single digits or negative numbers. Also, if you are getting a solid single teen number dig it. If it is fluctuating in the teens that could be a clue that it is ferrous. Do the shovel trick. Use the horseshoe button to turn off disc and see if you are getting an iron grunt in synchrony with the high tone, as Jeff suggested above, that is another clue of possible iron. Even then, sometimes you gotta just dig it to be sure.

More powerful battery on the Nox (or any other VLF induction balance detector for that matter) does not increase its depth. (See this post) The Nox can't get much faster on recovery speed either (diminishing returns). Agree that more sophisticated discrimination settings and improved target ID information like on the dTrac and CTX would be a beneficial improvement.

Problem with Vanquish is that it has no ground balance setting or tracking capability, unlike Equinox. So I think it needs that for surf hunting where salt levels and black sand effects are constantly varying. If they can make a cheap "beach mode only" equinox with tracking that might be the ticket. Although, since I rarely stray from the defaults on beach mode, so in that regard Equinox is simple to operate on the beach. The only advantage would be if they could market it at a significantly reduced price point that the full blown equinox because they limit the capability to beach mode.

Interesting wireless concept. Still not sure how well that would work when both the handle transmitter and glove receiver are submerged, even though they are in close proximity to each other. Vanquish is not waterproof and Equinox is not waterproof down to dive depths like Excal, so I am not sure what you are driving at with your Vanquish hardware comment. I suspect an upgrade of the Excal dive form factor/water tightness with Multi IQ vs. BBS might make sense. Otherwise, you are just really talking about an Equinox, which exists today. I'm sure I am just misinterpreting what you are trying to say, so feel free to set me straight.

Well, nice find just the same. Wonder what story it could tell if it could talk about how it ended up where it did. I found a Civil War Navy button in a heavily land locked corn field, but it was a Civil War encampment and battle site in Virginia.

Well you definitely have a pre-1941 Naval Uniform button there (i.e., Left Facing Eagle). Without a backmark might be hard to date. Even corroded it would be good to see what the back looks like, especially if the shank is still intact. Could possibly be Civil War era based on some similar examples I found on line but it would be hard to know for sure. Nice Find.

Never encountered any of what you are describing with my Equinox. I did have spurious resets with my GPX and it turned out to be an issue with a bad coil connector and inadequate cable strain relief. Sounds suspiciously like a coil connector or cable issue from the the one item you posted regarding the air tests and the coil reoriented off the rod not acting up. The intermittent nature might not necessarily result in a full blown CD error code unless you had a hard open circuit across all conductors. Anyway, I too recommend a factory reset. But then again, I don't do fancy tone setups either and primarily use 50 tones or 5 tones at the default settings, so I understand your hesitancy to do all of that tedious tone re-programming stuff again. I understand if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but it sure sounds broke and step one is usually a factory reset. I would suggest giving the repair center a call to talk it over with the tech or having a camera ready so you can record video of the glitch next time it happens. Maybe you should manipulate the coil cable to see if you can get it to act up. I have heard the repair center requesting videos with some of these intermittent glitch issues that can't be replicated on demand. Another thought I had is whether you have seen the glitch happen in ALL modes. If so, factory reset could help, but if it is happening only with one mode, you could try just resetting that one mode to factory defaults per the procedure in the manual, that way you don't have to re-setup all your settings. Good luck, Chuck hope you get it figured out and resolved with a minimum of hassle.

It's a common misconception that the main difference between the 600 and 800 is gold mode and if prospecting is not on the horizon, then why do I need that extra mode. The fact is there are significant more subtle diffrences between the two detectors besides just gold mode including: the useful included wireless audio accessories, the non-ferrous tone customizations, the additional single frequency settings, manual noise cancelling, custom mode profile slot, and I could go on and on, not to mention that gold mode can be useful for more than gold prospecting (I use it for relic hunting). The usefulness of a lot of these additional 800 features may not be apparent when first starting out, but you may find them useful as you grow in proficiency with the machine. That being said, many proficient and very experienced (and successful) detectorists find the 600 to fully meet their detecting needs. I recommend perusing the Equinox forum here for more information and specifcally Steve H.'s excellent Equinox Essential Information compilation thread here. In that thread is an excellent pointer to an Equinox 600 vs. 800 comparison: Steve H.'s excellent Minelab 600 vs. 800 Comparison Article https://www.minelab.com/usa/go-minelabbing/treasure-talk/equinox-600-vs-equinox-800 And a comparison post I wrote a few years back - my first post on the forum, actually: Hope these somewhat alleviate the confusion of which to choose. Regardless of which one you choose, either Equinox is an excellent detector and an excellent value. HTH Oh, and a couple more thoughts... mrtune, I know you are not a newbie but for the benefit of someone else reading this who is just getting into detecting... Don't buy more detector than you can afford, but it's ok to buy more detector than you think you need. In other words, if the 800 is outside your budget but the 600 is affordable, don't reach for it beyond your means - it is not worth going into debt over. On the flip side, don't buy the 600 just because it is cheaper or you don't think you will need its features right off the bat if can afford the 800. You may regret later that you don't have those features on your machine unless you are 100% sure you will never use them. Finally, just because the 600 has fewer "advanced" features than the 800 doesn't mean it is any easier to learn than the 600. Either detector will take hundreds of hours of swing time to become really proficient. But that is true of just about any mid to high end detector so don't let that scare you. Regardless, both the 600 and 800 have excellent default settings that will get you out and swinging right out of the box and you will find stuff provided the site you have chosen has targets to find (site selection is the #1 factor in success in my opinion independent of the detector you use). Good Luck Out There! And Everyone Stay Safe!

So Keith kinda likes it. Best expert endorsement I've seen for Tarsacci in high mineralized soil and thick iron situations.

Wow - owning a GPX makes me almost "Professional", guess I need to move up to the ZED so I can be fully professional. Too bad I sold my Excal II after I got the Equinox, knocked me down a peg from almost "Expert" down to a simple "Enthusiast". Well someday I'll rate as a semi-good detectorist. Guess I just got to spend enough money. Probably wouldn't mind spending it on a "Multi IQ 2" based CTX replacement in 2021. The target ID at depth and discrimination sophistication of the CTX with the weight, recovery speed, versatility and programming simplicity of the Equinox. I can dream, I guess. A lighter weight (but just as powerful) version of the GPX or ZED would be nice too.

If all they want is a fish or the bottom of my shoe, I'm in. This campaign is actually an April Fools joke, isn't it? I mean, it is so laughably ridiculous.

Liked the socially responsible messaging from a US MD industry leader, I think a lot of folks in the detecting world in the US needed to hear that. Even though our hobby does lend itself to social distancing at the individual level, I still have heard a lot of grousing about group hunt cancellations, etc. SMH Kudos Garrett. Chuckled at the ML digs regarding teaser promos and I am really rooting for them to come up with a relevant, gap filling hobby machine at any level (a lightweight ATX would be interesting to me as well, even if it ends up looking a lot like an AT Max - they could balance it out on the aft end with the extra battery compartment needed ).

That lead looks like a minie ball of some sort, perhaps a carbine, but not a 3-ringer. Nice saves.

Yeah, I can see that new table. Mobile Chrome issue I guess. Thanks for reposting it.

Is that supposed to be a link or image above, DD? It is showing up as nothing but a random character string on my browser, for some reason. Having relic detected PA a lot, I know where you are coming from with coal and coke hits.

Just a point for clarification. Unlike the Equinox, the Vanquish detector contol box is NOT waterproof and needs a cover (included with the 540) for rainy conditions. The coils ARE waterproof and submersible. Great detector for the price though it does have specific shortcomings like lack of adjustable ground balance settings. Suitable for most detectorists needs under a variety of (but not all) conditions and situations. Great coin and jewelry shooter in mild ground and great dry and wet sand beach detector.