Chase Goldman

Rarely, especially in quiet conditions, since several channels could be quiet, it sort of becomes dealer's choice. Similarly, under very noisy conditions, it may select diifferent channels on each run that have similar noise levels that it considers the quietest, even though they may not be very quiet.

The lack of corrosion on those nails indicates they were likely annealed by a structural fire or the wood was intentionally burned in a bonfire. Though the arid climate and soil could have also limited corrosion, too.

It is not a filter, it is selecting the quietest multi IQ operating channel at the time. Since there are so many variables, no guarantees it will work next time as power line load/time of day and even humidity all play a part in how well the noise propagates. But, hey, it’s worth a shot, especially if you don’t mind also being locked into whatever mode (e.g., Park 1) is associated with that channel setting as each mode has its own unique set of operating channels the noise cancel algorithm scans (which is why each mode needs to be individually noise cancelled). So if you switch modes, you are effectively switching operating channels. The 800 allows you to manually select the quietest channel in addition to auto noise cancel, which would more easily allow you to set up the same channel repeatedly if auto doesn’t do the trick. Unfortunately, you can’t do that on the 600.

It also fixes the dreaded user profile reset bug. So, yeah, 1.7.5 seems to be the way to go. It has been slmost a year since the last update. But I can't really think of anything compelling that can be addressed by a simple software fix. Would really like to see the functions of the user profile button and frequency select buttons swapped, but at this point I would probably hate it because I am so used to the existing configuration.

Steve, you would typically have to use a field mixer to do this before feeding it into the camera audio input or mike jack, unless you had a video camera with on board audio mixing and two audio inputs or a microphone with a built-in line level mixer. Otherwise you could separately record the live voice over narration audio (with another camera or digital recorder) and lay it on top of the video and detector audio in post production using a video editing program (since the canera is not trained on you while you are doing live narration, getting the audio to line up exactly is not critical). I have done a lot of event videography (weddings, graduations, recitals, etc.) with decent mid-range videography equipment. But I am such a perfectionist when it comes to that stuff, I would be fiddling with all that video gear that I wouldn't be able to focus on detecting, so I have made very few live detecting videos. For Equinox, I would probably rig up an external speaker connected to the headphone jack and allow the camera mic to just pick up my voice and the speaker audio of the detector whike I listened to the tones through my BT headphones. Alternatively, I could feed the detector audio into a BT APTX LL receiver with a clip on speaker/mic plugged into the receiver and the speaker/mic clipped to my shirt or jacket that way I can hear the detector audio and the camera mic could also pick it up along with my voice commentary. HTH

Yes those are typically just passive impedance matching circuits. But sometimes they are also more sophisticated active "smart" circuits with programmable chips that may tell the detector how to reconfigure to accommodate the specific coil characteristics. Detector manufacturers don't typically like to give much public insight or tech details into these special smart coil designs.

Besides latency, the other issue with using a wireless receiver as the source for your recorded audio is how do YOU hear the detector itself while recording, since the control head on-board speaker is cut out whenever you are using wireless audio. So here are some strange Equinox wireless audio fun facts that may provide some folks with alternative ideas to route "auxiliary" sources of "no latency" detector audio out to video or audio recording devices (or detecting "partners") instead of having to inconveniently capture lower fidelity audio from the control head loudspeaker so both you and the camera or your "partner" can hear the audio simultaneously. Many folks don't know this, but if you are using the BT headphones or the WM08 receiver, the control head speaker audio is cut out, but the headphone jack audio is still active. In this manner you can actually use the BT headphones to be able to hear tones yourself and you can route hardwired audio from the headphone jack via a mini-patch cable into a camera mounted on your detector shaft, detector housing, or mounted on your hat, backpack, or clothing. Another way this "feature" can be "used" is to enable a partner to hear the audio via the BT headphones while you swing and simultaneously listen to the audio using a pair of hardwired phones which can be useful in helping someone else walk along and learn how to use the Equinox. Another strange thing is that if you are using the supplied BT headphones, which also have a "hard wired" headphone jack on one earcup, is that you can actually use the headphones as a BT receiver and you can plug a separate set of hard-wired stereo headphones or earbuds into the headphone jack of the BT headphones and get audio that way. In this way you can "rest" the BT headphones around your neck/shoulders while using a set of wired earbuds. Not too practical, but it can be done if you want to use more comfortable wired earbuds in hot weather- though the bulky full-sized BT headphones are still resting on your shoulders/neck (I can't recall as I type this whether the BT headphone speakers are cut out if you do this, but I do think that is the case). Also, although only one set of BT headphones or a single BT receiver can be used in conjunction with the Equinox's BT transmitter output at any time, however, up to four separate WM08 Wi-Stream modules can be simultaneously paired with the Equinox at any time for small, four-person "group" Equinox instruction opportunities. Though, good luck getting your hands on four WM08 receivers at any one time unless you can borrow them from four Equinox 800 owners, because they are cost-prohibitive to be obtained as stand alone wireless accessories. All strange but true wireless Equinox audio factoids.

Not necessarily, impedance is not just resistance (which is determined by copper wire diameter and length) but also the diameter of the coil introduces inductive reactance which also "impedes" electrical current so these are balanced to enable the coil to match the output circuitry of the detector. VLF detectors are simply inductive balance machines where the two loops (a transmit loop and a receive loop) in the coil be they coaxial (typically concentric but can also be coaxial elliptical loops) or double-D overlapping Tx and Receive loops are perfectly balanced to produce a null signal until a metallic target is introduced into the balanced field area causing a phase imbalance that is then detected. As Steve and others have suggested, there is perhaps some difference in the power put into the larger diameter transmit coils to produce a larger/deeper detection field but the field strength/density is lower primarily because of the larger area of the coil, not the power put into it.

Referenced in my response below. Bingo. Yes, Multi IQ makes it more forgiving to less than ideal GB (as I stated above) than other VLF machines (including FBS machines). So as long as you can run Multi and unless you hear it chirping with ground feedback noise, having a large GB delta in the numbers should not be too concerning. I suspect that the Equinox tracking GB algorithm is trying to trigger off sensed changes in magnetite levels. If magnetite mineralization is minimal and not the primary mineralization driver in your soil to GB phase number changes, then Equinox tracking could be ineffective. If detecting heavy alkalai salt soils, beach mode with tracking might be something you could experiment with. But bottom line, you can still be effective with Equinox without tracking because Multi IQ is so forgiving to less than ideal ground balancing. HH

Did you try sweeping side to side as suggested in the manual. Tracking likes to continuously see the ground and it is looking for changes in ground mineralization as you sweep. If it does not see a change in mineralization (even if the ground phase is off), then the auto tracking algorithm will not engage. A vertical pump may not do it. It is also designed to react slowly so that it doesn’t overreact to ground condition changes. The best thing to do is do an auto or manual GB to get it close then engage auto tracking. If you notice it getting out of whack even in auto tracking then re-GB. When in auto tracking you should only have to do this occasionally if at all compared to leaving it fixed. When it is all said and done, though, don’t obsess over the GB numbers. For Equinox, the difference in performance between say 30 and 70 or even 0 and 70 is incremental (compared to other detectors) when in Multi because Multi IQ does such a great job compensating for a less than ideal GB anyway. Unless you are hearing a lot of ground noise when in All Metal, I wouldn’t fret about about the GB setting. HTH

Eventually, when you come across and understand what iron bias does, you'll see a similar thing. 4 settings for the 600 vs 10 for the 800, but the max setting of 4 on the 600 equals 6 on the 800. Other differences you will notice include limitations on non-ferrous tone settings, limitations on single frequency selections, lack of the user profile button, lack of backlight adjustment, lack of included wireless audio accessories (but the 600 is wireless ready), etc. These are all nice, but not necessarily essential "missing" features on the 600. The 600 is a very capable detector in its own right, so you shouldn't be discouraged once you start realizing what you can and cannot do vs.the 800. Definitely peruse the Essential Info thread and for a more comprehensive look at 600 vs. 800 features see this forum link in the essentials thread and Steve's Minelab Treasure Talk artcle on the subject, here. Welcome and happy hunting with your 600.

Yes.

Interesting take. Note that IB disappears and cannot be adjusted when in single frequency mode so it can't be directly multiplied the number of settable frequencies so that chages the total number of combinations by an order of magnitude. In fact, I have previously argued that when you go to single frequency in any of the Park or Field modes you are essentially setting the detector up in a single mode as without Multi IQ you basically take away the "personality" of those modes. Another "special case exception" - Note that with gold mode, threshold is true threshold (unlike the other modes) and it's setting is key to performance for weak signals. Similarly, 50 tones obviates non-ferrous tone bin breakpoint settings. Finally, black sand/mineralization overload transmit power reduction in the Beach modes can affect performance. But point taken on the shear number of settings combinations.

Sounds like a great way to preserve the coin for mounting and passing on to his grand kids as planned.

Thanks, Fred. Appreciated.

This^. I was going to respond similarly, but you beat me to it. The target orientation variabity and lack of direct contact with the soil are problematic, but still better than an air test IMO. Can't wait to see your results.

Putting the discrimination all the way up can actually cause strong non-ferrous targets to blank like iron, so that is not advisable. I keep the ironnreject at 7 or less and, yes, the DD coil is what you want in order to be able to use iron reject discrimination. My advice to you is to set up tge detector with timing set at normal, abs all other settings at defsult. GB set to manual, find a quiet channel with auto scan, GB, and bury some typical relic targets: minie balls, round balls, j-hooks, buttons, high conductivity coins, etc. AND square nails (bent, straight, corroded, and just nail heads) and get used to the audio. HTH.

For beach hunting you can set the IB and RS appropriate to target conditions (higher recovery speed for max target signal separation in thick trash or lower for a tad more target signal elongation/depth). Lower RS is more susceptible to ground chatter, but that is not really an issue on the beach unless you have black sand. IB is pretty useless IMO. It may reduce falsing a tad but at the expense of masking non-ferrous near ferrous targets (which sort of defeats the purpose of running at a high recovery speed). If there is not much iron to deal with, then just leave it at the default (since masking is unlikely). If you are worried about masking then dial it down to 1 or 0. The salt signal really has no bearing on why ML chose the default settings of RS and IB in the beach modes. Bottom line is don't be afraid to do some on-the-beach experimentation by tweaking these settings away from the defsults to suit the target situation and ground conditions, but do so with knowledge of the tradeoffs, some of which I described above. HTH

If by mixed mode you mean true all metal audio simultaneously combined with discriminated audio and/or visual ID, probably about 5 or 6 brands have mixed mode models. In other words most of the Top brands have at least one VLF mixed mode detector. Whites probably has the most models with it (including the V3i, MXT, abd DFX), Garrett has at least one (AT Gold), First Texas (Fisher F75 and Teknetics(see below)), and Nautilus. That includes brands that have audio mixed mode and those that have all metal audio and discriminated vdi. If you want to know more than just how many brands have it and a more detailed breakdown by Steve then read this article. Things haven't changed much since Steve wrote that article, but some additional detectors not mentioned in that article that have True and Pseudo mixed mode include the Teknetics T2 (similar to the F75), Teknetics Omega 8500, XP Deus (Gold Field mode), and Minelab Equinox Gold Mode with Disc off (the last two are debatable, I suppose). Not sure about Nokta/Makro, but they likely have it in their latest models.

Did I see Sponge Bob down there? Nice recovery, CD. That's serious detecting.

Agree, do not clean it.

Not an issue. The screw-in connector is not meant to be the 100% waterproof seal. The jack itself is sealed with an o-ring internally to keep water from entering the housing (think of the non-watertight plastic dust cover that covers up the jack when no headphone is connected). The extra threads on the headphone connector ensure positive engagement of the plug into the jack, keep debris out of the cavity, and will mostly keep moisture out, better than the dust cover piece. Be sure to thoroughly rinse and dry the headphone jack cavity area with freash water if you notice any salt water intrusion into the area to prevent corrodion over time.

Since no Equinoxes can be out of warranty at this point, they should accommodate you as long as you have a valid serial number.

Fred the button has 2 modes. A single press of the button simply turns on the radio and you should see either a wifi symbol or bluetooth (bt) symbol or bt+ symbol flashing in the upper right corner of the display as it tries to connect to the last device it was paired to (presumably your WM08). If you want to put it in pairing mode, you have to hold down on the button for 2 seconds and then place the wm08 in pairing mode too. Since you reset your detector, you will have to re-"pair" the wm08 as I just described: turn on detector, hold down radio button for 2 sec (wifi wm sumbol shoukd flash in upper right hand of display), turn on wm08, press pairing button on wm08. It should lock in and pair within 30 seconds. If you are getting no wifi or bluetooth flashing symbol after holding tge radio button for 2 seconds, then the button or radio are likely broken. Good Luck.

Not so sure color is high is as high on every detectorist's list such that it would cause a market share shift, quite frankly. Coloring aside, the Simplex might be a better bet for you as it will be more different than the Equinox than I anticipate will be the case for the Vanquish. You have always felt that the Equinox lacked some of the magic the Xterra possessed. From what I can tell, the Vanquish will be an economy version of even the 600, so it might be a set up for dissapointment for you. Going the Nokta/Makro route might be a better path to fill in the gaps where Equinox is appatently not making the grade for you. Though I wish I had 1/10th the success with mine you appear to have with yours beach hunting.