Chase Goldman

Ted, I think Detector Pro is finally listening to the complaints across their entire H/P product line. They were at or near the top in after market MD headphones for awhile with some excellent headsets. But perhaps relied too heavily on customer brand loyalty and reputation and maybe also got complacent in design, cheap part selection, and build quality, as a result. Ultimately got lapped by some stiff competition including improved OEM headphone products by the larger detector manufacturers. They may be waking up to the fact that they can't "phone" it in anymore (pardon the pun) or they are not going to survive in the MD marketplace without going back to their superior design roots. Competition is a good thing.

They apparently have an issue with tolerances between the various telescoping shaft components from their shaft component suppliers. It will be hit or miss as to whether your new shipped parts will fare any better (not sure they inspect and attempt to match them up before they ship the replacements based on anecdotal reports from users who have taken ML up on the warranty replacement parts) but the good news is that you can always have them try again at their expense, if you are unlucky enough to have the issue a second time around. The cam lock design is subject to wear over time so at some point we will all have to do something like Alluminati has done or go with a third party shaft design.

Alaska has plenty of history, my friend. Lots of Russian exploration, conflicts with Native Americans, fur trapping/trading and hunting before "Seward's Folly" (the 1867 Alaskan Territory Purchase) and the Turn of the Century Gold Rush. See this story on a Russian shipwreck and tale of survival near Sitka and the Archeologists who used metal detecting technology to rediscover and study the survivor's encampment. I met one of the team members at an Archeological metal detecting expedition at James Madison's restored estate in Virginia. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp%3Fcntn_id%3D136012&ved=2ahUKEwi-mMvkqITdAhVKiqwKHQvgAfgQFjADegQIABAB&usg=AOvVaw1QqAjz751fG9v509lS2H-k Do some research and you might be surprised at what might be near your doorstep besides prospecting claims. No guarantees, but you never know what historic events predates Alaska as a US Territory and State.

The 600 is the obvious recommendation. Makes a great backup to the 800 and a great primary water machine so you don't have to subject the 800 to that type of abuse. Even though the Infinium is discontinued, you can probably still find one new in box somewhere, and as a Pulse Induction machine it is perfect for one who likes to dig deep and dig it all... I have an ATX (the Infinium's younger cousin), it's deep, it's heavy (Infinium is a little lighter), it can get wet, and I much prefer using my Equinox in the water. Digging deep bobby pins gets old after awhile, not sure if she would enjoy that... The 600 is the ticket and much less expensive. Best value of ANYHING at or within plus a couple hundred dollars of its price point (except the 800, lol).

I too have a set for my ATX and found that the volume control has a narrow "sweet spot" where the volume spikes up to make them useable. But yeah, the volume control on passive headphones is nothing more than a variable resistor (rheostat) attenuator that merely lowers the volume from the theoretical maximum which occurs at the minimum resistance setting of the rheostat. I had "generic" GG Amphibians that are sold without the volume control and without a connector. I had Tony Eisenhower mod them to add the Equinox connector. But the volume was so low, he added his own Tony E drivers, i.e., the ones he uses in his custom made WP phones. That brought the volume level up to usable levels, perhaps just slightly higher than the ML accessory WP phones sold for the Equinox. My understanding in talking to some experts who have been working with Detector Pro on other forthcoming projects, is that Detector Pro has recognized the volume shortcomings in the previous GG Amphibian incarnations and has made some design improvements. Suggest that unless you want to be the Guinea Pig, hold off on these until performance feedback comes in on The New Equinox compatible Amphibians. Finally, Kellyco appears to have an exclusive deal with a company ("LS.Pelso") to sell a generic brand of yellow cupped WP headphones compatible with Equinox and at $129 they are not a bad deal as an alternative to the ML Equinox WP phones with perhaps slightly better performance and sound isolation based on my experience testing them out. All of the above will survive a good periodic dunking (which is all I care about) but I usually keep my head above water and go only waist deep or so and have not had the opportunity to check out their audio performance while wet after being submerged (i.e., I haven't stepped into a hole or gotten knocked down yet while wearing them, lol. I know, I know - then I'm not really trying sayeth you hard core water hunters - ha!) HTH

I was wondering the same thing for all the reasons you cited. The thumbnail descriptions in the manual seem reversed for the conditions discussed.

I think you are hooked! I casually beach hunted and Park hunted for clad and the occasional ring (mostly junk) for years until I discovered relic hunting and realized I was in the middle of a colonial and civil war historical artifact region. Changed my whole outlook on the hobby. There are so many aspects to this hobby that can keep it fresh and exciting. I like variety and have tried several different types of metal detecting. Would like to try some gold prospecting next.

Simon, Since the Equinox does not noticeably over-modulate on large or shallow targets like the T2 does, those aluminum beer and soda cans do tend to ring up with good sounding audio and id numbers. That is where I have had some success with pinpoint mode. Provided the offending target is not too deep, I have been able to differentiate pop cans from good coin targets by sizing up the target in pinpoint mode. Since it is a non-motion pitch mode it becomes relatively easy to ascertain that you have something too large to be a coin or jewelry target under the coil unless its profile is small because of its orientation or depth. This technique works well for large falsing iron targets as well in farm fields (e.g. broken plow blades). Gold mode also works similarly well in thick iron junk situations, but since it is a motion mode (you need to swing the coil over the target to get the VCO variable pitch intensity audio) it is not as definitive as pinpoint mode. I am a dig it all proponent if you have perpetual site access because digging the junk and getting it out of the way can reveal masked keepers underneath and if you have the time and the site can withstand the digging, dig it all and cover every inch with your coil if you can. However, no sense digging up your own yard or another's pristine landscaping unnecessarily and this method can save on pulling too many junk target plugs or can save some time if you only have limited time at a site. HTH.

Propjob, Repeated use and understanding what the audio is telling you by using your brain to associate the audio with the target builds your audio "muscle memory" such that you stop consciously thinking about what the audio is telling you and you just start picturing the probable target in the ground (the audio painting that virtual picture in your brain). It is important to dig trash as well as keepers for this to take hold. Don't just listen to silver dimes in your test garden (though it is a good way to reinforce what a good target sounds like, as Mark suggested), but you need to get out there with some real world swing hours and dig all the targets until you can start calling the target before you dig it. When you can rely on the audio as the primary means of target ID with the visual ID as backup/confirmation, then you will up your keeper to trash ratio significantly..

Thanks for reminding me. The 600 is great because just like the 800 it uses a universal industry standard in Bluetooth, which means that if you do want to go wireless, you are not required to just go with the ML wireless headphones. There are several low latency (APTX LL) spec'd BT headphones available out there for a lot less than the ML phones including the exact clone of the ML phones, the Miccus SR71's that are less than half the cost of the equivalent ML accessory phones. You can also find some even less expensive APTX LL BT headphones if you do your research (the info resides on this forum) and shop around. HTH

A couple of comments. First, only you can determine whether the 600 is all you need. I can say that the answer for you is "probably" but I will point out a couple of things based on what you stated your objectives where. Note that the 800 has one mode (Field 2) where the default recovery speed of 7 exceeds the capability of the 600. I am not sure this is a big deal at all. But it is what it is. Two modes Park 1 and Beach 1 have 800 defaults that do not match up with the 600 equivalent defaults as far as recovery speed is concerned (Park 1 3 vs. 5 and Beach 1 2 vs. 6). Again, I do not think this matters much. I typically use 50 tones so I do not use the no-ferrous tone custom breakpoints at all (50 tone breakpoints are fixed) other than when I use 5 tones in default mode. You also have 2 tone mode besides 5 tones. Don't sell the user profile button short. It is very convenient and it is basically the only thing I miss when I am using my 600 (which is a dedicated salt beach machine and backup to my 800) because I like to instantly switch between modes when interrogating certain targets rather than toggling through the whole menu. Gold mode is not just for prospecting, I like to use it in thick iron situations because the VCO audio gives me a different take on what is going on underground, and helps to better identify large profile targets than the under modulated tone modes and sometimes help to separate targets better than the tone modes. If you goal is to really hit highly trashy sites hard, then the extra recovery speed is helpful because at that point you are not going so much for depth but to separate those keeper shallow targets that everyone else has missed with their slower recovery machines. Will the 600 at recovery speed 3 do the trick? Yeah, probably for 90%+ of the situations it will be sufficient, so the 600 is should do you just fine. It is really impossible to tell what difference those extra recovery speed clicks will do for your specific detecting situations, quite frankly. I think the 6 inch coil is more important for what you are trying to do than the extra recovery speed clicks. Iron Bias - I really don't care much for this filter so the difference between the two units is immaterial to me. Hope this helps. HH

Dan - thanks for the info. Doesn't look like the reduced number and range of the recovery speed settings or tone settings on the 600 held you back at all. Good to know. I have a 600 as a dedicated "salt water" machine on an Anderson rod and it backs up my 800. I like that combo.

Nice finds, esp. the quantity of coins and, of course, the Walker. What search mode were you using and recovery speed? When are you supposed to get your 800 back from ML?

It's in the upload notes on the you tube video as: tony@idigbeaches.com. Send him an email. He modified a set of GG Amphibians I had laying around and collecting dust. He added the screw-in Equinox connecter and upgraded the GG speakers to put louder WP drivers in the headset. They work great and he does quality work.

I guess that could apply to the coil too, in principle. I agree that you should avoid getting the coil connector wet though both the coil connector plug and the coil jack on the detector should both be internally sealed against moisture intrusion it is best not to let debris get into the connector so I would avoid taking it apart while rinsing off the detector. There should be no need to physically disconnect the lower shaft as long as you loosen it an slide it while rinsing. The headphone jack is internally sealed against moisture intrusion into the control head, though water can collect in the jack cavity so it is recommended that it be rinsed and dried as stated above. Anyway, good questions and info. I also noticed in the Equinox Detector Care section of the manual that Minelab advises against putting any kind of petroleum-based lubricant on the o-ring seals (including the battery) and states that applying grease or lubricant of any kind on the o-ring seals is unnecessary. "• O-ring lubricant or grease is not required on waterproof seals. • Do not use a petroleum based O-ring grease as it is likely to damage the waterproof seals." FWIW This was a topic of back and forth discussion here:

Where does it say that you rinse/clean before disconnecting the coil? While I agree with that practice, I cannot find in the manual where that is explicitly recommended. All I found were: "• If water gets into the headphone socket, it must be dried carefully a with a warm air dryer in order to prevent corrosion and/or false headphone connection detection." "• Hose the detector with clean water after use on the beach (wading or submersion)." "Shaft twist-lock seizes 1. Separate the shafts and turn the twist lock back and forth several times to clear any dirt build-up, then thoroughly rinse in clean water before putting back together."

Killing it. Nice saves.

Thanks. No, I did not write the Equinox book that is currently out there. That is Clive Clynick. I would need at least a year with Equinox before I could attempt something like that. I am working on a several page "Introduction to the Equinox", though, that I will post here in the coming weeks when I think it is ready.

Just for clarity - if you are working in 50 tones you cannot do the above as the breaks and volumes are set other than the delta between the iron and non-ferrous tones and the ferrous to non-ferrous break. If you want to do this in a mode that defaults to 50 tones (like Park 2 or Field 2), then the first thing you need to do is shift to 5 tones then follow the instructions above. Other than that, I do not customize tones as I am a 50-tones guy so I am the wrong person to ask on the details to how the above gets done, but the video lays it out pretty well.

I thought so too, that's why I asked. I know the PA guys and they were not doing any Equinox work last I checked. Dan pretty much confirmed that was the case, EQX's under warranty still going to Napier. I think Tom was mistaken regarding his 600. I know PA is repairing the other ML detectors, though.

That is a good tip I should have added to my post.

Actually, set up properly, the Equinox is the PERFECT tool for a trashy park, if you hope to snag keepers that would otherwise be masked by the trash, due to its high (and adjustable) recovery speed. If you are not hearing the machine gun bursts of trash target then you are not going to hear the keepers either because the silence you would hear with slower detectors is just the recovery circuit playing catch up while you pass the coil over that keeper target. Some suggestions: First of all, you need to figure out what your objective is. Grab all jewelry, nickels, clad, and silver. Or just cherry pick the high conductors. That will tell you what mode to use. For example, if the trash is indeed modern (i.e., aluminum can slaw, pull tabs, freshness tops, twist tops, crown caps) then just try notch out everything below 20 and go for the clad and silver because you will be hard pressed to pick out the gold rings and nickels amongst all that mid-teen stuff without a trained ear (after awhile you can start to tell the difference between a nickel and a pull tab and a gold ring and a crown cap by tonal quality) and will just be digging it all. Sure you will give up on gold and nickels, but you will lower the audio fatigue as you just listen for the the high conductors to ring out. If you are just going to cherry pick high conductors, then keep it in Park 1. Depending on the ferrous situation you might want to consider lowering the iron bias as that may exacerbate high conductor masking in iron, but that will also create more iron falsing. Avoid the "2" Park/Field modes if there is a lot of modern mid-teen trash, those modes which are optimized for mid-conductors and you will just hit that trash harder. Key is DO NOT MODE HOP and DO NOT TONE HOP. Pick an objective, pick a search mode and stick with it otherwise you will drive yourself insane. The only time I will switch modes during a hunt is if I want to use an alternate mode to interrogate a specific target (i.e., see how the target sounds in Park 2 vs. Park 1 for example for a mid teen target. Pick the tone setup that you are most comfortable with. I prefer 50 tones because it gives me a lot more information about the target than just a visual number. I think of TID number as a Black and White television - sure you get a single tone corresponding to that number in 50 tones but the audio "quality" not just tone gives you so much more information than a number. Is the tone sharp or pinging with steep rising an falling edges (likely coin) or is it soft an long (freshness cap) or distorted (bent pull tab) or unstable and flutey (rusted crown cap). Just a wealth of info - I call that Color TV! 5 tones gives you less audio fatigue but also less information, it is like having a TID display with 5 numbers on it. You need to decide which is the best tone setup for you, learn it and stick with it. Other strategies to consider to reduce fatigue: Consider lowering sensitivity. If the park is really trashy, it is likely that keepers missed by other detectorists with slow machines are just sitting there at the same shallow trash depth. No need to light up the machine with all that trash and ground noise as the higher conductive targets will be "visible" even with lower sensitivities. Also, avoid the tendancy to lower reovery speed to compensate for the depth loss as that will likely just result in more ground noise plus you will lose a key performance attribute that enables you to separate the keepers from the trash. Consider hunting in single frequency (5 khz). People have run some single frequency tests and have found that running single frequency at 5 khz really helps shallow high conductors pop out of the trash vs. multi IQ. Give it a go and see what you think. Be advised though, once you go single frequency - it doesn't really matter which mode you are in as the only thing that then differentiates the Park and Field modes are the different user settings. It is the unique multi IQ profile (including the multifrequency weighting and target signal processing) that gives each of the Park/Field modes their unique personality. You also lose some other "performance" enhancements that Multi IQ brings to the table like precise and forgiving ground balancing, no iron bias setting is available in single frequency mode, and of course, if you use the lower single frequency, you will be less optimized for mid conductive keeper targets too (besides the mid-conductive trash). But that is what metal detecting is all about - managing and balancing the tradeoffs. Consider removing some of that trash. Getting the trash out of the way will help uncover even deeper, older targets. This takes a lot of time (and multiple visits), effort, and finesse. You don't want to be digging up the entire park and destroying the landscape, but if you have a large beer can impeding your view, then by all means get it out of there. Use pinpoint to interrogate probable trash targets to get an idea of depth and size of the trash and make a call as to whether it makes sense to get rid of it to see what else may be hiding there. HTH HH

It does not restart according to both the ML Warranty provisions and the applicable laws of the US (the warranty runs from date of purchase even if warranty provisions are used to obtain a replacement unit). In some cases, it is within the repairing company's rights to offer a reduced warranty period to cover the use of a refurbished part to cover a new product warranty claim (say 12 months or 90 days when a refurbished part is used as a replacement for a covered part). This does not appear to be the case for ML warranties, other than the warranty terms do say that refurbished parts may be used as replacement parts for covered warranty repairs. https://www.minelab.com/usa/customer-care/product-warranty/warranty-conditions

Steve, OT but wish I could get those nice crisp, scalable grabs from the manual you use for your forum posts. There are a number of charts and tables in the manual that would be handy for ready reference on my phone rather than having to flip through the entire PDF. What PDF clipping app do you use to do that? Posting public as others might find it useful too. Thx.

Also, be aware that it is a 15×12" DD elliptical coil, so it is not going to get much depth over the 11" DD round (the elliptical coil width is comparable to a round coil of equivalent diameter, in this case 12"). But you will get that additional 4" of sweep coverage. Cheers.