Chase Goldman

Not clear when this is going to happen, though. ML has been dutifully collecting data on known bugs such as the User Profile settings reset issue, but has also been mum on any timetable for a factory-based or user-released firmware update. Since there do not appear to be any fatal performance-based flaws out there other than what can be characterized as annoyances (from ML's perspective, not necessarily the end users' perspectives), and taking in consideration a thorough and robust firmware test period so ML can assure the "fixes" solve the issues and don't introduce other unintended consequences, it could be fully several months or a year or more before a firmware update is released for production units and/or for user installation.

It has a depth gage? Seriously, though, yeah it's a feature that's been pretty much panned by those who actually use a depth gage (coming from a Deus, myself, I never missed the feature since I never really paid much attention to it on that machine, either). I find I get a lot more information about the target when I go into pinpoint mode. Detect mode on the Equinox has very little audio modulation that you can correlate to target signal strength. Pinpoint mode is a non-motion pitch mode with depth based (actually target signal strength based) audio modulation and it can be used to get a ballpark idea on target size and depth. Try it out on some test targets. It is a little wonky (sometimes locks up so you have to toggle in and out) but works well once you get used to its quirks and is a decent workaround for the EQX depth gage. HTH.

Are you sure they are powered on and connected wirelessly (Is the bluetooth symbol and plus sign visible on the control pod) and you are not just hearing the control pod speaker? Also, if you plugged them directly into the unit vice using them as wireless phones, the volume control on the phones will not work because they are operating in passive non-powered mode. If they are connected wirelessly and you still cannot control volume, reset the Equinox to factory settings and try wireless re-pairing the headphones to the control pod again.

Hold on, when you go single frequency, then it doesn't matter what mode you use (for Park and Field - all user settings being equal) because what really differentiates those modes in terms of the target preference (what I like to refer to as mode "personality") Steve just described is based solely on the unique MultiIQ profile for each mode. Since you lose the features that depend on Multi IQ (e.g., Iron Bias doesn't work in single frequency, and I suspect GB is not as forgiving without MultiIQ) so all you have left are the discrimination patterns, number of tones, and recover speed. Set these to be the same and then there is NO difference between Park 1, Park 2, Field 1, and Field 2. Beach modes are N/A because they can only be operated in MultiIQ and Gold modes are completely different because they are VCO (pitch) vice tone based and can only be operated in single at 29 and 40 kHz. This was the basis of my single frequency "Thought Exercise" here: http://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/6621-thought-exercise-single-frequency/?do=findComment&comment=69029 So just use whatever mode has the discrimination pattern, number of tones, and recovery speed default setup closest to what you desire, tweak those settings as you see fit and go with that. If that is Park 1 and 5 tones works, then you are all set. If you want 50 tones, you can go with Park 2. Either should work the same from a performance standpoint if you are just using single frequency and disc and recovery are where you want them. You can validate this by using The User Profile button to set up one mode (say Park 1) in this manner and shifting between Park 1 single frequency and Park 2 single frequency with ALL the other user settings adjusted to be the same to see if you notice a difference. I have NOT verified this by experiment, yet, but once you have removed the Multi IQ-based mode "personality", I believe this to be the case.

To me the whole pumping thing was mumbo jumbo divining rod type stuff (just sweep the coil a few inches off the ground, same as most any detector) with the only real "tip" being using all metal which is the reason why ML smartly made the Horseshoe button easily accessible in the first place. Another tool just like pinpoint to aid in target recovery decisions which has been discussed repeatedly on this board.

Did you try posting this in the general coins and relics forum? This seems to have less (nothing?) to do with a specific detector (in this case the Equinox) than coin recovery efficiency, so you might want to get ideas from more than just the Equinox detectorists that reside here. In other words, don't limit yourself to one group of detetor users. Unfortunately, other than the suggestion above, I am of no real help on this topic because this is about 180 degrees opposite from how I approach this hobby. This sounds like a work efficiency study (e.g., maximizing production while minimizing time) which is exactly what I am trying to get away from when I go detecting. To me it is all about relaxing and not turning it into a lean event, six sigma exercise which just introduces stress AFAIC. More power to you and hope you get some more great tips on how to do what you want to do since quantity of finds is what motivates you. And there is something to be said for that. That is one of the things that is so great about this hobby is that there are so many ways you can approach it, so many different environmnets in which you can practice it, so many different objectives you can achieve, and so many different discoveries you can make. HH.

The other thing is that this question has been asked several times and detailed answers have been given and linked in Steve's essential information sticky thread at the top of the forum. Let us know if you can't find the answer there and want some more opinions. Here are a few links to get you started from previous posts I have made.

I addressed this in my response to you on this topic in your other thread here: http://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/6800-settings-and-4th-hunt/?do=findComment&comment=70565

A LOT of confusion on this whole charging thing: The Equinox draws 1.7A (current) at 5 Volts DC. At that rate, the Equinox will charge up in about 4 hours from "empty". If the charger is designed to limit current to less than 1A (e.g., computer USB ports which can only typically put out 0.5 A of current) then the Equinox will just charge slower and just take the current that the source will allow. That is why ML recommends the name brand 2A+ rated chargers, since these chargers can source the maximum current that the Equinox needs to charge at the maximum rate. Higher current rated 5VDC USB chargers will not harm the Equinox as the Equinox will only draw the maximum current its charge circuit will allow (about 1.7A). Additionally, as Phrunt said, the Equinox does not support any of the proprietary rapid charge protocols. However, ML wants you to stay away from medium duty, non-current regulated (cheap) 1A chargers that are not designed to throttle back current so they will attempt to potentially source current greater than their rating as the Equinox can suck up to 1.7A, and that may result in in overheating or of the charger or having the charger shut down on thermal overaload. Niether of which will harm the Equinox, however, they may interrupt your Equiox's charge or worst case catch on fire which is not a good thing to happen right next to your Equiox, plus risking damage to your precious, proprietary Equinox charge cable. So just get a beefy charger (2A or greater) from a reputable electronics power supply manufacturer and you should be all set.

The Equinox is designed to be operated near the middle to top of its recovery speed settings. In the manual, ML actually describes how higher recovery speed settings result in less ground feedback noise. Not only does this improve target separation in dense trash, it also lowers noise which increases relative depth and also makes iffy junk target signals stand out better, as you experienced. A lot of folks, latch onto the fact that theoretically, lower recovery speeds increase detection depth. While this may be true under ideal circumstances (no trash, no mineralization), the fact is that real world detecting situations typically encompass more challenging conditions where the advantages of high recovery speed outweigh raw depth capability and the result is increased "relative" depth for the conditions at hand. This means that the Equinox with high recovery speed and the advantages of MultiIQ can beat slower depth monsters like the CTX at their own depth game when the site is trashy and/or ground conditions are less than ideal. So generally, you should try to run the Equinox at the mid or high recovery speed settings.

How did you know that was Emily's response. Lol.

This is what I got back from 66 Audio: "Thanks for reaching out! I checked with my technical team. Unfortunately, Pro Voice is not APTX LL compliant. " So that's that. Oh, well. Thanks SD for the firmware. Otherwise, I think the 66 Audio Voice Pro phones are the ticket for workouts so I may take a look at the BTS Pros separately for Equinox.

Unfortunately, despite 66 Audio touting the Voice Pros as an "upgrade" to the BTS Pros, it appears they dropped APTX LL support as they only pair up as APTX with the Equinox. Useable but noticeably more laggy than APTX LL. I have queried 66 Audio tech support to verify this. The 66 Audio site lists ambiguous specs for the Voice Pros, implying both APTX and low latency but never specifying APTX LL explicitly, unlike the BTS Pros which are explicitly spec'd to APTX LL. Disappointing.

Agreed. That's why Sinclair is laughing at my post. Staffydog Matt insisted to Sinclair that the bottle cap ID method was "99% accurate", now it's "dig it all" so I was (and still am) interested to hear from Matt what changed his mind. [and also interested to hear whether he cleaned up in the wake of the coastal storm]. It seems some folks tend to one extreme or the other, when the answer is likely somewhere in between, at least that has been my experience. I still dig bottle caps but I have found the Equinox audio to be telltale enough to allow me to "play the odds" if pressed for time using Matt's method or variations on that theme. It is by no means fullproof nor is it 100% impossible to differentiate bottle caps from desirable targets. But I know that is a pitifully boring answer versus attention grabbing headline type post claims. Nothing wrong with "dig it all" advice, since that is the only way to be 100% sure of anything, but I have not found the Equinox to be a machine that necessarily forces me to do that.

Not what you said here re bottlecaps. What changed?

Don't forget to use Park 2 on the dry sand so you don't miss out on all the on edge silver... the results might just "shock" you... HH

I decided to take the plunge but with the slightly upgraded/newer Pro Voice model which is actually cheaper than the older BTS Pro by about $40US on Amazon. The newer version appears to be the same as the BTS Pro (including APTX LL) but has Alexa Voice integration built in (which I plan to immediately disable - lol), but more importantly, has blue highlights vs. the flourescent green or orange (fan of neither) colors of the BTS Pro. See: https://www.66audio.com/pro-voice/buy And 66 AUDIO - PRO Voice - Bluetooth Wireless Headphones with Amazon Alexa Voice Recognition Technology https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079J34T9L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ZOwjBbAAH0ZQK

I've often thought it would be neat to have some sort of augmented reality app with smart glasses that would give you some sense of your swing pattern and coil coverage at a given site as an aid to the detectorist. GPS alone is not accurate enough to do this so it gets mighty complicated, mighty quickly.

Believe me, Matt is taking advantage of that fact. This particular dead horse is being dragged to several venues for its beatings. Lol. All kidding aside, for dry sand beach hunting where this MIGHT be an issue, nothing prevents you from using Park 2 or Field 2, if you are that worried about it, Matt. Those modes will work just fine in the dry sand (wet, not so much). Not many, if any, other detectors would even give you that option if they had a similar "blind spot". Accordingly, IMO it is a non problem and that is why I am concerned ML might actually TRY to fix it and inadvertently break something I DO care about. Furthermore, theoretically, the Beach modes, being low frequency weighted, should not hit that hard on gold, either. Far from being histrionic about that, folks are killing it out there plucking gold goodies off the beach. In fact, I have found my Equinox gold targets exclusively in Beach mode. Fretting about a very niche, low probability target situation is not worth getting stressed out over, IMO. If you are not finding keepers at the beach with Equinox (where it impresses me the most), then, yeah, Equinox is not your cup of tea.

Randy, What Tom was saying is Blank all segments first, then use all metal in DETECT mode to scan a desirable target's ID, record it, so you can go into the accept/reject SETTINGS screen and manually individually accept back in the desirable targets by their recorded TIDs you obtained in AM mode and manually stepping through the range using +/-. Tedious but doable. The Equinox is set up in detect mode assuming you are only going to reject a few trash targets you encounter, not most of the range, so it is impossible to do from there unless you have a sample of every piece of trash you might encounter. Agree the CTX sounds easier to setup in this regard and appears to be the tool for the job because you are going purely by TID, not audio, and the CTX can be more selective in this regard.

That is exactly how I feel about Field 2 vs. Park 2. Nice saves.

I think it's probably just coil coverage, but Field 2 should be similar to Park 1 as far as clad is concerned as they are both weighted to the lower frequencies and hence higher conductors. There should be no scientific reason why Field 2 Should have performed better than Park 1, unless the targets were masked by trash/iron and missed due to iron bias settings (which are high by default in Park 1). I frequent a small recreational field that I swear I have covered every square inch, and although it is occasionally refreshed with fresh drops, Ialmost always find older dropped dimes and quarters where I have sworn I previously swung my coil. All user adjustable settings being equal (disc, tone breaks, # of tones, recovery speed, iron bias), it is still a mystery to me what Multi IQ secret sauce differentiates Park 1 from Field 1 and Park 2 from Field 2.

Just poking a bit of fun. The title came across very tentative and non-committal (I guess I'm in... etc) initially. Yet your log book posts would repeatedly show these killer finds (despite the bottle caps and trash, which is just an occupational hazard of beach detecting regardless of which detector you use) so I just thought the title became more ironic as time marched on and your finds accumulated and the posts bumped the thread up the page. You are doing great. Keep on killing it and enjoying your Equinox...I guess. Lol. Signed, Jealous Chase

Here is a post I wrote for another new user who was having issues the first time out. I think a lot of the information is relevant to your situation as well. Here is another similar post with pointers: Specifically with regards to iron falsing: There are a couple of built-in tools you can use. Iron bias can help a little, but as it is just a filter, it can only do so much and frankly it can also cause masking of non-ferrous targets in really thick nail beds. The easiest I have found is to use the All Metal horseshoe button to see if you are getting a ferrous grunt along with your high false signal. That is usually a dead giveaway if you have a single target under the coil, of course if there are multiple mixed targets, then all bets are off. You can also switch to single frequency to see if the TID changes significantly, which is also a good indicator of a probable ferrous target. You need to give the thing more than a single run at a challenging site to get used to the machine. You made the right move to go to a less trashy site, and it paid off with the merc. Don't get overly disappointed after one outing. The strength of the machine comes with its audio and trying to get the thing to run as quiet as possible. You need to maximized the signal to noise ratio, not just the signal (e.g., sensitivity/gain). That means, after you have properly noise cancelled and ground balanced as necessary, sometimes you get better results if you turn down the sensitivity, especially in thick iron. You won't lose significant depth at all by reducing the gain to between 15 and 20 and may actually cut down on the noise floor.. If you can eventually get used to 50 tone audio, that is where the machine will really shine as far as giving you target information - a TID number will only tell you so much. If you are just looking for primarily high conductive targets, just stick with Park 1 for awhile. You will still find gold jewelry and nickels with it, but you will maximize depth on high conductive targets. Also, don't get overly focused on depth. The Equinox is a plenty deep machine, but its strength lies in its recovery speed and ability to separate amongst thick trash. Finally, there is a ton of valuable information in this sticky post and I suggest you click through some of the links: http://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/5979-minelab-equinox-essential-information/?do=findComment&comment=62639 HTH

Are you still only "kind of" in on the Equinox? Lol.