Chase Goldman

Norm, I agree, especially re: the humor part, that's why I chose to quote your post to make my point regarding Minelab. Cynicism mixed with humor. Shaken but not stirred. I had a great laugh reading your what came out of your horse's mouth. Lol. And to be clear - the ML engineers and designers have appeared, so far, to have hit out of the park with Equinox (again with great help from the testers). Otherwise, in other areas of the business, there is always room for improvement.

Mitchel - thanks. That's what I am talking about with the myriad of audio options. Convenience for just about any situation, but it can get a little confusing with the Equinox seeking out the various wireless receivers, especially when those headphones can be used in either wired or wireless configuration. Ok. I got us down in the weeds now, so I'll save figuring out how all the audio combos work (and how well they work) for when I get my machine. I'll post back with a rundown that may help demystify some of the more arcane setups (e.g., how well the supplied BT phones work passively depending on whether they are wired to the detector or the WM08). If you do get around to hooking the headphones back up to the WM08, would like to know how it works out. LOL - BTW going Waaay back to the beginning, was that a gold ring you placed next to the gold nugget or some other ring metal? Thanks.

Mitchel, Your reply to Dave cleared it up for me. They work passively wired but much better audio when they are on and you have local amplified volume control, as I suspected. Good to know. Thanks and glad you're loving the machine. cg

Thanks. I'll figure out all those minor details out when EQ gets here. Like I've said previously, it's great to have a kajillion audio options available. I am working on a WM08-in-a-bag wired headphone solution as a WP headphone alternative until the official EQ waterproof headphones show up, so that's patially the basis for my question.

Thanks, Steve. I was just wondering why Mitchel was not getting good audio when he was using them in hard wired (passive) mode with the WM08 until he turned the phones on. Perhaps in wired mode the phones amplify the wired sound when they are turned on enhancing the sound quality vs. passive mode.

I think the jury may still be out regarding performance in highly mineralized soil (we'll soon find out), but from what I have seen so far, it should perform just about as well if not better than any other non-PI machine out there (I hesitate to refer to the Equinox as VLF machine because even though technically it is, I think there is a big difference between single frequency and multifrequency VLF machines) and under some circumstances (thick iron infested areas) it could be one of your few machines of choice as that situation usually takes the PI out of the equation [again, I am talking about a highly mineralized site]. But, yeah, First Texas...ouch. (and I love my F75)

Mitchel or Steve, Please bear with me. I know I ask a lot of annoying questions, but it comes with the territory as an engineer (precision and all that). I try to self-answer by looking up in the manual and still manage to miss key points and tricky phrases especially in regards to the numerous audio options which is great but also adds some complexity especially with not one but two wireless options. So I am a little confused (hey I said I was precise, not smart) by the scenario and just trying to sort out some details above. Not trying to dissect an embarrassing moment we have all encountered (be honest out there, folks) but trying to learn some details about how the audio works. Anyway, my question is this: Do the headphones NEED to be powered on when you have them hard wired to the WM08 module OR to the detector itself? I thought using the supplied wireless headphones in wired mode was an alternative you could use in the event the headphone batteries died in the field and you could use the headphones passively. Before I get the "why would you think that response", that is how my wireless deteknix headphones work and many BT headphones when used in hard-wired mode. If you need to turn them on to hear the audio properly, then does the passive thing not work well or is this just an issue when you are using them wired with the WM08 module because it doesn't have a volume control that allows you to boost the audio (does detector audio volume work adjustment work through the WM08?). Just trying to figure out if the supplied BT headphones have a usable passive wired mode when connected to the WM08 or directly to the Equinox. If not, then I will keep a spare set of wired headphones with me as a backup. I'm sure this is all very obvious when you have the unit in your hands, but I never miss the chance to let everyone know, I'm still waiting...lol. Thanks.

The spare LiIon battery pack in the vehicle is a habit I formed several years ago with the Deus. I even have one the size of a paperback book that can jump start my car. Yeah, it was a non-issue from the get go, but many folks just need to see it to believe it and I can't fault them for that. Even the "but I can always puck up a spare set of AA's from the local 7-11" holds for the Equinox because these power packs are so ubiquitous I have actually seen them on sale in 7-11's and for not much more than a couple of AA four-packs. Glad we're getting the confirmation from the users.

These things happen, that's why Minelab didn't go way out there on a limb and say "Our commitment is to fulfill all backorders by the end of March." I am certain they will 100% strive to meet their goal until April comes along. Despite my cynicism, I would rather have this scenario for the Equinox than the other disappointing alternative...Minelab delivering an unimpressive machine that everyone could get their hands on from day one (or worse, no one could get their hands on). Steve and the rest of the testers made sure ML didn't deliver a clunker by the vast majority of first reports.

I'll probably never have to worry about it because I'll have the drone-assisted Equinox 1800/personal assistant by the time the battery finally gives out.

I placed a ring near a .1g nugget. It separates the signal in multi and single frequency. Oh my. My appraisal just went up higher. What was the ring material btw? (I have a good idea, but just wanted to be certain). Thanks.

I was talking about folks just opening them up to take a look or to see if it can be done in the near term. Or not reassembling them properly and causing loss of watertight integrity. Oops. Of course the battery should def outlast the warranty under normal usage. I wasn't really worried about the whole "sealed battery" issue in any event coming from the Deus.

Ok the pics in the link are helpful including showing how the O rings form the seal. Would still like to know if ML is going to cry foul if someone does this before the warranty is up.

First of all, still don't know exactly what you are showing us in the second pic (remember not many of us have the beast in hand, yet) but I do know those aren't pillows! (Lol). Second, for the non flyfishermen, before everyone starts tearing down their detectors, use caution on this as this may void your warranty and could also compromise the watertight integrity of your Equinox.

I have been eying those very phones to use with my GPX. Why did you decide to go with those vs. the stock supplied pair?

Really strange this page is down, still. Guess they didn't get it done before leaving for the weekend. Lol.

Great news Mike! Hopefully, just a one off gremlin.

Mitchel, I have a "beach" that is accessible on the bay with no wave action and plan to use the EQ to get wet but can easily dunk or even be deep enough to keep the control box submerged. On real beaches, I am dry/wet sanding it or waiting for a storm cut, too. So yeah, BT works just fine there. I also want to do some backwoods freshwater hunting also because that opens up some previously un-detectable (but wet) real estate for me. Trying to figure out how to hit those two areas that necessitate something other than the BT solution with no word on the WP headphones for EQ from ML. First things, first, however. I need an Equinox to show up. LOL. Thanks for listening and good hunting with your new Equinox. CG P.S. Since the BT headphones supplied are not even water resistant, having a "caught in the rain" solution is also a good backup plan that the WM08 facilitates unless I find some low latency water resistant BT headphones, The good news is that the Equinox is designed to give you plenty of possible audio solutions for various detecting situations.

Agree but if you are in the waves, the supplied BT headphones won't survive the dunk, that is why I am saying waterproof the the WM08 with a pouch and hardwired connector to a set of el cheapos that may survive at least a few dunkings. See this as a possible kludge The best thing would be a watertight pigtail adapter that allows you connect the CTX WP cans directly to the EQ control box. I see a few people working on some homebrews.

This is where I lament Radio Shack going away. Nice solution. You can plug that into the WM08 too. What you are showing is the pigtail type 1/4" female to 1/8" male adapter I was talking about. If you can find one with a mono straight in plug then you don't have to use the interim adapter plug, but the right angle puts less stress overall on the panel jack.

Yeah, for the mini to 1/4" mono adaptor you need to find a pigtail type adapter that moves the jack "shoulder" away from where you make the connection into the WM08 or control box similar to the unavailable adapter accessory available from ML.

Todd, nice. Do you have a part number for the "Equinox" threaded mini-plug end (and pigtail)? Is that an off-the-shelf item or did you make that yourself? If I can get that threaded plug and pigtail, I can easily solder it to a pair of amphibian Grey Ghosts I have laying around that have the unfinished connector end. Would be awesome. In the mean time I have come up with a kludge for the WM08. Since the WM08 is not submersible, what you CAN do is put it in one of those waterproof cell phone bags that have the mini-plug/jack pigtail inside the bag. It comes out to a waterproof grommeted mini-jack on the side of the bag. You can then plug in a cheap pair of waterproof or moisture proof athletic earbuds into the bag and voilia, a chepo WP headset setup using the WM08. If the headset plug backsell is molded tightly to the mini-plug on the headset, you should have a setup that can handle more than a few waves or dunkings. The only real drawback is that it will not work with the EQ control box submerged continuously as you will lose the RF signal between the control box and the WM08. Pic with a Deus control module standing in for the WM08 below (yeah, still waiting for my Equinox to arrive).

Adapter? for CTX WP headphones? Can you clarify? Thanks. I'm interested in your setup because I'm trying to figure out a way to hook up a pair of 3rd party WP phones to EQ when I finally get it so I can take it into some chest deep water with no horizon on when the ML EQ WP phones will be available. (Please correct me if there is some new news on EQ accessories).

Mitchel, For the noisy pier, you might want practice with and then try the 800-unique manual noise cancel mode to see if that helps you manually find a less noisy channel so you don't have to suppress sensitivity. Just a thought

Now I know where Norm gets his bottle caps for testing the Equinox. Hey, its 5 o'clock somewhere. Thanks for the chuckle. I needed it.