Chase Goldman

Glad No problem, when you mentioned it, I knew I read it somewhere but couldn't remember which thread (as you can see the thread title would not have led me there). The forum's search feature worked like a charm and took me right to it. Impressed by the forum software here overall, probably the best I have ever seen.

Steve H.'s experience backs up the legitimate target inhibit feature in the Equinox ground tracking and he discusses it here:

You had me at "I have been using an Equinox..."

Totally agree with you. I use the Deus mainly for relic hunting (often in hot ground) so that explains why I stuck with it. Looking forward to see how much Deus overlap occurs with Equinox. Now owe you two likes. Lol

Scoop - Sorry my post made you sad. I guess that email back from XP really traumatized you. Pretty unprofessional response, if that is what they said.

Apparently XP agreed with you, they added a Ground [Balance] Sensitivity setting as a new adjustable parameter in the Ground Balance menu as part of the Deus 4.1 update, just released. (Update 4.0 "improved" GB Tracking from 3.2). Enough about Deus...almost. I too am interested in how E'nox ground balance tracking compares to Deus. I leave Deus mostly in Tracking, wonder if that will not be the case with E'nox, though as Steve says it depends on the soil conditions at the site.

To be clear, I was referring to iron trash infested beaches (many exist, probably not an issue for most beaches though) not black sand. Can't speak for Dew, but he did say "most beach hunters" and I suppose that since most beaches are not iron infested, this setting would not come into play. It may have some impact on filtering corroded crown caps, though.

I think a laminated copy of the quick start guide would be good for in the field.

Steve, Thanks for the perspective. I understand what you are saying. I always considered the CTX because I wanted a capable VLF water machine I could use on land too, but a couple things always held me back (e.g. obviously cost, recovery speed, weight, menu system complexity) plus I was having great success with the Deus. Along came Equinox, and it eclipsed all the concerns I had with the CTX. I know it will not likely be as good on deep silver as the CTX or perhaps not as rock solid on TID on some targets, but that alone does not deter me. I just don't know how Multi IQ will pan out as compared to FBS. Two different multi frequency animals. Will they greatly overlap in terms of capability or only slightly overlap and how? That is the question. Just like the CTX is not going anywhere, I also do not intend to ditch the Deus either post Equinox, especially not the HF coils which go up to 80 khz. I will give you a like when my "like" quota resets. Been too generous today apparently...lol

Depends on how much and the type of iron on your beach. Since beaches vary in that regard, you will probably have to experiment on each beach. But I suspect, once you have it dialed in for a specific beach, you can probably forget about it.

My wife always asks me why I have more than one detector since I only have two arms and one of them is carrying a shovel. I never have a good answer for her. That being said, I have no idea why you got both of those suckers. I have only heard of people selling their CTX 's to get an Equinox (or just keeping their CTX's) but not getting both at this point. Guess I would have staggered it at least. Purchased the Equinox and then the CTX if there were any remaining performance gaps by the Equinox. Lol. Hope it works out.

The manual is bound to have some confusing sections (to some readers or to many readers, depending on the example) because it is a complex gadget and some concepts that are simple in practice when you have the detector right out in front of you are hard to grasp just off the written page without anything to visualize. I guarantee you there are probably a thousand lurkers on this forum that had the same or a similar question. You were just brave enough to ask it. I know they are all thanking you for taking the bullet, but they learned something just like you did. So keep asking...

I am pretty sure it affects audio target ID too, especially in 50 tone mode.

Just asking questions about some confusion in parts of the manual on 600. Did not see any 600s being tested. Neither means that ML did or did not do a thorough job, I was just asking if someone knew what ML did in this regard. I don’t have the benefit of a 600 in front of me. I don’t recall saying that no thought went into this. Thanks folks. It was a good run. I will slink on out since I am apparently ruining the party and not adding value. My apologies to all. Really enjoyed the forum. Hope everyone gets their Equinoxes soon. Happy Hunting

Folks, please read my post more carefully. Of course there should be differences between the 600 and 800. I even said in my post that I agreed and understood with respect to the more restrictive performance settings of recovery and iron bias on the 600. By crippled I was referring SOLELY to the non-ferrous tone adjustment settings which do not exist on the 600 and make things like the 50-tone gap adjustment different and, frankly, confusing from a user interface perspective while these differences have no direct impact on capability. My post has NOTHING to do with the other omitted performance features on the 600. Of COURSE it’s a great deal for many detectorists that don’t need those features and I am glad ML offered the choice. You are preaching to the choir on that one. My point was that the tone setting manual instructions are great if you have an 800 but have created questions in my mind if you have the 600. Asterisks are great and all, but without a 600 sitting in front of me cannot make heads or tales of the settings restrictions. Was wondering if they had some actual users validate that the instruction manual setting instructions make sense for 600 users when you can only adjust the non-ferrous settings, especially tone gap for 50 tones. In fact for the 600 I would agree with a previous suggestion to eliminate 50 tone from the 600 to further differentiate it and make the settings simpler. Sometimes companies make mistakes and just assume that as long as the more capable or all encompassing model is tested then that envelops the lesser model. I can tell you from experience that is sometimes a flawed approach, especially from a user interface perspective. Hence, the subject line for the thread.

Nope. There are several other differences besides lack of Gold Mode and setting restrictions that became apparent when reading the pre released quick start guide and now the manual including: No quick save setting button for instant recall of your favorite mode and associated custom settings. Reduced range and increments of adjustment for recovery speed and iron bias along with slightly different default settings for the above parameters in the various modes between the 600 and 800. Auto noise cancel only vs. Auto and Manual on the 800. Restricted settings for threshold pitch, non-ferrous tone breaks, non-ferrous tone pitch, and 50-tone non-ferrous tone gap setting. 600 only allows single frequency operation at 5, 10 , 15 khz while 800 allows single frequency operation at 5, 10, 15, 20, 40 khz. Both detectors use all five frequencies during Multi IQ (simultaneous multi frequency ops). Wireless audio hardware (headphones and receiver) not included in the box. There may be even more less obvious differences.

Wonder how many Equinox 600 testers were out there? The reason I ask is that I found the unnecessarily crippled 600 non-ferrous tone option setting instructions confusing. While reduced adjustability on recovery and iron bias settings makes sense because they affect detector capability, I just think the tone setting restrictions seem like an arbitrary “penalty” for 600 users, promote user interface confusion, and are just going to frustrate the 600 users.

Thanks. Thanks. Yep that was all posted up on the sticky threads awhile ago so folks go check it out here: and here:

Despite this feature, still going to use the "sorry I was detecting and didn't hear the phone" excuse as I see fit.

Steve - for the 600, my understanding is that you cannot adjust tone pitch for the non-ferrous tones. For 50 tone mode (where I plan to be nearly 100% of the time), as far as adjusting the tone gap (tone pitch) from the 1, 20 default, I take it that you can only adjust the ferrous number up, but the non-ferrous pitch number remains fixed at 20, correct? Does that mean, you can lower the tone gap only by raising the ferrous tone, but not by lowering the non-ferrous tone (or both) on the 600. In other words, to lower the 50 tone ferrous - to - non-ferrous gap on the 600, you have to increase the ferrous tone which, I suppose, can be raised all the way to 19. Even though I am not getting the 600, I kind of wish they just kept the tone adjustment options the same between the two models. I think this is just going to unnecessarily create confusion and frustration amongst the ("have not") 600 users. It's minor, but this is another reason I am glad I opted for the 800.

From the Minelab Equinox Owner's Manual page 52: Iron Bias (Advanced Setting) The Iron Bias setting adjusts the likelihood of the detector to identify a target as iron if it presents both ferrous and non-ferrous signals. All ferrous targets produce a combination of a ferrous and nonferrous response. Large ferrous targets can even present a stronger non-ferrous response. Also, a ferrous target adjacent to a nonferrous target can produce a similar response. The Iron Bias Setting provides some control over the Target ID response. A lower Iron Bias setting will allow the natural response to dominate which means that the target is more likely to be classified as a non-ferrous target. A higher setting will increase the likelihood that the target is classified as iron. The Iron Bias setting has a range from 0 to 9. Iron Bias is only available when the operating frequency is Multi. Iron Bias adjustment is local; only the current Detect Mode Search Profile will be affected by changes to this Advanced Setting. In environments with dense iron trash, a higher Iron Bias is recommended in order to mask them. In areas where you do not want to miss any non-ferrous targets amongst iron trash, a lower setting is recommended. This will cause more ferrous targets to be detected and identified as desirable non-ferrous targets. Adjusting Iron Bias 1. Use the Settings button to navigate to Recovery Speed in the Settings Menu. 2. Press and hold the Settings button for 2 seconds. A line will appear beneath the Recovery Speed icon, indicating you have selected the Iron Bias setting, and 'FE' will appear on the Frequency Display. 3. Press the Minus (–) and Plus (+) buttons to decrease or increase the Iron Bias. Adjustments are automatically saved. 4. A long press of the Settings button will return you to the Recovery Speed setting. Click to enlarge...

Oh, brother. If true, way for Minelab to make this about Minelab instead of the buyers who have been waiting so long. I don't mind the realities of development, production lines, and worldwide shipping delays, but to cause an additional delay for some executive's marketing stunt, spare me. Hope he realizes that even if they do that, they will still get in folks' hands at different times due to local shipping times. Why don't they have us all show up in front of the nearest Deus or AT Max user's house at the same time and taunt them with our new Equinoxes while the Minelab blimps and drones take pictures of us all doing it across the world at a synchronized predetermined flash mob time. Lol.

Nah. Honest mistake.

In breaking news, Minelab has surreptitiously let it be known through dealers that they will be announcing an announcement about announcing a special announcement sometime in the near future about the past announcements. Please stayed tuned for announcements announcing future past announcements. Someone else mentioned something about the announcement being on Groundhog Day, but instead of the 6 weeks more winter wait time analogy, I keep thinking of the movie and that we will have to figure out how to keep reliving Groundhog Day until we get it right, enabling the UPS guy to eventually show up and deliver the Equinox but then Chris Elliott pops out during unboxing and you throw up and have to do it all over again. Am I the only one having that nightmare?

Inquiring minds want to know exactly what time it is (to the minute if possible) in your neck of the woods and whether you have seen a final shipping unit of the Equinox or whether you are simply wistfully wondering if product has shipped from down under. Try it, its fun. I'll start: It's 0645 here in Virginia and ... oh never mind.