Chase Goldman

Skate - Great report and follow up but this part is really interesting to me. I don't want to turn this into a Deus vs Equinox thread because this is not the forum so if you feel more comfortable just PMing me with a response, but I have to ask since you put it out there. I have too always thought of the Deus as a machine that will tell me practically everything conductive that is in the ground, ferrous to silver, up to it's depth limit. However, I found there is no one mode that allows this with the Deus. To "hear" everything I basically need to hit a spot 3 ways - Full tones, with no discrimination, Gold Field with no Iron Reject, and then if I want to leave the iron in the ground I can use a discriminating pitch program to unmask non-ferrous targets hiding amongst the iron. I have recently found that the HF round coil works best at this. I always felt I was running partially "blind" with multi-tones and any discrimination. It appears you are getting the same "feeling" (in reverse) by running your Equinox over a familiar site that you have pounded with the Deus. My question is simply this, how did you have the Deus set up when you were clearing your park area and what type of coil were you using. Knowing this will give me an idea of how the Equinox "hears everything". Not having run time with Equinox, I am obviously not in a position where I am willing to say that I am rocking Noxtradamus all the way and selling the Deus. I always planned to keep the Deus after the Equinox arrives because I think it still has some fringe capabilities that the Equinox may lack at very high frequencies and still like the low profile and light weight allows room for my Pez dispenser of Advil while not having to eat as much of it. But you and TNSS are really finding some things out about the Equinox that eclipse the Deus in ways I thought the Deus could not be eclipsed. Primarily in ability to separate ferrous and non-ferrous targets. As primarily a relic hunter, this capability is important to me. So I just want to make sure I am on the same page with you on how you wielded the Deus. Thanks.

Delving further into the whole sound vs. visual thing (vs. purely increased visual ID resolution). I guess if anything, I would opt for a visual aid like on some detectors, that displays a confidence indicator rather than more resolution and even then that would still not tell the whole audio story and can be redundant to observing lack of TID stability. A target ID of XX can be nickel or a pull tab or a gold ring. And in the case of the pull tab and ring they can hover around the nickel number depending on size, purity, and shape. Giving more resolution does not necessarily help for the Ring and Pull Tab. Sure they can be unstacked, but since they can move around depending on their characteristics what more are you learning about the target from the higher resolution? The sound quality (not just tone but sonic clues like edge distortion, scratchiness, warbling, etc.) is what gives me the most telling dig information and that cannot be emulated very well visually on a basic fixed icon LCD display. Learning what the sound is telling me is the thing that generally presents the steepest learning curve for me with a new detector. It does not take long to learn the numbers but they can't always tell the whole story. I recognize this is a personal "how you hunt" style thing, just putting out there why higher visual ID resolution wouldn't necessarily help me, but that's why I am putting what I do out there so perhaps I can learn how it CAN help and not just a you say to-ma-to, I say to-mah-to argument. Thanks. The Equinox will arrive soon and can't wait to get out there and learn those tones. Hoping they are as expressive as Deus. I know this is starting to deviate slightly from the main point of the thread but it is related to the question of "Why only..." Steve or any other Equinox users who also have used the Deus, I would appreciate any comments on the audio ID part of the ID equation for the Equinox and how it compares, especially in 50 tones. Thanks. Steve thanks for the link to the TID comparison.

For all of us still waiting - a repeat post for inspiration. LOL. Don't stop...believing. Ohoooo!

I don't see anyone who actually has an Equinox complaining about the VID scale. How much resolution do you think is absolutely necessary (give examples of stacked targets that would make a difference on a dig/no dig decision)? I don't have the Equinox yet but do have a 00-99 point scale Deus. I dig primarily by tone and use VID as kind of a user aid backup not as a primary dig/no dig indicator. Looking for high conductor/borderline high conductor/solid-mid conductor and ferrous. Gold can fall anywhere around the mid-conductors (and so can aluminum trash) so I make a decision to dig (Deus) based on tone quality (not just pitch which is related to VID, but what does the tone sound like). How does having more resolution help? Just trying to learn. I think if I had resolution to be able to tell between a Jefferson, a War Nickel, and Buffalo, I would still just dig them all because they would be all solid coin tones and so what if they all read 13 or 50, 53, 55. On Deus a bent pull tab will ring up here too but the tone is unmistakable as trash. I don't really use the full scale on the Deus, I would be fine if it were 5 point increments, frankly. Please help me understand the advantage. Thanks.

Just east of Culpeper is a hamlet called "Goldvein". Culpeper was at the regional heart of Virginia peak gold mining/production when Virginia was the third highest producing gold state in the country along Virginia Gold-Pyrite belt. Hence, the source of the hot soil conditions in the area making it very hard using traditional VLF technologies to recover artifacts from the tens of thousands of CW soldiers who stayed in winter encampments and fought battles there. So in a sense, when you are relic hunting in the Culpeper Virginia area, you are looking for keepers under traditional "nugget hunting" conditions and why GPX PI detectors and VLF detectors running in "gold" modes or at higher frequencies tend to have success.

Also putting a plug in for the Miccus SR-71s as a great pair of BT APTX LL phones that someone previously reported as possibly being clones of the ML Equinox BT phones. I am using them as part of a wireless setup with my GPX detector (using a companion $20 BT APTX LL transmitter that plugs into the GPX headphone jack). They work and sound great with no noticeable lag and are multipoint which means like the ML phones can be simultaneously paired with another BT device such as your phone so you can take calls. Haven't told the boss about that feature yet, though, so I still have some peace and quiet out in the field for the time being. Lol. Also, I got them "Used - Like New" for a very significant discount through Amz warehouse. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GGKNYOQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think you know, but I got your point completely. I was responding to George and jacob7z. Just to be clear.

Exactly, Steve. Depends on if you need a sledgehammer or pliers to get the job done. Two completely different tools.

Good stuff. Give me some concrete reasons to cancel my order. I've been waiting for 5 months and you have given up on it in a little over two weeks. Impressed the first day, not so much now. What has turned you off? Can you elaborate on what you have done with the Equinox in terms of baking it off against the CTX? Sounds like you didn't bring the CTX along with you or do any test garden testing? How did you have Equinox set up? What modes were you using and why? Did you trade off recovery speed in order to gain depth or just use stock settings? What type of sites were you using it at? Mineralization, trashy, old, cellar holes, old home sites, old parks, beach? Why were you expecting to find silver there (but didn't)? Did you find anything else? Clad? Do you think you have a handle on the Equinox after a week or two? Was it noisy? Was it not separating trash? Was it falsing on iron/trash or giving unreliable TIDs/Tones? I presume that since you didn't "get your CTX out" you did not do any head-to-head testing against a known target to get a feel for the difference in target detectability were going by the "I should have found some silver by now" test? Both valid approaches but I know which one would hold more sway with me. I am begging someone to convince me to cancel my order because the agony of waiting is horrible and I would hate to get to the end and find bitter disappointment. I will listen to any compelling argument with facts. So far I have seen none to convince me not to take the plunge. Need more info. Thanks!

Awesome writeup, Steve. Really good stuff. Multiple detectors is how I looked at the various Deus modes/frequencies and why I tend to hit the same sites several times with those various Deus modes. I look at the Equinox as similar but on steroids. The modes look to be more differentiated such that they better approximate the "different detector" paradigm. I plan to do the same with the Equinox (hit a site multiple times with multiple modes if I can) and then hit it again with the Deus at an HF freq thst is not covered by the Equinox just for good measure. Lol. Also, plan to do a little more "in water" salt beach hunting this summer so I want to unerstand Equinox beach modes better. I have a question on how this beach mode GB "locked at zero" thing works because I can't find it in the manual. Manual does recommend tracking GB in the water so that implies it can be unlocked, but not in manual/auto GB?? If anyone can enlighten me it would be appreciated. Thanks.

The GPX is not going anywhere in Culpeper, it is still king. Take it into a ration can littered trash field, and I can see where the Equinox might have an advantage. Right tool for the job. That's why statements like the CTX cost $2500 so it must be "better" are misnomers. Yeah, the CTX will give you a solid TID on deep silver but it will be blind to a relatively shallow Block I button in mineralized soil that will be easy pickings for the Equinox, which is worth more to you? Only the buyer can decide for themselves.

Great review Wayfarer. A lot of us knew Equinox is likely going to be a great, if not the best, overall jack of all trades detector out there for the money (perhaps period). But you know what they say about jacks of all trades, many are masters of none. While I know that is not the case for the Equinox, and there has been a lot of discussion and consensus from the time Steve was pretesting it until now regarding what it IS a master of and just what it's strengths are. Specifically, related to what fast, simultaneous multi-frequency brings to the table. But more importantly, it is good to also hear what it DOES NOT excel at. No real surprises (deep silver TID - pretty much knew that was coming) but the other minor quirks regarding the depth meter, audio modulation, triple beeps, and balance are great tidbits of information and I thank you for pointing them out. I also liked your initial spectral analysis which was eye opening. Further scratching the surface regarding the nuanced differences between the 800 and 600 in performance in a presentation modeled after yours above would be great and would be helpful for people agonizing about which model to get. Good job.

Ain't that the truth, sir!

The accessories page itself is MIA in addition to the accessories. You're asking for a lot.

Uh, I'd just be happy with price and availability for ANY of the accessories they have already announced, much less unannounced wish list accessories. Speaking of which, the Equinox linked accessories page is STILL down after more than a week 404. Weird. Best case scenario might just be, new announced accessories, but most likely, out of sight (site) out of mind...may be what ML is thinking. Based on the availability of the Equinox, maybe they should hide their product pages too.

Don't stop...believing. Ohoooo!

No good can come of this thread. Lol. Late Oct/Early Nov. Dunno exact date because I verbally preordered from a dealer who didn't require prepayment. I was 27th on the list.

Great news. Looking forward to some Spring relic action in VA. Very encouraging news and what I was hoping for from the EQ. It will get plenty of action against Deus and Pulse machines this spring.

Always nice to see gold show up in the scoop. Congrats.

The Pro 35 with Iron tone interested me bu after seeing some videos and mixed reviews sticking with my Garrett carrot and XP Mi6 when using the Deus.

Ok Steve Thanks. Or reselling it at full price. Yes, scammers ruin it for us all.

Agreed but isn’t that why proof of service is asked for? What am I missing besides “some people will commit fraud”? That is just a sad and disappointing fact of life and is true for any kind of discount offered to a particular group (e.g., senior discount) not just veterans. Thanks.

Sweet shades.

Yep. Not a right. No one has grounds to sue Cabelas over it. Make your own choices, plenty of options. But no one should get bent out of shape if someone gives as one of the reasons for why they didn't buy from them as they were not honoring the ML discount. Regardless how it's characterized and what words are used (free speech is a right still, correct?), the fact remains that certain dealers are choosing not to play along with the ML policy. Vote with your wallets, accordingly. Simple as that.