☠ Cipher

It is amazing to me that one individual can put this together by himself, and yet we've not seen anything like it from Whites despite the popularity of waterproof machines since the launch of the V3i. They are pretty good with this stuff in the Ukraine. They made the custom waterproof housing I have for the Ace series. Fits like a glove. I hope they one day market a kit for the V3i and other machines. 

Great show! At this point I'm sitting here armed with my V3i, my Equinox, Bullseye TRX and some of the best digging equipment in the industry, but 2 feet of snow. So I get my fix here on the forum, listening to things like this, Curse of Oak Island/Civil War Gold, and of Whites annual Nationwide Easter egg hunt (check it out guys. Each dealer hides 6 eggs with 5 silver tokens worth $25 in Whites gear and one gold worth $100 of Whites gear. Each token enters you in a chance to win a metal detector or TRX). 

I live in the breadbasket and site of several battles of the revolutionary war. It seems to most, if not all of us that all the relics associated with these battles have not been recovered. This area seems to have a high sink rate as well. I have always had my eye on equipment like this for that reason and to be honest just because of how cool it is. I'll definitely be watching how this one shakes out price wise, but if it's anything like the others before it, probably out of my financial reach this year.

There's only 3 that I consider worth the time and money anymore. The Carrot doesn't even make my top 5. I like the Bullseye TRX, the F-Pulse or Tek-Point, and the ProFind 35.

I've been saying exactly this for a while now. You have machines like the MX Sport and AT Max at $750 and $722. They offer embarrassingly little in comparison to a $649 machine. The MX Sport is a beast in mild to moderate inland soil and freshwater conditions. It's incredibly deep and fast. But it got off to such a rough start that it never got the traction it needed to grab its market share before Minelab came out to deliver the fatal blow.

Over time the Max stands to lose the most in the all terrain market as this sorts itself out as it is the dead last performer aside from the older AT models. What pricepoint could it survive at against a 3 single/5 multi frequency machine...$550? Doubtful. I'm as miserly as they come and I'd rather pay the extra $100 for the extra frequencies and multi. I'd argue that unless Garret can put the max out there for around $399-$449, they should pack it up and go back to the drawing board.

It's not just the Equinox and MX Sport they have to contend with having better machines, they also have the Kruzer series now. I also don't see the Kruzers surviving where they are priced either. The multi Kruzer is going to have to come in at around $550-$579, the regular Kruzer around $450-$479. The Max and Sport will have to come in at that low point as well or exit the stage. Most people would prefer an all terrain machine. You can see machines like the AT Pro and Gold coming in at $350-$400 and that pushes a lot of mid market machines into the upper-low end of the spectrum, where even there they have to compete with the dual and triple single selectable frequency Minelab X-Terra's. 

Outwardly, these companies seem to be in denial about this. I do wonder if that carries into the board room. Most commonly I see the defense that these machines haven't been vetted in unbiased hands. We ARE talking about Minelab here, not Ground EFX or Pyle. And long before it reached the general public there were testers like Steve that can be relied upon. At some point very soon these companies will have to acknowledge that this machine is a game changer and respond accordingly. 

Im one of those "Go USA!" Guys and it's been sad to see what's happened to them by not taking Minelab and XP seriously for so long. But I do believe First Texas gets what they must do in their next gen machines and are doing it. I think when they do respond with new machines they will pull out front for quite some time. It's Whites and Garrett I worry more about because they've had more releases recently that have focused on single frequency mid market machines again. This reflects a denial about where the market is going. It's a waste of time and resources that should've been directed at the top of the market, multi and pulse development. Their aim at the single frequency mid market says to me that they either don't get the customer base or they have terrible spies, as I'm confident that if I wanted to direct my time, technological skills, and resources at Minelab I'd have known about the Equinox long ago. My wife can confirm this if anyone doubts me lol.  

Looks like maybe the Jeohunter is coming to hobby detecting. All I can say is wow! Way to go Makro. This will be a hit! Equinox who?

19 hours ago, BeachHunter said:

Nice setup Cipher. 

It's not my machine, unfortunately. Mine has been delayed in shipping until at least tomorrow probably due to regional storms. I saw this on eBay. The seller was trying to market it as something special he created for the Equinox and asking over $30 for. Broken down, it only costs $10. I have a flashlight holder and flashlight on each of my machines, but never thought of using a flashlight/power bank combo on the Equinox, so that was great thinking by this seller. It prompted me to look into other power banks and that's when I started to see solar powered and waterproof. Some great options for enhanced day to night hunting 

It's fun to me to speculate what they might have that is going to "knock our socks off." Something "ground breaking." That will have features and ways of discriminating that we have not thought of before if I remember correctly. Will it strike the perfect balance of time and frequency domain analysis? Seems Minelab has been at that for a while with BBS, FBS, and FBS 2. I'd imagine Multi-IQ is another variant but rather than using the same two frequencies in alternating sequence, the signal is "weighted" to the task at hand (the algorithm is 20 and 40khz heavy in gold mode, but 5khz heavy in beach). To that end, timing seems as important as the frequencies utilized. 

Maybe they will utilize a magnetic field. Seems every company is exploring that idea. Isn't some form of magnetic wave incorporated into the GPZ 7000 platform? 

I remember much of their focus being on how to better neutralize the ground. Obviously any further depth out of a VLF machine could only come from making the ground more invisible and target more visible. 

In any case, it seems to me like they've dumped the CZX and Mosca platforms in favor of other things. Maybe that coincides with the hiring of the French engineer with his new and developed ideas for pulse induction. Now they have Carl, which is awesome. I think he will help push this company forward. Seems a strong forward thinking personality. 

Found this on eBay and confirmed that it is only 1 of 4 made. I know Russ B. Owns one. This guy stumbled in into his on the FB marketplace and then discovered how rare it is. I think the bottom line may be a bit ambitious, but who knows. 

Buy yourself a metal detecting flashlight holder $5, and a power bank with built in flashlight $5-$20. I personally prefer the larger waterproof solar power bank with dual LEDs. Great for night time surf hunts All available on eBay. 

I have a certain OCD about the way detectors look. I will even sacrifice a little practicality for aesthetics. I'm like this with everything from cars, to home to metal detectors. I put up with the weight of the MX Sport partly because it's a gorgeous machine. To this day I miss the F75 LTD partly because it's one of the best looking machines ever made. So now I'll have the Equinox in my hands tomorrow and I don't like the looks of a straight shaft on most machines, but particularly the Equinox. I've seen that I'm not the only one that thinks so, in many forums. I've even gotten to see what it looks like with an S rod in another forum and it makes a world of difference. Looks like a whole different machine with just that one change, but the problem the modifier ran into is that he can't find an S rod that will connect. Everything he tries is a little off, so that's probably going to drive me nuts for a while lol. 

Thanks Steve, you put me on to some great information there. Never knew the TRX nearly had wireless adaptation, and am very excited that eventually the Tek-Point/F-Pulse will have it. Makes me wonder what machine the TRX would've linked up to, and has piqued my imagination about what the FT pinpointers will link to. Still believe amazing things are coming from FT soon. 

I think my only question on this one is why they reduced the submersibility from 10ft to 6ft. I've been considering this one or the PF35. Initially they said 10ft, then from what I understand from thehuntergt there's a sort of disclaimer inside amending it to 6ft. Right now I use the TRX, but am considering a pulse induction Pointer to use with my Equinox on the beach or harsher soils.

I have not bought one, but having had the LTD and following Fisher so closely  as I do, I can say with 100% certainty the Plus is a lower cost LTD with all the same programs etc. And including an awesome pinpointer and Digger. Only thing is the price you've found is a bit high. Usually is on their site. If you go to a dealer or even eBay right now it's only $649

Well, I officially took a journey to the "dark side." I bought an Equinox 600. I really kinda wanted the 800 and may still end up with that model in the long run, but I just didn't see enough of a difference between the two to justify the extra $250 while money is tight. My belief is that if I want to chase a little gold I can still find it with the 600 with multi-IQ, and if I want more fine tuning, I have a V3i for that. In any event, I'm excited to see how I like it. If I like it a lot I will find a way to grab the 800 up shortly after I'm sure. Call me crazy, but I feel guilt for parting with my MX Sport though. 

This is interesting. Reminds me of the old days of Nintendo secret codes for Mario and Zelda etc. Pressing buttons in random order just hoping to stumble into something. It has piqued my interest to see what I can open up. I'd like to be able to monkey with the tracking a bit if at all possible. There's some control over the speed I see, but I see a lot of posts that have me worried that if I get into more aggressively changing ground than I have so far the machine won't keep up in auto. It sounds like this was a software change from an issue that wasn't present in the Vision and V3? 

I can't completely speak for Cal, but It sounds to me like frustration that what was once his favorite manufacturer has now fallen behind, with no concrete details about what's going on. I've felt it too as I watch the gap between FT and others widen, that "c'mon guys, what are you doing?" Feeling you get akin to when you're watching a sport. I've often wondered if the secrecy we've seen with companies like First Texas, Whites etc is as necessary as they feel it is, or whether giving loyalists enough information to hold onto would outweigh the benefit of the secrecy. Many brand loyal guys are willing to be pretty patient if they know something competitive or superior is fairly imminent, but give up hope and jump ship in the absence of anything concrete. Sometimes it's hard to get those guys back. But I understand the other side of it too and how the competition can use information to tie up patents etc., and so giving up too much can hurt a project. From my perspective I'd probably like to hear something candid about the obstacles they've faced that has had them running over their desired release targets, and has often given guys like cal the impression they are crying wolf or holding an empty hand with a poker face. But I have faith that the talent and resources are there and eventually it will all come together.

Now that you mention it, when First Texas first started teasing the "F75+" on their Facebook page, most of us got the impression that there would be some new features added, and I had hoped they would add the features of the G2+ like the one by one VDI notching and variable tone break etc. Many of us were very dissapointed that it was only a repackaged Bundle to promote the pinpointer. Good deal nonetheless, but they had to know people would expect more the way they were teasing and hyping it up as if it were a new release. 

Call me finicky or OCD, but I don't like the logos on the newer machines. I'm going to be in the market for a used model soon but I will only buy them with the winged F. To me, there's no better machine to have in mild ground, and I regret parting with mine. I do think that for anyone not suffering from OCD they have put together one hell of a deal on one of the best machines ever made. 

I never did make it out to buy that CTX-3030. Someone did. When I realized I couldn't make it I began pushing friends to purchase it. A lot of people spent too much time being suspicious of the price. My experience has been that my intuition about sellers is always correct, and I think the sale was genuine. I just wasn't in a position to liquidate my MX Sport and run to Ohio from NY at the time, and I wasn't willing to part with my V3i for it, as I've been in that position before. Thankfully my tax returns should be here any day now, and I'll be keeping my eye out for more deals along these lines. It's not the first time I've seen a CTX under $1,000, and it won't be the last. I did eventually part with my MX Sport because I'm going to buy the Equinox 800 and see how I like it compared to the Sport and the Multi-Kruzer. I have a lot of guilt about it though, as I've tried to support and promote USA machines. 

FBS machines are all hot on deep silver, to the detriment of low conductors. If my focus was solely on deep silver with a good target ID I might favor the Safari. The V3i also has a killer deep silver program though. The ID fades a little quicker and then you have to listen to the tones, but what it lacks there it makes up for by being more consistent across the spectrum of metals. Personally my preference is the V3i. 

I hear you. I've always gotten on better with a concentric too, and one idea I gave Whites recently is to allow users to pick which coil they want. DDs are a bit more expensive to make. It would be no skin off their back if I wanted a concentric. Whites and First Texas seem to be the only companies left that still market concentric. I worry soon nobody will. Aftermarket coil companies don't bother with them at all I notice. 

Could this be a hint about when we can expect new machines?