Norm S

Minelab posts videos etc on their website and I am sure there will be more coming. A new video was posted today

EQUINOX really is a game-changer. Minelab’s new Multi-IQ, simultaneous multi-frequency technology provides significant performance improvements over single-frequency and switchable frequency VLF detectors.” Peter Charlesworth, Minelab President With EQUINOX and Multi-IQ, Minelab is providing what all detectorists have been waiting for – fast simultaneous multi-frequency, lightweight, waterproof, 3 wireless audio technologies, 4 practical and versatile detect modes – all for a comparable price to single-frequency market offerings. So, which detector will you obsolete?

https://www.minelab.com/usa/customer-care/product-notices?article=326353

In the Minelab press release saying they were beginning to ship Feb 2nd

It's like buying a new truck off the lot. It has lots of nice features you want or you can order a new truck that's loaded however in 5 years they will give the same amount of service no matter which one you bought. The loaded truck has more buttons to play with

The Equinox is not the detector to end all detectors and anyone that has had more than one detector knows that until you get 100+ hours of using it you won't know if it is what you expected or not. I like to start in pre programmed modes and get comfy before I try to tweak anything. I tried to get my V3i to do all the things the experts said it would do when I 1st got it and within two weeks I was ready to junk it. I went back to the basics and in about 3 months I gradually tried other stuff but I gave myself a chance to learn it. I think the Equinox will be great out of the box and as time goes on and I learn it better and then I can come back to the forums to learn what I didn't understand before I got it.. They beauty of these forums is there is always someone that learned a magic trick that helps everyone or posts a good video that you understand without a 10 minute narrative 1st.

I still have an old radio shack detector I got as a gift and I won't part with it. Once I learned to use it I found over $300 in clad with it then I bought an Ace250 that paid for it's self in a month.. After that I was hooked

I have found enough in clad and jewelry to pay for every detector I have owned. I bought my ETrac in Sept of 2016 and only went out a cpl times last year so it hasn't paid for it's self yet but does not count the cost of gas etc I have used to go to detecting spots. I did a trade with my AT Pro for a pistol and I thought it was worth $300 and come to find out it was a collectors item and I got enough to pay for the Equinox plus. So I sold my V3i and with the money I got for it and the pistol I had enough to buy a CTX. I still have to make the ETrac finish paying for it 's self plus the Equinox and the CTX.. I see a lot of detecting in my future..LOL

I know this most of the dealers don't expect even the 2nd shipment to cover the pre-orders and I was told yesterday morning and they expect another shipment before the end of the month. With that being said I would guess every 3 weeks they will get a shipment. The shirttail connection I have with Minelab in the Chicago office says before then end of the month for the next shipment. That connection is through my nieces hubby that knows someone at Minelab. Not sure how reliable the source is. They guy could be the window washer.

We all convinced our wives we needed the Equinox because if we didn't get one we'd never find another thing with our current detectors because they are old technology. We also forgot to tell her how much the Equinox cost. Not that it's over priced it's just that we didn't tell her. Valentines day is coming up and that means, roses, chocolates and a nice dinner..Lets say total cost for that day is $200 unless you're like me and live 10 minutes from 8 casinos then the cost is more. Now the wife thinks ok he knows he has to be nice every Valentines day so he can't count that as doing something special.. My wife has been unusually quiet about the Equinox until last night. I was informed we are taking a lil trip for a week.. Ya'll know that cost more than an Equinox. Preliminary cost $800+ for hotel, $600+ for meals and $300+ for gas not counting the clothes and other junk she buys.. I am guessing that I will drop $2000 before it's over.

Good news for those of you not as lucky Tometusns there is supposed to be another shipment by the end of the month. No confirmed dates but I am told it still won't be enough to fill the pre-orders. I got this from a very reliable source.

I heard that they won't take any Equinox detectors in for repair until all pre-orders have been filled. Now that's a rumor I heard from Jack Scharf from ML. They don't want to start a panic.. Besides if your that rough on a detector they take it away and make you use a pointer until you learn proper care.

The Equinox is already on sale for $799.. other than bragging rights about getting the 1st shipment many people will brag they got theirs on sale

Well none of the top dealers in the USA say anything about arriving shipments. The detectors will be shipped 1st ordered 1st served. The only dealer that has anything even mentioning shipments is BigBoysHobbies and all Bart says is Minelab has begun shipments. All their websites say pre order. Cabela's is the largest dealer in the USA and their website says Ships directly from manufacturer.Please allow 4 to 7 business days for delivery. I am willing to bet that every dealer in the USA also ships directly from manufacturer. You get it when you get it..

Screw the test garden I am headed to one of the trashy empty lots along Beach Blvd where Katrina wiped out so many houses and businesses. If I have a good day there I will have an awesome day everywhere else.

When they announced on Jan 31st they would begin shipping they were ready. Who knows how many were pre ordered world wide. 10,000 or 100,000 but I feel confident they build at least 200 or 300 per day. At that rate they could have 10,000 built in 50 days. I would guess they can put a 1500 -2000 in a sea container and we know France got them 1st and I would guess the UK gets them right after France. We know they had at least 60 days of pre build. Minelab announced they tweaked the iron bias and gold setting to multi frequency so I am confident they are shipping as fast as they can. The detectors don't go to the dealers then shipped to you. They go to a distribution center and shipped direct to you from there. Some dealers are lucky to have a total of 20 detectors of all brands on hand and those are for the walk in sales and demo. I have bought 3 Minelab products from one of the top dealers in the USA and everything I bought was shipped from Michigan Think about it the cost would be to much to ship to a distribution center then to the dealer and then to you.

Well my insider at Minelab Joe Ray Gieger the 3rd says the Eqinox is equivalent to Halle Berry vs Whoppi Goldberg.. Where as Halle Berry has a Multi IQ vs Whoppi Goldberg no IQ

Chase Goldman you're reading page 52 in manual #1.. Look at page 47 in manual #3 that comes with the detector that is if your ordered manual #3 and not all manual #3's have page 47

Ya'll are late to the party. I got mine. I promise not to use it until the rest of you starting getting them. It's still in the box under the tree. Such a darn pretty box I will hate it when I have to open it.

Even as old as I am I usually don't have trouble seeing the screen on my ETrac. I guess I accept it the way it is and in bright sunlight I just turn away to see. I go by tone so it rarely makes any difference what the vdi says. If I am changing modes or settings I just get out the sun or turn away anyway

WOW! That's a powerful statement about the Equinox. Maybe I shouldn't have bit the bullet and bought the CTX too but my son and Grandson will end up with good detectors. I have never been sorry for buying any detector.

I bought both because I wanted them it's that simple. I can afford it and I am retired. I will use the Equinox for beach and gold because I do travel to AZ and NV often. For awhile I will be like a kid in a candy store with to much candy. I will be switching back and forth daily. It's the challenge of learning them that I like. knowing the 1st 100 hours or so of frustrations. I know the CTX can do everything the Equinox can and more but aside from the other great features I like the gps. I used to hunt a 60 acre soccer complex and I would leave sticks in the ground so I knew where to start when I come back and a gps would have been perfect for that area. I know when I am ready to throw them in the trash I am getting close to figuring them out. I hated my AT Pro the 1st 100 hours or so and really hated my V3i for about 200 hours.. I just wasn't catching on to the V3i but then I went to trying things one at a time and adding to what I know.. The ETrac was a breeze in comparison even though there is much I still don't know about it. I traveled so much last year that I didn't detect much and was rusty when I started up again at the 1st of the year.. I am hyped for this year. I will have a good Minelab arsenal to detect anything but love and who needs love at 73. I also like having several detectors so when my Son and grandson visit me I have decent detectors for them to use and also in case the battery gets low on one I have another. I can think of more excuses to buy a new detector than I can to go to the casino

I agree with Steve 100% although I have never put that much effort in to it. The amount of time I did compare was a cpl of hours. I have never had much faith in doing the test garden unless the detector is brand new and just checking vdi's. I was hunting with my grandson a cpl of weeks ago and he used my ETrac and I used my V3i. He was digging a lot of tabs and nails mostly because he had never used the Etrac and was familiar with my AT Pro. I would check his signals with my V3i and most often it compared to the Etrac but a couple of times the ETrac was on a good 44 signal and the V3i showed it to be a penny. Being 73 yrs old I hate to drop on the ground for a false signal but I do it often. I was suckered into dropping for a buried soda can twice yesterday when I knew by the depth and the loudness of the signal it had to be a can.

I am not a fan of the vs videos or even my own in the field comparisons. I have tried it with my E-Trac vs my V3i but no matter how I did it and which one I used 1st I never did walk away feeling I had an apples to apples comparison. I was secretly biased toward my E-Trac because it was my newest detector. Because you locate stuff in the ground so randomly I don't know how you can do it objectively. By that I mean if you hit a signal with one detector and then see if you get the same signal with other detector does not mean you would have detected it with detector #2 because you already know where it is..

All that hacking is fun for those of you that want to tinker with codes etc. Since I bought my E-Trac my V3i has been benched for the most part.. I spent 3 yrs learning the V3i and on my 2nd yr with the Etrac. I pretty much just like to work with what you have while in the field detecting.. I am amazed to see how many people are into the hacking. Actually I think it is cool but not for me