Norm S

I am planning my fall trip for this year and my wife and I enjoy visiting old ghost towns, mining camps and national monuments. I plan on spending a week in NM and a week in northern AZ and NV. I also plan on trying the gold mode on my E-800 and my wife wants to use my E-600. She has only metal detected with me a cpl of times but the lure of mine tailings and areas that are known for placer gold intrigues her and she wants to metal detect. My question is what would be the best settings on the E-600 for her to help find gold.. I don't want her to think because there is no gold setting on the 600 that it won't find gold. I have only used the 600 on the beach in beach 1 & 2 and been using no discrimination which works well for me with very little or no chatter at all. I am asking which mode would be best if she were to prowl around tailing piles or placer gold areas. I know her well enough that if she thinks for one minute she couldn't find gold with it she would say why did you even bring it along

At 1st I paid up front and was even going to going to buy a CTX as a carrot to get in on the 1st delivery and when he had received his 2nd shipment and told me I was 17 on his list I canceled and my credit card was reimbursed and found one online in two days. I searched every minelab dealer in the USA and that was back in March. I think I took delivery March 7th. I am very impatient when someone has my money and can't deliver. As soon as I got my Equinox I forgot about ever buying a CTX and even gave my Etrac to my grandson Like many people I too am anxiously awaiting the 6" coil release. Dealer loyalty went out the window with the Equinox but there are many people that remain loyal to a dealer think their dealer treats them special. Customer loyalty didn't mean much when it came to the Equinox either. I know of three dealers I won't buy from again. I am doing business with really small dealer and I am on his prefered customer list. He only has 5 prefered customers and everyone else is 1st come 1st serve. He don't require payment up front either. He has five 6" coils ordered and will notify me when he gets them. It's a part time business he runs from his house and has a very small customer base. Heck I am not brand loyal either. I have had Garrett and White's detectors.

I know I won't ever go more than waist deep so I have nothing to worry about and most likely not more than knee deep. At may age anything deeper is to much for me. I seen one guy over in Alabama actually underwater with his detector and when he got out he was whipped but found two rings

I have noticed that most everyone desiring the Equinox must have one by now and even all the website chatter has died down since there is so much info available about the Equinox. I haven't even seen many repair issues recently and I know there will always be some but Minelab does such and awesome job in responding and repairing that no one can complain about the Minelab customer service. Once everyone that wanted the Equinox got one there is no more bashing of vendors and Minelab distribution. Of course now it's where are the coils. We are now into July and not a whisper of the release date and I suspect Minelab won't release them until they know they will have the 1st wave of those seeking the coils are satisfied. 1st of all I like the Equinox better than any detector I have owned and I have the confidence when I go out with my Equinox that I will not be taking back seat to any detector on the market. It's the most versatile detector I have ever used and the easiest to use and set up. I love the tone selection and the all metal button. I had to do it but this morning I was sitting in my truck at the beach and seen a guy detecting so I grabbed my Equinox and hit the beach. He had a Whites MXT and was hitting a penny here and there and I went to where I seen he had been and I walked his exact path and found $1.78 in clad behind him in 20 minutes. I used it in factory Beach 1 mode. He was amazed I found so much behind him but he was swinging his detector like a golf club so unless it was at the bottom of his swing he missed it. He was also about 1' above the ground all the time as well but I never mentioned his swing.

I like my Xpointer as well as my TRX. I hated the Garrett Carrot and the F Pulse. I had the old Pro Pointer from Garrett until if would no longer work so I sent it in and Garrett talked me into trading it in on the Carrot and I hated the Carrot so gave it to my grandson

I plan on a trip in the fall to AZ and NV. Makes me want to go even more now but in reality I know I will likely not find any gold at all.

For me every detector I ever purchased was a gut decision. Some I fell in love with and some I never did like but tried my best to convince myself it was the right decision. In a nutshell every detector has it niche in the marketplace and serves that niche well. I have read complete reviews by many I look at as experts and they review every detector fairly. The people I consider experts do not work for any detector mfg. Whatever you buy you will always wonder if that was the right detector unless you fall in love with it

A smart person will follow Chase Goldmans advice. I have never found him to be wrong. He keeps it simple and explains it well. In the long run mo matter how you tweak your detector you will find a sweet spot that fits your detecting style.

Send it Thursday you will have it back next thursday. They turn it around in one day. They won't even get it until Monday afternoon. Sent mine in twice.

What Dan did is what he found worked and worked well for him. He didn't try any magic settings that so many guys are looking for. it pretty simple the magic setting is the factory setting that you tweak to your liking. It depends on what area of the US you detect in whether you need to ground balance or not and I think unless you're in a highly mineralized soil leave GB at zero. I have never used GB nor have I tried it. Never had a need to. I used two settings, sensitivity and discrimination. I hunt by tone and look at the vdi as a confirmation. The magic in the Equinox is the same as with every other detector. It's your ear guys. I have fun with my detector and I let Minelab science out the detector for me..LOL

I have had to send my E-800 in twice. Within minutes of reporting the issue I had with it I had prepaid shipping label for UPS. I sent it in both times on a Thursday and received it the following Thursday. Had I sent it in on Monday I would have received it back on a Friday. There were no questions asked and the 2nd time they apologized to me and sent me an Equinox T-shirt. I had the sme trouble both times with the pinpoint button sticking in the on position. Since then I use the pinpoint button sparingly. The wiggle method is just as effective. I know they had shaft problems and other minor issues and I have not heard of anyone that has a true complaint with their customer service. I read one post on a different forum where the guy was calling the Equinox junk and Minelabs service sucked etc. He wanted a firmware update when in fact there is no firmware updates for the Equinox. I think many users think they have issues when in fact they don't. I am one that will try everything possible before I call Minelab. A cpl issues I had and were resolved without sending my detector back to Minelab but I tried everything possible before I resorted to factory presets because I knew I would lose what I had stored in user profiles and as a last resort I did the reset. I applaud Minelab's customer service. One more thing there is so much info on this site that Steve has covered that if Steve hasn't covered it no one else on any forum has. There is no need to even browse any other detecting forum on the internet. If you report any issue or setting you don't understand it's almost in an instant that Steve sends the excerpt from the manual along with his explanation. There are a cpl of other experts on this forum as well and it don't take long to figure out who they are. Those that know the Equinox and other detectors always jump in to help.

I learned a long time ago there are only a few people on any forum that give you the real honest info. I pick up bits and pieces from them and often times what they like don't work for me to my liking so I rarely share my settings because I have been criticized in the past by people with less than 2 yrs experience. My settings are trial and error. My top secret settings are buried with Forrest Fenns treasure so unless you find the treasure you will never get my settings.

Depth gauge don't work In TN ... just kidding. If you pinpoint or use wiggle method I ck the target area with my handheld pinpointer after I pinpointed with my E-800 and if I get no beep with the handheld that tells me the target is probably over 4" deep and I dig a plug about 6" deep go from there. I glance at the depth gauge but unless the target is 2" deep or less I don't go by it. Now if the depth gauge shows max depth and my detector is screaming in my ears and showing a 30 I know it's probably a can.

I agree with Chase 100% Sweep and hit horseshoe is that is needed

They will replace it. I sent mine back twice. Minelabs office and repair center in America is in Naperville IL.

I learned a long time ago no matter how hard a park is hunted you always seem to find more in places you thought for sure were completely hunted out. I have probably pulled $60 in clad from that field this year alone. But yesterday really surprised me because I had covered that area so good with other detectors. When I first got my 800 I went there and thought the 800 was a miracle detector because I had hunted the field so hard with my Etrac. I found $20 in clad in my 1st 3 hunts.. I am going to beat it to death again tomorrow morning

I went out this morning actually to try out my new Quest Xpointer. I haven't been out in a cpl because of getting my truck ready for my fall road trip with tuneup, tires and battery. I went to this field I hunted really hard last year with my Etrac and early this spring with my Equinox 800. I was pretty confident there wasn't much left to find with the exception of a few pennies I knew I had passed on and I knew about where they were because I was going use them for trying different sensitivity and recovery settings. When I got to the park I thought why not try field 1 here just to see if I can find any more clad. I set it up leaving open 12- 14 and 21 - 38. I set the sensitivity at 23 and recovery 7. I also used 50 tones. I started to wander toward a spot I knew where a penny was and try out my new pinpointer. The foot traffic area of this old field I had hunted really hard with my other detectors knowing I had left a cpl pennies. 1st off I found 3 pennies and expected to find them and about 5' away I got a solid 30 and found a quarter and not far away another one. Well I ended up finding 9 quarters in an area 50' x 450'. I couldn't believe it because I had hunted the exact same area very hard with my Etrac and this spring with my Equinox. I hardly believe that using Field 1 is why I found that many quarters but the evidence seems to point that way. All the quarters were 6" or less deep. I also found 2 dimes. I hunt areas in Park 2 I have hunted in Park 1 and have never found much more in Park 2. I am going to try Field 1 in a cpl other places I have hit really hard just to see if maybe I am onto something but I really believe I just missed the clad I found today during my other hunts

This is by far the best detecting and prospecting forum on the internet. What other forum does the site owner not only answer questions but gives you the answer from the manuals or personal experiences. I have been reading forums for about 8 yrs and there are many sharp guys and gals that know what they are talking about and I learn in bits and pieces because I never make radical changes to my detectors. I try and keep my detector settings pretty simple i case of a factory reset. On the other hand there are many people that either complain or don't have a clue what they are talking about. Running a website takes a lot of work aside from knowing what you're talking about. As more people learn and use the Equinox which is my detector of choice I learn a little more. I been reading a lot about the Equinox and gold hunting because I am planning my trip west in the fall and finding gold with a metal detector is on my bucket list. I love the new website because of all the articles to read before you go to the forums. I want to thank Steve for such a great website and the effort he puts in to keeping it great

I started using 5 tones but switched to 50 tones about month ago.. I am still getting used to the 50 tones but I love the sound of a quarter in 50 tones. There is absolutely no denying it's a quarter when you hear it in 50 tones.

I know the feeling. Nothing like it when you find it for them. I found a class ring that was lost for 20 yrs and found a mans wedding band at a park. He said it saved his marriage..

I have never tried a test with coins on their edge primarily because I don't believe in test gardens. I will say I have found several meaning as many as 6-10 coins in their edge and even though the signal may not have been a 24 -30 because I can't remember but something about the signal prompted me to dig. I have dug over $200 in clad and a few silvers. Like the old saying if you don't dig it all you won't find it but on the other hand when I hit a hot park I oftentimes pass on an iffy target because I am digging so many positive targets.For an old man $5 - $7 in a cpl hour hunt is pretty good but also very tiring. Yesterday I hit an athlete field that is hunted a lot and although I only found 77 cents one of the quarters was on its edge in really sandy soil. I did get a 29 on it but not the hollow sound I usually get in 50 tones. If it sounds good or the signal is bouncing around I usually dig. I switch to all metal to hear the grunts and then determine to dig or not to dig.

I have a small hydraulic conduit bender I used to use to bend steel for go-kart frames and an offset rod would be easy to make.in the right diameter. Can buy tube online fairly cheap.

I didn't want to do a factory reset on the detector because I had every mode except gold set to my liking and I knew no matter what other than park 1 I would never get the settings right on the other modes.. I know it don't take long but it's a pain in the butt. I am not sure I didn't right even now because the tones are in russian now but I will get used to it.

Part of it for many is a new detector bringing an old site back to life. I say that because with a new detector you tend to dig more targets so it seems your new detector is really awesome while in fact it's really because you are digging more targets. I know I do that until I learn a new detector and start passing over iffy signals. I have went back to parks I have hit hard with 3 different detectors and hunted hard and seriously only to find a few tabs and no more than 60 cents in clad.. That particular park had been good to me but what I learned was if it isn't there you can't dig it. I do like to challenge myself in hunted out places because most often I slow down and make sure I cover every inch. The Equinox has taught me there are targets mixed with that iron. I am getting to the point I recognize targets mixed with trash. The target I seek never seems to be the dominant signal by tone or vdi but I learned to dig them and most often it is clad mixed with junk. I use park 1 on the Equinox for clad and Park 2 when I am searching for less conductive jewelry

Well I don't give up easily but for some reason I got the headphones to work this morning.. I tried no less than 50 times but I did a reset of my detector and tried again and it worked.. Now I have to set up my detector again in all modes but as long as the headphones work and I don't have to send them in I am happy.. I am going to have to put a piece of tape on the 800 so I know which detector it is. Twice this week I was using the 600 and never knew it.. Just more proof the 600 is identical to the 800 with the exception of the gold mode..