Dubious

A friend of mine once won first prize for her pasties at the local county fair, and she isn't even Cornish ?

If you want a machine that can do it all--parks, beaches, fields and gold prospecting--really no choice: get the Equinox 800. With its multi-frequency modes and selection of single frequencies, it's the closest to a do-everything machine that has come along. In gold modes, I believe it also approximates the behavior of the gold machines (I have the 600, which doesn't have the gold modes, so maybe someone else can chime in on this).

Using a dynamic microphone as the coupler is an interesting idea and looks like it works; but a simple coil of larger diameter (essentially, half of the microphone on a larger scale), coupled loosely, might give better results. I believe Geotech (senior engineer who has designed detectors) said he created his own magnetic coupler to use in reading the Nox's output, but I don't know if he described it in more detail.

Sounds like something is wrong with the battery or the circuit that controls it. Unfortunately, it's sealed, so probably not much you can do easily to troubleshoot. You might (with the Nox powered down) remove then reattach the coil cable to make sure it is connected properly; and then, with the Equinox plugged into the charger and powered up, do a factory reset, on the off chance that resets something. Otherwise, you're probably going to need to contact the vendor where you bought the Equinox or Minelab customer service for help. Depending on where you purchased, see if your vendor will simply replace under its return policy. Minelab has also been repairing/replacing defective units fairly promptly, according to reports. Good luck! I think you'll like the Nox once you have it working.

No, I don't think so, although I'd be flattered (and surprised) to be asked. I hardly manage the time to swing my own detectors and can't really afford to do more unpaid work ? As to why manufacturers are more likely to select "famous" detectorists to do the testing, part of it may be simply that they are more likely to know of their existence. In any case, while the experience is no doubt interesting for those who can manage the time, it doesn't seem to do much to help early adopters make their decisions, due to the nondisclosure agreements.

It's nice to have the option of single frequencies for adverse conditions, but aside from sometimes using as a cross-check, I haven't really used them. My sense is that Minelab put more work into the algorithms that analyze multifrequency signals. In single-frequency mode, the Nox is likely inferior to dedicated single-frequency machines.

Good business strategy to cultivate that kind of reputation. I'm feeling friendly toward Makro, even though I didn't do that well with the Racer 2 ?

If looking for a small gold machine, personally I would not consider the ORX except at a bargain basement price(<$500), mainly because I would want ground tracking and the availability of a smaller coil, which it lacks. But, I can see how that someone who wants a truly light machine might be willing to pay a $200 or so premium. ORX is impressive in that department.

Tiftaaft, I would just contact Fisher and get an RMA for returning the PP. That's what I finally did. The replacement Fisher sent me is night-and-day more stable, and has become my favorite PP. Sinclair/Rick, my replacement F Pulse may be slightly less deep than the first (not sure but that's the feeling), but it's still plenty deep. As for sensitivity to different metals (I primarily use it hunting coins, but of course am always encountering other things including small bits of this or that), I don't think I've encountered anything the Nox saw that it couldn't see. What were those small targets you mentioned?

That's also how it works in politics

Yeah, probably has to come down $150 or more to start looking attractive (in price), even for those who want the light weight and wireless connectivity.

The ORX likely suffers from trying to be both a dedicated gold machine and an all-purpose VLF detector. Viewed as a gold machine, it gives an impressive range of high-frequency options and should be capable of finding very small gold, but doesn't seem to offer much in the way of dedicated features. Also, the smallest coil available is apparently 10x5, so it doesn't have the small coil typically available with the dedicated gold machines. As an all-purpose detector, it can't beat either the original Deus (which uses the same coils) or, especially, the Equinox (which actually does offer a 6" coil). But the ORX does have weight going for it (compared to the Equinox and most dedicated gold machines), and maybe there's something magic about its gold modes (or are they just settings that could also be programmed into the Deus?). XP may also have sufficient room to adjust the price to make it highly competitive.

If the GPX line is any guide (4000, 4500, 4800, 5000), the successor to the GPZ 7000 may well be the GPZ 7500, offering only incremental improvement. I'm not accusing Minelab of laziness, but the fact of the matter is that unless some of the other manufacturers do some impressive catching up in the high-end gold machine niche, Minelab probably doesn't need to do much to stay ahead.

Lithium is still used sometimes as a mood stabilizer. It's interesting how so many of our soft drinks once had medicinal content. Tonic water still does (quinine) if you worry about malaria ? From Wikipedia: "An early version of Coca-Cola available in pharmacies' soda fountains called Lithia Coke was a mixture of Coca-Cola syrup and lithia water. The soft drink 7Up was originally named "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" when it was formulated in 1929 because it contained lithium citrate. The beverage was a patent medicinemarketed as a cure for hangover. Lithium citrate was removed from 7Up in 1948.[3]"

2019 probably will be a better year for gold/silver mining stocks, and some may have put in bottoms; but hard to know what's happening to the market at large.

I agree the Equinox has hit the sweet spot. The Equinox II/CTX successor probably will be priced significantly lower than the CTX was, given the trend. But Minelab does seem to be able to sell its machines for more than the competition in those higher niches, mainly because there hasn't been much real competition there but also because Minelab does a good job leveraging its reputation and ability to deliver.

Yeah, even if you found a solid gold asteroid, it would probably be too difficult and expensive to bring it into an earth orbit and then land it safely for the project to be worthwhile. But someone should ask Ilon Musk his thoughts on this :)

Steve, I take your point that other detector manufacturers have also misrepresented their technologies; but I'm still a bit disappointed in Minelab. These misrepresentations obviously don't mislead people in the know or engineers in the industry who examine the detector but they do fool consumers like yours truly, and I don't think that's fair. White's explanation is a good one. We can't count potential harmonics, or every single-frequency detector would be a multi-frequency detector. The only harmonics that matter are ones the circuitry is designed to enhance rather than suppress and that are powerful enough to energize the coil and produce a working magnetic field; and, that is easily determined (by engineers with the right equipment) by analyzing the transmitted/coupled signals. Geotech, who apparently is an engineer with the right equipment, determined that for each Equinox mode, only two frequencies are used (i.e., current at those frequencies that energizes the coil in a meaningful sense). Unless someone can explain how he's wrong, that is the reality. You are right, Steve, that simultaneous use of five frequencies would not necessarily produce a superior result. It's Minelab that told us it would--producing more data points to analyze. Geotech suggested use of three frequencies would produce benefits, but probably not a greater number. Myself, I really don't know enough to venture a guess. BTW, for anyone confused, I realize I and others have sometimes used RF jargon in talking about the Nox and its frequencies. Although there are, no doubt, weak spurious RF emissions, the Nox does not use radar or radio (or propagation of radio waves) to detect. It energizes its coil with VLF (very low frequency) current; the coil's oscillating magnetic field impinges on targets, producing eddy currents and magnetic fields that the Nox detects. No VLF transmission in the radio propagation sense is involved in the detection. (VLF radio transmitters do exist, used for things like long-distance communication with submarines; but that's something else entirely, involving very large antennas and huge amounts of power.)

If the Nox really uses only two frequencies simultaneously, the deception fooled only consumers like us and protected nothing. Minelab's competitors knew what was going on as soon as they got an Equinox into their labs. And Minelab's statements are unmistakable. "With EQUINOX you can operate across the full spectrum of frequencies simultaneously for maximum results." https://www.minelab.com/knowledge-base/key-technologies#321586. The illustration under the text makes the meaning even clearer. And Minelab makes the same representation in many other places.

I'm sure both have something to do with it. At the entry level at about the same price, a Fisher F22 with digital readout, VID, menus, and multi-tones, probably seems more reassuring to beginners than a Tesoro Mojave with its two knobs and one tone. (Actually, both are pretty good machines for the money.) But I think a lot of experienced coin/relic hunters would be quite willing to use a tone-only machine if it otherwise somewhat kept up with the technology. I have a Cibola and Tejon. I don't use them much anymore, but it is sometimes nice NOT to have to look at a screen. Anyway, you are right that Tesoro was being squeezed out of its niches by the decreasing prices of machines in those niches offering screens and more bells and whistles. It is a pity.

I didn't say Multi-IQ is FBS3 (whatever that would be), just that it is looking more like it than before. As for how different "Multi-IQ" is from FBS2, as you point out, we don't entirely know; but, if it's true that the Nox uses only two frequencies simultaneously, we do now know that it isn't as different as we had earlier believed. Of course, it's the end result that matters most to us; but I don't like to be misled along the way, either. There's a legal difference between advertising puffery--"our detector is superior to all other detectors," "our machine obsoletes all single-frequency detectors," etc.--and a representation as to a technical specification, here, the number of frequencies that the detector transmits "simultaneously." We all know that advertising puffery is not to be taken literally; but, I think most of us expect representations as to a technical specification, especially something as concrete as the number of frequencies used simultaneously, to be true. Now you could argue semantics--the ambiguity in some of the wording--but I think Minelab loses on that one. And I just don't see how it can be explained as a case of marketing people trying to describe complex technical things to non-engineers. How hard is it to say, "two out of five"? Given the many accurate positive things that can be said about the Nox, I really don't understand the "why" of this. I'm still half expecting someone to step forward to say it's all been a misunderstanding, and if you set up the test differently, a scope or spectrum analyzer will show definitively that it really does use all five frequencies at once, and here are the screen shots...

Another victim of the Internet.

Look for the posts by Geotech, an engineer who actually examined the signals produced by the Nox on a scope. Bottom line, the Equinox apparently transmits in only two frequencies at a time, like the FBS machines before it, not five. Its five available frequencies include higher frequencies than FBS (particularly 40khz), so it can do a better job on low conductors; otherwise, "Multi-IQ" is looking a lot like "FBS3." Irritating to be misled as to the five "simultaneous" frequencies; but, applying the "proof of the pudding is in the eating" test, the Nox still passes, bringing the same advantages at a mid-level price point--fast electronics, light weight, wireless, great screen, waterproof, good performance in a range of environments, etc.

Can you still use a metal detector in the Warm Springs Wilderness?

Nice finds! How accessible are the fields you hunt there? Would a car do it, or is something more rugged needed? I have been thinking about trying some flat places down south (I am in N.Cal.) for meteorites in the winter (when it isn't too hot!).