Richard Williams

Audio seems to be crisper for me and the machine seems to be more stable with the newer version.

Amazing. What settings were you using?

I found it yesterday - in another pocket on my pants!

18 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

That’s what I was referring to also (they are duplicated in the manual on p. 12, but unlike the card, include a couple key amplifying notes, including a reference to GB).

Basically, if you are not hearing ground noise when you swing (more prevalent when in AM) you don’t have to GB because MultiIQ can compensate somewhat automatically around the default or manual GB setting unless it changes by more than approximately 15 or more phase points, based on my experience.

Wow.  Hope you find your relic again.  A real dirt fishing analogy, “the one that got away.”  At least you have the picture.

"At least you have the picture." Yes. Got video as well. I'm hopeful I can find it. Will update if I do.

On 4/12/2018 at 3:14 PM, Chase Goldman said:

Actually GB is mentioned right there in the note on the quick start guide on p. 12 of the users manual stating: 

"If excessive ground noise is heard after performing the Quick Start steps, carry out the Ground Balance procedure (page  40). If excessive noise is still being experienced try adjusting the Sensitivity to a lower level to reduce noise (page  34)."

Though admittedly not mentioned on the separately provided in-box corresponding quick start guide.

Yeah, I was referring to the "4 easy steps to get started." I've never seen even a turn on and go machine that offers GB options not even make a mention of it. To me, it's so fundamental. That said, I did exactly what the "4 east steps" are and my first signal and first recovery with the Equinox was half of a British Rev War cartridge box plate! But here's the kicker - I lost it! I hope to go back tomorrow to find it AGAIN. I think I just dropped it very close to where I dug it. Hoping I can find the other half as well.

3 minutes ago, Sinclair said:

Then I probably had luck   - assembled the machine while charging.. to save time, but the assembly only took 10mins maybe. I have used a charger which delivers 2,4 amps.. that should - if the circuit delivers full power to the battery - fully charge in 2-2,5h from being empty. The internal battery is rated at 5000mAh.

How ever - to answer the inital question: I don‘t think it‘ll do harm if you take it for a spin without beeing fully charged. Charge it as far as you can and off you go.

 

by the way.. I‘ve charged the headphones, WM08 and detector simultaneously for the first time - the WM08 took longest, the detector shortest time!

Thanks!

8 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

You beat me to it.  You are really cutting it close if you have less than 5 hours from when you get your machine delivered until you have to start swinging your detector. Good luck.

You can also charge it using any power bank or USB power source >1A which means you can easily charge it in the vehicle on the way to the hunt site and, as mentioned before, while hunting if you can find a way to secure the power bank to the shaft assembly you can charge it in the field while using it.  You are also going to have to find your own AC plug with USB output (typical phone or tablet charger) because that is not supplied in the box.  Really suggest grabbing a rechargeable 10000 maH or greater power bank if you dont already have one (about $20 -30) so you can charge Equinox up while on the go (in car, in field) and not near an AC outlet.  You can then just recharge the power bank as necessary from an AC to USB power source in your house (or car if it has USB or a USB cigarette lighter plug for your phone).

Thanks. Yes, cutting it close! ;-) But regarding performance and/or "damage" to unit, there shouldn't be any downside to a first time "partial" charge, correct?

On 12/24/2017 at 12:41 PM, Steve Herschbach said:

Approx 5 hours...

Other than a shorter run time, is there any downside (if you're in a hurry) to only partially charge it the first time? (I have a small window and one day for site access.)

"Personally I would never ever not ground balance a detector that has that capability for two primary reasons."

I tend to agree. I found no mention of GB in the quick start a bit odd but, hey, I'm not an engineer and I have to assume the ML folks know what they're doing. That said, I do like to keep things simple and will manually GB the Nox before swinging.

Thanks for the tips!

Thanks Steve (and everyone else).

4 minutes ago, Vez said:

Out of the box you power it on and in all modes GB is 0 and it will not track.  Each time you switch a mode you will have to set it again.  GB is not a global setting.

Got it. Thanks.

So, just to be clear, GB defaults to "0" and does NOT auto track? Sorry to be so dense, just want to be sure. The quick start is 4 steps and NO mention of GB at all.

The Quick Start/4 Easy Steps to get started instructions make no mention of ground balancing. I assume the Nox defaults to tracking and no pumping is required?

Impressive.

Got it - thanks Steve! "When all else fails, read the directions." ;-)

When changing to the various modes/profiles, i.e. Park 1 and 2, Field 1 and 2, is it advisable to GB again and to noise cancel each time you change? This may have already been answered, but I couldn't find it on the forum.

(EXCELLENT info on this forum, a ton of knowledge and helpful hints.)

Thanks!

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Chase gave an excellent detailed response. Mine is the same but will make it super short and in rough order.

1. Do the automatic noise cancel.
2. If step one does not work, try reducing sensitivity a few steps. Each drop in sensitivity has quite a large effect on EMI.
3. If you have an 800 you might want to try manual noise cancel, but if auto did not work this is usually just a fine tuning step.
4. Try the single frequency options. Lower frequencies are usually more susceptible to EMI. This can have a massive impact and will usually fix all but the worst problems.
5. Some Search Profiles may be quieter than others so trying each of them in conjunction with the above steps may help.

Thanks Steve - all of this is very helpful and the advice is appreciated. I've always wanted to try a Minelab, but the weight always scared me off. (Bad elbow). But Minelab seems to have addressed that concern with the Equinox. Looking very forward to see if the unit lives up to what I'm reading. Very excited about the possibilities.

Just now, SittingElf said:

Easy solution... Sabotage the voltage generator on the fence!  LOL!

Ha! The farm hand told me I could cut it off, but sure enough, if I did that, the whole heard would get out!

35 minutes ago, GKman said:

Hi Rich

I have! I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Equinox did not suffer from the terrible interference that my CTX experienced after the farmer had an electric fence put in for his cows.

With the CTX no matter anything I did it would make so much noise. I found with the Equinox after a noise cancel it was nice and quiet. It was amazing how far the interference from the fence would go across the fields making it a real pain to detect large parts of the farm. I actually have a video of the sound that I would hear on the CTX attached in the link below. I actually am going back to this site this morning and if I find any different results I will update my response.

 

I hope that's the case with my site! The pulsing of the fence, as you know, sends both low and high tones to most detectors and you have to "sift through" the chatter to separate a "real" signal. The other units did ok after I spent some time with them, but it really slowed me down. Looking forward to your follow up!

7 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Richard,

Welcome to the forum.  Having come from the Deus myself, the Equinox is quite a capable beast and you will enjoy it.  I have found both detectors have their own pluses and minuses and plan to hang on to my Deus with its HF coils for certain situations but will be mostly using the Equinox for now to get proficient and also because it has proven itself to out perform or at least match the Deus in most of my detecting scenarios.

I have dealt with various forms of EMI with the Equinox.  I also own a Deus, GPX, and various other detectors that have suffered under various interference conditions.  Here are my suggestions on how to approach the issue:

First eliminate any sources of self-imposed interference.  For example, put your cell phone, if you must have it with you, in a pocket opposite from the side you swing the detector (i.e., left pockets if you swing right handed). You may want to check and see if your pinpointer causes interference.  If you can change the frequency on your pinpointer to eliminate the interference do so, because you really can't do much about it on the detector other than the noise cancel process described below.  In fact run through the below process in your yard before you get to the field so you can gain familiarity and also because you may have some sources of interference right in your back yard (e.g., wifi or fluorescent light fixtures, or a transformer box, nearby overhead transmission lines) that can help you get used to setting up the machine in a manner to eliminate them.

First thing you do is select your search mode - you need to do a separate noise cancel on each mode because the external interference will affect the modes differently.

Once you have performed your AUTO noise cancel and if you are still having interference - the 800 (vice 600) also allows you to manually select a channel (via +/-  buttons) if you are not happy with the results of the auto noise cancel. Keep your coil in the air during either Auto or Manual noise cancel to eliminate ground effect noise.  I have availed myself of this feature a couple times especially around power lines and other detectors such as PI's that can drive a VLF nuts.  You may still have noise at this point, I will get to that in a sec.

GB if necessary.

If you are still having external noise based falsing, lower sensitivity.  Don't be afraid to lower it from the 20 default to as low as 13 to 15 if necessary.  You will still get plenty of depth and in fact, sometimes lowering sensitivity even in the absence of EMI related falsing helps clean things up at trashy site.  So experiment with this. 

After you have lowered sensitivity as low as you are reasonably comfortable with and you still are experiencing interference based falsing then you may have to face some more unpleasant realities and start notching out lower conductivity segments to see if you can get the falsing to stop.  This may mean that you give up on nickels, gold, or brass buttons, but if it saves your ability to at least detect silver vs. no detecting at all, then it may be worth it.  Maybe you can retain the lower conductivity options and notch out the high conductivity segment, there are no pat answers when it comes to EMI.

If notching is not palatable, then you may want to try going into single frequency mode.  Typically, the higher frequencies are less susceptible to EMI.  Of course, by limiting yourself to single frequency you are eliminating the advantages of Mutli IQ, again we are talking tradeoffs to at least enable your to get some detecting in (making the best of a bad situation). 

Note that going to single frequency, specifically to the high frequencies then you are biasing yourself to the mid-conductors which sort of the opposite of notching out the low and mid conductors I recommended above.  Depending on your desired targets you can make the call to "pick your poison" so to speak and choose whether to notch and stick with Multi IQ or go to single (high frequency) and focus on small mid-conductors.  Also, JUST like the notching discussion, don't be surprised to find that in some cases the lower frequencies work better from an interference standpoint - this is unusual but possible depending on the source of the offending EMI.  Again there are no pat answers.

Be sure to familiarize yourself with noise cancel, GB, segment notching and how to go to single frequency by reading the online manual then practice once your machine shows up.

HTH

Thanks so much for that very detailed response and the suggestions! I will definitely try these.

I'm new to the forum. Just purchased an Equinox 800 which is supposed to ship in 2 weeks. I'm curious if anyone has used the Equinox around electric livestock fence? I have a site here in Western VA that has produced some great colonial and Civil War relics. I've pounded it with an XP Deus, AT Pro, T2SE, Nokta Fors Relic and a Racer 2 - all of them performed reasonably well but I know there's more there. Lots of iron and the areas I hunt are surrounded by electric fence. Drives every detector I've used there crazy. I've read conflicting comments about EMI and I can't wait to see how the Equinox functions at this site. Any settings suggestions, comments, thoughts? Thanks!