steveg

Tim, It's funny; I hunted for about 6 hours, and aside from that 5-mil tax token (shown in the picture I just added to my post), all those finds were found in about 15 minutes of time, in a ten-foot-radius circle! I just couldn't find any other part of this park where I felt like I was hunting old, undisturbed dirt. It's the first time I'd been there, and it's pretty big, but that's the only little "hot spot" I found. It's been hunted heavily, like most public parks, but I try not to let that deter me -- usually there are a few deeper, or masked, targets, that have been missed, as you know. Anyway, yes -- these were good "data points" for me, too. It was really good that it worked out the way it did. Back 7 years ago, when I was really getting serious about this hobby, this same hunting buddy I refer to was the first guy I ever hunted with. He sort of "took me under his wing;" he was running the E-Trac, as I mentioned, and I was struggling with my machine -- part due to being a newbie, and part due to the fact that in my irony-red dirt, single-frequency VLF units are very poor on ID at depth. So, I'd watch him find deep coins, and call me over to listen, and my machine would say "iron!" So, I finally decided, based on his success and my lack thereof, that I needed a Minelab FBS unit, and got an Explorer SE Pro. For MONTHS after that, I drove him NUTS, I'm sure (though he never let on). We got in the habit (and it's a habit I've come to really appreciate, as a learning tool) of listening to each other's targets, when we thought we had a good one. Doing that for months and months is how I learned to find old coins -- and it's his patience and willingness to teach, that was KEY for me. We still, after all this time, "listen to each other's targets" quite frequently. And so I'm really happy that this time, for the first time, I have a machine that I'm a bit ahead of him on, in terms of learning curve, and thus, for once, I am the one who was able to find the good targets, and let HIM listen -- to help HIM learn what a good, deep target sounds like! ? I'm indebted to him; on this day, perhaps I was able to pay back a little bit of that debt (7 cents worth, I guess! ? ) Steve

Good report, flbchbum. Yep, it takes time, ESPECIALLY if you have never swung a Minelab multi-tone machine before. But, give your brain time to learn the language, and YES, your ratios of trash to treasure will definitely improve. I'll be interested to see what you think, on the beach... Steve

Hi all! I wanted to share a real-world hunting report, from yesterday, at a local public park. I was hunting with my CTX and 17" coil; sensitivity manual 25, ferrous discrimination only, 50 tones, Ferrous-coin separation, deep off, fast off. My buddy was hunting his Equinox, Park 1, 23 sensitivity, recovery 5, iron bias 2, 50 tones, no disc. I was moving along slowly, and "hunting deep," and I hit a soft, repeatable high-tone that I figured was a coin -- around 12-39 to 12-41, so I figured wheat cent. Depth meter showed about 9"-10". I dug, and it was indeed an 8" to 8 1/2" deep 1920 wheat cent. I filled the hole, and started swinging again. A foot away, I hit a very similar signal, but this one just a bit less repeatable. There were a couple of angles where it was hard to get an audio signal on, maybe one out of every 3 or 4 passes I'd get a tone; most angles though, it was fairly repeatable, giving a good, soft high tone on 3 out every 4 sweeps. I could tell this one was nearer the depth limits of the CTX (at least in my dirt, for my skill level), and the depth meter was showing 10" to 11". Again, 12-39, 12-40 type reading. So, pretty sure I had another deep coin, as part of a "pocket spill," this time I called my buddy over to give a listen with his Equinox. He got a soft, entirely repeatable high tone as he rotated and "Minelab wiggled" the target, average ID readings in the mid 20s, right around 25. He guessed copper/wheat cent. So, I handed him the CTX to listen (he knew how to interpret the CTX, as his "other machine" that he's used for nearly 10 years is an E-Trac), and after working the target, he felt the CTX signal was similar to, or maybe not quite as good as, the Equinox. So, next, I listened to the target on the Equinox, and concurred. The signal was indeed a bit more consistent/repeatable on the Equinox as I worked the target. I dug it, and it was a 9" deep 1928-D wheat cent. So, I filled the hole, and started sweeping again. Less than a foot away, I got a repeatable-from-all-directions but inconsistent-sounding signal. I would NOT have dug this signal normally, as it would not have caught my attention if I were just "moving along, hunting normally." It was all over the place, audio-wise, ID numbers teens to mid 20s, more 20s than teens. BUT -- being less than a foot away from the two wheats I just dug, I was listening carefully for ANY repeatable tone, to see if there were any more coins -- and so I gave this one way more attention than I normally would have. That plus the fact that it was showing 8" to 10" on the depth meter, had me interested. Again, moving along hunting "regularly," and not scrutinizing every sound because of working a "pocket spill," the predominantly high teens and 20s ID numbers, and audio "all over the place," would NOT have caught my attention enough in this trashy park for me to stop to investigate. One final reason I was interested, was that I knew this is how a fringe-deep nickel behaves in my test garden. Consistently registers a tone from all angles, BUT nowhere near nickel ID (13 CO number), but instead generally upper teens and 20s conductive numbers. So, I called my buddy back over with his Equinox. I was almost sure he was going to get a very solid-reading, 12-13 IDing target, as I was almost sure it was going to be a deep nickel at this point, and I knew that lots of 12s, and a few 13s, is generally how my Equinox behaves on deep nickels. And that's exactly what he got. A solid, repeatable-from-all-directions 12-13 signal, with an occasional blip of 11, or 14. Mostly 12's. I let him listen on the CTX, and he said "wow, those tones are all over the place." I told him that that is why I dig few deep nickels with the CTX. He let me listen on the Equinox -- a perfectly diggable, easy-to-call nickel-type signal. So I dug it, and it was about an 8" deep Buffalo. Finally, about 5 minutes later, about 10 feet away from the other 3 coins, I got another deep, repeatable high tone. This one showed 8" to 10" deep, with mainly upper 30s to around 40 CO numbers. I called over my buddy, and it was the same as on the first wheat he listened to -- low to mid 20s, with an occasional higher ID, soft but solid and repeatable. I popped the plug on this one, and the numbers for me were now showing a bit lower -- 12-37s in the plug. At that point, reading a bit lower "in the plug" than it did in the ground, we both guessed Indian instead of wheatie. Sure enough, about an 8" deep 1898 Indian Head penny. My long-winded point in all of this, is to share a direct, in the field, head-to-head comparison of the Equinox to the CTX on three different, un-dug targets. This perfectly mirrors the results in my test garden, with the Equinox being just as deep, if not a tad bit more solid on each of the targets I have buried -- pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters (with the largest advantage in the Equinox's favor showing up on the nickels, but still a small advantage on all the coins). This also mirrors most of the comments from other hunters who are posting results. It's for real, guys. While there are still things the CTX does better (such as providing better "dig decision" information, visually, in a much more thorough way, AND allowing you to avoid more trash, more easily), the Equinox is a very, very impressive performer. Just as deep if not a tad deeper, and a better hunter in trash/iron... Steve

Yep, this is an older thing, Elf. This "gold mode will include Multi-IQ" was changed very late in the process, and is speculated to be a part of why the release was delayed a bit. A couple of our esteemed members of this forum, including possibly the forum host/moderator, may have had something to do with that... ;)

Nice digs. Was the EQ hitting deeper for you at this beach? Steve

NICE digs!! Looks like a pretty good hunt! Steve

GREAT job!! NICE digs!!! Those "odd" and "varied" readings on the war nickels? It's not the Equinox's fault. There's something screwy with the composition of war nickels, or at LEAST with the way war nickels will read -- on ANY detector. USUALLY they read near the nickel range, but some read higher, and some MUCH higher. One of my hunting partners has dug two of them in the last couple of months that -- on his CTX -- read all the way up into the penny range (12-43 on his CTX). I have heard of this from many others, as well. All the ones I've dug read right near the nickel range -- right at nickel, or maybe a notch higher. However, they can range ANYWHERE between nickel and a penny signal...strangely... Anyway, enough of that! Congrats on the super digs! Steve

Nice digs, Elf! You are really getting "trained" on that Equinox, digging all those targets!! Steve

NICE SILVERS, Tim!! Way to go on the BIG one!! Steve

Norm -- I hear you. When I have that situation, I try to clear out that shallow one first, so it stops confusing me! This machine has the hottest coil edges I've ever seen...but I have a feeling it is part of what helps with the unmasking. Just a hunch... Steve

Dan -- I thought I understood Steve as saying just the lower YOKE on the Gold Monster rod, the part where the coil bolt goes through, was the same as the Equinox's, not the whole rod. If the whole lower rod is the same....that's good to know. Will be waiting for Steve's answer... Steve

seconded... Steve

Sounds great, Milk! You'll enjoy it; it's a great complementary machine to FBS, in my opinion... Keep me posted! Steve

EXCELLENT, Norm! That's a GREAT clad haul! You may not have gotten any silver coins, BUT -- you said you are digging many coins over 8" deep, which in many areas is MORE than deep enough to nab silver -- even OLD silver. If you get on the right site, the silver will come. You clearly are digging deep enough, with the Equinox, to get there... Steve

unox -- you are quite welcome. MILK! How are you, ol' buddy? Haven't talked to you in ages! I was going to say "didn't know you were a member here," but I see that you HAVEN'T been, until now! Welcome! Oh -- and by the way, the Equinox is "for real." Excellent machine! You should come join us at the "re-opened" OKMDCLUB forum, too... ;) Steve

Nuke em -- if you ever decide to, I'd be curious to know the air test distance on those coins that are not diggable beyond 6" to 7" at your beach. It just sounds "fishy," such that I think something may not be right with your unit. Even in some of the worst dirt that exists here in the states, guys are digging coins deeper than that...even as small as U.S. dimes... Steve

Ha -- nice call on the token, Chase! Nice digs, Elf! Sounds like the family is catching on to the hobby, as well! Steve

WOW! What a SUPERB ring you dug! With three bottle caps in the hole, as well? I'd say you did a GREAT job on that! CONGRATS!! Steve

Nuke Em -- NICE digs! The cross certainly LOOKS silver... I am puzzled about your EQ only getting 6" to 7" on coins. Something is not right there. A 7" coin in my irony-red dirt is basically a gimme -- not even a challenge for my machine. I can hit a 10" U.S. quarter with it, in my test garden, and again -- I have lots of iron in my dirt which messes with ANY detector's depth capability. I hear of beach guys in the U.S. reaching 12" to 14" on larger coins, and I believe it, based on air tests. Have you air-tested your machine? YES YES YES, before anyone scolds me for even saying the word "air test," I know air testing is NOT the way to test for depth capability, etc. LOL! BUT -- it MIGHT help a bit to try and figure out whether there is something wrong with your machine (OR, whether it's the sand on your specific beach that is limiting your performance). I would be curious to hear, if you can get away from the EMI, what the "air test distance" would be on one of the coins that you struggled to detect at 6" to 7" deep... Steve

THANK YOU, Steve. I appreciate you digging up that info -- and it helps alot. I am going to go ahead and try an X-Terra lower rod, and see what happens. I'll report back. Chase -- thanks for checking with Keith. Good info. I also have it on good authority that Excal rods will NOT work -- the spring clip is apparently oriented 90 degrees "out-of-phase" with the Equinox middle rod's rod holes, and is too wide (from an O.D. perspective) as well. (Thanks, Des at MLO and scubadetector at Finds). Steve

Dan, Thanks! Checking out the link now... Steve

Thanks, Chase. Please let me know what you find out. Steve

Chase -- it's not so much about saving $, it's more that the Equinox rods are not available, and likely won't be for some time. I always like to have all my spare coils mounted on their own rods -- just something I've always done with Minelab machines, and it does make the swap-outs a little easier. In fact, I build my own CTX lower rods -- nice carbon-fiber rods that I even sell -- and so I figured I would see if there wasn't a way for me to acquire an extra rod for my soon-to-be-arriving 6" coil, and do some "tweaking" if necessary. Was just wondering if the X-Terra rod is "close" in terms of how it is designed. Steve

Hi all! I know this has been discussed before, and I think I recall someone noting that the X-Terra rod outside diameter is a tiny bit smaller than the Equinox. But what I'm wondering is if one of the X-Terra lower rods can be "rigged" to work with the Equinox. If it is JUST the OD of the rod that is too small, perhaps a wrap of tape or something may take care of that, as long as the spring clip is compatible, and as long as the lower rod piece, where the coil ears attach, would be a similar "width" so as to fit properly between the coil ears. It doesn't have to be "perfect;" my thought is that with the 6" coils becoming available fairly soon, but NOT the rods, perhaps an X-Terra rod could limp me through, for awhile, with some minor modifications? Has anyone tried one? Steve

Very cool! It would be super to learn the history of that piece! Steve