RobNC

I wish them the best with this. Hopefully we will see a hybrid using the best of tech from both companies.

48 minutes ago, dogodog said:

Thanks Rob, I thank you for your honesty. I like the MK a lot with the smaller coils, but this 11 is killing me for stability.

I totally get it. You've lost confidence in it. That has happened to me many times.  Like SVen1 said, if the detector is killing your interest in metal detecting it's GOTTA GO!!

Other mentioned the Vanquish, from reports and tests it appears the Vanquish may even have more accurate target ID than the Equinox in some cases. It's a heck of a deal for a lot of detector too. Whichever direction you go I wish you the best with it and hope what you choose finds you many great things.

Can you please report back to us when you get a different detector and take it out? I would enjoy hearing your comparisons and results.

Best Regards,

Rob

I can understand the lack of confidence in a certain detector. Most of us go through that, myself a lot. This often happens no matter what kind of detector you run. I was unable to try the Multi Kruzer I bought because it had issues out of the box unfortunately.

I will speak on what I feel comfortable about concerning the Equinox 800. The Equinox 800 has far more settings than the Equinox 600. The 800 allows you to change the tone pitch and break points, the 600 does not. My hunting is mainly on school yards, old home sites, and fields. No beach hunting. The Equinox like most detectors will struggle on iron littered or trashy sites. You will get a lot of audio fatigue. This is not just with the Equinox but any detector in these conditions.

I can only speak on the stock 11" coil. It's the only coil I have. I did try an Equinox 600 before the 800 and also bought the 6" coil. In my use the smaller coil did not help in that particular site.  The factory presets are really good. I run a slightly modified version of Park 1 for most of my hunting.  The only things I modified had to do with audio tone pitch and break points. Did some volume level adjustments too.  Many may call me stubborn but after trying all the software updates I am back to version 1.75 and like it best.

The wireless headphones that come with the EQ800 are not to my liking either. The audio is not sharp and defined enough for me. I use the wireless module and a pair of Grey Ghost headphones. It is annoying to fight the cable but the audio clarity is worth it.

The Equinox is not a magic detector. It has its limitations like any other. Reported leakage of the control pod, wobble int he shaft, broken coil ears, battery problems, and a lot of people complain about build quality in general along with it being unbalanced. I like my Equinox, but it is not the end-all detector. We are still waiting on that one.

Warranty-Minelab is generally good about warranty replacements. Some have reported it taking a while in certain cases which is more than likely due to part shortages.

Bottom Line-when that Kruzer showed you a 90 ID you should have dug it. The same thing will happen with the Equinox or any other detector. Don't be too hard on yourself.

I would enjoy testing anything new Nokta puts out. I hunt primarily parks and schools with old homesites mixed in.

Very trashy, iron infested places and sparkle dirt with varying mineralization is the norm here. That would be a good test. Sadly though, not near the beach.

The only things I have disc'd out are -9 to zero. I run my threshold at 3. Heard it some yesterday blanking or rather going silent. So at this point will assume it is some heavy iron garbage I surely do not want.

I appreciate this guy doing the test. No bias involved.

Impressed with the Simplex. For a single channel VLF it does ok.

Also agree that it would have been better to see this in actual water or water filled holes. Wonder how the equinox does in this test? I have not personally been to the beach since 2007 😞

With work how it is, along with finances it is unlikely I will see the beach anytime soon. I'm a land hunter and do heavy trash/garbage sites. It's tough detecting grounds for me. Machine gun fire iron on anything I use. I envy the people close enough to beaches that can take an hour trip and go detect.. Wish it was like that for me. At best, it is 4+ hrs one way!

Ok, so this is a subject I have not touched on much and despite me finding things I do wonder.

Concerning Threshold of the Minelab Equinox in park mode and field mode specifically. Mine is set fairly low at volume lvl 4. There are times when it goes silent yet I have no "target" on the screen. What exactly does it mean when you are going over an area and the threshold tone disappears or "nulls out to silence" for a second but yet there is no target audio?

Does it mean my ground balance is not set correctly? Seriously wondering, as I want to get every last particle of performance out of my Equinox 800. Thanks in advance for answers!

For what it is worth, the majority of my hunting is done in Park 1 with some modified tone break points from default. I may venture into Field 1 every now and then, otherwise it is the modified park 1.

It is highly unlikely it will ever see the light of day.

I know this is a dead horse on many fronts and is highly variable and dependent upon soil conditions, metal condition, etc. But I will once again try to gain some insight. So here goes!

1) What ID range have you found gold rings to fall into on the ORX?(50-59 for instance)

2) Is there a particular ID range that nothing but junk appears to huddle into? (0-45 for instance)

I know it is difficult and a dodgy question of sorts but I've never found anything good below the 60's, as it mostly appears to be can slaw, iron, or foil fragments. Another zone of junk seems to be in the 70's.

I've used my ORX in the same way behind the Equinox 800. I do consider the ORX the last vacuum sweeper on a site. It finds the last of anything valuable. I feel like the Equinox sometimes throws so many ID's at you that it is confusing and you get brain overload. The ORX ID is much simpler.

I get what you are saying, and own an ORX myself. They are good units. Like mentioned I would like to tailor the tone pitch. It is not a problem with the 3 tone limitation, just how they sound to my ears. A higher top end pitch would help me. a way to limit the iron volume would also help me. I like to hear the iron just not as loud as all the other tones.

If I did not like the ORX I would not have bought a second one. Gotta admit though, the pinpoint feature on the ORX is cumbersome.  I have seen times the ORX found things over same patch my equinox didn't quite pull something out of.

On 9/16/2020 at 12:13 PM, bigtim1973 said:

I have been forcing my self to use my Deus more here lately. I am finding that I like the Deus very much. For the most part I am using Gold Maxx and deus fast. I have a custom deep program I use as well. 

What I am getting at is i am not really using as many of the programs and settings. I fiddle between 2 for the most part and some times 3. And that is Deus fast and either gold Maxx or the deep Custom one I made. 

I have been thinking of selling either my Deus remote set up and keeping the ORX or selling the ORX remote set up.

I like the ORX for the large easy to see screen and iron probability bar. Plus I only fiddle with the coin programs anyway. 

I  actually favor the ORX to tell you the truth.  

They are slightly different animals. And each has their own strong points. But target and depth between the 2 are equal. 

Who else has the same delima??

I do not have this problem because I am a glutton for punishment. I had the Equinox 600 first and felt it was a "crippled" version of the 800. Got rid of it. Some time later I purchased the Equinox 800, and feel better about that. It allows me to set the tones to my ears, where the 600 did not allow it.

I have an XP ORX, and it is a good little unit but again I feel held back and that it is a crippled version of the Deus. Unfortunately I could not afford the Deus so I still have the ORX (this is my second one) with the X35 11" coil. Of all the things I wish the ORX would do is allow tone pitch adjustment. If it had that it would be ideal. The XY Screen also fascinates me, but Deus only feature.

I don't think you made a mistake. There are still a lot of things Garrett can do to fine tune the Apex- IF there is an update utility for it.

Look at how may changes Minelab and Nokta have done on their detector via software updates. It would be a missed opportunity if the Apex does not have the ability to be updated by the owner with a Garrett supplied software update.

Think about it, you do not have to rely on the "Multi" function all the time. You have multiple frequencies that can be selected and ran in single mode. That in itself makes the Apex very different than the other units they've sold in the past. I like the way it looks and hope they will smooth it up some more via updates.

Get out there and USE IT!! Run it through the paces, learn it, and enjoy it!

1 hour ago, jmaryt said:

excellent point  ! ya noticed ..huh? this thing seems to like deep iron!..that gets real old real fast
in the field!  it's possible it can be improved on in software!.or maybe sh*t crawls up hill!  results in the field 
are what counts, the rest as the say is "crap!" SO FAR, the vanquish pro-pack appears to be the better value.
i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)

j.t.

I wonder if they made it update capable? One would hope they did. It is still in Beta phase looks like. I'm not totally shooting it down because I really like how smooth the design is and how the screen looks.  Really do hope they straighten out the kinks and turn it into a more useful unit.

Although it is "out" you sort of get the feeling it wasn't quite finished at this point. Some refinements internally obviously need to be done.

3 hours ago, bigtim1973 said:

Thanks for your input. I have to say that I am looking forward to messing around with it and yes I notice there are several coils out there ad well. 

I have to ask though.....what did you replace your T2 with??

The reason I am getting some of these order units here lately is for back up units for my XP stuff. I have not had any problems with my XP machines but you just never know. Also I think having a detector that takes regular batteries is beneficial as well instead of just having a unit with an internal battery. 

I have an Equinox 800 and XP ORX with 11" X35 coil. They don't take the T2's place but between those 2 I have all I need.

Even at lower sensitivity (40 or so) the T2 finds things, and small if you have the right coil. I pretty much cleaned all my current sites out from 0-5" of anything worth having with the T2. Evertyhing left  is deep and/or masked by junk. Difficult hunting.

I sold my T2 LTD/SE within the last few weeks. I will say that it is a nice detector. It has a lot of aftermarket accessory coils available out there which makes it interesting. Some things I noted, but this is just me and my worthless opinion.

Positives: 1)Aftermarket coil selection is awesome. 2) Easy to operate, very few settings to fiddle with. 3) Superb balance, very ergonomic. 4)uses standard AA batteries.

Negatives: 1) chatty at times. 2) struggles in iron and mineralization vs. other more modern detectors(multi frequency). 3) Some pin pointers interfere with the detector. 4) larger coils offer more depth but still come up short vs. more modern detectors on known test garden targets. Specifically anything over 6 inches in depth. ID's and sounds off as iron.

I will say that the T2 SE/LTD with a small coil is a cherry picking monster, and in a chip bark/playground environment or park is deadly on clad. I also found 90% of my silver with the T2 SE/LTD and Cors Shrew coil.  I can not tell you how sensitive that combo is to the smallest of objects. Teeny-tiny things. Countless bling and even small little sparkly things off of kids shoes I found with that combo. Larger coils for me were not as accurate nor as forgiving.

That barber dime looks like I feel these days- worn and tired of the bs.

Sure seems like the Apex is similar to the what I have read and seen with the AT-Pro. It loves to call decent things Iron.  I like the way the Apex looks, but will wait to seriously consider one. Rather wait until this beta version is out and see what comes after it. Should be a more polished product.

The Equinox gave a wide ID range on the deep silver Barber Dime. However, there was never a hint of iron buzz in the audio. On the other hand, the Apex seems to throw all kinds of iron audio out on good stuff.

Not throwing the Apex over a cliff here, just going on ONE video. I bet different soils also make a difference in how it responds. I do like how clean the Apex looks, unfortunately it is like a Corvette on the outside with a 4 cylinder engine on the inside. I hope they mature this tech and really open it up on further models. No shade or dirt thrown on Garrett, I truly want them to have something special. We desperately need USA detector companies to shine brightly. Still pulling for them. Bet it does well on more shallow targets.

5 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

According to a poster on Friendly, the owner/administrator had a stroke. If/when he recovers, he will get the site back up.

 

I really hate to hear that. Here is to hoping they get better.

Too much bad in the world today, everybody needs to send well wishes that person's way.

On 6/7/2019 at 1:53 PM, Ridge Runner said:

DeltaDigger

 It wasn’t a true test for depth being most was just covered but some between 5 & 6 inches. The lineup next to the quarters the one that has a stone has a small metal loop and the ORX hit it about 4 inches solid. I was running in coin fast and no headphones. I know from past experience it’s best to always use your headphones but nowadays you just don’t know who will walk up on you.

 The Best  

Chuck

This has been over a year ago and the whole "don't know who will walk up on you" part means more now than it did last year! Lots of hoodlums and hateful people out there today for sure. Be careful, people are getting hard up and robbing who they can.

Really wondering how many and what type of roots you have worked to get these finds!

Carry on and find more!

I rolled mine back to 1.75

Did not like the new update or the one before it. Totally changed the way my detector works in a way I didn't care for. For those that enjoy the update I'm glad they like it. I'm waiting on the next update and will try it also. Different strokes for different folks.

I had this problem in one particular hunting site. No matter which detector I tried it did what you are talking about. I do not own a V3i but it is a good chance what you are seeing is some sort of interference, hopefully. But you may have to bite the bullet and do a full reset  and see if that helps. If not you should send it back for repair while it is possible.

Well I can't complain now, they completely replaced it with NIB unit. I think the pinpointer has the same issues as some Equinoxes do, waterproofing and buttons. Mine never was submerged. The only water it seen was some ran over the handle and a damp rag. If it can't take that then it is definitely not water resistant and for sure not waterproof. Always dried it off after cleaning too.

When it works it is a nice pinpointer with a lot of detection depth. Mine worked a while but didn't hold up to light use. I even wrapped Temflex (a rubber material for splicing. It has no adhesive but adheres to itself when stretched over itself) over the tip to prevent damage to the tip. Any time the Temflex wore down I would replace it. So it was well taken care of. 

For now this one remains sealed in the box. And yes, I also tried Lithium 9V and the EBL rechargeable 9V Lithium-ion along with numerous high quality alkaline 9v all with same behavior. My Mars pinpointer is using one of the EBL's now and has been on 6 hunts without a recharge with no problems. 

Dog,

Thank you for the positive words. I've tried the asking thing too and get the no treatment. I realize that is always a possibility. With the heat right now it isn't helping my mood, haha. I will not outright give up at this point but may take a break for a bit. My work is going to get unbearable for the next few months and had hoped I would have this outlet before and maybe during that time. It is a let-down.

Joe,

The place he is destroying is an old closed school. I know where the guy lives, who he works for (hoodlums), etc. He even spoke to us one day and talked about how he had snuck in places and been ran out. I told him to his face that "some idiot is digging craters and leaving a damn mess and that puts a black eye on all people who metal detect." What did he do? Lie and try to blame it on someone else. But when I seen his shovel I knew it was his holes. After he left I checked where he was and sure enough, the proof was there even though he had made a weak attempt at covering it up. 3 years of past experience working in a prison helps me sort truth from crapola and call a piece of dung fairly accurately. The guy is just a rotten apple all the way around. Dang shame the idiot uses an Equinox too.

Yes the "no digging" thing is in effect in all the surrounding counties near here as well. One has nerve enough to be blunt and say no metal detecting also. It's downright hostile against metal detecting these days.

Today I received a new in the box Pro Find 35. I have not opened it and may not pending what I decide to do.

Thank you Minelab, I appreciate you taking care of this customer.