mh9162013

Oh, I'm hoping what N/M (and likely Minelab and Garrett) have in the pipeline blow the pants of the Equinox 600/800. That means we'll see a bunch of used 600 and 800 machines for sale...and for cheap. Remember what happened to the used price of the CTX 3030 when the Equinoxes came out? 😇 In the mean time, I'll keep my eyes peeled for a good, used 5x8 coil...or just "buy" one from Amazon for free.

Thanks for confirming. I think what I'll do is go back to the old house and make sure I have at least 3 or so hours to hunt. However, before I do, I'll let the owner know I plan on doing a lot of digging and if he's ok with that. I'll explain that I need to remove all the aluminum siding and other trashy bits to increase my chances of finding coins. If he balks, no biggie, I got my curiosity satisfed (I always wanted to hunt that property). As for the 5x8 coil, I may need to get it to give the AT Max a fair shake when I inevitably compare it directly to the Equinox.

Thanks for your insight, kac. I figured there wasn't much else I could do besides be patient and suck it up. I imagine this parallels the "if you want to find gold rings, you gotta dig pulltabs" sorta thing. I'm really close to buying the 5x8 coil for the AT Max. But I'm not 100% sure it'll be my detector for the next few years. I keep hearing the, "get the Equinox..." whispers every time the wind blows...

Today I had a long day of hunting...my longest yet. It started off at a park and ended at a permission of an old home that is at least 120 years old. This post concerns my hunt at the latter location. I had a little under 2 hours to hunt the old home and just found a few clad coins, some trash bits and A LOT of aluminum siding peices. The aluminum siding pieces were mostly the size of postage stamps and half dollars, although a few were the size of a playing card. These larger pieces were likely targets I left in the ground after using my pinpointer (F-Pulse) and realizing the target was far larger than a coin. I mostly hunted the old house using the following three modes: One mode was Custom. Sensitivity varied between 2 and 8 bars and I notched out everything that was below 65 or so. This seemed to work ok, except I hit a lot of targets in the 70s, but they were almost always a peice of aluminum siding. Using this mode, I probably dug about 10 holes and found 1 coin, 1 soda can and 8 bits of aluminum siding (this is a rough estimate). The second mode was also Custom. Sensitvity varied b/w 2 and 8 bars and I notched out everything that was below 80. This was the most enjoyable hunting in that it was quiet and I wasn't digging as much aluminum siding. Using this mode, I probably dug about 6 holes and found 2 coins, 1 soda can and 3 bits of aluminum siding (this is my rough estimate). The third mode was Zero. Sensitvity varied b/w 2 and 8 bars and I notched out everything that was 35 and below. This was a very annoying mode, given how noisy the AT Max was, but at least I got to hear what my AT Max was "seeing" in the ground. I probably dug about 8 holes in this mode and found 1 coin, 1 soda can and 6 bits of aluminum siding (this is also a rough estimate). In case you're wondering, the soil was dark with little to no mineralized clay. I don't recall what the AT Max ground balanced at, but maybe in the low 80s, if I recall correctly. So my question is: what could I have done differently to dig more coins and less aluminum siding? Yes, the aluminum siding sounds a smidge different than coins. And the larger peices don't have the pin-pointy beep that a coin has. But for the smaller bit of aluminum siding, the sound is so close to the sound of a clad or silver coin. As a result, I can't bear to not dig something that sounds that close to a coin. I hope to go back to that old house and get permission to hunt it a second time. But if I do that, I hope to have a few changes I can make to make my hunting less tiring and less damaging to the owner's yard.

Well, for what it's worth, you're motivating me to do some more park hunting! Yesterday I did pretty well at a park with over $7 in clad (22 quarters!). But no silvah... Later this week I'll try an older park and see if I can get a taste of what you've been scarfing down recently...😄

Gawd you suck...

I think you did ok, if you ask me. No, j/k. That's definitely an unbelievable day! I can only fantasize about a hunt like that. Well done!

Thanks for posting that, 67GTA. I recently experienced some of that when I hunted a curb strip with my Vanquish 340 with the V8 coil. I was hoping the smaller coil could cut through the iron, but no, not really. There may have also been a dearth of coins, so there's that, too. The worst thing was using my Vanquish 540 with the V12 coil and getting upper 20s and lower 30s, only to find highly mineralized damp/wet red clay. This is was ultimately made me sell the 540 in search of a machine that could ground balance.

I'll compare and contrast the AT Max and Equinox 800 based on the fact that I currently use an AT Max and used to have a Vanquish 540 and Equinox 600. The only reason(s) to get a Garrett AT Max over the Equiunox 800 is b/c one or more of the following applies to you: 1. You love Garrett products and have extreme loyalty to them. 2. You love buying products made in the USA. 3. You prefer your metal detector to use replaceable batteries and/or AA batteries 4. You prefer an S-shaft design (although the Equinox pod can be mounted on an S-shaft if you really wanted, but it looks very janky, in my opinion). 5. You need a truly reliable, all-weather metal detector. Yes, the Equinox is waterproof, but it's not as reliable as te AT Max in that regard. 6. You can find the AT Max for much cheaper than the Equinox 800. 7. You like the idea of having access to numerous aftermarket coils and experimenting with them. 8. You don't plan on doing any extensive saltwater beach hunting. TL;DR: Unless you have a very specific or unique reason for getting the AT Max, you're better off with the Equinox 800 (ignoring the price difference).

At least as of 10-15 years ago, Newegg lost a lot of respect (from me and at least a few others) due to the fact (or rumor?) that they modified their reviews so that certain negative reviews of products were taken down. I don't know if they still have that policy. And even if they did, it's almost a given that any online review (as well as aggregate rating) has to be taken with a few grains of salt (if not the whole shaker). Either way, I've ordered from them a few times in the past few years for basic computer components and have been happy with my purchase.

Not many people can still do that these days...or are willing to do that.

Gold prospecting looks like so much fun. Too bad there's nowhere to do that where I live.

See, that's the rub. Ground balance is most important in highly mineralized ground (at least in my limited experience). In milder ground, having your machine call a clad dime or copper penny a silver dime isn't a big deal. But calling wet, red clay a silver dime or clad quarter at 8-10 inches down? Now we've got a problem. I think you're right, MIQ has some form of ground balancing capability, even if it's not actually ground balancing as we understand the non-trade-seceret-protected concept. But MIQ's "ground balancing" is only effective in mild to moderate ground...where many experienced detectorists can manage to hunt with no ground balancing.

And it's not just the phone itself. It's all the pictures (uh oh...) passwords, music, pay apps, social media apps (and their login info), etc. on the phone. I think most people have password protected lockscreens, but there's also the hassle of having to call your mobile carrier, redownload all the apps, reconfigure your settings, etc. Or maybe most people use cloud-based services that negates that hassle? Don't look at me, I'm using a smartphone that was like $20 and it runs a version of Android from like 8 years ago...

I think the key with the above statement is that the prospective buyer knows they will eventually want the Equinox. Starting with the Vanquish is a good suggestion for those who aren't sure about the hobby. It's a lot easier to drop $200 (USD) or $280 than it is $600+ for an Equinox. Vanquishes also have respectable resale values, too.

Can't argue with this advice. The Vanquish-then-Equinox progression seems like a very solid approach, even if going from a 340 to 600/800. I put a decent amount of time into my 540 before I sold it. I hated to "give up" that learning I did with it, but I just can't justify the price of an Equinox...for now. But my soil is too minerlized to go deep with the 540, so I was approaching its detecting limits. I may take out the 340 for my next hunt, though. It uses the V8 coil and I want to re-check a curbstrip that turned up mostly trash with my AT Max and the stock 8.5x11 coil.

Wait, whuddid I miss?

Quite the hunt! Nicely done!

GB: I think F350Platinum was being sarcastic/silly.

I know, especially when you factor in potential dealer discounts. But it's a bit easier to negotiate down an individual seller selling a used AT Max than it is a used Equinox 600. So that's the primary explanation as to why I currently swing the AT Max and not the Equinox 600. But I'm always on the lookout for a good deal on a used metal detector. Perhaps I'll be wrong and this N/M Lightning will outperform both Equinoxes. Then we'll see the used metal detecting market flooded with people selling their out-of-warranty Equinox 600s and 800s. If so, guess who'll be shopping around? 😀

That's because it's rarely used in its pure form in jewelry. It's usually alloyed with other metals that drastically reduce its conductivity compared to its pure form. Most gold rings will be 10, 12 (50% gold), 14 or 18k (75% gold). This brings its conductivity down closer to aluminum, although depending on the object's size, it can still ring up as a high conductor. In contrast, older American coins are often 95% copper or 90% silver. Both metals are very good conductors that close to gold's ability to conduct electricity. You're right about gold's stability and corosion resistance and how that contributes to its wide use in industrial applications.

Unlike pure gold, pure platinum is a relatively strong metal. So it doesn't need to be "diluted" as much as gold to create an alloy suitable for jewelry. Often, platinum in jewelery will be 95% pure. Oh, and platinum is highly conductive...maybe moreso than gold...I think. It's at least in the same ballpark.

Great finds! Is the Tiffany & Co. ring made out of white gold, sterling silver or platinum? On a possibly related note: what does a platinum ring come up as for most detectors? Same as a silver coin or quarter?

All of this sounds intriguing. I really like the idea of (easily) user-replaceable batteries. Although the weight stands out, especially given its straight shaft design. I truly believe I could make more finds with an Equinox over my AT Max. But I just can't justify paying twice the price. Plus, the Equinox has other drawbacks which annoy me. But with the Lightning...who knows? Here's my prediction: The Lightning will have street price of $500 (USD). It will have more features than the Equinox 800. It will have better SMF performance than the Apex, but not quite as good as the Equinox 800.

Great comment Phrunt, and I'd like the parse the above quoted section a bit, as well as use it to get on my soapbox. I think that a company can produce high quality products that not only last, but are reasonably easy to repair. And at the same time, the company is pumping out newer products every few years or so. Or at the very least, the company doesn't put restrictions in place that limit the ability of the consumer to make their own repairs on a machine. I think the bigger picture here is that metal detecting is a hobby that requires discipline, patience and thinking. I think many of the "younger generation" lack the ability to do any of those 3 things. Or if they can do those three things, they aren't looking for a hobby that requires them to do those 3 things. In case you're wondering, some may put me into this "younger generation" group, as I'm under 40. I used to be in R/C cars and trucks back in the day...we're talking 2000s or so. This was a point where RTR (ready to run) models were really starting to become common place. Many of the "old school" R/C enthusiasts turned their nose up at this idea b/c new entrants into the hobby were better off taking the time to build their model cars before running them. However, the younger generation wanted to start driving their toys almost immediately. Now, RTR cars are the norm, and finding a "kit" is fairly rare, except for maybe the more higher-end or professional models. I saw this mindset in action at a hobby shop around 2008 - some guy came in with his gas R/C truck and said it didn't seem to run right. The hobby shop owner asked what the customer did to try and figure out what was going wrong. The customer said, "nothing, I just figured you could get it to work for me." If more and more potential metal detecting customers have that mindset (which in my opinion, is very troublesome and explains a lot of about today's society, but I digress), I think the failure to produce newer products more frequently is only a small part of the problem. Just like there's been this rebound in the "geek" and "DIY/maker" groups that encourage people to make things and learn scientific, engineering and mathematical concepts (heaven forbid!), I think the metal detecting hobby needs that kind of boost. That's what companies need to focus more on, in my opinion.