mh9162013

That's what I figured. Buying a brand new coil for $230 then an Equinox 800 control pod for $225 (or even $350)? Definitely way too good to be true.

Oh, I didn't mean to impose! Your initial post has gone above and beyond already. 🙂

They are only available when trying to get out of warranty repairs completed, right? In other words, can we buy control pods a la carte?

Do you know how the batteries are wired? For example, are they all in series or parallel? Or maybe 2 are in parallel and series and the other 2 are in parallel and series?

The price you used to describe it made it clear what pinpointer you were talking about. The other one(s) they make are more expensive (as far as I know at least).

I've heard good things about the Nokta/Makro pinpointer. The only drawbacks I've seen is that it can be a little twitchy at max sensitivity and the button are at the back, which can make on the fly adjustments slower. The F-Pulse is good in hot ground, but not immune. But it's biggest advantages come from using AA batteries and its sensitivity. The Garrett "Carrot" is a solid choice (and one that I currently use), but I'm not happy with its ratcheting ability (aka: closing range). This refers to the pinpointer's ability to let you know when you're getting closer to a target, but haven't reached it yet. I like its max sensitivity ability, but when in that mode, its closing range is lousy. White's TRX has great closing range or ratcheting, but it's been discontinued. Based on my online research, the XP Mi-4 or MI-6 have ratcheting abilities that are close to the TRX and definitely better than the Garrett Carrot.

If you have the money, yes.

In a perfect world, sure. But there are probably economic reasons as to why machines that work well on a beach aren't at least weatherproof. I'm sure Minelab considered making a waterproof or weatherproof version of the Vanquish, but choose not to. Perhaps it would add $50 to the price of the machine, but they could only raise the price by $35? Or maybe it would sell like hotcakes, but cannibalize Equinox 600 sales?

From what I've heard, it's nowhere near as good as the Equinox, but it's not a fair comparison as the Apex is designed to be a middle-of-the-road machine while the Equinox is considered high-end. The difference b/w the 2 machines is most clear where there's trash and iron (from what I've read and heard). But at the beach, the Apex holds its own. I honestly wouldn't get the Apex given its price. I'd either save the money and get something cheaper, but 95% as capable or spend an extra $100 or so and get something far more capable. That's just me, though.

I am considering all of those machines and did extensive research on each. Right now, I'm using a Vanquish 540 because I basically got it for $170, so I couldn't ignore that machine for that price. I like it, but not having the ability to ground balance or adjust recovery speeds is a bit of a limitation that I don't like. I also don't like how it's not waterproof. Therefore, I think the Equinox 600 is a better option for me. But, is it more than $450 better? For now, no, especially given how the 540 is an S-shaft design and uses AA batteries (both are important factors for me). Ok, what about the F75/F75+/F75 Ltd? Well, I really want that machine too. It uses AA batteries, has an S-shaft design and is a fully loaded machine (can measure how hot the soil is, super fast recovery speed, back light, GB adjustments, etc.). Oh, and its ergonomics and coil selection are great! Basically, from my research, the F75 is the perfect single frequency VLF machine except: it's not water proof. To me, that's a major limitation, as I want to be able to use my machine if it rains, at the beach w/o worry of dropping it in the water or getting hit with a wave and have the ability to wash it down if it gets really dirty. So if I were to get a single frequency VLF machine, I'd probably get the Garrett AT Max, but I digress... Is Multi-IQ worth it? I think so, but mostly because it can handle more types of soils better, like salty beaches (where you said you presumably wanted to hunt). Having more consistent target IDs helps, too. From what I understand, the F75 can work on salt beaches, but only in the dry sand. If you want to get into the wet sand, you need the Equinox 600 or the Vanquish. Here's what I would recommend: Get the Vanquish 440. It should do just fine at the beach and homesites and parks. If you like it and get enough experience to understand what more features can do for you (and if it's worth the extra money to have those features), then get the Equinox 600 or 800. In my experience, the 540 is the perfect machine (for my needs) if it only had adjustable ground balance and was at least weatherproof. I'd also like adjustable and fast recovery speeds, but I understand that by asking for that, I'm almost asking for an Equinox 600... I love its ergonomics and batteries over the Equinox, but I'm starting to see its limitations in terms of recovery speed and ground balance handicaps.

Love it! It's always fun to try finding ways to reduce the weight of metal detectors.

What Chase and Rick said. Depending on conditions, there really is no way to reliably cut plugs to prevent at least some grass from dying. The only real way from what I've read to to avoid digging at bad times (hot and dry season). When I dig in an area where I'm concerned about killing grass, I will either only do it when it's not too hot and there's been a recent rain (or rain is forecasted within the next day or two) or I will carry water with me to pour over the plug after I've replaced it.

Given your hot ground, what do you think the difference maker was b/w your 800 and wife's 540? The 800's ability to ground balance?

I regret selling my Equinox 600. I got it for so cheap, although I needed the money at the time.

I metal detected my front yard, which has been heavily pounded with my Fisher F2 and Vanquish 540. Currently, I detect with my 540 in a modified coin mode, where it's basically the stock coin mode, but I've notched out some lower numbers. Basically, if it doesn't hit 16 or so, I won't/shouldn't hear it. All day Saturday it had been raining, although most of Sunday was sunny and dry. So the ground today was nice and moist, but not wet or soggy at all. When using my 540, it seemed like my entire yard came alive with a bunch of targets hitting 17 or more. Some of these were solid and some were iffy. To put it in perspective, normally when using my 540, I rarely get any strong signal in my front yard over 17 due to heavy hunting done so far. However, when I dug the strong signals, about half the time it was a medium-size rusty nail and half the time, it was a penny. So I have the following questions: 1. What's going on here? I've heard that wet or damp soil can improve the depth of your detector. But I went from barely any 17+ signals to tons of them. I was even able to find a dime in the curb strip in front of my house. Normally, unless I'm in all metal mode with my 540, hunting that area results in ZERO signals; pure silence. Now, I get a dime and some solid iron targets? It's almost as if I had never hunted that curb strip before. 2. Whatever is going on here, will getting an Equinox 600 help me handle it? On the one hand, getting 4 pennies and 1 dime in a heavily hunted area is great. On the other hand, I was digging up more iron than normal. My first thought was that my soil had mineralization whose effects were amplified by the recent rains. So would the Equinox's ability to ground balance make a difference here and if so, how much?

They know this too and, as far as rumors go, all 3 are in the process of doing just that.

Can't really go wrong with a major brand, like the Garrett Carrot, Minelab Pro-Find 35 or the Fisher F-Pulse. If you can get one for cheap, get the White's TRX. I say this b/c it has the best (or is among the best) in closing range or ratcheting. What is ratcheting? See this video and FFW to the 3:30 mark: From my online research, after the TRX, the best option for a pinpointer that can ratchet will but still has good sensitivity is the XP Mi-4 or Mi-6. I've personally used the Pro-Find 35 and Garrett Carrot. They're both about the same in performance (to me) as the non-ferrous ID of the Pro-Find 35 is a gimmick in my opinion. To me, the differences b/w the 2 came down to 3 button vs. 1 button operation preferences.

For me, it does not. Whether the Carrot is surrounded a medium or large amount of my orange clay, the beeping/vibrating stays relatively steady and slow (just like your putt-putt-putt). It might increase somewhat with more of the orange clay next to it, but the change is not very noticeable. I like your dual pinpointer idea and it's something I've considered. Use the Fisher F-Pulse on max sensitivity to get a good idea where the target is, then use the Carrot (or XP Mi-4) for the final homing in. I'd like to do it your way, GB_Amateur, but the TRX is almost the cost of a new detector now, so yeah, I'll have to find a different machine for that.

Ok, so I placed my Carrot on max sensitivity and noted when the Carrot first picked up on a target (I used a dead 9V battery I had laying around). Then I noted when the Carrot maxed out. Where it maxes out I retuned it and noted how much additional "closing range" or ratcheting range it gave me. I turn turned it off and turned it back on to make sure it was properly "reset." I repeated the experiment, except after the Carrot first picked up on the target, I retuned it. I moved the target closer until I was able to just barely pick up on it and retuned it again. I did this over and over until the Carrot basically maxed out again. I noticed that I was able to get the target closer to the Carrot before it maxed out. In other words, I did noticed an improvement. But the improvement was not huge, but definitely noticeable. Instead of maxing out with a target around around 2 inches away (on max sensitivity with a 9V battery) it maxed out around 1.25 inches away. So yeah, definitely an improvement. The problem is, I had to retune it just as it picked up on a target. If I waited too long into the "closing range" to retune, any improvement was greatly diminished. So your advice on how to retune definitely works and makes my Carrot a better tool. However, I would still prefer to have better closing range by "default" w/o having to resort to being very careful in how and when I retune my Carrot. However, this new development might be enough to delay when I purchase an F-Pulse? Something to think about. Thanks Chase!

So I could be retuning wrong...ok, lemme go get my Carrot and trying it the way you have suggested.

If you're referring to pressing the button once the Carrot "maxes out" and gives me a solid buzz/tone, then no, I don't do that. I don't do that b/c any additional "closing range" or ratcheting ability is marginal and almost useless. However, I have not tried turning on the Carrot (for the first time) when pressed against hot dirt. My understanding is that while this might help reduce the chatter in hot dirt such that using the Carrot on max sensitivity is possible, it won't address the relatively poor ratcheting ability of the Carrot (compared to the TRX or XP Mi-4 or 6).

No, I'm referring to the "closing range" from where the pinpointer first detects the object until you get the solid tone or vibration. The White's TRX was famous for its ratcheting ability.

The Carrot on max sensitivity if plenty sensitive for me! But it's ratcheting (closing range) is awful. On medium sensitivity, it's fine, though. I'm hoping that the F-Pulse on low or medium sensitivity is the same as the Carrot on high, yet with better ratcheting.

I used either the 8" concentric or 4" concentric. I have no problem pinpointing using the cross-cross method with either coil. The problem is that sometimes I need to dig a plug that's thick or deep enough such that I can't rely on my Garrett Carrot on medium sensitivity to fully scan the plug without having to break or cut it up...or increase the sensitivity to maximum.

The problem with the Carrot isn't just the issue with my soil, but also it's poor ratcheting (closing range). Based on my research, the Fisher F-pulse has at least the same level of ratcheting as the Garrett Carrot, or perhaps slightly better. Yet it's far more sensitive. I have been losing so much time adjusting my Carrot's sensitivity b/w max and medium in about 75% of the holes I dig. It's costing me valuable time. This falsing was just the last straw, I think. And no, turning it on when touching the clay isn't a viable option either as it'll require me to spend time turning my Carrot off in the middle of a dig, just to stop the chatter. I need a device that's truly a turn on and go, not a turn on and see if it works, then turn off, then turn on. The XP Mi-4 was in the "lead" but given this realization about my soil, maybe the F-Pulse is what I need to get. But Chase brings up a point I've been considering: The Carrot is "good enough" and the $100 or so that I would be spending on an F-Pulse or Mi-4 might be better spent in getting a better detector. For instance, I may be able to just keep the Carrot and get an Equinox 600 instead of a Fisher F75.