mh9162013

Not really, b/c DD coils have their benefits, such as in high trash areas and highly mineralized soil. Also, I think elliptical coils sometimes get less depth than their more round counterparts (but have the same height).

If two different targets are detected by a concentric coil (like a nail and clad coin), the signals of each could be averaged. So let's say you've got your discrimination set up so only iron is eliminated. Then a concentric coil passes over a modern coin next to an iron nail. Assuming the machine/coil can't separate them, you might still get a signal from your machine telling you there's a target under the coil. But this signal will probably be some sort of average or blend of the nail and coin signals. If a DD coil passes over those same 2 targets, AND the DD coil and machine can't separate them (and only iron is discriminated out), then you might get no signal from your machine. This is why my Tesoros (with their concentrics) matched, if not exceeed my Equinox 600 when run with my modified Monte's Nail Board test.

From my understanding, the answer is yes. Concentrics will sometimes "average" two signals (such as an iron nail and a coin) while a DD coil could miss both due to iron masking and insufficient recovery speed and/or target separation.

Hey, don't be mean to flight attendants...

Thanks for the great post; definitely learned a lot. 👏

You are correct. If you're lucky, you can find one on eBay for $130 to $160. But they often go for higher prices, well over $200.

But there's a difference between putting in language to create wiggle room for a company to deny what they think is a meritless warranty claim, and putting in language that seemingly excludes an otherwise covered loss. If you sell a waterproof device and give it a warranty, yet one of the exclusions of the warranty is water damage, it kinda makes you scratch your head. Instead of saying, "Corrosion of electronic circuits, due to water ingress" XP could have said, "water damage of electronic circuits that are the result of improper use." This gives them plenty of wiggle room to protect them from claims that they suspect are due to misuse (like taking the Deus II deeper than it's supposed to go or forgetting to insert the red plug when going SCUBA diving). But it also makes it clear that if there's a leakage due to a reason that's not the fault of the user, it'll most likely be covered. My guess is that there was something lost in translation and/or there are other applicable laws that apply to EU member states that don't apply in the US.

I haven't either.

Agreed. But assuming you and Chase are correct (and I believe you two are), why weren't the warranty exclusions written more precisely? It would have required more than an extra sentence or two to better convey how the exclusions worked.

I'm wondering if the word "corrosion" is used to indicate that the water intrusion was an ongoing occurrence or that the owner of the Deus II waited a too long to send their unit in for repairs after first noticing the water intrusion.

You use a concentric with your Umax, right? Seems like there's two ways to hunt in heavy iron. One, there's using a machine with high recovery speed and great target separation and tring to surgically isolate the good signals amongst the bad. Two, there's using a concentric and letting the iron bits merge with the good targets. And even though the signal received by the Tesoro or other "older" machine might be an average signal of the high and low tone targets, if you set your discrimination knob in the right spot and have learned the nuanced sounds of your machine, then you can still reliabily identify when there's a good target amongst the iron trash.

Here's a response that's slightly more on point. I hade 2 Tesoros for a short while, but wasn't happy with their performance. The Vaquero's ground balancing seemed cumbersome and only when in All Metal Mode could it detect the clad dime and/or iron nail in my "test garden." But I do like Tesoros. I enjoy their light weight, retro-futuristic look (like Steampunk on steroids) and their "beep and dig" approach to hunting. I also liked their modification potential. And like the OP recognized, I think I could have learned how to use them better if I spent the time to learn the nuanced sounds my Tesoros made. My ears are odd. On the one hand, I'm tone deaf. If you played me just one of the 5 tones the Equinox makes in 5 tone mode, I probably could only identify the iron and second lowest tone reliably. But I'd get the mid, mid-high and high tones mixed up. When I'm hunting with my Equinox 600, I occassionaly confuse the mid-tone with the mid-high tone. And I almost always think the mid-high tone is actually the high tone. So VDIs are kind of important for me...😕 It's like in band class from years ago when I couldn't tell if my trumpet was playing a C or G. But on the other hand, I'm pretty good and recognizing patterns in certain voice and melodic cadences. This allows me to more easily identify voice actors or composers. We have yet to see if that "skill" can translate to metal detecting...

Very true. I believe that based on where and how I hunt, an AT Max and E-Trac can find 80-90% of what I would have found with my Equinox 600. But it's nice to have that extra edge you mentioned for the ocassional hunts that take me to somewhere different or going after targets that are in the super mineralized clay where I live.

Lucky me! 😃

Probably because as a percentage of total detectors sold, Tesoros are small (compred to Minelab, Garrett and Fisher). Being discontinued will have a psychological effect too, in that someone's less likely to sell something they aren't sure they could replace easily. This latter explanation is one of the strongest reasons as to why I'm consiering selling my Equinox 600 instead of my E-Trac; the fomer will be FAR easier (and likely cheaper) to replace in the future if I decide I made a mistake.

Not sure what your experience is working for a company, but people (especially managers) don't always act in their employer's best interest. And employees (regardless of where they are in the hierarchy) often don't get what they deserve for the good things they do, as well as the bad.

The bests interests of the company and end useres, yes. But the best interest of a particular manager? Maybe not.

You talking about the AT Pro? 😁 But seriously, I wonder why any company would develop a detector like that. I'm guessing poor management...

Neat teaser review! I'm definitely interested in that shaft. I have a possible Etrac coming my way though, so I'll have to make sure that doesn't work for me before I invest heavily in my Equinox. But assuming I do, I'll probably be getting one of Steve's shafts...

I don't really have an issue with that website. It might rub me the wrong way sometimes, but I don't think the owner of the site or most of its participants (ring finders) are unethical or anything.

"If you're really good at something, never do it for free" or so the saying goes, right? But it's one thing to give the impression that you're (the general you, not necessarily you in particular) volunteering to help, then charge a fee as opposed to giving the impression you're a business who has costs and expenses to cover. It's like food. No one complains that grocery stores charge for the food you buy there. But imagine going into a food bank expecting to get free food out of charity, only to be hit with a bill when trying to take the food to your car. For some reason, that website sometimes gives me the impression they're more of a food bank instead of a grocery store. I know my impression isn't necessarily correct, though.

My gut says the most we'll see from Minelab in 2022 in response to the Legend and Deus II is a software update and price increase. Maybe we'll get a teaser announcement in late 2022? I'm expecting MInelab to produce a new product that's better than the Equinox 800 (Equinox 1000, a next gen CTX, etc.), but I'm not expecting it to be released until 2023.

Great finds and glad you're back hunting!

I always thought that this was more of a "community/volunteer service" sort of operation. But apparently I was wrong and many users rely on that website to turn their metal detecting hobby into a for-profit business. To each their own.

Here's a pic or 2 of my EVA grip stopper donut thingy. It's janky, but it works. I'm going to work on a cleaner version eventually, now that I think I've settled on the Equinox 600 as my go-to detector.