mn90403

I got mine yesterday (a couple of days late)! I'm a bit busy but charged it up and went out to my local beaches about 4 PM. I used the WM8 and the headphones clipped to my cap as I do the 3030 and 7000. I fumbled around and figured out how to connect and away I went. It was not my best effort. The sounds were strange to me but I heard a little one and my first target was a dime before I got to the wet sand. Ok, it's on I think. I swing and bring up the threshold to just audible and use Beach 2 and I hear another weak sound and I find an earring/hoop as my first wet find. Then I walked and walked and the signals were not jumping out at me like my 3030. I switched to Beach 1 and a bit nosier but signals are still unfamiliar. They all seem weak to me. Time for the next beach where I know there are more things. I didn't change my settings. I should have set up a test garden here and 'figured it out' but ... Later at the end of the hunt I looked at the earphones and I'll say I could have enhanced the volume with the volume control on them. I'll do that next time so I can use this better. Mitchel

AI brought to a detector on chips. Mitchel

I was just looking at my ring collection tonight. I'd like to find more. It might get me out park hunting. I don't do that with my 3030. Mitchel

I've ordered a few things from Kco and paid the Internet Tax. I can still buy from other dealers and save that tax. Here in Kali that is 10%+! Mitchel

I like his blog and I like what he does but I can't watch that show Curse of Oak Island. Mitchel

Ok, settled. Thanks Steve.

Reg, I know what you mean. I do use the GPS to my advantage when hunting the beaches. I sometimes forget how many rings I find in a particular area and then I look at my map and slow down and the boundaries of the wave patch are clear. The problem is that it only holds so many and then you have to save them on another device. All of that could have been easier. Mitchel

Vez, You are closer to gold than I would have thought! I read this article and thought about you. http://www.richlandsource.com/area_history/the-bellville-gold-rush/article_bdaeb902-0ab1-11e8-a485-ebd20572c36b.html You can also go to a GPAA chapter meeting: http://www.buckeyegold.com/goldrush.htm I hope you get out there with your family sooner rather than later! Mitchel

Once again I ask the question. If you use the new firmware and record GPS finds or waypoints this data should be in a data file, right? If you switch back to the old firmware that can interface with Exchange2 then it should look for the data file, right? I just don't know if it can see the data file on the GPZ so that it will transfer to the Exchange2 program. Once done the data is backed up. You could clear the data on the GPZ and then install the new version of GPZ firmware and repeat. I would like to do this and try but I had an 'issue' with using an Exchange2 that was/was not compatible with my 3030. I had installed different programs and then had a drive crash so ... I'm SOL. Too many other things on my plate right now to try it but in my mind if the data file uses the same extensions then it should be available for transfer. Mitchel

I'm keeping it for now. If I had an SE Pro board it would be ok. I don't trash things just because they don't work. haha

My SE Pro died (it got wet a couple of years ago) last summer and I was told it would take $500 to fix it. I really like that SE Pro but I can't justify putting that into a fix. This has more bang for the buck. If I really want an SE Pro then I think there will be a few for sale after the Equinox is out a bit. Mitchel

I like the show and I also like the Tucson show so you have to make it a two'fer. Mitchel

Oh ... one thing most of us forgot on this thread. Remember there was a meeting in Arizona between national and international Minelab dealers? A couple of pictures were posted here about comparisons of the Equinox to other detectors. All of the dealers came away from that meeting and didn't really give us any details about 'when' deliveries would be made. I know it is a small thing but it is an important thing if you are a Minelab dealer. What did they call that meeting? They called it a Partners Meeting. They are Partners with Minelab. They are a 'self-policing' body. If one dealer sells in a manner which can be shown to hurt other dealers they can be thrown out of the Partnership. There are territories for dealers which overlap here because we are on the internet. Small marketing areas become BIG. When I purchased my 5000 it was 'bundled' with many extras but the price was the same as other dealers/partners. They fight for market share all the time. Local vs internet vs training vs sales taxes ... I'm ready for the beach! Mitchel

What if a dealer 'ordered' a thousand ... something ties an 'order to a pre-order to a deposit to a paid order to a deposit' if you are in the distribution system. Someone playing the game of 'I'll take the first one I get and cancel all the other orders' isn't an accurate picture. Then there also has to be a few paybacks, favors and preferred customers allowed (if they keep quiet) and then you have Real World distribution. We will never know all of these 'deals' that keep the marketing ship afloat. All of it is for naught if the machine has a flaw, error or requires a return. I'm sure we'll all take the detector working at its best rather than the detector released sooner and has to be returned. Many of us remember the falsing threads about the Monster. Mitchel

If this detector had a closed coil you could dig and detect at the same time!

If you notice, there are no dealers on this thread. You also got the same answer from your dealer as I did from mine. He can't say how many he will be getting or how many anyone else will be getting. (Minelab controls that info) Also, some dealers have their allocation sent directly to the dealership and then they send it to the customer. Some are sent by the distributor (middleman) or Minelab but they need to have the customer list in order to do this.

Did the dealer ask you to preorder? Or rather Pay at the time of order? (Everything is a preorder!)

Chase, I stand by my statement. My dealer is sending me a detector next week (if FedX delivers it to him) . If not then it will be later. The beaches will still be there for me. I hope the waves come in and make it easy the first couple of uses. Mitchel

Steve reminds me of a friend who always told me this story. I think he got it from someone else but he insisted it happened in one of his classes at SDSU. Dick told me he showed up for a final exam like all the others in the class of about 200 or so. I don't even remember the name of the course (science or social science) and the professor revealed the final exam question. This class was given sometime in the early 70s. Written on the board in front of all the class was the one word question: Why? The professor left the room. The exam time was 2 hours. All the students were left to consider an answer. Should they tell 'why' they had taken the class? Perhaps tell what they learned from the professor? They were given no clues but had to write an essay. Should they reference the study materials or special projects they did through the quarter? Why, why? Well, many students stayed for the entire 2 hours writing their papers. Some did not. When the grading was done and posted for the exam there was only one A+ score. All other scores were lower by some fraction. What was the answer that gained the top score? Because. Mitchel

I hope soon then for you. Individual dealers might have some explaining to do to their customers. Sometimes explanations are excuses and sometimes they are reasons. You don't keep your customers with an endless supply of excuses. Mitchel

DetectingMO, Do you have a relationship with a dealer where he knows you are GOOD for the order? My dealer Bill knows I'm not shopping him and my check and credit card are good. I'm not much of anything to Minelab but my dealer Bill is as good as gold to them. He told me Minelab knew there was going to be a fire storm so dealers could just tell everyone it was based upon order and/or deposit time. Minelab can't micromanage a dealer but they are also not going to disclose their entire distribution plan either. Mitchel

Welcome to the 'fire storm' that Steve anticipated. Do you think Minelab should take the time from their busy schedule to take my phone call and ask them where MY unit is? Just as soon as they take MY call then it makes YOUR unit get to you more slowly! Minelab (any company that has a distribution network) needs to deal in bulk. They design, test, manufacture and package metal detectors. Their DEALERS sell them. They have to use the people they have to do what they do best. Steve said it. There are not enough detectors to instantly fill the demand. Why? Well, just think of the financing cost of prepaying all of the materials and shipping. It is simply not possible to take a company who produces dozens or hundreds of units a month to ramp up and produce tens of thousands of units. What do you do with that production over-capacity when you meet the demand? Minelab told the dealers they would have a pecking order. That order was based upon deposits on hand. Some dealers followed the rules and perhaps some did not. We don't know for sure. Minelab has put out several new detectors and new detector technologies in the last 5 years. It seems that they have learned and taken some of our advice and that of their testers and dealers and created what may be the highest selling detector ever. Good on Minelab for that. I trusted this early on when I read what Steve had to say and placed an order. My dealer told me Minelab would respond to him better and send my detector if I reduced it to a deposit. That has been done and I hope to get my detector next week. We'll see how good it is in my hands after that. Bill tells me that they are within a week of a plan they put into effect last fall. I'm satisfied. Mitchel

The 'storm' right now will be 'Where is mine?' How much longer will it be before they are 'on the shelf' and I can just buy one. 'I've been waiting since last summer ... 'Why can't I have mine now?' etc, etc. The pent-up demand has had the fuse lit. How much time before you get more? That storm. Mitchel

Steve, I'm going to be getting my Equinox next week. I assume it will not be fully charged. That will be the first thing I do is charge it for a few hours. What should I do while I'm 'waiting?' I know there is the Quick Start Guide . I know there are the Beach 1 and Beach 2 modes. Is that where I should 'walk' it before I try to make it run? Do you recommend people have a test garden of just go for it? Mitchel

I didn't make my Equinox purchase from Gerry. I didn't have to prepay because of my 'relationship' with my dealer but Minelab wanted to send to prepays first so I followed the rules. Bill will have my detector this weekend and send it to me. I'll have it for my beaches early next week! I'll tell you when I get it. Dealers don't want to get caught in the who's first game. Please don't ask them how many. Steve has said the fire storm was about to begin and now it has. Two months from now it will probably be out. Mitchel