cjc

Finally a thaw here had a chance to run this detector in the iron at some old sites. Very impressed with the new coil --makes the machine considerably deeper than even the Impact and Kruzer. Superb audio as well--I can really hear everything in the ground--set at disc zero the heavy iron areas become obvious telling me where to buzz around for masked targets. Or I can just jump it up to 4 or 5 to knock the spikes out. With this detector I can hear anything non-ferrous mixed in really well. The 3 Tone mode is also great--it's speeds up the response to bring up even more signals from these worst sections. Never really felt the need for a pinpointer but with the way this machine gets down into the spikes I will need one now. Really liked the overall performance of this detector and will be out there again heading for the worst sections soon as it warms up a bit. cjc

Ive also heard of guys balancing in "Beach" then using the other deeper ID modes.  

cjc

lovely! cjc

Clive Clynick Facebook page

The Review

Reviews

1/ "The Minelab Equinox: An Advanced Guide" 
"Great 2nd book for the Equinox its full of great tips and how to use the machine in different situations. The advanced guide is not just for advanced users. All users of the EQX will find this book very useful. Clive has a wealth of knowledge and [a lot of] testing has gone into the book. “An Advanced Guide” should be your go to book for helping you understanding the machine! "
JF, PA

2/ Clive has been able to show some of the best features of an incredible machine, this is an excellent read to assist in getting the most out of the equinox! -

Minelab Detexpert/YouTube personality: Red Beard Relic Hunter -DJ Dowling

23 hours ago, Alluminati said:

No, why would you want to make any money. lol

Dear diary... ?

 

Before I write anything on a machine I try and read everything that's been said so far.  Gary did a tiny bit for the M/L "knowledge base" and then an article for "Searcher" that had only basic information on the Equinox.   I found this to be very disappointing.  When I had a face to face conversation with him he likened the EQ to a glorified V-Track.  I enjoy Garys blog too but have a sense that he just lost interest on this one--a shame cause it's a cool machine that does a lot of things.  Greatest hunter notwithstanding--there's more to being an "Expert"than being given a hat and blazer.   

1 hour ago, BeachHunter said:

I have a number of your books CJC and have benefitted from every one of them.

Keep up the good work my friend.

BH

Thanks BEACHHUNTER--great to hear from earth.   It can be a tough and frustrating hobby at times--that's the guy I write for.  Good Luck Detecting,

clvie

thats okay--I don't write for "the crowd".

cjc

you guys--I publish a book with the forword by Bill Lahr and Ty Brook--half of you don't even know who they are.  no shortage of blowhards in this hobby and from what I m seeing you seem to admire one another--how convenient.  And thanks for filling me in on how the publishing business works.   Speak , oh oracle...

...nice guy but IMHO he just doesn't have the knowledge.  Period.   I can think of a hundred guys whose book I would read first.  Sorry call em as I sees em.

cjc

On 12/5/2018 at 12:18 PM, flakmagnet said:

I also have both books. I am in the midst of the second one now and it has lots of interesting approaches to consider. Clive is able to set out complicated technical concepts in ways that make them accessible to people (me), who are not technically adept. His writing makes learning fun. Highly recommended for folks who are looking to get the most out of their Equinox. 

Thanks a lot, David---second good review--I'll take it.  Good luck with the big coil looking forwards to a full report here.   Regards clive

I don't like to dish dirt on an otherwise superb detector and to be fair I have a sense that if my bench tech had replaced the side clips too there would have been no problem after the repair.   With the R & D that' must have gone into the CTX Im surprised that this has not been addressed more soundly.  This second gasket is not even captive--it just sits on the outside of the case--nothing some black tape wont accomplish.  My fix did work today something for anyone who has had a leak to try:  Take the lid off a water bottle and cut out two rectangles 1/32 x 1/8".  Get some tweezers and some crazy glue or mix epoxy.  Put a puddle of glue on a surface, pick up each shim , dip it and place each one exactly on where the cell clip seats--on the battery holder.  Trim with nail cutters. Use the clips to clamp for drying.  This will make for a firmer seal.  Be sure to use an (strong) elastic to secure the clips now. Then, to keep the sand out--apply two strips of black tape--top and bottom.  Just funny--Im run this machine for periods of time problem free but then it has leaked several times in  a row no matter how hard I try to make sure that everything is situated perfectly.  This fix seems so far so good--two rechargeable cells later...

PS scored this Italian cuff today18k 9.7 gt. seems to be working!

cjc

I've had mine fixed since new cell and all but first time in--seemed properly seated but fifteen minutes--full of water.  Cant help thinking that new bulkkhead and all--it's the old clips; that are worn.  Ive put a sliver of plastic in each side of the cell (Akalikne, not the second burnt out rechargeable) to make for a tighter seal.  Not an impressive upgrade at all.  Very hard pressed to trust this machine in the water now.   Just can't seem to find a consistent way to keep it dry.   Shame great performer.

cjc

First buyer, first review...

 I have both books now and they are awesome. I keep them close so I can study them on these cold days. Anyone one that has a Equinox needs these books.

CM

(thanks!)

Announcing: “The Minelab Equinox: An Advanced Guide.”
By Clive James Clynick
Our postal workers here in Toronto have been ordered back to work—clearing the way for me to begin a full-on book launch of the new one: ”The Minelab Equinox: An Advanced Guide.” Thanks to those who have shown interest in the couple of dozen proofs so far. What I’ve tried to do in this book is to lay out the Equinox’s strengths. These are its operating characteristics: good noise reduction, effective built in bias, good target ID at depth, good low conductor sensitivity–to begin with. The general theme of the book is how to get the most from these strengths in the field—both depth performance and accuracy. This is a detector that gives quite a lot of information–audio and meter. Understanding some basic detector theory can help to make sense of this information–what it means. This theory is very simple and has to do with the fact that the ground forms part of the signal—and that there is a ton of information to be gotten from these “ground noises”–the amount of difficulty that the machine has in separating targets from it.
I believe that the way to become more accurate with the Equinox is to have a good grasp of these basic general skills that are applicable to all situations. With this in hand—accurate, effective applications become much easier to develop. Although there are several “beach” programs detailed in the book—these are more for teaching purposes—they illustrate skills and principles that are generalizable across situations.
Years ago when I got my first Sovereign–all you had was your manual. There were a few seasoned hunters who posted methods on the Findmall forum. I cut and pasted these and read this one sheet multiple times. This gave me a good general knowledge of how this detector operated. These methods—things such as coil control target testing (the various types of target test passes), all metal signal confirming, (tone and location on the ground) for example increased my accuracy dramatically. With the Equinox’s sophisticated processing and filtering—these kinds of super quick tests are much more effective and can give you a ton of target information. So this would be one general idea that’s covered in the book—skill building and developing your accuracy by understanding what the machine is telling you.
Good Luck Detecting,
Clive
November, 2018

 

Hey thanks a lot for your information--for sure it's hard to know when the cell is situated right--I tapped it manually seated it--the whole bit but somehow water poured in.  I'm looking at the soldering job--pretty much the same conclusion--it's a flush surface.  Really appreciate your response--Im in the Dominican Republic--might give it a hail Mary!

Kind Regards clive

My old model CTX leaked in salt and the plate that goes into the cell (housing side) has been eaten off. Anyone have this problem and find a way to restore ;contact?   I'm looking at a bit of copper wire in the slot to contact where the plate sat...brutal makes me sick how bad this gasket seating is on this model.  Ive tried everything to keep it dry. 

cjc

JUST MY OPINION BUT DON'T YOU NEED AN ACTUAL TREASURE TO BE  A TREASURE HUNTER? 

CJC

That's a good way to mediate the ground noises--take a cue from the Field mode and bring up  the Disc or Break. There's also the Tone Pitch Gap setting to fiddle with if you are inclined to 50 Tones.

cjc

18/ How to Run “10 kHz” as a Cap / Iron Identifier

A lower frequency like “10 kHz” is what can be called a “plodder.”  It responds slowly, makes sure its reporting accurately and only shows a couple of numbers to describe what it sees.  When you run “10 kHz,” make sure to give it the time it needs to do the task.  Switch over, wait for the threshold to return and make a slow, even coil pass.  Just as with “Multi” the first numbers that appear may be cap or gold-range indications--in the teens.  However, when you go to the cross sweep (or even a slight angle) the ground becomes apparent in the forum of a  ”20 plus” reading. This change will be a lot more definite than with “Multi.”  So go slow to let the slower frequency process, use the cross sweep and watch for the “wild” high number indicating a cap or iron.  “10 kHz” produces a more defined, more “general” meter response.  This response takes into account more of the ground’s signal--making “10 kHz” a great cap identifier. (This is also a great illustration of the dichotomy between what the high and low frequencies actually do).

The idea though is to work on your coil and meter recognition skills so that having to make the change-over is a last resort for only those caps that display a very narrow band of numbers in “Multi.”  These are in the minority.  I especially go to “10 kHz” where the indication shows “14”--again--a good gold number.  

(Note: If you are using the 800, in “5 Tone” a high “Tone Break” of around “19” or “20” will produce an intermittent high tone on caps with this test.

Another interesting lesson to be observed when running “10 kHz” is that if you make multiple passes of a target sometimes the slowed response speed will cause the meter response to “double up”--that is it gives a “cumulative” high number.  This is something to watch for in that a response can be falsely “ID’ed” as higher than it is--in this case a worse signal.  Referring back to our “coil control pass types” above, this kind of a response comes from making “keep in” passes--instead of letting the target leave the detection field each swing (so as to “reset” the meter).  Both have value in identifying responses but it’s good to be aware of the difference. 

It’s important to recognise the parallels between this machine and the CTX.  With the CTX this “grounded” number comes in the form of a “1” or “30” “off screen” response--indicating iron or steel (non-constancy).  I’ve heard these referred to as “cross-feeds” In that they initially sound good as the two parts of the response “connect” on the first pass--but this electrical “join” is then rapidly processed out with subsequent coil passes.

With the Equinox these indications are more centered on the meter--"10” for rusted caps or “20” plus for steel caps.  It’s more like where you have a coin next to iron--pulling the response down (or up towards the “wrap” zone).  With an analog detector--either of these (CTX or Equinox “outlying” numbers) would be the low tone (or “nulls)” of iron mixed in to the audio response, or a high “sound off” or “false.” 

 From: "The Minelab Equinox: An Advanced Guide" (2018)

Reviewing Tony Eisenhower's Headphones for the Equinox

A buddy of mine—Drew in British Columbia Canada was kind enough to let me try a set of Tony Eisenhower Headphones for the Equinox for a couple of weeks.  Out of the box I could see that these were a very well thought out high quality set of phones.   The plug itself was really good quality and featured a “pigtail” type strain relief going up the cable—something I’ve never seen on this size / style of plug.  There was also an added “Velcro” strain relief on the cord to attach to the detector wand.  This prevents any accidental yanks from reaching the plug.  With this in place the cable was the perfect length.  Having just rewired one of these for the fifth time on a set of aftermarket phones and struggling to strip and solder the tiny leads—this bit of detail was a good sign.  This hardware was rock solid.
The phones feature an arch array that’s geared for right handers but they fit almost  as well “backwards.”  From looking at the assembly it would only take a minute to reverse them, to left handed.

It was when I turned them on that the quality became apparent.  They had a nice, clean “muted but loud” sound that was pleasant and as I began to run though the various types of Equinox audio—nice in all ranges. When I went to “50 Tones some of these really stood out—the mid gold range.  I also found that the response range was so much better than the stock phones that they seemed to actually give the detector more depth in my tests.  One of the first things I do with a new machine is to learn to hear the “faint ones” and with Tony’s phones seemed to really enhance the EQ’s faint range.  I made a note to do some more testing before venturing onto the beach with them. 

In the water the signal was audible underwater although the low tones could have been louder this is more to do with the machine.  In corresponding with Tony  I asked him what kind of speakers he used and was told:

“Mine are 800 ohm, 2” piezos mounted to custom phenolic boards and potted in self levelling silicone to make them fully waterproof.”

I genuinely had the sense that these changed the audio characteristics of the Equinox dramatically—letting it reach deeper. 

 Tony added his trademark line “…I like ‘em”  So do I.

On 10/12/2018 at 7:26 PM, Chase Goldman said:

Come again on that last one, Clive.  You lost me on the shorthand.  As a matter of fact, even though you and Dew have the ESP going, would you mind expanding what you were driving at with that last sentence without the shorthand? It has me curious and though I think I deciphered some of it, I do not have it all figured out.  Thanks.

Well Chase my experience with the CTX has been that the key to getting better performance with it is to find ways to settle the machine down so as to allow higher Gain to be run.  The "shorthand" lays out a few methods: fast Rec Spd,  more Bias, slow coil, raised coil--Tone Break up above zero....still learning about this machine in salt and those are some of the tests Im running. 

Regards clive  

That's true--new Beach modes seem to be better on the cap they are more in the minus digits--maybe a bit rougher audio as well.  That's kind of the lines Im thinking about for an Apendix in the new one a section just on some of the ways to settle the machie down so as to allow more Gain. Faster works, more Bias works, slower coil works....raised up coil works...slighly high TB base works (.4 gr. chains notwithstanding...).

cjc

On 10/5/2018 at 6:21 PM, dewcon4414 said:

Part of those high caps are from having copper in them..... corrona and bud light.  You are right thou rust ..... and those deeper ones come in around 10..... and surprisingly can give a steady tone for that digit and not jump around like the shallow ones.    I believe they played with the wrap around in some ways.   Either that or the tones that sound like iron minerals that jump to the second bin are because its running extremely high gain with no modulation and is picking up tiny tiny concentrations of aluminum can slaw.    Ive hit some big iron.... but im running in AM..... there you start digging and then realize you have a big targets..... but like you said Clive for the most part it IDs iron pretty darn well.... normally dropping it the -5 range..... bobbie pins and such are -1 range with a hope to the good size in AM.... just enough to get you to stop.

Thats kind of the sense that I get from running this detector and listening to what's being said:  With this level of processing / bias / multi fq cross confirming--there aren't a lot of problem targets you can't learn to recognise if you work at it.

Always great to hear your opinion, Dewcon--let me know if you have any best practices that are working for you to go in the new book.  Good Luck Detecting, clive

What a great thread--lot of good information and practical test ideas.  My spin on the EQ's operating characteristic is this:  I get the sense that to "reign in" the info from all these fqs, some really heavy filtering is needed.  These filters take even "mixed" FE / NFE responses like caps and narrow them down--into the middle if you will.  Steel ones with not that much rust--go up high--to 16/ 17 or higher.  Rusted ones go down to 10.  All of these would be "off scale responses on a simpler machine--"low tones" or responses with obvious iron characteristics.  This is the price we pay for the plusses of multi fq.  With the amount of information that's available with the EQ as one poster has mentioned--there will always be one kind or another "hint" that something is FE or NFE.  This may require some cross sweep or PP testing but it will be there. As well this is a detector that processes really well--you could say it does the BBS "wiggle" in one pass.  When you keep on a signal and slow the coil down it either inhibits or enhances.  There is a lot of information to be had from where it begins to fail--it's limits.  It then reports the target's exact relationship to the ground.  FE and NFE responses are so different that there will be "tells" in this information.  Not to say this it's possible to be "surgical" in IDing iron or caps but when you start with the two extreeme cases (good and bad) targets will usually fall in one direction or another.  I like the term "constant" to describe what to look for.  With the EQ this is not just a circular or non circular target--but also identifies objects that are too big (wraps) too small (minus numbers) elongated or containing any rust or corrosion.  It's as if the "benchmark: has been moved up a bit--a great tool.   You could say that the EQ has no "12-line" it's up to the operator to create one via target testing.  cjc