Search the Community

This probably has been done a hundred of times but I have recently bought my Equinox 800 and been having a lot of fun. Throughout my use I have received signals that become very jumpy in some areas. Is this a grounding issue? I have tried noise cancelling and grounding. Reducing the sensitivity may have helped, but wouldn't this reduce depth? What are the negatives if I reduce sensitivity? What other tips can guys share? I also plan on doing water metal detecting (saltwater) on the beach some tips would also be appreciative.

I have a question regarding how the Equinox throttles back sensitivity when it encounters black sand. If I am running at 17 sensitivity on a salt water beach and detect over black sand; the machine throttles back sensitivity. By how much does it do this? What would be the sensitivity when the black sand indicator is active at 17? This leads me to wonder. If running at 25 sensitivity and the machine encounters black sand, is it going to be a higher number than the previous scenario? I also realize, that at 25 the machine will probably throttle back sensitivity much sooner than at 17... Just curious, thanks!

Having been in and out of detecting for the last 35 years, decided to get back into it after selling all my equipment 2 years ago. Bought an Equinox 600 and plan on trying it out next week on the coast, the only unfrozen ground in my area. Really looking forward to getting used to it since it is quite different than my prior Fisher CZ-21. My plan for this season is to hit dry sand beaches, water shallows(since I don’t have waterproof headphones yet), school yards, parks, and old house foundations. I don’t plan on detecting deeper water for now, but towards the end of our short season here in Maine, I’ll give my detector a few good dunkings to see if it leaks. After reading some of this forums posts, I’m concerned about putting my season in jeopardy if it does leak. I would be interested in hearing from those of you who have NOT had problems detecting in say 5’ or so of water, especially fresh water. All my water hunting in the past has been in fresh water, not salt. Also, has ML corrected the problem with the “ears” of the coil breaking? From some of my reading here it seems to have been a problem.

Normally I run the equinox in multi-frequency mode, but yesterday I tried to use it at 5Kz in field mode 1. Lately I am hunting with the Iron filters at 0, but I did not like it in the single frequency mode so I went to modify it and what was my surprise it wouldn't let me enter the submenu to upload iron rejection. I tried it with the partner's equinox in case it was a failure of mine and the same thing happened. In single frequency mode it does not let you enter the iron rejection submenu. Do you know what the reason is?

I guess we can’t add videos to our posts? Anyway, the default setting FE and F2 is 2. I set out a gold ring, old square I ron nail, and quarter. With FE or F2 set at defaults of 2, it seems to mask these targets. Set to zero all is good. (This is an EQ600). This seems to contradict the original videos that came out when the detector did. Beach2 program.

Hi all ! and cheers for the add ! I have had the Nox for nearly 3 years now and have finally bitten the bullet and grabbed a Monster 😁 also this morning Eyyyyhaaa ! Now for the stupid first question (I've had a read and could not find anything in a post on it 😔) Has anyone here tried a Nox 15 inch coil on the Gold Monster. The Nox can run at 40mHz and the Monster runs 45mHz so pretty close there and I have read (not confirmed) elsewhere that the coils have proprietry chips in them to stop interchangeability. They both fit each others coils though even though some said the plugs would not but I have not been game to turn on the monster with the Nox's 15 inch coil plugged in. (Big chicken 🤣) The thought of the Monster with a 15 inch coil is so tempting So back to the big ask. Has anyone actually tried ? (Ps love my 2 nox 800s)

Hello, Anyone try Andy Sabisch coin setting on the Nox? What I would like to understand is I see there is offerings for the 800, but will they also work on the 600? Obviously I swing the 600, and coming from the Etrac using his settings, just wanted to make sure. I know the factory ones are good, but everything needs tweaked at one time or another. Thanks for any and all feedback. BTW, I am not new to MD, just to the Nox 600.

Hey folks! Unlike many of you more seasoned folks, I'm still trying to learn when to ignore iron tones and when to dig. I was exploring the land behind what I knew once belonged to a northern Virginia farmhouse back in the 1930s and heard a nice iron tone that I felt was worth looking into. Lo and behold, an incredibly well rusted cast iron piggy bank. Following some electrolysis and wire brushing I find it to be pretty presentable. I'm unsure of the age, but based on some research I'm guessing circa 1900s. Cheers!

I haven't heard Steve H. give his opinion on approximately when the EQ800 might be "upgraded". I know it's only speculation but I'm trying to see how long the wait might be, over a year shorter, longer? I wish to buy one but after reading all the posts about people sending EQ's back 3 times and 6 inch coils multiple times etc., I think it would be prudent of me to wait for another "iteration" of the EQ, IF it is not going to be long (1 year or more). Thoughts? Also thoughts on the EQ800 as a "gold detector" for "small" gold. I bought quite a few years ago a Nokta Fors because it was recommended as an "all around" detector by Steve and I was splitting my time beach hunting and desert prospecting. It, the Nokta did/does find small gold if conditions are "right" such as the gold being about a size 12 or +20 classified size, shallow depth and laying flat or "broadside up. Would the EQ800 do better than this in you're opinions in "mineralized SoCal ground? Feedback greatly appreciated!

Been detecting for years, but relatively new to the multi frequency game. I am experiencing a lot of ground noise in multi that isn't present in single frequency. I was amazed at how much quieter single was compared to multi. When I use multi, it sounds like there is constant iron (low iron tones) with every swing. This happens every time and not just particular sites, and in different modes. I can't distinguish nails from what I'm guessing is ground minerals? In single frequencies, it is super quiet, and I can hear every little piece of iron. Once I noticed the difference I started digging low tones just to check. 90% of the low tones in multi aren't actually targets. I alway noise cancel and ground balance. Live in south central KY with pretty mild ground. Is this just a side effect of multi, or am I missing something?

So I’ve been considering a Vanquish model as either a backup or primary to my Equinox 600 to fill in coil size with 10x7 between my 11” and 6”. Also perhaps to achieve a little better ergonomics for most of my detecting and then use the Nox for more detailed work when needed. I like the price and simplicity of the 340 but I also like some of the extras of the 540 and mainly 5 tones which is what I most regularly run on my 600. Studying the manuals a bit for details, it is not really that simple as the tone breaks, whether 3 or 5 tones, vary between detectors and even within the modes. So it still won’t be “exactly” like my 600 even if I choose a 540 in regards to 5 tones or 3 tones. The 3 tones is even different between the 340 and 440. So I vkeep going back to simplicity and price of the 340 and I even get the coil I want. Curious on thoughts from others considering same or actual experience and why your selection? Also, I thought it was interesting that for a detector that seems to be more global, the Vanquish makes the coin modes favor the US coins? Am I wrong? Even with the 600 you might be limited on this as I believe only the first tone break is adjustable?

I hunt my saltwater beaches in the Beach 2 mode with the factory settings for wet and water hunting as well as the dry sand. We really don't have much iron around the beach and it's also not trashy. I am going to experiment with lowering the recovery speed and iron bias just to see what difference in depth/detection it makes. Do any of you adjust RS and IB down in Beach modes and if you do, what differences have you noted?

The reason I ask is because a number of the guys in our club have 800's. When we go on hunts there have been times I'll hit a target and they'll want to listen to it. Many times they don't hear it or maybe just barely with theirs My machine is just out of warranty now and I'm reluctant to get a different one for that reason. I've heard stories about machines being hotter than others or...just maybe better? Any thoughts on this? Thanks!

Finally got a good day to go out in the farm, the last two were pretty miserable. It was another day to find lots of tacks and buckshot, unfortunately the tacks fall in the numeric range of the nicer buttons, and the buckshot tends to come up like tombacs, so I pretty much have to dig 'em all. 😵 See my first pic for all the trash! I don't usually bother to show it but y'all have to see the amount of buckshot, bullets and tacks I dig in a day. 😀 Much mention has been made of the FE and F2 settings on the Equinox, so I decided to give F2 a shot since I've been running the detector in FE/0 with Field 2, and finding that I'm wasting a bit of time inquiring targets that turn out to be heavy or really rusty iron. I thought from reading a bit that I could try F2/2 for a bit hoping it would help. Didn't go to 3 or 1. After I dug the nails and the large nut in the bottom picture, I changed the settings. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but F2 seems to "tighten up" iron, causing it to not register as much in the 9+ range. While maybe a couple of the iron finds still falsed, for the most part a quick change of sweep direction turned the whole signal to iron. Found the tombac almost immediately, they usually give a small iron sound because of the iron shank or remnant but this time it was a solid 7. For the rest of the day I didn't dig a single piece of iron! Now they need an update with a Pb setting... 🤔 😀 The smaller button next to the tombac (neither are larger than a dime) says "PLATED" on it, and the little tag is odd, "xed fe" and the number 61 are stamped on it. The elongated bullet seems to have a 2 on it! I find a LOT of buckle fragments.

I urge everyone to answer the poll questions with as much detail as you can provide. Thoughtful responses only please. Thanks. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/53-minelab-equinox-forum/

I urge everyone to answer the poll questions with as much detail as you can provide. Thoughtful responses only please. Thanks. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/53-minelab-equinox-forum/

I urge everyone to answer the poll questions with as much detail as you can provide. Thoughtful responses only please. Thanks. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/53-minelab-equinox-forum/

I urge everyone to answer the poll questions with as much detail as you can provide. Thoughtful responses only please. Thanks. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/53-minelab-equinox-forum/

Do you use the Equinox Bluetooth, the WM08 module, both, or none? Follow up posts explaining your poll vote will provide important information. Please narrow your poll selections to one or two answers at most - saying you use it all really says nothing, just bumps them all up a notch. I'd ask people make a little extra effort on this one. The poll is for your benefit. Thanks. And please everyone with an opinion, vote in the poll at the top! It makes tabulating answers way easier.

Do you use the Fe setting, F2 setting, both, or none? Follow up posts explaining your poll vote will provide important information. I'd ask people make a little extra effort on this one. The poll is for your benefit. Thanks.

Looking good! 👍🏼 Coiltek Search Coils for Minelab Equinox

“I think you will like the news coming out next week with coil selection for the Equinox” Could it be? Fingers crossed!!

Got a break in the weather today, it has rained for the past two. The last two days before it rained I found very little, I thought the field was "drying up". Today I realized why - it had been a week or more since it rained, so I think the ground lost conductance - it dried up! I should probably revisit my last couple of grid walking days. I have been averaging 3-4 buttons a day, and today was no exception. I also find a lot of shoe buckle parts. There was a lot of foot traffic here from the 1700s on, I am trying to find out why. Also learned today to follow more faint signals, especially those that go up in tone which may or may not give an initial VDI. I am using field 2, 50 tones with the horseshoe on. I found the large ornate piece about 12" down, one of the deepest holes I have dug. It started out as a faint 13, and ended up a solid 19. Same with the 1884 Indian head, it was faint probably due to being on edge. The rising tone above all prompted me to dig. The smallest button is stamped GILT off center and appears to have some of its plating still. It was a solid 14, the same VDI my wedding ring gives. The biggest mystery is the heavily corroded button, it has lettering on it, and shows some brass or gilt, but it is so far unreadable. Fun day and a great learning experience! There were hunters all around me rabbit hunting, gunfire and dogs everywhere. Another thing of interest is the very large furniture tack next to the twisted copper ring. The field is full of them, all sizes and some with very sharp pins. Copper boat nails are common as well.

I am seeing some rumors on other forums that the Equinox price will increase in February. Maybe this is just nay sayer rumors or possibly some misunderstanding about holiday deals and bundled deals ending on January 31st.........

This is quite a video ...