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Just got word from a very large dealer that Equinox pre-orders are so large the very earliest a new Equinox order might be filled would be early spring. I had to ask exactly what that meant and the answer was "if you ordered today, it would be after all pre-orders are filled before you could possibly receive an Equinox". Wouldn't it be interesting to know how many machines, the pre-order is for? Now that doesn't upset me, in any way, I'm actually very pleased Minelab has developed a machine that will bring serious competition into my hobby. It might even spark new developments. Go Minelab..................

Steve, is there anything new you can now talk about the Prototype Equinox tones? Are they simple solid beeps or like FBS with variance? I.E. with BBS on can hear the mix of alloys within the target tone. I suspect the NOX tone beeps are solid? What do you think about 50 tone? Is there a tone differentiation between say a common pull tab and a 14K gold ring? Is the 50 tone good for discriminating by ear? I suspect 50 tones may be too many to accurately differentiate? Perhaps you do not know/Can you say anything about Prototype sensitivity- I'm not sure but it looks like in NOX vids, the sensitivity is cranked up for max depth? If you do not know, perhaps you can elaborate on Equinox Prototype in average ground, depth loss say at 50% sensitivity compared to 100%? For instance on a deep coin hit, at what point of sensitivity reduction will the same target be lost? I'm trying to get an idea what might happen in saltwater where sens most likely will have to be reduced.

Steve, I'm very interested in the response en depth to very small targets as halve hammered coins, sceatt's en Roman minimissimi. Weighting mostly between 0,5 and 1 grams. Can you anything tell about depth and separation for these small items with the 11 inch coil, especially using the high frequentie?

First of all a very Happy Christmas to you all at DPF :) I have a question that I think has not been asked yet: When using the Equinox in Multi-Frequency mode, do you think it will drain the battery quicker?

There sure seems to be lots of Interest in the Minelab Equinox. Everyone wants one, even at $900. I want an Equinox for Caribbean shallow water hunting because traveling with 2 would be easy. My intent would be to replace my Excaliburs and 3030... that's only if the NOX performs in the sea to my expectations. I also want a NOX for dry sand hunting for gold jewelry at night on my trips. So why do you want an Equinox and what detectors might it replace?

All the talk seems mostly over the Equinox 800. But what about the 600? My first inclination too was to get on the 800 list which I did. I wonder though, for a shallow water hunter such as myself, if the 600 might be a better choice? It costs less and the wireless capability is not needed underwater nor are the higher frequencies of the 800. For travel I could buy 2 600s and 2 sets of waterproof headphones (I like back-up on trips), for about the same price of 2 800s alone. I'm most interested in hunting saltwater and guessing/hoping the 600/800 in beach mode will perform similar to an Excalibur. Should that prove to be the case, then the Equinox 600 might suffice? That is if the 600 and 800 run on the same multi-frequencies in beach mode?

This topic split from a previous thread. Hi Brian, nice to see you back. I follow a lot of your posts elsewhere - great stuff! The reality is I have been and am part of the Equinox development team in my own small way. I therefore have access to information and knowledge that few do. Yes, I do have an Equinox 800. I have to tread carefully but my goal is to bury you guys with Equinox info to the best of my ability. I have a pretty good idea of what I can and can’t say yet, and I am sure Minelab will pull me quickly within bounds if I stray. That is one reason why I only post on this forum now - the original content must remain under my control. Please do not copy and paste elsewhere! Other testers to watch... There is Brandon Neice, who appeared in the Detectival announcement videos, and who is based in Idaho. Brandon goes by Dr. Tones on YouTube There are Derek & Sharon McLennan plus Neil Jones of the DUG THAT OFFICIAL MINELAB EQUINOX 800-600 GROUP who are based in the U.K. At Minelabowners.com, the gentleman posting as ironhearted_gog is Gordon Heritage, one of the members of the U.K. Equinox Test Team.

I live in the red/orange iron bearing areas of Virginia, (USA). It will take all but 10 minutes in my test garden to evaluate the performance of this new machine. Over the past 11 years (this spring) I've had some of the most expensive detectors visit and provide a demonstration of their abilities to detect the targets in my test garden. It's surprising how cost doesn't necessarily mean best detector in my area and my ground conditions. Some have completely failed detecting my deepest targets while others have performed very well (not perfect). I have kept detailed records of each machine and can say only one can reliably detect all my targets, but not necessarily from every direction. Two other machine give an audio, but the wrong audio and the ID floats from low iron to silver half dollar. Adding the ground to complicate target ID it has become obvious that a standard VLF machine can't be relied on beyond certain depths. That being said a true motion all metal mode works very well in detecting the deep targets, but still the ID is off. I've almost convinced myself to purchase the EQ 800, but would entertain a complete evaluation from Steve once they are release to the public.

I may have missed it in the literature somewhere but is it known whether the EQ will be supported on the Exchange2 for updating or is it getting its own platform?

Found in the Fields – EQUINOX Gold! December 21, 2017 10:47am by Gordon Heritage "The EQUINOX has proved to be a very lucky metal detector for me during testing. From the countless hours of field trials for Minelab, amongst the many Roman and Medieval coins and artefacts, I've been fortunate enough to find three pieces of small gold... so far!" Story and photos at https://www.minelab.com/usa/go-minelabbing/treasure-talk/found-in-the-fields-equinox-gold

I'm wondering how the Equinox would perform with a concentric coil, as compared to dd coils , assuming one is offered as an accessory in the future. ?

The Equinox 800 comes with built in high speed Bluetooth but if that is not fast enough, they include a WiStream module for even faster audio performance. The WM08 unlike the WM10 and WM12 does not have its own speaker built in, so it is half the size. The WM08 allows you to use any non-wireless headphone you wish without being tethered to the Detector. A neat idea also is including screen protectors made to fit that have labels identifying some of the on-screen control icons. In multiple languages!

Other than a CTX 3030 I've not used FBS machines much buttold FBS loves gold range targets. I'm mostly interested in beach/river detecting and searching for gold jewelry and gold coins. I see so many FBS machines up for sale now and one under $400 that looks like it sold. Really, $400 for a newer FBS detector? Why 1 gold ring find could pay for that! I will be getting an Equinox, but dang... it's hard to pass on these FBS deals! While I do not want to buy an obsolete machine, is it the consensus here that the Equinox may be better for finding gold jewelry than FBS? If that's the case, then obviously buying a used FBS might be a waste of $? I read mixed opinions. One tester said the Equinox seems deeper than FBS in his ground, but ML states the Equinox will not handle saltwater as well as FBS. So, should I steer clear of a used FBS deal or not?

I sent a check to the dealer I deal with on 10/07/17 for my Equinox 800. It’s going to be interesting to see who has been waiting the longest for their Equinox. Chuck

When I called ML today and asked about Multi-IQ frequencies... Mums the word! In their M-IQ description ML states the single frequencies are used... "and more". Makes me ask how many more frequencies? Has this been touched upon here and does anyone know how many frequencies and their range? MLs only answer to that is M-IQ is a new technology. So I speculate something similar in frequencies to BBS or FBS, because of the 50 response tones selection? Might this mean M-IQ runs 50 frequencies? Or might target tones be determined by some other factor?

The users asked to ask the following question: Is the Equinox snapshot or open gate ? So where will the Equinox fall ? Your personal opinion.

I've been considering the equinox 800 and I'm wondering if there is a big (noticeable) difference in the ground noise specifically hot rocks that you hear versus a single frequency unit? Presently using gbpro and Monster for prospecting when I'm not using my gp3000. I recently did some beach detecting for the first time using the gbpro and I enjoyed that experience as well, so a more well rounded machine is appealing on that level too. But right now I'm most interested in what noticeable benefits the equinox brings when running in mult frequency mode. Also curious how much improvement is gained if any with respect to target ID accurracy. Any thoughts? Thanks Matt

Perhaps this has been discussed previously... and correct me if wrong, but the Equinox has adjustable recovery settings, which could be set depending on the density and type of targets encountered? But what might be the trade-offs when using fast vs slower recovery speed? Target ID? Depth? Perhaps with the new Equinox technology it does not matter- Oh and do the recovery settings function with single and multi-frequency modes?

Here are some Equinox Saltwater performance clues... Almost as well as BBS/FBS. My question now is define "almost".

Just found this site and signed up and am enjoying the information on the new machine. I been wanting a fully submersible machine for awhile and was looking at the CTX, not sure though if I really need the extra bells and whistles at the over double cost. I'm not afraid to spend the dollars so much but like most things, what meets your needs/style always makes me ponder my choices. I will probably wait for reviews once this gets into pre-order hands since I am fairly patient with my buying as to not have regrets and I'm sure at this point the pre-order lists ar probably miles long! I have a couple of questions that maybe someone can shed some light on. 1. How easy will the new machines be to break done for traveling? 2. Will Minelab have a submersible set of headphones available as well for these units? Thanks for all the great info! Pops

Since I only hunt freshwater the beach mode is of no real use to me. I would use Relic in its place for that. The only quibble I have against the 800 is that the 20 kHz freq should have been a disc mode. That in my mind would have made a more "all around" machine. If budget is a concern, the lower price of the 600 would defray the cost of buying the waterproof headphones. So that is a consideration. I didn't pre-order and facing 4 months of winter have time to decide which would suit me best.

I would like to ask how the 8 speeds of the response of the 800-th model correspond to the 3-rd speeds of the response of the 600th model.

Hey Everyone, Just a quick question on warranty. How long is Minelab’s warranty on the Equinox 800? Thanks, BH

Steve, having studied the shaft of Nox, it became very interesting to me how he had the weighting? The heavy coil at the bottom, the control unit with the battery is at the level of the hand, and in the counterweight on the armrest there is nothing at all. Logically, this combination should cause increased physical stress on the hand. Can you answer this question in detail? ps: judging by the angle of the handle on the shaft, I have a feeling that the Nox is designed to search under your feet. That is, holding the shaft almost vertically ...