Equinox 700/900 Software Update

[HardPack]

The EQX900 software update on a MAC was painless. I like the new noise cancel feature. Quick pass over the test garden this evening with 6 “ coil in Field 2 to test the -1 iron bias on clad coins adjacent to a rusty square nail at various depths, so far I like. There may be additional benefits related of TID/ tone stability but too early to tell.  Wonder if the update calms the Coiltek NOX 10x6?. 

[HardPack]

Test Garden in mid mineralized ground, clad coins 4, 5, 7 & 8 inches deep, rusted square nails adjacent to various clad coins & depths, plus axe head, iron spike, bent horse shoe, flat iron plate, grouped square nails.
Tested the EQX900 with the CoilTek Nox 10x6 in both Field & Gold mode. In Field mode with the new Noise Cancel feature there was some improvement with reduced clatter to Sensitivity 16 which is okay coin size targets to 7 inches deep. In Gold Mode still had to reduce to Sensitivity 8  for a smooth threshold tone, 10 workable. Not recommended for prospecting.
The EQX900 with stock NOX 6” coil in Field mode Sensitivity 24 was smooth running, depth to 7 inches, nickel & quarter to 8”. In Gold Sensitivity 20 for a smooth even threshold tone, Sensitivity 22 workable. Detection depth matched or exceeded of the CT 10x6. TID tighter on shallower targets. 
Set the Iron Bias to -1 for all tests, plan to use this IB -1 setting as a base setting for all modes. The coin/nail separation was clean with no falsing with Discrimination. Some falsing on the larger iron targets. 
 

[MichaelHill]

On 6/14/2024 at 12:49 PM, cudamark said:

Has anyone tried this upgrade? Feedback?

Tried it today now I have a non-functioning detector. Lost power half way through the update, now unit powers on with blank screen, no sound, and when I reload the update file and open the MUU and connect the unit to go through the recovery steps, the MUU does not even recognize the unit. Screen just stays on "Connect a device to check for updates"....nothing happens the unit just sits there with a blinking green light, blank screen, and no sound. At a loss....

[Chase Goldman]

13 hours ago, MichaelHill said:

Tried it today now I have a non-functioning detector. Lost power half way through the update, now unit powers on with blank screen, no sound, and when I reload the update file and open the MUU and connect the unit to go through the recovery steps, the MUU does not even recognize the unit. Screen just stays on "Connect a device to check for updates"....nothing happens the unit just sits there with a blinking green light, blank screen, and no sound. At a loss....

You don’t say explicitly, so pardon the obvious, but did you disconnect the 900 from the power/update cable and then do power cycle of the detector.  If that didn’t work I suggest a long press of the detector’s power button (with the detector shut down) to factory reset/power cycle the detector.  If both of those didn’t/don’t work, contact ML warranty repair.

[Steve Herschbach]

14 hours ago, MichaelHill said:

Tried it today now I have a non-functioning detector. Lost power half way through the update, now unit powers on with blank screen, no sound, and when I reload the update file and open the MUU and connect the unit to go through the recovery steps, the MUU does not even recognize the unit. Screen just stays on "Connect a device to check for updates"....nothing happens the unit just sits there with a blinking green light, blank screen, and no sound. At a loss....

You posted on this elsewhere. Minelab's instructions indicate starting the update process again should work, see below. Sorry to say if that or the full reset Chase mentions does not work, sounds like your detector is toast and you need to contact Minelab for the fix. I like to keep issues confined to a single thread, asking on any more threads is unlikely to get any better answers than the one I just gave you. For all you know if you contact them they will have a fix that does not involve sending it in. If so, it would be great if you let us know what that is. Good luck.

From the instructions:

Important: Ensure the USB Magnetic Cable is securely connected between the PC and the detector before commencing the update. Make sure the magnetic connector contacts are clean, dry and free of debris. Ensure the magnetic connector is seated properly. Do not turn off or disconnect the EQUINOX 700|900 during the update process. Any interruption to the update process will always be fully recoverable by restarting both the detector and the MUU. However, there is a small chance of loss of user settings if the update is interrupted at certain times in the update process.

[Lynk]

To lend confidence in the updating process, I just ran it with no issues.  After the update I tested the new noise canceling feature while in the house and it seemed to provide reasonably stable results (+/-1) as it cycled through the program. 

[Zaj56]

Minelab really has their act together with their update process...super simple and all the pre-set programs are saved because there is no need to do a factory reset.Kudos to Minelab!

[Jeff McClendon]

On 6/14/2024 at 10:49 AM, cudamark said:

Has anyone tried this upgrade? Feedback?

Some have already reported here.

I was able to pickup another 900 at a ridiculous price. It had not been updated. 

I detected with it for about an hour at an aluminum trashed park with high iron mineralization...high enough to almost peg Deus 2's mineralization meter on past hunts. 

The 900 even when noise cancelled and ground balanced in Park 1 multi with all targets accepted, sensitivity 22, recovery speed 4, iron bias 0, 5 tones, was very noisy from EMI, ground noise and wildly varying target ID and audio responses. I could sort of hunt with it after I turned sensitivity down to 20. 

I flagged 4 targets that appeared to be a US nickel and three copper pennies/clad dimes that were in the 4 to 8" depth range. The 4" deep targets were triple beeping with erratic target IDs as if they were on the surface with the 900's DD coil too close to them.

I had my Manticore with me and went over the same ground in All Terrain General, sensitivity 26, recovery speed 4, all targets accepted, 5 tones. There was next to no EMI interference, virtually no ground noise and much more stable target IDs. It was like walking from of a packed gymnasium full of screaming people into an empty lobby. Manticore confirmed the likelihood of a 4" deep US nickel, a 4" deep copper penny or clad dime and two deeper high conductor targets.

I went home, updated the 900's software and went back to the same area in the park with the same original 900 settings on the same day. EMI and ground noise was much improved, so was target ID stability. It was not as quiet as the Manticore but I could deal with it as long as I kept sensitivity below 22 at this site. The 4" deep US nickel and what turned out to be a 4" deep clad dime were not triple beeping and they had much more stable target IDs that only varied by one or two numbers.

I would call that an improvement at least at this one site.

Be careful with the magnetic port and cable connections. They need to be clean and tightly secured or you will lose connection or have very slow update times. I purposely did not get the connection as tight as possible in the beginning of the update and it was just crawling along. I just pressed on the back of the magnetic cable connection at the port and the update sped up immediately.

[Zaj56]

I gotta agree...the update improved the 900 and that's what I was hoping for. I was using the Legend and the 900 and usually preferred the Legend. After updating both detectors and testing in the test garden I now prefer the 900 although the Legend is a very good mac!hine. Kudos to both companies