Equinox 600 Vs Fisher F44 & F70

[Jeff McClendon]

I read through this whole thread again since I knew I had posted in it previously. The Fisher F70/Teknetics Patriot and all of the Gold Bug Pro variants like the F19 are detectors that I really like still today. I am often tempted to buy one. I made some great surface to 5" deep or so finds using them. The F44......I owned one two different times, I gave it a fair hearing......Nope.

I could say the same for the XP Deus 1 and even the XP ORX, along with the Garrett AT Gold and the Whites MXT variants. Those are all fine detectors for the proper soil conditions and I miss them sometimes. I can remember reading on the box and in the literature for these detectors that they all work well in mineralized areas.............compared to what????

So, reality for me means that the Legend, XP Deus 2, the Equinox models and the Manticore detect better than those detectors where I live on a wide range of targets, at a wide range of depths and for a wide range of ground, beach and underwater conditions. Plus, all of them have selectable single frequency operation that is just as good as any single frequency VLF if I need or choose to use them that way. 

I feel blessed that some metal detecting manufacturers finally addressed the fact that there are plenty of places in this country and on this planet where single frequency VLF operation and even the older SMF tech just isn't good enough. This latest SMF tech has changed everything for me and my desire to get out and hunt.

[Guest WV CoinMiner]

I understand what your saying about ground conditions.  What's between the ears and actually going out into the field and discovering what your machine will actually do is how you find out like you have discovered, but as the Hunter GT discovered "John"  in Colorado that the little minute man with the 11inch dd coil accurately id coins up to 6 inches deep you can depend on your ears after that depth by using what's between the ears. Ex. Simplex + version 2.76 id's pretty good up to about 6 to 7 inches but is a much deeper machine then that, switch between all the modes listen for changes and watch the id's jump if you get any 80's down to 20's and back doing the 90 degree turn dig it could be a clad dime a memorial but usually a coin. BBS by Minelab had the great Sovereign and I admit it was something to behold as is the XP Gold Maxx Power.

Now someone can correct me because I have never owned either one but the XP is making me have the itch to try it. But Minelabs BBS sends out multiple frequency and but multiplexing the information selects the best single frequency or 2 for said conditions but doesn't send 25 at once all the time I'm not sure even multi IQ does this. But back to the point highly mineralized soil usually deems higher frequency to combat so the question is what frequency is your multi machines selecting to work so well to give you such good confidence then the next question is there such a detector that runs on one or two frequency that can do the same? Also why doesn't the multi frequency machines actually show what they are operating on? There is a real question that needs answered. (Also never really was a fan of the V3i it didn't do anything more then MXT PRO except make my day longer by switching crap around for a week until I had to return it back to my buddy, just like my Etrac run two programs and a bunch of coils.) White's DFX and CZ3d run multi frequency did that make them a game changer? To a degree but it didn't obsolete any detector, now what NASA Tom did to the 3d in my opinion did by putting the nickle tone and id in a different spot was what made that machine. Now why it hasn't been made into a lighter unit is beyond me. Variables,variables your absolutely right get the machine that works according to the variables given. I think Monte said it best your eyes are the best discriminater and owning and learning fewer then 5 machines with the best coil for that machine is a very good way to keep the hobby fun. But most important is location, location, location... as to making impressive finds all the time. Me I'm honing away on my great grandparents homestead and never will find gold rings by the dozens or get rich but I'm slowly understanding by detecting the past. I do go out of state etc. and never really had so to speak get my feelings hurt by other guys with other machines. I'll leave with this hog wash...lol... don't over look the selectable frequency machine called the Nokta Impact deadly get the pro pack and your good to go about anywhere. No perfect detector yet and money is a variable to what people can afford, but just remember to have fun and be satisfied with what and where you are able metal detect, I get excited finding silver and coins older the 1940 probably like the guy who finds a good gold ring or a decent size nugget. Remember it's not a contest between other people's finds, it's a contest between you and how many pulltabs you don't dig...lol

[Guest WV CoinMiner]

2 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

I read through this whole thread again since I knew I had posted in it previously. The Fisher F70/Teknetics Patriot and all of the Gold Bug Pro variants like the F19 are detectors that I really like still today. I am often tempted to buy one. I made some great surface to 5" deep or so finds using them. The F44......I owned one two different times, I gave it a fair hearing......Nope.

I could say the same for the XP Deus 1 and even the XP ORX, along with the Garrett AT Gold and the Whites MXT variants. Those are all fine detectors for the proper soil conditions and I miss them sometimes. I can remember reading on the box and in the literature for these detectors that they all work well in mineralized areas.............compared to what????

So, reality for me means that the Legend, XP Deus 2, the Equinox models and the Manticore detect better than those detectors where I live on a wide range of targets, at a wide range of depths and for a wide range of ground, beach and underwater conditions. Plus, all of them have selectable single frequency operation that is just as good as any single frequency VLF if I need or choose to use them that way. 

I feel blessed that some metal detecting manufacturers finally addressed the fact that there are plenty of places in this country and on this planet where single frequency VLF operation and even the older SMF tech just isn't good enough. This latest SMF tech has changed everything for me and my desire to get out and hunt.

Agreed, but until government regulations are lifted for transmit power nothing had been a complete game changer. But I'm going to get the Deus 2, thanks XP for convincing all of us that we were one and done by just updating what we bought wrong, updates yes but always going to make sure as sales plummet time to design the software so it doesn't work with what we sold you. But I do like the looks of the new control box XP.

I hear you on missing old detectors and that's why I have such a hard time letting some go just because of the memories of past hunts or the down right simplicity of the unit. 

Question have you used the Tarsacci MDT suppose to be a deep son of a gun in mineralized soil according to Keith and others.

[Jeff McClendon]

4 minutes ago, WV CoinMiner said:

Agreed, but until government regulations are lifted for transmit power nothing had been a complete game changer. 

---I don't know about government regulations for transmit power be lifted or not. I do know for a fact that the Equinox models, XP Deus 2, Legend and Manticore and even the beginner level Vanquish models are absolute game changers where I detect. No question about it.  I can understand how others hunting in milder ground don't experience that. Trust me, the difference those newer SMF detectors have made in my area of the USA is incredible. I am a member of a really big metal detecting club in the Denver area. When I first joined there were a few V3i and DFX users but most people had Garrett, FTP, Whites and Tesoro single frequency detectors. Now there are just a few of the 80 or so members using those single frequency detectors. Virtually everyone has switched to more recent SMF detectors. They didn't switch because they bought some hype, drank the Kool-Aid or just blindly followed a trend in the club. They did it because they were being totally out hunted by people with the newer SMF detectors, they tried them and saw immediately what a big difference they made in these soil conditions. Believe what you want FOR YOUR AREA, but please don't tell me what I am supposed to believe for my area. You would be wrong.

Question have you used the Tarsacci MDT suppose to be a deep son of a gun in mineralized soil according to Keith and others.

---I have not used the Tarsacci MDT because I already use recently made simultaneous multi frequency detectors with better features and at least comparable highly mineralized ground performance. If the Tarsacci had a higher frequency choice for smaller gold prospecting I might have considered it. Not now.

 

[Guest WV CoinMiner]

Colorado area I live in Ft.Collins working the pipeline and only had access to a brand new White's QXT Pro and stock coil. I was impressed with it for coin hunts in parks around Greeley, Loveland, Ft. Collins area didn't blow me away like it did back home in WV but it worked. The lady that had it never used it but a few times and I worked with her husband and Ruby succumbed to cancer and her Hoot sold it to me for $200 looks brand new everything. Any way I never ever mentioned Gold hunting and stated that. Those are impulse machines and GP 7000 machine highly specialized. But I think you would be a good candidate to get a hold of a Tarsacci and see if it doesn't better for you then you think. I would think someone in that club has one or write the guy and see if the inventor will loan you one, never hurts to ask. If you are coin hunting what is a deep coin with multi vs single frequency? I'm just curious wish I had more time to detect instead of work when I lived out there. I have read and watched impressive video of the Tarsacci going deeper then the current crop and did you ever get to try a Blisstool? I never did.

[Jeff McClendon]

The Fisher F75 and Gold Bug Pro/F19 read 4 to full bar mineralization here in the Denver area and most places west of here until you cross the Continental Divide. Magnetite is really bad. Deus and Deus 2 mineralization meters are mostly full here but they seem to read a little higher than some.

Greelely, east of Fort Collins, Loveland and Aurora, the ground conditions become milder pretty quick. Most any detector will do OK on the eastern plains of Colorado.

The recently made SMFs with 11" coils will hit 10 to 12" deep US coins in the more iron mineralized dirt in my area. IDs are very good down to 10" and rock solid shallower than that. Fisher F70, F75 and F19 lose IDs at 4" depth. They call coin sized aluminum trash, pull tabs, US nickels and smaller lead like 22 lr slugs and shell casings as silver targets due to up averaging if they are deeper than 4". All non-ferrous targets have iron responses much past 8" if those detectors will even hit them.

I have dug 14" deep 3 ringers and Sharps bullets on the eastern plains east of Limon Colorado using the Equinox that had correct target IDs. Deus 1, Garrett AT and Fisher F75 users were present when that happened and their detectors got either iron or nothing on those targets and the ground there was moderate to mild iron mineralization. Those work the best here as far as getting 4" depth with decent target ID. All the rest do a little to a lot worse as far as overall depth and up averaging/down averaging target IDs.

No, it is not absolutely necessary to use pulse induction detectors for USA gold prospecting. The Equinox models, Deus 2, Legend and Manticore are excellent to outstanding gold prospecting detectors. Their simultaneous multi frequency technology can handle most ground conditions that make single frequency gold prospecting specific detectors overload and their SMF frequency mixture includes a high frequency around 40 kHz which makes hitting sub 0.1 gram targets no problem. Hitting sub 0.009 gram targets is very doable with these detectors. They also keep some great discrimination, notching and tone features available in their gold prospecting modes that pulse induction detectors cannot compete with on small gold detecting. 

I really have zero use for a Tarsacci or a Blisstool. I would consider a Rutus Atrex if they were available here for sale and for repair. 

 

[Guest WV CoinMiner]

12 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

The Fisher F75 and Gold Bug Pro/F19 read 4 to full bar mineralization here in the Denver area and most places west of here until you cross the Continental Divide. Magnetite is really bad. Deus and Deus 2 mineralization meters are mostly full here but they seem to read a little higher than some.

Greelely, east of Fort Collins, Loveland and Aurora, the ground conditions become milder pretty quick. Most any detector will do OK on the eastern plains of Colorado.

The recently made SMFs with 11" coils will hit 10 to 12" deep US coins in the more iron mineralized dirt in my area. IDs are very good down to 10" and rock solid shallower than that. Fisher F70, F75 and F19 lose IDs at 4" depth. They call coin sized aluminum trash, pull tabs, US nickels and smaller lead like 22 lr slugs and shell casings as silver targets due to up averaging if they are deeper than 4". All non-ferrous targets have iron responses much past 8" if those detectors will even hit them.

I have dug 14" deep 3 ringers and Sharps bullets on the eastern plains east of Limon Colorado using the Equinox that had correct target IDs. Deus 1, Garrett AT and Fisher F75 users were present when that happened and their detectors got either iron or nothing on those targets and the ground there was moderate to mild iron mineralization. Those work the best here as far as getting 4" depth with decent target ID. All the rest do a little to a lot worse as far as overall depth and up averaging/down averaging target IDs.

No, it is not absolutely necessary to use pulse induction detectors for USA gold prospecting. The Equinox models, Deus 2, Legend and Manticore are excellent to outstanding gold prospecting detectors. Their simultaneous multi frequency technology can handle most ground conditions that make single frequency gold prospecting specific detectors overload and their SMF frequency mixture includes a high frequency around 40 kHz which makes hitting sub 0.1 gram targets no problem. Hitting sub 0.009 gram targets is very doable with these detectors. They also keep some great discrimination, notching and tone features available in their gold prospecting modes that pulse induction detectors cannot compete with on small gold detecting. 

I really have zero use for a Tarsacci or a Blisstool. I would consider a Rutus Atrex if they were available here for sale and for repair. 

 

Limon the middle of no where...lol thank God for I-70. The Hunter GT use to live in La Junta where he did his testing. I know nothing about Gold detecting other then what Jerry has talked to me about when I bought coils from him. Just not a need in my area. But I'm glad to hear how well you like the Deus 2 that is really my next purchase after I buy one of these F70/ Patriots for $180 to try I know it has to be better then anything under $350 dollars out there. 

Happy Thanksgiving weekend it's back to deer hunting in the morning here. My detecting ended last Sunday and probably done until April unless we get unusually warm and drier ground conditions because it is mud holes around here in winter.

[Chase Goldman]

2 hours ago, WV CoinMiner said:

Agreed, but until government regulations are lifted for transmit power nothing had been a complete game changer.

You are correct that induction balance detectors depth capabilities have basically plateaued but it has nothing to do with FCC restrictions or transmit power limitations because even the most powerful PI or Multifrequency detector comes nowhere close to exceeding any FCC power limitations.  Depth, at this point, is solely limited by limits of the physical principles under which the induction balance detectors work and the abilities of the digital signal processors to tease out information from the weak induced magnetic signals from the targets.  

2 hours ago, WV CoinMiner said:

But I think you would be a good candidate to get a hold of a Tarsacci and see if it doesn't better for you then you think. I would think someone in that club has one or write the guy and see if the inventor will loan you one, never hurts to ask. If you are coin hunting what is a deep coin with multi vs single frequency? I'm just curious wish I had more time to detect instead of work when I lived out there. I have read and watched impressive video of the Tarsacci going deeper then the current crop and did you ever get to try a Blisstool? I never did.

I have a Tarsacci and have used it in the hellish mineralized soil in the fields near Culpeper Virginia.  It is indeed deep for a non-PI detector on relic targets and will give you a good idea if your target is ferrous or non-ferrous but that's about it.  It's target ID processing is highly unstable in mineralized soil and its limited audio makes it basically unusable other than on a salt beach or if you just want to differentiate ferrous from non-ferrous.  Forget about using it in an environment with multiple non-ferrous junk targets like can slaw or pulltabs.   While not quite as deep as the Tarsacci in hot soil, the Deus 2 has a much more stable ID and far superior audio and I have had more success with it than the Tarsacci under similar conditions despite the Tarsacci's slight depth advantage.  Of course, in Culpeper the Pulse Induction machine is the preferred choice for maximum depth under such soil conditions, but there are plenty of situations where the Deus 2 will outperform a PI (machine gun iron or thick modern trash) simply because the undesirable target field density overwhelms the machine.

Anyway, thanks for chiming in.  Spend some time perusing what has been posted on the site and you'll find that the experienced folks here, like Jeff McClendon, understand that the machine is not the end-all and be-all when it comes to detecting.   

• Number one is location (if you are on a site with no desirable targets, even Harry Potter's magic wand can't help you). 
• No matter what detector you have, the best thing you can do is learn it inside and out, understand its limitations as well as its strengths and then exploit the strengths and compensate for the limitations. 
• A detector's depth capabilities used to be the centerpiece of a detector's worth.  That is no longer the case today.  As mentioned previously, induction balance detectors have basically reached the practical limit of their depth capability.  Additional, technological advances in signal processing and coils will likely not provide further significant improvement.  However, what has improved is signal processing speed and capability and refined and affordable simultaneous multiple frequency transmission schemes which has improved the ability to separate adjacent targets and to more accurately ID non-ferrous keepers amongst the ferrous and non-ferrous junk.  Speed and versatility (ability to adjust capabilities on the fly and to be able to select either single or multifrequency as appropriate) of modern detectors give beginners and pros alike more tools in their detecting toolkit and, if utilized properly (see the second bullet above) the potential for better results than with legacy and new detectors lacking this versatility.  Put another way, it's not a matter of whether multifrequency is better than single frequency - its being able to dial up either at the push of a button, as needed.

[Guest WV CoinMiner]

Glad you explained the Tarsacci, yes Deus was and still is a great product and having used Deus 2 it is an upgrade. Experience I have and my experience has taught that one can take a 1983 Tesoro Saber and still find coins behind other machines and vice versa. Yes target id my have helped with processors but your eye are still the best discriminatory "Monte" and by that he definitely meant you don't truly 100% know what it is until it's recovered because every machine averages and sends the ID accordingly for you to decern

[Guest WV CoinMiner]

No, we can’t, since it’s not true. Why would a guy with so much background perpetuate this old myth? By Steve H

I got this email and am looking for the post, must have been deleted.

What myth are you referring to here?