Here's the new Minelab Equinox

As a water hunter....... this is what im looking for guys. Notice the size of that chain........ did the Xcal get it? This is what ive been saying.... there is a LOT of gold out there our current detectors dont even hit on. Some were thinking its small gold not worth my time......... that was small gold, but you know it had some weight to it. Even it it was a clasp or SS spring in the clasp..... the EQ picked it up IN the salt water...... the Xcal which is on par with the CTX in the water didnt. These are the kind of video tests we need to see..... this is significant to a beach hunter. Id say this video just sold some more detectors.

[www.youtube.com]

Good video on that chain, machine shows promise.......Now, Mr. Dankowski, what can you add?
Gary Drayton's addition to Treasure Talk on the Minelab sight mentions small earrings and chains without charms if I remember correctly......
One can only assume those may have been found during the testing period so how many of them could be found with the machine settings on the models being shipped today?

Cliff

Equinox 800 nail test Video by The Mental Detectorist
[youtu.be]

hastings Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Equinox 800 nail test Video by The Mental Detector
> ist
> [youtu.be]

This vid is being viewed as a disaster. Right now, I am inconclusive as to what this means. Is there some operator error? A bad machine? Design flaw? I will have my Nox by Friday if the fates will have it. I will try to emulate the same test to see what results I get.

Beyonder-Pa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hastings Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Equinox 800 nail test Video by The Mental Detect
> or
> > ist
> > [youtu.be]
>
> This vid is being viewed as a disaster. Right now,
> I am inconclusive as to what this means. Is there
> some operator error? A bad machine? Design flaw? I
> will have my Nox by Friday if the fates will have
> it. I will try to emulate the same test to see wha
> t results I get.


I think it's just operator error. He doesn't understand the machine yet. He also doesn't know how to do a nail test. He doesn't even bother to check the target from different angles.

I won't be using the default settings when I get mine. I never discriminate iron.

.

.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2018 02:52PM by Badger in NH.

Not what I was expecting I can do that with my CTX.

hastings Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Equinox 800 nail test Video by The Mental Detector
> ist
> [youtu.be]

Cliff...... cant wait to hear Toms review of the EQ. Im sure we will get some good insight...... hes dont pull a lot of punches. I dont really read a lot of Garys articles. It would be interesting if Gary was using the same machine the current chain video was done with. Id liked to had seen the chain in the hand before it was used. NOT that i dont think its real at all .... id just like to had seen the link size.... to get some idea what might be expected.

Dew

I’m not confident that Tom will give us his report any time soon. NDAs can be configured many ways.

Go-Rebel...... according to Bill Stirling testers should be able to discuss more in a couple of weeks. I dont know how limited that will be....... hopefully a good review of some of Toms tests results.

Im going to miss the Smartscreen. BUT .... ive been going thru the tones and disc those i like.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2018 12:34AM by dewcon4414.

Minelab Equinox lower beach test - Video
[youtu.be]

You know i re-read that Email from Mr. Stirling...... and got to thinking.

There are always trade-offs with getting a new detector to perform at the absolute limits of capability while still making it user-friendly for newcomers. You would understand how to set the controls to maximise performance, but newcomers wouldn’t – hence the reason for detector default settings being conservative rather than aggressive.

What are presets/defaults for? Are we getting just a taste of what this detector can do as more advanced users? Clearly some of the initial ML users showed us some really bad videos with a lot of chatter at the beach......seems like that was a worry and poor judgement on behalf of the tester. But, what are we missing? Now only a handful of machines trickle out.... no accessories or prices.....digits are still awfully jumpy to me..... and NO ONE has dunked this machine yet in the salt water. This machine was leaked to us months ago.... this should all have been ready. Ive been reading from Steve Hs posts hes dont for months in the gold area..... nothing but straight forward good information. I also read Andys post he deleted...... saying its a $900 machine so we arent getting a $2500 one, but it sure sounded like it had that potential at the start. This machine is water ready..... so was the CTX...... i feel like we're missing some important information. These videos are what i expected.....they go from good to confusing. I read Gary Ds post on ML ..... again huge rings and chains hanging of the EQ... shades of the CTX when it didnt work. So are we getting a $2500 capable machine or a $900 one like Andy said? At this point ..... i think ill only buy if Dankowski give me the go ahead...... i want more info, the kind of information that only Tom can give. Im hoping they didnt give us the $900 machine and next time we get its full potential at .... twice the price.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2018 11:15AM by dewcon4414.

Dew, can't believe the beach video didn't sell you...

I had mine out for just a couple of hours last night (in the dark, LOL). No air testing, no test garden tests, nothing. Just wanted to see what it would do.

I took it to my favorite local "utterly hunted out" park -- I've beat it to death for years, but know it like the back of my hand.

It took me a little while to get used to it; probably about an hour. At first, it was speaking "Greek" to me. Definitely different language than FBS.

For the first hour, I ran it wide open sensitivity (25), discriminating iron at the default "Park 1" setting, but set it at the lowest reactivity setting (1) -- because I started out in one part of the park where at one point years back it gave up several deep coins, but has been cleaned dry. I was trying to see if I could snag something DEEP that I had missed. Nothing; but NOT surprised at that. So, I upped the reactivity back to about 5, iron bias to about 4, still maxed-out sensitivity, 50 tones, but this time I hit the "horseshoe" button to remove all disc...left it in Park 1 mode....and headed to a really trashy part of the park.

WOW do I like the way it talks, with no disc/full multitone. The iron sounds clearly like iron, and not "obtrusive." Meanwhile, you can easily hear the non-ferrous mixed in with the iron. I dug an 8" deep 1912 wheat that was surrounded by trash, but I was SURE there was something coin-ish down there. In just a short time in the trash, I started to trust the machine. It really speaks...it has a language all its own, and it's descriptive, in 50-tone. On one dig, I was sure I had a coin-type target in the nails. I dug -- and pulled out a rusty nail from the plug. I sat there, thinking NO. NO. That is NOT what I heard, I am SURE of it. There HAS to be something else in there. So, I stuck the pinpointer back in. There, about 1" into the sidewall of the hole, at about 7" deep, was a crushed-flat aluminum screw-cap. Just junk -- but it was high-tone junk. It was what I heard. What I liked about that dig was after only about 1/2 hour in the trash, I was trusting the machine enough to know that that nail in the middle of my plug was NOT the high-tone I heard down there...

One other thing, and I need way more time on this to be sure, but there were a couple of times where I hit a high-tone in the nails, but wasn't sure and needed to "interrogate." So, I rotated around the target doing the "Minelab wiggle," and I would swear the machine trended more and more toward low-tone iron with time...almost like it was continuing to "compile data" and given an ever-improving "read" on the target...until eventually the high tone was all but gone, and almost nothing left but low-tone grunts. This happened two or three more times -- but it's kind of "subtle," such that I'm not ready to say for sure there's something going on there. I need many more "repeats" of the phenomenon to be sure. But with that said, on that wheat cent, it was the opposite. I heard iron, heard a high tone, but as I rotated around the target with the "wiggle," instead of trending toward iron, it seemed to "lock on" rather quickly, to the high tone, to where I eventually became sure there was a non-ferrous down there. I'm intrigued at this.

Like I say, I need way more time to confirm this, but my initial impression is that it seems that spending a bit of time "interrogating" a target where you are hearing mixed tones, is allowing the machine to get a better read on what's down there with time...whether nail, or non-ferrous...

Just preliminary thoughts.

It's SUPER LIGHT (to this CTX user), it's FAST, and it definitely "speaks," in multi-tone. Now I just need to learn its dialect...

OH, and it IS deep. I was digging non-ferrous at 9-10" easily, and that 8" wheat was NOT a "subtle" tone. It was bold.

Steve

Alright Steve, that's the report I can relate to......as I read your post my mind was out in the field in iron listening and doing what you described.....it's a move we all do to determine to dig or not. Being a new unit, did you dig any of those iffy high tones that turned to a low after rotating?...to be sure?

steveg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dew, can't believe the beach video didn't sell you
> ...
>
> I had mine out for just a couple of hours last nig
> ht (in the dark, LOL). No air testing, no test ga
> rden tests, nothing. Just wanted to see what it w
> ould do.
>
> I took it to my favorite local "utterly hunted out
> " park -- I've beat it to death for years, but kno
> w it like the back of my hand.
>
> It took me a little while to get used to it; proba
> bly about an hour. At first, it was speaking "Gre
> ek" to me. Definitely different language than FBS
> .
>
> For the first hour, I ran it wide open sensitivity
> (25), discriminating iron at the default "Park 1"
> setting, but set it at the lowest reactivity setti
> ng (1) -- because I started out in one part of the
> park where at one point years back it gave up seve
> ral deep coins, but has been cleaned dry. I was t
> rying to see if I could snag something DEEP that I
> had missed. Nothing; but NOT surprised at that.
> So, I upped the reactivity back to about 5, iron b
> ias to about 4, still maxed-out sensitivity, 50 to
> nes, but this time I hit the "horseshoe" button to
> remove all disc...left it in Park 1 mode....and he
> aded to a really trashy part of the park.
>
> WOW do I like the way it talks, with no disc/full
> multitone. The iron sounds clearly like iron, and
> not "obtrusive." Meanwhile, you can easily hear t
> he non-ferrous mixed in with the iron. I dug an 8
> " deep 1912 wheat that was surrounded by trash, bu
> t I was SURE there was something coin-ish down the
> re. In just a short time in the trash, I started
> to trust the machine. It really speaks...i
> t has a language all its own, and it's descript
> ive, in 50-tone. On one dig, I was sure I had
> a coin-type target in the nails. I dug -- and pul
> led out a rusty nail from the plug. I sat there,
> thinking NO. NO. That is NOT what I heard, I am
> SURE of it. There HAS to be something else in the
> re. So, I stuck the pinpointer back in. There, a
> bout 1" into the sidewall of the hole, at about 7"
> deep, was a crushed-flat aluminum screw-cap. Just
> junk -- but it was high-tone junk. It was what I
> heard. What I liked about that dig was after only
> about 1/2 hour in the trash, I was trusting the ma
> chine enough to know that that nail in the middle
> of my plug was NOT the high-tone I heard down ther
> e...
>
> One other thing, and I need way more time on this
> to be sure, but there were a couple of times where
> I hit a high-tone in the nails, but wasn't sure an
> d needed to "interrogate." So, I rotated around t
> he target doing the "Minelab wiggle," and I would
> swear the machine trended more and more toward low
> -tone iron with time...almost like it was continui
> ng to "compile data" and given an ever-improving "
> read" on the target...until eventually the high to
> ne was all but gone, and almost nothing left but l
> ow-tone grunts. This happened two or three more t
> imes -- but it's kind of "subtle," such that I'm n
> ot ready to say for sure there's something going o
> n there. I need many more "repeats" of the phenom
> enon to be sure. But with that said, on that whe
> at cent, it was the opposite. I heard iron
> , heard a high tone, but as I rotated around the t
> arget with the "wiggle," instead of trending towar
> d iron, it seemed to "lock on" rather quickly, to
> the high tone, to where I eventually became sure t
> here was a non-ferrous down there. I'm intrigued
> at this.
>
> Like I say, I need way more time to confirm this,
> but my initial impression is that it seems that sp
> ending a bit of time "interrogating" a target wher
> e you are hearing mixed tones, is allowing the mac
> hine to get a better read on what's down there wit
> h time...whether nail, or non-ferrous...
>
> Just preliminary thoughts.
>
> It's SUPER LIGHT (to this CTX user), it's FAST, an
> d it definitely "speaks," in multi-tone. Now I ju
> st need to learn its dialect...
>
> OH, and it IS deep. I was digging non-ferrous at
> 9-10" easily, and that 8" wheat was NOT a "subtle"
> tone. It was bold.
>
> Steve

This was a feature I loved on the White's Spectrum XLT. It was a TID averaging in which the more you swept the coil over the target, the more accurate the TID was.

Great write-up BTW!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2018 04:56PM by Beyonder-Pa.

Steve..... for a machine this popular......dont you wonder why Tom isnt filling in some blanks? Lot of info without spilling the beans technically. Steve in taking the same stance as ML..... carefully. I do like the vidio.... but im not an easy sale u get one video good then a step back. Yoms done a lot of reviews.... but not a peep on this one.

NDA!

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steve..... for a machine this popular......dont yo
> u wonder why Tom isnt filling in some blanks? Lot
> of info without spilling the beans technically.
> Steve in taking the same stance as ML..... careful
> ly. I do like the vidio.... but im not an easy sa
> le u get one video good then a step back. Yoms
> done a lot of reviews.... but not a peep on this o
> ne.


Could be the NDA for users testing, and the NDA for engineers helping design are quite different.

Tom, Keith, no tester is or has really said anything. Since it's been released, I really don't understand why? HH jim tn

jim tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tom, Keith, no tester is or has really said anythi
> ng. Since it's been released, I really don't under
> stand why? HH jim tn


Good point/question Jim.-----The detector is now in the hands of (some) users.----Why all this "secrecy"?------The silence is deafening!

D&P-OR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jim tn Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Tom, Keith, no tester is or has really said anyt
> hi
> > ng. Since it's been released, I really don't und
> er
> > stand why? HH jim tn
>
>
> Good point/question Jim.-----The detector is now i
> n the hands of (some) users.----Why all this "secr
> ecy"?------The silence is deafening!

Steve H said that they want to hear feed back from customers first. If that's true, then you will see info from testers by the end of the month.

Well, I for one do like feedback on new releases from day in, day out, users, but there are a couple of testers I do trust and really want to hear from them, too. I guess its, be patient grasshopper, be patient! HH jim tn

Beyonder-Pa Wrote:
-
> Steve H said that they want to hear feed back from
> customers first. If that's true, then you will see
> info from testers by the end of the month.

Personally I think that's just large load of crap.
There is a phenomenon that I have experienced myself where a person will use a new detector a bit more diligently and employ more concentration than they do as they become more accustom to it that leads to some remarkable finds in areas they have hunted before , which leads them to believe the other detectors missed the targets , when in fact , it was the more intense technique which was ultimately responsible. I doubt Minelab would feel confident in that phenomenon to carry the day with early users results when a good deal of them may be very inexperienced detectorists in the first place. I have yet to see a test from anyone where the Equinox found items other detectors did not find in objective , straight head to head tests.
The fact that all the early "tests" are all from Minelab Fan Boys and not from independent testers who can produce facts and figures vs surprising unexpected finds speaks volumes to me.

To truel test, you need minimum two weeks of intense searching.

Let’s try to eat the elephant one bite at a time...

ozzie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>Being a new unit, did you dig any of those iff
> y high tones that turned to a low after rotating?.
> ..to be sure?

ozzie -- an excellent question. Short answer -- no. Long answer, I will. I headed out in haste last night, 4 AM, last minute decision. I had planned to do some air testing indoors, and then today do some test-garden testing, and then TONIGHT head out. You know, the more logical/correct way of doing things! But, my emotions took over; after assembling it, I was just too excited and just wanted to hunt it.

So, I headed out -- and found when I got there and stepped out of the truck that I was under-dressed for the low 40s temps and gusty 10-15 winds. So, shivering, I just didn't have the motivation to recover all the targets I should have when using a new machine. I should have dug 10x the number of targets I actually did. But was just too cold and tired...

TONIGHT, I am going back out. It's warmer, in the upper 50s/low 60s. I will do more extensive testing and will dig way more -- even stuff I KNOW is junk. I will be concentrating on whether that "audio trending more toward low-tone iron as you wiggle it" versus "audio trending more toward non-ferrous as you wiggle it" thing can be reproduced/repeated, AND will dig some of BOTH types of targets, to be sure that "audio trending more toward iron over time" equals iron recovery, and "audio trending more toward non-ferrous over time" equals non-ferrous recovery. That hypothesis needs much more testing.

Steve

steveg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ozzie Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >Being a new unit, did you dig any of those iff
> > y high tones that turned to a low after rotating
> ?.
> > ..to be sure?
>
> ozzie -- an excellent question. Short answer -- n
> o. Long answer, I will. I headed out in haste la
> st night, 4 AM, last minute decision. I had plann
> ed to do some air testing indoors, and then today
> do some test-garden testing, and then TONIGHT head
> out. You know, the more logical/correct way of do
> ing things! But, my emotions took over; after
> assembling it, I was just too excited and just wan
> ted to hunt it.
>
> So, I headed out -- and found when I got there and
> stepped out of the truck that I was under-dressed
> for the low 40s temps and gusty 10-15 winds. So,
> shivering, I just didn't have the motivation to re
> cover all the targets I should have when using a n
> ew machine. I should have dug 10x the number of t
> argets I actually did. But was just too cold and
> tired...
>
> TONIGHT, I am going back out. It's warmer, in the
> upper 50s/low 60s. I will do more extensive testi
> ng and will dig way more -- even stuff I KNOW is j
> unk. I will be concentrating on whether that "aud
> io trending more toward low-tone iron as you wiggl
> e it" versus "audio trending more toward non-ferro
> us as you wiggle it" thing can be reproduced/repea
> ted, AND will dig some of BOTH types of targets, t
> o be sure that "audio trending more toward iron ov
> er time" equals iron recovery, and "audio t
> rending more toward non-ferrous over time" equa
> ls non-ferrous recovery. That hypothesis need
> s much more testing.
>
> Steve

Thanks for the update Steve. I have noticed on my CTX, if I'm swinging along and get a blip of a high tone and I go back and make several passes, it seems the CTX is analyzing with each pass and the high tone will disappear. I think it may take a couple of passes for the unit to see what the target actually is. I have several places that are loaded with deep iron that I'm taking the NOX to this weekend. Mine will be here Friday

Dan, yep. That's what I was thinking -- kind of "FBS-like," in that regard. But, I think it was maybe even a tad more obvious than it is on FBS. You know how sometimes you hit say a nail, on the CTX, and you are getting a decent high-tone sound (false) from one direction as you rotate around, and then when you rotate all the way back around to that same spot, you can get the high-tone false again? SOMETIMES, FBS can sort of "tune it out," and it sounds "crappier" with time...but sometimes, you can still get it to repeat the high-tone somewhat. Well, with the 'Nox, it seemed like (again, this is VERY preliminary) that when I heard a high tone, with the iron, and started rotating around the target doing little wiggles, and then I got out of the sector where the "false" was, nd it went to iron tone, as expected. BUT, then, as I worked my way back around to where I got the "good" high tone, it was not there. I was like -- WAIT, where did my "false" go? I know it was here a minute ago, LOL...

I don't know...hard to explain, and like I say I need way more time on this subtlety. YES -- FBS does some of this, no doubt. You have to "work" the target sometimes to get FBS to "arrive at" whether it wants to tell you there's a non-ferrous down there, or not. So, in some ways, what the 'Nox was doing seemed similar, in that regard. But, on the other hand, there was some subtle difference there...almost like it might be "BETTER" at "locking" on...I don't know.

I will say this again, in summary...it seems like this thing (in 50-tone multi, and no disc) REALLY speaks to me. It has "a lot to say," and I kind of sense intuitively that when I learn how to speak 'Nox dialect, what it is saying will be VERY informative as to what's down there under the coil...

Steve

I have been 'released' to speak about the Equinox. Within the body of the permissions....... there is a very long list of things I am not allowed say.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have been 'released' to speak about the Equinox.
> Within the body of the permissions....... there is
> a very long list of things I am not allowed say.

Great! Will be watching for your comments! I hope they didn't muzzle what you can say to much and that you can give your total opinion on machine. Thanks again for taking the time to test these machines and give us your feedback and thoughts