First Equinox Hunt - BEGINNERS LUCK STRIKES GOLD!

The EQ800 I pre-ordered back in September finally landed!!

I met up with a friend, he's a legend in our neck of the woods (and not in his own mind like someone else that's been a topic of discussion lately - lol).
He used his Minelab SE Pro and we hunted a little area he found a while back. It's been a while since I ran a Minelab, I previously had an Etrac about 5-6 years ago (and a Sovereign for beach hunting 8+ years ago), but didn't find the Etrac to be a good machine for iron infested relic sites, so sold it. Have a ton to learn on the EQ800, but right out of the gate it makes a nice find!

Lots to learn about the EQ800, but I recorded my thoughts on the first hunt, good and bad.

[www.youtube.com]

Thanks for watching!

HH,
Cal



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2018 04:47PM by Cal_cobra.

Nice first hunt and awesome ring!
Your Equinox observations were similar to mine..
I too believe it will turn out to be a button killer.. The depth of tiny brass is pretty amazing..
Yes, they need to work on the modulation on the first 5 inches along with the depth meter..

Cross check those high tones in in both directions with your pinpoint to check shape and to isolate or help identify nail falsing
and that will help you cut down on digging nails.. Also use all metal so you can hear the iron tones..

Thanks for sharing,
Bryan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2018 05:07PM by Cabin Fever.

Good report Brian and congrats on the ring it's beauty.

You mentioned you and Mike cross checked some signals. How did that come out? Also, it would be nice if we could hear some of the signals.

Congrats again,

El

Nice video and hunt.

Nice finds too.

Imagine that, someone here just yesterday said Nox might be striking deeper gold rings.
Wonder who that was?

"Well done Cal...4 pieces of jewellery...not to be sniffed at!!!!!!! Great 1st hunt!!!!!!!!"
Pleasure to watch a good clear video with NO shaky stuff or wind NOISE....pity we couldn't hear the actual signals???"

Drinking game...word is "solid". Haha.

Congrats on the ring! Love some big gold.

Very nice ring!

I like that Owl pin, too.

Nice maiden voyage, there.
HH
Mike

Cabin Fever Wrote:
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> Nice first hunt and awesome ring!
> Your Equinox observations were similar to mine.. I too believe it will turn out to be a button killer.. The depth of tiny brass is pretty amazing..
> Yes, they need to work on the modulation on the first 5 inches along with the depth meter..
>
> Cross check those high tones in in both directions with your pinpoint to check shape and to isolate or help identify nail falsing
> and that will help you cut down on digging nails.. Also use all metal so you can hear the iron tones.
>
> Thanks for sharing,
> Bryan

Thanks Bryan, definitely a learning curve here, first hunt felt like the first time trying to ride a bicycle

The pinpoint is world class on this detector, even though some of those big pieces of iron I could trace out and size (knowing they wouldn't be coin sized for sure) I still dug everything yesterday as part of the learning curve. Site is super easy to dig, so why might as well check everything.

HH,
Brian

Elbert Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Good report Brian and congrats on the ring it's beauty.
>
> You mentioned you and Mike cross checked some signals. How did that come out? Also, it would be nice if we could hear some of the signals.
>
> Congrats again,
>
> El

Thanks El. Once I get a better grip on the machine, I'll definitely do another video with some sound checks. I'd be happy to meet up with you if you want to check it out, I don't think you're too far from me, I'm in the South Bay.

HH,
Brian

tnsharpshooter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice video and hunt.
>
> Nice finds too.
>
> Imagine that, someone here just yesterday said Nox might be striking deeper gold rings.
> Wonder who that was?

LOL.....Thanks TNSS...I think this machine is going to be killer on lower conductors, gold, buttons, lead (not sure if that's good or bad, but goes w/the program), hopefully it's equally as good on high conductors. Mike said he felt the normal gang that hunts around the area we were detecting went through there and cherry picked the high conductors with their CTX/Etracs, but nice that they left us some low conductors to dig

HH,
Brian

Des D Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Well done Cal...4 pieces of jewellery...not to be sniffed at!!!!!!! Great 1st hunt!!!!!!!!"
> Pleasure to watch a good clear video with NO shaky stuff or wind NOISE....pity we couldn't hear the actual signals???"

Well at least I shared the TID #'s - LOL

I thought about sharing the audio BUT I was pressed for time, and trying to learn the machine, so I didin't want to halt progress spending extra time on that until I get a better handle on using the detector.....once I get more time and confidence on the EQ800 I'll do another video with sound checks. I'd like to do a head to head at a relic site with the Multi Kruzer, we'll see, that's a time consuming process, the more time I spend on that, the less digging I'm doing..... come on retirement

HH,
Brian

Daniel Tn Wrote:
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> Drinking game...word is "solid". Haha.
>
> Congrats on the ring! Love some big gold.


Thanks Daniel - lol

Mike Hillis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very nice ring!
>
> I like that Owl pin, too.
>
> Nice maiden voyage, there.
> HH
> Mike


Thanks Mike!

I'm looking forward to how you make out with the Gold Kruzer and your quest for micro gold jewelry

HH,
Brian

Very nice first hunt, Brian. The gold ring is a beaut and does look to have some age to it. Neat broaches, too. Very nice report! HH jim tn

Nice digs Cal. The Spanish Trail will be a great test for sure. Be prepared to dig the tiny stuff.

Cool digs Brian - can't beat a nice CHUNK of gold on a maiden voyage

Good vid too - keep us posted.

jim tn Wrote:
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> Very nice first hunt, Brian. The gold ring is a be aut and does look to have some age to it. Neat broaches, too. Very nice report! HH jim tn

Thanks Jim! It's definitely going to be fun learning this machine, it's different then anything I've used before.

woodchiphustler Wrote:
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> Nice digs Cal. The Spanish Trail will be a great test for sure. Be prepared to dig the tiny stuff.

Thanks George. I'm dying to take it to my relic sites...I really need to retire, this work stuff is getting in the way of detecting

Love the gold ring. I find it fun to learn a new detector, exploring its capabilities and limitations. Looks like a great relic machine in the works for you.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In a democracy, it is difficult to win fellow citizens over to your own side, or to build public support to remedy injustices that remain all too real when you fundamentally misunderstand how they see the world.

Amazing finds Cal congrats. Hopefully my 800 will show soon. U gonna be attending any of montes group hunts?

Getting a prized target early in the hunt sure makes the rest of the hunt easier.

Congrats on your gold ring find.

MichiganRelicHunter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cool digs Brian - can't beat a nice CHUNK of gold on a maiden voyage
>
> Good vid too - keep us posted.

Thanks MRH!

Interesting machine, kind of reminds me of my Etrac in some ways, but faster. I need a lot more hunt time on it before I really have a serious opinion on it, but so far, it's a fun detector and finding stuff, will it find anything my purportedly obsolete machines can't find, no idea

Jackpine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Love the gold ring. I find it fun to learn a new detector, exploring its capabilities and limitations. Looks like a great relic machine in the works for you.

Thanks! It's a fun detector, to be honest, one of my favorite features on it right now is the pinpoint - lol

Kickindirt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Amazing finds Cal congrats. Hopefully my 800 will show soon. U gonna be attending any of montes group hunts?

Thanks! I would like to do one of Monte's WTHO trips, but we have a new addition to the family coming and I'm starting a new job.....so the probability is low. He picks fun sites to detect, they would be a great sites to pit the Multi Kruzer and EQ800 head to head.

Digs_alot Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Getting a prized target early in the hunt sure makes the rest of the hunt easier.
>
> Congrats on your gold ring find.

Thanks!

Usually in my experience when you make a good find right out of the gate, it's either going to be a great hunt, or the rest of the hunt will bomb - lol

Des D Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
....pity we couldn't hear th
> e actual signals???"

Good post Des D . Because it shows you're the same as a lot of deep-thinker md'rs: They want to know the SOUND that a user is trying to isolate. The audio (what you elect to chase, and what you elect to pass) is SSEEOOO important in the discussion of technology. This is why 2 people can get the exact same machine, yet have different results. Because one has mastered what the machine is saying, and the other hasn't .

Brian & I have done some videos in the past where we did include audio comparisons. I really like doing that.


I developed a system, shown on a few of our videos, where you have the audio. Including the moments leading up to the target I decide to isolate and chase. It's simply a standard smart-phone, mounted on the bill of a base-ball cap. Such that it aims down at my feet and swing arch.

Neither Brian or I are using "go-pro" type cams. But my base-ball cap smart phone system has worked out great. Mimics a go-pro, and can be aimed, by the hat-trick, to show right where your action is. And since the camera is so close to your headphones, it ends up capturing audio too. Although I often take out the headphone jack, just to amplify it when I'm wanting the viewer to hear a particular signal better. The bill of the baseball cap has to be turned "up" (in the ghetto-gangsta fashion).

Let's see if I can convert Brian to this If he has a belt clip for his smart phone, I'll be a big-spender and get him a $4 base-ball cap.

If anyone attempts this system: A few tricks I had to learn, is that in order to make the clip "bite" in so that it doesn't wiggle out: You need to cut a little notch in the bill. So the little protrusion bites into that spot. And to solve cameral "jiggle", (since the clip is only relying on spring tension) : I fixed that by adding a bunch of shims. Held in place by black tape.

Then you just practice with a few sample clips, to make sure the aim is right at your feet. And when you get down on your haunches to dig a target, my experience so far is that the video is aimed right at the hole , the tailings, and wherever you're aiming your view. Yet always downwards, so you're not at danger of giving away your hunt locations

Final note: If a person is in a relicky mindset (ie.: "dig all"), versus turf (where some cherry picking is the order of the day), then perhaps audio is less important. But , for anyone who's come up through the ranks of the evolution of machine tech, it's still exciting to have the the "guess what this is going to be?" ability. EVEN if you're going to "dig it anyhow".

Tom_in_CA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Des D Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> ....pity we couldn't hear the actual signals???"
>
> Good post Des D . Because it shows you're the same as a lot of deep-thinker md'rs: They want to know the SOUND that a user is trying to isolate.
> The audio (what you elect to chase, and what you elect to pass) is SSEEOOO important in the discussion of technology. This is why 2 people can get the
> exact same machine, yet have different results.> Because one has mastered what the machine is saying, and the other hasn't .
>
> Brian & I have done some videos in the past where we did include audio comparisons. I really like doing that.
>
>
> I developed a system, shown on a few of our videos, where you have the audio. Including the moments leading up to the target I decide to isolate and chase.
> It's simply a standard smart-phone, mounted on the bill of a base-ball cap. Such that it aims down at my feet and swing arch.
>
> Neither Brian or I are using "go-pro" type cams.
> But my base-ball cap smart phone system has worked out great. Mimics a go-pro, and can be aimed, by the hat-trick, to show right where your action is.
> And since the camera is so close to your headphones, it ends up capturing audio too. Although I often take out the headphone jack, just to amplify it when I'm wanting the viewer to hear a particular s
> ignal better. The bill of the baseball cap has to be turned "up" (in the ghetto-gangsta fashion).
>
> Let's see if I can convert Brian to this If he has a belt clip for his smart phone, I'll be a big-spender and get him a $4 base-ball cap.
>
> If anyone attempts this system: A few tricks I had to learn, is that in order to make the clip "bite" in so that it doesn't wiggle out: You need to
> cut a little notch in the bill. So the little protrusion bites into that spot. And to solve camer
> al "jiggle", (since the clip is only relying on spring tension) : I fixed that by adding a bunch of shims. Held in place by black tape.
>
> Then you just practice with a few sample clips, to make sure the aim is right at your feet. And when you get down on your haunches to dig a target, m
> y experience so far is that the video is aimed right at the hole , the tailings, and wherever you're
> aiming your view. Yet always downwards, so you're not at danger of giving away your hunt locations
>
>
> Final note: If a person is in a relicky mindset ( ie.: "dig all"), versus turf (where some cherry picking is the order of the day), then perhaps audio
> is less important. But , for anyone who's come up through the ranks of the evolution of machine tech, it's still exciting to have the the "guess what
> this is going to be?" ability. EVEN if you're going to "dig it anyhow".

I agree it's fun to get the audio and the 'ah ha' moment when you stumble onto THE signal. This is all fine and dandy if you have all the time in the world, but once it starts eating into detecting time at these remote sites where time is precious, it's a decision of spending extra time filming or digging more targets?

The problem with Tom's hatcam system is that I have to spend tons of time editing his videos.... it's a laborious process just to get his videos to me in the first place, and believe me it's no fun to watch Tom's 60 minute video segments of him digging cans and bullets to extrapolate that one nugget of a find. Plus they are LARGE multi gigabyte sized files, so not easy to work with. We will have to discuss a more effective/efficient system, because the last video we did was anything but, and wasted a ton of time I should have been spending on other projects.

This EQ video was much more of an afterthought, because to be honest, when I went detecting that day, having zero experience on the Equinox, I wasn't planning to shoot any video, but when I saw the gold ring pop out of the hole, I thought why not, this is going to be fun, and my plan was simply to show people what the TIDs I was getting ended up being after they were dug, because all of these air tests that get posted, are not that valid/useful IMO compared to when the target is in the ground. The TID changes, the audios different, it's the real world, not air.

At any rate, we'll work out something, at least show more 'ah ha' moment digs or whatnot, but at the end of the day, I'd rather be digging more targets then spending valuable detecting time filming, because that one extra target you get to dig, just might be the one.