Any Equinox beach hunters still using firmware 1.50???

Seeing we have a choice of 3 firmware versions, I just wanted to know if there are still Equinox owners using the original firmware, especially on beaches. I only used it twice before 1.75 was released and switched over to 1.75 as soon as it was released, so I am not that familiar with it.

Mike

I do. The changes made to me didnt affect me looking for gold as much as it might a dirt hunter. I swapped back and forth several time and did a lot of air testing. The digits in the water and how it reacted to targets deeper in the water wasnt quit the same. Maybe be nothing more than thats the one i started out on. I did update with this last one thou just because of the FE which i feel could have a favorable affect out there. ML.... seems to always amplify the BIG changes..... then we see the fine print...... and other changes. We never really know what that means. Some of the tweaks could affect the various modes unintentionally different. Can i say NOT having all three updates has made a difference to my beach hunting no..... and i dont know if you have to have all three to be a better machine based on these small tweaks not spoken about.

Not me. My structured testing and actual detecting on Daytona and Cocoa beaches proved to me that bottle caps, for the most part, are very distinguishable now.

I like and will use 2.0

So we have three versions now. The original, the first update and the second update.

It seems to me, all that was changed with the third version/second update (Iron Bias F2) was that the Iron Bias range was widened a bit.

Does anyone know the difference between the first two versions. In other words, what was changed with the first update? I only assumed it was better than the original and never knew what was changed.

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Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2019 11:46AM by Badger in NH.

Sooo did the last update incorporate ALL the changes? How might it differ if you did the last but Didn’t upgrade to update 2? Maybe Tom will chime in. I believe update 2 had a lot to do with silver on edge and PPing

Badger in NH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know the difference between the first
> two versions. In other words, what was changed wit
> h the first update? I only assumed it was better t
> han the original and never knew what was changed.
>
> .

[www.dankowskidetectors.com]

Info for 1.75 update:
[www.minelab.com]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2019 08:47PM by Mike in CO.

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sooo did the last update incorporate ALL the chang
> es? How might it differ if you did the last but
> Didn’t upgrade to update 2? Maybe Tom will chime
> in.


Firmware/BIOS updates for micro-controller/cpu devices is an "all-or-nothing" thing.
You completely replace the existing code.
Doesn't matter which version you had/have .... it gets erased/disappears.

Only the NOVRAM (non-volatile random access memory) portion used for settings like language/modes/etc remains. (And that's if you're lucky, lol.)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2019 08:48PM by Mike in CO.

Thanks Mike. That was very helpful.

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I was still on the original version. I had tried, but did not like the 2nd version. I was hesitant on installing the 3rd and latest update but decided to try it before my beach trip. I liked what I saw and heard in relation to dug crown cap samples I had. I loved the new version on the beach. My original opinion was the CTX was still the better of the two for beach hunting. The new update made the Equinox to be its equal IMO. I do still like the ergonomics of the CTX better in the water but that's just my personal preference. I do think the Equinox is more chatty IN the water vs the CTX but I was running it a tick hot. I like the new version. Not played with it much in dirt but what little I did, I was able to play with the new ferrous settings and tweak it to give a cleaner signal on deep fringe non ferrous signals. I'm almost certain the downside to that will be that it will also cause deeper iron to sound better as well.

Thanks Mike..... that explains why my digits were off AGAIN. Seems i cant get the FE and just the first version. A deer in the headlights look here. Mine is used mostly in the salt water or wet sand. If the FE is nothing more than an expanded tweak of IB i may have to test depth and sensitivity of the two programs. I never had an issue with bottle caps in the water.... perhaps thats because i use beach 2 out there with lower sensitivities/power which affects the way iron wraps-around. I was trying something new the other day and the machine was reacting pretty well in the water even allowing for the use of Beach 1 some what. So i will have to determine if thats because of this new version or my settings.

I've notice the sweet spot is much smaller on the latest version running at FE2 = 4 in beach mode 2. I flip back and forth between regular FE=1 and FE2=4 when hunting depending upon how much I overlap my swings and how much iron may in the wet sand. I do have to say, there is a lot of black sand where I hunt.

Im back at this thread. I have hunted with the Nox the last couple of times with the current update. For me......if you are OUT of the water using beach 1 things work well. I like having the FE2. But im still noticing the same thing from beach 2 IN THE WATER that i didnt like about the second update. The digits are off and they are much more jumpy than the first version. There was a lot of seaweed pushed up today which created an issue within its self. But that seaweed wasnt out there deeper. Its almost like you have a narrow coil and if the target isnt under the coil properly the digits want to jump on targets that otherwise were solid digits. So ill have to do more testing...... but right now it looks like i go back to 1.50 and lose FE2 or stay with the upgrade that i didnt like for water use. ML really needs to get SOMEONE in the water or beach 2 is never going to be the program it should be. They keep tweaking the Nox for dirt and wet/dry sand..... but its a different set of rules in the water. Yes you can reduce this machine to run quiet....lower sensitivity and upping the RS... but when you do that you have to remember in beach 2 you are working with significantly reduce power and a salt setting as well. So if you run the Nox quiet you loose that edge you might have over other machines like the Xcal.... especially in PP mode. It could be ran with higher sensitivity IF the wrap around wasnt being reflected in those lower digits..... or maybe the salt setting was different than Beach 1.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2019 11:08AM by dewcon4414.

Dew...………… in general: If both Beach Mode-1 & Beach Mode-2 are properly Ground Balanced to the wet salt...… you should see that Beach Mode-2 Grnd Bal numbers....should be about 10 points lower. In other words: If Beach Mode-1 Grnd Bal's at '14'...…. than Beach Mode-2 should Grnd Bal at '4'.
Yes..... seaweed looks like a non-ferrous target to the EQX.

Those are the numbers I normally get here if I GB Tom, But I run the default 0... just a little under. Assume I get a tad more mineral noise.... but it helps me tell if I’m in fluffy sand or hard pan. Seaweed can be a real pain if it get buried and holds black sand.

Changing the recovery speed from lets say 5 to 3. How will this effect the over all tone?

I've seen where Tom has suggested using 2 or 3...

You will increase the length of the tone (audio report).
You will increase overall depth.
You will Ground Balance at a slightly different number.

Very small targets will now sound longer than merely a audio click/tick.