Video of the Tarsacci vs GPX vs Equinox

As you'll soon see in the video, The Tarsacci, Equinox and GPX can hold there own against each other. The only loser in the video is the Deus but it's out of it's element. Deus thrives in surface trash in my dirt not, deeper targets in trash. There's really no magic bullet when it comes to deeper iron masked targets.

YouTube



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2020 02:56PM by Abenson.

Good vid, thanks for showing it.

Nice video, thanks for doing and sharing.

My only comment. Using EQX 800. I locate sometimes some targets using park or field modes that don’t sound exaclty right. Before I walk I check some using prospecting 1 mode. If suspect target sounds good or better using prospecting 1 mode I dig. Don’t get fooled much either with ferrous target.

Enjoyed the video Abenson, thank you. I think I know what calabash is going to say. ; same results, basically. .. .between the EQ and the Tarsacci for almost half the price.

ozzie Wrote:
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> Enjoyed the video Abenson, thank you. I think I kn
> ow what calabash is going to say. ; same results,
> basically. .. .between the EQ and the Tarsacci for
> almost half the price.
That's basically what I took away from it. The salinity feature is not going to let the Tarsacci see through iron in the ground and pick out a non-ferrous signal. If you are in highly mineralized ground then PI is the way to go. Maybe if they keep improving the Tarsacci tech it might stand out in the future.

So the Equinox held it's own if not exceeded expectations against
the Tarsacci which cost almost twice as much as the Equinox &
the GPX assuming it's the 4500 3-4 times as much money.
Also in those ground condition with that much iron trash i would use the 6"
coil on the Equinox and clean house.

Recovery 4 on the Equinox seems a bit low for a site with so much iron. A higher recovery speed might have improved the signal on some of those targets and could possibly have found a few more. Depth isn't everything. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it hinders.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2020 10:47AM by Badger in NH.

This is the oldtimer coming out in me but I can’t make myself stand over a good sounding target trying to get some numbers to agree.
I dig the target after Xing it’s location then onto the next.
Time is relics

G

Quote
GeoW:
This is the oldtimer coming out in me but I can’t make myself stand over a good sounding target trying to get some numbers to agree.

I dig the target after Xing it’s location then onto the next.

Time is relics

G

I'm with you on this one, George. Way too many years of success using non-display detectors and relying on a decent, dig-worthy' audio response. If I'm using any modern detector with Tone ID and visual Targe4t ID and it works the first pass or two, fine. But time fiddling with multiple sweeps and trying to get a hint of the ID is time wasted as far as I'm concerned. 'Beep-DIG!' is the long-proven technique and key to success afield.

And perhaps it is because I'm old and lost a lot of my hearing in years past, but I like to have a decent, hearable, and pleasant audio response. To me, the Tarsacci isn't and annoys me even in videos. Be worse if I had it in-hand.

Monte

Monte Wrote:
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> And perhaps it is because I'm old and lost a lot o
> f my hearing in years past, but I like to have a d
> ecent, hearable, and pleasant audio response.
> To me, the Tarsacci isn't and annoys me
> even in videos. Be worse if I had it in-hand.
>
> Monte

It's not bad with headphones on. For my old ears I would change two things on the Tarsacci's audio. .. .better distinction between the mid tone and the high. Ability to lower in volume the ferrous tone and the PP tone (the PP audio is loud). In other words, the tones are too uneven in decibels, with the volume set.

Wow! You did a LOT of work …. Andrew!
Good video!
THANKS for all of your TIME/BLOOD/EFFORTS!!!

Couple of things I wanted to say after reading comments. It's really hard to portray in a video the whole story behind a site. Each detector was worked from the fence over and once 7 targets were found then a different detector was used. The ground was not gone back over to see what was missed with an other detector. This test was about each metal detector finding it's own items and then the other detectors run over them to see if they could also see the item/what they sounded like. The only stipulation was that it sounded good enough to dig. I do make some comments about I wouldn't have dug this or that with that machine or this machine but I'm just trying to point out the differences in audio/target ID between machines.

Small coils at this point have exhausted all the finds they can reach. Back in the 90's all the way to about 2009 a group of guys we call the White's group hammered this site with their XLT's, DFX's and MXT's with every coil size made. When my buddy and I got permission 2 years ago they told us there wasn't going to be much left to find. In those 2 years we have pulled over 300 bullets, 200 buttons, a cannon ball, multiple US rosettes, shoulder scale pieces, letters, numbers, 9 silver coins and 1 gold coin. Not much left huh! So big coils on machine that go deep are what's required at this point. The coils that were selected for the detectors used I wanted to be close to the same size. So hence the smaller coil on the GPX. Recovery speed is also a mute point, the GPX with iron disc on has about the slowest recovery you can imagine and does just fine in this environment. When all you have is deep stuff mixed with iron it really is about getting a clear shot between the iron at the targets below, masking is a huge issue and a small coil can't reach what's left.

The GPX is clearly the deepest machine of the 3 and the Tarsacci is the next deepest, if you question that, watch the part with the coat button again. Very clear nice signal on the GPX, mostly positive numbers on the Tarsacci and the Equinox was actually pretty iffy. The other thing you don't see is the actual search for the targets through the iron. The GPX is painstakingly slow at picking through iron. The Equinox falses like crazy and targets have to be scrutinized continually. The Tarsacci is the most sure of itself in iron and has very little falsing, it can be worked the quickest through an area. With the Tarsacci I don't feel like I'm missing much and it's a great compromise between the Equinox and GPX. Are any of them worth the money? IMO yes, all 3 have there place in my lineup and I enjoy using each one. If you're strapped for funds get the Equinox it's a great all around metal detector. Is it the best at everything? NO

Appreciate your time and effort on making the video. Interesting seeing the comparisons of the three.

Andrew...…. good narrative! Thanks for the honest write-up.

A couple/few of my thoughts:

I know I stated this before...… but worth mentioning again. The Tarsacci ID is about 70% of what a VLF unit produces/presents. This is to say...….. the ID numbers on the Tarsacci will 'bounce' a bit more...….. by about an additional 30% over a standard VLF unit. (Because the Tarsacci is not a VLF). The EQX is a good example to compare it to. This means that the Tarsacci is not the best park hunter.....,,,,,,, especially if you are looking for old 'coins' ONLY/EXCLUSIVELY. BUT...…… if you have 'medium' dirt mineralization (or bad dirt)………. the Tarsacci will continue to ID non-ferrous targets correctly: as non-ferrous....,,,,,,, for a couple of inches deeper than a VLF. If you are a (deep) non-ferrous relic hunter...….. the Tarsacci is definitely in the lead over VLF's. Also...……. the Tarsacci saves you a bunch of time....from having to lock up your brakes....and investigate a lot of iron 'falses'. Yes...….. I like the 50-Tones of the EQX substantially better...….. BUT...….. if the EQX is calling deeper non-ferrous targets as 'iron'...…. the 50-Tones becomes a moot point. . . . . . . . . and you are back to ground-zero///square-one... with the EQX.

Andrew. In your video (above)……. it looks like the EQX is good for about 6" - 8" max...………… (with awesome audio ID).
The Tarsacci is good for about 8" - 9" max……………. (with 'acceptable' audio).
And the GPX with the large coil.... will eat the Tarsacci's and MDT's for lunch! (((Correct me.....if I'm wrong on this))).

For Calabash: Keith's videos are exacting. No parlor-tricks///No smoke-n-mirrors. Keith is merely showing some of his really neat findings/discoveries. Other folks (Dave H. in the UK comes to mind.,.,.,.,.,.,. along with some others)……. are also able to exactly duplicate/replicate Keith's findings. Sooooooo…….. there are no 'tricks' in these videos. BUT...….. you have a extremely valid question(s)………. of: Do any of these weird set-up configurations with the Tarsacci....do any good in the REAL World. Will these weird set-up configurations lose depth in the real World. Will these weird set-up's cause the Tarsacci to become a screamer on deep silver coins.....,,,,,,,at the cost of missing all gold. VERY good points/concerns! Very valid.
I think ………. in time...……… you will see more folks posting real World....."in the wild" hunts with the Tarsacci.,.,.,.,.,.,., and you will have your answer!
TNSS did not learn these attributes. The unit was 'too new'...….at the time of his ownership. A lot of this data had yet to be discovered. Should TNSS be embarrassed about NOT learning these things with the Tarsacci? My thoughts are: What the heck would make him think to use Salt Balance in an area with zero salt! AND...….. what the heck would make him think to set up Salt Balance in a completely unsuspecting, unorthodox configuration! You don't know.....what you don't know.

(((There's still more 'unsuspectings' to discover with the Tarsacci))).

Just drove back from Music City for a Vanderbilt Medical center Appt.

I sure do feel humbled by being singled out by the forum owner here.

I keep seeing the term new tech associated with Tarsacci.

So reckon which detector has the newest tech? Equinox or Tarsacci.

Looks like based on what I have read Multi IQ tech is latest discovered (assembled).

I could be wrong.

Embarrassed ?
Why should I be?

Remember the EQX was released (I had zero to do with pre release btw), and park 1 was not doing so well on bigger silver on edge, actually poor. It was corrected.with update after release. Enough said.

Cheers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2020 07:56PM by tnsharpshooter.

TNSS-----Why did you get rid of your Tarsacci? (just curious)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2020 10:13PM by D&P-OR.

Abenson Wrote:
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Recovery speed is a
> lso a mute point, the GPX with iron disc on has ab
> out the slowest recovery you can imagine and does
> just fine in this environment. When all you have i
> s deep stuff mixed with iron it really is about ge
> tting a clear shot between the iron at the targets
> below, masking is a huge issue and a small coil ca
> n't reach what's left.


Thanks for the explanation. I agree. When deep stuff is all that's left, separation and unmasking are no longer needed as a tactic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2020 05:52PM by Badger in NH.

D&P-OR Wrote:
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> TNNS-----Why did you get rid of your Tarsacci? (ju
> st curious)

I have answered this question here before.
I don’t mind answering again.
There was a gent on Steve’s forum who lived by ocean.
He was very interested in Tarsacci. Think he said he couldn’t afford.
So myself, I was busy with archery stuff and some gun stuff too. Had little time to detect.
And thought about offering my Tarsassi at a generous price.
He bought it.

If you will look at my yountube channel you’ll notice loads of crossbow and gun videos during this period. So I am telling the truth. I did do a few detector videos, but these videos were more technical assistance videos. Videos to make folks think and or help them out with certain models.

My actual testing head to head looked a lot like what Andrew showed. I did do a few head to head videos where Tarsacci was a player.
Actually I never got to the site (across the road) where I really wanted to play with Tarsacci.

I have already stated I am tempted to buy another Tarsacci. May do too.
Have a line on a used one right now a gent owns.
Have quite a few irons in fire right now.
We’ll see.

The land owner. He’s getting old too. I need to talk to him. See if he is planning on selling this grand detecting spot for this area 193 acres.
If he is I won’t buy Tarsacci for sure.
Places around here this old, most are near river. Lots of these places got gobbled up in 1973 with creation of dam. Meaning lot of good sites went under water and belong to Corps of Engineers meaning no detecting unless it’s designated as a beach.

Cheers.
[en.m.wikipedia.org]
[en.m.wikipedia.org]

One last thing I forgot to say.
Wish some folks would do some head to heads on freshly buried nickel and clad dime EQX vs Tarsacci.
Based on what I saw, Tarsacci doesn’t favor disturbed ground.
But I never talked about this because I didn’t go to other sites for validation.
I did dig multiple holes at various depths in same area.
This area though there is some electronics involving gas metering for pipeline.
And I wasn’t for sure if emi was a player causing the differences noted.

So is Tarsacci a good plowed ground detector? This could be answered.

The owner fertilized that field across road early on that year due to good warmer weather for hay.
I wished I would have we t over there with Tarsacci and EQx Del.
Why?
I have been in this field before with EQX after it was fertilized. EQX pops and crackles onnthe fertilizer it seems. Like GB is out a whack then in whack then out a whack.
What would Tarsacci do (behave) in such field?
Wish I knew.
Might be something someone wants to try next spring with Tarsacci.
It may run more stable and see things past the bits of fertilizer.

Cow urine in a pasture has had my attention some too.
Could it make a find harder to detector, depending?
Salts, etc.

It was always funny when my detector would sound off right over a cow pile. Lol
Sometimes I dug sometimes not.



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2020 10:59PM by tnsharpshooter.

Tnss, my old pastures are covered in animal slurry 2 or 3 times a year, it's full of minerals that they feed to pigs and cattle over the winter.
I'm not sure if it's a thing in the US, but it defo effects how a detector runs.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2020 11:12PM by ghound.

Ghound, they slurry the fields here in Pennsylvania. It leaves a smell in the air for days. If you were a city slicker, you'd stay one.

YE ole manure spreader. Growing up on a farm in southern Mn, I know them well.......and their smell. HH jim tn

Our barracks in Germany were next to farm fields. We called them honey wagons.

Ah yes---those honey wagons those honey wagons!!!!!Elbert Wrote:
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> Our barracks in Germany were next to farm fields.
> We called them honey wagons.

Very nice Video Andrew.Watched it yesterday evening,

Very nice follow up report too!

Do you know the F.E.bar that dirt is?You may of said but I didnt catch it.

Yes the Tarsacci can be really quite in iron Vs VLF.Falsing wise.

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla