Minelab Equinox tips and questions

[ProspectorPete]

Way to go Wally, that's pretty awesome and a great test as to how much better than the 705 it is, great to hear.

 

[Wally69]

Great stuff Wally - nice pic. Did you up your recovery setting? To isolate the ferrous targets from non-ferrous ?

No Danny, just ran it factory Pak 2 and AM, dropped sensitivity to 20, was 22 at the beach, mainly because I like the look of 22ct gold. 24 worked in the dry sand but was a little talkative in the wet.

Going to run in Factory all metal or 0+ for a period of time to get to know how the machine talks. Keen to have a play with the settings to see what they will do but didn't want to take on too much change all at once.

Think there is potential to notch out 15 on the beach to get rid of the screw caps, although not sure if anything valuable notches at 15 yet. Nothing I trailed at home did, but I think I was in park mode and there does seem to be a difference between modes.

Keen to get some feedback on the other setting. :Y:

 

[Danny13]

Great stuff Wally - nice pic. Did you up your recovery setting? To isolate the ferrous targets from non-ferrous ?

No Danny, just ran it factory Pak 2 and AM, dropped sensitivity to 20, was 22 at the beach, mainly because I like the look of 22ct gold. 24 worked in the dry sand but was a little talkative in the wet.

Going to run in Factory all metal or 0+ for a period of time to get to know how the machine talks. Keen to have a play with the settings to see what they will do but didn't want to take on too much change all at once.

Think there is potential to notch out 15 on the beach to get rid of the screw caps, although not sure if anything valuable notches at 15 yet. Nothing I trailed at home did, but I think I was in park mode and there does seem to be a difference between modes.

Keen to get some feedback on the other setting. :Y:

Yeah I noticed I slight difference in ID numbers between modes . Some gold rings fall in that range , mainly wide band gold rings in beach 1 and 2

Danny

 

[Secret Squirrels]

I'm same as you RM, I've not done much coin shooting or beach hunting as my Xterra 505 and Makro are not user friendly for either but I'll grab a NOX in a few months to hit some beaches and the odd park when I'm looking to kill a few hrs.
Reviews look good so far :Y:

I am curious as to why you think the 505 is not user friendly for coin shooting? it is a pretty basic unit to operate.

Yep should be pretty basic to use which is why I originally bought it for a cheap easy to use detector to keep in my work van, detect parks at lunch times.
I find the numbers jump around a lot and hard to lock on a target at times, tones jump a lot on the one target and signal varies, almost like there's an issue with the 505 (maybe the issue is me though), I purchased new and it's only seen a few parks, I did use it on damp sand at a fresh water lake and it did better than in the parks afterwards, maybe there's moisture or crap between the coil and cover?
I'll get it out the shed and give it a good look over and fresh batteries (were replaced last detect) and see if it's any better, I've just not liked it since new and was a quick impulse buy the day we were heading off on holidays and I wanted a cheap detector to play with in the park.

We are heading away to the beach for a week followed by a week camped on the Murray before Easter so I'll take it with me and the instruction book and give it a red hot go in dry sand and parks before relegating it to the granddaughter, but fingers crossed I end up gelling with it :Y:

I smh in amazement at this post As an owner and avid fan of the 505 i am ever so thankful i didn't read a post like this prior to purchasing the 505 16 months ago Here is a link to my first post in my 505 finds thread https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=19850 The two posts are like chalk and cheese.

For those out there that may be contemplating purchasing a 505 for coins and relics, including valuable jewellery, i say Nike. In my honest opinion there are only 2 machines (now 3) out there that rival the 505 for quantity & quality of finds, they are the ctx the deus and now the Equinox. As far as value for money and ease of use the 505 outstrips all others The above link & post clearly shows that in 4 outings with the 505 i started to gain the essential intimacy and confidence with the machine, that is absolutely critical to becoming a successful detectorist. Prior to this my detecting experience had only been with gold on PI machines

I allways say the proof is in the pudding ] and if anyone is in two minds about which machine to purchase for coins and relics then head on over to the members finds section and have a bloody good hard look :Y: It will quickly become quite obvious which machines are consistently finding the goodies The only decision to be made is how much cash can you afford to outlay

Now, Prospectorpete. please don't be offended, as you made the statement first, "(maybe the issue is me though)". In my honest opinion i say the statement is 100% correct, but hopefully the following pointers might help alleviate the problems you seem to be having with the 505.

I find the 505 can be used quite effectively most times in factory preset, switch on and go :Y: If it's windy i increase the volume, if it's difficult ground i decrease the sensitivity and conversely in good ground i increase it, however i personally find 16 to be the optimum, higher creates the instability you are talking about and only gains an extra .5 to 1 inch in depth depending on soil/sand type :Y:

"I find the numbers jump around a lot and hard to lock on a target at times" Ok the simple fix to this is to slow your swing speed down once you have found a target. The stock coil is a concentric and the centre circle is the sweet spot, however the slots outside the circle will produce signals as well. You need to wiggle your wrist and keep the swings within the centre circle when locking on to a target, any time you overshoot the circle the slots will give a signal with a totally different id number

"tones jump a lot on the one target and signal varies" I detect by tones, not by target id's. Target id's are recommended by M/L "as a guide only", the reason for this is as stated above but also, targets vary in depth, and the id's will also vary in depth. Quite often you will get an iron grunt on a good target at the edge of detection depth, the difference between a good target at the edge and an iron target is the type of grunt. a good target on the edge will give a soft, mellow, warbley grunt and iron will give a big bold true grunt. A simple scrape of the ground will sort it out one way or the other :Y: Obviously when at depth the signal and id's will also be erratic. The other major reason for this is there is quite often junk lying around,under,above or beside a good target. Go back to the wrist jiggle when locking on to a target to solve this issue.

"I did use it on damp sand at a fresh water lake and it did better than in the parks afterwards" No matter what your hunting for, be it gold,coins,relics or jewellery, and no matter the type of machine you are using, be it PI or vlf, there is one common denominator. Hot,dry ground is less conductive,noisier,and more difficult to detect. Whereas, damp,cool ground is exactly the opposite, and this is why night hunts or early morning hunts produce more goodies than the middle of the day How often do you read or hear a detectorist say "found gold at the beginning of a hunt" or "finished the hunt with some gold"? Are the bells ringing? this trend is true no matter the treasure you are hunting.

Pinpointing-: The pinpointing capability of the 505 is best used for target id rather than actually pinpointing. The centre circle of the 9" conical coil is a small enough area to extract any target with ease and accuracy, and if not then while your down there extracting the target, lock right on to it with your hand held pinpointer. Once you have locked onto a target, switch over to pinpoint mode and listen to the squeal as you move around or across the target area. If it is a can or junk, which are usually large the squeal will encompass a wide area and gradually peter out. If the target is a dig target it will generally give a crisp,short,sweet squeal.

Lastly, i just wish to point out, i hunt mostly in all metal and then switch to discrim once i start the target id process. There are two reasons for doing this. firstly you gain greater depth in A/M, and secondly,you won't here that soft,mellow warbly grunt of a good target at depth if you hunt in discrim.

I sincerely hope i have been able to assist you in understanding the 505, hopefully you will take some of the pointers and apply them on your trip. I look forward to your post, on your return from holidays, showing your finds, and praising the remarkable ability of the value for money 505. ]

Have a safe and successful trip, Regards, Reg.

As an added note, at this early stage i am finding a lot of the tricks used with the exterras can be applied to the Equinox to address any issues people are experiencing with target id's and id stability.

 

[Wally69]

Good review SS, only thing I will add, based on the 705 and NOX pinpoint responses, and sounds like the 505 is the same. The pinpoint mode gives a sharper response on coins where aluminium or alloyed products sound a little more washed-out.

All great detectors in my mind - so is my FT-1600, but that is another story.

 

[Heatho]

Hmmm, very nice hunt there Wally, sooo looking forward to going back over my silver honey holes when I get my Nox, might have to expidite it....

 

[Secret Squirrels]

Thanks wally69, i'm enjoying your reviews and loving your hunt results. :Y: thanks for the information in regards to tips,tricks and settings you are sharing for the Nox.

 

[Westozadventures]

Hopefully they arrive in WA this week, jumpy target ID won't bother me much, I hunt by sounds mostly, especially at night, AT pro has no backlight. I'll be looking for tiny nuggets with it on the weekend if it comes this week!!

 

[ProspectorPete]

Now, Prospectorpete. please don't be offended, as you made the statement first, "(maybe the issue is me though)". In my honest opinion i say the statement is 100% correct, but hopefully the following pointers might help alleviate the problems you seem to be having with the 505.

Not offended one bit Reg, I appreciate your input and tips for running the 505 and will write down the points to read with the manual again and reacquaint myself with it.
I just got home and went to the shed to get it out and give it a going over and new batteries. First thing I did was pull the coil cover off after thinking about the target, tone and ID issues I experienced last couple of times I used it (6 months ago) and wouldn't you know it about a table spoon of dusty sandy grit fell out onto my lap, think I know why it seemed to be playing up now :8

I'll definitely try it out down the local park tomorrow night, do a factory re-set too and keep it simple only digging solid response targets.

I feel I've got a new detector to play with now and a little excited about it too, I might make the effort to hit a park once a week on my way home from work and hopefully the coin shooting bug will stay as it fills in time between gold trips.

Very much appreciate the comments and help :Y:

 

[Smoky bandit]

Watch out for that coin bug mate..it bites hard...REAL HARD. :Y: the 505 is a great coin and treasure machine a bit more user friendlier than the 705..but once it becomes part of you ...you will love it..Good luck mate. :Y:

 

[HouseholdDog]

Just got mine.
I am a complete newbie at detecting and live in apartment.
The I'd seems pretty stable to me. You guys have to keep the centre line over the target.
Aside from that I have used it to make sure the surgeon didn't leave a scalpel in my and the missus's surgery sites.
All clear.
Taking it down to Port Melbourne beach tomorrow.

 

[HouseholdDog]

By the way if you are looking for a bag to carry it in I bought this from Aussie Disposals.
Caribee Loco 72 (can't post links).

You do need to break the detector in two and disconnect the cable. You don't need to rewind the cable though and it only takes 30 seconds to reassemble it.

The bag also compresses into stuff sack and it very lightweight. So you can throw it in your day pack while detecting.

 

[Trash]

Equinox battery & warranty info.

3 years on the control box but only 1 year on the battery ......

http://minelab.newsweaver.co.uk/gofind/4xrtskh9vcvym5ywg2nsqj?email=true&a=11&p=52993934

 

[HouseholdDog]

Went out for a couple of hours Friday.
Got a $2 coin and 7 bottletops.
Was digging everything just to get an idea of what was what.
The bottle caps are fairly easily recognisable from the coin.

 

[hAyyoUinAU]

When it comes to discriminating, even Minelab has given the Nox only 3 out of 5 stars, compared with the CTX 3030.
Also ID segments are not as many. Definitely priced to match.

 

[PhaseTech]

If this is talking about Discrimination resolution....I'd say the chart is spot on. Equinox the same as Safari makes sense, and 1 star below E-Trac which is 2D, and the another star for CTX which has a few extra features like target trace.

But Discrimination ability - well that's another thing entirely. Frequency, processing, ground immunity, EMI immunity, coil, etc. etc can all have an effect on Discrimination ability. I.e. I'm sure there is a place where the single freq X-Terra would maybe beat the Safari which isn't the fastest machine going around, so these charts should be seen as a basic guide, highlighting only the obvious differences.

 

[user 11578]

By the way if you are looking for a bag to carry it in I bought this from Aussie Disposals.
Caribee Loco 72 (can't post links).

Just bought the nox 800 it should arrive Monday hopefully, if you can post the links that would be great Household, I would like a carry bag for mine as well.

cheers

edit: Its all good I found them on mr google.

 

[HouseholdDog]

If you want to discriminate bottle caps out I found a trick you can use.

If you detect something in the bottlecap range, switch to 5khz single frequency.

A stubby cap ID will jump up by a large amount (I was getting 31-32). A coin/gold will stay pretty well the same.

Tested it inside, works a treat.

 

[HouseholdDog]

By the way if you are looking for a bag to carry it in I bought this from Aussie Disposals.
Caribee Loco 72 (can't post links).

edit: Its all good I found them on mr google.

Just a word of warning, it is a very lightweight bag. Think of it more as a cover and not a bag.

It just fits. But the pole pokes at the edges.

 

[Danny13]

If this is talking about Discrimination resolution....I'd say the chart is spot on. Equinox the same as Safari makes sense, and 1 star below E-Trac which is 2D, and the another star for CTX which has a few extra features like target trace.

But Discrimination ability - well that's another thing entirely. Frequency, processing, ground immunity, EMI immunity, coil, etc. etc can all have an effect on Discrimination ability. I.e. I'm sure there is a place where the single freq X-Terra would maybe beat the Safari which isn't the fastest machine going around, so these charts should be seen as a basic guide, highlighting only the obvious differences.

Gooday phasetech , what would you give the Nox on discrimination ability , in terms of star rating.

Kind Regards