Minelab Equinox tips and questions

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Nuggetbuster said:
Ridge Runner said:
I see the Equinox as a good solid foundation with something to please everyone, And in this hobby that is the best we can hope for.

J.

Ridge, I'm just a bit confused - is this going to be a good machine or not?

Ridge Runner said:
No mate I can tell straight off that it is going to have limited use, just have another look at it and what do you see of not see.

Yes it is going to be a Good Machine possibly one of their best,

What I said about limited use is about using Big Coils due to the weight being from the handle forward.
 
Crikey, in practicality going from the hip mounted gold VLFs monstrosities of yesterday to the Deus with the 13" coil and RC mounted on the wrist, this talk about balance and weight being from the handle forward is just that talk. The armrest near under the elbow counters that argument completely, why the hell have a brick to balance when and if it is not necessary for operation, sorry RR your talk is just not practical and has little application out in the field. I predominately swing a Z which is such a brick, only reason I do so is cos it produces that heavy stuff, but the ergonomics and non-tiring ease of use of the Deus kills it hands down as I suspect will the Equinox.

But don`t let my opinion unstick your needle.
 
When I was buying the Deus, I tried the 9 inch coil, and 11 inch. The dues is like swinging in zero gravity with the 9...kids wouldnt have any problems. The 11 charges the balance, it becomes an effort...not much effort, but it certainly is a very noticable difference. Deus coils are very light as well.
 
Norvic said:
Crikey, in practicality going from the hip mounted gold VLFs monstrosities of yesterday to the Deus with the 13" coil and RC mounted on the wrist, this talk about balance and weight being from the handle forward is just that talk. The armrest near under the elbow counters that argument completely, why the hell have a brick to balance when and if it is not necessary for operation, sorry RR your talk is just not practical and has little application out in the field. I predominately swing a Z which is such a brick, only reason I do so is cos it produces that heavy stuff, but the ergonomics and non-tiring ease of use of the Deus kills it hands down as I suspect will the Equinox.

But don`t let my opinion unstick your needle.

Well as you put it, If you remove that Brick from under the armrest on your Zed then you will see what I am talking about, and whether you use a zed or not weighing around 7lbs the fact remains that you are prepared to put up with anything as long as it finds gold, so Greed is no argument when discussing ergonomics, The Zed is a great machine and it does have extra weight under the arm cup which is a good thing despite it's over all weight and I too would use one If needed,

And my argument is practical, because a machine that is nose heavy is murder to use 10-14 hours a day and hard on the wrist, even though I have spent my whole working life doing physical work. I will take a machine that is built like the Zed over any machine that has all the hardware/weight South of the handle any day.
 
RR I`d swing an anchor to get gold I`m that greedy, but if the Deus, Xterra or the new Equinox etc etc was as good as getting gold as the Z is I`d be swinging one of them any day for twice the hours I do the Z. But now I`m repeating myself and got my needle stuck too..............
 
The butthurt is strong with the anti Minelab crowd :D fingers crossed for a solid 3030 update
 
Coinballs said:
The butthurt is strong with the anti Minelab crowd :D fingers crossed for a solid 3030 update

No one here is anti minelab, All machines have their + or - features regardless of who makes them, ML make 3 of the best machines on the planet.
 
Ridge Runner said:
Coinballs said:
The butthurt is strong with the anti Minelab crowd :D fingers crossed for a solid 3030 update

No one here is anti minelab, All machines have their + or - features regardless of who makes them, ML make 3 of the best machines on the planet.

Your numerous posts in this thread certainly come off with that tone and the machine is not even out yet! I didn't even quote you and you've already jumped on what I said
 
grubstake said:
Good question. Deus is the same - how long do they last?

The Deus has been around since 2009, some have also had their lithium battery packs last that long as well - so that puts the mobile phone theory to rest on both the Equinox and Deus. All depends on the amount of use on how long the battery packs last, I think the average life was quoted at around 4-5 years for the Deus, even then they are only around $50 to replace (owner replaceable).
 
Coinballs said:
Ridge Runner said:
Coinballs said:
The butthurt is strong with the anti Minelab crowd :D fingers crossed for a solid 3030 update

No one here is anti minelab, All machines have their + or - features regardless of who makes them, ML make 3 of the best machines on the planet.

Your numerous posts in this thread certainly come off with that tone and the machine is not even out yet! I didn't even quote you and you've already jumped on what I said

Well like you, people keep either keep quoting my posts or making comment to me, so what should I do be rude and Ignore them, or keep it light hearted, Every thing about this machine is 100% speculation including my comments about how it balances when using other coils and the same applies to it's performance and as such it is just gossip and until the machine is released on the market none of the comments on this or any other forum matter.

If you want to discuss it further then send me a PM and keep the thread open.
 
Ridge Runner said:
Coinballs said:
Ridge Runner said:
Coinballs said:
The butthurt is strong with the anti Minelab crowd :D fingers crossed for a solid 3030 update

No one here is anti minelab, All machines have their + or - features regardless of who makes them, ML make 3 of the best machines on the planet.

Your numerous posts in this thread certainly come off with that tone and the machine is not even out yet! I didn't even quote you and you've already jumped on what I said

Well like you, people keep either keep quoting my posts or making comment to me, so what should I do be rude and Ignore them, or keep it light hearted, Every thing about this machine is 100% speculation including my comments about how it balances when using other coils and the same applies to it's performance and as such it is just gossip and until the machine is released on the market none of the comments on this or any other forum matter.

If you want to discuss it further then send me a PM and keep the thread open.

I didn't quote or make any comment to you directly. So in other words everything you've posted is horse feathers. You're the one clogging the thread friendo
 
Great Thread and some solid Points made.

Just want to clear a few things up.

1. Deus has had auto ground balancing for a long time, its called tracking though. It follows the changes in ground and gives you 1 point of positive offset to the ground conditions based on 00-99 scale. In programs 1-9

Most ground runs in the 80's but having said that it was 75 in one section of a park I was in Yesterday.

As a gold machine in Program 10 it has 1 push auto ground balancing with NO offset. The pinpoint button becomes the "Ground grab" button and you can retune every swing if you need to. It takes about 1-2 seconds.
It also has tracking in this mode as well as manual and "GROUND NOTCH" where you can actually Discriminate the ground out like a target you don't want to hear.
Overall there 4 options to balance out the ground depending on its harshness.

2. Deus's Life is completely dependant on the user. Every part is replaceable on the remote and the headphones. Its a bit like a car in that MOST of the bits can be replaced in the case of failure. Including LCD screens, batteries, circuit boards and all the housings. The remote has about a dozen bits that can be replaced separately.
I have never heard of one dying unless it went for A swim or suffered an accident like getting run over. (have had both happen to people in Aus)

One thing I see every single day in Forums and on Social media is what I call Detector envy and it affects a lot of people. They know the machine they have works they just want the next one up the ladder as they are sure this will lead to more finds etc. They come to a point where they actually lose confidence in their current machines as they are focused on what the NEW one may be able to do.

So they go out buy the next machine and find that they make no extra finds really and its about the same experience. Most go backwards for a few weeks/months at least while the head gets tuned into the new beast.

Why I like XP Deus so much is that it ENDS detector envy, once you have one your confidence goes up as you know you have a good machine and you can take the time to learn it as there won't be a new one coming out to make yours "obsolete". (A horrible term by the way)

If and when XP launches improvements to the machine they give them to you at no charge so you don't have to re-learn the machine just learn the subtle changes. This gives the operator as long as they want to learn the machine and wring every scrap of performance out of it.

I have had my Deus 2 years and I still find tweaks and changes that make dramatic improvements to my hunting. Each time I go out I get a little better and that is compounding over time to the point of arrogance. I am supremely confident in my gear because I know it inside and out, quite literally as I repair them here in some cases. I don't want a better machine I just want to know my current machine better and I have all the time in the world to do it.

With manufacturers releasing new machines with new tones, new features, new ways of using you need to go back to school every couple of years rather than just compound your knowledge into knowing your machine better.

Imagine how good you'd be with the 705 if you had 5 years experience with it or more? You'd out hunt most CTX owners that have had their machines for less than a year or 2. Look at the 5000 Users that have had them for 5+ years they just kill it!

(I've had my 5000 for about 3 months and I am HOPELESS! with it, but I don't care because I know that in time I will learn that thing and as its pretty close to the top of the tree with the aftermarket coils I have, I won't be selling it to find more I will be learning it to find more.) I run it with my deus in the goldfields to clear up rubbish and shallow stuff so I can dig cans and broken picks at massive depth with the 5000, works a treat!

My Main point is this: I know when I sell someone a Deus That's pretty much it. I don't have a hope of selling them another machine. Sure loads of my customers buy more coils, pinpointers and accessories but they NEVER buy another machine off me. (with the exception of a few CS4PI's) Sure my customers numbers are nothing like this equinox will be but to those that have the Deus and are getting to know it, are having a ball and making some excellent finds in ground they have been to time and time again.

Take the time to learn your gear rather than to constantly upgrade, in the long run you'll spend less, find more and enjoy the hobby a lot more.

Happy Hunting Folks.

Clegy

P.S this is the blog post I did on Minelabs launch, I truly was impressed as a marketer, as a detectorist...
http://aussiedetectorist.com.au/201...-where-credit-is-due-congratulations-minelab/

P.S.S See you at Laanecoorie I'll be there a week early to have a detect in the area. My marquee is cammo so you might have to look pretty hard. LOL
 
clegy said:
Great Thread and some solid Points made.

Just want to clear a few things up.

Imagine how good you'd be with the 705 if you had 5 years experience with it or more? You'd out hunt most CTX owners that have had their machines for less than a year or 2. Look at the 5000 Users that have had them for 5+ years they just kill it!

Take the time to learn your gear rather than to constantly upgrade, in the long run you'll spend less, find more and enjoy the hobby a lot more.

Happy Hunting Folks.

Clegy

P.S this is the blog post I did on Minelabs launch, I truly was impressed as a marketer, as a detectorist...
http://aussiedetectorist.com.au/201...-where-credit-is-due-congratulations-minelab/

P.S.S See you at Laanecoorie I'll be there a week early to have a detect in the area. My marquee is cammo so you might have to look pretty hard. LOL

Well I have been using all 3 models of my VLF for the past 7 years so you are right it does give me an edge and I do not need another machine with more depth I already dig coins past a foot deep and now I have bigger coils it will go even deeper and on targets around an inch and a half or bigger those depths become Feet not inches, I would hate to have to dig as far as my largest coil can go where 6" targets can be 3 or 4 feet deep, which is not bad for a VLF,

I guess this is why I am not impressed by many detectors and my views come off a tad abrasive with some folks, But the fact is I don't want to dig 3 or 4 foot holes, Air tests don't mean a thing but these coils test at ridiculous distances, A good VLF in good ground can hang with PI machines, And I have seen what the Deus can do in good ground in skilled hands,

We all seem to crave that extra depth but to be honest I just don't want to dig any further than I do already, One thing that has my attention is some of the things that I have been reading about the CTX because some of the programs have really woken the CTX up where it is starting to appeal to me, I hated my E-trac with a passion but from all accounts the CTX is miles ahead So much so I have been checking out the prices of them, Because if I spend as much time on it as I have the MXT I think I could really squeeze some power out of it,

But I want a GPX 4500 first and then I will worry about a CTX but either way I really have enjoyed reading up on the CTX,

John.
 
Coinballs said:
The butthurt is strong with the anti Minelab crowd :D fingers crossed for a solid 3030 update
Yeah, like you I also was hoping the Equinox would be 3030 update, but doesn`t appear it is so. One feature I enjoy with the Deus is having the RC wrist mounted, hope Minelab can go that way, maybe with the Bluetooth feature a App for the smart phone is coming that allows the Smartphone to be the detectors RC similar to how we can control drones with one, even further along this line, a HUD showing ID on ones glasses............. Bring it on Minelab.
 
Given there are two versions of the Equinox one with gold search and one without.
I wonder if it is a matter of a firmware update / change given they are essentially the same device.
If so would the option of an upgrade down the track be possible. Interesting sales slant.

The vidoes indicate they are they have same front end menu options for most items only the gold selection not available.
 
cashgoldsilver said:
Personally if I was looking specifically for Gold I would buy a "Gold specific" machine e.g. minimum GPX 5000 :Y:

But saying that I hope to buy the Equinox 600 leaving the Gold for others (today)

I agree too, that is why I have a 7000. But there are even times, ground that will not allow a 7000 to perform no matter what you do. A true prospector will always have both tools in his bag.

So I do agree in a way with you, but a specific gold machine can be VLF too.

The 7000 is my go to machine , but not my only. ;-)
 
Agree, I have a Makro GR and about to purchase a GPX4500, one's perfect for the Vic triangle and the other perfect for creek bedrock around Gippsland.

I see this new Equinox as the perfect 'all-rounder' as some days I'll be near a suburban park and other days out near one of the many gold fields in central Vic.

Hope to buy the 800 early next year and also get the 6" coil, I'll leave it in my work van and where ever I end up on any given day I'll have a detector that will be pretty 'ok' for any situation including the beach, whereas my other 2 detectors are specialist machines and not worth leaving in my van in case I find myself at that particular location suited to them.
 
Well boys, I have crack it.... I know where minelab got the special technology from!!! Equinox technology came from 1999, series 6 episode 25 Star Trek Voyager... g I have Star Trek doesn't have a patent on this technology or we could be in for a a court case.. I believe the equinox had a special Warp Drive :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

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