My Equinox 800 Take (Tests and Commentary)

Here is where I will post info on Equinox 800 model.

Here's what I have planned. No videos period.
I just don't do videos, nothing to do with Equinox.

Compare depth performance on freshly buried targets both higher and lower. Comparing multi freq to all single freqs.

Will be comparing Deus 11" coil to the Equinox 11" coil.
For separation, 3D unmasking. Depth.
Depending on what I see may compare to Deus 9" LF coil.
As well as Deus 9" round HF coil.

Need to compare using headphones with and without module to see lag effects maybe for separating or unmasking challenging scenarios.

Depth comparisons on undisturbed target will be compared to the mighty XS explorer. Would like to compare moreso on deeper copper or silver coin.

What are the tendencies are fas as Equinox reporting detectable yet challenged target.

May have to cheat and find a few with Deus I think are challenged and then see what Equinox tells me.

How sensitive is coil height for actual detecting mid depth targets.

How does the disc interact settings wise to how good or bad Equinox separtates/unmask.

Accuracy of ID as depth progresses downward, and how does tone carry on.

How or what disadvantages does notch bring.

Will be do comparing not weight but actual feel (nose heaviness) compqring Deus with various coils. This should give folks who already have Deus a good idea of what to expect should they purchase.

It should prove interesting.

I will post here on the forum in my own thread. Folks can definitely ask questions, give their opinions, etc.

Folks can read at their own risk.

It will be the good, bad, and the ugly if noted.

I am beholden to no one.

Will give accurate assessment.

Will see if any advantages besides possible emi does single frequency operation provide.

Ground mineral levels will always be reported.

Do have fresh water beach to take unit to for gee whiz.

If folks are expecting info from me for salt water beach, ocean performance, you had better look elsewhere.

Coin and relics will be mostly what I talk about.
I will play with some jewelry both ring sized and smaller and report on.

Other detectors that will likely be commented on due to my comparing.
Rutus Alter 71
Nokta Impact

Will take a while, my posting will be steady weather permitting.
Folks should remember my soil in my area not the easiest to detect in, medium mineralized to higher in most places.

I couldn't care less who reads my info or who buys or doesn't buy Equinox.

Will I keep my Equinox?
Depends.
If it don't help me in detecting -No.

If my info helps folks so be it.

I think we will start with time to see some parallels with different folks reporting, as far as what they say.

I will be monitoring other folks Equinox videos, if I see something pertinent that is not pointed out or discussed that I have direct knowledge of due to my Equinox use I will talk about.

At the same time, if Impost some thing that someone finds strange or squirrely base on THEIR Equinox use by all means bring it up.

Btw I do have CTX and MxSport experience.
You likely will here me mention them too when talking about Equinox.

So with time, depending on my experiences and others too, Equinox will be assigned a spot in the hierarchy of detectors. Price should be a factor too when placing.

You are far more likely to hear me say some thing negative about Equinox vs a treasure hunting magazine review- if something negative exists. No detector is perfect. May have been, should have been Minelab's goal, but realistically it will have some weaknesses. We will hopefully find these out.

The question for interested parties will be are these weakness(Es)/negative things some thing folks can live with should they buy.

Key for me is to be objective when using and testing.
My intention is not to do a hit job on Equinox.

I will post photos.
If you see me post a photo, I am doing for good reason good or bad. Folks might should really study and read up on how I describe/talk about. REMEMBER I have done a lot of test with Deus, so I will be really honing in on Equinox's reactions and behavior.

Some folks may be interest yet not committed to Equinox.
Hopefully my info will help you with your decision.

If and when I arrive at a point where I am satisfied with unlocking Equinox.

Mr Choppadude, will be offered my unit to use, review for a period.

His review I think is valued here on this forum greatly.

The least I can do.

If Choppadude for whatever reason doesn't accept this offer.
Then I will pick someone else from this forum who I think can do an objective review of detector.
Digger027 is right now on my list. As his soil is hot, would be a great setting for Equinox. Mud-puppy is another good one. He water hunts. We'll see.
Don't have Equinox yet.lol

Even though I have an 800EQ coming, I'll be looking forward to your review.
 
My Opinion

Reviews take time, don't be to fast to judge the new EQ, 3 to 6 months - or 100 hours , EARL PS I also will be using the machine, land , and beach with all 3 coil's .
 
Reviews take time, don't be to fast to judge the new EQ, 3 to 6 months - or 100 hours , EARL

100 hours of use will likely only take less than 3 weeks.

I will be posting regularly. I will go in to detail as far as is what I am seeing as far as a one off, or a trend. As I keep using, testing detector could something surface that would make something I posted earlier, mute, wrong, or not clear?
Yes
And if this happens I will be certain to admit, and if I can will go back and aamend my initally comments.

Lots of different scenarios, settings config to run the Equinox.
Folks hopefully can use my info, together with others and give them a better idea as far as a possible purchasing decision.

My comments likely will start of general at first.
I may decide to ID my comments as general in nature and advanced use.
So beginners can still read and not get too deep in the weeds reading. Thus not confuse them. These same folks can always go back later as proficiency/ experience levels rise can read.

Don't forget when Imget the small coil, it too will get its due. Many times performance when going form stock to smaller coil, more affected performance wise besides separation and depth. Settings used likely will need to be adjusted for best performance depending on site detected.

The real things I need to try and discover, is where can a person really go wrong using and knock themselves out of some finds. Remember speed setting is usually not found on metered detectors costing this much.
 
I Here Ya

Just hope you give this detector a fair shake, as we wouldn't want , by comparing it to other detector's / Manufacturers' wright from the get Go, as we all know could lead to a large dispute , know one want's that- Dave, look forward to your review's, as most i see are getting the 600 or 800, most will get there own review in person HOWBOUTIT :yes::D :detector: happy hunting, Earl PS Make it 500 hours that Hot Shot, you got me there lol :lol:
 
Just hope you give this detector a fair shake, as we wouldn't want , by comparing it to other detector's / Manufacturers' wright from the get Go, as we all know could lead to a large dispute , know one want's that- Dave, look forward to your review's, as most i see are getting the 600 or 800, most will get there own review in person HOWBOUTIT :yes::D :detector: happy hunting, Earl PS Make it 500 hours that Hot Shot, you got me there lol :lol:

I will be as accurate and fair as possible.
Remember for my future detecting endeavors I want to be using the best I have for the situation.
Could Equinox meet this goal for me?
We'll find out.
 
I here ya

I guess with that high soil you have there, will be a different out come for you than most, hope the machine works for you, here good ground, the beaches are sanded in , July , Aug, Sept, i will get a better idea than for- beach, a few Florida hunter's are getting one also , as the depositors are their all year long , have fun, Earl PS keeping the CTX3030s locked and loaded , getting this machine , for a change in lightness mainly , and response time, i allway's loved hunting with the F75 it was fast , that being said, just those two thing's , did it for me, along with Multi Freq.
 
If you send it to Digger27 I'll be glad to help out with the review and put it up against the XP Deus that has served me well this last year.... Both I believe are fast and you're right about this Alabama soil..hot ....but we have learned to adapt as much as possible....Digger as always gives great reviews and loves this hobby.....
 
It's good to get others insight on machines.The nox and makro seem to be all the rave now,last year I think it was the impact and the mx sport. before that it was the racers,oh and the at max .
Personally I'm just not seeing it being any better performance than anything else in it's price.
Seems all these machines anymore are options on the same platform..When I look for a machine I have certain options I need,and some I just prefer.I know there's alot of buzz going around but I'll bet none of these Midpriced models released won't find something the at pro,Xterra ,racer2,mxt pro,or f75 wouldn't..I'm pretty logical and take things for what they are, nothing wrong with that.But if I want a better machine than my racer or Xterra I know I need to pony up and get a grand or better together and buy high end performance.. Anything mid-range is really splitting hairs in terms of depth or speed.
 
It's good to get others insight on machines.The nox and makro seem to be all the rave now,last year I think it was the impact and the mx sport. before that it was the racers,oh and the at max .
Personally I'm just not seeing it being any better performance than anything else in it's price.
Seems all these machines anymore are options on the same platform..When I look for a machine I have certain options I need,and some I just prefer.I know there's alot of buzz going around but I'll bet none of these Midpriced models released won't find something the at pro,Xterra ,racer2,mxt pro,or f75 wouldn't..I'm pretty logical and take things for what they are, nothing wrong with that.But if I want a better machine than my racer or Xterra I know I need to pony up and get a grand or better together and buy high end performance.. Anything mid-range is really splitting hairs in terms of depth or speed.

Wood butcher,
I sure don't want to prejudge Equinox model.

I can say right now 100% you can take a racer into an iron ridden site and find things the f75 will struggle on or not alert on. We'll see how deep the Equinox is. It could be deeper than some other similarly priced units. It could ID nonferrous better or more accurately on average than some of these same units.
Folks soil mineral,levels vary, and Equinox may or may not have an advatantage here. We will find out. Minelab isn't a company that releases detectors often. You can see by the manual the Equinox looks to be loaded with features for what they cost. Equinox will in time have its place in the heirarchy. And where it places may indeed depend on some things like higher mineralized soil, more polluted ferrous sites, hunting modern trash sites, salt water hunting, fresh water hunting, and even how durable and reliable and how good Minelab's service is on units with problems.

Wager time.
I'll bet you have one before June and post about on this forum.
 
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Wood butcher,
I sure don't want to prejudge Equinox model.

I can say right now 100% you can take a racer into an iron ridden site and find things the f75 will struggle on or not alert on. We'll see how deep the Equinox is. It could be deeper than some other similarly priced units. It could ID nonferrous better or more accurately on average than some of these same units.
Folks soil mineral,levels vary, and Equinox may or may not have an advatantage here. We will find out. Minelab isn't a company that releases detectors often. You can see by the manual the Equinox looks to be loaded with features for what they cost. Equinox will in time have its place in the heirarchy. And where it places may indeed depend on some things like higher mineralized soil, more polluted ferrous sites, hunting modern trash sites, salt water hunting, fresh water hunting, and even how durable and reliable and how good Minelab's service is on units with problems.

Wager time.
I'll bet you have one before June and post about on this forum.

Oh no,I’m not pre judging the nox or any of the new units coming out.Im sure they’ll all perform great.Im just saying that I’m not expecting to see any earth shattering results on top of what’s already on the market in that price range,that’s all.
 
I made a $50 contribution to this forum today. Inhave contributed once in the past. For my $50 bucks I get lots of enjoyment here. Plus this will pay hopefully for some at least of the bandwidth Imuse when posting here.
 
I'll be comparing Multi-Kruzer and Equinox 600 on youtube soon.

Mainly Eq600 Park full tones vs MK14khz 4 tone because that's the style hunting I do. Probably some very basic depth test and walk through of settings. If you need a wall of text on every setting and scenario TNSS will certainly provide that for those interested.

I'm a Xterra/FBS and Fisher/Tek/Makro/Nokta fan so will be interesting to for me personally to see what I prefer long-term.

Subscribed to your YouTube channel.
 
Bro., i second what TNSS said, you will have one by June :yes::lol:

If they’re out by June.lol..sure,I’m curious just like everyone else.But I’ve learned not to set my expectations too high,all machines are good imo,,but this is a mid priced machine.And as some have said on here countless times. (its good (For the money)..
I've seen long-time members saying that the nox is gonna be good,cause minelab hasn't released a dud yet..uh,yes they did.lol ..not long ago..Minelab go find..
And I actually like Minelab,but been down that road before with the videos,hype,and the end result is a midpriced machine with average performance.We will see
 
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Fall out

If they’re out by June.lol..sure,I’m curious just like everyone else.But I’ve learned not to set my expectations too high,all machines are good imo,,but this is a mid priced machine.And as some have said on here countless times. (its good (For the money)..
I've seen long-time members saying that the nox is gonna be good,cause minelab hasn't released a dud yet..uh,yes they did.lol ..not long ago..Minelab go find..
And I actually like Minelab,but been down that road before with the videos,hype,and the end result is a midpriced machine with average performance.We will see

After the recent marketing ploy Minelab pulled with this machine if its just another mid-level machine there will be some major fallout. I agree with Tn.and after reading your posts we will see you swinging an Equinox, question is will it be a new one or a used one ? lol HH Mark
 
After the recent marketing ploy Minelab pulled with this machine if its just another mid-level machine there will be some major fallout. I agree with Tn.and after reading your posts we will see you swinging an Equinox, question is will it be a new one or a used one ? lol HH Mark

Used for sure.lol..Even the best units have flooded the classifieds after being tested.ill be watching this thread and craigs videos to see the deal first
 
It's good to get others insight on machines.The nox and makro seem to be all the rave now,last year I think it was the impact and the mx sport. before that it was the racers,oh and the at max .
Personally I'm just not seeing it being any better performance than anything else in it's price.
Seems all these machines anymore are options on the same platform..When I look for a machine I have certain options I need,and some I just prefer.I know there's alot of buzz going around but I'll bet none of these Midpriced models released won't find something the at pro,Xterra ,racer2,mxt pro,or f75 wouldn't..I'm pretty logical and take things for what they are, nothing wrong with that.But if I want a better machine than my racer or Xterra I know I need to pony up and get a grand or better together and buy high end performance.. Anything mid-range is really splitting hairs in terms of depth or speed.

woodbutcher --

Just my opinion, but you may be making a mistake when assuming "mid-range price on the Equinox, means it will be a mid-range performer." I think that one of the things Minelab intends to "obsolete," is the idea that to get a high performer, you need to spend a couple of grand on a unit. I think there are other factors at play, which I have written about in great detail before (http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=252625), as to why Minelab may be introducing cutting-edge technology, at unheard of prices. I have been making this point for several months, and it now seems to be backed up by Minelab themselves. What do I mean? Well...

Here's a quote, from Minelab, taken from an email they sent to another forum member in the past day or two (dewcon4414), in response to some questions he had asked about the Equinox...

"Also, please don’t draw any conclusions, before trying EQUINOX yourself, based on price comparisons of detectors. We regard EQUINOX as a “game-changer” that will redefine the price/performance assumptions that many people are currently and incorrectly making."
 
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I think that one of the things Minelab intends to "obsolete," is the idea that to get a high performer, you need to spend a couple of grand on a unit.

Which is kind of ironic since it's really only Minelab that sells machines for a couple thousand dollars.
 
One test with pic.
Old nail with a 2015 model penny.
Down the barrel sweep.
Park 2
Speed setting 5 iron bias 0.
Check using all freqs/multi freq.

5khz notta
10khz notta
15khz tone noted as coil trailed off nail where coin is nearer.
20khz similar to 15khz albeit slightly better, detector trying to give something audio wise coming from the right side.
40khz a little better progressively than 20khz, again sweep from right to left, detector is trying its best to tell me some thing is there,
Multi freq- bingo, get some thing I would investigate sweeping from both directions.

20px82b.jpg


Different setup, same nail clad dime.
This dime not in the most challenged position for Equinox to detect, but even the position it is in, take note of multifreq performance.
24ow10n.jpg


Same settings as noted with pic above of zincoln penny and nail.
Down the nail barrel sweep.
5khz I get trailing tone
10khz Imget training tone
15khz I get trailing tone, tone is coming in sooner vs lower freqs though,
20khz I get similar to 15khz, trailng tone is reporting sooner. Something tonally albeit (rubbish) trying to report when coming from right side sweep.
40 kHz I get similar to to 20khz, again I get audio considered better than 20kh coming from right side.
Multi freq= bingo, good signal,from both directions.

One more scenario, gotta take to site next.
Park 2 speed 5, 0 iron bias.
Nail perched above off to side of US nickel (2" wide roll of tape ) non war nickel.
25i12mq.jpg


Check using all freqs.
Multi freq again clear winner by a mile!
Equinox using multifreq even ID nickel properly.
Could use some coil height too above and obtain very good signal.
 
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