Minelab Equinox 700/900 updates??

[Ted S]

Has Minelab ever done an update for our new 700s/900s? Or are we left holding the bag again as other companies update their machines?

 

[markinswpa]

Has Minelab ever done an update for our new 700s/900s? Or are we left holding the bag again as other companies update their machines?

That is the question Ted. I commented about an update over on DP about a week or so back. There was talk about a second update for the Manticore which prompted me to ask the same question. I did read one guys response from Minelab, he said they told him an update would be released when ready. That was maybe three months ago. Since then I haven't read or heard any more about it. My guess is since the first update for the Manticore really didn't do much they are still trying to solve some of the issues, as the 900 shares alot of the same issues I guess we'll have to wait. I will say I am not to keen on Minelab theses days. Question for you Ted, are hitting any deep coin sized targets with your 900 ? I can't seem to hit any coins over 4 in. deep. Mark

 

[JimmyCT]

Ted,
What do you think needs improvement on the 700/900?

 

[Ted S]

Mark...I have hit 7-8 inch coins for sure. Jimmy...I get a lot of falsing on some targets. That could be my own fault. Another thing about depth here. I think my 600 goes just as deep as the 900. Mark.. What are your settings on the 900? I go back and forth between Park 1 and Field 2. Park 1 in my area gives a higher and stronger tone than field 2. I like field 2 for higher emi areas...

 

[D&P-OR]

Ted,
What do you think needs improvement on the 700/900?

EXCESSIVE (jumpy) TIDS.

 

[jim tn]

We've been in a drought here in W Tn so chasing deep targets in park like settings are being avoided. None the less, have gotten 8" deep coins in the woods along old trails and have dug a few deeper, so I've never been concerned with depth on my 900. Nor, actually, do I experience much, if any, noticeable excessive jumpy tids. My 600, though, is as deep as my 900 I do believe. HH jim tn

 

[markinswpa]

Mark...I have hit 7-8 inch coins for sure. Jimmy...I get a lot of falsing on some targets. That could be my own fault. Another thing about depth here. I think my 600 goes just as deep as the 900. Mark.. What are your settings on the 900? I go back and forth between Park 1 and Field 2. Park 1 in my area gives a higher and stronger tone than field 2. I like field 2 for higher emi areas...

Ted thanks for the reply. My go to settings on the 900 and for the last 3 years on the 800 is Field 2 5tone Rec. 4 Ib 0 or 1 All metal. No disc. Sensitivity usually between 20 to 22. EMI is generally not an issue. Field 2 seems to run more stable than Park1. I will say Park 1 on the 900 is much better than on the 800. On the 800 my clean up mode was Beach 1, same settings as in Field 2, Believe it or not I had remarkable success with that. Just yesterday after going over a yard for 2 days with the 900 I put it back in the truck and used the 800 for the last 2 hours. Right off the bat I hit an 8 inch hem weight, a 7 in Ihp, my second Buff of the day and 4 more wheats and a coach's medal dated 1941. All good dig me signals. First time I had the 800 out this year. With the 900 targets Ids were very jumpy and nothing over 4 inches deep. I have tried Beach 1 with the 900 but it doesn't seem the same. Park 1 is the better back up. What part of the country are you in ? I have read posts if people hitting deep targets with the 900 but I sure ain't seeing it. Good luck with your experiments. One more thing of note I mainly use the 6 in coil. Some might say well use the stock coil if you want more depth. I found that not to be the case. With the 800/6in. same settings I would hit 8-10 coins all day long. So it would be reasonable to assume the same results with the 900, not so. I have found there is only marginal more depth with the stock coil, unless, UNLESS you are in mild, black old deep topsoil. When I find a spot like that I do use the bigger coil. Sorry I could go on all day. Good luck. Mark

 

[markinswpa]

We've been in a drought here in W Tn so chasing deep targets in park like settings are being avoided. None the less, have gotten 8" deep coins in the woods along old trails and have dug a few deeper, so I've never been concerned with depth on my 900. Nor, actually, do I experience much, if any, noticeable excessive jumpy tids. My 600, though, is as deep as my 900 I do believe. HH jim tn

Jim, it has been very dry here all year also. I just got my first yard permission the other day since early April. I have spent my time since in the woods of the old parks here. I have no trouble hitting larger iron targets that sound great at 9 inches or more. Its the coin size targets I am not hitting. After 60 + hunts I can't believe I haven't swung over some deep coin sized targets. I do get the excessive TIDs, severe up averaging, double triple beeps on coins that you would expect to be shallow and are not. Yeah I hope Minelab does come up with a way to calm the 900 down a bit. AS far as the depth thing, that got me scratching my head. Good luck. Mark

 

[fwcrawford]

I did not realize folks were having issues with jumpy TID’s on the 700/900.
I am still running the 800, but tried the 900 for a while that Jim “JimmyCT”, sent me to try while he was recovering from foot surgery.
I used it some on land and while water detecting and did not notice this.. I also never tried the 6” coil on it.
I have a small wood patch that I was finding some civil bullets at and I found 4 with it and they all gave great signals and TID’s… not sure if I simply missed them
with the 800 or it did not signal over them.
What few times I used it for coin shooting, it seemed to work fine… I just was not familiar with the expanded scale.
Since returning it to Jim, he has done pretty good with it in places he pounded with the 800.
Hopefully if an update is needed, it will come out soon.. it is a nice detector and seems to be waterproof which will be a nice Improvement over the 800.

 

[JimmyCT]

I did not realize folks were having issues with jumpy TID’s on the 700/900.
I am still running the 800, but tried the 900 for a while that Jim “JimmyCT”, sent me to try while he was recovering from foot surgery.
I used it some on land and while water detecting and did not notice this.. I also never tried the 6” coil on it.
I have a small wood patch that I was finding some civil bullets at and I found 4 with it and they all gave great signals and TID’s… not sure if I simply missed them
with the 800 or it did not signal over them.
What few times I used it for coin shooting, it seemed to work fine… I just was not familiar with the expanded scale.
Since returning it to Jim, he has done pretty good with it in places he pounded with the 800.
Hopefully if an update is needed, it will come out soon.. it is a nice detector and seems to be waterproof which will be a nice Improvement over the 800.

I agree I do not see the “jumpiness” that others are having issues with. When the 900 hits on a target, it locks right on.

 

[jim tn]

Yeah, Mark, what you are experiencing is much different then I am. After a dentist appt. this morning I dug 2 Barber dimes that were 6" and 7" deep with nice audio in bone dry ground. I am wondering if you have something else going on with your 900 that perhaps a "update" won't even fix? I don't mean to add further doubt to what all you are experiencing, but two other guys I frequently hunt with also have 900's and each of us have recovered 9 and 10" deep coins. No dimes, but quarters and 1 large cent. And I agree, after 60+ hunts you should have gotten over a few deeper coins. Anyway, good luck! HH jim tn

AS far as the depth thing, that got me scratching my head. Good luck. Mark

 

[D&P-OR]

Ted,
What do you think needs improvement on the 700/900?

EXCESSIVE (jumpy) TIDS.

Yeah, Mark, what you are experiencing is much different then I am. After a dentist appt. this morning I dug 2 Barber dimes that were 6" and 7" deep with nice audio in bone dry ground. I am wondering if you have something else going on with your 900 that perhaps a "update" won't even fix? I don't mean to add further doubt to what all you are experiencing, but two other guys I frequently hunt with also have 900's and each of us have recovered 9 and 10" deep coins. No dimes, but quarters and 1 large cent. And I agree, after 60+ hunts you should have gotten over a few deeper coins. Anyway, good luck! HH jim tn

Jim-----I was thinking the same thing.-----Could it be the individual (E-900) machines---or---the ground (sites) a person is hunting in?-----I seem to get decent enough depth with my E900----it's just those excessive jumping I.D.s that I have a problem with.--Doesn't seem to make a difference what coil or settings you are using.--Either my CTX, Etrac, or Deus 2 doesn't do that at all.

 

[jim tn]

Could it be the individual (E-900) machines-

Hey, Del, that's what I've been wondering. If I am remembering correctly, one of my buddies and I got our 900's several months after they first came out. I haven't seen to many complaints of their depth, but several throughout the various forums do mention "jumpy" tid. If by chance it is a certain run/batch problem, we'll never know from Minelab. You take care! HH jim tn

 

[markinswpa]

EXCESSIVE (jumpy) TIDS.

Jim-----I was thinking the same thing.-----Could it be the individual (E-900) machines---or---the ground (sites) a person is hunting in?-----I seem to get decent enough depth with my E900----it's just those excessive jumping I.D.s that I have a problem with.--Doesn't seem to make a difference what coil or settings you are using.--Either my CTX, Etrac, or Deus 2 doesn't do that at all.

D&P I got my 900 on 12-16-22, so one of the early ones. In my test garden the 900 was hitting targets the 800 was struggling to see. Strange. But I was ok with that thinking its an improved 800 and I expected it to out perform it. In air tests the 900 does very well, silver dimes at 10 inches, no problem. Nickels to almost 12 in. As I commented before EMI is almost never a problem. One other thing I forgot to mention, first let me say when the 900 hits a coin it hits it harder and faster than any previous machines I've used. Thats when it running as it should. So there have been hunts where the 900 struggles to lock on any targets, if you get a hint of a signal, the audio is scratchy and you almost have to wiggle the coil and wait for signal to report. This I noticed early on and most recently on my last two trips to an old city park. So one might conclude mineralization, maybe but why does the 800 not have the same issue. I have hunted these parks and fields for years going back to when I had an Etrac. Another thing I might mention, I run all metal and ground noise is always maxed out and lowering sensitivity doesn't help much in that regard. I recently bought a Legend, I want to see if it as good as the reports I've read and the mineralization meter may help to answer some of my questions. In my test garden and the few sites I've had it too the meter only shows 2 bars. Another thought, which I haven't tried yet is to swap the coil from the 800. I may contact Minelab yet. There are still a few things I want to try. My apologies to Ted, was not my intention to jack the thread. However I have a tendency to ramble on and its good to hear other 900 users thoughts and ideas. That said Thanks to all. Mark

 

[Ted S]

Mark.. I don't consider this a hijack! WE are all here in this forum to learn from each other! Don't worry! we will get everything figured out! Good luck and HH! Ted