Power of the Equinox vs CTX 3030

[Jim Robertson]

Does anyone know if the send and receive power of the CTX 3030 id greater than the Equinox? I am asking this question on both forums. Thanks

 

[IDXMonster]

Very likely very similar, as too much is counter productive. I think they have that number(wattage?) maxed out.

 

[Sweeping-4-junk]

I have read some where that the ground will only take a certain limit of power that is usable , I think increasing the transmit power in clean ground might possibly work but then you need a battery the size of a car battery!.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I have read some where that the ground will only take a certain limit of power that is usable , I think increasing the transmit power in clean ground might possibly work but then you need a battery the size of a car battery!.

True, Detecting engineers have been saying for decades that we are at the limit of usable power. Sure, they can make your detector go deeper with more current but its an exponential increase in power for inverse-proportional depth increases.

What we have seen over time is the increased signal interpretation, giving us some better depth and more accuracy. We have also seen reduced power needs for the processors so that we no longer need a pound of batteries just to run. A half-ounce lithium battery does the job of a half dozen D cells or even lantern batteries of the past.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Here's the simple answer, the Equinox is both HOT and DEEP and already has to reduce transmit power in some modes. I tested 70 targets recently in air tests. It crushed the Explorer on small targets period. It crushed the Explorer on depth especially on small coins. It crushed the Explorer on targets straight up on edge which are invisible to the Explorer. The Equinox was smacking on edge dimes at 6-8 inches I was stunned. From what I saw the Equinox was not only striking the top edge of the dime, but reaching around sideways and striking the dimes flat surface.

Performance is a combination of transmit power, and several other factors like frequencies, coil inductance, and elimination of soil mineralization from the received signal. The fact that the Equinox is hitting targets several inches farther than an Explorer in air tests tells you the raw potential of the machine. If the Equinox is hitting a dime straight up on edge at 8 inches in an air test, there's no guarantee it will get that depth in soil. But the poor Explorer can't even get a signal on that target in an air test.

 

[metalpopper]

Here's the simple answer, the Equinox is both HOT and DEEP and already has to reduce transmit power in some modes. I tested 70 targets recently in air tests. It crushed the Explorer on small targets period. It crushed the Explorer on depth especially on small coins. It crushed the Explorer on targets straight up on edge which are invisible to the Explorer. The Equinox was smacking on edge dimes at 6-8 inches I was stunned. From what I saw the Equinox was not only striking the top edge of the dime, but reaching around sideways and striking the dimes flat surface.

Performance is a combination of transmit power, and several other factors like frequencies, coil inductance, and elimination of soil mineralization from the received signal. The fact that the Equinox is hitting targets several inches farther than an Explorer in air tests tells you the raw potential of the machine. If the Equinox is hitting a dime straight up on edge at 8 inches in an air test, there's no guarantee it will get that depth in soil. But the poor Explorer can't even get a signal on that target in an air test.

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Informative and well intended reply Charles, but with one possible error.....You may not be able to compare the Equinox to Explorer.. especially IN-AIR.


WHY?


They are of different design...


If you could fit he same '11 inch stock coil' to both Explorer and Equinox.....and use comparable sensitivities.....Then do IN-Soil tests, I think you would be more realistically comparing those units.

For instance; air-testing the E-Trac, produces less range than when the same target is then placed in soil.....due to design philosophy that requires SOIL involvement as part of the E-Trac's algorithms which 'filters out' the soil undulations.....matt

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Here's the simple answer, the Equinox is both HOT and DEEP and already has to reduce transmit power in some modes. I tested 70 targets recently in air tests. It crushed the Explorer on small targets period. It crushed the Explorer on depth especially on small coins. It crushed the Explorer on targets straight up on edge which are invisible to the Explorer. The Equinox was smacking on edge dimes at 6-8 inches I was stunned. From what I saw the Equinox was not only striking the top edge of the dime, but reaching around sideways and striking the dimes flat surface.

Performance is a combination of transmit power, and several other factors like frequencies, coil inductance, and elimination of soil mineralization from the received signal. The fact that the Equinox is hitting targets several inches farther than an Explorer in air tests tells you the raw potential of the machine. If the Equinox is hitting a dime straight up on edge at 8 inches in an air test, there's no guarantee it will get that depth in soil. But the poor Explorer can't even get a signal on that target in an air test.

******************************************************

Informative and well intended reply Charles, but with one possible error.....You may not be able to compare the Equinox to Explorer.. especially IN-AIR.


WHY?


They are of different design...


If you could fit he same '11 inch stock coil' to both Explorer and Equinox.....and use comparable sensitivities.....Then do IN-Soil tests, I think you would be more realistically comparing those units.

For instance; air-testing the E-Trac, produces less range than when the same target is then placed in soil.....due to design philosophy that requires SOIL involvement as part of the E-Trac's algorithms which 'filters out' the soil undulations.....matt

Yes Explorers don't like air gaps...wait for it...between the coil and soil. Its the coil/air/soil sandwich they hate. A pure air test something else altogether. Then there's that I have dug like 20,000 targets with Explorers

 

[BootyHunter]

Jim (OP), I don’t know the technical jargon and all that, but I have owned the Etrac when it came out until the ctx was released then I owned the ctx until the Equinox came out. I live in East Tennessee, I bought an ATX from you a few years ago, we met in Wytheville Va for that exchange if you remember. Anyway what I can tell you is for this soil around here, which is moderately mineralized and for hunting in iron infested sites, the Equinox has ran circles around both the Etrac and the CTX. I’ve hunted the same sites with all 3 machines and there’s no comparison. I think it’s more about the recovery speed of the equinox than raw power. It will pick nonferrous targets out of heavy iron and punch through this mineralized clay where the Etrac and CTX would just null out. Even using those machines with an open screen, they still wouldn’t get through this soil. Fbs and Fbs2 were inferior to whatever this multifrequency mode the Equinox runs. I was astonished at the difference. I had hopes that it would do better in this soil, never in my wildest dreams did I expect the results I’m getting. My first hunt with it I got 4 silver coins with it, and that was not knowing shite from shinola about it. I used it up in Culpeper and it even works in THAT soil. Found 19 3
Ringers in about 2 hours in one spot. Found 4 full gilt eagle buttons with it in another site up there, along with bullets, flat buttons, grommets, all the typical stuff. This thing loves lead and brass. It’s a relic hunters dream machine and it loves silver and gold as well. Best machine I have ever owned by far.

 

[Foreverteachable]

Great post and comments guys. I have owned several other brands but this is my first Minelab so I can't compare it to other machines but I have been hunting an area that has older coins but it was covered with top fill at one point in time. I have been finding coins under the top flil down to 8 or 9 in so it definitely separates and has good depth in my opinion. I am also hunting areas with sandy soil and have found wheat pennies at 9 in. I have not dug any coins deeper than that though where is I've heard people with some of the older machines that said they were digging silver dimes at 11 in or so.

 

[Jim Robertson]

n/t

 

[Jim Robertson]

n/t

 

[Garais]

I had CTX, so happy that I sold it and bought Equinox.

 

[HanoverDigger]

Jim (OP), I don’t know the technical jargon and all that, but I have owned the Etrac when it came out until the ctx was released then I owned the ctx until the Equinox came out. I live in East Tennessee, I bought an ATX from you a few years ago, we met in Wytheville Va for that exchange if you remember. Anyway what I can tell you is for this soil around here, which is moderately mineralized and for hunting in iron infested sites, the Equinox has ran circles around both the Etrac and the CTX. I’ve hunted the same sites with all 3 machines and there’s no comparison. I think it’s more about the recovery speed of the equinox than raw power. It will pick nonferrous targets out of heavy iron and punch through this mineralized clay where the Etrac and CTX would just null out. Even using those machines with an open screen, they still wouldn’t get through this soil. Fbs and Fbs2 were inferior to whatever this multifrequency mode the Equinox runs. I was astonished at the difference. I had hopes that it would do better in this soil, never in my wildest dreams did I expect the results I’m getting. My first hunt with it I got 4 silver coins with it, and that was not knowing shite from shinola about it. I used it up in Culpeper and it even works in THAT soil. Found 19 3
Ringers in about 2 hours in one spot. Found 4 full gilt eagle buttons with it in another site up there, along with bullets, flat buttons, grommets, all the typical stuff. This thing loves lead and brass. It’s a relic hunters dream machine and it loves silver and gold as well. Best machine I have ever owned by far.

Now that's what I like to hear...being a Civil War relic hunter. I like coins...dug LOTS of them...don't get me wrong, but I'd rather be finding relics. To each his own! Can't wait to get into my spots with the 600!

 

[Always Curious]

The Nox may beat the FBS machines for hunting relics--I don't hunt relics, so say "may." For coin hunting in most places, though, my Etrac generally does a better job than my Nox 600. The exception is certain places with lots--and I mean lots--of old iron junk and rusty nails. I have found the two machines to be roughly the same in depth in solid soil. I think the Nox is less affected by the packing of the soil (or lack thereof)--could well be a result of the different ground balancing/sensing systems. Since I depend a lot on the Etrac's superior fe/co ID and depth info, it may be that if my ears were better, I would give more points to the Nox.

 

[jtalley007]

He's got both book sense and common sense that has been applied in the real world, not just in the laboratory.

Most people that design metal detectors have never even used one, this is obvious by the poor ergonomics of many of them.

I know I will for one be watching carefully to see what Charles has to say,

Jerry

 

[Southwind]

That is why I have the best luck with Auto +3 rather than Manual 26. In auto it will not over saturate the ground which causes the detector to be less stable. And from my experience, in some situations you'll get less depth in manual because instead of finding the best responding channel/frequency and decreasing the other two/increasing the dominant channel/frequency. That being said, it some situations pounding the ground with three frequencies all at the same high power CAN get you more depth.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

That is why I have the best luck with Auto +3 rather than Manual 26. In auto it will not over saturate the ground which causes the detector to be less stable. And from my experience, in some situations you'll get less depth in manual because instead of finding the best responding channel/frequency and decreasing the other two/increasing the dominant channel/frequency. That being said, it some situations pounding the ground with three frequencies all at the same high power CAN get you more depth.

I can't speak for the CTX but Explorers transmit at max power always, no matter what your settings are. Auto sense does not lower the transmit power, neither does lowering the sensitivity to 1 its still transmitting at max power. Just saying.