Soon to be EQ800 owner, All Metal Questions

[88SIII]

I had an Xterra 505 for 1 year, then and Xterra 705 for 3.5 years and I feel I know those machines pretty well. Recently sold both. I picked up a Garrett AT Max last year and I'm still trying to get to understand the quirks of that machine. I certainly wanted the water hunting ability and the wireless headphones that it offers.

Now I'm eagerly waiting for my EQ800 to arrive, I've been reading / watching as much as I can, and very happy to once again have more than 3 tones which is all that the AT Max has.



I used to hunt w/ my 705 in AM mode nearly 100% of the time in my typical search area since its not too trashy,

Here's what I think I understand, (very simplistically)

The predefined modes are a starting point where ML has managed the multi-frequency weighting for TID for the various hunting scenarios.

All metal mode on the EQ800 is not a separate mode but rather a switch within a give search mode that simply toggles/un-notches any notched out segments, but the multi frequency weighting will remain the same.

Just so I understand the X-705 / EQ800 differences and if I wanted to mimic the older Xterra series, I would pick a search mode, set it to a single frequency, ( like 5 Khz or 10KHz closest match to my xterra coils) and run in a user profiled discrimination mode and/or AM mode?



Thanks, TJR

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Forget trying to mimic previous machines the Equinox is a different animal imo. Minelab machines have become increasingly feature rich and complex starting with the Explorer. The Equinox is the latest leap forward in complexity and its more important than ever to take the time to understand what these features do and how to adjust them properly. Even the factory turn on and go modes are more complex now, should I chose Beach 1 or Beach 2 for a given beach and why.

Compared to an Explorer, the eTrac and CTX were more complex and the risk of screwing up the settings was greater. I lost count of the number of times an eTrac or CTX user was not able to get a signal on a target that was loud and clear on my Explorer. Total silence due to improper machine setup. Once I located the target for them they were able to adjust their settings and correct this but dang they were detecting along oblivious to how screwed up their machine was.

At a more advanced level learning the order in which the settings are applied can be important. Which setting is applied first Gain or Sensitivity? Did you know that many people got this backwards on the Explorer? Sensitivity is applied first, this deletes the weakest portion of the signal e.g. deep faint targets. Then Gain boosts what's left of the signal. Some mistakenly cranked their Gain to 10 thinking they were boosting the deep faint targets, but lowered their sensitivity to quiet the machine down which did what, yes it deleted the deep faint targets they were trying to boost with a high Gain. Gain could not boost the deep faint targets because they had already been deleted from the signal by the lower Sensitivity setting.

One Equinox feature that is new to me is Minelab now varies the transmit power, dang. I was all comfy knowing that no matter what my user settings were on an Se Pro Explorer, transmit power remain constant, 100% power at all times in all modes and settings. I'll have to re-think this now. Someone told me the end user can't actually change the Equinox transmit power setting directly, rather Minelab has programmed in higher or lower transmit power depending on mode selected. But I'll big looking into this to understand it, and when to choose one vs the other. Just an example.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

The weighting of frequencies is also used to deal with different types of soil mineralization and salt on wet saltwater beaches. Here again knowledge will be king in choosing the most optimal for a given site. I think the modes beach, field, etc. get you most of the way there.

Personally I would not choose to run an Equinox in single frequency mode without a very specific reason for doing so. Highest frequency for hunting small gold and jewelry inland on targets so small multi frequency can't get a signal on them. Lowest frequency if a site has played out in multi frequency and I'm now seeking the greatest possible depth to reach another layer of targets.

Multi frequency, ever wonder where the 28 advertised frequencies come from when an Explorer only actually transmits 2 frequencies? Its because it transmits a SQUARE wave vs a sine wave. If you transmit a 10khz square wave you get back the 10kHz square wave PLUS an infinite number of harmonic frequencies, of which the Explorer uses 26 of those. Infinite frequencies would be cool but there's a catch, the strength of the 2nd harmonic is weaker than the 1st, and the 3rd weaker than the 2nd and so on. So while technically the number of frequencies are infinite pretty quickly the harmonic frequencies are so weak they are of no use.

What I'm wondering is if the Equinox transmits 5 primary frequencies at full power 5kHz, 10kHz, 15kHz, 20kHz, 40kHz where the Explorer only transmits 2. The signal strength back from those 5 frequencies would be full strength, and the harmonic frequencies 2nd, 3rd, 4th order would be stronger around each of the 5 primary frequencies. That would be an improvement over the Explorer, much stronger signal strength, more/better target information.

 

[dewcon4414]

Charles...... interesting thought. But ..... take the beach mode im betting the reason both the 600 and 800 run the same multi freq... yet the 600 lacks the higher two is because they arent used in either machine. Note that beach mode doesnt allow you to switch to those single freqs either. The machine appears to run around 14Khz I also agree the machines got a little more complicated ...... that was one of the reasons i switched from the DFX over to the Explorer. There was way to many settings that many didnt understand and loved to play with. It only got worse with the V3. This machine is really suited quite well much like an Xcal......... simplicity. A great majority of the settings is more about the phones than the target.

 

[lytle78]

Ah, the endless mysteries of the enigmatic prose of Minelab’s Marketing Department. Charles, I suspect you have some (perhaps many) of the facts, but you got no help from them! Lol

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Charles...... interesting thought. But ..... take the beach mode im betting the reason both the 600 and 800 run the same multi freq... yet the 600 lacks the higher two is because they arent used in either machine. Note that beach mode doesnt allow you to switch to those single freqs either. The machine appears to run around 14Khz I also agree the machines got a little more complicated ...... that was one of the reasons i switched from the DFX over to the Explorer. There was way to many settings that many didnt understand and loved to play with. It only got worse with the V3. This machine is really suited quite well much like an Xcal......... simplicity. A great majority of the settings is more about the phones than the target.

Oh man the Explorer was so much simpler than the DFX. I think Minelab crossed out all the single frequencies in beach mode because none of them can handle salt. This doesn't necessarily mean the Equinox is not making use of higher frequencies in multi frequency beach mode. In fact reports on how well the Equinox hits on small gold tells me even in beach mode they are. In a few days I'll know for sure because I'll be testing the Equinox on my small gold samples.

Look at this small 14k gold target, its tiny and there's not much metal there its open front and back. Its completely invisible to an Explorer even if you rub it on the coil, yet 54 kHz hits this at 3 inches solid signal. Most diamond stud gold earrings are going to be from about this size up to twice as large and if the Equinox can get a signal on this I'll be hunting for diamond stud earrings for sure.

Here you see even smaller gold samples and how deep 54 kHz can detect them. Look at that piece of gold that hits at 1/2 inch that's the size of Roosevelt's ear on the clad dime. Some gold prospecting detectors are north of 70 kHz, I think there's one up near 90 kHz.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Ah, the endless mysteries of the enigmatic prose of Minelab’s Marketing Department. Charles, I suspect you have some (perhaps many) of the facts, but you got no help from them! Lol

I tell Minelab how to setup and use THEIR detectors.

 

[dewcon4414]

Make ya a bet Charles..... you wont see as much of that small gold as you think. If any one can tweak maybe you can .... keep us posted on your success.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Make ya a bet Charles..... you wont see as much of that small gold as you think. If any one can tweak maybe you can .... keep us posted on your success.

I don't disagree, but my test sample small gold chain and gold jewelry bits are all I'm really after at the beach. If it can hit those then I'm all set.

 

[dewcon4414]

In the wet.... you may get beach 1 to produce some smaller gold. But in the water beach 2 I believe we cant expect more than what the CTX might find with maybe a little depth on that gold. Early in the game... but this is the time of the year we should be seeing it. Im watching the Jersey and VA beach guys finds.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

In the wet.... you may get beach 1 to produce some smaller gold. But in the water beach 2 I believe we cant expect more than what the CTX might find with maybe a little depth on that gold. Early in the game... but this is the time of the year we should be seeing it. Im watching the Jersey and VA beach guys finds.

In the water yeah a whole different topic. I'm not sure I want to find small gold in the ocean with waves hitting me, I have a hard enough time recovering a coin or ring out there. Southern NJ beaches spoiled me, at low tide the wet sand is where people were swimming 4 feet deep only hours early. You can cover a lot more ground and target recovery is easier hunting the wet sand at low tide.

 

[dewcon4414]

Charles..... i know you arent going to do it in the water because you would be using beach 2. I was talking wet sand. I follow the Jersey guys.........not seen anything tiny yet they have posted ...... but they sure find a lot of gold and are real happy with the machine.

 

[laplander]

Congratulations on updating your gear. Coming from the 705 should be an easy transition. I would spend a good deal of time just using it as is, trying a few modes to match your hunting conditions. Just noise cancel, adjust sensitivity and enjoy. The horseshoe icon button will open the discrimination to all metal if you feel the need at anytime.
Good luck Laplander

 

[dbado1]

Congratulations on updating your gear. Coming from the 705 should be an easy transition. I would spend a good deal of time just using it as is, trying a few modes to match your hunting conditions. Just noise cancel, adjust sensitivity and enjoy. The horseshoe icon button will open the discrimination to all metal if you feel the need at anytime.
Good luck Laplander

Areed. The Nox is a very straight forward, uncomplicated machine. The " all metal" mode just opens the disc pattern so that you can hear everything, if you wish. I prefer the all metal mode but turn the iron volume way down. Clive Clynick's book, Equinox "From Beginner to Advanced" is a very good read. Congrats on your purchase!

Dean