Two Equinox questions

[JimNasium]

Hey everyone! I have a couple of Equinox questions if you wouldn’t mind answering.

1. Does the Equinox break down fairly easily? And does it fit into a backpack? I don’t have a car, and usually bike, bus, or train to my location. I need it to be fairly portable.

2. The Equinox 600 has only two backlight settings. 1) Off and 2) high. I do a lot of night hunting, so I’m worried the backlight settings are going to be 1) Can’t see and 2) Eye meltingly bright. Can anyone confirm the high setting backlight isn’t going to be an annoyance at night?

 

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[toddbbq]

Yes it breaks down to back pack size and the backlight is bright but I use a headlight at night and can see the screen when backlight is off even when using a red light.

 

[Echoplex]

1. It fits completely broken down, but the lower shaft will stick out about 4-6 inches depending on the pack. That Dakine pack is a taller pack.



2. It is BRIGHT and will probably hurt your night vision. Personally, I could not use the bright setting on my 800 unless it was around dusk or dawn. The 800's dim (low) setting is perfect for deep night.

 

[Echoplex]

Btw, you can trim maybe an inch off that lower shaft. Probably not worth it though.

 

[flgliderpilot]

Hey everyone! I have a couple of Equinox questions if you wouldn’t mind answering.

1. Does the Equinox break down fairly easily? And does it fit into a backpack? I don’t have a car, and usually bike, bus, or train to my location. I need it to be fairly portable.

2. The Equinox 600 has only two backlight settings. 1) Off and 2) high. I do a lot of night hunting, so I’m worried the backlight settings are going to be 1) Can’t see and 2) Eye meltingly bright. Can anyone confirm the high setting backlight isn’t going to be an annoyance at night?

The backlight on the 600 is bright. I have an 800 and the brightest setting is blinding at night. The middle setting is still too bright. I run the lowest setting on my 800 and honestly I STILL find it too bright for night hunting, but it's useable.

There is a simple solution. Get a piece of transparent vinyl film and make a red filter for the screen. You can use two layers if you need to, to reduce the brightness and the red will preserve your night vision. This is how amateur astronomers use laptops under dark skies to do astro imaging.

 

[Echoplex]

Here, I took a picture of me using the Bright setting on the Nox:

 

[smokeythecat]

It's an alien invasion! Boy, that's bright. At least everyone within 5 miles around will know you are out there.

 

[curious2]

The backlight on the 600 is bright. I have an 800 and the brightest setting is blinding at night. The middle setting is still too bright. I run the lowest setting on my 800 and honestly I STILL find it too bright for night hunting, but it's useable.

There is a simple solution. Get a piece of transparent vinyl film and make a red filter for the screen. You can use two layers if you need to, to reduce the brightness and the red will preserve your night vision. This is how amateur astronomers use laptops under dark skies to do astro imaging.

That is a very good suggestion, that I am going to try. The other day, it was getting dark and I indeed found the 600's screen too bright.

 

[JackalopeZL1]

My back pack the lower shaft just fits completely inside. Easy to break down. Back light adjustable and really good. Well I have experience with the 800 though.

 

[JimNasium]

1. It fits completely broken down, but the lower shaft will stick out about 4-6 inches depending on the pack. That Dakine pack is a taller pack.

View attachment 1563816

2. It is BRIGHT and will probably hurt your night vision. Personally, I could not use the bright setting on my 800 unless it was around dusk or dawn. The 800's dim (low) setting is perfect for deep night.

That’s exactly what I was looking for. Thanks so much!!

 

[jmikeslater]

Its super bright, like a super nova

 

[WaterScoop]

It's an alien invasion! Boy, that's bright. At least everyone within 5 miles around will know you are out there.

Duhhh..
That’s so you can shine it towards thehole and retrieve your treasure with ease in complete darkness without having to carry a flash light...

 

[smokeythecat]

I don't do night digging. Too many monsters around here.

 

[curious2]

I don't do night digging. Too many monsters around here.

And they will definitely be attracted by the Equinox's bright screen

 

[vferrari]

Yeah its bright. Glad I can turn it down for post twilight hunting.

 

[Underwonder]

I am considering upgrading to the 800 because I cannot adjust the 600 brightness down. Waaaay to bright for me. Although I did turn the detector upside-down and used it as a flashlight to find my hand digger left behind!

 

[digger27]

While I do have the 800 and can think of many more features that I am glad I have to play with if that is your only issue I find it hard to believe you are considering spending that extra money just to solve this one issue when there are much cheaper solutions.
Look into photographic gels...plastic sheets or film in many different colors you can buy that photographers use to change hues and soften or dim lights.
One piece of an 11" sheet of grey or smoke color cut up and taped to your screen should fix your problem.

Video Production Tip: Using Color Correcting Gels - GeniusDV Training


That is unless this was just a joke, of course, if that is the case then....uh...ha ha.

 

[JackalopeZL1]

If you look at it from a financial viewpoint you are better off buying the 800 every time. You can sell the headphones and wireless module for around $200 and still have all the features and performance of the 800. To me it is a no brainer.

 

[vferrari]

While I do have the 800 and can think of many more features that I am glad I have to play with if that is your only issue I find it hard to believe you are considering spending that extra money just to solve this one issue when there are much cheaper solutions.
Look into photographic gels...plastic sheets or film in many different colors you can buy that photographers use to change hues and soften or dim lights.
One piece of an 11" sheet of grey or smoke color cut up and taped to your screen should fix your problem.

Video Production Tip: Using Color Correcting Gels - GeniusDV Training


That is unless this was just a joke, of course, if that is the case then....uh...ha ha.

You might even want to look into a red gel screen cover that will preserve your night vision.

 

[nagant]

Red helps me night fishing, red globe on a coleman 242 lantern! If you can afford the 800 I'd get it but the 600 has the main deal, Multi frequency. and the film covers would work fine.