New Minelab machine coming.

[Agent Green]

Emailed MINELAB directly, the new pin pointers are coming out in November, and the Equinox is supposed to be available before Christmas...

 

[Jason in Enid]

Emailed MINELAB directly, the new pin pointers are coming out in November, and the Equinox is supposed to be available before Christmas...

I just hope they ship adequate quantities. When Garrett announced the Carrot pinpointer I put in a pre-order. I was hoping to do some testing and demonstration videos early on, but it took months to get it. They came in really slow and seemed to trickle out to people who ordered them.

 

[apenney]

So, really dumb question here: I have a v3i, is this tech worse, better, just wildly different? I'm very much a 'casual' user, so I don't really know how to compare these advances with something like the beast that is the v3i.

 

[marjam]

So, really dumb question here: I have a v3i, is this tech worse, better, just wildly different? I'm very much a 'casual' user, so I don't really know how to compare these advances with something like the beast that is the v3i.

I don't think anyone knows at this point what kind of performance its going to have. It sounds very promising. I would say that coming from Minelab it will be a winner, but only time will tell how it matches up to the tried and true detectors out there. One advantage it will have over the v3i is it is going to be able to be used in the water. I am waiting to see how it fares against land detectors once They start trickling out and people post videos. I am probably a spring purchaser at this point if it lives up to the hype.

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[RustyGold]

After I sold my Excalibur recently, I was somewhat beside myself for doing that and really missed it.
I was about to purchase another one then the Equinox comes along.
It won't be a diver's detector but I really didn't need that. For my purposes I Just needed a water machine.
So perfect timing (for once) to get just what I wanted in a detector. Ordered..

 

[vferrari]

After I sold my Excalibur recently, I was somewhat beside myself for doing that and really missed it.
I was about to purchase another one then the Equinox comes along.
It won't be a diver's detector but I really didn't need that. For my purposes I Just needed a water machine.
So perfect timing (for once) to get just what I wanted in a detector. Ordered..

I too am getting ready to sell my Excalibur since I am only using it in Surf/Wet Sand also, not diving. Equinox fits the bill. Only problem is, it hasn't actually "come along" just yet. Having been burned on several imminent detector release announcements (e.g., MX Sport, Impact), we'll see when and if it is actually ready for prime time. Hopefully, when water season starts up again late next spring.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Equinox will never match the ability of an excal, no where near the depth of an excal, it wasn't designed to compete against excal or 3030, designed to compete in mid-level detector range.

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[Rick K]

No reason to assume that it won’t be as deep as the excal. On the other hand maybe you have some inside info to that effect?

 

[vferrari]

Equinox will never match the ability of an excal, no where near the depth of an excal, it wasn't designed to compete against excal or 3030, designed to compete in mid-level detector range.

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Even assuming that's true (unproven), I assume it will have some depth and pretty damn good Salt beach performance vs. just about any other vlf detector out there (Excal and 3030 excluded), plus unlike the Excal, it is designed to be a true all terrain detector with some gold affinity (40 kHz mode) visual target ID, etc. So I can downsize to a single detector sell my Excal and MX Sport, and only be missing out on a few really deep surf targets AND have some hefty cash in my pocket. Buh bye Excal...

Whether Minelab intended to compete against their own Excal and 3030 babies with the Equinox, the reality of the situation is that it WILL indeed eat into their sales nevertheless. The reason is simple, they cannot launch a marketing campaign that touts features/tech that are similar to the 3030 and Equinox which are superior surf machines (and in the case of the Excal - dive machine) that implies at the same time that the Equinox is somehow intentionally crippled, because that is how it will come across. I think Minelab was savvy enough to realize this and is willing to take the collateral damage on their own product line as they "go for the kill" against Garrett (AT PRO/MAX), Nokta (IMPACT), Whites (MX SPORT) and First Texas and to a lesser extent XP. Smart move Minelab and the users win because they get very high performance to cost ratios.

 

[smokeythecat]

You ready for this? I got to actually see and swing one of these. For real. Interesting machine. And I got to talk to some people who were actually at Detectival in the UK recently. Here's what I saw and gathered. Overall, some people got some very good items at this hunt in England. Some did not. Pretty much all brands of machines were represented. One of the Minelab guys suggested the Equinox goes deeper than the Deus. So much for the hearsay.

I did not actually detect with the Equinox. They aren't having old cats just run off with one for a test spin! Let me make that clear. On a positive note, it is much lighter than the heavy armor Minelab has been producing over the years. That will help a lot. The coil that comes with it is fairly large. It is going to be interesting to see if it can find tiny items. I have found with other brands, the bigger the coil, the less likely you will find a 22 bullet down a few inches, while you will find one with a smaller coil. We shall see.

It has a straight shaft. When I swung the machine, it was, uh, odd. Maybe that's how to put it. Of course, I did not have the opportunity to shorten or lengthen the shaft, if that can be done, and did not use it long. The "swing" didn't have a good balance, in my opinion. The arm cuff slapped against my arm. I was told it weighs 2.9 pounds.

Meter was easy enough to read. That's a plus. Good underwater to 10 feet, as I was told.

So first impression, at the price they are offering it will be a challenge to the F75 and the AT Pro, as well as some of the other mid line machines out there. With the straight shaft, I'm not sure if they were thinking more of an underwater machine, especially with the big coil, or what. Big coil in thick woods or brush will be a challenge.

Even with multi frequency, I'm not sure how it will do with the horrible Virginia red soil. I just don't know. In moderate soil, or sandy soil I see no issues at all. Hot rocks, who knows? Iron patch, only one way to find out. Underwater I would assume be fine as Minelab does produce good underwater machines.

So here's the bottom line: If you are already thinking of upgrading from a turn on and go machine, this machine will probably be a good bet. Will it beat everything out there? Probably not. Having a decent site to dig and YOUR skills plays as much into detecting as which machine or machines you have. If you like having a LOT of machines, adding one more won't hurt at all.

Now there is some talk as to whether it will be better than the XP Deus. This answer isn't REALLY sideways, but it's yes and no. If you don't water hunt, that feature won't help. It weighs about 1 pound more than a Deus. That can make a difference on a long hunt. The 800 model goes up to 40 khz while the Deus to, I think 78 khz. The higher frequency on the Deus IN SOME CASES will help. I have been scarfing up gold with the Deus HF coil in the higher frequency ranges. Lots of gold. And deep coins and buttons.

Will I buy one? Don't know. I already have two perfectly good machines. They are finding LOTS of good things. Both of them. Tesoro Cibola and an XP Deus.

I will try out the Equinox if possible when they are available, but these days, will not buy any machine before I can test drive it. Just some observations. If one of my buddies gets one, i'll take it for a spin and decide at that point.

 

[RobRieman]

I hope like all of you do it’s a good machine. But let’s face it. You get what you pay for. And you can pretty much compare any detector made by it’s price tag.

 

[smokeythecat]

My biggest problem is I can only swing one at a time, and the weight of some doesn't help me. Getting older.