Disappointed in the equinox 600!!

[sgtm8411]

I have a manticore for myself and purchased two equinox 600’s for my 14yr old and 9yr old sons. After finding a 1798 large cent down about 12-14” and seeing my oldest son slump his shoulers in frustration I gave him the manticore and I used his equinox for the remainder of the hunt. He proceeded to find a musketball down around 12-14” where the good/old targets were hiding and despite my best efforts I was supremely frustrated with the equinox. Maybe I didn’t realize how spoiled I have been but I felt horribly guilty that my sons have been, for lack of better words, wasting their time with the equinox. My oldest has a birthday this month and I have a nokta legend on the way for him so fingers crossed it is a better detector than the eq 600. I guess I was expecting the manticore to be only slightly better than the equinox but it is literally 3x the machine in every way.

 

[JimmyCT]

In what ways are you “supremely frustrated” ? Please give specifics so I can understand your claim to frustration.


“…my best efforts I was supremely frustrated with the equinox.”

 

[MuddyMo]

All of that surprises me..

 

[Odanscoils]

I have a manticore for myself and purchased two equinox 600’s for my 14yr old and 9yr old sons. After finding a 1798 large cent down about 12-14” and seeing my oldest son slump his shoulers in frustration I gave him the manticore and I used his equinox for the remainder of the hunt. He proceeded to find a musketball down around 12-14” where the good/old targets were hiding and despite my best efforts I was supremely frustrated with the equinox. Maybe I didn’t realize how spoiled I have been but I felt horribly guilty that my sons have been, for lack of better words, wasting their time with the equinox. My oldest has a birthday this month and I have a nokta legend on the way for him so fingers crossed it is a better detector than the eq 600. I guess I was expecting the manticore to be only slightly better than the equinox but it is literally 3x the machine in every way.

If you can find a nice Sovereign GT.
They'll be beating you.
Talk to Ollkoot.
He's got a couple new machines that he's loving.

 

[sgtm8411]

In what ways are you “supremely frustrated” ? Please give specifics so I can understand your claim to frustration.


“…my best efforts I was supremely frustrated with the equinox.”

It just felt like a beep and dig machine. I dug iron when getting high target IDs. I didn’t have the same depth and even after ground balancing and running the sensitivity as high as I stably could it just couldn’t see down to where the good/old targets are. It’s just asking too much from that detector. I was disappointed that I couldn’t tell iron from non-ferrous targets. After being spoiled with the manticore this year it was just a huge leap back to spend the day with the eq 600.

 

[sgtm8411]

If you can find a nice Sovereign GT.
They'll be beating you.
Talk to Ollkoot.
He's got a couple new machines that he's loving.

I collect metal detectors so I will add that one to my list.

 

[sgtm8411]

All of that surprises me..

It surprised me too to be honest. Maybe I just have to use it more

 

[JimmyCT]

It just felt like a beep and dig machine. I dug iron when getting high target IDs. I didn’t have the same depth and even after ground balancing and running the sensitivity as high as I stably could it just couldn’t see down to where the good/old targets are. It’s just asking too much from that detector. I was disappointed that I couldn’t tell iron from non-ferrous targets. After being spoiled with the manticore this year it was just a huge leap back to spend the day with the eq 600.

I am very surprised to hear this. I had the 800 ( now own the 900) and with that machine, it was superior at identifying iron. That’s not saying I didn’t dig any iron because I did but it was minimal. I feel the 800 was the best machine I have had in identifying iron. When signals “bleed out” it’s iron. The 600 has the same technology as the 800 minus a few settings. Otherwise they are identical in performance.

 

[sgtm8411]

I am very surprised to hear this. I had the 800 ( now own the 900) and with that machine, it was superior at identifying iron. That’s not saying I didn’t dig any iron because I did but it was minimal. I feel the 800 was the best machine I have had in identifying iron. When signals “bleed out” it’s iron. The 600 has the same technology as the 800 minus a few settings. Otherwise they are identical in performance.

It could totally be my lack of experience with that particular detector. I love Minelabs! It was just a huge eye-opener going from the manticore to the eq600.

 

[KindManTall]

It could be the Manticore coil got over the targets.. Was that the only 2 targets found .. You should try and compare detectors on the targets before digging it up
I found a Gold ring with the DEUS my buddy 900 did mot .. Is his 900 a crappy detector ??

 

[oldkoot]

I have a manticore for myself and purchased two equinox 600’s for my 14yr old and 9yr old sons. After finding a 1798 large cent down about 12-14” and seeing my oldest son slump his shoulers in frustration I gave him the manticore and I used his equinox for the remainder of the hunt. He proceeded to find a musketball down around 12-14” where the good/old targets were hiding and despite my best efforts I was supremely frustrated with the equinox. Maybe I didn’t realize how spoiled I have been but I felt horribly guilty that my sons have been, for lack of better words, wasting their time with the equinox. My oldest has a birthday this month and I have a nokta legend on the way for him so fingers crossed it is a better detector than the eq 600. I guess I was expecting the manticore to be only slightly better than the equinox but it is literally 3x the machine in every way.

Well I will tell you, you are going to be just as disappointed with the Legend in my opinion LOL

the issues you are describing are inherent in all Digital detectors and the reasons I have gone to Beep and dig detectors, i am currently using three beep and digs that will spank even the manticore and the Deus 2 in depth and calling a target ferrous when it is ferrous and calling non ferrous when it is non ferrous at depth, I am currently swinging a Deep Tech Vista X, Golden Mask pro 4WD and a Golden Mask 7 and those three detectors can pull a Non ferrous target out of a pile of nails sitting on top of a non ferrous target

watch this video and yes I have tried this when I received my Vista X

 

[oldkoot]

Well I will tell you, you are going to be just as disappointed with the Legend in my opinion LOL

the issues you are describing are inherent in all Digital detectors and the reasons I have gone to Beep and dig detectors, i am currently using three beep and digs that will spank even the manticore and the Deus 2 in depth and calling a target ferrous when it is ferrous and calling non ferrous when it is non ferrous at depth, I am currently swinging a Deep Tech Vista X, Golden Mask pro 4WD and a Golden Mask 7 and those three detectors can pull a Non ferrous target out of a pile of nails sitting on top of a non ferrous target

watch this video and yes I have tried this when I received my Vista X

Try those test with a digital detector with a computer screen attached to a shaft and see what you get, I can tell you a digital detector will not even come close to performing on those test like that so any digital detector you purchase is going to be pretty much the same garbage as what you already have

My next purchase is also going to be a beep and Dig i am looking at the Nexus MP V3 and the Nexus Mp v2 as my next purchase one or the other

with my Golden mask 7 I dug a hot wheel hummer at 18 inches deep measured, that GM7 called it Non Ferrous at that depth also this at 14 inches it is a piece of aluminum wire hardware cloth and no that's not a keeper of a target but that GM7 hit that at 14 inches deep measured, its not the fact it could see that scrap piece of aluminum wire its the fact that it called it what it was at 14 inches deep which was a non ferrous

I have never been one to dig by target IDs I listen to the Audio and base my dig or no dig by the audio pretty much all the time so I decided to try something completely different and for me personally i am having more fun now digging less garbage than I have in a very long time, yes the three beep and digs I have will make a bottle cap sound like a great non ferrous target but when you pull the coil back or push it just beyond the bottle cap you know it is a scrap target. no guessing what a bunch of jumpy target IDs are trying to tell you

 

[sgtm8411]

Well I will tell you, you are going to be just as disappointed with the Legend in my opinion LOL

the issues you are describing are inherent in all Digital detectors and the reasons I have gone to Beep and dig detectors, i am currently using three beep and digs that will spank even the manticore and the Deus 2 in depth and calling a target ferrous when it is ferrous and calling non ferrous when it is non ferrous at depth, I am currently swinging a Deep Tech Vista X, Golden Mask pro 4WD and a Golden Mask 7 and those three detectors can pull a Non ferrous target out of a pile of nails sitting on top of a non ferrous target

watch this video and yes I have tried this when I received my Vista X

Do they sell these in the US?

 

[sgtm8411]

Well I will tell you, you are going to be just as disappointed with the Legend in my opinion LOL

the issues you are describing are inherent in all Digital detectors and the reasons I have gone to Beep and dig detectors, i am currently using three beep and digs that will spank even the manticore and the Deus 2 in depth and calling a target ferrous when it is ferrous and calling non ferrous when it is non ferrous at depth, I am currently swinging a Deep Tech Vista X, Golden Mask pro 4WD and a Golden Mask 7 and those three detectors can pull a Non ferrous target out of a pile of nails sitting on top of a non ferrous target

watch this video and yes I have tried this when I received my Vista X

That is definitely impressive!

 

[sgtm8411]

Try those test with a digital detector with a computer screen attached to a shaft and see what you get, I can tell you a digital detector will not even come close to performing on those test like that so any digital detector you purchase is going to be pretty much the same garbage as what you already have

My next purchase is also going to be a beep and Dig i am looking at the Nexus MP V3 and the Nexus Mp v2 as my next purchase one or the other

with my Golden mask 7 I dug a hot wheel hummer at 18 inches deep measured, that GM7 called it Non Ferrous at that depth also this at 14 inches it is a piece of aluminum wire hardware cloth and no that's not a keeper of a target but that GM7 hit that at 14 inches deep measured, its not the fact it could see that scrap piece of aluminum wire its the fact that it called it what it was at 14 inches deep which was a non ferrous

I have never been one to dig by target IDs I listen to the Audio and base my dig or no dig by the audio pretty much all the time so I decided to try something completely different and for me personally i am having more fun now digging less garbage than I have in a very long time, yes the three beep and digs I have will make a bottle cap sound like a great non ferrous target but when you pull the coil back or push it just beyond the bottle cap you know it is a scrap target. no guessing what a bunch of jumpy target IDs are trying to tell you

So which do you like better between the Deep Tech Vista X and the GM 7?

 

[oldkoot]

Do they sell these in the US?

The Golden Mask Detectors there is no dealer in the U.S you have to order the Golden Mask Detectors directly from GM which is in Bulgaria the Deep Tech Detectors Like the Vista X there is a very good dealer here in the U.S and he is a member of this forum @Richard@BackwoodsDetectors

Richard sells the Deep Tech detectors

 

[oldkoot]

So which do you like better between the Deep Tech Vista X and the GM 7?

I will be honest with you the Deep tech and the Golden Mask detectors are so close in capabilities that I really cannot say which one I like the best

I currently own three beep and dig detectors and all three of them perform pretty much the same
the GM 7 is my latest acquisition and it has a screen it is 80% analog and 20% digital the GM7 is a selectable single frequency detector that runs 4,14,24,and 44 KHz, the hot wheels and the wire mesh I located with the GM7 but took the Golden Mask 4 WD and the deep tech Vista X out with me before I dug the two targets and all three of those detectors had no problem seeing the aluminum wire mesh or the hot wheels that I dug and all three were calling those two targets non ferrous at the depths the targets were, I also took my Legend out there and it could not see either of those targets at all

 

[oldkoot]

So which do you like better between the Deep Tech Vista X and the GM 7?

Nexus detectors are also not sold in the U.S, and the Nexus detectors are also made in Bulgaria and very very pricey LOL

here is something also to keep in mind I at one time owned three Legends, one I traded to Richard at Backwoods detectors for my Deep Tech Vista X one of my other legends I traded for a XP ORX and I still own one Legend LOL, the ground I detect is highly mineralized it has a heavy layer of magnetite and heavy salt content, when I would activate the mineralization meter on the Legend the left side of that meter would peg at 10 bars, left side is for iron particles in ground I:E (Magnetite) right side of that meter would be running 6-8 bars I:E (Salt Content) in ground, the combination of the salt and the Magnetite made for some very tough detecting scenarios for digital detectors, but these three analogs do not seem to have an issue with the heavy mineralization

I still have my simplex plus, one Legend 3 Analog detectors a Axiom which is a PI (Pulse Induction), Garrett 24 K nugget detector, AT Pro and a Mine lab Xterra 705, I use what works best on the ground I detect and that is the three Analogs when I am coin and jewelry hunting, when I am Nugget hunting I use the Axiom and the Garrett 24K

It was a very hard decision on my part to trade for what most would consider an out dated old technology detector, talking about the Vista X but I will tell you I have no regrets in doing so,

 

[sgtm8411]

Nexus detectors are also not sold in the U.S, and the Nexus detectors are also made in Bulgaria and very very pricey LOL

here is something also to keep in mind I at one time owned three Legends, one I traded to Richard at Backwoods detectors for my Deep Tech Vista X one of my other legends I traded for a XP ORX and I still own one Legend LOL, the ground I detect is highly mineralized it has a heavy layer of magnetite and heavy salt content, when I would activate the mineralization meter on the Legend the left side of that meter would peg at 10 bars, left side is for iron particles in ground I:E (Magnetite) right side of that meter would be running 6-8 bars I:E (Salt Content) in ground, the combination of the salt and the Magnetite made for some very tough detecting scenarios for digital detectors, but these three analogs do not seem to have an issue with the heavy mineralization

I still have my simplex plus, one Legend 3 Analog detectors a Axiom which is a PI (Pulse Induction), Garrett 24 K nugget detector, AT Pro and a Mine lab Xterra 705, I use what works best on the ground I detect and that is the three Analogs when I am coin and jewelry hunting, when I am Nugget hunting I use the Axiom and the Garrett 24K

It was a very hard decision on my part to trade for what most would consider an out dated old technology detector, talking about the Vista X but I will tell you I have no regrets in doing so,

Thanks so much for taking the time out to create such detailed responses. I will end up buying the GM 7 and likely the deep tech at some point in the next few months. I collect detectors and it is a real problem. . Also planning on a minelab sovereign and maybe reacquire a Fisher CZ of some variety (probably the 3D). Thanks for pointing me in the right direction though. The manticore has impressed the hell out of me thus far so I would love to see something that can keep up or beat it. Was planning on getting a deus 2 to test but I am honestly curious as to why I see so many of them for sale on Facebook marketplace.

 

[oldkoot]

Thanks so much for taking the time out to create such detailed responses. I will end up buying the GM 7 and likely the deep tech at some point in the next few months. I collect detectors and it is a real problem. . Also planning on a minelab sovereign and maybe reacquire a Fisher CZ of some variety (probably the 3D). Thanks for pointing me in the right direction though. The manticore has impressed the hell out of me thus far so I would love to see something that can keep up or beat it. Was planning on getting a deus 2 to test but I am honestly curious as to why I see so many of them for sale on Facebook marketplace.

Sounds like you and I have the same problem LOL

if you want to look at a detector that will impress you, look at the Nexus MP V3 and the Nexus MP V2, one of those two is my next acquisition, I just cannot figure out which one I want, the Nexus detectors you place your order then you wait for about three months before they get shipped to you, because they only build them as the orders come in, but from my understanding well worth the wait and the money they cost

I inquired about the MP V3 with the 24 KHz silver scout 9 or 11.5 inch coil and also the 13 inch 6 KHz coil and the cost is around $2500 U.S