CTX Challenge To The Equinox

[IDXMonster]

I agree you never get it all. Time after time, year after year. There are so many variables that exist. Freeze and thaw, search directions, speed, coil size etc. I wish all very good luck with their new Equinox and look forward to the reports.

You know it,we all ask how this happens. It IS the variables. Missing that ONE little spot where the signal is,especially if deep,is VERY easy to do! That’s why I like a massive coil..to try and cover ground COMPLETELY. I’m hoping the deep freeze we are going through right now will result in some ground movement in my favor! It’s just another variable among many others...

 

[Trashfinder]

Steve,

Once you get acclimated to the EQ, come back up to my site and we will do the EQ vs the CTX challenge. You already know the site and what to expect from it. Mike will probably be swinging the EQ too, so it would be a really good "test" for the EQ. What do you think? Is the hunt on??? You pick the date.

Joe

It's on, Joe -- problem is, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get enough "acclimation" to the EQ, since I'm enjoying swinging the CTX so much. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to master two machines, at once...

I guess it's a "good problem to have," though, eh?

Steve

Steve i live in Ardmore just 70 miles south of you. I would be willing to do this same type hunt, my Impact against your ctx or equinox under the same conditions as outlined above no money involved just truth and lots of fun!

 

[sgoss66]

All I know is I'm headed to sites that have been Ctx'd to death and haven't produced anything for a few hunts and have been worked by me extra hard in the past to see what is hiding in the trash and iron and thats going to be my experiment to see what the machine is all about its the same thing I did when I got my Ctx,it will definitely answer my question of what the Ctx, E trac and i missed due to any given factor or ground condition and if it was worth getting..and then if it proves it's worth I'll keep it and I will use it to finish off a site after using my Ctx first.I know spots that have extremely dense low co targets bad ground and iron that I know for a fact something has to be lurking beneath or close all those tabs,nails and slaw with the crazy amount of silver taken from those spots.im also hoping I can weasel it to defeat some high emi spots with the selectable frequencies to root out some stragglers. I didn't get this machine to replace my Ctx for sure but got it just to complement it on making sure my cleanouts are effective and as thorough as today's tech allows.. not to mention this thing will be stored in my truck for spots of opportunity while I'm out and about hh

pghmole -- Well stated. I am thinking the same things as you are -- with the Equinox likely to excel in the same types of situations, and the same types of sites, as you are saying (heavy iron or other trash, bad EMI sites, etc.) And, like you, I also think the Equinox will have some "cleanup" potential after the CTX has done its magic in a given site.

Carolina -- I think you may be mistaken, about "no videos at the beach" meaning that we should thus conclude the Equinox will have hindered ability at the beach. There's been no "flood of videos" of the Equinox at the beach BECAUSE the field testers are bound by NDAs, AND the machine has still been in "prototype" mode, being adjusted right up until the end (even today, as we find out, as Minelab has just altered, very recently, the "gold mode" to include multi-frequency).

Everyone is so used to seeing people "test" detectors on YouTube, but we sometimes forget that the people we see "testing" machines are nearly always people who have BOUGHT an actual PRODUCTION-MODEL machine, not a true field tester employed by the manufacturer, running a prototype machine. In other words, the people we are used to seeing testing machines and reporting the results on YouTube are NOT the same people who have had an Equinox in their hands, up to this point. TWO DIFFERENT SITUATIONS! One should NEVER expect to see "a flood of videos" from a true "beta tester" testing a prototype machine. They'd be FIRED, if they did so!

I'm sure, Carolina, your "flood of videos" will be coming soon. I have no idea if the Equinox will perform as well as a CTX on the beach. That's not my point. My only point is, don't yet CONCLUDE what the machine can or can't do on the beach, simply due to a lack of videos to this point. Again -- given that the machines are not in dealer stock yet, there has been no one to this point with a machine in hand who has had the ABILITY to legally produce the videos you wish to see...

Soon, Carolina; soon you (and we) will get the info you (and we) are wanting...

Steve

 

[sgoss66]

Trashfinder,

Sounds like a plan, to me. I'd be glad to do it. Remember, I'd have felt much better doing so with the Explorer vs. your Impact, as I had several years of Explorer experience under my belt. I'm brand-new to the CTX (2 months), and obviously will be even MORE "brand-new" to the Equinox. So, I stand a good chance of "losing" any "competition!" With that said though, competition aside, it's certainly an opportunity for a great learning experience for the both of us. I'm sure there's a good site somewhere in the vicinity of the two of us, that would make for a good testing site, and a fun day. I'm in!

Steve

Steve i live in Ardmore just 70 miles south of you. I would be willing to do this same type hunt, my Impact against your ctx or equinox under the same conditions as outlined above no money involved just truth and lots of fun!

 

[Mr. Carolina]

Steve: So Dr Tones bought that production model so therefore he was allowed to make and show his video's? I don't think so!!! One thing you say I agree with. Soon we shall see the Equinox in action. Enjoy your new machine and I look forward to the video's.

Carolina

 

[sgoss66]

Carolina --

I think Dr. Tones was on a very short leash -- meaning, he knew exactly what he could, and couldn't say, and probably had to run any video he wanted to publish past Minelab, first. But the point I am making is, this is why there was not "flood of videos" (your words).

Like I said, I am NOT disagreeing with your desire to see more info (I want the same thing). And I'm not even disagreeing with your skepticism. Believe me, I am all about skepticism -- I believe it is wise/prudent to be skeptical about ALL things... All I am saying is, I think yours is an incorrect conclusion to draw, from the available evidence. If no one (basically) is permitted to DO a video, then how could the lack of videos be used to conclude something about the machine's performance? That is all I'm saying.

Look, I've been involved in "field testing" before. Not detectors -- another product. It involved a bunch of going "back and forth" with the engineers, trying to work out the kinks and the bugs and helping the engineers to get to the point where the actual, "in the real world" performance of the product matched what the engineers had intended and hoped for. It was an "iterative" process, over the course of time. And to think back, it is quite obvious to me how nonsensical it would have been for someone to be frustrated that I hadn't produced a video comparing the product with some other, existing product. It just wouldn't have made sense. When something is being "prototyped" and "tested," the product is BY DEFINITION a "proprietary secret" of the company producing it, and it is BY DEFINITION an incomplete, and likely somewhat "flawed" product. That is NOT the time to be producing videos. The time for videos and comparisons and such is AFTER the product is COMPLETE, and has reached production status.

Again, it's coming! My only point is, you might not want to conclude "it won't stack up" just because you haven't seen any videos yet...

Steve

 

[Mr. Carolina]

Steve: I am curious what it was or for who you tested? Just curious. I too am on two test teams so I am aware of what's involved.

 

[sgoss66]

Carolina --

Sounds like you are well aware of the testing process, then.

Mine was for a component related to an electric, in-ground dog fence. There was a specific scenario that was being worked on, for the situation where someone wanted to fence in their back yard only, but needed a way for the dog to get "into" the back yard, and thus "inside" the fence, without getting zapped right there coming out the back door of the house. SO, the engineers were working on a sort of a "doorway" to let the dog walk through, where the fence signal was "cancelled out." I was working with them to get the "doorway" concept worked out, so that the signal was effectively cancelled out over that short distance corresponding to the "back door" of the house, in just the way they wanted it to be. Once they got it to work, it made it so that the "back yard only" fence became an option for pet owners (as opposed to having to completely surround the house -- or else do an entire "double loop" around the back yard, which was impractical for anyone like me with several acres of yard).

Steve

 

[Mr. Carolina]

Steve, sounds very interesting. Also interesting is that it looks like Minelab has changed the gold mode to run in multi IQ now in default mode. I may have to eat some crow now!!!

 

[sgoss66]

LOL! Yes, I found that interesting, too. I think that was done based on some feedback from a few testers (I'm speculating Steve H. was one of them) here very, very recently; may even have been part of the reason that it was just a bit "delayed" from the original "late December" target date. Just speculation, on my part, but I do think that's a really positive development...

Yes, the field test on the in-ground electric fence was an interesting experience. How about yours?

Steve

 

[Mr. Carolina]

My testing experience is different from yours , as mine was not electronics but rather mechanical. I was a tester for the new composite straight stick Anderson shafts with new retention system for the Excalibur and also a tester for the DiAblo weld less sand scoops. Can't seem to wear either one out.

Carolina

 

[sgoss66]

Nice, Carolina! So your testing is on beach detecting stuff. That would have been more "fun" than testing in-ground electric fences, methinks!

Steve

 

[IDXMonster]

I just want to bump this thread back up so people in the southern WI area who have been tinkering and learning can bring one by this spring and see how things compare to the CTX and eTrac which will likely be in the group of hunters I’ll be with. We will be hunting silver coins,as that’s what it would have to do at least as well for me to consider a change. I am seeing a lot of enthusiasm about the machine around the BEACH,and now a few turf videos are coming in.
Either post here or send a PM if you are thinking of taking the challenge! There will be a certain amount of “record keeping” so we can get some “scientific results” to try to weed out facts from sheer luck. I’m very interested in what it can do!