Explorer II to the Equinox?????

[robo]

I know it's early in the game for the Equinox but my curiosity has peaked an interest in it.
I have been a long time user of the explorer and have come quite adapt with it.
Made lots of nice finds with it and it is my main machine.
Outside of ergonomics and processor speed do you think it might be time for a upgrade?

 

[Sambo]

I'm in exactly the same position, wondering whether to invest in some additional coils for my Explorer or upgrade to the Nox.

 

[IDXMonster]

Ill speak up for a minute since I used an Explorer2 for a year,I now run the CtX,and have for 2 years. To me,it’s a matter of what you’re looking for. I hunt deep silver and copper coins in fairly mild turf,for the very great part. I do not beach hunt,and I generally don’t go after anything in the lower range of conductivity. If your paths and ways of hunting are similar,from what I’ve seen so far,I’m not sure the jump is warranted just yet. Maybe in time,when we as FBS/FBS2 users see more input from our peers about the Equinoxs performance on DEEP HIGH CONDUCTORS,we can make an educated decision about that purchase. It doesn’t matter to me if a new machine or different machine goes into a site and finds something not found before. What would matter is if the Equinox and the machine being used previously were BOTH allowed to sweep the target,a decision was made from the information provided,and the target was dug to see which was most accurate. This would take the “dumb luck” of finding the target by chance out of the equation. I have put a thread out called “CTX Challenge vs Equinox” which is inviting people who have them to get together with me this spring and do some of these comparisons in real hunting conditions.
You guys might also want to do something similar,so you can see the results for yourself firsthand,and not have to rely on any other factor than what you’ve seen with your own eyes. If you like what you see and feel that the Equinox IS an upgrade for what YOU DO...then it might make sense to buy one.
Just a side note...I do still have my Explorer2,it isn’t going anywhere for any reason. There is something about that machine that is magical,I haven’t gotten enough hours on it to really feel confident running it in Manual Sensitivity. I’ve done VERY well with it in Semi Auto,but feel I have much to learn. I LOVE the audio, it has the X-1 probe and it finds deep coins regularly. Since that’s what I do,it’s just another tool for my toolbox.
The Equinox does seem to be very good for low conductors from what I’ve seen. Eventually I will get one to hunt turf gold,when I get to that point in my detecting and feel I want to give that a shot. No matter WHAT,I’ll never sell my EX2 or CTX,they have just been way too good for what I do.
All just personal opinions and observations of course...

 

[idahojohn]

I've been a long time user of the xs and se pro. Just got to play with my new 600 out in the yard tonight for the first time.

Don't read too much into this, as I am brand new to this machine.

In my yard, with freshly buried coins, my se definitely gets slightly deeper than the 600. I tried all the modes, playing with the
recovery rate, sensitivity, tones, etc.. as I could, and still couldn't get as deep as the se.

Also, to try the recovery rate, I buried a silver quarter at 8 inches, with a wad of foil 3 inches to the side about 2 inches down, to
see if the 600 could pick out the quarter. I couldn't pick it up with either machine, no matter how slow I swept the coil.

I didn't have any rusty nails handy to do any testing.

Not very scientific, so take it for what it is.

 

[anbenson]

I also have been a long time user of the Explorer II, which I just sold yesterday. I'm going to replace it with an E-Trac and an Equinox. My Equinox should be hear on Monday or Tuesday of next week. The FBS machines are definitely deep silver magnets in relatively clean ground and I will always have one in my arsenal.

It's already been said in previous posts that it all depends on where you are going to use the machine. In trashy sites the Equinox is going to be the way to go.

I'll give an example. back in the late 90's my father and his friends got permission to hunt a site that had both military and mining activity on about a 10 acre parcel. Both my Dad and I were using Explorers, one of his friends had a Sovereign and the other was using a Whites XLT. We hunted that place for years and found some really good stuff. But, there were places that had so many nails and iron trash that my machine would just null over the whole area. Even the XLT had problems. I also had a Fisher CZ 6a I tried out there a few times, but it falsed on iron so bad it was worthless, I never really liked that machine.

Fast forward to 2015. I bought an XP Deus because most of my metal detecting was being done in ghost towns and old Military camps and the trusty Explorer was just not cutting it. I hadn't been out to the previously mentioned site for at least 10 years because we had given up on it as worked out. So, I decided to give the property owner a call and see if I could get permission to hunt the area again. I couldn't believe all the stuff we missed. In the summer of 2016 I pulled out a 3 cent piece, 3 half dimes, 5 dimes, a half dollar, a 2 reale, a half reale, 1 gold ring and numerous buttons and bullets. Last year I got an Indian head penny, 5 shield nickles, a seated half dime, a seated dime and many more buttons and bullets from the same site. All this stuff was hiding in the nail infested areas at depths of 3-7 inches.

When I get my Equinox I plan to hit the site again and see what else has been missed. I think the Equinox is going to offer something new we haven't seen yet in a metal detector. I plan on doing quite a few in field comparisons between the Deus and Equinox this spring.

 

[sgoss66]

robo and Sambo --

Here's my take -- I would get an Equinox 600, and KEEP your Explorers. FBS and Multi-IQ are different machines; we KNOW FBS is great for deep silver; I think the Equinox will prove very capable on deep coins BUT will likely excel at coins amongst nails and such -- so that having BOTH FBS and Multi-IQ in the "tool box" would be the most wise choice, as opposed to "one or the other."

Just my take; I swung an SE Pro for 7 years, and now swing a CTX 3030 and an Equinox 800...

Steve