Minelab Equinox vs. The E-TRAC

[Richard@BackwoodsDetectors]

[size=large]Gentlemen,
I thought I would chime in and let you know that my second best selling detector is the E-TRAC. With all the information about the Equinox, the sales of E-TRACs hasn't slowed down, it's better than usual. I talk to a lot of my customers at length and most believe that Minelab will not "shoot their self in the foot" by introducing a detector for $899 that will out perform the E-TRAC (or CTX 3030)
I have hunting over 40 years and I will have to say that the E-TRAC is one of the best if not the best coin machine I have ever used. I have got deep silver/copper coins that other very high-end detectors didn't see. I have seen these guys threaten to wrap their machines around a tree because I told them what was there and they said it wasn't.
Minelab's advertising said "single freq. detector obsolete", how is going to compare against the FBS detectors. (rambling) 15-18" + in wet sand is no problem with these
detectors. Will the Equinox do that ? I don't know but I want to know.
Please, don't bad-mouth me, just thinking out loud... Best to all and HH, Richard/ Backwoods Detectors[/size]

BTW, E-TRACs have held their value in the used market, cleaned used with no warranty are going from $700-$800, clean with warranty $850-$950

 

[Dan(NM)]

[size=large]Gentlemen,
I thought I would chime in and let you know that my second best selling detector is the E-TRAC. With all the information about the Equinox, the sales of E-TRACs hasn't slowed down, it's better than usual. I talk to a lot of my customers at length and most believe that Minelab will not "shoot their self in the foot" by introducing a detector for $899 that will out perform the E-TRAC (or CTX 3030)
I have hunting over 40 years and I will have to say that the E-TRAC is one of the best if not the best coin machine I have ever used. I have got deep silver/copper coins that other very high-end detectors didn't see. I have seen these guys threaten to wrap their machines around a tree because I told them what was there and they said it wasn't.
Minelab's advertising said "single freq. detector obsolete", how is going to compare against the FBS detectors. (rambling) 15-18" + in wet sand is no problem with these
detectors. Will the Equinox do that ? I don't know but I want to know.
Please, don't bad-mouth me, just thinking out loud... Best to all and HH, Richard/ Backwoods Detectors[/size]

BTW, E-TRACs have held their value in the used market, cleaned used with no warranty are going from $700-$800, clean with warranty $850-$950

I have to ask the question Richard What's your #1 best seller?

 

[Nuke em]

Going by the rallies i have been too lately in the UK and what i get told the machine that sells here the most is the Deus .
The ET sells very few now compared to when it came out in 2008 and sells less than the CTX which is slow too i think.
Dont forget that the Equinox was dropped by parachute and outed in the UK , i think its the UK / EU market that Minelab has in its sights.
Its about speed of the machine and that along with having 5 freqs as multi use and able to use singles too and be lightweight and cheaper than the Deus that has to be what Minelab has brought it out for to smash the Deus market .
I am surprised you say the ET is selling that well still but then maybe it would in the US , its a very good relic hunter . Here in Europe its not as good in some sites and ground .
I think maybe Minelab is willing to shoot itself in the foot to sell more machines than it does . All their machines are either heavy or old or specialist Gold machines and they have limited use here .
Someone here who is high in the food chain said that he is likely to use the Equinox for a long time and he used the CTX .
He said that it is at least as deep as the Explorer xs in low reactivity with a similar coil . If that is the case then it could be as deep as the CTX too , they are similar in depth with the same size coil and the Equinox will have an 11 inch coil too.
It may not be about shooting themselves in their feet it may be about shooting the competitors in their feet ? may be they are going to replace the ET / CTX too in the next 2 or 3 years anyway .

The Equinox may not look it right now but it may be their way of becoming number 1 in the market again "Europe that is" . I think its all about smashing the Deus .

 

[IDXMonster]

It always does seem that the hunters in the UK(Europe in general) and the US are after different targets,and the targets are very different in makeup sometimes,dimensions being VERY different at times. The variables in this hobby are SO immense that it’s really hard to say through general everyday use what is working where...except by the long term results. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut sometimes as they say,and no one machine sucks forever. It’s the long term that counts,but some guys don’t even get that far. They sell a machine after a week for cripes sake! I’ve seen great results from ALL manufacturers,and the one underlying factor is the person running it,to include their experience as a researcher,technician running the machine and risk management abilities.
Remember,in order for ML to be gunning for the Deus,it has to perform “better” over time than the Deus. I’m sure it will be an excellent performer,as I and others seem to think as well. For it to outperform the CTX?...or the eTrac?...or even an old dinosaur Explorer?....it had better be ALL KINDS of special,no matter what part of the world it’s used in.

 

[Nuke em]

Another thing i read was that the Equinox is better for Gold and slightly less good on Silver than the FBS .
I think it shows that it is more for the EU / UK markets. Whether it is as deep or better than the FBS is anybodies question but if it can pull the goods then it will take a big part of the market.
If it performs well on the salt wet as well then many machines will take a big hit . That could be more important to Minelab than outright performance . If it has both then !!

 

[Richard@BackwoodsDetectors]

1: AT Pro and then AT Max that replaced it
2. E-TRAC
3. Deus

For a couple of years, I sold more CTX 3030s than almost everything else put together. When they first came out, it was not unusual for me
to sell 5-6 a month and that is a lot for a small dealer like myself...

 

[dewcon4414]

Most water machines have a salt setting..... that may well make all things equal for salt water hunters. Salt water hunting may NOT be the priority of this machine...... but if its about equal..... many will buy it just because of price and the narrow performance difference. It will cut into the AT line, CTX and Xcal. Honestly, i rarely find gold at 18" on the dry sand. Many will pick it up as a replacement for the Deus or even their raw gold machines. We still scratch our heads on paying $2400 for the CTX over an Xcal...... but its use as an overall machines justified the price. As far as making them obsolete.... it sounds good dont it? I assume they are saying they have improved the mulit freq TID well enough to compete or exceed that of a specialized single freq. IF it is the machine ML thinks it is....... then other companies will be scrambling to produce machines that are truly all around machines at a reasonable price. This could get interesting. If this is a winner....... do you see some more going the way of the Sov and Explorer?

 

[Nuke em]

Most water machines have a salt setting..... that may well make all things equal for salt water hunters. Salt water hunting may NOT be the priority of this machine...... but if its about equal..... many will buy it just because of price and the narrow performance difference. It will cut into the AT line, CTX and Xcal. Honestly, i rarely find gold at 18" on the dry sand. Many will pick it up as a replacement for the Deus or even their raw gold machines. We still scratch our heads on paying $2400 for the CTX over an Xcal...... but its use as an overall machines justified the price. As far as making them obsolete.... it sounds good dont it? I assume they are saying they have improved the mulit freq TID well enough to compete or exceed that of a specialized single freq. IF it is the machine ML thinks it is....... then other companies will be scrambling to produce machines that are truly all around machines at a reasonable price. This could get interesting. If this is a winner....... do you see some more going the way of the Sov and Explorer?

Doubtful other companies will follow . They will be treading on Patents all the way , Minelab must have sown up all ideas or most to do with Multi freq tech . Other than the Whites V3i that is.

As for most water machines having a salt setting . There are many that have that but dont work in the wet salt or are jumpy at best .

I wonder how many machines are on the drawing boards of competitors and how many have been binned because of the Equinox ?
I think its the European market that Minelab is trying to get back into , thats why it was released in the UK . Minelabs share in the UK/EU market has crashed over the last 7 or 8 years since the Deus came out . Garretts AT and Ace series have not helped either .

If Minelab have brought out a Holy Grail in the shape of the Equinox ? I hope it works well on the salt then they will sell like hotcakes and people will be flogging cheapy Deus's and that will upset Monsieur L'Francais till XP think something new.

Maybe Minelab should have named it the Longbow then we could show the V sign to the Deus in the Fields and shout remember Agincourt !

 

[Dan(NM)]

1: AT Pro and then AT Max that replaced it
2. E-TRAC
3. Deus

For a couple of years, I sold more CTX 3030s than almost everything else put together. When they first came out, it was not unusual for me
to sell 5-6 a month and that is a lot for a small dealer like myself...

Thanks Richard, Garrett's were my first guess. I am surprised about the CTX's

 

[Des D]

"Good to hear that Richard!

I put a lot of blood sweat and tears into bringing E Trac to what it is.
It's my 'go-to' detector, but Deus has replaced it of late!
Followed on by both AT's... love those too!"

 

[Ytcoinshooter]

I'm watching all the anticipation and speculation. I've read the threads and watched the videos. The decision to be an early adopter or not, I'll have to put that on hold. I want to see what gets posted when "us" folks have a chance to hammer the heck outta the EQ. I hope this new release from Minelab is the "sliced bread" of detectors. User friendly and as versatile as hyped. I'll be watching the following, the order listed does not indicate importance to me. I'm loaded with detectors so this has to be something really special to get me to pop the $'s for it.
1) target separation & unmasking in iron
2) sensitivity to small gold (chains) in a saltwater environment
3) saltwater stability / non-reactivity
4) robust build quality & balance
5) lack of software issues & glitches
6) EMI / RFI shielding and frequency shifting that works to further quiet those effects.
HH - Bruce

 

[Jason in Enid]

Maybe Minelab should have named it the Longbow then we could show the V sign to the Deus in the Fields and shout remember Agincourt !

LOL, that would be hilarious!! This detector really does seem designed as a direct competitor to the DEUS. Maybe ML should have named it the demon, since XP named theirs for God.

 

[Nuke em]

Maybe Minelab should have named it the Longbow then we could show the V sign to the Deus in the Fields and shout remember Agincourt !

LOL, that would be hilarious!! This detector really does seem designed as a direct competitor to the DEUS. Maybe ML should have named it the demon, since XP named theirs for God.

LOL .
Thats not such an evil idea .

It looks like info is spilling on another site , cant say that here though. PM.

 

[JimmyCT]

This question and answer was provided on youtube. I did not ask this question and give 100% credit to the individual that did. Minelab's response is below.





How does Multi-IQ compare to BBS/FBS?


Minelab's Response:

Multi-IQ uses a different group of fundamental frequencies than BBS/FBS to generate a wide-band multi-frequency transmission signal that is more sensitive to high frequency targets and slightly less sensitive to low frequency targets. Multi-IQ uses the latest high-speed processors and advanced digital filtering techniques for a much faster recovery speed than BBS/FBS technologies. Multi-IQ copes with saltwater and beach conditions almost as well as BBS/FBS, however BBS/FBS still have an advantage for finding high conductive silver coins in all conditions.

 

[Neil]

Slightly is the key word here.

This question and answer was provided on youtube. I did not ask this question and give 100% credit to the individual that did. Minelab's response is below.





How does Multi-IQ compare to BBS/FBS?


Minelab's Response:

Multi-IQ uses a different group of fundamental frequencies than BBS/FBS to generate a wide-band multi-frequency transmission signal that is more sensitive to high frequency targets and slightly less sensitive to low frequency targets. Multi-IQ uses the latest high-speed processors and advanced digital filtering techniques for a much faster recovery speed than BBS/FBS technologies. Multi-IQ copes with saltwater and beach conditions almost as well as BBS/FBS, however BBS/FBS still have an advantage for finding high conductive silver coins in all conditions.

 

[Nuke em]

Slightly is the key word here.

This question and answer was provided on youtube. I did not ask this question and give 100% credit to the individual that did. Minelab's response is below.





How does Multi-IQ compare to BBS/FBS?


Minelab's Response:

Multi-IQ uses a different group of fundamental frequencies than BBS/FBS to generate a wide-band multi-frequency transmission signal that is more sensitive to high frequency targets and slightly less sensitive to low frequency targets. Multi-IQ uses the latest high-speed processors and advanced digital filtering techniques for a much faster recovery speed than BBS/FBS technologies. Multi-IQ copes with saltwater and beach conditions almost as well as BBS/FBS, however BBS/FBS still have an advantage for finding high conductive silver coins in all conditions.

Its more sensitive to Gold and a little less to Silver. I doubt many will notice . this doesn't include hammered I think. More large Silver. Anyone with a Deus would see similar capability I think.

 

[sgoss66]

I'm watching all the anticipation and speculation. I've read the threads and watched the videos. The decision to be an early adopter or not, I'll have to put that on hold. I want to see what gets posted when "us" folks have a chance to hammer the heck outta the EQ. I hope this new release from Minelab is the "sliced bread" of detectors. User friendly and as versatile as hyped. I'll be watching the following, the order listed does not indicate importance to me. I'm loaded with detectors so this has to be something really special to get me to pop the $'s for it.
1) target separation & unmasking in iron
2) sensitivity to small gold (chains) in a saltwater environment
3) saltwater stability / non-reactivity
4) robust build quality & balance
5) lack of software issues & glitches
6) EMI / RFI shielding and frequency shifting that works to further quiet those effects.
HH - Bruce

Bruce --

Good post. I get what you are saying. You've obviously been doing this a LONG time, and know what you are doing, based on those things you are "watching for" in the Equinox.

Just to mention, I am almost certain that I read from a trusted source that there WILL be "frequency shifting" available to help quiet EMI / RFI issues, though haven't seen any mention yet from any of the testers as to how effective its frequency shifting is (with respect testing it in the field and seeing if they actually achieve effective EMI mitigation). Presumably though, it works as intended. As for shielding, I haven't heard any of the testers say anything to suggest that the coils aren't well shielded, but again...time will tell...

Steve

 

[Neil]

Have you used the Equinox already, are you one of the testers? If not many will notice, such a subtle difference could be chalked up to site variations and a host of other things.
The almost as well statement by Minelab(regarding saltwater performance) is also something to note.
Looks like late Jan or early Feb for users impressions to be posted.
HH
Neil

Slightly is the key word here.

This question and answer was provided on youtube. I did not ask this question and give 100% credit to the individual that did. Minelab's response is below.





How does Multi-IQ compare to BBS/FBS?


Minelab's Response:

Multi-IQ uses a different group of fundamental frequencies than BBS/FBS to generate a wide-band multi-frequency transmission signal that is more sensitive to high frequency targets and slightly less sensitive to low frequency targets. Multi-IQ uses the latest high-speed processors and advanced digital filtering techniques for a much faster recovery speed than BBS/FBS technologies. Multi-IQ copes with saltwater and beach conditions almost as well as BBS/FBS, however BBS/FBS still have an advantage for finding high conductive silver coins in all conditions.

Its more sensitive to Gold and a little less to Silver. I doubt many will notice . this doesn't include hammered I think. More large Silver. Anyone with a Deus would see similar capability I think.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Minelab just responded with this:

We are generally stating that Multi-IQ obsoletes single frequency detectors, not simultaneous multi-frequency detectors. This really has captured market attention! It is quite likely that some people will become EQUINOX supporters, while others will want to keep using their favourite FBS detector (not too dissimilar to GPX vs GPZ).

So the best honest answer to your question right now is:

"Multi-IQ has the future potential to obsolete FBS technology."


Truth be told, no detector will be obsolete once the Equinox arrives, they'll still find the same stuff they've been finding for years.

The Equinox may well find the stuff these detectors have been missing, and do it in a much lighter, more ergonomic package with a lot more useful features.

We'll find out next month!

 

[TomNH]

VERY true. My Garrett GTA500 may be over 20 yrs old but it excels as a simple intro machine. With 20+ yr old tech
it can still surprise with depth, ID & number of keepers. It cant replace my Safari but the GTA500 & others still have serious uses.

73
Tom
LFOD !


Truth be told, no detector will be obsolete once the Equinox arrives, they'll still find the same stuff they've been finding for years.

The Equinox may well find the stuff these detectors have been missing, and do it in a much lighter, more ergonomic package with a lot more useful features.

We'll find out next month![/quote]