Treasure Talk

Metal detecting for gold nuggets is one of the most difficult detecting tasks, and learning to run a VLF detector in highly mineralized ground will challenge even the best detectorists. There is more to this subject then can be covered in a brief article but I will try and offer some tips to get people started with the Minelab EQUINOX for gold nugget detecting.

This blog entry may help give some insight into metal detecting in U.S. parks with lots of modern trash. It also illustrates how somebody like me experiments with different discrimination settings. In my view it is this kind of experimentation that best teaches you the ins and outs of any new detector…

I can think of no better time to put the new EQUINOX 800 through its paces on shallow targets than after a large festival. After these events, there are always an abundance of lost treasures lying mostly on the surface, hidden only by the grass, or a thin layer of dirt; but you will also hit targets at depth. Over the years, this has become well known amongst detectorists and, as you can imagine, these events always bring a multitude of us ‘out and about’, rushing around to see how much we can find, before everyone else…

Metal detectors, decades ago, had very limited depth capability. Therefore, increasing detection depth was a prime focus for all detectorists. Metal detector advertising has always made “more depth” part of the selling point for most new detectors. This focus on “more depth” made sense for a long time but, more recently; it has been shown that more depth is only part of the equation…

One of the EQUINOX’s best features is its strong Target Identifications (TIDs) system. I’ve never seen a detector able to give such reliable TIDs at depth like the EQUINOX can. Not only in Multi-IQ (multi-frequency), but also in all single frequencies, and the TIDs for non-ferrous targets are stable across modes and frequencies. ..

In Part 3 we ended with mentioning the different Multi-IQ “frequency weightings” for the different search profiles. Part 4 explains further why it is not a simple matter of just referring to specific individual frequencies for learning more about Multi-IQ technology. Let’s now consider one of the key practical detecting outcomes and then discuss how this was achieved…

EQUINOX and the dreaded coke problem…

Gold coins, micro-gold nuggets (0.7g) and cut quarters, located in the ground under coke, are no problem when you wield the new EQUINOX! I hate hearing coke, as it breaks your concentration and you always end up thinking “what have I missed.” This is the main reason I moved onto the Minelab multi-frequency machines. Hopefully this blog will put you at ease with a commonly asked question on Facebook and various forums – “Does the EQUINOX hear coke?”

I have seen some confusion on the internet regarding the differences between the Minelab EQUINOX 600 and EQUINOX 800. I think that the EQUINOX 600 is being somewhat overlooked because it’s not the “top model” but, in my opinion, it is incredible value for a remarkably low price. I hope this blog will clear up any confusion and, in the process, show why I think the EQUINOX 600 deserves a second look by some people…

My involvement with EQUINOX has been purely around the Gold Mode, leaving the testing of the coin & treasure modes (Park, Field, Beach) to the experts in these areas. Typically, a general-purpose metal detector has a token gold (or prospecting) mode with much lesser performance than a dedicated VLF gold detector. Not so with the EQUINOX 800… 

Now that EQUINOX pre-orders are starting to get to their owners, here are a few beach and water hunting tips to help you hit the sand running! The basics are covered by the Getting Started Guide and the online Instruction Manual, so I’ll just cut to the chase by sharing a few of my experiences using the EQUINOX on the beach and in the water...