After 7 years of detecting with single frequency machines, I can say I was quite intimidated by the thought of moving to the multi-frequency Equinox 800, but I’m glad I did.
As soon as I picked it up from the store, I headed straight for the beach, and lucky for me – it came with some charge from the factory. It was pretty straight forward to setup – as most machines are. Connecting the three shaft pieces, the coil and arm cuff, and we were ready to start swinging. Initially, since I hadn’t read a single word of the instruction manual, I expected it to be complicated to decipher the many settings – but to my surprise it was relatively easy. To me it resembled a souped up Xterra 305 – the machine I started with back in 2013…
And we were off… With a quick noise cancel, and setting the machine to ‘Beach 2’, I was in action. And the first find… with a target ID of 10 was… a pull-tab! Probably the most cliché thing I could have found. Anyway, I kept going and ended up pulling out a few decimal coins, some 1&2 cent coins and finally, a 1950s penny!
Final Thoughts:
The Equinox 800 is a very capable machine, with technology that is a bargain for it’s relatively affordable price. The USB charging port is great, I am able to have the charger permanently connected to the 12V output in the back of the car. The waterproof design, which is becoming standard across a range of machines is another added bonus, making cleaning a very efficient process.
Overall, I am very happy with the ease of use and performance of this machine, and I cannot wait to take it in the water and to the goldfields to test my luck!
See the full video of my first test of the Equinox 800 here:
Digging Australia 