Minelab Equinox 700
Equinox 700 Settings by Site Type: Park, Field, Beach and Relic Ground
Quick answer
The Equinox 700 has three detect modes with two profiles each. Use Park 1 for general park ground, Park 2 or Field 2 for dense trash, Field 1 for open pasture, Beach 1 for dry sand and Beach 2 for wet sand and surf. There is no Gold mode.
Minelab gives the Minelab Equinox 700 three detect modes, Park, Field and Beach, each with two presets. That is six starting points, and they are good enough that most owners never build a profile from scratch. The productive habit is to start from the correct preset and then move one setting at a time, testing after each change.
The absence of a Gold mode is the real difference from the Minelab Equinox 900, and it matters only if you hunt goldfields. For parks, fields, beaches and relic ground, the 700 is the same machine at a lower price. Everything below is a starting point rather than a prescription, because the correct sensitivity on your ground is a number nobody can supply from a distance.
Top pick
Minelab Equinox 700
Three modes with two profiles each covers park, field and beach properly, which is where the great majority of detecting actually happens.
Price was accurate when this page was compiled and changes often.
Which preset belongs on which site?
Sensitivity is on the Equinox 1 to 25 scale. The correct value is always the highest one that runs quiet on the ground under the coil.
Park 1 covers most inland ground, Field 2 is the iron-heavy old-site profile, and Beach 2 is the wet sand and surf setting where Multi-IQ earns its price.
| Site | Mode | Sensitivity start | Recovery speed | First adjustment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General park | Park 1 | 18 to 22 | Mid | Sensitivity down until quiet |
| Dense modern trash | Park 2 | 16 to 20 | High | Recovery speed up, small coil on |
| Open pasture, sports field | Field 1 | 20 to 24 | Low to mid | Sensitivity up, sweep slower |
| Ploughed land, iron-heavy site | Field 2 | 18 to 22 | High | Recovery speed, then iron bias |
| Dry beach sand | Beach 1 | 18 to 23 | Mid | Noise cancel, then sensitivity |
| Wet sand and surf | Beach 2 | 16 to 22 | Mid to high | Sensitivity down until falsing stops |
| Coil submerged in salt water | Beach 2 | 14 to 20 | Mid to high | Fit wired waterproof headphones |
| Small gold and fine jewellery | Park 2 or Field 2 | 18 to 22 | Mid | Small coil, leave low IDs open |
Starting points only. The 700 has no dedicated Gold mode, so small gold on this machine means running a general mode with a small coil and accepting the low ID bands rather than filtering them.
What should you change first on a new site?
In this order, every time, and one at a time.
Noise cancel, ground balance, then sensitivity, in that order, is the sequence that gets a machine stable before you start hunting rather than after.
| Step | Why it comes here | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Run automatic noise cancel | Removes interference before you judge anything else | Seconds |
| Run automatic ground balance | Compensates for this soil, not the last site | Seconds |
| Set sensitivity | Only meaningful once the first two are done | A minute of listening |
| Set recovery speed for the trash level | Depends on what the site actually contains | A few targets in |
| Adjust iron bias if needed | Last, because the others change what it does | After a dozen digs |
| Set tone volumes for comfort | So you can still hear at hour four | Once, then leave it |
Re-run noise cancel and ground balance when you move to noticeably different ground within a site, and after heavy rain.
How do you hunt wet salt sand on the 700?
Beach 2, and lower sensitivity than instinct suggests. Wet salt sand is conductive ground, and the machine has to separate a target response from a salt response that is present everywhere. Multi-IQ is what makes that possible, and Minelab publishes it on the Minelab Equinox 700 exactly as on the 900, which is why the cheaper machine is a genuine beach machine rather than a compromise.
Start around 16 to 20, run the noise cancel with the coil on the wet sand rather than in the air, and raise sensitivity only once it is stable. If the coil is going under the water, fit Minelab Equinox Waterproof Headphones, because wireless audio does not pass through water. A long scoop such as RTG Pro Aluminum 47 inch Mini Water Scoop is what makes recovery possible at arm length in the surf, and a draining pouch such as Mesh Bottom Beach Finds Pouch with pinpointer holster stops the finds bag filling with grit.
What changes on old iron-heavy ground?
Recovery speed up, coil down in size, and patience up. Old house sites and farm yards are defined by nail density, and the task is hearing a small non-ferrous target beside iron rather than reaching greater depth. Field 2 or Park 2 with a high recovery speed is the usual starting point, and the biggest single improvement is a smaller coil: the Minelab EQX 06 Coil (6 inch) or Coiltek 10 by 5 NOX Search Coil, both of which fit the 700.
Budget the session realistically. On ground like this most of your time goes into recovery rather than swinging, and the dig time budget calculator will show you how few targets you can actually process in an afternoon. The coil coverage calculator covers the other half of the problem, which is how long a site takes to cover properly with a small coil.
Sources
- Minelab Equinox 700 and 900 instruction manual
- Minelab Equinox 700 published product specifications
- Minelab Equinox waterproof headphones product listing
Frequently asked questions
Which Equinox 700 mode should a new owner start in?
Park 1 for inland ground and Beach 1 on dry sand. Both presets are usable straight out of the box and neither requires you to understand the menu before you find something. Run the automatic noise cancel and ground balance when you arrive, then leave the settings alone for the first few sessions and concentrate on sweep speed and coil height instead.
Can the Equinox 700 find gold without a Gold mode?
Gold jewellery, yes, routinely, because rings and chains read in the low and middle ID bands that any general mode covers. Small gold nuggets in mineralised goldfield soil are what the 900 Gold mode exists for, and the 700 is a weaker choice there. For beach and park jewellery, run a general mode with a small coil and leave the low IDs open.
How do I stop the Equinox 700 falsing on wet sand?
Switch to Beach 2, lower sensitivity until the falsing stops, and run the automatic noise cancel with the coil resting on the wet sand rather than held in the air. Keep the coil flat and low through the sweep, since lifting it at the end of each swing is a common cause of false signals that people blame on the machine.
Does the Equinox 700 need a second coil?
It ships with the 11 inch coil only, so the gap in the kit is separation rather than coverage. A 6 inch Double-D such as the EQX 06, or the Coiltek 10 by 5 elliptical, will find targets on hunted-out trashy ground that the stock coil blends into the iron. That is the upgrade worth making before any larger coil.
Should I change settings between profiles within a mode?
Change the profile first and see whether it does the job, because Minelab has already tuned Park 1 and Park 2 for different trash levels. Only start moving individual settings once the presets have both been tried. Changing several things at once is how people end up with a machine that behaves oddly and no idea which change caused it.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published specifications, manuals and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Target ID numbers, depth figures and settings vary with soil chemistry, moisture, target size, depth, orientation and firmware version, so treat every figure here as a starting point and verify it against your own machine's manual and your own ground. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.