Nox Knocks It Out Of The Park

[DigsAlot]

So after my debacle with Cabela's, I finally got to give my Knox a run. A nickle shy of 5 bucks the first time out. Penny, nickle, dime, quarter, half dollar is what I found. 

I started the day following the advise of one of the members. A very good post about touch nothing, except sensitivity, ground balance, noise cancellation. I also dug all targets to start understanding the tones, Park 1 has 5 tones (plus I don't want Steve to ban me for breaking golden rule 1). This went on for awhile, unsure the exact time frame. But after a time I made a few tweaks nothing major. I turned on 50 tone towards the end of the run. Did this to see what was what. It is different I can say that. Not sure I need that many tones but I will give it time. After awhile I started to skip over trash that I knew was trash after digging it repeatedly and monitoring the display. This went on for awhile till I was sure I had a handle on things. The Nox target id is superb. Then I broke the don't touch anything rule. I did this by pushing up the reject number to ten. I went back to swinging for a little longer. Then I figured in stead of mentally ignoring 14 and 15, which was always cans and the like. I notched them out to see how the Nox would handle it. Excellently is the answer. I know there are valuables that peg that range, but not in this park. Plus it was about "can this unit cherry pick". Boy can it!!! I forgot to mention one of the first things I did was back down the sensitivity to 10. That was after digging foot deep holes in a park. Not my cup of tea. I save that for my nugget hunting. Even at setting 10, I was still picking things up 8 inches down regularly. So yep even at less than half power the Nox KO's targets. The last thing I changed was target ID speed, I moved it to 7. That is the only thing I noticed with the Nox. I hit a few pockets of coins. The Nox registered the higher Target but not the other targets. Only after removing the higher Target AKA quarter did the dimes register. This might just be a learning thing.

Now to what matters most. I can say without reservation 95% of the time I dug a Target I knew where it was and what it was, before I removed it. That is what makes a GREAT DETECTOR. All detectors find stuff, that is not what makes a detector good to me. What truly matters is that you can pickup a detector and in a reasonable time frame understand it and be one with it. This is why I like Makro stuff. It is intuitive, simple, effective and right price point. Minelab makes great stuff not saying they don't. But what I am saying is they have been king of the hill for so long that they can and do, produce a detector the way they want and force the customer to adapt to that methodology. This makes it hard to change brands. Minelab's can be hard to run. I picked up a monster to see what it was all about. ( Steve pre warned me, I already had a great unit and that they where about the same) but I had to see. The short of it is, I didn' like the monster or trust it. I never knew what I was digging. I never once had the eureka moment with that unit. How does this apply to the Nox. Simple, each coin I hit was "cash register sound going of in my mind". I dug far less trash today then I do with my Racer 2. I punched too deep, at times lol. After only a few hours I am confident with this machine. I have used the 30/30, etrac. This unit is far better, for the price, ease of use and ability to pocket the targets you want to pocket. It is the best minelab I have used hands down. Not to say the others are bad, they are not. But I have done alot of hunting with the same people using those machines. The Nox is intuitive, quick to learn, excellent price point, there's more power then you need. I will take this unit to the gold fields and Tahoe soon, just to see if it holds up against a Makro gold racer or a 30/30 in their respective niches. I truley believe the little Nox can. silver coins and gold nuggets are bucket loads of smiles and I can't wait to start smiling.

I couldn't sleep last night for the excitement of running The Nox. I kept waking up too early. Like going to Disney World as a kid.

Hopefully this post will help the next person that is on the fence, landing them on the Nox buying side.

Sidenote, go big. Don't get the 600, the 800 is worth twice what they are selling it for. You don't get a little more, you get buckets more. Those fine tuning abilities make all the diffrences.

Better yet don't get a Nox, I love having an advantage on the other guy swinging.

[steveg]

Excellent report.  Hard for me to disagree.  It's quite a great unit.  Wait until you REALLY get used to it, and learn how it behaves when targets are co-located with iron.  That's when you begin to see the machine REALLY shine...

Congrats on your purchase, and a really good "familiarization" session today.  I totally can relate to that excitement you described, as well...every time I have a new, potentially exciting site to hunt the next day, I can't sleep either -- waking up every hour to look at the clock!  LOL!

Steve

[sillllvar]

Yes, a great post! I agree with you Stephen. I've had only 4 hours with the detector at one of my sites and I can't believe how good this machine is. When the chatter started about a new minelab coming out I was a bit skeptical with all the hype and noise. It was only after reading accounts like yours and watching so many guys that are not big youtube guys demonstrating the power of this unit in what they considered dead ground that swayed me. Not to mention the excellent separation capabilities.  I've been detecting for a long time and I truly feel like this machine is a Game changer for me and my detecting.

This is only one problem with having the Equinox....I cant get out with it enough and yeah stephen, the Nox insomnia syndrome is a killer.

My work colleagues want to put a sock in my mouth ? I talk about the machine so much!

HH

Sillllvar

[Norm S]

I have the same feelings about the E-800 and E-600 I have them both. It's easy to use right out of the box with very little frustration during the learning curve. If you hit a good park it will give you butterflies because you're so successful but when you hit a few hunted out areas the Equinox cannot find what isn't there.

I have two places I have hit with it and one especially that I used my Etrac, V3i and At Pro at. Well after two hours the other day I found one nickel a few nails and can slaw. The soil was so dry I could not dig over 4" and even then I had to chip the dirt out.  Like I said if it isn't there the Equinox can't find it. I went to a very trash laden park and I dug no less than 10 bottle caps that rang up at 28-29. Rusty and flattened out bottle caps plus tabs, can slaw and rusty nails. 

After you get used to it I love the separation you get with it especially with nails or other iron in the same hole. The depth is great too and I hate deep but can never resist a good signal if it is deep. 

I have had my E-800 just over 60 days and I have found in excess of $200 in clad, one silver dime, 3 rings and a silver chain yesterday. One park I was most successful at I hunted a 2nd time and dug signals I passed on the 1st time because I was getting $4 - $6 in clad every 2 hour hunt. I have since cleaned it up and been averaging 10 dimes, 3 quarters and maybe 10 pennies but because of the heat I been only hunting a little over an hour each morning. 

Next week I am off to new hunting grounds but not sure where yet.. I have over hunted every park within 10 miles so I have to expand my range out to 20 miles I guess.. that gets expensive in gas but I love it so  much I don't care. 

I have not lost my enthusiasm for the Equinox. They can Nox it or knock it the Equinox is and awesome detector

[SittingElf]

Great post, Stephen! 
Still waiting for my 800, but in the meantime, I am really learning and enjoying the 600.
Slowly starting to "grok" the tones, and I have forced myself to use 50, even though 5 might seem easier. Really want to be able to discern what the detector is seeing.

[DigsAlot]

52 minutes ago, SittingElf said:

Great post, Stephen! 
Still waiting for my 800, but in the meantime, I am really learning and enjoying the 600.
Slowly starting to "grok" the tones, and I have forced myself to use 50, even though 5 might seem easier. Really want to be able to discern what the detector is seeing.

Thanks Elf.

Helpful tip, don't touch the horny toads on Tinker. They are GPS tracked and they will come for them. But the bass are great in the rear pounds fyi.

NOW BACK TO THE HOTEL. That is a song lol. Means I am going for another round of sunburn and Noxing.

Steve call your peeps and tell them to hurry up with the 15 coil. I think I can really clear parks with it.

[DigsAlot]

So a quick update. 

I went out last weekend for a couple hours. The choice of my hunt was a park in the city. Rancho San Rafael Park. My understanding of this park is that it is a old ranch that was given to the city. I am also believe that it is one of the harder hit parks in our area. Steve feel free to add or Correct this info. 

So the point of the above info is to explain that it is a hard place to hunt. Filled with nails and other iron trash. Very little new surface targets to be had. Fact is I didn't find a single newer target. I did find about 50 cents in Nicks and pennies and a single dime. All of them where deeper or in a hole with a nail. All older dates 60's. So I know they should have been found. While I didn' find alot, I think what I found and the circumstances speak volumes.

[DigsAlot]

My third trip was today. I did well I think. I found 5.87 cents lots of dimes nicks and near 3 dollars in quarters. Same park I went to for my first trip. 

I noticed something. If a coin is on the surface it sounds like a double signal. Has anyone else noticed this? Also how do you guys tell tabs from nicks. They ID the same. It seems to me like a 50/50 shot.

I have learned to tell between a dime and penny that both hit on 25. I watch to see how the number jumps around. A dime most times will bounce up then down. A Penney never jumps up, it will hold or go down. Anyone else have another way to tell?

[Chase Goldman]

The shallow double tone is the target registering on the coil edges as well as the center.  The high coil and detector sensitivity cause this and you can make it go away by lifting your coil.  One of the telltales of a shallow target since the Equinox lacks significant depth related modulation.

Nickels and Tabs.  Occupational hazard.  Not much you can do about it especially if the tabs are intact and not bent.  If the tabs are bent or damage, sometimes that can reveal itself in the tone.  You may hear some edge distortion or hollowness in the tone vs. the nice sharp ping of a coin or ring.  Otherwise, they are just an occupational hazard of the gig and the probabilities are directly proportional to the ratio of pull tabs to nickels at the site.

[DigsAlot]

Thanks chase. I read the nickle tab thread as well. Was hoping someone had a technique to limit the tabs. Looks like I am digging tabs and nicks lol.