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Sometimes it is better to be very lucky than good. So I am working this beaten slope of a hill in Stafford, VA off of a period CW road. It's thick as snot and getting the coil to the ground was a struggle. I get this nice 22-23 signal with the Nox down 11". I dig up the target and it is s deep knap sack hook. Scan the hole and I am still hearing that 22-26 signal. One more shovel full and it is in my dirt pile. Usually a IH or a trime will ring up that high but not brass unless it is big. In the dirt pile is this half inch by half inch piece of folded brass. So how does a knap sack hook and a piece of folded brass read so high? I look at the folded brass and see some silver plating where the two pieces meet. I very GENTLEY pry it open and see my surprise. Soldier looks to have made an ID tag from possibly a tin-type picture case. The tag reads: SERGt J. Brown Com C. 7th Reg The tag belonged to Sergeant Joseph Brown, Company C, 7th Rhode Island.

I started relic hunting back in 1984. Most of the areas I hunted we're so target rich that one didn't need to dig "ify" targets because there we so many perfect sounding targets lying around you didn't want to waste valuable digging time with possibly junk targets. When targets dried up, you didn't hunt harder (moving logs, removing brush, or digging "iffy" targets), you just moved on to another patch of woods or fields that held promise. You never had to look too hard to find such sites. Now days, one has to search very hard to just find evidence of a camp's existence.

Good news! Can't wait to read as you do a great job testing.

Great finds Chase! The Nox has won me over completely as well!

Yep! A nice plate and great write up! Wondering how the Nox will do in the sweet ground in Southern Maryland!

Thanks!

Great report! Will be interested in your thoughts after DIV. I pick up my Nox at pre-hunt meeting.

Looking forward to your report. Very interested on how the Equinox stacks up in razor hot Culpeper dirt. I am not looking for the Equinox to replace my Minelab GPX as my "go to" machine for hot ground, but it would sure be nice to have a VLF that could accurately ID targets at depth in those iron patches that shut down the GPX.

This is great info! I relic hunt in relatively non-mineralized ground (except for Culpeper) so playing it safe with default setting of 6 seems like the safest play.

Like you Chase, my go to machines are the Deus and GPX. I also go to the Outer Banks once or twice a year and must hunt the dry sand. Hoping that the Equinox will have at least better performance than the Deus in this environment.

Sorry about the confusion on DIV numbering. However, the Minelab rep did try the Equinox that weekend at another Culpeper site and that was the test report I alluded to. I agree with your synopsis on the GPX. Having used the Deus for the last three years and having the frustration of using it only for scanning trash pit/hut dirt, I am ready to try the Equinox. See you in March!

The Equinox made it to DIV 39. It was tested in the Culpeper red dirt. I did not personally see the testing but talked with the Minelab dealer who was present during the testing. I don't want to violate any forum rules by providing the dealer's name but if your a DIVer, you know who I am talking about. Give him a call, he can fill you in on the details. I will say this, the Equinox is not going to out hunt a GPX (depth wise) in heavily mineralized ground. As you know since you hunt the area, not all Culpeper dirt is razor hot. I think accuracy of ID will suffer in the hottest of that ground but will surprise you in respect to most VLFs.

Very nice Tony!

What is the opinion out there on using the ground tracking function on the ATX in highly mineralized ground. What is the trade-off by using this function in regards to depth?