Which Goes Deeper

[JohnnyRox]

Fisher CZ21 or Equinox?  

Thanks.

[Chase Goldman]

You need to be a little more specific.  Beach sand?  Mineralized Soil?  Wet salt beach?  What type of target - high conductive large silver, mid-conductive small gold?  Also, what coil are you using?  The answer probably varies depending on which of these targets and conditions you are hunting.  Overall, from a "raw depth" perspective, they are probably about the same.  The CZ21 shines as it tends to disc out bottlecaps  and small aluminum yet you can still hit heavy gold jewelry and coins.  The Equinox is probably better on micro jewelry and has a more versatile set of modes that make it a great all around detector under a variety of conditions.  The CZ21 is a tone only machine but is also designed to operate as a dive machine but this also makes it heavier overall.  Depth performance is not really a performance feature that is used to differentiate these two detectors.

[JohnnyRox]

Forgot to say...on the beach in the northeast.   

[Chase Goldman]

Like I said, since they are both multifrequency vlf machines their depth will be similar on a salt beach since they both have good salt cancellation.  The question is do you want to be digging a lot of small stuff (foil pieces, can slaw, tabs, bottlecaps) so as not to miss small gold/silver (e.g.earring backs) in addition to the larger more obvious targets or do you want to simply filter to larger targets like coins and rings.  Both can get fairly deep (> 1 ft but < 1.5 ft max).  If you are just interested in max depth, get a Pulse Induction machine. 

Some swear by the Tarsacci MDT 8000 as getting perhaps a few additional inches on the Equinox and other MF vlfs.  It is a single frequency machine with multiple selectable frequencies and a sophisticated salt balance scheme.  So you might want to research that one.  The Tarsacci is dunkable  but not designed to be continuously operated submerged.

HTH

[Steve Herschbach]

Having owed several CZ detectors and the Equinox the depth difference is not enough to worry about. The Equinox easily has the better target separation. I lean Equinox simply due to the lower weight and lower cost, but if a robust waterproof design good at depths far in excess of 10 feet is important, then the CZ-21 is the obvious winner.

[Rick K - First Member]

When I had a Nox 800 with me for a month or so on gulf and Atlantic beaches, I compared it extensively with a CZ 6 i also had with me.  The Nox was deeper on small fluff and the CZ was deeper on big stuff, but the the differences were not major. This was on salt beaches with the Nox in beach 1 or 2.

[JohnnyRox]

Thanks guys.  

I have a Nox already and mostly beach hunt.  Nox goes pretty deep and of course has target ID and great separation.  I've been reading up on the Excal and the CZ21 for some time...and have seen the great finds of OBN (excal) and Casper-2 (CZ) on another forum.  Both detectors can run in all metal PP mode and run deep. I'm leaning towards the CZ more due to cost and because I've read that it can sometimes hit targets the Excal doesn't.  A test between some guys in Jersey with CZs and OBN with his Excal showed that.  I'm sure the opposite also happens.

I know a PI like the TDIBH would go deeper than both but it can't discriminate.  

I'd love a Fisher Manta but don't know if I want to spend that kind of loot nor do any of us know when it's going to be released.  

I'm not getting rid of the Nox but want something reasonably priced that can punch deeper.  

 

 

[Tmox]

My take is a little different. I have thousands of hours on the beach with both the cz21 and the Equinox. I use them on a beach near the Oregon border that has lots of mineralization. I love both machines but they are not equals in the wet sand by any stretch. Again, my situation is lots of mineralization. The Equinox performs noticeably better on both low and high conductors, small and large. The differences is more pronounced the more mineralized it gets. The other big thing is how much faster the Equinox is and its ability to separate targets. I should mention my CZ21 has the 8 inch coil. The other thing is the convenience of wireless headphones.

 

There are 3 things I really like about the CZ21. First thing is it sounds wonderful, it is so easy to tell the depth, size of an object, it's just so smooth. It is so much more pleasant to use and easy to learn.

The second thing I like is chest mounting it. The handle and coil are weightless.

Third thing is the confidence that it feels indestructible. If you are actually going to dive then it's the serous choice.

 

That's my dos escudos.

 

Tim

[JohnnyRox]

Thanks bro.

[JohnnyRox]

Here's one of the reasons why I'm looking at the CZ.