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TDI Beach Hunter Compared To Equinox 800 W/15" Coil


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There is a SoCal local that does a lot of u-tube videos and uses the EQ800.  Although he continually seems to find decent stuff, he has done several videos of the Equinox missing, hardly hearing, or skewing the IDs of targets due to the ferrous content of the sand. I’ve run tests playing with FE1 and 2 that where iron will mask out coins nearby - I imagine the ferrous content of the sand will do the same.  So if you can put up with the junk I think you could do better than a Nox on some beaches.  Lately though just no targets on my beaches. I’ve been trying different machines with no real winner.  KOB just found everything - nothing left.

I wonder if many Beach Hunter TDI’s were sold?  I don’t get out a lot but have maybe just seen one in the field. I’m curious if it would be as good as my GP Extreme (or KOB’s DF).  The GP is not waterproof and a bit complex with the battery and audio solution.  The GP also somehow misses a lot of foil.  Guess that means it misses chains too.  How does your TDI do on chains vs the Nox?

oh, almost forgot. My justification using the GP extreme is I use it with a Bigfoot type coil. It goes deep, provides more coverage, better in ferrous supposedly. I prefer my CTX to eq600 for ID’s and audio but I’m told the eq is better in the water. I haven’t found a good water target in months with any machine though.

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9 minutes ago, bklein said:

There is a SoCal local that does a lot of u-tube videos and uses the EQ800.  Although he continually seems to find decent stuff, he has done several videos of the Equinox missing, hardly hearing, or skewing the IDs of targets due to the ferrous content of the sand. I’ve run tests playing with FE1 and 2 that where iron will mask out coins nearby - I imagine the ferrous content of the sand will do the same.  So if you can put up with the junk I think you could do better than a Nox on some beaches.  Lately though just no targets on my beaches. I’ve been trying different machines with no real winner.  KOB just found everything - nothing left.

I wonder if many Beach Hunter TDI’s were sold?  I don’t get out a lot but have maybe just seen one in the field. I’m curious if it would be as good as my GP Extreme (or KOB’s DF).  The GP is not waterproof and a bit complex with the battery and audio solution.  The GP also somehow misses a lot of foil.  Guess that means it misses chains too.  How does your TDI do on chains vs the Nox?

I wish could say I found it all ! Lol... But really there are only a couple beaches both in OC and LA that have the heavy black sand. Down south in SD , there are many. So bad in fact that the Nox will overload , rendering it worthless to hunt. The PIs are workable , but they are a nightmare. To the point where even I had to abort. You have to move extremely slow with the coil about 6" off the sand. You will not get coverage. All machines will lose depth here. But here lies some quality finds if you have the patience. And you better have some sharp ears for that rapid machine gun fire symphony that is gonna blast through your headphones. 

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I’m not sure that the beaches he did this testing at were really that overly characterized as black sand beaches. I know what you mean but his tests were in dry sand, pretty far from the water - thus I was amazed at his findings and hope someday to duplicate his process and see how various detectors do.  Did you have the same trouble on your 2 beaches in the dry?

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1 hour ago, bklein said:

I’m not sure that the beaches he did this testing at were really that overly characterized as black sand beaches. I know what you mean but his tests were in dry sand, pretty far from the water - thus I was amazed at his findings and hope someday to duplicate his process and see how various detectors do.  Did you have the same trouble on your 2 beaches in the dry?

He may be putting together a couple beach hunts as a lot of YT's will do. Or maybe he is lucky and has a target rich beach. My area is sanded in, so 2/3's of the lower beach is dead zone with just a couple targets showing up here and there. Even with a PI, it's sparse. The upper section still has targets since people still come out during our warm days. My choice in sparseness would be the PI.

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I feel the kind of beach you plan on detecting is what will dictate the detector you need for best results.  I've hunted beaches with beautiful soft fluffy white sand and learned really fast I needed depth so the PI would be best as those heavy rings will sink pretty fast in the soft sand.

If I'm on a beach with a good cut and there is old hard rusty dirty sand thats been exposed from a storm, I'm all about speed and proper discrimination/identification is best.  Many more targets will be within reach so I use the precious time (short window) to grab the best targets/tones/ID's.  Many times I don't even go after hi tones as I know they are usually coins.  Now if my goal is gold rings, then that totally fine.

Now if I'm at a beach thats very popular and has or had a pier, I will use the VLF vs the PI to get the gravy as I want to spend my time digging non-ferrous signals.  I do this exact same thing in a few of the old mining camps where I like to hunt for natural gold.

Getting to know your detectors sounds, it's limitations and the beaches rhythms is a must.

Lastly, as Steve as stated, sometimes it's wise to be different.

Here's a prime example.  I just returned a week ago from Cancun.  The resort I planned to hunt had just been worked pretty hard by an American hunter and he even found 2 weddings rings that I know of.  His wife posted them to FB and was trying to reunite them (good on her).  Anyway, I was getting very few targets at all and actually starting chasing iffies for something to do.  After 3 days, I was wishing I had a PI water machine just to get more depth so I could get more targets.  Finally I had to think outside the box and go to other nearby beaches so I could get a target to dig.  Problem with flying is I usually only take 2 of the exact same machine so all the parts are changeable in case something goes down.  As you know the EQ is much smaller and lighter than a PI.

I did manage 16 rings, but only 4 gold and 1 platinum, so I did save a little bacon from the trip.

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I have a TDI BH, EQ 800 (stock coil and 6") and Excal and used all at the beach this past year. Like others have indicated, conditions and type of hunting will dictate which detector I opt for. I've enjoyed using my TDI because I feel that I don't miss as much using it. I have a hearing disability  and the TDI really belts out the tones when I get near a target. I also like its big coil, sensitivity to gold and small targets and ability to work in mineralized areas. 

However, as I get older my tolerance for digging trash has been waning and I've found myself using my Excal more and more.  I don't care for the EQ "beach modes" but maybe if I had the Bigfoot coil I would like it better? If there were lots of targets and they were shallow I would probably be more likely to go for the EQ.

 

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I got an initial response from foxmd.ru saying they still do the coil chip box to adapt 3rd party coils to the EQ. I wrote back asking cost etc. but no answer.  I’d love a Bigfoot on my eq600 or CTX. Maybe the Excal? Damn, I was thinking of selling mine but this might be worth a try.  Have you heard of anyone trying it? Has anyone heard if the Legend could take 3rd party coils?

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I just tried using the EQ 800 with the gold programs at my last beach hunt. At least now I can get 5" on a clad dime instead of 2" in the black sand 😄 So I guess my choice of machine would be a PI on that beach 🙄

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I would think Gold Mode #2 is better than 1?  Thanks for sharing. 

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3 minutes ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

I would think Gold Mode #2 is better than 1?  Thanks for sharing. 

It was better but both worked nicely. I just ran them at 20Khz.... seemed smoother than multi. Sensitivity around 20. A bit chirpy, but when you hit a target you know it. At least you can hunt since the beach modes don't work very well at all in that environment.

 

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