"antique Detectorist" Changing Horses

[bocash3]

PLEASE bare  with me:   

1.   I have a perfectly good  White's XLT Spectrum (1999), keeping it
for now.   I set several custom programs on it years ago but  prefer
to get something  "not so advanced"   where owner has to set many manual
settings.

2.  I have a  new  Garrett's  AT Gold  on the way.  It can be returned.   But I'm looking for something to "possibly"  replace the  XLT that can not only do it all but  detect small gold deposits.

3.   Nokta Legend::  Listed as  "Advanced"  machine.   2 rechargable battery packs.  Wireless headphone.    None of this appeals to me.  I don't mind a  wired headphone.   AND  the XLT  is still  a machine with so many  variable settings that I choose not to change what I programmed over the years.   I have had bad  luck  with  any  company's  proprietary  batterys and rechargable batteries in general.    My White's  battery packs finally died and are no longer available, so  run AA batteries and am much happier with throw aways.   And THINK:  How  does one  "Plug in"  a charger when in deep woods?   Carrying extra AA batteries is  a  no-brainer.      However, 2 pluses for the Legend are  backlit and  audio  tones.   AA batteries are one big plus for  ordering the  Garrett AT Gold.

4. Moving to  Equinox 800:    Praised for its pin-pointer (I love the XLT  pin-pointer).   Top reviews are many.   BUT.........lithium ion rechargable and only  ONE  (I assume proprietary)  battery comes with it at that.    I see "Beginner"  friendly.  That appeals to me because I truly don't want to go through the  arduous  learning curve the  XLT  presented to me  23 years ago when new. 

So  decisions, decisions.     my plans were to run the  AT Gold and sell the Spectrum  IF  the  AT Gold  "might" take it's place and be a better choice for small nugget shooting.     

OR................ keep either the AT Gold  OR  XLT  and maybe get the  Equinox 800  too.     I just don't want to get stuck in deep woods overnight with a  dead  detector battery.
 
AND:  I see the  Minelab GoldMonster uses my preferred  AA batteries, and is listed as  "Gold"  and  Beginner friendly.  Would it detect coins too?   I won't rule it out as if it will fits for a purpose, I'm willing to go to $950  it sells for.  
I could  keep one all-purpose machine and one which specializes in gold??  

IF I have not totally scrambled your  brains as I have my own,  what would you do?  

Thanks for putting up with me,   "Bo"

[BMc]

43 minutes ago, bocash3 said:

PLEASE bare  with me:   

1.   I have a perfectly good  White's XLT Spectrum (1999), keeping it
for now.   I set several custom programs on it years ago but  prefer
to get something  "not so advanced"   where owner has to set many manual
settings.

2.  I have a  new  Garrett's  AT Gold  on the way.  It can be returned.   But I'm looking for something to "possibly"  replace the  XLT that can not only do it all but  detect small gold deposits.

3.   Nokta Legend::  Listed as  "Advanced"  machine.   2 rechargable battery packs.  Wireless headphone.    None of this appeals to me.  I don't mind a  wired headphone.   AND  the XLT  is still  a machine with so many  variable settings that I choose not to change what I programmed over the years.   I have had bad  luck  with  any  company's  proprietary  batterys and rechargable batteries in general.    My White's  battery packs finally died and are no longer available, so  run AA batteries and am much happier with throw aways.   And THINK:  How  does one  "Plug in"  a charger when in deep woods?   Carrying extra AA batteries is  a  no-brainer.      However, 2 pluses for the Legend are  backlit and  audio  tones.   AA batteries are one big plus for  ordering the  Garrett AT Gold.

4. Moving to  Equinox 800:    Praised for its pin-pointer (I love the XLT  pin-pointer).   Top reviews are many.   BUT.........lithium ion rechargable and only  ONE  (I assume proprietary)  battery comes with it at that.    I see "Beginner"  friendly.  That appeals to me because I truly don't want to go through the  arduous  learning curve the  XLT  presented to me  23 years ago when new. 

So  decisions, decisions.     my plans were to run the  AT Gold and sell the Spectrum  IF  the  AT Gold  "might" take it's place and be a better choice for small nugget shooting.     

OR................ keep either the AT Gold  OR  XLT  and maybe get the  Equinox 800  too.     I just don't want to get stuck in deep woods overnight with a  dead  detector battery.
 
AND:  I see the  Minelab GoldMonster uses my preferred  AA batteries, and is listed as  "Gold"  and  Beginner friendly.  Would it detect coins too?   I won't rule it out as if it will fits for a purpose, I'm willing to go to $950  it sells for.  
I could  keep one all-purpose machine and one which specializes in gold??  

IF I have not totally scrambled your  brains as I have my own,  what would you do?  

Thanks for putting up with me,   "Bo"

Equinox 800 is considered to be an excellent "all purpose" detector. If you haven't already done so check out Steve's review.

 

[Rick N. MI]

AT Gold is a great detector. Easy to set up and use. It goes plenty deep. In my mild ground with the 5x8 coil it could hit my 9" test dime. Disc had to be turned negative. I always like the AT detectors and I would choose an AT Gold.

I have a detector buddy that got a new AT Max. He put in Custom mode and didn't change anything except ground balance and sensitivity. He loves it. For him it's the best detector he every used. He couldn't get the hang of my Equinox 800 setting and using it.

[GB_Amateur]

2 hours ago, bocash3 said:

I see the  Minelab GoldMonster uses my preferred  AA batteries, and is listed as  "Gold"  and  Beginner friendly.  Would it detect coins too?

This one is easy to answer.  All metal detectors find metal (including coins), but in the case of the GM1000 -- basically a specialty detector for naturally occuring gold, especially small gold -- it's about as primitive as 1970's detectors when it comes to finding coins.  The ML Equinox 800 is approximately the same price (well, with one coil instead of two) and is a true all-purpose detector.  It's as good as the GM1000 for native gold.  If you use its stock gold settings it may be as easy to operate for that application, too.

There are many hundreds of posts here on the new multifrequency competition for the Eqx 800 -- XP Deus 2 at ~$1600 and Nokta/Makro Legend at $~630 in the USA.  Are they better/worse/equal to the Equinox 800?  If you read carefully I think you'll come to the conclusion of 'equal'.  The current landscape in detectors is such that significant performance improvements aren't happening -- it's basically ergonomics (weight, balance, sound) and features (# of tones, richness of tone characteristics, visual graphics, water submersion depth, etc.) that separate these three, not detecting performance (with possible exceptions of very specific needs/applications).

You seem to really like your White's XLT, and you're not the only one.  My (unsolicited) advice is that unless you are going to get very serious searching for native gold, to the extent of researching and finding new, available ground that hasn't been hunted (a tall task), your desire for good gold nugget performance may end up fruitless.  IMO it has gotten that tough (here in the USA, anyway).

 

[strick]

Get the Nox and be done with it..Nox will do what the monster does....get out of the ice ages 🙂

strick

[Rick N. MI]

Gold Kruzer is a great gold and relic hunter also. With the 5x9.5dd coil it goes 8" max on a test dime. Gold ring 11" max.

The Gold Kruzer has incredible separation in iron. 

[NCtoad]

On 7/18/2022 at 4:51 PM, bocash3 said:

PLEASE bare  with me:   

1.   I have a perfectly good  White's XLT Spectrum (1999), keeping it
for now.   I set several custom programs on it years ago but  prefer
to get something  "not so advanced"   where owner has to set many manual
settings.

2.  I have a  new  Garrett's  AT Gold  on the way.  It can be returned.   But I'm looking for something to "possibly"  replace the  XLT that can not only do it all but  detect small gold deposits.

3.   Nokta Legend::  Listed as  "Advanced"  machine.   2 rechargable battery packs.  Wireless headphone.    None of this appeals to me.  I don't mind a  wired headphone.   AND  the XLT  is still  a machine with so many  variable settings that I choose not to change what I programmed over the years.   I have had bad  luck  with  any  company's  proprietary  batterys and rechargable batteries in general.    My White's  battery packs finally died and are no longer available, so  run AA batteries and am much happier with throw aways.   And THINK:  How  does one  "Plug in"  a charger when in deep woods?   Carrying extra AA batteries is  a  no-brainer.      However, 2 pluses for the Legend are  backlit and  audio  tones.   AA batteries are one big plus for  ordering the  Garrett AT Gold.

4. Moving to  Equinox 800:    Praised for its pin-pointer (I love the XLT  pin-pointer).   Top reviews are many.   BUT.........lithium ion rechargable and only  ONE  (I assume proprietary)  battery comes with it at that.    I see "Beginner"  friendly.  That appeals to me because I truly don't want to go through the  arduous  learning curve the  XLT  presented to me  23 years ago when new. 

So  decisions, decisions.     my plans were to run the  AT Gold and sell the Spectrum  IF  the  AT Gold  "might" take it's place and be a better choice for small nugget shooting.     

OR................ keep either the AT Gold  OR  XLT  and maybe get the  Equinox 800  too.     I just don't want to get stuck in deep woods overnight with a  dead  detector battery.
 
AND:  I see the  Minelab GoldMonster uses my preferred  AA batteries, and is listed as  "Gold"  and  Beginner friendly.  Would it detect coins too?   I won't rule it out as if it will fits for a purpose, I'm willing to go to $950  it sells for.  
I could  keep one all-purpose machine and one which specializes in gold??  

IF I have not totally scrambled your  brains as I have my own,  what would you do?  

Thanks for putting up with me,   "Bo"

If you’re worried about rechargeable lithium batteries, my opinion is don’t.  Lol.  I’ve had my nox since it’s introduction and it’s been charged many, many times over the past four years and the battery still holds a charge for longer than I can detect in one day.  I can’t imagine how much money recharging that battery would have saved me if the nox had been made to use throw-away AA batteries.  Of course you could buy rechargeable AAs, but then you’re back to not only recharging batteries, but having to put them in and out.  
 

If you are still worried about draining the battery on the nox while out in the field, you can buy a rechargeable lithium battery pack and run your nox off of that by strapping the battery under the arm cuff and using the magnetic charging cable.  
 

One more point:   If you do happen to wear out the battery in your nox, you can buy a replacement and from the videos I’ve seen, it’s an easy, straightforward replacement.  

[kac]

Gold Kruzer is something to consider and menu system is very easy to follow. No digging through menus.

[geof_junk]

 

The original Whites eagle 1991 is great

If you like the White's XLT Spectrum. What do you think of my 1991 Eagle it still in the garage and I bet it still works with my battery mod's.

 

You "prefer to get something  "not so advanced"   where owner has to set many manual settings". I'm sure the Eagle is not as advance as the XLT. 😁

 

[Gwcracker]

First thing I would do is get shed of the Garrett. Second thing, get shed of the Whites. Then I would decide between the Nox and the Nokta Legend. In my case I would go with the Legend.

That is what I would do.

One more thing.. Just because the newer detectors have all the buttons and options doesn't necessarily mean you are required to learn them.. New detectors can be used as a turn on and go with factory presets just as easily with no adjustment required..