Nox 800 Vs Stony Ground/mountain Cracks- In Bronze Age Treasure Hunting?

[Mike831]

Hello MD's out there, 

Gonna pick up my old childhood hobby of metal detecting and thinking of ordering a Nox 800. Apart from beaches and fields I wanna be able to do stony hills and mountain cracks etc in search of some bronze age treasures in northern Scandinavia. A relative who passed away recently was an archeologist and left behind his own made maps and tons of notes, some of these areas are everything else but flat and soft fields. Do you guys think it would pick up signals of bronze and gold through chunks/stony ground? Or can I just forget about it? What would you use with a budget of approx 1k usd/euro? 

Also, been watching tons of videos on youtube of depth of finding coins, Im more interested in what size the object must be to find it 50cm or even 100cm deep? Would the nox 800 find something the size of a butchers knife or a sword at 50-100cm/20-40 inches depth through sand/mud/stony ground? 🤔

 

Best Regards,

Mike

 

[tadviv]

I think you had better check out the Nox900. I am holding off on the 800 because the price is still too high. The 900 offers a lighter weight and a more defined search, plus it comes standard with the 6 and 11 inch coil. JMHO. I was looking at the 800 also, but after reading reviews on the new NOX900. I am already sold.

[Mike831]

13 hours ago, tadviv said:

I think you had better check out the Nox900. I am holding off on the 800 because the price is still too high. The 900 offers a lighter weight and a more defined search, plus it comes standard with the 6 and 11 inch coil. JMHO. I was looking at the 800 also, but after reading reviews on the new NOX900. I am already sold.

Thanks for the tip, just did some reading and seems like a great machine. I will probably not spend so much time on beaches geting fooled by trash and bottle caps, but the retractable shaft of the 900 is a great feature. Have you seen any good depth tests on larger items? Cheers

[TedinVT]

20”-40” in depth would be everyone's dream, but no hobby detector I've heard of will come close to that. 16” might work, 12” might be more realistic. The old adage “size matters” is also applicable.

I've got 5 years on my 800 and love it, but today I'd go for the 900 with it's more processing power and both the 6” and 11” coil just to name a couple of the many 900 features.

[Lost Scout]

I live the mountains of Idaho. While I have a few spots I can use the bigger coils the six inch is the way to go in rocks and brush especially on steep terrain. The slight depth difference is made up because the small coil can manouver down in closer around rocks etc. I've been using the 800 for almost a year and really like it. 

[CPT_GhostLight]

I've had my Nox 800 for 3 years and used it at beaches, lakes, ghost towns, parks, fields, and old home sites and can say it has performed well at all of those. You can't go wrong with a 800 or 900, but take the time to get out a lot with whichever you choose and learn it well and you will be well rewarded. Also, all of the Equinox coils work with all models 600-900, and the Coiltek 10x5" coil is great for relic hunting and cramped spaces and is deadly on any site. 

 

[Mike831]

Thanks a lot for feedback. What do you guys think, if its possible to find a coin at 12", wouldn't it be possible to find a larger knife or helmet at 20" with the nox? If I feel its something I'll pick up as a serious hobby I'll prob get a more expensive machine with the time later on 😊 Some stuff up at hills were they sacrified treasures during bronze age shouldn't be to deep though, and some stuff they hided in mountain cracks not burried in soil. So based on my dead archeology relatives notes and maps I'll mostly hunt up on hills, climb and stick it into mountain cracks etc, not so much fields for rusty relics. 

Regards

[F350Platinum]

Seems like you are interested in the hobby for a couple of the wrong reasons. 🤔 While I admire your excitement and the answer to this question is a qualified "maybe", consider this:

1 hour ago, Mike831 said:

Some stuff up at hills were they sacrified treasures during bronze age shouldn't be to deep though, and some stuff they hided in mountain cracks not burried in soil. So based on my dead archeology relatives notes and maps I'll mostly hunt up on hills, climb and stick it into mountain cracks etc, not so much fields for rusty relics. 

If you're planning on detecting ancient archaeological sites without authorization or permission, it's a very fast track to jail and huge fines.

You might want to take a look at laws regarding detecting where you live, they aren't hard to find. You may even have to drill down to the locality, I know of one near me where at best you might just have your detector confiscated if law enforcement sees you walking around with it.

I've detected old iron and aluminum at a maximum of 14", again maybe.

You definitely have some research to do first before even considering what detector to buy. Just some friendly advice. 🙂

[Chase Goldman]

Detecting targets that deep is one thing, recovering it is another.  Believe me, unless you are going to actually open up an archeological pit and get on your hands and knees with a trowel and sieve like a professional archeologist, you'll find regularly digging beyond a foot to recover targets to be exhausting after just a couple recoveries.

Any of the machines mentioned are have more than enough depth performance for your needs.  Focus on value and features and the ability the machine to differentiate and separate treasure from man-made junk (old iron, tin, nails, lead and jacketed bullets and shot, casings, machine and vehicle parts, electrical and plumbing items from old structures, and modern aluminum and other household trash).  This is often more important than depth capability.

Also, you really do need to check into the local laws and regulations regarding disturbing and recovering artifacts of historical significance on public lands (typically forbidden by law) and it can get complicated even on private lands, especially if they have spiritual significance to indigenous peoples.