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My Salt Water Report Card!


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It started in July of 2018. Took my new Nox to Mexico and even though I did testing at home before leaving it was disappointing to find that my Black Widows would not work, nor my Sun Ray pro golds. I did do some detecting but the wave noise on my beach made it difficult to really get into the machine.

Fast forward to January, armed with the correct connector to use my black widows I starting learning the Nox. First impression was, chatty, difficult to PP, and issues with moving water and black sand.  After the third time out I installed the update.  WHAT A FAIL! I had a new machine alright but it was working way worse. I consulted a few people with the machine and was told that the update may not always take.  I uninstalled and checked performance [seemed ok] Then put the up-date back on. What a difference! The machine seemed to perform better!

 Off to the report card! Saltwater Beach, Beach 2, GB auto.  

Dry Sand- [N/A] The dry sand is not worth my time where I hunt.

Wet sand grade: [A- ]: I found the machine to work the wet sand well [no water].  With light black sand I could work in 21-22 sensitivity. Very little false signals, worked recovery between 4-6, iron bias 2-3. Even though I did not make any great recoveries in this part of the beach by the end of the season I felt confident there was not much getting by me.

Wave Trough [moving water] grade: [ F] This is where I really like to hunt. To put it bluntly the Nox is a complete failure in moving salt water.   It is like the moving salt water makes the machine blind to detect and see targets.

 The beach is rough where I hunt. At any point water could be over waist deep, then 50’ or more of wet sand to the water.  If I were to stay in the wave zone completely I would have to significantly de-tune the machine do to the moving water causing the machine to false. When the water would drain out and I would locate a target the next wave is right there. When the wave would come through, repeated sweeping where the target was produced no sound at all. When the wave pulled back, re-sweeping showed the target was present. This happened over and over for 100’s of targets. Another drawback:  It was clear there was two different set-ups needed. One for wet sand, another for moving water. If I had the machine set for moving water that meant every time the wave swept out I was WAY under matched for wet sand only. Mainly I found I had to run around  17-18 sensitivity and 5-6 on recovery.  

Other issues comments.

EMI grade[ F]  I have over ½ mile of the beach where I need to back off the sensitivity by 1-2 regardless of other conditions or controls.

Pinpoint Mode grade [F]  The worst functioning I have ever used, Especially on a beach!

All metal mode grade [A]  Or as I nick named it the “truth mode” Almost every jumpy target I had would lock in somewhere, once put in all metal mode.

Recovery of targets grade [D] Well part of this grade is due to the pin-point mode, but make no mistake there are other issues, Even though I had the target out of the hole, many time the detector was still sounding off. Also it seems to be easy to bury targets or make them undetectable after missing them in the scooping process.

Thanks for listening. Please do not tell me how it works on land, in fresh water, or gold mode [I don’t hunt land] This is my honest review. Sure I have a few more things to learn, but I doubt my grades would change much.

Over-all grade C+

 

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"GB Auto" - does that mean you were not using Tracking GB (which is recommended in moving salt water)?

Backing off on sensitivity 1 or 2 points out of 20 nets an EMI of F? Uh, OK.

Can you explain in a little more detail how you had to set up the machine differently in wet sand vs. surf?

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Got me some waders last week and been out in the water three times now - so I wouldn't call me experienced... three different beaches - beach1 (!), Sens 22, GB manual at 0, recovery 6, iron bias 3 and the Nox runs quiet as a mouse..pretty impressive for a vlf machine in my book. No falsing due to waves, coil leaving / entering the water what so ever..

Friend of mine went out 3 times with his Nox and got 4 gold rings with nearly identical settings.

Maybe you should get a pi machine, if you mainly hunt in those difficult areas...

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I was hunting directly under power lines yesterday evening...backed down on the sensitivity 4-5 ...did another noise cancel and the machine ran nice and smooth while still hitting deep coins. I'm sure you will have no trouble selling your machine on the used market. 

strick 

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12 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

"GB Auto" - does that mean you were not using Tracking GB (which is recommended in moving salt water)?

Backing off on sensitivity 1 or 2 points out of 20 nets an EMI of F? Uh, OK.

Can you explain in a little more detail how you had to set up the machine differently in wet sand vs. surf?

 

For me the definition of "auto" [automatic] is the same as tracking GB.

Yes, having to back off for EMI of 1-2 points is an issue. Not only that, but everyone seems to be carrying a cell phone on the beach. I can not tell you the amount of times I can HEAR cell phones coming toward me, and of course much worse if they are standing next to me watching.
I also wonder even though one "knocks out" the audible EMI just how much it still effects detection. Even backing it off, I can still hear pulsing and or disturbance in the sound when a target is detected. That is 100% EMI caused. Grade [F]
 

To be set-up to just work the surf [complete water/wave action] I need to be in the 17-18  range for sensitivity as compared to 21-22. However in my location is never just an option to stay in the water only [it is too rough] So when the beach does drain for those precious seconds, I am sitting in a detection mode that is under powered for what I am swinging.  I found it was most likely better to remain in the best possible wet sand setting and wait for the water to drain to work the low trough. Working the beach in this fashion GREATLY reduces the amount of beach that can be covered in a given session.
The worst part of this equation is the loss of detection with moving water, as stated 100's of targets  could not be heard while water was moving past the coil. The water drains and the target re-appears. Grade [F] 

Dave

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, phrunt said:

  These 100's of targets would have to be right on the edge of detection, all of them!  Did you end up getting these hundreds of mystery targets?

You did not read fully, 100's of targets disappeared with the wave moving past and back down from my location on the beach. The targets were only able to be heard when moving salt water drained. The sensitivity setting did not matter for this issue.

2 hours ago, phrunt said:

This issue will be the same on every detector ever made. 

You are completely incorrect. This is the first detector I have ever had EMI issues with. 

Dave

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19 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Can you explain in a little more detail how you had to set up the machine differently in wet sand vs. surf?

Hi Dave,

I was hoping you would engage in a problem-solving dialogue. As a new detectorist I have found the collective knowledge of this board helpful and its members forthcoming, courteous and understanding. One of the many reasons I like detecting is its a puzzle needing a solution. Perhaps your encounter in tough salt water conditions has an Equinox solution that if solved, could propel your detecting experiences to a higher level than you have attained thus far?

Just a thought.

Curtis

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5 minutes ago, Flowdog said:

Hi Dave,

I was hoping you would engage in a problem-solving dialogue. As a new detectorist I have found the collective knowledge of this board helpful and its members forthcoming, courteous and understanding. One of the many reasons I like detecting is its a puzzle needing a solution. Perhaps your encounter in tough salt water conditions has an Equinox solution that if solved, could propel your detecting experiences to a higher level than you have attained thus far?

Just a thought.

Curtis

I have been salt water beach hunting for over 20 years. I have used A sovereign XS, XS2a, Elite, GT, Fisher CZ-21, Garrett beach hunter AT-4,  Minelab Excal. I have tested several whites machines as well, but never owned one.  I am always open to helpful hints! ?

Dave 

  

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2 hours ago, midalake said:

I have been salt water beach hunting for over 20 years. I have used A sovereign XS, XS2a, Elite, GT, Fisher CZ-21, Garrett beach hunter AT-4,  Minelab Excal. I have tested several whites machines as well, but never owned one.  I am always open to helpful hints! ?

Dave 

  

Dave,

I think I could make a pretty strong case that you are really not all that open to helpful hints. ? But that is beside the point and just poking a little fun.

Not knowing how much run time you do have on Equinox (I know I was not singing its praises after my first few outings with it) or what you were specifically hoping to for it to bring to the table over the other machines you mentioned above,  it is hard to ascertain if the issues you are having stem from inexperince with Equinox after one and a half extended Mexican beach trips or a possible defective machine (the need to use different sensitivities on wet sand vs. in surf is hard to analyze without knowing the specific beach environmental characteristics and yes cell phones are going to be a problem if you are forced to detect when and where the beachgoers are also swarming, something I tend to avoid, but have still not experienced the issues you have even with crowds).

Regardless, I think the answer you are looking for is plain as day and you know what it is.  Cut your losses, stop being frustrated, and simply chalk Equinox up to being a fail for your situation.  No one here is going to give you any advice that is magically going to recover your Equinox grade.  You are either feeling it or not.  And if not, then no sense banging your head against the wall.  Grab whichever machine you still own that out performs that C+ Equinox and enjoy beach hunting again.  You deserve it.  Sell Equinox and the rest of the dust collectors and use the bucks towards your next plane ticket down south.   I believe that approach is a win, win for everyone involved.  Maybe a less annoying machine will come down the pike soon and you can give that one a go.  Life is too short to stay annoyed because of a metal detector. HH.

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