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Editor note: split from https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/9945-my-salt-water-report-card/ I agree with ya on some of your points and grades. After a year of using the Equinox, I can give a fair assessment on where it ranks and how it compares to other detectors for the uses that I do. If I were solely a beach hunter, I would personally feel more confident with a CTX 3030. I personally feel it has more depth to it in that arena. Even in freshwater, I put a good season of water hunting in with the CTX and all last year with the Nox. I found more rings last year with the Nox but I also found triple as much small junk that slowed me down...stuff that fell through the scoop, and or just disappeared. This alone has me wanting to snag a good used CTX. On saltwater beach...this is an even stronger feeling of favoring the CTX to me. I personally didn't mind the weight of the unit. I find the screen is easier to see on the Nox, particularly in direct sun light. I even like the feel of the Nox. I just feel from what I see, that the 3030 has more muscle to it in that area. I can't ever remember having a target that disappeared/vanished on me once I scooped a hole while hunting with the CTX. I had some I almost gave up on cause they were so deep though. The Nox will do the Houdini act in salt sand and in dirt....it doesn't like open holes at all. When it comes to hunting in mineralized soil and coin/relic hunting back home...this changes big time. Even though the CTX is revered as a great coin machine, it is handicapped a lot by red dirt. The Nox runs circles around it there. Like night and day difference. Hunting in iron...same thing. Heavily favored to the Nox. This leaves me in a split mood. Most of my summer hunting IS in the water for jewelry, albeit freshwater. The Nox will find the same rings as the CTX...but it also wants to lock onto those small pieces of crap that fall through the scoop. I need to figure out a way to have both and hope the wife doesn't find out ?

Still hunting the 1850's fort site that we started hunting around the first of the year and I was able to dig a few keepers. I started the morning using the CTX, but within 30 minutes, headed to the car to put her away. There's a time and place for the 3030, but, this place isn't it. Wandered around for a little while trying to get in tune, so I decided to hunt in between a couple of trees in an area we haven't put much pressure on. I stayed in that one area for about 7 hours and dug an unusual amount of epaulette debris today. I managed to score my first R button along with a Dragoon and a plain Eagle cuff. Targets were plentiful, so, we'll be back to give this spot a good working over. Towards the end of the day I dug a toasted copper coin that was banging 28-30, which after a little cleaning at home, it looks to be a mid 1800's Mexican 1/4 reale. This makes the fourth one to come out of here so far. My settings on the 800 were: Park 1 11" coil Sens 22 Recovery 4 Iron bias 0 2-Tone Tone break -9 to +8 Auto GB No Disc

Spud Digger invited me to a Private Property hunt last weekend with about 25 other diggers. The site goes back to the 1860's. Now I wish all the finds were dated then, but the cabins were used and lived in in the 1900's Depression era too. Yes we find the occasional wheat cent from the 30's, but that is ok. We also get hunt the mining piles for gold nuggets, which makes this exact place a fun hunt for those who enjoy a variety. Anyway, my oldest US coin on this hunt was an 1890 Indian Head cent, as well as a couple Chinese Cache coins, a lead soldier on a horse, a coin size sterling flower piece, a cute little shoe bottom (either a child or a Chinamen?). Also recovered the normal suspender clasps, buckles and a few eye candy glass buttons. Even a non metal knife sharpener was spotted in one of my digs. One of my favorite finds besides the "Idaho City, Idaho" token (I love local history saves), was the tire pressure gauge. But the best find of the trip by anyone (at least in my opinion) was the 1918 State of Idaho Chauffeur #1159 Badge. Part of what made this find so unique is the lady digger who found it, was sifting for bottles and not even using a detector. If anyone can share some light on the badge, please let us know.

Just wanted to thank you guys. I have learned SO much the last couple weeks from this site! My equinox 800 is arriving Thursday. It will be my first detector since I bought a lobo supertraq about 20 years ago.

I agree, as a old tesoro knob twister I would be lost without this forum.

Hey MT, I downloaded the trilobite solutions one 2 weeks ago - very happy with it. For everyone else - the subscription is about $12 a year for the geology maps which are very interesting. They provide overlays for all of Australia. Then the free overlays re: gold, copper, silver, deep leads, etc are very good and the info attached is also good. There is a gold overlay subscription for each state that is also a pay-to-use subscription but is reasonably priced and (I think) they are updated monthly. I haven’t subscribed to that as yet as the free overlays are enough at present. I think the WA subscription was a little dearer - have you got this part MT or do you not feel it is needed for where you are? Australian Geology Travel Maps is the app name. I have tried Avenza Maps, Hema Maps and some other thing that I just deleted 2 days ago - AGTM is the best I’ve seen so far. Happy to post some screen shots if anyone is interested. All the info is held on phone and is available when out of phone service as long as your phone or tablet is GPS enabled.

If I wrote ... that minelab Vanquish will be a multi-frequency detector - that's the information that's approved by Minelab : I quote .... "Minelab wants to offer its new multi-frequency technology to the widest possible audience...."

Al something you might want to consider regardless of the coils you use, re tension your coil lead where it goes into the coil. You are putting heaps of tension on that lead and will shorten the coils life. Dave

Hi DeltaDigger I don't have an X35 coil yet. I only have the high frequency 9X5 elliptical coil. I do have moderate to high mineralized dirt to hunt in. For coins and jewelry I have been running mine on a custom program based on coin deep: discrimination 0, reactivity 2.5, sensitivity 80 to 90 depending on ground noise, 28 kHz. I have had no problem getting "Dig Me " audio responses on 6"+ deep coins, especially nickels and quarters. .58 caliber lead should be no problem. I have dug several .22 cal. and .38 cal. slugs and cartridges at 4"+. In either of the coin modes make sure to put discrimination on 0 if you can in order to make sure to get those low conductors even though their depth will definitely effect numerical target ID upwards. In fact, they may not give a numerical target ID past about 4" except for 99. They will probably high tone also. I think default discrimination is 7 which could disc out small lead and the small gold I'm after. Either default gold mode should scream on a .58 cal bullet at 4" with the HF 9X5 coil. I always ground balance!!!!! good luck, jeff

Bogie, I've put thousands of hours on an E-Trac and done very well. I can say the same with a CTX 3030 as well. I have hundreds of hours on an Equinox only because it has not been out that long. I feel in most of my hunts, the NOX will find a variety of targets better than the E-Trac. Nox is lighter and faster recovery in trash. Nox is 100% WP and much better at gold nugget hunting and or meteorites. E-Trac hits deeper silver and large cents better in my soils, as Steve mentioned. E-Trac has a better variety of coils as options. E-Trac has more accurate ID for those who like looking at the screen. I very seldom pay attention to screen ID...use your ears. E-Trac long tones is much easier for the ear to hear vs the NOX quick chirps..as Bryan mentioned. I sold my CTX 3030, but still own my E-Trac. Part of the reason for owning the E-Trac is I have it set up with a 15" WOT and X-1 probe. If I could only get one of the 2 machines and I was only after Coins/Relics...I'd probably get the NOX, especially if I was hunting old trashy sites with a lot of iron nails. If you can afford both, then go for it. Each detector is a tool and there are Pros/Cons to both.

robin You may not know this but extra detectors is good for holding up wall in your house. That’s what I’ve been telling myself to justify having more than one. The day one will do it all I’ll still have more than one . They may just stand in the corner and I may never use any but it’s the joy of having them. The day I can’t hunt anymore I can say “I remember when.” Chuck

I have never used a detector that has such a problem with a coil cover filling full of dirt and sand.Got tired of having to remove coil cover to clean.It's really bad at the beach, if I'm working just above waterline and a wave comes in and fills my cover full of water and sand, even though it's only a few ounces it feels like 5 lbs. And it's nice after hunting dry sand and putting it in the back of my Jeep and watch sand pour out. Had enough of that. Drilled some 9/64" drain holes in the cover, be sure you take it off the loop first. It will help a lot. Had very little sand after a beach hunt, usually the coil is packed.Since I took this pic, I have drilled 1/4" holes at 12:00 and 6:00, use those for flushing, put the hose to the top hole and let it flow out of the bottom. Don't run the water full blast, unless you wanna get wet.

“A man who unearthed a £145,000 Anglo-Saxon pendant has found more treasure dating back about 800 years. Tom Lucking's latest find saw him dig up a brooch dating back to between 1200 and 1300 in Wymondham, Norfolk in September. In 2014, the then student found a pendant in Winfarthing, Norfolk dating from circa 630AD. Mr Lucking, 27, said the brooch, which features two lions and is studded with two pink stones, was a "special" find.” Full story and photos here

I wanted to get this posted on the anniversary of D-Day. I'll let the picture of this copper plaque speak for itself. The back story is personally significant, but is inconsequential to the recovery itself. I am honored to present it to this forum on this date.

Received the Equinox Handbook a few days ago and modified Park1 on my E600 per the Cherry Picking program. Local parks dry out this time of the year plus we had below-average rainfall. One park dates from 1920, is one city block, and surrounded by power lines on all sides. Yet the detector was completely quiet but I Noise Cancelled out of habit. I found a Sargent key, an eye glasses temple, 2 pennies and assorted junk. The Cherry Picking settings will prove very useful as dried out parks become the norm. There is a modified Beach1 for land that might be interesting to try as well. The Handbook generated a sale. From Doc's detecting supplies I bought the cover for the control pod and cuff. Docs is mentioned in the list of vendors in the Handbook.

Thanks Jerry sounds like a good idea To have both they both bring something different to the table Thanks

Al I went looking in a QED manual because I didn`t know, and I came across this line "The QED was built upon the mono search coil platform, DD searchcoils will not work properly as only one side of a DD coil will be functional." What that means is, hold a small target in your fingers, and if you can only hear it on the left side of the coil, that coil is definitely a DD. DD`s transmit on the left side and receive on the right side. If the coil is a DD, and I think it probably is, you don`t have a 11" round, you have a 11 x 5½" elliptical, which I think will still work fine, you just won`t get the full depth of a 11" mono. I have found gold with DD`s running the detector set to mono. And I agree with Reg, I think the Minelab 8" Commander is a killer coil, over the years I probably found more pieces with it than all my other coils combined. Dave

So true. The fact that there is so much to learn and so much adjustability though has motivated me to study it all far more than I did the tesoro. I had some fun adventures with it but I never really mastered it.

I see where you are coming from and you make some good points. Im more of one of those guys who do chase those smaller targets in the salt water. Most of the foil or really light stuff moves more toward the high tide line....... but those pesty chair aluminum punch outs or rivits can be a pain. Fresh water i can see even more just because stuff dont move as much nor does it desolve a quickly. Ive always said the CTX is a more refine machine and the smart screen has so much more info. If you want to do a pattern and have the time in on the CTX....... clearly id use it. You WONT dig a bottle cap thats for sure. No chatter in the salt water...... just a little falsing in the surf with black sand swinging up the slope. More of a coil flip thing. BUT.... the CTX can be like swinging a dead horse out there. Once the box is submerged it feels a little floatie. I hear more complaints about getting headphones with enough volume for the CTX over the Nox as well. There is some advantage to just wanting to chase the heavy gold ...... you can move along a little faster and like you said NOT have to chase the small targets...... or mybe gold. The Nox does have an advantage on the small gold. Weight didnt really bother me either.... since the Nox isnt balanced very well it can be just as tiring to swing. You are right about that screen and the sun too....... Nox clearly is easier to see. Lot of its preference i guess......... i still see a lot of people who swing the Xcal and prefer it over any other water machine.

Go for it Daniel!----The wife loves yah, she probably won't beat you up too bad!-----Mine didn't---my wife does keep telling me though that "the beatings will continue till moral improves".-----Not just sure what that means---might mean I'm buyin too many tectors!-----I'm kiddin, I'm kiddin (of course).

Excellent, Dan! Beautiful "R" button! Steve

Hi Joe, A DD coil in Fast tracking is your best bet for hot ground. A big normal wound coil like a 18" DD Commander will handle super hot ground very well. If you are after depth, and the area is known for big deep lumps try Deep and Salt timing, especially with the 15" Detech which is a very sensitive DD. Cheers, Nenad

Many thanks for this thread Rick, following it with interest. Put my order in for a Ruski jobbie last night, eagerly awaiting its arrival.

The chauffeur,s license is a great find.

And….? (I hate suspense)

Great explanation, the gp3500 is still a very good detector along with the earlier models such as the sd2200. I remember a trip to Flat creek station in 2009 near George town NTH QLD. The camp site was full & there were plenty of Gpx 4500's & 4000's being used. I was the only one there with a Sd2200. After setting up camp & introducing my self with some of the prospectors It became apparent that nobody had found any gold in days, this was certainly discouraging for me that I was about to start detecting with a Sd2200 over where 4500's had already been hammering. But after driving nearly 7 hours to go prospecting I wasn't about to give up that easily. So I threw on my harness and headed west straight through the main diggings going towards the Gilbert River, in the hope of finding ground out that might give up a nugget here & there. Well I only made it 50m from camp when I got a soft signal through my earphones, I don't know how deep it was, but it was a 9 gram nugget at good depth. I was very surprised considering there were so many gpx detectors flogging this area for days. It wasn't until a couple of years later I realised why nobody had found that nugget before i did & I think it came down to the fact most were probably using smooth timings to quieten the ground down and the nugget I found was just out of reach for the newer machines. The Sd2200 with no choice but the more powerful normal timing, was punching deeper on the bigger solid bits at depth. As soon as i found that nugget I walked straight back to the camp site to show everyone what i just found with the 2200, I don't think too many were very impressed with me lol. But it just goes to show how good the older machines still are, especially the Gp3500 if your willing to put the time in.

If I may be so bold as to say so, the gold nugget field training team of McMullen and McCulloch is first rate :) I do like it when trainees express appreciation for what they've learned. Yes, the coins were found on Sunday, after everyone but we and Lisa had left. Removing the several inch thick layer of pine needles helped get us onto productive ground. Craig found a really nice INTACT gold pocket watch, with the glass lens intact. He also found a cool (1930's?) Junior Pilot's badge. Craig and Lisa hit the bottle dump hard, and got upwards of 10 bottles for their efforts. I found an embossed name tag, but somehow mislaid it. Bummer. Thanks for posting the picture of my gold. And no, the coins were not found under the painted rocks, but under yet more hail! Gang, to watch Marine McMullen stalwartly marching back into camp head high during one of the several hail storms was inspirational! Oh, yeah, Gerry, thanks for letting a couple of California Desert Rats pillage more Idaho gold! Let us know when we can return the favor. HH Jim

So good to see you and Craig again. I know it was a long ways for you to drive from Southern CA., but we try to share the wealth and this time you two went home with some good Idaho gold. You must have found the coins after I pulled out? Well that just goes to show I was willing to let you go home with a couple. Were they under the two brightly painted rocks that said "look here"? Here is a photo of some of your gold finds Jim. Hopefully Spud Digger has another hunt later this year when the weather is a little more cooperative. Again, It was good to see you two again and thanks for helping on the class for Gold Hunting. They really enjoyed us, I was told many times.

First time posting on a forum. Credit to everyone with positive & productive info & thanks so much for the reviews & insights shared. It is the reason I finally come out of just lurking. Much appreciated.

In theory it should. I’ve used with the 7”tesoro DD on Florida beaches and it’s far more stable than the 7” concentric.

I know that the 1850's was the best time for gold for the small time prospector. I would like to go back to 2050 instead, then I would know that I made it past 110 years of age.

Which one is you?

New Information.....: Vanquish will be a multifrequency detector.....

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, younger people are interested, they just don't hang out on Facebook or forums much, especially today. Forums especially seem to be retaining mostly older crowds. And Reg is right, most of the TV is consumed by 40 and over crowds these days. Youtube and even more so now, Instagram are where the younger crowd is. Even places like Reddit are getting younger by the month. Point of reference - when I bought my first gold detector in 2006 I think I was the youngest fairly consistent poster on the forums. 13 years later, I still feel as if that might be true and I'm 40 now. I've never in my life met a serious gold detectorist younger than me in the field in all that time. I never even met anyone within a decade of me until maybe 2014/5 or so. I've met Dave, Chris, Boulderdash and Lunk who I think are all in my general age range, but that's about it, in my entire career, and I lived full time for over 5 years in the field living (meagerly) off gold prospecting. Conversely, I have 35,000 subs on a Youtube channel (I have a prospecting related channel), so there is definitely interest from younger people. That is about the global subscriber base of ICMJ for comparison. Looking at demographics the majority are in the 25 to 45 range, though that number is slowly creeping up as I get older. I get young people telling me all the time they dream of doing something like this but can't afford it. In 1995 I bought my first coin detector at garage sale and my friends refused to be seen in public with me so I tossed it after a year of messing around. In 2003 or whatever year the Ace 250 came out I bought one and my college girlfriend was horrified anytime I'd use it around her in public. Last week I was getting my hair cut by a girl in her early 20's who was proud to tell me she owned and used a Ace 250. A few days ago in the park I saw some kids in their 20's drinking some brown bagged beers and taking turns on some no name detector. I had a kid come up to me at a grocery store in Arizona and say he liked my vids and really wished he could afford a gold detector but that he got a Bounty Hunter for coins. Things have changed in the coin/relic world, it's not nearly as uncool as it used to be. Coins/relics are everywhere. There isn't a detectable nugget within 1,000 miles of a lot of the US/Canada population though. Even if there were, the serious guys on Youtube are all using at least 4500's if not GPZ's now. People see that, want to use the same thing, feel hopelessly behind if they can't, and then see they are in for a $2500 ride or whatever a 4500 costs now and give up. A retiree can just buy a GPZ on a whim. That's why there is such an age discrepancy. Even at 40 I've had to pay for my 4500 and my 2 GPZ's via business loans, otherwise I'd still be detecting for coins. That arbitrary pricing in the detector world is offensively overinflated IMO, it's almost single handedly make me swear off any kind of collaboration with detector companies. And that's a big reason why few to no younger people join electronic prospecting while the coin/relic world is experiencing a boom probably not seen for decades. This Vanquish seems like it might be trying to address this general issue. But if it's what it sounds like, it may succeed in the coin/relic world, but it won't find anything but mediocre success in the gold world, for reasons I went over in the Garrett thread. No serious prospectors are going to be using this all day in most their videos. And Minelab doesn't seem to care about connecting with the prospecting related content creators anyways.

Will be interesting to see how the 22x21 goes when we get them Rick. I've also ordered the 10" for crumb finding when things get desperate.

It reminds of one of the cordless stick vacuums I’ve been looking at. Hope it sucks up gold like a vacuum.

Hi I am just wondering if the new coiltek coils for the sdc give it more depth have looked on many sites no one is saying to much about weather it has made the 2300 have the ability to find gold at a deeper depth. Cheers.

Steve, My chutzpah (this Marine had to look that one up) is all in fun when dealing with everyday people, and on occasion it is directed at certain manufactures. When such folks ask for my opinion, I give the good and bad. So many people have a hard time with the bad news. I've pisses a many Detector Engineers off with a select few comments about their new baby (detector) because I gave the good and bad feedback. In the long run, it is not me trying to be a dick (usually not anyway), but more importantly, be honest and striving for something "even better". I won't use the term "perfect", as I have yet to find the perfect detector. I will admit, the Equinox 800, is damn close though but not quite there yet. People need laugh more and enjoy the life we live. Today's society is so "I need it now, demanding", but at the same time, "walk lightly so you do not disturb". It is hard to be both for me and yes I think 1 time (probably summer 1996), I offended someone, but it was just that 1 time (on that day). Like you, I have enjoyed most of my life with a detector in hand and I really wouldn't want it any other way. Most who have spent time with me, will tell you though, I am pretty much a straight shooter when talking detectors. I've been fortunate to have made my share of outstanding finds and I also enjoy the challenge of a new detector and seeing what I can do with it. Hopefully a few folks will enjoy my style, but I realized I won't please everyone. Glad I am able to put a "shitty grin" on your face once in a while and most appreciative of you allowing me to post on this fine forum. Lets go swinging...and we'll use a detector next time.

Look guys, it's a Minelab. Don't worry about anything else. Just give Gerry your credit card number and someday something will show up. ? Just poking fun at you Gerry - I have always admired your chutzpah. I am pure introvert and what you do so hilariously in meetings... let's just say I am jealous of your larger than life personality! You are without a doubt the funniest metal detector dealer I have ever met.

In general if ground is quiet enough I prefer a VLF. Apparently I coined the phrase “use a VLF when you can, and a PI when you have to”. If you use a VLF you will run into ground where you NEED a PI. When it happens you will know it. Modern PI detectors are getting close to VLF type performance on small gold, and once you consider minerals can do better on small gold than a VLF. The ability to hit small gold with a PI is a good thing since minerals can destroy what advantage a VLF may have in theory. All detectors struggle in bad ground, even a PI and yes that includes Minelab's. Otherwise Minelab would not have been able to release so many models over the years adding settings for more and more types of ground. So saying PI might struggle in some ground is just the truth and applies to all detectors. By all accounts the QED is a decent PI so I would not overthink it too much.