Northeast

Hold up there!! What is this? 🧐 But I suppose you’re going to tell me you can’t tell me? 😉

The 'Star Chart' which shows the 6000 is 3 X better on small gold than an SDC and 1 star better than a number of other detectors on gold across a range of sizes - this is the exact reason that I am pulling the trigger on a 6000. My only unknown (and great hope) is that for the most part the 6000 has the extreme ground/rock handling abilities the SDC has. Geo-Sense? Well, let's hope I've got some Good-Sense in thinking that this little marketing catch phrase has something to do with that.

Correct. Going to be some gold getting sold too. Going to see the Doc this afternoon, might check if I actually need both of these pesky kidneys too 🤣

That process commenced yesterday for me 🤣

I’ve just had the chance to get back to this thread as I read Gerry’s comment yesterday and immediately had more questions? Raw gold and jewellery? Because you’re using the Nox more? Because you’re using the Nox over tailing piles? Because you’re using the Nox through trashy areas for nuggets? Would be great if you can expand Gerry. New thread perhaps?

Thanks geof and Joe. Yep, very frustrating. Silver foil caps off icy poles called Callipos (not sure if you have them in the US) and smaller silver foil protection caps off sunscreen tubes and yoghurt squeezy things. They were coming in a constant 1, 2 and 8 depending on their size. I eventually ignored 1's and 2's (probably at my peril) but simply couldn't ignore an 8. Rubbish really gives me the sprits! Yes, and I didn't pursue it too strongly as I only had a little spade and a plastic shovel for sorting - not appropriate for in-water searching. Next time I will invest in one of these thinga-my-bobs.

Yes, and to say that the 6000 is 3 stars better than an SDC on a 0.05 gram nugget is a pretty big claim. And at least a star better than a GPX 5000 on everything. It is starting to sound REALLY interesting. The ergonomic improvements were a little bit exciting. If there are significant performance improvements across all ranges of nugget size as well then that will push many to flick the switch on a purchase.

Have thought about it. Stuff still gets in the top though. And I would only glue something to the coil cover so then I’ve got the thickness of the coil cover and the glued on plastic - and every millimetre counts with tiny gold. As with lots of discussions recently about coils for Minelabs it would just be nice to have options. This one (GM coils chipped for the Nox) just seems like a really easy solution on Minelabs part. They already have all the parts, moulds, production in place. Of course, it may not be as easy as my non technical brain thinks it might be.

And jf Minelab is listening - how about sticking an Equinox chip in both of the Gold Monster coils so that we can genuinely use the Gold Mode of the Nox in bush environments without sticks getting stuck in the current 11" coil spokes? I would have also used an Equinox version of the GM 10"X6" closed coil at the beach on the dry sand. Happy to field test them for you 😁

Thanks for the replies geof and Steve. So geof, was the VLF with pure TR discrimination actually better in a salt environ than a PI? TR was also a new expression for me so I Googled it - not surprisingly it sent me straight back to DP Forum for the answer 🤣 "The IB detector employs two coils, a transmit and a receive coil, that are kept in electronic balance. They were therefore also commonly referred to as Transmitter/Receiver (TR) and that term saw more popular use. The TR produces a steady tone that increases in volume and the early TR models, like the BFO, responded to both conductive metals and magnetic minerals. The BFO and TR were both very limited because their ability to detect magnetic minerals interfered with their ability to detect conductive metals. An IB or TR variant was developed that allowed the detectors to not only eliminate the signal from ground minerals but to discriminate between various metals. These detectors ran at lower frequencies than the TR models and referred to as Very Low Frequency (VLF) detectors. Dual mode models existed, the VLF/TR, but the TR modes were so limited they were eventually dropped in favor of pure VLF operating modes." This was taken from here - I suppose the next question is has anybody used the Equinox for salt lake gold detecting and has it been successful (if you are willing to share). Any pics of finds? JP - any use in W.A. or anywhere else during testing?

Having just spent a few days at the beach using the Equinox in beach mode and it performing so well I wondered if people use them for detecting salt lakes looking for gold. Maybe a silly question? My disclaimer is that I have never done that sort of detecting but have read many comments over the past few years about salt lakes being notoriously hard for detectors to handle. Although the Equinox is a VLF and might struggle against a PI in mineralised ground, would it possibly have a distinct advantage in a high salt environ. Steve H - thanks for shifting my other thread about beach detecting. Again, wasn’t sure about this one - Gold forum or Equinox? Cheers, N.E.

Well, I’m home again now. Mountains, freshwater rivers and warmth. I don’t mind the beach but we sure live in a blessed part of the country. Did a 30 minute session last evening for $4 and some junk. Was an interesting trip all up and learnt a few things. Almost all good finds were within 15 metres of the step/path leading onto the beach. Money was most frequently found within proximity of bottle tops 😂 Wet sand/shallow water detecting is much harder to get a handle of than dry sand/towel line detecting. The Equinox 800 - is a bloody cracker. Couldn’t be happier with its performance and also the performance of the supplied Minelab Bluetooth headphones. I’ve used the Nox a lot around home for coins and some gold but have only used the beach mode one other time. Targets really seemed to ‘bang’ in that mode and got great depth. Thanks so much to the people that provided suggestions, hints and tips to help me, it is very much appreciated 🤩

From following all the commentary over the time, this was my understanding. Build them to a certain spec or don’t get the chip. I no longer have a GPZ but if I did I don’t think I would rush out and by a Z search. Not until I found ground or conditions that really warranted it. Love the fact that the Z search is plug and play - simply couldn’t have risked an adapter. Each to their own though 😉 Well done to Rohan for meeting the specs and providing another option for people. Look forward to further smaller and larger coils in the line-up. More pics/vids of the Z search in action would be great Rob 👍

Morning session. Just as much crap, not as much bling. The dry sand area of this beach is pretty much done. Will have to look further afield this evening.

2 hr evening sesh done and dusted. Windy? You bet! Penguins were flying they had that much turbulence behind them!! The dry sand is winning for me. Got all the good bits in the dry sand and at absolute low tide I went hunting down near the bottom of the beach. A 20 cent piece and a pull tab were the result. Couldn’t find a line of anything. Couldn’t even find a sinker. Geofjunk’s idea of coming down at Easter at the absolute low tide is perhaps worthy of some serious consideration. 2 rings are sterling silver. Nothing special but good fun. The gold coloured thing? No idea. It is broken off something. Almost seems like painted cast iron.

Spot on Mitchel. Thanks again 😉 Looks like this morning was full of energy! Overnight it has been super windy so will be interesting to see what the beach looks like today.

By the looks of this my best chance may be the lower low tide tomorrow evening (Saturday here tomorrow). Plenty of wind here tonight that is pretty much onshore. 7 second wave interval in the morning, slowing in the arvo. Can’t find an ‘energy’ rating on the charts I’ve looked at so far. Thanks for the detailed tips Mitchel, it is appreciated. The conditions and the digging are much easier than chasing gold but still plenty to learn about the best spot to search for the treasure 😉

You can’t just put that out there and not expand Mitchel!! 🤷‍♂️🤣 1 hr this evening just close to accomodation turned into a mad dash back in the rain. Blow a dog of a chain here at the moment 🌬️ I assume the ocean beach will be copping a bit overnight.

Thanks geof, Mitchel and Joe. I agree Mitchel, only about 15% is detecting time on this holiday. This morning was early am when everyone else was still asleep. Cold and showery here today so the girls have made the most of it - manicure, pedicure and now they’re off getting a massage. Another beach jaunt this evening for an hour if the weather holds out. And we had the jewellery checked. The diamonds in the bracelet are not real. The pearl in the other bracelet is real but it is a freshwater one. Still happy though 😀

100 % Yep, it is so easy digging at the beach it is just easier to dig everything. One of my last targets today was a rough 15 and there was a little iron grunt too. Thought it would probably be a bottle top but dug it anyway. Glad I did... V20 14k so it’s rolled gold and doesn’t weigh much but it’s gold! Patchy signal as was bloody deep. Some costume jewellery as well... and a special little bracelet that is either a $70 replica or a 10k genuine article. Considering where we are the genuine article is a real possibilty 😳 Day 3, session 1 was a cracker.

Day 2. Same back beach. Got there for a real low tide. A good slope to the beach with a gutter at the bottom and then flat for 30 or so metres before sloping, deeper and the low tide waves. The gutter = not a single target. There may be quite a depth of sand, I’m not sure. There are rocks either side of the life guard flags and tried around quite a few of them to see if anything had got hung up but nope, nothin’! Back to the dry sand right at the top of the beach and at least there were targets but not as many as yesterday. 20 cent piece, ring pulls, random crap and then 😳 925 means gold plated silver I think. Wife thinks it’s a real pearl as it is rough between the teeth. Fake is smooth apparently 🤷‍♂️ Daughter claimed it pretty quick! Happy with day 2 😀

Handy suggestion, thanks 😉 Timely post as I have just got back from my first outing. Missed low tide at the ocean beach - tide app looks to be 1.5 hrs later than what it actually is. Couldn’t get near a decent gutter that we had seen just a few hours before when we had gone for a swim All targets there were in the dry sand. Could not get a hit down near the waters edge. Assume that no recent drops and what has been there awhile has concentrated lower. Found a pair of earrings (quite a few metres from each other so that was funny), a $2 coin, 50 cent coin and a 2 cent coin. Now the 2 cent coin is strange as it was right on the towel line, was shallow and those coins haven’t been in circulation since the mid ‘80s. Would have thought someone would have got it by now. Then tried the bay side beach for only an hour or so. Nothing decent there - mostly beer bottle tops. Haven't seen another detectorist for the whole day! Pic is of total finds at both beaches.

Outwardly looks like a GPZ - Gold Monster cross. Going to be interesting 👍

Interesting, thanks. Young and careless perhaps. And I am thinking you are right about competition too. Imagine how many brand new Vanquish Christmas presents are going to be swinging around on the beach. Great point. I remember now that you have said this before. Trash may lead me to treasure. As Geof indicated this should be the Back Beach exposed to Bass Strait. I will do some looking later re: a website that has lists energy in the profile. It is unfortunately unlikely that we will return at Easter between work and the fact that we don't make many beach trips. Would normally avoid the beach this time of the year due to the crowds but have been offered a free house for a week by someone my wife works this. Silly to say no to an offer like that. Thanks for the advice so far 😉

Afternoon all. Heading to the beach for a little bit over the next month and looking for some advice. 🏖️ 🌊 🏄‍♂️ Going to Sorrento in Victoria which has a back beach (faces the ocean) and a front beach (faces the bay). Currently infested with a bazzilion tourists (soon to be a bazzilion and 5 🤣) as it is our summer school holidays. I am told Back Beach can be quite rough so assume that a bit of wave action might be able to concentrate some targets. I am told this rough side is more for young people who do a bit of surfing, body boarding, etc so to be honest I'm not expecting a lot of decent finds over there - perhaps more bottle tops, lead sinkers and hooks. The Front Beach is calmer and therefore sees more families and older people so my guess is a bit more potential for coins, rings, etc. The game plan for Front Beach is pretty much the towel line above high tide mark and then at low tide to target about where waist deep water would have been at high tide - if that makes sense 🤪 Looks like the tide moves about 1.4 metres across low/high. Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Back Beach is a little more confusing for me. There is of course the towel line - that seems easy enough. But just how much will the wave action concentrate finds and where will they concentrate? At the low tide mark? Midway between low and high? Where there is a bit of a ridge in the beach or perhaps a gutter? If a concentrated spot is not evident how would you go about trying to locate such a spot? Zig-zag up and down the beach as you move along until you get a few finds close together and then start gridding. I have read Mitchel mention about gridding once he has found a few targets but what method is employed to locate that area first? I'll be using the Equinox 800 with standard coil. I assume everyone has a different method re: detector set-up for TID's. I am guessing Beach Mode is the optimum for handling the salt and was thinking to simply use 2 tone with a low tone for Iron and High tone for non-ferrous. Do others also block out numbers below 4 or 5 to cut out the can slaw or is that potentially masking small earrings and things like that? I know rings (especially gold) can come up almost anywhere across the non-ferrous range but I would guess the majority would not come up under 5? Does anyone use modes other than Beach? Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Steve H, wasn't sure to put this in Jewellery, Coin or Equinox forums so if need be please send it to wherever it fits best. Thanks, N.E.