Dan(NM)

3 hours ago, TripleT said:

Coming from Tesoros I have picked up a NOX 600.  I am use to setting threshold to a barely audible hum.  Then setting discrimination. The quieter the threshold hum, the better discrimination works. Or so it seems.  

So what exactly then does setting threshold do on the NOX?

According to the manual; it is used to notch out an item, like a nickel or penny.

Can someone please explain the differences.  And also explain that if I set the threshold on the NOX to a barely noticed hum what are the consequences?

Thanks

Terry

The threshold doesn't disc out anything, but it will allow you to  hear when you run across a target you've disc'd out, by the sound dropping off. I run a barely audible threshold, but, I do not run any disc at all. It functions the same as the Tesoro's threshold. I do not like running the threshold volume too high as it becomes annoying. There really isn't any "consequence" to running a barely audible threshold unless it's so low you can't hear what's going on under the coil.

https://www.minelab.com/anz/go-minelabbing/treasure-talk/recovery-speed-target-masking

Great write up Steve, thank you for your time and all the effort spent trying to help us learn the secrets of the Nox.

6 minutes ago, Tnsharpshooter said:

Nice reporting.

Nox has my full respect.  Best money I have ever spent on a detector.

Wish it would have been available 7 years ago.

Might have saved me about $18,000.

But then if I wouldn't have bought the other detectors, I still wouldn't know how good the Nox really is.

6 minutes ago, Tnsharpshooter said:

  I just upgraded to a new CTX, haven't taken on a hunt since I got the Nox. That 6" coil is going to make this machine purr like a kitten in the trash, man, it's going to be deadly!!!

I was hunting an old abandoned ball field today, Park 1,  running 2 tones, recovery 7, iron bias 0, 0 disc, tone break to accept 19 and up, full volume from -9 to 40 and 1 pitch from -9 to 18.  I only had a couple of hours to hunt this morning so I was cherry picking high tones only. I had recovered 9 or 10 pieces of clad from the trash, shaking my head each time I hit a coin, because I know for a fact I had covered this same dirt 3-4 times with the CTX. I started chasing some iffy semi repeatable high tones just to see what was in the ground.

  I got a scratchy, but a repeatable high tone if I wiggled the coil real fast in very short sweep. The first hit was coming in at the mid to high 30's and I figured it was deep iron, I scrapped away 5-6" of dirt and the signal improved but the numbers were unstable, bouncing around the upper 30's. I was down about 13-14" when I found what was sounding off, part of an old aluminum can. I've noticed aluminum likes to bounce somewhat if it's irregular in shape and size.

 I made another pass and got an almost identical type of hit and very close to the same VDI's only they stayed in the low 30's not bouncing into the mid to upper 30's. After scrapping 7-8" of dirt, I rescanned the hole and the signal cleaned up and was more of a mellow sounding, unlike the aluminum hit, this time staying around 32-33. At 10" I popped the target out, a shell casing from almost a foot deep :super:  I know it's not a silver coin or gold ring, but, that hit gave me a surge of confidence, that this dog will hunt!!!

 Later in the day, I headed to a vacant lot that had surrendered some stuff over the last 3 years to the Etrac and CTX to see if the Nox could sniff out some stuff. I was running the same setup and started chasing iffy signal from the start. There used to be an old house here at one time and it's nasty with nails, brass, copper chunks and bits and pieces of aluminum everywhere.

 Every signal I dug was  right next to trash or had iron in the hole with the target. I dug 2 wheats, the lipstick case and the good luck token in the trashiest part of the yard. Needless to say, I am more than pleased with the Nox and can say it has surpassed what I was expecting, hands down!!

 I've been off for the last week and picked the most polluted places that I've hunted in the past with the Etrac(small coils) and the CTX(6" coil)  My goal was to take the CTX out on these hunts to cross check signals, but, after hunting with the Nox, I lost interest in bringing the CTX along. Not only that, it's a big time waster and a hassle to switch back and forth between machines. Actually, I was having way too much fun with the Nox to even care.:smile:

13 hours ago, A.M said:

Just a heads up...  Seeing a few of the charging leads coming apart at the head. 

Could be a batch problem as some I have seen look 100% OK  and have had some use... 

Others seem to have started showing problems - see the 3 pics of my 2 charging heads  AND the last pic.. (not mine) is at time of un packing; and was almost separated...

One of mine is not crash hot and the other could fail with a little push.   A simple weld will fix the problem, but will be e-mailing ML service to let them know.

 

 

 

 

 

One of mine is coming apart as well, I'll be sending an e-mail to ML tonight, thanks for bringing it up.

6 hours ago, scoopjohnb said:

 

What I don’t understand is the camou treatment people give their detectors. But I’m sure  there is a valid reason why they want it to blend in.

I used Camo tape, because, pink, blue, green or orange would have clashed with my camo pants :)   

I decided to see if I could balance out the Nox without too much time or $ involved. So far I'm at $7 and we'll see if this will even pan out. First, I moved my control box forward 11/2"  moved my armrest forward as far as possible and added some ballast at the very back. I used 9   3/4" washers, with a piece of 3/4 round stock in the center as a bushing. I ran a 1/4" hole thru the bushing and mounted it in the last armrest hole. I'll see if the extra weight is worth trying to balance the machine just a little bit more tomorrow when I take it for spin.

5 minutes ago, Tnsharpshooter said:

Number 13.

Now the alloy mix on those war nickels, Nox might be seeing with processing.  I had that happen with Etrac a few times on war nickels- they read 43 conductive in the ground.

The highest reading I got with the Etrac was 31 in the ground. The nickle was a black disc, covered in a layer of black crust.

I guess I'll have to dig a few, but, there's an awful lot of crap that falls between 13 and 24 at that old field.

I posted this on another forum as well looking for some input on war nickle VDI's

I've been hunting an old baseball field for the last couple of days, cherry picking though an unbelievable amount of trash targets. I scored silver 2 days in a row, using a fast recovery speed and basically 2 tones. I decided today to open up the nickle range to see if I could score some nickles, especially war nickles. Withing 45 minutes I had 5 nickles in my pouch, nothing old or deep, but a solid 13 VDI. I decided to go back tomorrow and see if I could pick out some silver nickles among the garbage. So, tonight I pulled out 15 or so war nickles to see what VDI I could expect, well...They read from 13 all the way to 24?? I did the test twice and the numbers differed from nickle to nickle, that just shot my narrow nickle range all to hell.
Maybe someone else could pull out some war nickles and see what you come up with.
 

1 minute ago, Steve Herschbach said:

You might want to go back to those light to moderate trash spots running your current settings. The relatively high default recovery speeds exist for a reason and people lowering them “for more depth” are often shooting themselves in the foot. There is a lot more to the issue of masking than most people realize. You might get a surprise.

Glad to see you got into the silver!

After what I learned in the last 2 days, I believe I will! 

2 hours ago, Mtwolf2270 said:

Where you find the armrest nice set up.

It's called a Cuffer on e-bay, the one for a Garrett fits great.

8 hours ago, Wayfarer said:

Sweet setup Dan!  That's about what I plan to do to mine.  The power supply under the armrest should help with balance too.  

I bought a smaller Anker(10000 mAh), I doubt I'll use it, but, better to have and not need it, than to need it and not have it :)

I gathered up all the things I needed to complete the Nox for my 10 days of hunting since off from work for annual leave. It looks like the weather is going to cooperate with temps in the upper 60's to lower 70's here in NM. I added a Zagg clear screen protector, a housing cover from the UK, and yes, I did cut the screen on the cover for a reason. I found a padded arm rest cover, it's designed for a Garrett and my Anker power supply velcro'd to the stand when needed.

I wrapped the rod and handle with vet tape to keep the dirt and grime from scratching the paint all to hell. I'm headed to my heavily hunted spots to rework them and see what some new technology can produce, if any and to see if the mighty CTX may have missed some stuff in the trash and iron. The wife will be gone for a week, sooooo, no honey do's for me!! Hopefully I'll be able to get a better feel for the machine and the settings by the end of my little vacation.

 Excellent post Steve and thank you for taking the time to do a test like this. My first 2 hunts convinced me that the Nox will hang with my CTX, in my dirt, for the type of hunting I do. First day out I was able to come across a 9" wheat and the Nox gave a nice high tone, repeatable signal. That  boosted my confidence in the machine  from day one. On my second hunt I hit a 9" rosy, that did the same thing, high tone, repeatable and VDI reading of 23-24   These were in the field, in an unbelievable trashy old high school and only after using it a few hours. I was walking tall after seeing this

I got out to the zoo in town for an hour or so today, they tore down an exhibit and dug up the concrete and I was allowed to get in, I had to hunt quickly because I had to work and they were closing soon. I was in Park 1, 2 tones, recovery at 6, iron bias at 0, sens set at 20. I had my tone break set at 18, so from -9 to 18 I set the tone as low as it would go and turned the volume to half. My goal was to cover as much  ground as possible as fast as possible. I only focused on clear, loud repeatable tones today. I'll go back when I have more than enough time to go a little slower and chase after the iffy signals. The spot is polluted with metal from the demo, but, I still managed to hit the dime at 5", loud and clear and VDI 26-26. I've been able to score silver the last 2 times out, nothing great, but, silver is always good.

22 minutes ago, Mark Gillespie said:

Yes, I've had the same type audio response happen to me.  I don't think there's anything wrong, just the machine adjusting or rather preparing to pinpoint the target.  I'm very happy with mine, 100% confident now.  Just get out and hunt all you can. 

Have you found anything good yet?

 

I have, 2 v's. 2 buffs and 2 silvers in  a heavy hunted spot by FBS machines for years.

It did it with both the wireless headset and wired headphones.

I'm not sure if it's just my machine or the way the Equinox behaves, but, when I first go into pinpoint mode, my audio seems muted half the volume of 25.

After a couple of passes, it goes to full audio. Anyone else have this happen?

“My involvement with EQUINOX has been purely around the Gold Mode, leaving the testing of the coin & treasure modes (Park, Field, Beach) to the experts in these areas. Typically, a general-purpose metal detector has a token gold (or prospecting) mode with much lesser performance than a dedicated VLF gold detector. Not so with the EQUINOX 800…”

https://www.minelab.com/anz/go-minelabbing/treasure-talk/equinox-the-gold-hunter

25 minutes ago, TedinVT said:

Are the 2 O-rings the only waterproof seal or is there another seal associated with the “trap door” that is held in place with the single screw which is removed to remove the battery?

What is the purpose of the black plastic piece with the 2 O-rings that appears to be attached to the battery?

Also, curious about the yellow wire.

The double o rings appear to be the waterproof seal, the black thing is what seals the battery in place and has a screw in it to hold it in place. I have no idea what the yellow wire is for.

1 minute ago, Norm S said:

I was out today and hit a copper penny at 8".. Was a 1946. I knew it was copper because of the strong signal I got at that depth. Most of the clad pennies are no more than 4" deep

Hey Norm, what are zincs hitting at?

7 minutes ago, Skate said:

You're just not trying hard enough yet. 

I'll work on that next chance I get ;)

I went out this morning and did a auto GB in a couple of places in my yard, one read 5, the other 6. Does anyone have bad dirt that they have GB'd in?  I'd like to know what kind of numbers, really mild and some harsh soil reads come in at. 

Hi Gerry,

Believe it or not, but in 9 hrs of hunting, I haven't dug a zinc yet :) What do they hit at normally? Thanks.