Dan(NM)

I scored a permission a few days and finally got to it today. Although not very old, it turned into a very productive hunt. I was using an Equinox 600 and was digging everything from nickles up. First sweep yielded a wheaty, that's a great way to start a permission. Little did I know I would spend the next 5 hours digging almost almost nothing but coins. Almost every sweep netted a coin or something cool, fortunately, everything was shallow. After almost 2 hours of digging nothing but copper memorials and wheats, when I get a solid and repeatable 33 on the nox. I flip the dirt over and felt a metal object hit my digger :headbang: big silver!!! I love these coins, I thought I might find a silver Washington or maybe a Bengy, but, the Walker was a big surprise. That was only the beginning of a great silver day from a rather small yard. As you can see, lots of neat fun stuff came out of the yard, the 3 small Mexican coins were in the same hole. It appears to have been a homemade piece of jewelry because the solder joints look a bit rough. I also found some kind of trade token, but I cannot make out what it is because it's worn pretty bad.

I went over the place 3 times from different directions and will be going over it one more time with the Etrac just to see if the Nox and I missed anything. I also have another permission a couple of houses down from this one. I plan on trying to get into several others as well. Very unusual yard, I found a silver rosie on top of the ground last week when I was delivering the mail to this house, which is what prompted me to ask for permission. Several of the wheats were barely under the surface, the Walker was maybe 2" deep, nothing over 5"  It appears that this yard has never had grass or has been worked since the house was built, barely a blade of grass, just dirt :icon_scratch:

On 8/10/2018 at 6:03 PM, Chase Goldman said:

I did not know they were repairing EQ's at the PA repair center, thought they were being sent to the distribution/exchange center in Naperville, Illinois.  Are they actually being sent to PA now for repair/exchange - is that what the shipping label said?

My Nox is going to Naperville on Monday, there's nothing to repair, just swapping control housings out according to Jamie @ Minelab.

11 hours ago, dewcon4414 said:

Mine charges fairly fast as well even after 7 hours or more hunting.    Im well over 500 hours on my machine and the batteries seem to be holding well.   There have been times ive left the back light on after hunting in the AM for those 7 hours too and really i still have a good bit of charge time.

Dang Dan thats just bad luck.   I hear of a few that have problems...... but im assuming there are a lot of machines out there by now and we kind of expect a few to go....... but two.... thats bad.  ML must have done something special to mine because im normally the one that can break anything out there.

It is what it is, I bought a 600 as a backup just in case the 3rd one is a turd. I have my return auth. # so Monday I'll send her back.

Looks like I'll be sending my new Nox in again for repairs. It was replaced 6-7 weeks ago because of a faulty power button, now it won't charge. I tried doing a reset, I tried another charger and nothing. It goes straight to a solid green light and will not charge. So, once again off to Minelab for I'm sure another new control housing.  I may have 20 hours of use on this one, I've charged it 2 times before it quit charging. Not a happy camper as I had a weekend hunt planned coming up in 11 days.

15 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Dan(NM) said: "I think your right about the backlog being more less filled..."

Tell that to folks still on the Kellyco waiting list.  Yes it still exists.     They are just now filling orders from March.

I would have bailed long ago. I bought 4 new 800's since Feb. One for me and 3 for some buddies, they were there to be had if you did a bit of calling around.

Norm, I counted a dozen 800's for sale on E-bay at $899 shipped last week, so I think your right about the backlog being more less filled. My hope is  Minelab will focus on getting the coils and the accessories to the dealers in short order.

 I have to agree about the fun factor using the Nox, I've had either an Etrac or CTX as a back up since Feb. haven't taken either one out on a hunt yet, just didn't feel the need!!

5 minutes ago, Andy2640 said:

Thanks Dan.  If i may, i had another question on my mind.  With the Nox what do you prefer in regards to ground balance method?  Ive read that for most detecting a 0 is ideal. However on 90% of ground i have hit in the UK so far, has been crazy high, like 54, or 70 ish

Then i hear that if i use ground tracking, it slows the machine down some.  What do you use personally?   if you dont mind me asking.

 

Loving this forum, good to meet you Dan.

 

Andy (UK).

Hey Andy, greetings!   I did the manual GB at first, but, I really couldn't tell the difference between that and the default. I only run tgh default  setting of 0 now. I'll be moving to a different part of the country next year, so, that may change depending on what I run into.

41 minutes ago, Andy2640 said:

Hi Dan, 

I was wondering, how does the CTX compare with the Nox?  You mentioned it covers more ground, how so buddy?

Im interested cus it was a toss up between the CTX and the Nox, with me choosing the nox.

I am still interested in the CTX you see, cheers!!

For me...I have to swing at a much slower speed to get the most out of the CTX. The Nox is much more forgiving with a faster sweep speed. I believe I increase my odds of hitting what I'm looking for by covering more ground faster.v

I haven't been out much in the last 2 months due to getting the house ready to sell for a big move to Texas. So, the last couple of days I've had a few hours to finally get out and hit a couple of places that had played out for the most part with the CTX.

 I went to the local zoo hoping to score at least a wheat or a Rosie, well, it turned out better than I expected. I sure love the fact I can move right along with Nox rather than crawling with the CTX and cover some serious real estate. Using my trusty 2-tone cherry picking mode I popped out 2 rosies, a merc and a wheaty.  Having big fun lately ?

59 minutes ago, Norm S said:

What Dan did is what he found worked and worked well for him. He didn't try any magic settings that so many guys are looking for. it pretty simple the magic setting is the factory setting that you tweak to your liking.  It depends on what area of the US you detect in whether you need to ground balance or not and I think unless you're in a highly mineralized soil leave GB at zero.  I have never used GB nor have I tried it. Never had a need to. I used two settings, sensitivity and discrimination. I hunt by tone and look at the vdi as a confirmation. 

The magic in the Equinox is the same as  with every other detector. It's your ear guys. I have fun with my detector and I let Minelab science out the detector for me..LOL

The nice thing about that type of hunt is being able to cover a lot of ground fast. I'm not talkin an absurd swing speed but I'm talking moving along until I hit that tone that I'm looking for. Once I get that Hi-Tone then I'll slow down, do the wiggle, try to clean up the signal and then go after the target. Cherry picking at its finest :-)

1 hour ago, NCtoad said:

Congrats on the silver!  That's a great idea using 2 tones with the break at 22, I'll have to try that.  What approach would you have used at an older park?

 Park 1.... 5 tones...with tones breaks set to make the nickle range tight (12-14)  other setting the same.

5 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Nice haul, Dan, especially the silver!

Did you leave the ground balance setting at 0?  About how deep were your key finds?

Thank you,  when I first got the Nox, I would do a manual GB, now, I leave at 0, it seems to do just fine at that setting.  Most of the finds were 4-7" down, not sure how I missed them with the Etrac or the CTX. I had gridded the site from both directions with both machines. I cannot explain how in the world I missed the wheats and the silvers ?

 When I first read that the 800 had adjustable tone breaks, adjustable tone pitch and an extremely fast recovery speed, I knew at that moment I wanted one. The waterproofing and lightweight are just the icing on the cake. I had tried the Makro Impact and Racer looking for a fast and adjustable machine for my cherry picking hunts, but, I just never gelled with either one.  From my very first hunt with the Nox,I felt that my expectations had been satisfied with a very affordable and feature packed detector.

 Today was the perfect example of why I bought the Nox,  short cherry picking hunting. I was running Park 1... 2 tones...default GB...recovery speed 6....iron bias 0....tone break at 22...full volume...no discrimination and sensitivity at 22

  I hit a very small park that was built in the late 50's   I've taken a couple of dozen wheats out with the Etrac and CTX, but, no silver. That came to an end today while hunting with the Equinox . First good hit was a 57 wheat, I checked the spot after I replaced the plug and got a nice high tone with a solid 31-32 VDI, I already knew what was there Prettiest sight I've seen in quite some time, some shiny!!  Within 30 minutes I hit the rosie followed by a couple more wheats, an oriental coin and the junk ring. I did not dig one zincoln today   

I think I may have dug 4-5 pieces of junk, but, I spent most of my time digging nothing but coins. If this had been an older park, I would have had a different approach obviously.

I just got my control pod back from Minelab after a replacement due to a faulty on/off button. 11 day round trip, they got it on a Friday afternoon and shipped out the new one on a Monday afternoon.  Due to the extra warm weather 10-12 days of 100+ temps,  I wasn't going to do much hunting anyway.  Every rep I talked to thru the process was very friendly and helpful.  Thank you Minelab!!

I called Minelab USA this morning asking about the 6" coil, the rep informed me that the 6" coil will be shipping out next week. Now, I didn't ask if that was from Australia or from Minelab USA to the distributors. It looks like the coil will finally be available very soon.

11 minutes ago, Norm S said:

They will replace it. I sent mine back twice.  Minelabs office and repair center in America is in Naperville IL. 

I sent my CTX to PA. to be repaired, it used to in FL. They moved the repair center to PA  last year, I think since it's just being replaced, that's being taken care of in Naperville.

36 minutes ago, Rick Kempf said:

It’s all welded together - replace, not repair.  No non-destructive way to open it. Unless other information comes to light, it appears to be unrepairable. Guess that saves having to stock a bunch of spare parts though.

I think I saw a video of someone opening the pod, and your right, they basically destroyed the pod to open it. Fix or replace, no problem to me, I figured now was a good time to send it in, the temps are hitting over 100 for the next week or more and it's bone dry here anyway.

After getting my RMA# and printing out the return label, I noticed the package is being shipped back to Naperville Il. instead of the repair center in Pa. The on/off button is difficult to operate, you have to manipulate it just right to get it to engage. I take it that it's going to be replaced rather than having the repair center take a look at it. Not complaining, just making an observation.

I use the Fisher F-Pulse, there are times when the Nox is on a certain channel, the audio on the Nox will sound erratic when the pinpointer is on. I simply do a noise cancel when the pinpointer is on and that takes care of the problem. 

8 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Thanks for the heads up Dan. Mine has been up into the 90s with no problem but not seen over 100 yet - will soon however.

Operating Temperature Range.... -10°C to +50°C (+14°F to +122°F)
Storage Temperature Range....... -20°C to +50°C (-4°F to +122°F)
Charging Temperature Range..... 0°C to +40°C (+32°F to +104°F)

With cover on and at 100 degrees plus direct sunlight I can see it easily getting over the rated 122F max operating temperature.

After it cooled down, I was unable to adjust the iron bias setting. I did a factory reset and that took care of the issue.

 I was hunting today with a rain/dust cover on the Nox, in 100-101 degree temps with the sun directly overhead. After 20 minutes my audio starts cutting out and sounding erratic. I notice my screen is looking bizarre, as you can see, every icon was lit up and there was no way to see a VDI at all. My first thought was the cover was acting like a greenhouse and causing the housing to overheat. After about 10-15 minutes of taking it off, things began to look normal once again, within 30 minutes, completely back to normal. I have a Zagg cover on the screen, so, no dust cover for my machine during the summer months.

Thanks for the links Steve.

  I haven't been able to hunt with my Nox 800 much in the last 8 weeks and only hunted with it a few times when I first got it. So I'm sitting on the sidelines until we get the house ready to sell. What is the consensus on high conductors, Park 1 or 2? Since many out there are getting in the field much more than I, what's your experience on deep silver and copper?  If this has been answered before, a link to the thread would be appreciated, thanks..

My first guess would be a bad coil, you might call Minelab first thing Monday morning and explain what's going on. That's a real bummer!!

13 minutes ago, MCH2 said:

I went outside for my air test and away from all metal and EMI as I could and propped up a 4' tall cardboard box without any bar codes or magnetic strips of any kind and here are the results:

1. clad Kennedy half @ 4" TID bouncing all over from 11-31, worse @ 5" & nothing at 6"
2. silver quarter @ 4" bouncing from 13-29, worse @ 5" and nothing @ 6"
3. common Jefferson nickel @ 4"  a steady 14 on TID @ 5" becoming unstable
4.  mercury dime @ 4" bouncing from 14-25, @ 5" next to nothing
5.  copper memorial penny @ 4" steady 25 TID,  @ 5" 15-21 TID, @ 6" nothing
6. circular beaver-tail pull tab @ 4" steady 15-16, @ 5" 14-15, @ 6" next to nothing

 

A few days ago, when things were working well, I dug a clad quarter @ 10".

Thanks for the help.

Malcolm

What are your settings?