dewcon4414

The Nox is WORSE than the Xcal or CTX for loosing targets in the hole.   Not certain why..... but yes ive noticed it......i also know everything moves to the center of the hole...... so out comes another scoop.    Its a bit frustrating........ just knowing its there and you dont have a good signal on it that it is taking that next scoop that you would have anyway.

I dont know why Pete went that route.   Its not an issue for most..... but its a big issue for water hunting having that coil move even slightly out there with the sand and water really wears the CF and locks.   Anyone using a machine in the water knows to expect to modify something........ if its going to break we do it.

Trust me Unearth.. .... drill another hole and add a double spring clip.... or even a nylon bolt... problem solved.

Really........ i buy mine from Andersons.   But you have to remember they are in Canada.   Pete made me a lower shaft 4" longer for my Xcal.   I see he made that adjustment on his Nox shaft ...... smart move because we were buying Whites tall boys for extra length.   NSA..... good move i make mine as well...... but jumped at the opportunity to test an Andersons.   That one change thou....... double holes and single spring clip for water hunters might cause an issue.

Coil stabilizers arent anything new ..... i think whites makes some good ones.   I keep my coil on the bottom so i dont get a lot of coil flip.... thus far not much wear on those ears..... BUT.... im using an Anderson lower shaft and they just never seem to need adjustment and dont wear nearly as bad as the ML.    Those stabilizer do create more drag... not that you can sweep a coil fast out there in the surf thou.  Ive heard complaints about the thin coil ears...... but they are the same size as the CTX and wear pretty well and seem strong.......BUT like was mentioned .... try not to crank the bolt down...... if it gets to that point change the rubbers.

Bets the heck out of the CTX to swing......its like having a dead horse attached.    Max told me ...... just to much tiny high conductors for him....... and yes his screen got water behind it.   Which ML replace immediately and he sold there after.    I believe he said he still had a 600 thou.    I would disagree with him if he did say its not strong enough for surf.   BUT........ he may be speaking about the cuff and shaft not so much the machine.   Switching to an after market shaft with a better cuff and locks is needed for the surf and swift long shore drift.   There is just way to much torque for those parts to last....... now that i agree.   Put that shaft up as a travel shaft......... many would have bought one anyway if it was a two part shaft.    The coil really stays down nice....... better than the CTX whose battery can float the whole machine when in the surf chest deep and has a lot of coil flip.   Also a count weight helps it move better out there.   Maybe different up his way......... but that small stuff dont stay around long in the surf..... its on the move.

I have one i tested on the Nox......... works outstanding.  BUT..... they changed it a bit.   What they did is went to a single spring clip (like ML) and eliminated double holes.    For water hunting....... that could still allow some coil movement even with their bolt much like the problem with the ML shaft and the twist locks. If it were me........ id put a double spring clip in it and drill out a couple of the holes.   I have NO movement and mine gets a work out.  

I suspect there are a few of us who really give the detector battery a work out as well as the entire machine in a year.   We may well need to replace ours before the 3 year warranty.   I know with the Xcal II i was getting so many things replaced that it came down to ML not wanting to replace a second coil....... they said i hunted to much lol.   What that ment was i put in way more hours on the machine in a year than most and that the average person wouldnt have these problems within the warranty period.    People should really read page 62 of the manual pertaining to chargers too.

So ...... how long is the warranty on the battery compared to the machine?   Sometimes just running the O rings under some warm water to get their natural stickiness is better than grease..... especially for those being removed repeatedly.  

I agree with Cal....... the various modes may determine if its worth it.    As a beach hunter i often hunt in two tones AM.  Most bobbie pins come in at around -2 with a bit of a higher tone off the swing........ rusted jewelry..... -5 or 6.    We all know at some depth most machines can say there is a target there but it will either ignore it put it in the iron range.   Thus far any thing the Nox tones as iron has been iron for me.   I have some great headphones and have noticed most signals tend to be like running 10 gain where all the targets sound louder.... not a lot of modulation to me.   But....... every now and then i get some REALLY REALLY weak tones in the back ground....... anyone else notice that?  Ive not dug to see if im just getting weak black sand...... but i will check a few the next hunt.   Like most who dont want to dig small targets as a time waster........ i dont think digging iron with VLF disc machine will give much pay off..... especially with the time spent when its designed to ID a target..... unlike a PI.... that doesnt care and doesnt try to process the signal .... just tells you something is there.

YOu might want to think about packing the two parts with that grease....... why..... because that nipple that holds the handle in place lets water and sand in that area.  The two parks may appear to seal around the shaft..... but that hole..... well i can show you a picture with a bit of sand and water dripping out when i took mine off to change shafts.

Lith Smart chargers can be odd too.   If the battery gets low or there is one weak cell sometimes they dont recognize the battery...... then you have to slow charge them......... i agree try a cell phone charger see what happens.   BUT........ id let ML deal with it thats what warranties are for..... use it.  Nothing more frustration than trying to figure out WHY....... get er fixed.

The Nox is a little RAW...... unlike the CTX that evolved into a refined machine coming from years of changes from a solid platform.  Im wondering how long these buttons will last?   We do an awfully lot more button pushing it seems.   I dont think anyone using the Nox dont see a need for some immediate changes...... but is it really going to come with the model?   ML hasnt proven they make changes unless it getting a lot of negative  publicity...... like the flooding of the CTX.   Most of us fixed it way before ML did.   But ...... im hopeful because i dont like to have to reboot....... or want to see a black or water filled screen.

Maybe the term REBOOT will go away.   Im still pressing for better beach programs.   Right now they dont even have a way to get it to us...... unless they regroup and do use the CTX site.   Personally....... id like to see an option, use the one you have or an upgrade with the ability to use either.  

Both modes work..... in the dry sand.... not so well if the sand is a wet salt or even damp.   Also, check your disc especially in park mode.   Of the two modes Field 2 is the deepest.   You can play with the tones and set either up pretty much the way both beach modes sound.   Anywhere near the salt water thou...... its the beach modes you will have to use.... beach 1 being the more sensitive.   Those other modes do have the option of single freqs that beach modes dont so running a higher single freq might net you a chain...... but my guess you are going to have a foil ball before a gold ring.... lol.

Put the ML travel shaft in a case and use my Anderson .... which doesnt have twist locks.   On my other machines ..... i make the CF shafts and use a nylon bolt so i know theres no coil moving around.  Im lucky that the Gulf allows a good many days a year that we can get out there over our heads if we want.    The best method i found that works well is twist them several times open and closed with them under water just before you get out and move the shaft a little.   But with aluminum..... you have to move the shaft and rinse each time.  You dont have to remove the shafts.... just move them.  I have went to the point of breaking them off and using a plunger lock too.  I just dont like those locks for water machines......plain ole nylon bolt is great.

He didnt mention the threshold.... but a lot dont realize its not a true threshold..... so its noise you can do with out .... especially in a trashy area.   So i thought it worth mentioning just in case he had changed the default setting.

Daniel..... hunting in two tones you can adjust it to your hearing really well.   Higher the khz..... you get a little more bell tone.

Working in the trash .... you would likely gain if you reduced your sensitivity and increased you recovery.   You arent going to get serious depth there anyway ....... but could pick out a lot of the good targets missed before with it not having to process as much material.  Also high sensitivity can give you more of a reaction HOT ROCK response off of iron.   Id run IB 0.... just because sometimes you can pick up near targets better once you learn what rusted iron sounds like.   Do you have the ability of turning down the volume on iron?   If so..... run AM and reduce the iron to say 4.   Gives you more information about whats going on target wise...... and can move some of the wrap around tones back where they belong in the iron range as opposed to using disc.    Turn the threshold to 0..... its just added noise.   Running in AM can also kind of give you a threshold with a weak tones on iron.

At first it appeared as thou the 600 was going to be much like the 800 Xcal that was recently discontinued.   But then more information on their ability/similarity to the 800 came out and people started buying them as back up or solely for water use .   Honestly....... not a bad choice for beach hunting especially for a vacation machine as well.    It also appears ..... more are slimming the herd of detectors they have on hand.   Most serious hunters have a few machines they just arent using..... if sold would pay for a 600 easily.

Midalake........... did you see the new sand-seal plug Chuck (Sun-Spot Scoops) is selling for the Nox?  Simple enough ...... interesting to see if it works.   I drill a fairly good size hole just about the coil connector to drain water and sand......... Ive given up on thinking i can keep water out of my shaft as much time as its underwater.  We have some very fine sand where i live.

I must only know the OLD gurus who dont like to dig..........

I dont know that i agree about manual GB being required in the water unless you just have to much mineral noise like Gordon Heritage said.    The question then becomes where to GB?   If i do it mid-wet sand i get a 14...... which is fixed in manual GB.   That could put me above finding smaller gold going into Beach 2 which is working with reduced power (about 1/2).   Tracking......to me isnt the best either its like a roller coaster based on minerals and may affect depth over the default.   To me the default ..... gets chatty yes near/on hard pan and less in the fluffier stuff.   This is one of those questions even the gurus havent really answered for beach hunting.   Very subjective depending on who you ask and why they use what they do.....and of course the beach.   As you can tell we dont have a lot of minerals here.

Certain i dont have to tell you...... but for those who just stated water hunting.   You best remove your lower shaft after each salt water use or in aluminum especially it WILL lock up.   Good idea to do it just before you get out of the water .... looses and move it a bit.   Otherwise having additional lower shaft with the coils attached wont do you a lot of good.   Most of the time i make my own and really dont care that they lock up since i rarely remove the lower...... just the coil occasionally to check for wear.  Just throw in the SUV and go.   Now i have a travel shaft by putting the ML one away as well.

Is that the same DOC out in Vegas?   Ive meteor  hunted with one of the older guys there quit a few years back.   Not a bad combo for the lowers with their length if you are a tall guy.  

I didnt have the ML shaft on long enough to find out how they wear.   BUT....... i can tell you on say the Xcal those rubber do no good.....by time you crank the bolt its right against that head starting to wear.   I started using a Whites tall boy lower shaft with some larger rubbers on the Xcals....... Plugger passed me that idea.