schoolofhardNox

I hunt both dry and wet, and I do move around quite often. I haven't hit a very low tide yet or went in the water past my knees.

Went out for the 4th time beach hunting with the 800. This time I used it all day and left the GPX home. My objective was not deep silver but fine gold. I really was expecting to end my gold streak, but was determined to learn the machine a little bit more. I just can not understand how this machine continues to find all this gold. Amazing is an understatement My best day ever for gold. Yes you have to dig tiny targets, and yes the numbers for cherry picking targets are not as favorable as the E Trac / CTX, but I don't care.....it works and works well. I won't post all the junk, just the gold and some of the silver and small jewelry (some of that may be silver too). I can't wait for hunt #5. Seriously Minelab.... you made me late for work that day

Gorgeous nickels!!! What a sweet spot you have there.

I try hard not to watch others because I think the same way. I have been hitting silver coins at 14" in one spot on a certain beach. Almost 100 silvers in a 20' x 120' span. I watch this older couple do an area I see as very sanded in and I have written off that area as boring and unproductive. As they grid back and forth in a frenzy, I did silver How dumb are they? Not very dumb at all, as that area that I wrote off actually has been producing silver and gold for them for months....all shallow. Apparently the tides rip this section apart and expose these coins and then lightly sand it in so it looks like a deep sanded-in area. I had to hit it the other day since I wanted to look for chains with the Equinox and that should be a clean area, just micro jewelry and chains since the clean out all the junk for me. I couldn't believe the Mercury dimes at 3" that I found, along with 4 gold items.........Yep they were the smart ones. Time to eat crow for a while

Thanks, I'll be trying again Tuesday I think. Small beach with a lot of interference, so we shall see how it goes. If I get gold the 4th straight beach hunt, I will be totally amazed at the Equinox!

I don't cross check any settings since I have no way to keep both machines on the beach at the same time. It's just not practical. Plus being tied to the GPX would make it very awkward to use a second machine. People think I'm nuts enough as it is, swinging the back-pack GPX

Any old beach will do. The coins are deep, that's for sure.

I used the stock beach program for most of the hunt, but I did play around a bit with the sensitivity, iron bias, and recovery speed. But ended up back at the preset settings.

I see you have the Equinox 600. It will do the same as the 800. Just use the stock beach setting and dig every signal (including bottle caps) until you get a feel for what is what. When your 800 arrives you can tweak the settings a bit, but most likely you won't have too. Good luck with it.

The only way to go. I bet those Minelab engineers are grinning from ear to ear on how well this machine is doing all around the world!

Thanks. It was my 3rd good beach hunt with the 800. Gold every time out so far. On the GPX I used the Detech 12.5" DD coil. If you listen carefully you can hit the clay layer and find coins on average at 14" There is always a lot of rubbish on our beaches. I will dig a lot of junk while I am learning the Equinox. With the GPX you have to dig it all because it's all deep in the area I was hunting. Here's the junk targets from this hunt.

Minelab will be the death of me yet ? 3rd beach hunt yesterday and I'm just amazed at this machine. I wasn't ready to drive a couple hours to get to a beach and take a chance at not finding much, so I brought the GPX to hopefully get some silver. That way my hunt was successful and I could go home knowing a had a good day. The GPX delivered about half the silver coins pictured. But when I pulled the Equinox out, it started finding targets right away. First bits of chains, then a 18K gold cross, then silver dimes, then 2 other (junk) chains, although the religious metal attached is sterling, then a beautiful 925 Italy chain. Also hit a small locket which has writing I can't read, but I believe it's gold. Also a 10K Signet ring and finally a 14K marked earring. A total of 4 gold on this hunt and I think 19 silver coins. I didn't want to leave, but after 10 1/2 hours I was spent! Minelab you are killing me ..........with gold ?

You can test the waters by putting a high price on it or just start the auction at the lowest price you are willing to sell it for and see where it goes. I never thought I would sell my E Trac, but I did. Now that I have the Equinox, I'll be selling my CTX. Some say it's crazy but nothing beats being stuck with an aging detector and watching it lose value. That's what happened to my Vista Gold. There it sits, with a broken boost switch, 3 great coils and it just collects dust. Just my way of looking at it but I would sell it and just keep the money aside or buy some other things like a great scoop, or something else you may have wanted but never bought.

Dig all signals that are number 1 - you may be pleasantly surprised. And leave them tourists alone... if they want to dig that pipe and lose their rings at the same time....let them

Thanks. I usually don't hit gold this often I'll see next week if the trend continues.

Most of my tiny gold has been ringing up as 1. Sometimes bouncing a little to 2 or 3, but generally steady at 1. Aluminum foil is all over the place in the low digits.

I would check your state web sites to see if they give any history, and most important - attendance figures - for all of their beaches. But my reality is that our beaches here have never been hunted for micro gold effectively. Since I dig a lot of holes, my odds increase of finding something that may be masked too. So maybe the small stuff is still there in all the beaches you hunt??? Think about being the first person with a machine that finds tiny gold. It only takes one small earring stud with a HUGE diamond in it, to make your day

I hit a beach with the Equinox 800 to see if last week's hunt was a fluke. This is a beach that has produced a lot of silver with the GPX but no gold. So it was up to the Equinox to help me get some gold. I used the GPX for half the day and ended up with 7 silver coins and 2 silver rings and a lot of copper pennies. The Equinox produced a silver dime and quarter, but also gave me not one, but three pieces of gold! I really must admit, this machine finds that tiny gold. Unbelievable MINELAB!!! Thank You!!!

Thanks, I'll search it. Mine is definitely and intermittent issue. I'll see if anyone else has the same exact problem. But this machine is a killer on small gold!!!

The time I tried it on gold chains it did not hit on them. Silver it hits on just not gold. Maybe I didn't have the correct timing chosen or maybe because I was testing it indoors with lots of EMI. There is a bit of black sand and other purple looking sand here. Also not sure on how high the salt content is. I can hit small targets like tiny stud earrings but not those chains. I will have to try it again. Thanks Judy

Nice to get it paid off. That was fast. I have always like my E Trac, CTX and GPX, but this is the first time I can say one of their machines has clicked with me this quick! It's just a pleasure to use.

Hi Norm S, If you find out what the issue with the pinpoint going silent is, can you please report on it here. Mine goes silent when I pinpoint but suddenly comes on after a couple of seconds, or sometimes I have to pinpoint a second time to get full volume. I'm not sending my unit in...... I just got it LOL It's finding gold and my beach season ends when the crowds get there at the end of May. I'll double pinpoint for the duration if I have to. Just curious on what that issue is.

My computer is really been odd lately. I answered this the other day and now my reply is gone???? So sorry for the delay - Yes this type of corrosion is typical for New England beaches. The Memorial in question is a copper one and has been eaten away both in diameter and thickness. In some flat lying beaches this is what happens to the coins. Some get a hard black crust that needs a hammer to break off, others just wear away like this one did. Silver holds up better but can degrade also. That is why I vote everything (including pull tabs) should be made of gold.....problem solved

I just need one before I die That's all I ask. Soon would be a good option too!

The picture below is from my hunt yesterday. I threw out the trash before your reply. The trash was minimal yesterday with a few small "hot" rusted iron objects, about 15 or so trash items in total. I understand about digging everything, as I use a Sovereign GT in all metal pinpoint mode. I get the fact that depth and sensitivity go hand-in-hand. But if the Nox is concentrating too much on small items at the beach this may actually be a drawback. So do not get mad at me but I would not rather see and dig little stuff...especially stuff that goes through my scoop holes. By the way 367 pesos 151 coins in total and one lousy bracelet [no other jewelry]. Definitely do what ever you like to do. No one should get mad about someone else's way of detecting. I'm a firm believer that metal detecting is therapeutic and should not be a chore. Your finds prove that your way is best for you. For me, I enjoy learning what each signal brings. Some of those deep faint blips are good targets, as are some of the tiny hits. In the end nothing I find gets wasted, since I scrap metal too