NCtoad

I have one of the first runs of the equinox.  Got on a wait list with a dealer and got mine in April or May of 2018 (please correct me if I’m wrong on this, but I think I’ve had my nox for 3 years now).  I had a slight case of the shaft wobble issue and ended up getting an Anderson carbon fiber upper and lower rods.  When Steve first came out with his rods I inquired about getting just the upper from him mostly for the cam lock, but also for the balance pod.  We sent some messages back and forth and realized that the Anderson lower rod was a slightly larger diameter and wasn’t compatible with Steve’s upper rod.  Since I had just shelled out $150 on the Anderson I decided I would make my own balance pod.  I had some 6/6 nylon rod and had this big piece of aluminum left over from another project.  You can see from the pic how it works.  The aluminum counter weight can be slid closer or farther from the fulcrum point (the equinox control box grip) to fine tune the balance.  I forget what the nylon rod and counter weight weighs, but even with the counter weight slid all the way to the end, it still doesn’t perfectly balance the 11” coil, however it’s nearly perfect for the 6” coil.  I wanted the overall weight of the detector as light as possible, but still help significantly with the balance.  I think I got it at a fairly sweet spot between balance and overall weight.  

47 minutes ago, trash panda said:

coiltek is still tweaking the new coils. i would wait and see...

How do you know this?  And why would they release a new coil and still be tweaking it?

Well my much used and much liked root slayer nomad shovel broke yesterday.  At least it waited until the end of the hunt until it snapped. 

On 6/15/2019 at 12:53 PM, dan_h said:

Used Cherry Pick settings from the Handbook for  a brief session in a local park.  Found a penny, the handle of a spoon.  If it ever was silver plated, that is long gone.  Then found a quarter-sized disk, a token of some sort.  It says "Where a kid can be a kid" on both sides and one side was stamped OTTS.ORG.  I  just tried that website and it is apparently closed.  There was a message to the effect to leave your contact info if you have any business with this site.

 

Question:  is there something more than the Lesche Predator but less than a shovel -- a mini shovel, perhaps?

For a digger there’s this https://www.ebay.com/itm/devils-tongue-hand-digger-/233812638842?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292 

made by forum member Kac.  

16 hours ago, Dances With Doves said:

I got lucky and found 2 1909  quarter eagle  gold coins in 1 hole.The expert hunter Mike Moutray while driving around the country and hunting with people who  guided him to good spots in  their area. He got a hold of my buddy and we  met him at a restaurant and went south to a place that had a old    sulfur spring  and use to  have a  gambling horse track.He hunted around a 200 year old plus oak tree and only went 3/4 of the way around it. He then went to the rest  room and to a different  spot.I went to the tree and hunted in  areas he did not hunt and got a iffy hit.I used my  Sun Ray  probe and got a pull tab hit and pulled out a gold coin and then got my second.I put in my probe and got the same hit but pulled out a fired  bullet.I am sure that he would have  probably got it of  he hunted the whole  tree.I had the coins in the gold pan I had with  the dirt and when he saw them he rolled his  eyes probably because he knows he did not hunt the whole tree.He did get his first 3 cent silver though.This happened in October 2003.

You know what they say “pics or it didn’t happen “. LOL!  A gold coin spill is something we all dream of!   Congrats!

2 hours ago, damatman88 said:

Wonder if they are rain proof? 

I was wondering the same thing and should have asked about that in the email.  That said, I’ve gotten my ml80s fairly wet.  Haven’t had them in a downpour, but have used while it was drizzling and had no problems.  This was only 2 or 3 times though.  

3 minutes ago, Dan(NM) said:

Where did you see the ML 100 phones?

In a post on the prospecting forum about the new gpx6000 gold detector.  

Minelab has come out with a new more robust aptx ll headphones designed for their new gpx 6000 gold detector.  I contacted them to see if these will work with the equinox and they will.  

Even with identical settings, to be a fair comparison the ground balance and noise cancel settings should be manually set to be the same. Also the same person should swing the different detectors so the swing speed, coil height, etc is more consistent.  

3 minutes ago, Tometusns said:

The reason I ask is because a number of the guys in our club have 800's. When we go on hunts there have been times I'll hit a target and they'll want to listen to it. Many times they don't hear it or maybe just barely with theirs My machine is just out of warranty now and I'm reluctant to get a different one for that reason. I've heard stories about  machines being hotter than others or...just maybe better?  Any thoughts on this? Thanks!

I’ve wondered the same thing.  Were their machines set up exactly the same way as yours?  Even a slight difference like recovery speed could make a difference.  

14 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Quest makes a weather resistant BT low latency headset compatible with Equinox.  Other than earbuds, that is the only moisture resistant BT low latency compatible headset I have ever found.  I personally like the audio of the Quest headsets.

https://www.questmetaldetectors.com/product-page/aptx-low-latency-bluetooth-wireless-headphones-for-minelab-equinox

I was going to order those, but when I went to checkout a prompt came up that said they don’t ship to my state which is NC.  

1 hour ago, rvpopeye said:

There were still a lot of good reasons why I chose the 800. 

Just not happy with myself for not finding all the issues before deciding....  

 

 

Don’t project that you’ll have issues.  I was on the waiting list and got one of the first ones.  Mine’s still fine... no problems.  

I use the ml80 headphones.  They fit well, block out the majority of unwanted noise and are pretty durable.  Nothing’s broken on them, but outer layer of the earmuffs is delaminating and peeling off in places.  This after almost 3 years of use.  I think they sound good to me. I recently bought an aftermarket aptx ll pair of headphones (I can’t recall the brand right now, but not Trond or the Miccus clones).  They sound very similar to the ml80 phones, but they don’t fit my head as well.  

I use both, but primarily FE 0 and F2 6. I usually leave my settings button on iron bias so I can easily check between the two settings by hitting settings then the +/- button.  If there’s lots of nails I will go with F2 6, if not then FE 0.

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

My thought is that the Equinox appears to be performance optimized to the 11" coil, FWIW

I agree minelab added a little magic to that coil. 

26 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

I know you've said this before but I'm wondering what this is based upon.  Is it theoretical or found with measurements/experience or ??.  My limited measurements have indicated depth for USA pennies and nickels goes as the geometric mean (square root of the product of the two axes) so dependent upon both.  Other factors, espeically ground mineralization, can be large contributors as you and most(?) readers know.  I've not done comparisons in air.

This is interesting!  If true, the stock coil has almost the same theoretical depth as the 9x14 coiltec.  

For me the nox800 99% of the time.  I’m on my fourth year detecting so fairly new to the hobby.  The only other detectors I have are all tesoros.  Two compadres, a mojave and a vaquero.  Thinking about getting rid of most of the tesoros and getting a deeptech vista x.  I have to admit I love my nox.  Probably why I use it all the time. 

I really don’t see much advantage to any of these new coils over the stock coils.  I can understand gold hunters embracing the 5x10 for more coverage while keeping a high sensitivity to small gold.  I really don’t see any advantage of the 9x14 over the 11” stock.  Most likely less depth with 3” more coverage.  Maybe it’s more aqua dynamic (is that even a term? Lol) than the stock 11” for water hunters.  I can see a use for the round 15” though.  More depth and more coverage than the 11” and more depth than the 12x15 stock coil.  I can see it’s advantage in wide open plowed fields. Am I being a debbie downer on these new coils?  Lol

4 hours ago, kac said:

Sorry ran out of likes.

I chose a straight blade rather than tapered as a tapered once you start digging you always need more force to keep digging.

I like the spade points better for scooping so I made a shallow spade point. So far it has cut through little over 1" thick top frozen soil without any difficulty when I took it out yesterday.

Downside of a spade point is they will deflect when next to a root so I made it shallow then put a cuple catchers on the sides which are proving very good at keeping the blade straight when stomping.

I plan on making the foot peg fill to the back profile of the blade and adding some small cleets. Current foot peg was just made from some left over scrap and my foot hasn't slipped off.

I try to avoid abrupt angles and rather try to transfer forces and energy outward. The little hand digger I have with spade point on a circular arc has proven very strong. Creased blades cause forces to converge but no so much on a flat point digger like the root slayer.

I thought about serated edges but so far not necessary from what I have tested so far so keeping it simple in that respect for now.

So far the 10" blade is working out well and the width seems really good. 3 stomps and I can roll the dirt out with one hand in most cases. Makes approx a 6-8" wide hole.

So far the fiberglass handle seems plenty strong, it is my biggest concern and I have to look close to where it bends. If it wants to try to flex where it connects to the blade it can be a problem as that will be a fracture point. If it just flexes a little in the middle then not a problem. Same will be if I attach a D or T handle on it.

Now to costs, materials are high, I use ansi cert 4130 which is not cheap and shipping is really through the roof. I have made various tools for forming etc to cut labor down so getting fabrication down to a science if you want to call it that.

Prototype stage cost isn't a driving factor and design is a priority for me. Not sure about mass production, rather make them as orders come in and be able to customize them to the customers. Everyone makes a shovel and shoves them on a shelf, very few fit each persons style and needs 100%. I think custom built has a niche.

All good points.  Let me know when one these is available to purchase. 

On 1/25/2021 at 6:08 PM, kac said:

First proto, I will be testing. 4 1/4" x 10" blade, 40" overall. 2.15 lbs. Integrated foot peg so it doesn't hang up, couple root cutters to reduce side kick.

Thoughts?

 

I think you have an innovative design.  I’m the type of person who looks at something (like a tool or shovel) and tries to formulate all the “what ifs” in my mind.  For the past year I’ve been using a root slayer nomad model.  Three things I really like about this shovel:  

1) the inverted tip.  It catches small roots and cuts them rather than deflecting off to one side or the other.
2) the size of the blade.  I wouldn’t want it any wider at the top and the length is sufficient for most targets.  However I wouldn’t mind if it was 10 or even 11 inches long.  Btw, when new I’m pretty sure it was 9” or slightly more, but has worn down to under 9” with all the digging I’ve done with it.  
3) the price was only $40. I know it’s mass produced in China, but it’s held up well.  I would expect a hand produced shovel made by a forum member would be at least twice as much.  
Looking at your design here’s what I see both pros and cons. 
1) I really like your tip design.  The center point will pierce the soil, but the inverted sections on either side of the point will catch and cut roots. 
2) I like the size of the blade and especially the fact that the sides are parallel and don’t taper from top to bottom.  I think this will help to dig and extract a more intact plug.  
3) the foot peg design is nice in that if needed to go deeper it won’t catch on the edge of the hole. Maybe you could enlarge the footpad area by circling it around the front of the blade. 
4) This is a con.  I think you need to make the ferrule that the handle fits in to extend at least a few inches higher and maybe even 6 or 8 higher than the top of the blade. I’m also curious as to why the handle and blade aren’t one continuous piece of steel.  Is it the weight factor?  

All in all I think you have a great design on your hands especially if you can figure out a sturdy handle solution.  
Attached are pics of the nomad shovel. 

Hi Greg and welcome!  I’m another from north cackalackie, Henderson county to be exact.  I don’t post much here, but I do lurk.  This is a great place to learn.  

21 hours ago, phrunt said:

I do like that design better than the real Equinox design, I don't like the side buttons, the power button isn't easy to use either, especially with a detector cover on, sometimes I feel I press it 3 or so times before it works.

I used to have problems with the power button also.  Sometimes it would take 4 or 5 tries.  I thought I was going to have to send it back to minelab.  Then one day I tried a firm press and held it for just a half second or so.  Once I started doing that very quick momentary hold I’ve never had a problem again.  I also have a deanos protective cover on mine.  

13 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Yes. They work well and provide peace of mind if bad weather rolls in.

5 hours ago, ColonelDan said:

I've been using the Quest headphones for well over a year now, they've worked flawlessly so far and meet all your requirements.

https://www.questmetaldetectors.com/product-page/aptx-low-latency-bluetooth-wireless-headphones-for-minelab-equinox

Just one more question:  the quest site says their phones weigh 320grams which is almost 11.3 ozs.  I just weighed my ml80s and they weigh 7.7 ozs.  Do you guys notice the weight difference?

5 hours ago, ColonelDan said:

I've been using the Quest headphones for well over a year now, they've worked flawlessly so far and meet all your requirements.

https://www.questmetaldetectors.com/product-page/aptx-low-latency-bluetooth-wireless-headphones-for-minelab-equinox

Thanks guys!  My nox is from that first run when you had to get on a pre order list.  Nox itself has worked flawlessly, but the ml80 headphones are showing some wear and I’m on the lookout for a replacement.  

Has anyone tried the Quest headphones on their nox.  Just today I was out detecting and a hard rain shower came up.  I’d like to find some nox compatible low latency apt x phones that’ll stand up to some rain without worrying about them getting wet.  I know this is an old thread, just wondering if anyone tried the quest phones or had another recommendation.  I’m not interested in earbuds although I may have to go that route.