cudamark

I've had good service with Kellyco through the years. I admit that I haven't bought much from them in the last few years since they moved locations, but, what I have bought worked out well. My main gripe with them in the past was the with the freebies they include with their "package" deals. I found the extras to be mostly junk or of very poor quality. I found that there were other online detector sellers with great customer service and who included quality accessories instead of Chineseum crap. In many cases, I also got a better deal going with them. Big Boy Hobbies, Columbia, Fort Bedford, Colonial, and Extreme, along with a few others have been as good, or better in service and/or products. Going with Amazon, WalMart, etc is not something I would do when buying a detector the first time. They have no experience in detecting should you need tech or operational advice, and their customer service is just an e-mail telling you to send it in to the seller for warranty. For a first machine, or relative newbies, I recommend using a local detector store if you have one. They can be a wealth of info to local conditions and can fit you to a machine that will work best in your area and with your particular machine needs. Once you have some experience, that won't be as beneficial, but, still a great way to support the hobby and local economy. It's always nice to have a friendly local seller when you need a last minute repair or replacement part right before you head out for a road trip. I broke a digger the day before I was to fly out of state for a hunt nowhere near where I could get a replacement. A quick stop at Columbia and I was on my way with what I needed. It's hard to do that online regardless of how much you like their price and service.

I rarely take my 12 X 15" coil off! I think it gets another inch or so in depth over the 11", but, the added coverage is more than worth it even if the depth was the same. I still find tiny targets with it, so, I don't think I'm missing anything. Maybe if I was nugget hunting for tiny gold, but, even then, it might get you a deeper big nugget 👍. If I know I'm going to be hunting all day, I also use a sling. For 4-5 hour hunts, I don't have a problem with it at this point with my 67 year old arms.

Either the Equinox or CTX would compliment your PI machine nicely. Whether the extra bells and whistles on the CTX and slightly better target I.D. is worth the extra money for one.....that's something debatable and up to you to decide. My vote would be the Nox and the big coil for the beach.

I've never gotten even 3 hours of use on my stock battery. It's been cycled many times and still only gets 2.75 hours at the most before it goes dead.

I'm sure the newbies would find it helpful. Most of the "Detectionaries" I've seen don't have a lot of the slang we use. The technical terms can be looked up. The slang can be more of a challenge. When we talk of "slaw" or "junker", or "TC" or "stew" (AKA cooked slaw, fire ring nugget, or just "nugget" with us beach hunters), they just get a quizzical look on their face. I'm sure there are tons of other ones If I sat down and thought about it. Then add the slang the members in other countries use, and you would have a pretty good sized book!

I'd continue digging, even if I had to bring in a backhoe!

I have yet to find a nickel that read 14. Lower number, sure, lots of them....especially deep or corroded ones. I found one buffalo nickle at the beach that read 9. It was totally encased in an iron sand crust. I take depth into consideration as much as TID when comes to dig or not. The deeper it is, the less I worry about the number.

I very much appreciate the experiences share by everyone here. I'm not sure how much I can add to this topic except to confirm most of what has been said. One area I have the most trouble in is deep targets vs. shallow shards of cut coins. I have a few old parks I like to hunt for old coins, but, it's infested with cut coins and other specks of non-ferrous targets that fool both the detector on depth and myself in trying to diagnose the situation. At these old parks, I usually hunt by depth rather than target I.D. since the deep targets can read just about anything. The detector will say those cut coins are deep. They sound deep too, with a faint ,tight signal. I raise the coil to confirm depth and it also acts like a deep target when the signal disappears with a slight raising of the coil. Any pointers on how to deal with those pesky items would be appreciated. I hunt usually in Park 1 at these places since it seems the deepest and most stable, but, I've tried just about all the other modes as well. 50 tone, recovery speed 3 or 4, sensitivity high as I can stand (usually 20-22 unless there is too much EMI). Looks like I need to try going higher and reducing my I.B. a bit too to see if that helps get a few more keepers. Raphis mentioned hunting 2-4 hours and covering an area maybe 200 X 200 feet. I wouldn't even cover that much in that amount of time, so, I don't think I'm moving too fast..... Maybe half that at most. I like to really analyze every sound in these places. It's just that there are so many, it takes a lot of time.

I received my new lower shaft and clevis today. I'm pleased to see that it's longer than the original one. Since the clevis is attached to the shaft, there's no way to see if it's now solid instead of hollow. Hopefully it's at least made of a thicker wall plastic. Hopefully, I'll get out soon and give it a good test now that I have one of OBN's batteries and the new shaft.

In the non-prospecting segment of our hobby (ie: coin and jewelry hunting), That segment will remain strong as that is a renewable research. Now, if you're talking about old coins and relics, that's going to get tougher as the years go by. Good luck trying to find a virgin 60+ year old public area that hasn't been hunted extensively. The future in old coins and relics is going to be private land......and even that diminishes every year as they get detected, or, ruined by development or re-landscaping. I don't see it getting bad in my lifetime, but, those starting out now will be in for some rough times sooner or later if old targets are what they want to find. One aspect that I'm more concerned about is the loss of detecting areas by overzealous bureaucrats and politicians who close down good detecting sites.

Yes, I pulled the pins initially to see if just the clevis was replaceable. Nope, the broken stub inside the tube was glued in. Very thin walled tube, so, they're going to have more breaking, I guarantee it. Fisher emailed me a prepaid shipping label and the old part is on it's way back, if they haven't already received it.

Another upgrade that has already been done (according to Fisher) is the lower clevis that is riveted to the lower shaft. That wishbone plastic piece breaks easily where it attaches to the tube. I just had mine break and from what I heard when I called Fisher, three others have broken too, and it's been redesigned to where it's now a solid piece instead of thin-wall hollow tube. As far as I know, I didn't do anything to make it break. I was just walking along swinging the coil over flat wet sand, I heard a light "crack" sound, and the coil just fell off. I'll let you know what the new one looks like when I get it. My shaft lock was a little tight getting loose, but, not too bad. I always rinse the whole detector after each use, and I have collapsed the shaft a few times when I needed to shorten it for transport. So far, so good in that area. Might be a good idea for everyone to do that every now and then just to keep it from freezing up. The second photo in TVR's post looks like a Plugger clamp setup, one similar to the one I have on my Equinox. So far, that clamp has been working fine, but, I'm a bit disappointed that the bolt is not stainless, so, it rusts. The wing nut is stainless, but, not the bolt for some reason. The upper clamp has all plastic nuts and bolts, but, they're kind of wimpy. The ears on the wing nuts have all broken off, but, since I don't usually take that clamp loose, it hasn't been a problem yet.

I've never been a fan of the entry level detectors for newbies wanting to get into the hobby. They're fine for someone who just lost their wedding ring in their back yard, but, for someone trying to compete with veteran detectorists in the local park or beach, they're an exercise in frustration. Most people looking to get into this hobby want to find treasure.....however their mindset defines that. If they don't have some initial success, they become disenchanted and the detector ends up in the closet or garage sale. Having a good quality detector that will find more treasure than trash, or, at least some treasure to keep interest up, is crucial in "getting over the hump" in this hobby. I've also seen (and hunted with) many veteran detectorists, who after hitting a dry spell, will also quit.....at least for a while. Success breeds success, and a quality detector for that particular type of venue/search/target will help in that success.

I'd love to see the new Minelab CTNox3030 myself! 😃

Even after 25 years, that section of ground should be a lot softer than the surrounding undug ground. Get a "privy" probe and poke around until you find a relative soft spot. Now, if you plan on joining us demented and addicted metal detectorists and make it a hobby/obsession, let us know what kind of detecting you plan to do beside your back yard and we can better advise you on a good detector to buy. One might even help with your back yard treasure hunt! Good Luck!

I wonder if they're going to combine some model names now too.....can we expect an MX Bug Master AT Pro anytime soon??😄

Sounds like "Knockdown Norm" is more appropriate! 😀

I don't know if I'd go so far as calling it a flaw. There really isn't a cut and dried rule regarding warranties in most states. Generally, a product has to do what it's designed and promoted to do, but, the warranty is up to the manufacturer to decide. That's why you need to read the warranty to see if it's something you want to agree to. If there is no warranty or it's not acceptable, then don't buy the product. I'd rather the government keep out of it. You mandate a warranty, or any other law, and the price will go up automatically. Let the marketplace decide on a product. If it's junk, they'll go out of business. If it's good, they will prosper. With online forums such as this one, the word will get out pretty quickly if a product or manufacturer are a problem.

Is the regular version AQ really not going to have a transferable warranty? That seems a bit strange this day and age. I can see it on the Limited, seeing is how we volunteered to be guinea pigs on basically a beta machine, but, on a regular production model, I would think it would be transferable.

I think the Equinox is the best all around machine on the market today. Does it have it's drawbacks, sure, as do most other machines( I.E. your MK). The pros on this machine are many. The cons are few......those being what has been mentioned about the weak coil ears, and a significant, but, relatively small percentage of water leak problems. I haven't heard of any battery problems at all, and the shaft wobble was a bit overblown IMO, but, has been pretty much resolved. You can get the aftermarket carbon fiber shafts if you're really hating the stock one. The Nox can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. The stock programs are excellent, as is, for most type of detecting. For difficult conditions, the 800 it very adjustable. The 600 less so, but, still has some basic tweaks you can make. I personally like the stock wireless headphones very much, except for the tiny and hard to see in the daylight, blue and red lights. I find it works great in iron infested areas compared to most machines I've used. The Deus is a bit better, but, I don't know of another machine that is. I didn't find the learning curve to be much at all, but, I have used lots of machines over the last 50 years, so, maybe someone with less experience might need more time than I did to feel comfortable. The only other cons I can think of at the moment is the slight imbalance with the bigger coils, and the compressed I.D. scale, and even that isn't something I fret over. Would I like it to have the Etrac/CTX ferrous/conductive numbers? Sure.

Yup, Beach 1 and 2 are not the greatest modes (in the Equinox choices) for tiny gold/platinum, but, better than most other machines. In the dry sand, it another story. Gold 1 and 2 are the best (naturally) and I find Field 2 is the next best. I have some gold items I use to test with and some of the smaller items only give a signal (in an air test) in those three modes. The Excal won't see them at all regardless of settings.

Where I hunt, it's pretty much a tie on depth with the Equinox 11" and the Excal 10" in the wet sand or water. With the 12X15 on the Nox and the 15" NEL Attack, or 15" Coiltek WOT on the Excal, I get another inch or two in depth over the Nox on average. Not all beaches the same, but, most have moderate black sand. Depth comparison is similar in the dry sand, but, the Equinox is much better at finding tiny targets.

Which machine were you using?

A lot will depend on how big the search area will be, the concentration of targets, and the time you have for the hunt. In a small area with lots of targets, I like a real small coil. It's faster and easier to zero in on a target and move on to the next one. Speed is thing here on this type of hunt. If it's a big area with few targets, I'd want a bigger coil, maybe an elliptical one. Something that will cover ground, but also be easier to swing and pin point. Usually nothing is deep on a seeded hunt, so, reduce the sensitivity to make it REAL stable and less likely to crosstalk with other detectors, including pin pointers. I'm not sure I'd want to use a sling in a seeded hunt (though I admit, I haven't tried it). It seems to me it might reduce the speed at which you make recoveries. If you have a machine that can change frequencies and/or noise cancel, I would use that machine. You get all sorts of detectors in that close proximity and you're likely to get some interference. I use my Equinox on seeded hunts with no problems.

If you're using a scoop (or even if you're not) maybe the tiny target keeps falling into the hole. I would also try to use Beach 2 just in case it some black sand ( like magnetite) is causing a false signal.