cudamark

I still have a Eagle 2 SL 90 like the one on that catalog cover. What a great machine that was when it came out. It's still a great machine for land hunting if the targets are 8" or shallower. It was pretty worthless at a salt water beach in the wet sand or water though. The 6000 DI Pro machine was no slouch either. IMO the best of the analog all-around machines.

I agree with those who love the 12 X 15 Nox coil. In my hunting experience, it's the best coil I've ever used and I rarely take it off. When looking for tiny gold in polluted sites, sure, I go with a smaller coil, but, even in the ocean, I use the big one. I also have the 15" round Coiltek coil. It's deeper by a couple of inches, is heavier, and doesn't pin point as well, but, if you need max depth, it's the one to go to.

P.T.Barnum was right.......

Yeah, I fell for that test too. Sure, you can reproduce it, but, that's not a real world test. Bury those targets deep in wet salt water sand with a bobby pin or RUSTY iron at various depths around the target. Add some black sand to the mix and salt water rushing over the coil. Then see what kind of signal you get. At my beaches, you end up digging everything as the discrimination just isn't reliable.

Some interesting conditions to mull over. I was always curious (and aware) about the different ground mineralization we encounter, and ways of counteracting it. I've also been curious as to how the ground Ph affects our detectors. In a couple of areas I hunt, I don't think it is necessarily mineralized with metals, but, it is definitely alkali. Not sure what is causing it and I haven't had a soil sample analyzed to test the Ph, but, I get a lot less depth there regardless of detecting mode and VLF machine used. I haven't detected an area determined to being acidic, but, would be curious as the what reaction the detector would show with that condition. I would imagine that Ph along with moisture will have an effect on conductivity, but, I'm fairly ignorant in that technical aspect other than the fact that more moisture generally helps us get more depth in most mild soils.

At a salt water beach, who cares about the TID numbers? If it isn't iron (and sometimes even when it is) you're going to dig it anyway, right? As for pure depth in mild sand, my Excal with a 15" NEL Attack coil is still the deepest compared to Explorer and Etrac with 15" WOT and NEL Attack coils, CTX with 17" coil, Nox 800 and Nox 900 with 12 X 15" coil, and Deus 2 with 9" coil. I have the 13" coil coming for the Deus 2, so, that will be my next comparison. Now, you get in black sand, and the Deus 2 and Nox 800/900 do much better than the Excal. If you want to go deeper and/or dig hairpins at 2', get a PI machine.

As mentioned, your particular Indian cent is in decent condition wear-wise, but, not a rare date being the most produced of all Indian cents. If you want to keep the current patina look, use acetone to gently clean off any surface debris/dirt/goo. I then like to use CoinCare or similar to coat copper coins and help prevent any future corrosion. If you want it to look bright and shiny like a new cent, more severe methods will get you there, but, at the expense of less detail and a somewhat artificial look. Your coin, your choice. Either way, the value won't change much being a coin only worth a buck or two.

The 900 comes with both the 11" and 6" coil standard.

With me and my hunting sites so far, the Equinox 900 has addressed all those issues to a great degree. EMI rejection is better than the 800 (not totally cured I admit and the D2 is better at it), watertight so far, re-enforced coil ears, and better depth IMO. I have the 9" on the D2 and use the 12 X 15" on the 900, so, that's probably a bit of an unfair comparison, but, maybe if I can actually get my hands on a 13" D2 coil (been waiting forever!), I might have comparable fruit to test. I did do a real life field test on depth, signal strength, and target I.D. and this is what I found. Working a vacant lot with fairly soft and mild dirt. Started with the Equinox 800 with the 12X 15" coil and was finding some early wheat cents at 8-10" depths....along with assorted copper rivets and other scrap metals, including a few deep rusty nails that didn't quite sound bad enough to ignore. After gridding the area to the point of not finding anymore targets, I switched to the D2 and re-gridded the same area. Except for one more 8" copper rivet, no other targets. Then switched to the Equinox 900 with the same 12 X 15" coil I used on the 800, and with the same mode and settings (Park 1, 50 tone, horseshoe on, Iron bias F2@0, Recovery speed 4, 22 sensitivity) I had on the 800, except I was able to run sensitivity up to 24 instead of the 22 I was using on the 800. I found several more copper rivets and a nice Barber dime all at about a foot down. Solid, (albeit weak) no doubt signals. The 800 and D2 are now dust collectors unless I need them for specific tasks or backup. I didn't mention the D2 settings, but, I tried all sorts of combinations after getting a good signal with the 900 and seeing whether the D2 would hear that same signal.....nada.....even with sensitivity up to 98. The 800 didn't hear them either I might add unless I cranked the sensitivity up to the point of making it unstable and unusable to hunt with.

There are some features that can put one machine higher on the list than the others....at least for me. Personally, even though the D2 works just fine, I don't like the menu system or the hokey way you have to make it a water machine. The new Minelab 700/900 machines are wonderful units and can use all the 600/800 coils that are already available. The refined features of the 700/900 are another plus over the 600/800 making the extra couple hundred dollars, money well spent. Nothing wrong with the Legend either....at least I hope not with the company after the severe earthquakes they just had there in Turkey. As for the Manticore, on paper, probably the most high tech and cutting edge detector, but, coils and headphones are severely limited right now, and feedback is still needed to assess if the performance matches the hype under various conditions. Not knowing your specific conditions at your beaches, there's no way to give you any particular advice. Maybe check with a local club or individual that has some personal experience in that area. All these detectors mentioned are adjustable to most conditions, so, they should all work just fine once adjusted properly. As Steve mentioned, it's the last 3-5% of performance in harsh conditions where one machine may work better than another, and that experience/knowledge with a particular detector is more important than the differences between them at this point.

Agreed, except for the permission part.....at least here in the U.S. The rules for any particular plot of public land are available to view, either at the county courthouse or online. If it's not written down as being forbidden, then it's legal to do. Asking some bureaucrat for permission just adds their personal bias to the equation and pumps up their self importance. Most of these folks don't know what the actual law is anyway, so, why not just look it up for yourself? We seem to becoming a country where our thinking is that we need governmental approval to do anything on public land. Not true, and in many cases, asking permission can counter-productive. I realize that some areas a permit is needed, along with it's requirements. So be it.....just read and follow the rules. As always, even with or without permission, use discretion in the tools you use, recovery method, and the time/place you use them. The quickest way to lose a permit (and everyone else's) is to have careless methods and habits.

My buddies and I were detecting an old park, when a police car roared up to us and the officer started reading us the riot act about damaging the grass (although he couldn't see any evidence of it, as we were very careful). When we pointed that out to him that we didn't do any damage since he couldn't even tell where we had been, he calmed down a bit and explained that he had to respond to a complaint. We then asked if we could also file a complaint, seeing as he left 6" deep ruts in the grass from the tires on his police car. He grumbled a bit and drove away with a rather sheepish look on his face.

I actually think the 700/900 is the second generation of the Equinox, and that the Mcore is another step beyond that. To me, the 900 is a nicely refined and improved 800 with the Mcore being more of a hybrid with the CTX and Nox tech mixed together.

For the most part, that's true. There are exceptions though. My wife bought the first Toyota Tacoma pickup and it's been the best, most reliable vehicle we've ever owned. 27 years and a quarter million miles later and it's still the original drivetrain, steering, suspension, etc. that's never been out of the truck. It even has the original clutch in it!

I never take mine off. I drilled a bunch of holes in mine and just flush it out with a hose when needed.

No problems here so far. Well done Steve!

Yeah, and add my nits about not having the big coil yet, the hokey way the remote is mounted, and the fact that the coils will go dead just sitting for a while, and it makes my decision to sell it much easier.

My wrist and forearm ache just thinking about detecting with my old 77. Upgraded decades ago and never felt nostalgic about ever hunting with that dinosaur again! You have one of the very best detectors in the world today with the Nox800. Use it, learn it, enjoy it.....

You should have more stability if you use Beach 2 in the water. My Nox800 is very quiet in the salt water with sensitivity set at 20.....sometimes even 22. That's about what I can get away with in the dry sand here with our degree of black sand. I just got the 900 and took it out for it's maiden voyage yesterday on an inland dry hunt. Very happy with it so far. I love the expanded TID and telescoping shaft (although you need to really tighten the clamps to keep the shaft from rotating with the big coil on it) Pairing of the headphones and restart up procedure is much quicker and easier too. The sensitivity setting now will go to 28, and I was able to hunt in 25, which is rare around here. Not sure if the old 25 is the same as the new 25, or, if the scale has just been recalibrated, but, it seems more sensitive to me. The noise cancel seems slightly better, but, nothing dramatic so far. Bottle cap rejection is enhanced also. It comes with FE4 as default, and it handled bottle caps better than the 800's F2@6, I ran over tons of bottle caps and didn't dig a one, as, none sounded good at all.....even the rusty, totally flat ones. The foil covered ones I'll probably still scoop at the beach, as they still don't sound bad enough to ignore there. I'll know more about how it handles wet sand and salt water in the next few days if I can get out. Oh, I'm sure many already know this, but, even though the coils interchange between the 600/800 and the 700/900, the shafts do not, so, for quick coil swaps, you'll need to get some extra lower shafts......attn: Steve G!

That's why I said "supposedly"

Same here, the expanded I.D. range, better waterproofing, and the fact that I can use all my existing Nox coils, made my decision easy for ordering the 900. The button backlight and supposedly better EMI rejection are nice bonuses.

Except that while I'd be waiting for the Manticore, I'd already have found that gold ring with the 900.....maybe even more so that I can now afford to own both the 900 and the Manticore. By then, one might actually be available to buy.

I'd like one a bit more high tech than that even.....how about a teleporter that would beam that target right out of the ground and into my pouch! No cuts in the ground, muddy knees, sore back, cuts on your fingers......heck, you wouldn't even have to wear gloves! 😄

I find that the Excal with a 15" coil will find dime size and larger targets at a slightly deeper depth than the Nox with the 12 X 15 coil....maybe an inch or two. The Nox will definitely find the tiny targets better than the Excal though. As Joe experienced in Chesapeake Bay, and what I also experience here in SoCal, targets can null out (a good initial signal turns to an iron signal) after the first scoop of overburden. At least here, I attribute that to the black magnetite laden sand and it's encrustation on the target. I actually love it when that happens, as it's usually an older target. I learned early on to just take a couple more scoops to get to the target.

Thanks for the tips, but, where can I get the coil?