Erik Oostra

I was considering this concoction as a cheapish way to get me through after my second pair of D2 bone-phones conked out and my Nox 600 started leaking.. I'd also be keen to know how single frequency detectors perform underwater, especially on the XTerra Pro's lower frequencies (5, 8, 10 and 15kHz).. I figured a small coil like the V8X or even the Coiltek 10x5'' would lessen the salt water signal compared to the standard coil.. But the drama has been resolved with a new pair of over-the-head headphones for the D2.. 😁

Thanks Midalake, your report very nicely lays out some of the things that bother me the most with these detectors.. It's the nitty-gritty of using them in the wild that makes it or breaks it for me, like your examples below.. I find this a real nightmare with the Equinox, it doesn't seem it make any difference what coil is used.. I've found it best to mark the hole (I usually stick a small shovel in it) and let a few waves wash over it.. Other times I've build a mount of sand as a marker next to the hole and walked away for half an hour letting the sea wash it out.. It's a lot of work for a target that the detector should've picked up when it was out of the hole (and which will probably turn out crap) but sometimes when your gut's telling you it's a good target it can pay off.. An example is this little gold ring I found this morning (see picture below), in the ground it kept ringing in at a solid 8 but I lost it when it was out of the hole.. It was too irresistible not to come back for about 20 minutes later, it had moved a bit back out to sea but was a lot shallower to dig.. Yeah, even on milder salty black sand the D2 doesn't seem to know its arse from a hole in the ground when it comes to accurately identifying pull-tabs.. It gets very frustrating, but but but.. it does force you to dig everything which improves your chances of a good find.. I get a bit lazy with the Equinox figuring targets will be pull-tabs and not bothering to dig them.. Yup, another pain in the arse and the main reason I use an Equinox when shallow wading, especially in the wash and surf.. In deeper stiller water it's a very different story, the D2 is a much stabler scuba detector.. Most of my beaches don't have much black sand so the D2 usually behaves itself, on other beaches with layers of black sand its target ID is jumpy .. With the Equinox in moving salty water I can hunt at 22-23 sensitivity with a smaller coil and 20-22 with the 15'' round, even the 18'' round runs smoothly at 20-21..

Please note: This detector is waterproof down to 5 metres.. Unless you're some freaky deep sea shipwreck archaeologist, this gives you just the right depth range to hunt your local beaches (thanks to Jaws most people won't swim in waters deeper than this).. $ = Ozzy dollars.. Prices are according to a quick online search.. I'm sure that with a bit of ferocious haggling this VLF scuba detector could be yours for much cheaper, especially second-hand.. Here's the recipe: Slowly lower a lukewarm Xterra Pro ($499) into a huge pot, then swiftly add a stone cold V8X coil ($179).. Don't be afraid to mix things up, adding this coil instead of the one your Xterra came with will transform the flavour of the brew from turf to surf.. Before you add any water make sure you gently stir in a yellow pair of waterproof headphones (various makers - $185).. To test the water integrity of your VLF scuba detector, vigorously swirl the mixture in salty water for at least an hour at your nearest nudie beach.. There you go, a brand spanking new VLF scuba detector for only Au$ 863.. US$ 577.. € 527.. GBP 453.. ¥ 83,928.. Bargain! 😎

Wow, how's the timing? Thanks Ed, that's good news.. I'll be saving up for one to get the Deus back in the drink.. What does 'bone conduction mode' mean? Is that the detector's dive program?

Please forgive me if these things are already old hat, I just cottoned on to them today.. I've ordered a pair for my 'Foxy Noxy Mariner' (a Nox 600 that got flooded but has since dried out and now works fine again as my main dive detector).. The ONYX is waterproof down to 50 meters.. It was dreamt up by Detect-Ed and SeaGhost Engineering.. On paper they sound good, can't wait to give them a good flogging in the wild.. I'm already in love with the curly cord, it'll make a nice change from the long stiff BonePhone lead on the Deus II.. The ONYX is on sale in Oz at various dealers as well as online at Detect-Ed.. I paid Au$219 for mine.. You might be wondering what happened to the Deus II as my main dive detector.. Sad thing is I've now gone through two sets of BonePhone headphones, they both stopped vibrating and then cut out on the right ear.. I was actually looking for 'over the head' waterproof headphones for the Deus when I spotted the ONYX for the Equinox.. Hopefully Detect-Ed/SeaGhost will also whack a Deus II plug on them.. Big shout out to Minelab for allowing aftermarket headphones to be used with their finest VLF detectors, it's a bit like Coiltek's Nox coils.. Hope XP also comes to the party..

I really like your thread and detector, it'll be interesting to see how it performs in the wild.. As mentioned above 60kHz is great for tiny shallow gold, you even show this in your photo where your detector picks up a thin gold chain with a little cross.. But this is in your workshop, on a beach this sort of chain can be very hard to find, even with beach detectors like the Equinox (40kHz) or Deus 2 (45kHz).. On my beaches these detectors are hard to run on high single frequencies and I normally run them in multi frequency programs.. To find small gold jewellery I've also used my mate's Gold Monster (single frequency - 45kHz) which just tolerates dry salty sand but freaks out on the wet stuff, it also can't handle black sand.. I've had more luck in these situations with my Gold Bug Pro (single frequency - 19kHz).. Have you considered lowering the frequency on your detector so it can be used in the wild? I think that you'll have more luck running at a lower frequency, say 15kHz which in my mind is at the higher end of the 'general purpose' frequencies and will still hit on small gold jewellery.. A lower frequency is also better if you want to get any real depth out of your detector, this will also increase your finds (good and bad) in the wild.. I guess it'll come down to how the beast behaves in a workshop versus the wild.. It's a very interesting project and I'll be keeping an eye on your thread for updates.. Thanks for showing us the fruits of your labour..

The Nox 800 with 2 coils (14x9 and 10x5) fit inside a GoFind carry bag. This long thin bag (or similar like a canvas tent bag) is long enough to hold the stock shafts.. It also holds a pinpointer, charging cables, headphones and a WM08.. I always carry it on as hand luggage.. At some airports they'll pull your bag to the side for a closer look, at others like my local airport they see metal detectors go through all the time and let it pass.. On board the bag is easy to stash at the back of the overhead holds and doesn't freak out aircrew or fellow passengers.. I've had a few times where the people at the xray machine guessed what it was and told me before I had to explain.. When I do have to explain, I've never had airport security take my detector off me.. I've always boarded the aircraft with it..

I'm hoping that they'll be discontinued and that this will mean cheap 600/800s on the second-hand market.. Sort of what happened with the WM08s, I've recently bought one for $50.. I think Minelab's price increases just boil down to simple greed.. I also think the blowback will be enormous.. Unless potential buyers act now (this month/year) they'll not only be less inclined to buy their coveted detector next year, they're also less likely to upgrade to 'better' models and stick with what they've got.. I think that being seen as money-hungry greedy bastards will lead prospective buyers to reconsider other brands.. In other words, Minelab will lose brand loyalty.. And for those stuck with a 'not as good' detector will try to squeeze a bit more performance out of it, maybe by splurging on another coil instead of another detector.. Whatever the case, it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out in terms of profits.. Will the shareholders be pleased or scream blue murder at the end of the financial year? I'm betting they won't have much to grin about.. Edit: just read in Phrunt's post that the Nox 800 will also become more expensive, the Nox 600 stays the same price.. I guess this means they'll continue to make them?

This is an interesting article about reducing mercury emissions in artisanal gold mining.. I learned that artisanal and small-scale gold mining supplies about 20% of the gold bought and sold around the world. At the same time, these mines account for 40% of the global emissions of mercury—a neurotoxic metal—into the atmosphere. That's more than any other source, including the burning of fossil fuels, which are naturally laced with trace amounts of mercury. What becomes of that atmospheric mercury largely remains a mystery. The article then describes how a team of scientists worked with miners and their communities to reduce mercury emissions, including through recycling.. It's a science report with the usual stuff about control groups so it might not be to everyone's taste.. for others it could be a good lazy weekend read.. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-detoxifying-gold.html

More than welcome big fella! Looking forward to it..

Geez dude, you had me going there.. was about to congratulate you on your outstanding skill.. very funny story.. I'm sure next year you'll really find those rings, chains and earrings.. just remember to run away before the men with the dog get to you.. 😁

Also found a bit of junk jewellery, although the ear stud and the little Buddha head on the bracelet are silver.. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the huge sapphire, I first thought it must be attached to a ring.. When I picked it up it turned out to be plastic with a metal backing..

Four rings so far this week.. I know it probably doesn't seem like many to some of you but from where I'm sitting four rings is doing mighty fine.. I'm probably jinxing my luck again by showing you the plunder before the week's even finished, but my luck is of the feast or famine variety anyway so it won't make too much difference.. Besides, I've got the feeling that these rings are only the entrée, the main course is still to come.. Can't wait for dessert.. All rings were from the same beach, the goldie and plain silver were found wading waist deep whilst the others were in the sand under shady palm trees..

Thanks Captain, I hope so too.. This new ring is one of several, I've got more nemeses in other bays.. I've also been searching for them over the years.. It was the same old story of not finding the one you're looking for but finding a long lost love instead.. 🙂

Crikey fellas you got me worried enough to find her original message with the picture she send while still on the beach.. It says: "... like this but 7 diamonds".. That's good enough for me, she's not some scammer claiming a ring that looks a bit like theirs.. Also her reaction at getting it back after such a long time showed it was hers.. I'm more worried now about it getting lost in the mail, that'd be too tragic an end to such a happy tale.. I do get a bit worried sometimes when I message people back with a picture asking if this is their ring when they've only given me a vague description.. Most of the time people send a picture of the ring when they first contact me, so I know what I'm looking for.. I've never had anyone claim a ring that wasn't theirs (I hope), you can judge by their reactions when you tell them you've found it.. It's more sentimental reactions saying how much their ring meant to them and relief at having it back, rather than 'yeah that's mine, how much do you want?' sort of stuff.. I've got one woman on my Facebook ring finder page who claims all male plain gold wedding bands belong to her husband who lost it "somewhere on the island".. Each time she sends a message, I very politely tell her to bugger off.. Another weird one was an elderly woman who lost her ring in a hotel swimming pool.. When I asked her when she lost it she told me that it was six months ago, she wanted to pay me to go there and check the pool filters.. I'm not a heartless bastard so I didn't go for the easy score, instead I told her to call the hotel and get their pool-boys to check the filters.. She did send back a 'thank you' message saying the hotel people were still looking for her ring, good luck to them..

Yeah spot on Skull Diver, some people truly believe they lost their ring in one spot only for it to turn up somewhere completely different.. I had one man who swore he'd lost his ring on the beach, he even marked out where he'd been playing with his kids and where they'd been sitting.. I looked everywhere but couldn't find it.. When I walked back to the carparking area behind the dunes I saw his ring on the path, I'd walked straight over it on the way to the beach (and so had the man and his family and a whole load of other people).. But sometimes you get lucky, like this backpacker girl.. She lost her rings when she shook her towel and then took a video of where she was sitting.. The spot was easy to find but what threw me was how far the tides and current had moved the rings along the beach.. I often get people who take off their jewellery before going swimming.. They put their stuff in amongst clothing or on a towel and when they get back they unthinkingly grab their clothes or shake the towel and stuff gets lost in the soft sand.. Also sunnies, phones and car keys/fobs.. I'm lucky that people often send me holiday pictures showing the palm tree they were sitting under.. Individual trees at different bays have become good markers to work out where to start searching.. The same goes for big boulders, they also feature in pictures of where people were sitting or swimming and are also good markers.. Yeah, I thought the same when I got home.. At the time I was more worried about that the hightides had washed over where she'd been sitting and how far the rings had gone into the drink.. I'll hoof it back there next week and have a looksee amongst the trees.. This bay and two others have become isolated since the 4x4 track got washed out in flooding a few years ago.. National Parks has put locked gates at the top of the track and only bushwalkers can get to these bays now.. I don't mind walking down that track early in the morning when it's still cool, it's the coming back up in the heat and humidity that are hard work..

Do you have a 'Nemesis Ring' that you know exactly where it is but just can't find it? Today I finally found mine during a low tide hunt very early in the morning (around 2 o'clock).. The owner first contacted me on my Facebook ring finder page a year and a half ago in May 2022.. At first she send a message with a picture of the ring and where she'd lost it.. I realised she was still at the beach so I took a PulseDive along for her to also have a go at finding it.. While she snorkelled around with the PulseDive I ran a heavily overlapping grid with the big Nox coil.. We spend nearly two hours there before giving up, and I've been back at the same spot nearly every week since then.. This morning I was looking for another gold ring (my new nemesis) which I couldn't find but instead I found her ring in exactly the same spot she'd lost it.. A billion tides since then didn't drag it into the bay.. It's got me a bit buggered why this little gold ring stayed where it was dropped whilst other much heavier rings get dragged out to sea.. It hadn't even buried itself too deep (around 30cm deep).. Another one of Neptune's little jokes I suspect.. I've send it back to her in Cairns, another very happy customer and another load of Karma (and $100) coming my way..

I hear ya rvpopeye, if those rings had been on my beach they'd only be a two minute walk away.. for this job I had to endure a five minute drive and twenty minute walk!

I recently had a callout from a young English backpacker who'd lost four silver rings at Florence Bay.. She said they weren't very expensive but held a lot of sentimental value.. She'd send me a video of the exact spot she'd lost them, so it was easy to pinpoint where she'd been sunbaking.. She'd taken off her rings and put them on a towel before she went for a skinny-dip, when she got out she shook the sand off her towel and the rings went flying.. She'd spend about an hour trying to find them but no luck.. Then she called her hero.. Sadly, it was a very long week later before her hero finally worked up the courage to undertake the horrific trek to Florence Bay.. Young luscious backpacker babes might bounce up and down those huge hills (cliffs) like gazelles, but old and cranky ring recovery dudes find it hard going even on their best days.. Even so, along the way I kept thinking this would be an easy job.. I knew exactly where the rings were and if they'd moved much during the tides then they could only have made their way further into the bay.. I was confident because unlike many other bays on the island, Florence Bay is nearly enclosed so I wouldn't have to worry about the targets being carried along the beach by currents as well as down into the bay by tides.. Turned out I was dead wrong.. Enclosed bays can also have currents along the shore, in this case they'd spread the rings far and wide along the beach.. This presented her hero with a much larger area to search, it took nearly two hours to find 3 out of 4 rings.. I guess the forth ring is in the drink somewhere.. Moral of story: No recovery job is easy.. and take along shore currents into account as well as tides, even when the bay is enclosed.. The first picture shows Florence Bay.. The second picture shows the beach with the red circle marking where she'd lost her rings and the red arrow showing my wishful thinking.. The yellow circles show where I found her rings.. She was very happy, she didn't expect to see any of them again.. She made a substantial cash donation to the 'Save the Ring Recovery Dude' fund.. 😁

Rest assured GB_Amateur this coil has been tested on Wobble Testers.. Didn't know there was such a thing.. 😁 I do know the ears on other big Coiltek coils for the Nox are stronger than Minelab's.. Here's what Coiltek says about the 18'' Nox coil on one of their dealer's page:

Hello Onnolulu.. Have you tried the larger coils available for your Equinox 800? Like the Minelab 15x12'' or the Coiltek 15'' and the recently released 18'' coils.. If it's depth you're after these coils could be worth considering, especially if your soils are mild.. It could be a much cheaper option before you make the jump to the 'dig it all' PI world.. 🙂

Could you say the same compared to your CTX 3030, or does it have an edge on deeper targets that the Manticore doesn't have? Just thinking about your success on deep silver coins with your CTX and a 17x13'' coil.. When I get my 18'' coil, I'll take it to some spots where I know there's more silver coins.. I'm impressed by how quiet it is in salt water after watching GR Guy's video above.. I realise that was only a quick run but this big coil looks like it could be another handy tool for beach hunters..

Congratulations GR Guy, that nugget is a beauty! Not a bad effort for your Nox too.. I'm already impressed by the first field results, can't wait for mine to come.. How did you get a hold of that one before they're released? Are you a secret Coiltek field tester or did you nick it from their workshop? 😁 Edit: Just watched your beach video.. I'm surprised how quiet the 18'' coil is in salt water, I thought it would scream.. All good info.. Thanks mate..

I bought an 18'' Nox coil on Wednesday, it'll be released sometime this month.. Well in time for my Xmas beach hunting season.. Thank you Aussie Detectorist for throwing in a FREE shoulder harness to take some of the huge one kilo weight.. 😁