Daniel Tn

My buddy just rolled into Culpeper with his Nox 800 and GPX 4500.  He says there is still 4 to 5 inches of snow on the ground right now but rumor is, they are going to a farm where the pulse machines may not be required.  

People sure are giving the Nox a hard time.  I'm use to it though...I'm from Tennessee but am a die hard Bama fan.  I catch flak all the time.  I seldom go anywhere without my Bama hat.  Haha

Hope to do some hunting today.  I was up all night with my pistol, shotgun, and coon light down at the barn.  Some idgit low life came in about 3 a.m. in my driveway at my barn; we think they were trying to steal our baby goats.  So I am a little tired.

I've seen people physically fight over detectors and which was "better", and of course, word wars and feuds have gone on about it since the first detecting forum hit the internet some time back in the 90s.  It doesn't seem to be slowing down any either.  

There are some out there that took great offense to Minelab's advertising words of "obsoleting" other detectors.  They still hold a grudge for that, although most seem to not have a clue what the word obsolete actually means.  But come hell or high water, they are sticking to their guns with a stick up their craw and refuse to even give the Equinox a serious look.  Most in this category are posting little snide comments or posts about how their detector still works fine...there again, the ones that have no clue what obsolete actually means.  

I really don't care what other people decide to use.  I'm always going to use what works best for me.  Actually, when it comes down to it, if I know I have an edge on other people, why would I want to level the playing field?  Other local people are my "competition" so to speak, and I am always looking to gain that edge to put more goodies in my pouch and less in theirs.  If I'm going up against some guy out there with say an AT Pro, who thinks it is the best thing out there, despite me personally knowing he is missing a lot of stuff...why turn him onto something that is going to put more finds in HIS pouch and less in mine?  Some people may think differently than me but that's how I am.  If it's my buddy or something like that, I wouldn't be that way but not everybody out there is my buddy.  

I'm actually compiling data and stuff for a post in the future about the Equinox that is going to probably ruffle some feathers of said fanboys of different brands and models...particularly aimed at the guys that are saying the Equinox is just a mid range performance beep/dig machine with no good target ID, etc.  I've already laid somewhat of the ground work for this in another post on another forum with a "what if" scenario type post.  

The basis for it was this.....if a person had a CTX and all coils available for it, and used the Combined mode, set up with tone bins of their choice and the Fe line lowered from factory default down to around 32/33, and systematically detected and dug every single target in said area....how confident would they be that they have removed all good targets in that area?  

I was referring to my yard, in which not only has had the above scenario play out, but also with every detector I've ever owned since the 1990s.  The last machines to bring any targets to the surface was the eTrac and CTX, and eventually I got to where I could go out there and use any coil combo and pattern, and not dig one single non ferrous target.  Wiped clean to the abilities of a CTX and many others....not just of high or mid conductor signals but ALL.  When I tried the Cors Relic and Impact, they did find a few more targets but none of them were keepers and actually were just those lead seal screws that are used for metal roofs.  

When I first went out there with the Nox, I was expecting more of the same...just a barrage of iron and nothing real big.  I figured if I wanted to find anything good, it was going to be elsewhere but since it's my yard, I have to try.  My first signal stopped me in my tracks with a 20s signal...right smack in the middle of the yard.  And it was a pocket watch case over 9 inches deep.  I was in awe at just that....then this began happening all over the yard.  Deep non ferrous targets coming to light...and not junk stuff either.  I'm talking coins, buttons, mid to large size brass, minie balls, etc.  NOTHING I have dug has been shallow...everything has been beyond the "wall" that Steve spoke about, that all other detectors hit in this dirt.  Thus far I have only been digging the signals that are 15 and above on the ID.  I've not even ventured into digging the 0 to 14 signals...there are so many of those out there that it is going to take a while to recover them. Keep in mind...this is in my yard where I have removed everything above a 33 ferrous line on the CTX.  And I'm not talking about iffy signals either!!  I've kind of been in shock at what has came out of the yard.  

18 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Dan,

Great tips!  Mode information would be really useful too.  Also, did you recover any mid conductors (buttons, knapsack parts)?  Thanks.

I've been digging brass on every trip and I don't mean super small junk brass like .22 casings, and that sort of thing.  This machine does like buttons.  I dug a really deep Spencer casing the other day, a brass saddle shield, a heart shaped brass hat pin or broach, and Friday evening, I dug the face to a small lock that went to a diary or something similar. 

On the hunting modes, I did not find any change between the modes for better or worse.  The recovery speed setting seemed to be the one that gave the bigger changes.  I spent a lot of time doing just that over signals that I felt were bullets.  One thing I did not think to play around with was the iron bias setting.  I left that on factory default.  I'm like everyone else; just learning as I go.  I wanted to go do some hunting tomorrow but don't believe the weather is gonna cooperate.  

Along those lines...anyone else noticing some kind of audio bug when in pinpoint mode?  The audio volume fades in and out on both my 600 and 800.  Doesn't do it all the time but does it enough I have noticed it.  Only does it in pin point mode, and has done it with both the wired headphones of the 600 and the wireless with the 800.  

4 hours ago, Jackpine said:

Daniel

I'm sure you are itching to take her right out to the bullet field to see if there is any advantage in that dirt compared to single Freq.

Actually, first stop is the old mill/house site that I have on my own property.  When I was hunting with the MX Sport, I dug over 50 flat buttons there, and it is loaded in iron.  Will be interesting to see what the Equinox can do in the way of low conductors there.  The CTX 3030 with small coil didn't dig anything in there.  From what I have saw others talk about, the mills would take in clothes and strip the buttons off of them and use the material to make stuff out of.  I think that is what the case is at the site on my place...just too many flat buttons and other buttons in one spot.  

The bullet fields are about tapped out.  I used to go there just to bring people that had never dug a bullet, and to just test new detectors.  But some other people horned in on the spot and have about dug it to death with their pulse detectors.  I noticed there had been some dig holes from time to time when I would go, and then found out who it was.  They hunt it like it's the only site they have to hunt; so instead of hitting their own places, they are cleaning out mine.  Makes it tough on any VLF machine to go behind pulse machines in non trashy fields and find anything.

I am next on the list of a smaller dealer for an 800 but even he seems a little ticked off at the waiting game and lack of info from his distributor.  I ended up finding some 600s in stock and at least have one of those inbound to me.  Maybe I can get a feel for the Equinox til the 800 finally makes it my way.  

I hate you guys.  I put my first preorder in on Sept 15.  That dealer says he lost his list and I ended up 19th on his new list. Things happen, I know. But I found it strange when his buddies all ended up with 1 out of the first couple batches, and the rest of the people got nada.  I have went thru another dealer in which I was supposed to be next in line.  I prepaid with this one. Not heard a peep since.  Looks like the Equinox 1000 Pro will be out by the time I get mine.

I told y'all several days ago that Cabelas was notorious for doing this very thing.  I've hunted and fished my whole life and there just aren't many outdoor supply stores to order from.  I've had my share of Cabelas AND Bass Pro run ins with orders.  This is especially true for those spring fishing deals and Christmas deals.  Cabelas has been the worse of them all about doing this very thing, and it's not just metal detectors.  I have never ordered one thru them though.  Same story though on other items.

The last item I bought from Kellyco was when the Fors Relic came out.  I preordered one and after my initial confirmation email, I never received another message from Kellyco.  I had even sent them an email asking for a status update, and never got a response.  Like the person with the Equinox arrival....just one day out of the blue a delivery truck pulls in my driveway with a package.  And there was the Relic.  I'm trying to remember since it has been a couple/few years now, but I think it was Fed Ex that delivered it.  

I was going to get a 600 to accompany the 800 I have ordered through a dealer.  Cabelas came up for $60 tax and $19 shipping!!  Making an Equinox 600 cost $730 or there abouts for me.  I said thanks but no thanks.  Hopefully the dealer will get one on its way to me soon. 

Has anybody tried Bass Pro Shops?  Bass Pro bought out Cabelas a while back, so technically they own them.  Both carry metal detectors. And both carry Minelab.  I didn't see the Equinox on their website but also didn't call them.  I did stop at one of their stores and a local Cabelas last week looking for an Equinox but didn't find one.

Hopefully soon.  

Cabelas is notorious for advertising that they have things in stock, and then saying they are backordered.  Our local Cabelas said they would only be carrying the Equinox 600 but didn't have one on hand or know when one would be available.  They said the 800 would be special order only and also didn't know when one would be available.  This was 2 days ago.  

Dibs on your extra one if you sell it!!

I should be high on the list from my dealer but it comes at a bad time for me with cash.  Have had a lot of medical bills, etc come rolling in lately.  If they call to tell me I have one, I will be scraping to get the funds to get it.  May have to sell a kidney on the black market.  Then again, I'd probably just get $1,000 for the kidney and the surgery cost me $10,000. Haha.  

Ahhh but you can't really read a whole lot into my selling of the CTX because my motive for doing so is probably not what you're thinking it might be.  

A lot of my soil around here is very similar to the Culpeper soil.  And as you know, that soil shuts the CTX down.  The CTX was a niche machine for me.  I used it for freshwater and saltwater beach/water hunting, and that was it.  Some guys love the FBS machines for silver hunting but the trick for the silver cherry picking relies on great target ID. And that red dirt kills the ID.  Anything past a certain depth reads as iron, and this is no exception for the CTX.  So my use for a $2400 unit was just using it a couple weeks a year at the saltwater beach on vacation.  In freshwater it didn't really matter, as any of the waterproof single freq machines would be just as good.  The saltwater is where the multi frequency really shined.  If I lived closer to the beach and hunted it more often, I would have kept the CTX.  If I hunted areas with better soil where I could rely on target ID for coins, I would have kept the CTX.  But I don't, so the majority of the time, the CTX was sitting against the wall. I was also playing the gamble of used detector sales.  

I kinda feel like this Nox is going to be a big hit and because of that, I feel the demand for used CTXs is going to take a hit, therefore the price in which a used CTX can be sold will have to drop in order to make it appealing to buyers.  I wanted out of mine while it still had some warranty left on it and so I could potentially get the most for it.  That's it in a nut shell.  It might not equal a CTX in performance on saltwater, but I think it will be adequate enough for my few days worth of hunting saltwater beaches out of the year.  I do think it will excel in the iron sites, and in the fields/woods relic hunting...so I think that is a big plus for it that I could never do with the CTX.  I'm excited to try one for sure.   I got ahold of Van the day they were announced and told him I wanted one.  

On 1/6/2018 at 5:34 AM, Mtwolf2270 said:

My primary focus is relic hunting in particular civil war relics. I am also an old coin guy here in Tennessee we do alot of old homesites and farm fields. I do travel several times a year to Culpeper, VA as I am part of an organized hunt group. I also do alot of river and lake hunt during the summer and alittle beach hunting as well. I use the gpx 4800 alot when relic hunting but I can see the nox as my primary homesite, water machine and filling a huge gap when hunting relics iron patches and trashy sites that were civil war camp areas.  I hope the equinox will perform better in mineralized ground where vlfs and fbs struggle. Here in Tennessee we have moderate mineralized soil and the ctx is sometimes hampered here. I am planning on the equinox and gpx 4800 being my arsenal and thinning out detectors.

This is ALMOST me to a T....even the part about being from Tennessee.  I mostly Civil War relic hunt but have taken on a big love for water hunting for jewelry in the summer months.  I used to also do the Culpeper, VA hunts but quit going due to the expense of the trip up there.  I'm looking for the Nox to be able to do the same thing as outlined in his post...iron patches and home site work, along with water hunting.  The one extra thing I will throw in is that I usually take 2 trips a year to the saltwater beaches and like having the multi freq machines just for that purpose.  I had a CTX up til a few weeks ago for that purpose and sold it in anticipation of the Nox. The CTX did not do well in my particular soil around here in fields and woods but on the beach, freshwater and salt water...I loved it.  

It's almost scary at the number of people who have "obsolete" and "extinct" confused/mixed up.  I've poked fun at it on a few forums and Facebook.  The automobile didn't make horses go extinct and people still ride them.  The Amish and Mennonites still use them daily for transportation.  I live less than 10 miles from a Mennonite community and they come by often with their horse and buggy.  But for most people, a vehicle is what we use for most of our travel needs.  The Equinox won't make other detectors die off from extinction and quit working.  But it might make people not want to use them.  I don't see why so many have trouble seeing the difference there.

I'd bet a wood nickel that Gary Drayton has been testing an Equinox on saltwater beaches.  He is notoriously tight lipped (except when it comes to bragging on himself haha) but he doesn't partake on forum blogs and such.  He is kind of Minelabs beach/jewelry hunter face.  

I like that it does have a true threshold based all metal. I just wish it were also an option for the other frequencies and modes.  The open screen with active disc filter/circuit is what killed the CTX for a relic hunting machine for me.  

I don't envy you at all Steve! I've been in your position and know exactly how you feel. I had a small role with a couple of Whites detectors. You want to truly share something you think is exciting and as soon as you do, you have critics and hateful Richard Noggins ready to rip you apart like sharks.  I took it all to heart and still may or may not have some people at the top of my list for a butt kickin' if I ever meet them in person ;)   haha 

I am on the list for an Equinox. I notified my dealer the day they were announced. I'm ready for it for sure.  

That sounds really promising!!  I recently did another couple of videos featuring some heavy hitting VLF machines in my soil and figure it will get a rise out of the fanboys of each machine.  I am hunting soil that does the same thing as your description of the 6 inch ferrous transition.  In fact, that's almost exactly the depth of the Civil War bullets I dig on video, and all 3 detectors give that iron hit on different bullets in the field.  A detector with a good all metal mode can get them but the ID still stays iron. You have to use your ears and gauge the signal by circling it to make a decision on digging or not. Pulse machines get them with no problem...but pulse machines are not practical everywhere you go.

So like you say...an added inch or 2 is HUGE for a VLF machine to accurately ID something in dirt like that.  People that have never experienced it just don't understand.  The worse machine out of my latest video was the CTX 3030.  But that same machine on a wet sand beach can accurately detect a dime down to the 11-12 inch mark.  My scoop is a 12" basket and in some cases, it took me 4 big scoops to get a coin out.  But in my dirt back home...5 inches was actually the transition point for it.

I just sold my CTX as well in anticipation of the Equinox. All I used it for was water hunting though.  I had no worry of it ever flooding or leaking. Since water season is finished, I parted ways with it since I had no other real use for the CTX.  The one thing that concerns me about the Equinox is actually the light weight.  The bulky weight of the CTX was a joy in the water.  Light weight and water hunting usually don't go hand in hand...particularly in moving water like ocean surf or river current.  I hunt the freshwater swimming areas a lot in the summer and the CTX just glides through lake water. My only comparison might be the AT Pro in which was considerably lighter than the CTX but was a pain to use in the water with the unit fully submerged.  I can't help but wonder if the Equinox will also be that way.  I went with a light weight carbon fiber scoop handle for my beach scoop...and it weighs approx what the Equinox will weigh, and it gets knocked around everywhere in the ocean surf...even when it's not rough.  Hoping for the best though.  The freshwater beaches don't have the corrosive salt that eats away bobby pins, fish hooks, etc so there is a lot of iron masking in swimming holes. It will be nice having a fast recovery speed machine for the water.

I haven't been this excited about a machine in a long time.  I've soaked up every bit of info I can find about it.  I am very happy to see that you are one of the testers Steve.  I've always respected your posts and find that your opinion and findings of detectors often match my own.  My buddy got to briefly use the Equinox at the last DIV hunt in Culpeper, VA. They compared it with the AT Max...and just like my finding with the Max, they found it began to give an all iron report at just a few inches in the ground on Civil War bullets.  They said the Equinox was still giving a good non iron signal down to 8-9 inches.  That is a big plus considering all VLFs struggle in that soil and will make everything read as iron.

Thanks for the writeup Steve.  That will be my next purchase for sure.  

I can't stand a thief!!  I had a 1st cousin that was always into mischief.  He had been in and out of jail so many times he basically had his own cell.  In the summer of 2016, he and one of his thug friends broke into a house that they thought was ripe for the picking. Instead, of stuff they could steal, they found an armed homeowner with a shotgun.  Boom!  That ended his reign of theft.  Undertaker couldn't fix him enough to have an open casket. He got what he deserved IMO. I may take some flak for saying it, but if more people would put thieves in the ground, then the ones left living might consider a career change since the stakes are so risky.  Because as in the case of my cousin, just sitting in a jail cell for a while for stealing, doesn't do any good.