Daniel Tn

I initially had both the 600 and 800. In testing them, I decided the 600 was more than enough detector for what I do and could match the 800 in every area I tested it. I didn't like the gold modes on the 800 nor any of the single freqs. The bread and butter of the Equinox is the Multi mode anyway. I picked up a pair of the Miccus SR71 wireless phones for $40 new and a pair of the yellow Minelab waterproof phones. I sold the 800 since demand for them was so high. I do hope someone comes out with an 8 inch coil for the Nox. That would be perfect for freshwater hunting...the 11 inch is too big and I think the 6 inch would be a tick too small.

My yellow ones seem to have a weird echo/reverb sound to them too but otherwise, aren't as bad as I've heard others complain about. My biggest problem right now is my scoop has 1/2 inch holes and approx half of my targets are falling through when I lift the scoop up to look in it and I end up chasing them.

I think mine are decently loud. I downloaded a Db reader app for my phone and with the headphone ear piece on my microphone on the phone, the Nox seems to average 65 Db at 25 volume. It would jump to the low to mid 70s. OSHA requires hearing protection for exposure to 85 Db and above to prevent hearing loss. I'm not sure if I want mine any louder. The AT Max with blue Garrett headphones at a setting of 1 (lowest it can be set on volume) was approx 90 Db on the same app. The loudest setting for it actually peaked over 120 Db....which nears what a .22 rifle is.

Just a tip for those that may not be aware or that don't mess with "advanced" settings...make sure your individual tone bin volume is set higher for underwater use and not just the overall volume. I noticed with my yellow headphones that the volume on my test rings was low and it honestly didnt dawn on me til I hit a quarter while out in the water and the hit was so loud it hurt my ears. It then clicked that while hunting on land I had modified the sound settings, and that my sounds were also set with the wireless headphones which have volume control. The yellow ones are different, but the individual programs are different too in that some are set with likely coin target tone bins having more volume than the likely trash tone bins. Which in the water, is where most of the gold jewelry is going to be....once I went through and changed the volume of the bins to match the coins, I didnt have any trouble at all and actually lowered the overall max setting by a few numbers.

Congrats on the R button! That is one that eludes me for sure. I've dug the A, C, D, and I buttons but not the R. Most see the seated coin as the highlite but to me, I'd rather have that Rifleman button!

I have a pristine big box Whites TDI with stock coil, charger, and 2 batteries. I mean it has less than 2 hours on it. I'd sell it for $900 shipped TYD or best offer.

Holy snikeys!!

This forum has became my favorite as well. Tom's forum use to be the place I mostly posted at, but isn't anymore. There are too many people there with deeply rooted bitterness.

I have the 600 and 800. I got the 600 first due to availability, and I was thinking it would be a while before my 800 made it to me. I was wrong...days after getting the 600, I received shipping notice of the 800 headed my way. To be honest with you, other than the wireless headphones with the 800, I can't tell a difference in performance between the two. Sure, the 800 has more advanced settings for tweaking...but if you're not into tweaking, the 600 is probably all a person needs. Other than testing, I've not even hunted in the Gold modes and probably won't. Park 2 and Field 2 will be my most used modes, and then beach for when I go to the beach.

Just some friendly advice. Your scoop choice should be based on the type bottom you are most likely to encounter. Is it rocky, shells, mud, clay, sand? I hunt both freshwater lakes, rivers, and saltwater beaches. One scoop won't cover it all. I have a Stealth 920 with carbon fiber handle. Most expensive scoop I own. On the saltwater sand and beach, it is priceless! But at the lake or river, it is useless. Our lake beaches are mostly mud/clay, shell, and shoal. While I love the light weight of the Stealth and the width of the basket opening...it just can't bite into the shell or rock, and does a horrible job with the clay. For that, I use a Nuttall diamond head. It is narrower than the Stealth and much heavier. But it can handle the clay and shells and some of the rocks. Now, in a river situation with lots of rocks...a scoop is worthless anyway. Unfortunately, I don't have any great suggestions for that other than to use a pick of some sort and waterproof pinpointer. I actually gave up river hunting due to not having an effective and efficient way to recover targets.

Huge congrats!! I've found several goodies with those 18 and 19 numbers. Especially colonial flat buttons. I prob won't ever find a gold coin here. Folks were so poor they couldn't afford to pay attention.

I didn't mean to muddy up your thread with DIV talk. I was just saying that some people might attribute this hunt to being slow (compared to past hunts) due to your choice in machines for the hunt. There are people out there foaming at the mouth to kill off the Equinox and have it dead and buried. They will take any approach they can to use for their base line of argument, no matter how far fetched.

My buddy just got back as well. He had a GPX 4500 and the Nox 800. He said his GPX battery died towards the evening of day 1, and that he hadn't dug a single keeper relic up to that point. He swapped over to the Nox and ended the day with several Sharps bullets and round balls. The next day, he decided not to even go to the hunt site, because in his words, "that place sucks, everybody I talked to didn't have anything more than a couple bullets". I talked him into going to day 3, because I told him that it usually takes a day or two for people to dial into where the relic concentrations are on a new property and that it always seems like nobody is finding much until the relic display on day 3, and then you see just how much was found. He said he didn't even bother with his GPX and hunted solely with the Nox on day 3. Found more bullets and some brass odds and ends. No buttons though. He did end up finding more than all of his carpool crew combined. He said there were several display cases on the trailers, but most of them didn't have much in them. He said he thinks most people brought them to show and tell due to the raffle for getting into the next hunt without having to sign up, otherwise they wouldn't have brought them at all. In any case, he said if he finds out its gonna be back at that farm, he is not even signing up for it. So it may have been there just wasn't a lot of stuff in the ground to get a coil over....I guess we have been spoiled with the past at some of the dug in winter camp farms when they were in their prime.

Very cool....I have been wondering how to check the battery power in the headphones. I hope that works with a Galaxy S7 too. Will have to give it a try.

Okay guys, here is a quick run down on being behind the Nox for a few weeks now. Pictures are worth a thousand words so I will make each one brief as I can. First picture is of a box I just emptied my pouch out into. I actually had not emptied my trash pouch from all my hunts with the Nox. So there you see just what I've been digging the most of. You will see there ain't no can slaw or micro tiny pieces of aluminum in there. What you see are the good finds and bad mixed together. There are a few pull tabs, several aluminum screw caps and some other odds and ends. 20180323_222234 by Daniel Teague, on Flickr Site 1 - My yard. I put a description of it on the picture in red letters. The jest of my yard is this...it once had an 1850s house that sat on it, and several out buildings. By the time the 1980s rolled around, nobody was living in it any more and without any upkeep, things go down hill. The place was pretty much dilapidated, so they took a dozer and had some fun. We bought the place in the 1990s and I started detecting some time in the mid 90s. Since then, every detector I've ever owned has been over it and over it and over it. With each new model that came out, I would have to see if it brought anything new to the surface. Some times it did. Most times it didn't. It is loaded with iron and tin from the roof of the house and outbuildings, nails, door hinges, etc. This place was picked clean of high conductors by the CTX and eTrac and a plethora of coils for them. I was so desperate for signals that I eventually got to where I would dig anything that was above the 32 Fe line on the CTX, and had it worked down to where I could go out set up like that, and not hear or dig anything. Enter the Nox. I wasn't expecting it to do much HERE....maybe in other places but not here for some reason. That has not been the case. I've found things every time I take it across the yard. Starting with a pocket watch case that isn't pictured (its in my display case...forgot to get it out). Then a Spencer shell casing, then it just kept going. I'm still not done! The majority of this is found with digging only the 15 and up signals. There are so many in the 0 to 14 range that it will take a while to see what all they are. 20180323_222509 by Daniel Teague, on Flickr Site 2 is also on my property. I am clueless to what it really was, but in the early going I believed it was an old home site. However, lack of any home items like spoons, forks, etc has me rethinking it. All we've really found there are buttons and a few coins. There is evidence that something with a coal burning stove or furnace was there. But we've dug buttons by the boo coos and MOST of them with the shanks still attached. There was a mill that sat on the creek beside my house, and this place is within 200 yards of that. I have seen videos and hunts where guys are sifting and finding lots of buttons like this in areas for mills...something about them taking the clothes and using that material, and discarding the buttons. That might explain why so many buttons are here. No way that one family had THAT many clothes back then. I'm up to around 20ish with the Nox, and at least 100 over the years. Last machine to do any good in there was the MX Sport and Deus. It's a good test with the coal cinders and iron that are here. 20180323_222658 by Daniel Teague, on Flickr Site 3 is my bullet fields. If you've known me over the years on the forums, I talk about this place a lot. HIGHLY mineralized soil. The only VLFs to work in it are the ones with all metal modes. It generally takes a pulse machine to pull anything out of here any more. I have several videos of detectors at this place failing to produce signals on bullets we've located and then live dug. Some HEAVY hitting machines too. The Nox was a surprise here. It was best to run it in Field 2 or Park 2 mode with iron disc turned off...these bullets were deeper because we've hammered it with pulse machines and anything shallower or mid range has been picked over. Just to be able to pick up a bullet there past 6 inches is really saying something. These were coming in down to 11 inches in disc mode. I was super happy after this hunt. 20180323_222821 by Daniel Teague, on Flickr nox by Daniel Teague, on Flickr Site 4 is a local site in my town. We stumbled on it several years ago and its on of the places that actually has mild soil around here. Other VLF machines really put a hurting on it...I remember a buddy of ours hunting it with a 10x12 SEF coil on his V3i and digging 3 ringers crazy deep with it. I did the same with an MXT Pro and Ultimate coil. I actually only had about 20 minutes of day light left in the evening to hunt. There is one specific spot where coke slag is everywhere and most detectors have fits around it, except the pulse machines...and then they run into the problem of there being lots of iron in that area. I specifically wanted to see how the Nox fared in that spot. I need to go back there for sure. 20180323_222928 by Daniel Teague, on Flickr So what do you notice about the finds in the pics? Lots of low and mid conductors!! And not a lot of can slaw and slivers like people are thinking they are going to dig with the Nox. Actually my biggest trash item is probably the aluminum bottle caps at this point. They sound really nice...especially those yellow ones in the junk box with Mayfield on them. Those are milk container lids. I am more than happy and impressed with my machine and I know a lot more goodies are going to come. The thing to keep in mind here is these are places I and hunting buddies have hunted for years. I mean hunted into submission. The kind of place where when they ask "where are you going..." and you say where, they are like "Oh...well I gotta go count 4 leaf clovers in the yard, have fun". lol

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.

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.

Thus far I have been highly impressed with the Equinox ability to handle high mineral. But...up until Tuesday, the most severe I had hunted in thus far would be 3 to 4 bar Fe meter type clay (on F75). There, the machine runs stable and can achieve good tones and numbers for most items down to 10 inches for high conductors and slightly deeper for low conductors. Very good considering most other machines drop off at about the 6 inch range. Tuesday I went to my bullet range...which is 4 and 5 bar soil. It will be the toughest I run the machine in. This place requires pulse machines to be efficient to be honest with you. I've never had a machine to do well there in discriminate mode. The Equinox also struggled there but I did land on a few tweaks that may help you guys should you encounter harsh soil. 1. Recovery speed. Go faster. If you think slower = deeper, forget it. Play around til you find the one that gives you decent depth...ride the line. 6 is default for most modes, and of course 8 is max. 7 is the compromise I think. You do lose some depth but it's nothing compared to what you lose in harsh soil with a slower recovery. 2. Coil position is CRITICAL. I dug some decently deep 3 ringers Tuesday....12 to 13 inch range. The only way I got them was to first run all metal. When you come up on a signal, you will hear iron mostly. Until you pinpoint the target to the exact center of the coil. If it is non ferrous and deep, you will be able to start getting positive numbers and tones JUST directly center of the coil/target. Move a little left/right or forward/back off center, and it's iron. If all you hear is iron with it centered....its iron. I dug some bullets that were 7 to 9 inches that came through loud and clear with iron disc on...but the deeper ones would be easily missed with iron disc on. I'm not use to seeing that kind of depth out of a vlf machine in soil that bad...much less one doing it in disc mode. If this machine had a true motion all metal mode on it, I feel it would have been legendary relic hunting status. It is good the way it is now...but wow. I can't wait to see how it handles with the larger coil when it arrrives. Most people are anxious for the small 6"....I'm more interested in the bigger one. I ended up with 13 minie balls Tueaday in a place in which the last few trips there, I hadn't dug but 1 or 2. I honestly left early and could have dug more but I had saw what I needed to see to know "this dawg will hunt in bad soil.

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.

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.