c47gold

In reply to my own comment about if the Deus 2 is really a great all purpose detector, after watching some of the Calabash videos, I guess it has to be a strong yes. Very impressive videos.

I might have been a little unclear. I said "mostly" good for only 10 ft. because I was thinking of the the Deus 2 which as you said is a diving detector to 20 meters. But isn't it still not quite sure how all purpose the Deus 2 will prove to be?

Well, I made up my mind and ordered the Garrett Sea Hunter to replace my Excalibur. Just don't feel like waiting to see if the Legend holds up to it's sales pitch, and I figure my other detectors will be good for other activities on land. Could have gotten another Excalibur, but I couldn't resist the price at Optic Planet. $522 which includes a 10% discount. that's 1/3 of the price of a new Excalibur or Deus 2. I'll be happy in the surf with the Sea Hunter and I'll just watch the development of those all purpose multi-frequency machines. But as long as they are mostly advertised as only good for 10 ft. in the water, I believe Steve when he says they all will fail at some time or other. (Except maybe my Minelab SDC 2300 which is built like a tank, but it floats)

I'm still mulling over what replacement I want for my old Excalibur I and haven't made up my mind yet. I'm thinking maybe an Excalibur II, or one of these newer multi-frequency detectors, or a Garrett Sea hunter. One of my big concerns is to find a detector that can discriminate out iron. The Excalibur iron mask worked great and saved a lot of digging. So, are the new multi-frequency detectors as good at masking iron or at least IDing iron on the screen? For me, I like the idea of a lighter, all purpose detector if they really are good under water too, cause that's my main area these days. But on the con side, these 10 ft "waterproof" machines don't seem to be too trustworthy under water. Maybe the Legend can solve that problem, or the Deus 2, which I guess is expected to since it's being billed as a detector suitable for diving. I like the Garrett Sea Hunter for being reliably waterproof and it's great reputation on finding jewelry, (if you're willing to go all metal and dig everything, since I know most everyone says the discrimination modes are a waste of time). So I'm wondering maybe its possible to tune ones ear to iron targets just by audio sounds on the Sea Hunter. If not, then it's dig all the iron out of the ocean floor! I would love to hear what you think . . .

I mean upgrade the 800 to be able to dive deeper and be more waterproof

Yeah, I always used the original shaft on the Excalibur which worked fine for me in rough ocean waters. It's true that the Excalibur didn't pick up thin stuff very well but I found some nice gold rings! As I get older though, I like the idea of a lighter, all purpose detector, if it's good in the water. I'm guessing that Minelab will replace the 800 with a deeper diving machine and just charge a bunch more, so If the Legend proves to do all that the Equinox 800 can do and is more waterproof, that would be great for me.

Yikes!

I'm trying to zero in on the water leakage problem of the Equinox 800. I read that Steve said just about all the water detectors rated at 10 ft. are going to leak. Do you all think that is because people took it deeper and it couldn't hold up under the increased water pressure? Minelab does warns that it is safe to use only under 10 ft. If the 800 leak problems are mostly in deeper water, then that's fine with me, and I would get it, since I only go in lakes or the ocean no deeper than up to my chest. What do you guys think?

This might be a dumb question, but has anyone heard of a waterproof cover for the Equinox pod to keep water leaking in?

Has the Equinox 600 had the same leak problems as the 800?

Yes, It is an old Excalibur and I loved it's simplicity and durability. It could take a beating in the ocean and lakes, and once you know the tones of different targets, you don't need a screen ID to tell you what's down there. I have always hunted in the ocean up to my chest sometimes, and I would just get another Excalibur but swinging around 5+ lbs. has finally gotten tiresome. I would be getting the Equinox but now this leakage problem bothers me, and after looking at the Deus 2 videos and reviews, I'm starting to lean that way! Thanks for the input from all of you guys!

Steve. Has Minelab made, or going to make any changes on the Equinox to fix these leak problems other than replacing the machines under warranty or selling new control pods?

Too bad Minelab seem to have forgotten they were trying to market it to us treasure hunters!

Thanks for those comments Steve and phrunt. I went in the ocean today with the dsc2300 to test it out again. I think the problem is with the coil, which is solid and let's the water push up on it. My old Excalibur coil offers almost no resistance. The water just flows right through it. It (See photo). I'm leaning towards the equinox cause I really like the fact that it is so light and so versatile. Swinging heavy machines around for hours is no fun anymore at 75!

Hi Chase. Thanks for that ifo, I'll check out those two you mentioned.

My name is Hank. I have detected for years in both fresh and saltwater with an Excalibur I with great results and I love the detector, but it finally died, so after reading Steve's great reviews on the Equinox 800, I'm thinking of getting one. I purchased a SDC2300 some time ago because I thought I would go out west to hunt for gold, and could also use it in the water back home here in Virginia too. However, I was surprised that although it is waterproof to 10 ft, when I first took it into the ocean, it has a tendency to float! The excalibur would stay on the ocean floor no problem, but the 2300 just wont stay down. I have to keep trying to push it down but the waves coming in and going out make it impossible to hold down and detect. Never had this problem with the Excalibur even in rough water. The 2300 is just as heavy as the Excalibur yet it just bobs around in the water. My question is, can the Equinox 800 perform as stable as the Excalibur in the ocean? It's so light I wonder if it will stay down. Thanks.

I purchased my sdc 2300 to go out west to hunt for gold in December. But I do a lot of beach detecting in the water with my Excalibur too. So I decided to take the 2300 into the water today and see how it does. Almost immediately, the shaft starts to fold due to the pressure of the waves. Very annoying. So I took it home and checked the manual. It says when you fold out the shaft, it should click in place. Mine doesn't. Then it says when you push the handle into position, it should lock the shaft in place. It doesn't do that either. I sent an email to Minelab about it, but I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem. At the end of the shaft by the hinge is a black plastic piece that I think is suppose to hold the shaft in place, but it doesn't do the job on mine.

Same as getting the GPX 4500 and 2300

Well, I ordered the bundle from Gerry and got it delivered today. I took the GPX 4800 over the 4500. Looking forward to taking his 3-day training next year to get familiar with those detectors before heading into CA for nugget hunting.

The ATX I figured was a good all around machine for finding small and large nuggets, and searching in lakes and salt water. But it also seems that the GPX 4500 is better at large nuggets and the SDC 2300 is better at small nuggets than the ATX, while the SDC is also just as good in the water as the ATX. Looks like it is well worth the extra cash to get both detectors for me.

Steve, I know you really like the ATX in salt water. Have you had as much success with the SDC 2300 and do you think it can perform as well as the ATX?

I was set on getting a Garrett ATX but now I have to consider spending some more cash and getting this deal. Looks awfully good.

Hi Steve. I read your comparison of the Garrett ATX vs. the Minelab GPX 5000 and your take on the GPZ 7000. I have concluded that the new GPZ 7000 is definitely the best detector on the market for gold and if I was going at it full time, I wouldn't do without it. But since I am just another hobbyist, I will go for the less expensive, next best option, which seems to be the ATX. It is not so well designed as the SDC, or as good at detecting the smaller gold. It has it's drawbacks in the field, as you pointed out, and it can't detect the larger gold as well as the GPX 5000. I like Minelab detectors, but the ATX seems to be the best all around gold detector after the GPZ. It apparently has a decent range for detecting small to larger nuggets, and it's waterproof, so I can use it in the ocean and lakes for jewelry, and save some money too. I wish the SDC had a better range, because it looks so cool and compact and easy to use. But the ATX costs less and I hope it will do a better all around job. Thanks for your clear analysis of these machines.

Hi Steve. I just joined your forum after a month or so of reading your very informative guides on gold detectors and metal detecting for gold. I live in the Northeast and have concentrated my detecting on civil war sites with my Safari and my White's V3 and hunting lakes and in the ocean with my Excalibur over the years. I am interesting in trying gold detecting out your way and am thinking about getting the SDC 2300. The lightweight, portable size is appealing, but I wish it was better at detecting larger nuggets at depth. This new GPZ 7000 sounds like a big breakthrough for how it can detect small to large nuggets at great depth, although it is pretty heavy, and the price tag is out of this world! Do you think that the GPZ 7000 might represent a challenge to Garrett or Fisher or some other competitor to come up with something similar in it's ability to find both the small nuggets as well as the large but at a more reasonable price? And technologically speaking, if a detector like the SDC 2300 could change coils, would that be enough, with a larger coil to get at those larger nuggets? It seems that the Garrett ATX, even with a choice of a large coil or smaller 8" coil still seems to be better at smaller gold, right?