Wilderland

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“ At least from my experience, the GPX 6000 running at manual 10, normal or difficult ground setting with its 11" mono coil will out perform all of these detectors on in the ground gold nugget targets from 0.05 grams and larger.” No argument here. This past weekend at Rye Patch a couple of 6000’s certainly outperformed the above mentioned detectors. Admittedly, however, their owners were more experienced. I was skunked with my Equinox 900, which I offer as evidence.

Jeff, I’m certainly not saying the Xterra is the same machine as the true gold detectors, but it did amazingly well in the test. I don’t own one, but for someone with a very limited budget, I don’t see a down side. Of course an air test is not the end-all, but it is indicative of potential. For those who carry both a PI and a VLF at the same time, I think it’s an easy button. I will be very interested to hear reports of how the Xterra handles mineralized ground.

I very recently witnessed an air test comparison on small gold with the X-Terra Pro against both an Equinox 800 & 900, a Manticore, an Axiom, and a 6000 & 7000. Let’s just say I don’t think the Pro will stay on shelves once the word is out. The $270 detector gobsmacked several people. Sure, “in the ground, with mineralization, blah, blah, blah.” The truth is out there.

I recently picked up an Equinox 900 for the reasons Jeff mentions. Is your screen name your call sign?

Thanks Bigtim. edit: I just received one of Doc’s 800 arm covers and it does indeed fit.

Hi. Does anyone know which Doc’s green arm cuff cover will fit the Equinox 900? I know he’s coming out with a camo pattern for the 900, but I prefer the olive green.

Doc, thanks! Sky, no I didn’t go in any. Most were vertical. The two that were drifts into the side of banks or hills were very sketchy. In my young adulthood I went in many, mines. When I was stationed at Ft. Huachuca in Sierra Vista, AZ, I went in many, many mines right around Tombstone. It was a blast and fascinating, but I almost died twice so I’ve promised my wife no more mines.

I ordered an Equinox 900 from Gerry a couple of weeks ago and took it out for the first time today. Although I’ve never done it before, I decided to try my hand at nugget hunting. This will be a bit of a travelogue of the trip. I live in NE Nevada close to some old gold mines. I headed to Osceola this morning. Gold was found there in 1872. There is a great story of a laborer working in one of the washes one night who found 20+ lb. Nugget. He initially wanted to steal it, and rode some 30 miles that night to Ward, NV and had it melted down. He had a change of heart and confessed to the mine owners what had done and returned the gold to them, and they forgave him. The cemetery gives you a good idea of how picturesque the view is of the valley below. Most of the gold in Osceola was placer, and the banks of the creeks were really hit hard, as well as the underlying gravel beds. There were, however, several holes dug. Since this was my first time out with 900, my expectations were low, and I met those expectations. I didn’t find anything, but was up and down hills and creek beds, and swung the Nox for some four hours. I’m quite sore, but loved every minute of the outing. As you can see, this corner of Nevada is very pretty.

JCR, thanks. I’ll check it out. Doc’s Detecting Supply has a detector-specific 1/8” to 1/4” adapter I am interested in too. I really like my Bees, so hopefully I can sort this out. Minelab’s adapter is much too expensive.

Ha! I made the above response thinking Klunker was the dog, NOT another person. No offense intended!

I hesitate to point this out, but Klunker seems a bit passive-aggressive to me.

I didn’t buy the headphones from Gerry, I already had them. Chuck, what should I water them with? Miracle Grow? 😄

JCR, yes I did. There is only one switch, a yellow toggle. One way and the audio comes out of the detector speaker, the other way and the audio is VERY attenuated. I tried a pair of Sony studio headphones, and they worked perfectly.

So, Gerry from Gerry’s Detectors talked me into an Equinox 900. With the Minelab veterans discount it was $515 less expensive than the Deus II, and comes with two coils. 1/3 less is significant. Ordered on Wednesday and it arrived today. It was intuitive to assemble. It is light and of high quality. I can literally just turn it on and go detecting. My only two complaints are there were no Minelab stickers, 😐, and my a Killer B headphones seem to be the wrong impedance to work with the Equinox. The volume is very low even with the volume knob on the headphones turned all the way up. That is rather disappointing. I will take it out tomorrow to begin learning the machine. I have a spot on Gerry’s Rye Patch trip in June I am really looking forward to attending.