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  1. Steve Have you ever heard of this problem and tell me if you think you know what it is... I have a Equinox 600 and I got vdi issues where I will be swinging the Detector hit a signal and then not want to dig that and keep swinging and it will show another vdi and then freezes up while I'm still swinging and then -- will show and then after six seconds or so 00 and then go again and same thing and I have turned sensitivity to 20, recovery speed 3 iron bias 2 and ground balance on auto tracking.... I also will swing over a vdi and it will jump and lower and jump and lower. And on pinpointer mode it sometimes won't have audio but I back out and try again it does. This is for sure a bug. Right?
  2. Jeff, given your very fine review of the Nox vs Legend for general detecting, I was wondering if you have any updated thoughts on Nox vs Legend specifically for gold prospecting? Equinox Gold Mode versus Legend Gold Mode - which do you prefer and why? Put another way, given that a Nox 800 costs 50% more than the Legend, is there any reason for a new buyer to consider the Nox over the Legend for gold nuggets? Thanks in advance for any answer.
  3. I, like many others have a huge amount of appreciation and trust in the detecting abilities of the Equinox 600/800. My only issues with the original Noxes are its shaft system, well documented water ingress and its too compressed target ID range especially around target IDs 10 to 20. Other than that, the Equinox 600/800 really revived my VLF detecting life. I personally know other detectorists that have had the same experience. I will own at least one of those detectors for as long as they last. Nokta released the Legend back in early 2022. Lots of opinions have been expressed by people that either haven't used one or have used one very sparingly. There have been opinions about the roll-out, marketing hype, Nox cloning, the number of software upgrades (why wasn't it a finished product at release???) and the well known speaker and software update issues many people had including me. The fact is from my dig hole and my soil conditions: The Nokta Legend has at least equaled and in some aspects excelled beyond the Equinox 600/800 from my experience. That is saying a lot if you have reaped the benefits of all that the Equinox 600/800 have to offer. I am not going to talk about the Equinox 700/900 since I don't own one anymore and have moved on. As a USA coin hunter, I can't tell you how many US nickels I have recovered (stopped counting at 100 several months ago) and six gold rings that had the same target IDs as US nickels, from parks that I had pounded with the Equinox 600 and 800. The Noxes didn't miss those targets. They just reported them as having target IDs and sounding too much like a modern oval pull tab which I was tired of digging. With the Legend's expanded mid range target IDs, US nickels (and any gold rings with the same IDs) do not share target ID space with nearly as much regularly occurring aluminum trash. The Legend also does just fine on deep clad, deep silver coins and jewelry, iron trashed sites, and in the same hot ground that I often hunt on that the Nox 600/800 handle well. It has also done very well at the fresh and saltwater beaches where I have used it. If you are in the market for a waterproof SMF detector that detects at least as well with very similar audio characteristics and target ID stabilty as the Equinox 800 but doesn't leak and has a slightly more expanded target ID system in all the right places, has a good shaft system, good coil selection, good wireless capabilities that are compatible with the Equinox 800 Bluetooth gear, and also does just fine in the gold fields, from my experience after almost 1000 hours of use, the Legend is a viable and very inexpensive alternative for an out of warranty Equinox 800 that you don't want to completely wear out or dunk anymore. Just my experiences.
  4. I've got both machines so going to post comparisons as I get to try them out. At this point I've only done air tests I wont do real testing until tomorrow but here are my initial thoughts... Build - Machines look exactly the same. Shaft is much better on the 700. Definitely much improved. It is a few ounces lighter but nothing I can notice when I hold each machine. Interface - Switching through menus feels nearly the same as well. I was able to easily navigate the menus as I was used to the 600. Cost - I actually paid more for my 600 when I bought it five years ago as no dealers were offering discounts when it first came out ($650 vs $620) Now the interesting part...power, depth, tones... I've only done air tests I will test at the beach tomorrow but there is a difference. I live at the beach so my soil is a sand/dirt mix. Very little EMI unless I am near a powerline or something. I did this test in my backyard where there are no lines or anything else in the ground. Closest house or anything is about 1/2 acre away. Settings for the air test - 20 Sensitivity, 0 Iron bias, 2 Recovery speed (this is 4 on the 800). These are the settings I hunt with. The only thing I ever change is my sensitivity which hovers from 19-23. Comparison: Nox 600 in 5 tones: Quarter: 10" 10k Ring: 12.5" Nox 700 in 5 tones and All tones: Quarter: 11.5" 10k Ring: 13" Nox 700 in dP tone: Quarter: 13" 10k Ring: 15" As you can see from my air test, there is definitely more power in the new gen equinox. In the same tone and settings its slightly deeper. Not sure that will translate to much in real world settings. In the dP tone, its significantly deeper and more sensitive. This is how I used to hunt with my Excal and CZ21. Its very exciting for the beach. I also did test a penny, wheat penny, silver ring, silver nickel, and nickel with similar results in the depth improvement. How will that translate in the ground? Well I haven't tested it yet but I assume its going to translate to significantly more depth when using the dP setting. I think if you are a hunter that prefers the 'beep' tones you aren't going to notice much of an upgrade. If you are like me and looking for depth and prefer the dP type tone, I think this machine might add 1+ inches and really help find whispers when finding deeper targets.
  5. Friends..I discussed one topic and was advised by people here and professionals and experienced people. But I will still make a choice between these 2 detectors and I want your help. Which one should I buy, which one do you recommend and which one will be useful for me? I am going to search in the mountains by the rivers on the rocks by the river banks in the forests in the fields and so on. I want.to search for gold.more shares.I want to search for gold..but at the same time I want to search for coins,relics,jewellery and jewelry. Which detector do you guys recommend or which of these 2 detectors will be useful for me for all this? Thank you in advance.
  6. I thought it's time we kicked off a poll to see how happy people are with their purchase if they've purchased one of the new models. The forum limits the number of questions you can ask so it's a pretty simple poll to get an idea of how many people bought one of these new models and how many are finding it as good or better than their old model. Feel free to comment below with other things you're found with the new models, hopefully Minelab reads it and takes not of anything people bring up of importance.
  7. Here is my dynamic duo. If I had to own the least number of detectors possible myself, this is what I would settle on. I can basically do anything with these two detectors. Gold nuggets, coins, jewelry, relics, beach & snorkel work, you name it, this has it pretty well covered. You can argue some other detector might be better than one of these for this or that, and I'll not argue with anyone. But the Axiom plus my Micronox (trademark pending ) weigh in at a hair over 7 lbs total, and obviously take up next to no room in my rig. Various Micronox Options Here
  8. As far as I know the first person to do a conversion of the Equinox to the Golden Mask telescoping rod was our very own Condor on this forum. Now, what I really want is this nifty adapter made for just this purpose. The Golden Mask upper rod is too large in diameter (must contain telescoping sections) and so an adapter is the best solution, but the one in the link does not appear to be easily available in the U.S. I am customer #1 for whoever out there makes this available for sale in the U.S. Being stuck with frozen ground I decided to get started with a modification of what Condor did. I cut two clamps in half. I also cut the mounting bolts in half (Condor used studs) and used the shortened versions to attach the clamp sections in place. I did not modify the unit in any way and it could be returned to original if I choose though I would need new bolts. Condor ground his Equinox down a bit for a better fit. Mine seems sturdy enough so I am leaving as is in hope that someday I will get the proper adapters to use. This machine is intended to stuff in a rucksack and for initial purposes I went as light and compact as possible using the 6" coil. Obviously the stock coil adds weight/bulk - see Condor's post. The photos say it best. New Minelab MicroNox at 2 lbs 8.6 ounces (2.5 lbs) that collapses to a cool 24" without disassembly. And extends farther than the coil cable will allow. Feels like a feather on my arm - I like it! The Equinox used here is older and will never be submerged and so it gets dedicated as a rucksack unit. Another Equinox will be rigged with the 15" coil on a balanced rod assembly. To do it right I should get one of Steve's new rods and I may yet in a few months. For now I think I will use an old Minelab GP fiberglass rod assembly I still have, one of Otto's old rods. And a third will stay with stock rod and coil for general use. Three Equinox may seem like going overboard but I hate reconfiguring detectors and for what I sold my GPX 7000 for I can get a few more and still have money left over!! Basically I am getting rid of everything else and rewarding myself with anything I want as regards Equinox. Golden Mask telescoping rod stripped of pistol grip handle Clamp sections bolted to handle using original screws cut to half length View showing how rough this all is and why you may not want to do it. Note bolt heads touching shaft on right - I may pad 24" collapsed, 2 lbs 8.6 ounces on postal scales And in the sun! Minelab MicroNox ready for use!
  9. I want to search for gold in the mountains, in the rocks, in the rivers, in the forest, and on the ground. But I want to search for more share of gold. Which detector is better, which of these 2 detectors would you recommend? Or which detector would you recommend?
  10. Hi guys me and my partner are complete novices to this great hobby and looking for some help we live in Cornwall UK and want to get some metal detectors so I have been looking at the equinox 600 for us as it seems a little less complicated than the 800. But am I going to lose out on much by not having to 20 and 40 that's on the 800 but they both use this in multi mode so is my thinking any good that the 600 will be a good platform to learn on. Also can someone explain what the difference is as the 600 says tone break pitch and volume are ferrous and on 800 says ferrous /non ferrous might be a silly question but as i have said complete newbies to the hobby.
  11. This is a semi in the ground test on a 0.1 gram gold nugget for anyone that would like to use one of the "do it all" simultaneous multi frequency VLFs for gold prospecting. For the "fairness" police, please don't complain about coil sizes. The smallest coil available for Deus 2 is the 9" coil. So blame XP not me. XP include a simultaneous multi frequency "Gold Prospecting" mode on Deus 2. I would like to use it. This video shows why currently I will not use it. Video starts with checking the test area ground for targets, ground balancing, showing the target and how it is placed in the ground and then the test begins. Deus 2 uses customized FMF Goldfield and customized single frequency Mono program both with sensitivity on 95. I wanted to use the Hi Square audio, Pitch tones and the absolute zero discrimination for both programs along with a slight threshold. That is why I did not use stock default programs. All settings are as identical as I can make them except for the new Audio Filter feature which is on setting 1 for FMF Goldfield custom program 16 and it is on 0 for 40 kHz Mono custom program 15 which was an oversight failure on my part. I did retry it after making the video with FMF Goldfield custom program having Audio filter on 0. It made zero difference. Legend starts at 3:25 of the video. It uses its 6" coil with sensitivity on 23 in Gold Multi and Gold 40 kHz. Equinox 900 starts at 6:00 of the video. It uses its 6" coil with sensitivity on 23 in Gold 1 Multi and Gold 1 40 kHz. All settings are clearly shown in the video for each program being used on each detector. The ruler sticking up out of the ground behind the target is 5 cm high and the target itself is 2" deep or roughly another 5 cm deep. Legend and Equinox in the Gold Multi modes can hit this target 5 cm above the ground. They can hit it at 4 cm above the ground using single frequency 40 kHz. Deus 2 using its 40 kHz Mono program also hit this target at 4 cm above the ground. We could debate about whether Deus 2 in FMF Goldfield is actually hitting the target even with the coil bumping into the target holder. Deus 2's mineralization meter is between half and 3/4th full so moderate to high mineralization which all three detectors struggle with when ground balancing in selectable single frequency 40 kHz. This video is being sent to XP. I sent XP an email and they replied within 24 hours which I really appreciate. Thank You XP!!!!! This is the email exchange between me and XP: HI Jeff Thanks for this feedback. Yes you have right the 40khz of the DEUS II would perform very well if available also in the gold Field Program, as the mono frequencies from the DEUS II are more powerfull than DEUS 1. We will think to make this availabe in the next version. Regards XP TEAM Message : XP, thank you very much for the Deus ll software update version 1.0 and for making it Mac compatible. I am a gold prospector. I use VLF and Pulse Induction detectors. I use a VLF detector for detecting the smallest bits of gold in the 0.5 gram and much smaller size range. I have used Deus 1 and ORX for this. They work very well in their Gold modes. I would like to use Deus 2 for gold prospecting. However, even after updating to version 1.0, Deus 2 FMF Goldfield sensitivity to very small gold nuggets 0.5 gram and smaller down to 0.01 grams is extremely poor. Deus 2 Mono or Fast 40 outperform Deus 2 FMF Goldfield on these types of targets by up to 5cm. One of my test nuggets is 0.08 grams. It can only be detected using FMF Goldfield at 3cm. Fast 40 and Deus 2 Mono will easily detect this same small nugget at 8cm. Being able to use FMF technology in highly mineralized gold prospecting areas would be really beneficial. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, FMF Goldfield's insensitivity on small to very small bits of easily detectable gold using Deus 2 Mono is still very disappointing.
  12. Some may find something useful in this video, what I got out of it is seeing just how badly VLF's work in those hot Aussie soils, as soon as he turned on all metal mode on the Nox it was going crazy so he had to keep disc on, when he ground balances it never does balance. Such a contrast to here in the gold areas where I don't even need to ground balance as I don't get any feedback from the soil in defaults. I can see why Aussies think VLF's are pretty pointless, they actually work pretty well in my ground though so I do quite like VLF's for gold prospecting in milder soils, in Australia especially where this guy is testing these detectors I wouldn't even bother using one at all.
  13. Had to pick my dog up from the vet at 4:00pm today, So I thought detecting was down the tubes. Thats when my wife called and said we had to pick up Bleu at 7:00. Poor pup, But that gave me about 45 minutes to hit a colonial house I detected a 1000 times. This place is the gift that keeps on giving. I decided to dig all strange tones and Id's. I'll make this as short as my hunt. First target was a flat button, Second was a shotshell base, Third was a 45 wheatie, fourth was a 22mag case, Fifth was a flashlight bulb and Last but not least was a fabulous sleeve button. This button is pretty rare and I doubt I will find another. It is a Tallio and dates back to around the 1770's. PS this was a 10 - 11 on the 800.
  14. Got home from work today and had the urge to hit a park I've been hunting for four years. Only having an hour and a half to get it done I grabbed my 800 with my new Steve's 3 piece shaft and six inch coil and headed out. I parked the truck turned on the 800 and realized I needed to pair my headphones due to my factory reset. I got it done and walked across the driveway took one swing and got a really nice tone (32) ID. It sounded like a silver dollar but I get fooled sometimes. Shovel in and a little pinpointer action and a finger scrape and the goodness showed itself. It was a 1950 Franklin half dollar with a giant nail next to it. I figured it couldn't get any better so I continued to make my way around the big old cherry tree to see what else was there. A hand full of clad and my time closing in, I made it back within 15 feet of where I found the Franklin. I got another really great tone with the same 32 ID. I was wondering what the chances of finding two silver half's in the same day. Well I would say 100% when out came the second Franklin a 1962. It was an amazing feeling knowing I have not dug one of those let alone two in very very long time. Oddly I dig a lot of silver half's but rarely these. Today was apparently a day when the detecting gods pointed me in the right direction.
  15. If you had to choose between these two units, the Deus II and Equinox 900, for coin/jewelry hunting in local parks with a medium mineralization, which would it be? I know there are various conditions to consider, but in general, I'm just talking about your typical U.S. park coin and jewelry hunting, while also looking for missed deep targets. Yes, there are several other units that could be considered, but only interested in opinions on these two. Thanks for your input...
  16. Well Minelab pulled one on me and probably the rest of the world yesterday and released 2 new detectors. With the Manticore starting to move and now we have an updated and more featured Equinox 900, I have questions. Which of the 2 will be best for Nugget Detecting = Prospecting? Many of us know the EQ-800 is by far the best VLF gold detector out there. So to get the few quirks taken care of and then add some features, you/I would think the new EQ-900 is the way to go, or is it? The Manticore claims to have 50% more power and better ID system as well. But only having 1 true Prospecting Mode, makes me wonder? Yes, only time will tell as we get them in the fields, but in reality I'm a little confused. Do we go with the proven or totally new? How about you?
  17. Minelab Manticore vs Equinox 800 vs Equinox 900 for Gold Nugget Prospecting. I’ve been keeping my lips tight on this subject long enough. It’s to the point now I have to ask you the general public for input. After all, we have members on DP from other countries and maybe you can chime in as well? But for everyone reading, what do you think is the better detector for chasing Au nuggets and also do you feel is the best overall vale? Yes this is a 2 part question and it’s just your opinions so nobody is wrong. PROVEN - We all know (well at least my Field Staff Experts and I…as well as most of my customers who’s taken our Field Training at Rye Patch NV, the last 3 yrs) how well the Equinox 800 performs and the 10X of features why it’s a better performing VLF gold detector than the Monster and most other class detectors. Don’t get me wrong, the Monster is a great detector for many and those who like to hand a simple Turn on and Go detector to a friend or family who wants to give it a try on occasion. But there’s many shortcoming on the Monster I wish it had. Brain flash…Oh my…the next detector “The Monster 2000”. Heck maybe that’s why I’m feeling shorted with the Manticore? Again EQ-800 is proven and golden. Proven: Lets back up a few years just before Equinox being released to General Public. Jan. 2018 Dealers were invited to an Equinox Introduction. Minelab had a big meeting in AZ to educate dealers (at least the ones who took the time to show up), how the Equinox series (EQ-600/800) was going to be the flag ship sub $1000 detector. Minelab was on their A game and even brought the big guns from Australia in to share this exciting new technology. Thanks to all of Minelab who helped put that event together. I know most everyone I spoke with was extremely excited for the future. A few of folks were even lucky enough to stay an extra day and go out into the desert and feel, swing, test the NOX to see for ourselves, very impressed. My Staff was all over it and learned a lot. Afterwards the big brass from Minelab USA came to Boise and visited me just to make sure I was totally on board and ready to sell the $hit out of them, which I did. Sadly, we didn’t get such dog/pony show for the Manticore, well not us in the US anyway as of yet? Did any other countries get a red carpet treatment on it and how well it will do for Gold Prospecting? We still have time though, but you’d expect a detector that was shown way back in August of 2022 and now it’s March of 2023, well it’s never to late and I’ll give them a pass as they are releasing a detectors left and right, (EQ-700, EQ-900, Manticore, X-Terra Pro) so their time is limited. Here is why I am a little skeptical. Now folks, I’m no genius and no I’m no more special than anyone else, but I’ve reached out more than once to (I won’t say their names) and have yet to hear back. Realize, I’m just 1 guy and they probably get asked by many. Plus all those other new detectors coming out…back to me being a little skeptic. A simple quick view of the Manticore and what I see missing? EQ-800 and EQ-900 both have 2 Gold Prospecting Modes and the Manticore Only has 1. EQ800/900 both have option of the small 6” sniper coil. Heck the EQ-900 comes with 2 coils including the 6” sniper coil in the box for only $1100 in the US. Manticore does not even give us the option for that small coil. We get a bigger 8” coil option instead for some unknown price yet to be seen? Heck, anyone who knows anything about VLF class gold detectors realizes the importance of the smallest coil possible and there are 10+ proven gold detectors out there proving the small 5 and 6” coils are KILLER on small gold. But not even an option for the Manticore? When I view all the upgrades of the EQ-900 and see the additional $180 sniper 6” coil comes with it in the box, I see value. In fact since the EQ-900 has the same 2 Gold Modes as the EQ-800, I lean again to the “Proven” as well. Not so with the Manticore, or at least yet. Maybe I’m just very cautious of the last 6 months (half a year) of hearing all the great about the Manticore? Maybe in 6 months (or next year) all this will be proven? Or maybe the Manticore is mainly geared toward the masses? I did see and wondered???? The Manti is missing the 4 kHz Setting the EQ-800 and EQ-900 have. Not sure why it’s not on the Manticore? We know the masses are General Purpose Coin/Relic hunters and then Beach/Water swingers. Prospectors, we’re less than 10%, maybe even less than 5% of the general public who detects. Here’s a quick overview I observed without going into each individual feature. Yes all 3 units come with wireless headphones, cables, chargers and screen protectors. Equinox 800 is $900, comes with an 11” DD coil (price dropped a few months ago) and it’s a proven gold detector. After becoming the #1 seller for me and many others under $1000, many folks encounters a few flaws (arm cuffs, shaft wobble, ear cracks, leaks, wireless headphones). The good thing is Minelab provides a 3 year transferable warranty and they take care of their customers. I honestly feel if you take any product and it becomes so popular, most everyone’s uses it, then there will be more people complaining as well, it’s simple math. Minelab has done a pretty good job trying to keep most of us happy with our EQ-600/800s, including me. Equinox 900 is $1100, comes with an 11” DD coil and a 6” DD Sniper coil. Has the upgraded collapsible carbon fiber shaft (like the Manti), has a new improved arm cuff (so does the Manti), better quality Waterproofing to 16” (so does the Manti), better improved wireless headphones (so does the Manti), Vibrating Arm Grip (just like Manti), Night Hunting light (yes the Manti does), twice the Digital ID #’s (yes to the Manti), Iron Bias 0 to 9, like the Manti, Recovery Speed 1 to 8, just like Manti, more segments of DISC = 119, Manti only has 0 to 99. Lighter than the Manti…all this for $500 less. Manticore is $1600 and comes with a single 11” DD coil. Again, no option for the small 6” Sniper coil. One less Gold Mode than EQ-800/900? But we do get the colored LCD screen with 2D readout. Yes there are a couple other small things and one big thing, MORE POWER. Yes, I’m most certain the Manti will get a little extra depth vs the EQ-800/900 and for those who are Coin/Relic/Beach hunters, the Manticore just might be that perfect $1600 detector. For us Prospector Hunters, maybe we might look at the new improved Equinox-900 as our go to VLF class? I don’t know on the Manticore yet, but I do know how well the EQ-800 has done for my guys and many customers for the last 4 yrs. Again, I’m not saying the Manticore is no good, quite the opposite actually as I did find all the gold jewelry in Cancun with it on my vacation in Dec. (update to the bigger diamond ring, appraisal came back at $5400). I've also witnessed there is at least 1 inch more in depth for coin hunting with the Manticore. I seen this myself on a side by side comparison with a staff member who has the EQ-900 (which he loves). I just wonder if the Manticore is geared more towards the masses and us Prospectors need to stay Equinox for the near future? I’m all ears to hear anyone's thoughts and comments and especially from those who have used the Manticore for gold nugget hunting. Maybe us Prospectors should be sticking with the proven Equinox 800 or upgrading to the improved Equinox 900?
  18. When Ground balancing the Equinox 600 should I place the detector in (All-Metal) mode to make sure for a clean/clear patch of ground, the instruction only says to place the detector in FP mode and then ground balance so if I ground balance and the detector has -9 to 2 canceled and I'm pumping my coil over trash will that affect the ground balance.
  19. No, not my retirement -- that happened three years ago. I'm talking about the Minelab Equinox 800, and it's not going on mothballs since it will at least be my IB/VLF backup and probably take the lead when I need a small(er) coil -- Western ghost towning and nugget hunting. My 2022 year was good, relative to previous years, in terms of normalized finds (finds per hour of detecting) but I didn't get out park, school, and permission detecting nearly as much as previously -- only 106.5 hours compared to over 200 hours in each of the previous five (288 hours and 311 hours being my best years for sheer hours in the local 'fields'). I don't count my Western ghost town and nugget hunting in these totals. I've done a bit better this year and expect the rate to pick up considerably.... Since early January I've been preparing for the Manticore arrival by checking out some of my previously detected sites and in some cases varying coils and settings to start "thinking outside the box". My last two hunts are good examples of that. For both I dropped the recovery speed to 3 (based upon some things abenson posted regarding his Manticore). Yesterday I switched from my stock 11" coil (what I use 90% of the time) to the Coiltek Nox 5"x10" and chose a particularly aluminum trashy site to work on my separation skills. Other search settings are Park 1, 5 tones, Iron Bias F2=0, all VDI channels open ("all metal" in Minelab parlance). I use two other modes for target investigation. For possible USA 5 cent 'nickel' coins that aren't too weak signalwise I use Field 2, full tones, recovery speed = 6. For iffy possible deep coins (which might be falsing iron) I investigate with Gold 1, recovery speed = 5. A mental change I decided to make for both of these hunts was to investigate VDI 19 partial tones -- i.e. if the target hits 19 at all, even if that's not the centroid, I'm digging. As you'll see that made a huge difference. Typically I require 20 or above for most coins and 12-13 for specifically nickels. During the first hunt I thought I was detecting an area I had previously hunted, but afterwards was unsure of that. In the first 5 minutes I dug a clad quarter and a 95% copper Memorial cent, neither a recent drop so I should have found these earlier IF I had gotten my coil over them. Moving forward in the direction I should have hunted before I got an odd signal with VDI varrying between 16 and 19, mostly in those lower VDI channels. I checked with Field 2 out of curiosity and saw consistent 16-17 (in only one direction; the Park 1 signals were from multiple directions). The strength indicator in Park 1 was 3 bars -- that's typically about 5 inches deep for a small coin in my local sites. My expectation was a badly deteriorated Zinc Memorial (aka 'Stinkin Zincoln') since although those start out fresh at 21, as the galvanic action takes its course it will drop without limit, given enough years in the ground. At the expected 4-5 inch depth I recovered what looked like a cent, but it was a full disk and I could see some green coloring. Could it be? A few squirts from the water bottle revealed not what I had expected but what I had hoped -- an Indian Head Cent. But why such a low VDI? I set it on the plug before replacing that and ran the coil over it, getting a consistent 20. Hmmm. After replacing the plug I swung over that and got a soft but noticeable iron tone. Likely a small nail was quite close to the IHC and pulled down the VDI in the process. If the coin was on edge, or nearly so, that also might have contributed to the low VDI. Now for a report on yesterday's session. As mentioned I decided to give the Coiltek Nox 5"x10" a workout in a picnic area with lots of aluminum trash. As you'll see I didn't restrict all of my hunting to the trashiest spots, but I figured the 5x10 would be better at separation, and it did seem to be quite good at that. Even with my restriction to 12-13 VDI's for nickel hunting I still dug a lot of pulltabs, especially the (broken off) beavertails. Some larger pulltabs were dug in the corroded Zincoln zone. When I was making my way between picnic tables I got a strong 12-13 in Park 1 and verified a solid 12 in Field 2. Park 1 showed 2 bars so I was thinking a fairly modern, shallow nickel. Well, I was partly right -- it was a shallow nickel -- about 3" depth. But in trying to ID it with careful water bathing I couldn't get any indication of Thomas Jefferson, his monument, nor even an Indian nor Buffalo. It was well worn and finally I saw Lady Liberty's head. Now that's a good find and a good sign. Not more than 1 meter away I heard a mostly 19 VDI with only about 2 bar strength, indicating likely a ~2-3 inch deep Zincoln. Note I was again in an area I thought I had deteted previously. I didn't notice any extremely nearby trash targets, either, but out came the nicest IHC I've ever found! And this one kept its VDI of 19 even out of the ground. I recalled finding an IHC about 10-15 meters from here in late 2020, also about 3 inches deep, with the Tesoro Vaquero and its 5"x9" DD coil (stock on the Super Trac). I now realize this is a hot spot I need to return to. It's become typical here for people to show their trash, and although I'm not promising to do that in the future, here is yesterday's collection: Everything on the right is aluminum; the Stinkin Zincolns are in the middle and to the left of that are the other metals. (OK, one recent drop clad dime and three 95% copper Memorial cents aren't really trash.) Next are the good finds from these two hunts, all but the lower left hand Indian is from yesterday: Centered is the Liberty Head ('V-') nickel with date 1908. Lower left is a 1900 IHC in not very good shape. Lower right is my best ever IHC, conditionwise -- an 1899. Upper left is a toasty 1917 with mintmark, but I can't tell if it's -D or -S. And upper right is a seriously acid degraded 1931 plain (so Philadelphia mint) Lincoln. Coincidentally I mentioned in a thread of CPT_Ghostlight's (when he showed a 1932-D Lincoln in nice condition) that those three early great depression years of 1931-33 show low mintages or no mintages in all denomination USA coins. This 1931 plain is the highest mintage of any USA coin in that three year time period -- 19.4 million. Starting in 1934 and forward to today, only two Lincoln Cents date+mm minted for circulation have lower mintages than this 1931 -- 1938-S (15.2 million) and 1939-D (also 15.2 million). The 1938-D is close at 20.0 million. Even in nice condition this 1931 would not be worth more than about $1. None of the other four coins in the photo are low mintage dates (relative to their peers). So what led to me finding these coins in previously detected sites. 1) You've got to get the coil over 'em. In most cases above I doubt I did. 2) Sometimes my mental discrimination of VDI's is too strict. I may have been over either or both of these IHC's but blew them off from the combination of low VDI and strong signal (implying shallow depth). I hate digging Zincolns and they are usually shallow and can easily fall into the high teen VDI's. Glad I didn't avoid digging these two faux Zincolns. Oh, bonus image 👍 :
  20. Why controls on the side of the pod? The serve no purpose I can see from a manufacturing perspective, and only serve to complicate the design. Extra holes in the case, rubber chicklets that wear out. The main issue though is that from a user standpoint they really suck. How many people put the User Definable button on the Equinox to real use? It's a fabulous control, and we all should be flipping back and forth between settings to verify targets. At a minimum it's a great way to decide which mode works best, but it's the ability to quickly compare targets in two modes that is a real boon if used properly. Very few people use it at all however, and the reason is simple. The location is so inconvenient as to make us ignore it. Those who do use it have to jump through hoops to do so. The real crime here is there is no need for this. There is plenty of room on the front to put all controls front and center where they should be. It is too bad that Minelab did not take this opportunity to get it right with the Equinox 700, 900, and Manticore, perpetuating a poor design choice with Equinox into the future. Which would you rather have?........
  21. I’m up visiting my old shop in Alaska. We are doing a massive expansion of the mining department into its own building. The idea is to create a mining and metal detecting superstore. Anyway, they have the 900 and Manticore in stock. Some might find it funny but getting one just to get the new handgrip instead of the round post my Equinox 800 offers almost seemed reason enough to take one home. Kind of doubt I will though as I’m a bit over it all at the moment, but I’m here a couple more days so have time to think about it. The new shop is shaping up nice, tons of new toys including mini excavators. I’ll take some photos of the new store today and post later.
  22. If there's one man you can trust for expert advice on metal detecting, it's PJ.. He's even got his own Youtube channel.. PJ knows his stuff.. Years of fence jumping and making a nuisance of himself at kiddie playgrounds have made PJ the spiritual leader of the world's metal detecting community.. After watching PJ's knowledgeable critique and extensive field testing, I've decided to buy an Equinox 900..
  23. I really like both of these detectors. The ground thawed out enough to get in some head to head testing on surface to 7" deep wild targets today (it will freeze over again in two days with 3 to 6" of new snow so boo hoo.) I literally have not been able to wild target test the Legend's new Park M3 mode for both target separation in modern trash and effective depth since downloading the Version 1.10 Beta software a few weeks ago. I have been able to do quite a bit of staged test target comparisons but nothing else. Today was also the first day I have been able to do the same with my new Equinox 900 as far as wild targets at medium depth and wild target separation. So I just randomly picked the Legend to go first on a 40 X 15 yard patch of heavily used and modern trashed West Denver park that has yielded several silver dimes and quarters along with many junk rings and a few silver and gold rings too. This park has given up over 50 wheat pennies and two war nickels for me too. I carefully gridded the 40X15 yard area I chose in the park with overlapping sweeps. This is a park that ate the F75 for lunch due to EMI and 5 to 7 bar dirt (no accurate target IDs unless the targets were within 2" of the surface) along with any other decent single or selectable single frequency VLF detector. Same for the Garrett APEX. The Vanquish models can hunt this park but every non-surface target has an iron halo and it was impossible for them to ground balance. I have hunted this park and the test area recently with Deus 2 and the Equinox 800 with no EMI issues and very stable target IDs even near the edge of detection. It is a west facing sloped park with only a few trees that thaws out before most flat parks here in the Denver area. It is trashed big time with multiple targets under every swing so masking of good targets by foil, canslaw, pull tabs, aluminum screw caps and steel crown bottle caps is a real problem at this park. That trash goes deep in this park too so its not just on the surface. There are bent rusty nails too starting at about the 4" deep level and going way deeper. I had the Legend with its LG24 coil (the coil cover measures 9.75X6") in Park M3, 23 sensitivity, ground balanced at 6, G discrimination pattern, recovery speed was 5, iron filter was 1, iron stability 1, bottle cap reject 1, ground stability 0, 6 tones. Iron mineralization meter showed 5 to 8 bars out of 10 consistently. I was mostly concentrating on coin and jewelry targets in the 15 to 26 ID area and anything above 40 that seemed to be coin sized and had enough 4 way consistent responses to warrant digging. I ended up digging lots of small can slaw, a couple of pull tabs and 41 USA modern coins from surface to 7" deep. There were three targets that I did not dig that were very iffy but potentially were deeper silver. Basically, at the time I thought I had covered the test area really well and that the Legend had also done very well with slightly jumpy but solid enough target IDs and tones. I fired up the Equinox 900 with its Coiltek 9.5X5.5" coil, Park 1 Multi, sensitivity 20, ground balanced at 5, -9 to +99 accepted, recovery speed 5, Fe 1, 5 tones and hunted the exact same area with the same speed and length of swings. I don't swing fast unless I am trying to isolate a target so swing speed was 1 second to the left and 1 second to the right with a flat, close to the ground, three to four foot arc. I was concentrating on targets in the 15 to 27 and above 60 target ID ranges. I immediately noticed the ground come alive with way more targets than I had heard with the Legend. I had the volume levels about the same for both detectors. There were just a ton of targets going off. Most were tiny foil, tiny aluminum or iron falsing with stuttering, incomplete blips which I am very used to hearing on this ground with the Equinox 800. However, I also pulled out 16 more USA modern coins that were in the 4 to 6" depth range from the testing area. Most of these were standing straight up on edge............. There were also a couple of coins near the surface that I somehow just missed. It happens. I also dug several more good sounding pieces of small can slaw that could have been smaller gold rings along with a couple of pull tabs that were screaming at me. The three targets that I had marked with the Legend were also easily hit by the Equinox 900. One turned out to be a 7" deep US clad dime, one was a 6" deep 1957 Wheat penny on edge and one was a 7" deep bent rusty nail (only one of the day). I also only dug one steel crown bottle cap and that was detected with a ton of high tones by the Equinox 900. I was pretty sure it was a steel crown bottle cap but it also sounded a lot like a coin spill. Gotta check those. No jewelry. Very impressed with the Equinox 900s target separation even in Park 1 Multi. The 900 was an absolute live wire even with the settings I was using. Most of those sixteen extra coin targets it found were no doubters even with most being on edge and with the more unstable 900 target IDs. I am still not much of a fan of the Legend's Park M3 recent add on, especially after this hunt. I don't know if this was a separation issue, a depth issue or both. However, just to be clear, I have hunted this exact spot with both the Equinox 800 and Deus 2 and pulled out many coins. Somehow, the 61 coins I dug today were missed by me using those detectors. Or, more realistically, every time I remove a target from a trashed park like this one, a different undug target becomes slightly more unmasked nearby. That could somewhat explain the Equinox 900 finding quite a few targets behind the Legend. However, most of those coins found by the 900 were not near previous disturbed dirt from Legend recoveries.
  24. Given the improvements in target separation in the 900 and the already proven Equinox ability on small gold, what are the reasons to own a 24k over a 900 for purely nugget hunting? The 24k has an edge on price, but when you include an extra coil and wireless headset that gap is pretty much closed. There are the obvious differences such as frequency, ability to configure the machine, waterproofing, etc, but when the machines are out in the field with all this thrown in a blender is there still a reason to go with the less featured 24k? Is the 24k performing better in more soil types? Do people see more depth given similar coil sizes? Thanks in advance for all your thoughts.
  25. There was a thread on Equinox vs Manticore for Gold Nuggets but when I just took a look I have seen about every comparison made but this one. One or the other, for just general all around metal detecting, parks, beach, fields, relics, coins, jewelry - what's the pick? Any thought yet on which is just the better rounded do everything for most people detector? And just to keep it clean, let's just assume stock coils only. This model with stock coil or that model with stock coil, which one is it going to be? And no other options please, just Equinox 900 or Manticore?
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