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Granted, my sample size is fairly small compared to the hours others have put on their Equinox's. But a quick question....: Has anyone recovered a non-ferrous keeper with the depth meter pegged, and/or with an id that bounces up to 38-40? I, for one, have not. Even my 9"+ keepers (tax token, wheat) gave me 4 arrow depth readings and id's that bounced around the true target id. To my recollection, every target I have chased with the depth meter maxed, and/or the id bouncing up to 38-40 have been ferrous. Of course, it doesn't keep me from digging them... sometimes they sound too sweet :)

Hi, I'm new to this forum and fairly new to metal detecting. I currently have a bounty hunter tracker 4, and I'm definitely looking to upgrade. I had my eyes set on the minelab equinox 800. Upon further research I sort of realized that the 600 is only really lacking the 20 and 40 kilohertz frequencies. Obviously the 800 also has many more options as far as settings go. My question is is the 800 simply a better machine for gold prospecting? and will a 600 perform just as well at finding gold jewelry? I'm not particularly into gold prospecting in the traditional sense but I do like Urban prospecting 4 jewelry. Will the 20 and 40 kilohertz frequencies be of any benefit in hunting for jewelry? Or will the 600 do just as well for the $400 less? I'm a poor man so if I can get a quality machine out of the 600 I'm all for it, but if the 800 is that much better then I'll fork over the $400 I guess LOL

I was noticing "coil whine" coming from the control box. I'm sure it's normal but was wondering does anyone else hear this? very high pitched squeal or whine, very faint. I also have a GM1000 and I don't hear it on that one. Edit: Interesting! Seems to be more prevalent when using Multi.

Purchase a new equinox for my elderly Dad to use. Was testing it in my side yard and it start to act like this. Can anybody explain to me what is going on? Is it malfunctioning? It worked earlier in the day at another location. heres the video.

I've only had my 800 for about a week, so I made some simple ID cards using Steve's graphic, to get familiar with the machine. I have extras, and with Steve's permission, I'm offering 1 to the first 50 interested. These are simple, pocket size, laminated cards, with large bold font. Target IDs on the front, detector settings menu on the back. Edit 2/19/19 by Steve Herschbach. The offer to mail you one of these free is long past. Just download the pdf, print, and laminate your own. idcardfinal.pdf

Don't know if this has been posted before but worth watching. Gets good at the 3:30 mark.

HI Im brand new to detecting and have the Nox 800. I thought id do a test bed and search around home first before going out...Im having a issue trying to figure out what is what...I have a VID numbers list but not sure i see galvanized nails, bolts washers etc... My readings are all over the place...so just started digging up yard 😂. Tons of stainless steel nails (For siding i assume) as well..when i go over these targets in park 2, 15hz and multi i get readings of 24-30and they also jump all over...so I go into all metal mode...Then changes to mostly less than 0 #s as well the higher numbers...Ive also have gone 90 deg to targets as well and get same reading. So getting a bit frustrating... I have threshold at 0, sensitivity at 20 or less, 2 breaks less than 0 for ferrous (volume at lowest setting) and then above 0 for non ferrous, recovery speed at 2 ....is there just too much trash and am i better just to go to a park to learn? there also seems to be a lot of black sands and small pebbles that are magnetized as well as a magnet picked up a lot..and my pinpointer was going off like crazy and i couldn't even find the target I know Im all over place here but a little guidance would be much appreciated! thanks!

I have a eqinox 600,where i live is a 1700s site.been detecting it for 20 years with a number of high end machines,also buddies of mine detecting it,year before last pulled out 13 large cents with my atpro.just a little side note atpro not used in pro mode is useless,in pro mode its awesome totally different machine. but back to why im posting,everything im detecting is mostly in the teens,strong signal ,rotate around the target, still a strong signal,dig rusty nail.everytime.i have iron bias at 3. most targets are going to be below 13 inches that is where my atpro massed out.so my question is why the teen vdi numbers for iron and is there a way to get past the 13 inch mark. sidenote, the house I live was George washingtons surgeon during the revolutionary war. any help is greatly appreciated.

Just curious how many of you guys are hunting in a single Frequency vs Multi with your Equinox. I’ve had so much success with Multi that I can’t get myself to try anything else. My thinking is maybe using a single Frequency such as 20kHz in a situation such as extreme carpet of nails that it might perform even better? I would like to hear your thoughts and experiences on this subject. Not just nails but any unique situation where a single Frequency might be better. Bryan

Hi there, Thought to ask, perhaps it is obvious, but I don't know, are there conditions when GB can be negative, or why ML allow it to go negative? As you know it can be in range -9 to 99. I've never seen it going below 0. Many thanks!

My new T2 arrived this week so I decided I'd take it out for a test run today, I haven't bothered detecting football fields before, it never really crossed my mind to do so especially small town football fields that barely ever get used. I think the last time I even saw people on this thing was about a year ago and they were riding a horse 🙂 I guess back in time it was probably a popular place and my results today show this. This is going to be more of a picture story as the pictures tell 1000 words! I started using the T2 with Mars Tiger coil and within two minutes of arriving I had my first coin, then another, then another..... it was nuts, coins everywhere and very little junk, I was finding nice old coins, possibly one of my oldest in a while too Silver 🙂 1938 British Penny The T2 was getting good depth, easily hitting on coins with good ID's, another silver! 1948 Penny - Now NZ currency, not British like the older Pennies, we used some British currency until 1967. Prior to 1933 United Kingdom currency was the official legal tender of New Zealand, although Australian coins and notes were also generally accepted. The first New Zealand penny was minted in 1940. The penny ran until 1965, when New Zealand stopped minting pre-decimal coins in preparation for decimilisation in 1967. I have no idea what this thing is This is the football field I was detecting, under the goal posts and along the end of the field had a good collection of coins, I guess from all the diving with the ball and coins in the players pockets, I don't know much about football, probably the only NZ male who has no clue about the game 🙂 My oldest find of the day, a British 1912 One Penny It was quite deep down but the T2 banged on it real hard with a solid ID. At this point I decided I'd go home and gear up better as this place obviously has a lot of good old coins. I was only using my T2 with Carrot and Lesche digging tool which was hard work with all the coins being so deep. I wanted a bigger coil to cover more ground but there was no way I was going to strap on the 15" Teknetics coil to continue using the T2 as it weighs a tonne. I opted for the Equinox with it's 15" coil and almost straight away after turning it on, another coin 1950 NZ One Penny. I left the bit of dirt on the coil up the top it came out of, I love when you get the impression of the coin in the soil. Another silver, 1934 Shilling This is the hole it came from, I always recheck my holes and I'm glad I did, another target in the hole, then another... this was crazy 3 Silvers in the hole so far, 1934 Shilling, 1934 Shilling and a 1946 Sixpence, I was sure this was it but I did another check and off to the side of the hole, ANOTHER SILVER Another 1934 Shilling, 4 silvers in one hole, incredible! Someone had a bad day. 1964 Sixpence... the coins just kept coming, all old ones. No longer are they made of silver in 1964... Nice and deep though +++++ My first modern coin, a $2 But look how deep it was, it was deeper than a lot of far older coins.... weird! Another two in one hole, just one cent coins from back when NZ had one cent coins. Another coin leaving a cool impression of itself in the soil, just a one cent I think It sure a lot of ground to cover, I'll be at this place for weeks... plenty more coins to find I'm sure. Time to head back to the car, with my coil to the soil. Another for the road 🙂 Double sided impression on the soil with this one. I couldn't possibly put up a photo of every coin find as there were just too many, all in about 3 hours detecting. The good stuff The bad stuff... not a bad ratio, good stuff far outweighed bad stuff, unusual for me.... I'll be back there tomorrow.... and the next day.... and the next day 🙂

Looking for tips on detecting tailing piles... I have the Equinox 800 and the Minelab 5000. and a lot of trashy tailing piles to detect !!! 🤠 _________________________________- BTW----- Looks like we are running low on masks 😷 and gowns here in LA--- but we will survive-- Vets have been exposed to tougher stuff than this!!! ______________________________________________________ Social distancing does not have to be social--------- but it should be physical-!!!---- I cant see why most of you would have to learn how to do that-??? -- you been practicing it with me for years🤣🤣 Carry on and thanks for any tips on the tailing piles.. paul

I am buying another NOX,should have bought 2 when i was in the Victorian goldfields will have save a few pence but i had a CTX at the time,as i am always between the Capital(Mudlarking) and the coast (Beachcombing),can't be bother putting it in the car all and i will have spare(can believe i am trying to convince you😆). I can feel this machine as something special for the beach and after seeing Goldrats(from he forum) picking tiny gold in OZ i was sold. The plan is to tested in on the Thames with the 6"coil, fast recovery and .....settings well i need to work on them . Got all the coils now and we are in Lockdown..... The AQ Impulse will be here soon but thats another story RR

I'm a former XP Deus user and have been searching around for aptX LL headphones similar to my old Deus WS4 wireless backphones so that I can wear sunhats. I purchased the 66 AUDIO BTS Pro's last week and was pretty disappointed after syncing them up to the Equinox 800 and no aptX LL!!! I contacted their tech support and didn't hear anything for a couple of days. I boxed them up to return to Amazon and just as I was heading out the door to the UPS Store I received an email from them saying "We will send over a manual firmware update in 1-2 days to resolve the aptX-LL issue." Two days later (today) I got the firmware update. The update went smoothly on my PC, I synced up to the Equinox 800 and aptX LL now works GREAT!!! I tested them out around my garden and they're awesome. If anyone needs the firmware update file without having to wait four days send me a PM. These headphones sound great, loud, are comfortable and have some pretty impressive specs with a 40 hour battery and 100 foot range. https://www.66audio.com/bts-pro https://www.amazon.com/66-AUDIO-Wireless-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B01M8M4R7K

Unboxed it, assembled it and went to power it up...and nothing. Hooked it up to the charger and the charging light stays solid and doesn't blink. Able to power it up while on charge and the battery indicator reads full...but as soon as I unplug the charger, it dies. Need some help please.

Hello, I've had my EQX since last year and gotten in about 30 hrs in the field so far. Overall I'm quite happy with it but there are a few areas where it's still giving me issues. I'm hoping someone here can give me some advice on one or more of these. 1) Whenever I bump something with the coil the detector falses and gives me a "good" reading. Typically the harder the bump the higher the VID. I've checked that the cable is wound tightly around the shaft and the connector is screwed into the case tightly so I'm not sure what else it could be. This isn't much of an issue on lawns but unfortunately the vast majority of my detecting is in the woods around old cellar holes where it's impossible not to bump into sticks and bushes. 2) Periodically, my detector will start warbling and squawking for anywhere from a few seconds to 1/2 a minute. I don't bring my cell phone with me and I routinely do a noise cancel so that isn't the problem. I've noticed that it tends to happen as cars are approaching me so I'm thinking that it could be a TPMS (Tire pressure monitoring system) or something similar. Any ideas on a fix or workaround would be appreciated. In terms of how I typically run: 1) I have the latest software update 2) I typically detect in Park 1 or Field 1 3) I usually use the stock 11" coil but occasionally switch to the 6" Thanks Jeremiah

The question may be oversimplified and I invite more detailed responses such as the one Chase provided. Obviously there is no right answer but based upon another discussion/thread I was reminded that I've wondered about this multiple times in the past. Thanks to all who respond.

Review of Clive Cylick third Equinox book – “Skill-Building with the Minelab Equinox Series Metal Detectors I think this is the best book in his Equinox series. It is written for a large group of new Equinox users. It is not written for very experienced users of other Minelab products or the Equinox experts and there are a few of those experts around. It is written for and I think most helpful for the newbie who bought the Equinox 600 or 800 and experienced detectorists coming from other non-Minelab machines. The total newbies to metal detecting should buy a good beginners metal detecting book and all three of Clive’s Equinox books. The book is packed with information that for me told me two major things: 1) why I was not getting the performance out of my Equinox that others were reporting and 2) how to make the Equinox do what I need it to do to perform at a level it was design to perform. I am not going into a lot of detail because that would be like quoting everything in the book. I will tell you I learned what my biggest problem was with me and my 800. By playing around with all of the features without not truly understanding the physics behind most of the settings I was operating with a detector that was often greatly de-tuned or not balanced. A balanced Equinox means selecting the proper modes for your type of hunting and small settings adjustments to make the 800 a little more balanced. The Equinox engineers made the different modes for park, field, beach and gold very balanced. In most cases just using the default mode best for your type of hunting will serve you will. Only until you truly understand the settings and how to effectively use them you should leave them alone. This is why just copying other detectorist’s settings will get you into trouble. Their settings are for their environment, not yours. Keeping in mind that sensitivity (gain), recovery speed, and iron bias all affect each other. So, you really need to make small adjustments of all in a manner that none or many of these adjustments cause an unbalanced detector. Sounds complicated? Yes it is. But it becomes a lot less complicated after reading Clive’s third Equinox book carefully. The book is packed full of information on the above topics. I was surprised to learn that even the detector’s volume level affects your ability to hear deep targets and not buy turning up the volume which is what most of us would think to do. I recommend all three of Clive’s books for the novice as well as a good metal detecting beginners book. For the more experienced detectorists who have never use a Minelab detector the third book will probably be enough to get you over the Equinox learning curve hump.

Heading to Mexico (Riviera Maya) in a couple days (if Coronavirus doesn’t get my Flight cancelled). Plan to use my Nox 800 mainly in the ocean in probably 4-6ft of water. Anyone have any tips or advice on settings and any good experience/finds in this area? I imagine I’ll run it in beach mode 2 and do an auto tune and manual GB once chest deep in the water. Sensitivity I imagine I’ll set to around 19 +/- as needed to stabilize. I’ll ignore everything in the -9 to 0 range and 12, 13 & 14. Threshold 0, recovery speed 5. don’t have a set of waterproof headphones yet so will be running volume on 25. Hope I can hear this. I’ll be snorkeling with head under water. Any good suggestions on waterproof headphones for Nox 800 ?

Maybe I missed it in the manual, but when pinpointing a target on my EQ800, there's a number in the center of the screen displayed, it's different than the initial TID#. What does the value indicate?

What is the current fair asking price for a used 800? I can't find one online for sell as a price reference. Thanks, Michael

I figured I should post this here as I posted the information elsewhere on the forum that's less relevant than here. Our extremely innovative Russian friends have managed to make a range of aftermarket coils for the Equinox, they remove the security chip out of your coil, reseal your coil and give you an adapter which then allows you to run aftermarket coils. They make a range of sizes too. My pick of the bunch would be the 9.5x5.5! That's the range of sizes and pricing in Russian currency. You can find out more about it here on these Russian forums, you'll have to use Google translate or something similar to read it. Original thread http://foxmd.ru/index.php?route=product/category&path=77_92 More information http://foxmd.ru/index.php?route=product/category&path=93 And videos from them about the coils and lucky last 🙂 When nobody can do it, the Russians do and they do it well.

Afternoon all! I know that there have been many programs out there for the 800, but are there any well known programs for the 600? Mainly coin and relic hunting! I like the preset park and field modes but wanted to possibly branch out and try something different. Thanks! HH.

I’ve gotten a lot of questions from hunters (who learn that I have two books out on the Equinox) asking for “settings.” One guy saw some rings I had found in salt water with the Equinox and asked for my “settings.” Others describe a type of site they are hunting--“cellar holes” for example and want to know just what “settings” to run. I can’t answer these questions because what they need is not a “setting” but rather a skill set--a “system” of tuning the detector, (in relation to the specific ground and target matrix), listening to and examining targets with the coil, selecting responses and conducting their overall hunt. To focus on simple “settings” or the technology of any detector type ignores the fact that there are a whole range of skills needed for success at difficult sites. Not all involve the detector itself. The real skill lies in understanding and managing the interactions. A good maxim is that: “…predetermined settings only get you into the ball park—it’s up to you to find the best seat…” The ideas is to learn to recognise what the conditions demand and apply your machine’s strengths based upon basic skills--not hope it will take the place of them. What I advocate is a broad-based approach to learning and detecting. This is kind of like the Equinox itself--just as a multi-frequency signal gathers more information to be analysed, examining your signals from a wide range of standpoints lets you learn and develop a broader knowledge base--faster. Then, as you encounter problem targets or sets of conditions which are new--you have the general skills to adapt. Part of the misinformation about the Equinox comes from those who have had success under highly specific conditions--many in situations where not a lot of skill was needed--flat out “hear and dig” in stable inland conditions. While there are sets of conditions where this is the only way to operate--it’s a narrow mindset. Why buy a detector that has the versatility of the Equinox and not develop the kinds of skills that will let you get the most from it? From” “Skill Building with the Minelab Equinox Series Metal Detectors” by Clive James Clynick (Prestige Publishing, 2019)