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In the last week I have found 12 silver coins at some incredible depths with the Equinox 800. Dimes, quarters, and wheat cents at up to 12". Both Park1 and Park2 have been used depending on the soil. I think Park1 may be a little deeper than Park2. Regardless of which Park program I use I run Iron Bias in F2-0-1, Multi 5 tones, Recovery 4, Sensitivity 22-24 if EMI is low, but even at 20 I have achieved some incredible depths. I've had buddies swing over these with Etrac's and CTX's with large coils and they can't touch some of these deep coins. One buddy used his Etrac, Deus, and Anfibio and was skunked on the deep silver at this place.

Yesterday I decided to take Friday off and hit the Creek again. For some reason I felt like I was missing out on some things. When I arrived at the creek I noticed some holes dug near the bank and in the water that I saw last Saturday. I chalked them up as someone looking for crayfish, well not so much. Turns out this fool was detecting and leaving his or her giant holes everywhere. Not a big fan of detectors that think its ok to punch holes without covering them back up. Back to business, today I was running the 11'' for better coverage (my bad). I was doing OK but man was this coil was killing me. Out of beach mode and back into park 1, Ah that's more like it. My first good target was a quarter followed by a dime and a penny. Not so bad for a start. Oops!!! Man I got a pinhole in my wader!!! I love cold water!!! My coil was acting really strange with some quarters sounding like iron, which NEVER happens. I hit a really good copper tone but it was drowning in iron. It sounded really good even though the iron was taking over the tone. Digging into the creek bottom for 12'' produced a really amazing old lock!! My next target was a quarter tone and once in the sieve I really thought I dug a Seated quarter!!! ( Not so much ) just a State coin. 💩 Getting colder and not enjoying my wet leg and foot, I decided to hammer on. Next up was a nice old flat lead sinker and a cylinder from an old cap gun. A few more things were dug up but I needed to head home and change my pants and socks.

I've been out of the loop with the forum for quite a bit, so I figured it was time to jump back in. I've been doing pretty well with finds but a fair amount of my properties are turning into housing developments. The weather or lack there of has been a bit of a problem. Trying to punch a shovel through my parched ground is just not happening. A couple of months not detecting can take a toll on a mans soul!! Well Today I had no choice but to try something a little different. I figured I would head out to a local creek where I used to fish and trap as a younger man. I remembered a spot that had a rope swing we all used to use on the summer days to cool off. I tossed the waders, 800 with the 6'' coil and my scoop in the vehicle. I honestly had no expectations of finding anything, I just wanted to get out and enjoy some peace and quite while remembering some of my childhood memories from this place. I walked about 400 meters to the place where the tree should be. To my amazement the tree was still there!! I didn't get a signal the whole walk up to the spot but Once I got there things changed. My first target was a crushed pencil cap. After I pocketed that I found a penny (yes my trip was worth it) HaHa. A dime and a penny later I got a really good quarter tone, Expecting clad, I was shocked at the 1940 Washington that was staring at me from the gravel. Digging through the rock and gravel was a pain it the arse but it was worth it for the two plus hours in the water. Considering how tough detecting is here I was really happy with my time out. The best part was the memories that came flooding back from visiting this spot, It's been 43 years since I walked this creek.

From what we know thus far---which detector is the best (Legend or E900) for relic, gold (nugget) & coin hunting (in mineralized ground)?------Opinions?

Does anyone have a source for these connectors? A 90 degree connector would seem to be best...either either soldered or screw attachment. I muffed my 15" coil today...just ordered a replacement, but I'd like to rebuild this perfectly good coil and have a 15" backup. I've found HIGO connectors, but I'm not sure about the screw collar size... The exterior diameter of the Minelab Equinox collar is 15 mm...the internal threads...maybe 12 mm...these appear to be larger than the HIGO "silver" connector.

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.

As chance would have it I have recently received two new in box detectors through unrelated trades. A Garrett 24k goldmaster and a Minelab Gold Monster 1000. I would normally just take them both out and use them to see what I like best as my VLF machine but since they are both new in the box I don't want to hurt their potential value. I'm stuck considering keeping one of them or perhaps trading in both to get a Nox 900. Not sure if they could snag me one together though. Points to consider that are important to me are 1: I primarily prospect for gold but do like to coin and relic hunt when I come across old 49er cabins. Would ultimately like a Manticore but a Nox would be good if I could trade these in and come out even without having to spend more. 2. If I can't find a sale or trade that allows me to get a NOX 900 without spending more I would want to just keep one of these detectors and sell the other. 3. I don't mind extra setting like the 24k has so if it's better on gold and trash than the monster than I'm ok with that. In other words I want performance over ease of use. I have experience with the NOX and Monster but never the 24k. I know this forum has some knowledgable folks so I appreciate any experience you wish to share. I suppose the variable is what I could get for these unused detectors because I imagine the NOX is what I really want as it can fulfill my protecting needs and relic/coin desires. Thanks Chuck

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.

The manticore "deal" currently running that includes 3 coils got my juices flowing once again. I have owned a EQ800 and 900 and Deus I in the past, I was not able to dedicate time to adequately learning the machines and ended up selling them all and migrating back to my MXT PRO for a turn on and go machine. Realizing now that any of the others could fill that role as well if I kept my fingers from gerfloppen around has gotten me thinking "time to upgrade". One noted idea that began to move me is that there was a time when Steve had the MXT as almost legnedary, but sometime recently kinda downgraded it as past its prime due to its single frequency. So I am looking for a multi frequency machine for the broad range of detecting types of which gold and relics are more limited endeavors but nugget shooting is in my future as a western US guy with retirement coming into view. I have looked high and low and can't really find any definitive discussions on who has the best ground tracking/elimination system which is on top of my list as well as the multi-freq. capability. Being west coast based, my general range includes mostly difficult soils, and I am not close enough to salt water beaches where people are all that willing to jump in or lay in the sun (when it infrequenctly does shine)although I do get some chances to hunt inland lakefront beaches from time to time. I prefer old parks and campgrounds and am planning a backcountry trip into the Bitteroots and Rockies to do a bit of prospecting in the not so distant future. I have diligently read comments from Steve, Jeff, phrunt and others so have a pretty broad understanding of what's out there, but most of the comments about comparisons etc. are a year or so old and am hoping to hear some thoughts on how things have been progressing with better coil selections, user experience, factory updates etc. I realize that gains to "depth" transferring from my old MXT to more recent detectors will come from great ground handling, faster recovery speeds and other refined tools so am not looking for a holy grail, just an entry point that will keep me going for the next 5 years or until sombody really moves the bar up. I am intrigued by the manticore 2d display as it seems reminiscent of my etrac and V3i visual feedback. I just can't seem to settle in on a choice, but the current ML Manticore deal seems pretty attractivfe... anybody want to shine some light??

What are most of y’all using these days? Which one is deeper? Better on small gold?

IYO----Which one is the most effective gold (nugget) hunter----the Manticore with 5X8" coil or the Equinox 900 with 6" coil?

I tested 50 gold pieces, rings, pendants and anything gold, with the Equinox 800 and the Deus 2. The Dues 2 numbers were jumpy just by two or three, but it did sound good on most. The Equinox hit strong on everything with a solid number. On odd shaped and small objects of gold even a small gold chain the Equinox sounded much better. Both were in Park. Why?????

So, I have had the 800 for 4 days now and only used it for about 3 hrs total. This morning, I went out for my first prolonged use and decided to deviate from the default settings. I went about setting ground balance in both park 1,2 and field 1,2 profiles using Auto Ground Balance. Park 1 and Field 1 worked as expected but immediately after releasing the accept button in Park 2 and Field 2, the display flashed Cd and the unit powered off. During the next two hours, the unit displayed Cd and shutdown four more times while in pinpoint mode. The manual states this is a coil disconnect error code and to check the connector, cable, and coil for damage but all appear fine. I guess I will be calling MineLab to see what they say. Has anyone else experienced this?

I'd rather they put the 800 into the 900 body and keep it alive.

At times of the year, I really struggle with Black Sand in my location. This year was no different. I have done more comprehensive testing on updated machines. On many days I hunted half days on each machine so I could tell differences in same conditions. [thanks to my wife delivering machines] I want to outline a few general recommendations: 1. Slow Down, 2. Use Tracking GB, 3. Sensitivity set so you hear just slight Black Sand interference. 4. Look at your fringe targets with a couple more points of sensitivity. 5. Don't trust your machine is working well with moving water, wave wash. [do checks]. D2> So much to unpack here. First, the D2 is a tale of two machines. One [the devil] in Black Sand, the other, [the angel] in non-Black Sand. The positives> Light to hunt. Fair separation of iron from non-ferrous. Good separation of targets. Good at noise canceling. The negatives. Noisy. The Menu. Clipped target sounds at depth for non-ferrous. Moving water takes D2 out at any depth. Must look at many targets from Mutiple directions[time consuming] . Equinox 800> Not much to unpack. The Positives> Better Black Sand handling. The Menu. Good separation but under the D2. GOOD sounding targets [not clipped]. MUCH better target sounds at depth. Better and faster deciding iron from non-ferrous. Works with moving water unless target is deep. The Negatives> Lousy noise cancel. Heavier to hunt with. Waterproof issues. Sometimes loss of targets in the hole. Hunting summary> For about a week I hunted the D2 exclusively, I really wanted to get a gold chain hunting in Beach Sensitive [which I think is better than Equinox Beach 2.] [no gold chain] Then had the Equinox out a few times. Then updated the D2, and started hunting both machines daily. Every day I started with the D2 and switched to the Equinox. There was not ONE DAY that I wanted the D2 to remain with me. I find the D2 ear exhausting, both in how it handles Black Sand and in deciphering targets. The clipped and bite-y sounding nonferrous targets at depth are a real PIA. The range of pull-tab numbers are ridiculous. Tough to make headway with the interrogation needed on some targets. Not much difference in hunting with a max frequency of 24 or 40. Maybe 1-point sensitivity lower with 40. ANY moving water would completely wipeout the detection field of the D2 in both Beach and Beach sensitive. At best I could only pull a 91-sensitivity setting, but most detecting was done at 87-89. The Equinox> So MUCH better on handling Black Sand. Most hunting was done at 21 even with water contact. Detection field works in moving water but not on targets of depth. With the Horseshoe mode on telling the difference between Ferrous and nonferrous is MUCH easier and quicker. The unmistakable double ring of iron is clear and smooth. Target investigation time is cut down. I don't think there is a winner in the small bit category. Both machines seem to find small bits well. While I did not do any head-to-head burying of targets. Both machines seem to have their moments of man that was shallower than I thought and also the holy crap, that was deep moment. NOT trying to make this a one is better than another, your conditions may provide different results. If you have compared other machines to the ones I have PLEASE post! I will answer all questions of settings or conditions or ??? In the picture: ALL of the larger jewelry was found with the Equinox yesterday. Only a few small bits with the D2. This has been a bit of a trend. I give the nod to the Equinox's ability to tell ferrous from non-ferrous at depth. Most of this jewelry was deep with negative numbers but had clean one beep hits. My D2 will be in the closet until the black sand subsides.

Both of these machines have been out for awhile now.---Would like some opinions.---Which one is the best/most effective (for relic/coin hunting-- working in mineralized/iron/square nail proliferated sites)?-------Thanks--------Del

During the last month I’ve been taking my new 18’’ Nox coil along to compare it to both the 15’’ and 15x12’’ coils on wild targets.. To keep the swapping around to a minimum, the 18’’ coil is always kept on a Nox 600 and the others are swapped around on a Nox 800 on alternate days.. I realise this doesn’t make it a fair comparison as from one day to the next I’m comparing the 18’’ coil to either the 15’’ or 15x12’’ coil, never all three at once on the same wild target.. In my defence I can only say that I’ve found that both the smaller coils are pretty similar in performance.. Some days one might sniff out a target that the other one’s missed, on other days it’s the reverse.. In terms of depth and sensitivity to targets there’s no real noticeable difference between the two.. What I’m after here is a comparison between a very big coil (for a VLF detector) and its more modestly sized cousins.. Is bigger really better? As far as added hassles go, it’s been worth the effort of walking back to where I left the other detector as for me wild target comparisons are the best way to get very intimate with the latest addition to my coil harem.. So far there’ve been no ‘Wow that’s deep!’ moments but I wouldn’t be surprised if the knockout blow is yet to come.. I’ve still got a gut feeling that given time the 18’’ coil will sniff out deeper targets than the other coils, just not sure if that’s gonna be by as much as 30% as Coiltek claims.. Having said that, the 18’’ is surprisingly sensitive for such a big coil.. It didn’t pick up a small gold ring that the 15x12’’ coil sniffed out, but to my big surprise it did hit on two silver 6-pences, a copper 1 cent piece and bits of junk that the other coils couldn’t find - despite cranking up the sensitivity.. Not even a faint iffy signal or a quick flash on the target ID, whilst with the 18’’ coil all these small deep targets screamed ‘Dig Me!’.. While I can see the large coil missing a low-conductive target, I didn’t expect to see the smaller coils missing high-conductive targets.. What voodoo is at work here? On wet/dry salty sand I’ve been running the 18’’ coil on the same settings and sensitivities as the smaller coils (between 21-23).. In bays with layers of black sand beneath coral sand or in moving salty water I’m using lower sensitivities (between 18-21).. In trying to make the coil run ‘better’, I haven’t noticed any real depth loss or gain by mucking around with the sensitivity settings only between the Beach 1 and 2 programs.. Which is the same as the other coils.. I’m finding the same amount of targets at the same depths running within the same sensitivity range I’d normally use in that situation.. The only real variables for me are black sand and moving salty water but these just make the coil a bit noisier compared to the others and don’t seem to effect its overall performance.. In bays with high EMI it sometimes squawks its head off.. Coverage wise this thing is a monster but it’s not much heavier to swing than the other coils.. It’s been great for making sure I’ve covered long stretches of beach as best I could without missing anything too glaringly obvious.. I haven’t used the under-the-armpit-around-the-neck-along-the-arm harness yet but that’s mainly because I’ve been swapping around with lighter coils.. After a long day swinging this coil you’d definitely be a bit sore by sunset.. While I’m waiting for it to stun me with its touted knockout depth, I’ve got no regrets so far about buying the 18’’ Nox coil.. Whatever voodoo it used to sniff out those small coins when the others couldn’t makes it worthy of its place in the toolbox..

I wonder if Minelab could make an update for the Equinox that would make the Vanquish coils compatible with the Equinox. If it could be done, it would be a masterstroke that would surely bring them more benefits. I myself would buy a vanquish just for the coils

Just read in the Manticore section that a possible second update may be coming. Meanwhile those of us with 900s are wondering if there will ever be an update . Back before the first Manticore update someone had posted from the e-mail response they got from Minelab about an update for the 900 and their reply was it would be released when ready. Implying that there was an update coming. Well since the first Manticore update which came with mixed results, it seemed to work well for some and then not so much for others in different parts of the country. So I have to think Minelab may be reworking the updates. SO MINELAB if You're READING, along with addressing the seriously way too jumpy numbers, better target Id's and other issues could you please include in the update, 1 the long noise cancel feature that the Manticore uses. 2 a mineralization meter and 3 please, please, PLEASE a third party headphone option. Thanks in advance. One other issue with the 900 that seems to be constant for me is deeper targets. After 60 + hunts with the 900 I have yet to hit deep coin sized targets, deeper than 4 inches. I thought it might be the ground I hunt but just recently I took the Xterra Pro to one of the same fields I hunt and it started hitting 7 & 8 inch pulltabs right away. As A matter of fact too many if you ask me. In the past I've hunted the same areas with the 800 and had no problems hittting coins at 8+ inches. Has anyone else encountered depth issues with the 900 ? Also a note of interest, in my area, I would say 90 % of the time the 800, 900 and Xterra Pro severely up average the Id numbers. Particularly pennies whether they are Ihps, wheats or memorials doesn't matter. And with the 900 and Xterra, they seem to lowball the numbers for dimes. Minelab help us out, we're waiting.

This afternoon I got in a quick hunt and saw some really nice local waves. It was a great day for them and I remembered my surfing days from Florida and Hawaii. I pretty much gave it up when I moved to California's cold waters. While watching out of the corner of my eye I was looking for a patch. My normal spots were not giving up anything so I moved along until I found a few quarters in between all the pennies. When the new 'hits' ran out I returned to work everything a the spot. It was the best chance I had. There was no time to go to another beach. As luck would have it I got just enough to keep me going without saying 'enough is enough' and out of a scratchy sound came this ring. It is 6.6g. That is for certain. It feels like gold but I really can't tell because the mark (which includes an 'N') has been written over with an inscription. It says "B + C Always 1-20-93" which makes me wonder the materials most in use in 1993. The stone reminds me of glass more than precious but who knows. The break at the resizing area made it sound real scratchy. It didn't have the full tone of a normal ring. It reads 8-9 on my 800/15. There is a green corrosion at the break area/resize area. Could this have been a ring someone inherited and then they resized if for a wedding? That would make the manufacture date and materials somewhat different. It was a good little hunt none the less and I think I go back tomorrow. This was a little 'target' I found before the ring. It really slowed me down a bit as pinpointing it and scooping it up became a problem. Just as I was about to move on I spotted it and felt it with my fingers. It sounds good in the lower teens but to my surprise it has a stone in it or ?? It weighs .25g.

I have not been able to determine the usefulness of the EQX 900 iron bias setting. It appears to only suppress the overall target signal. In the attached video the Nokta Legend has an iron filter, bottle cap reject plus an iron stability setting. It appears the Legend “iron stability” setting isolates and actually addresses false positive signals. What do you think?

Looking at the chart it appears that modern Canadian coins would be discriminated out like a nail or screw, what would be the best setting for these? Any Canadian Equinox hunters out there? I’m a retired complete newbie with a 600 looking for any tips to help me along. Also plan to do some snorkeling in lakes and ocean. Thanks

Have been looking bck. at past post on waterproof headphones for 800 NOX. Just wondering if there is a clear winner ?

Here is the video I did comparing various metal detectors on the buried gold nuggets. You can see in this video which ones do better on various size nuggets. Take this test with a grain of salt. Mineralization, nugget shape, target depth and site conditions will all effect detector performance. This is just a test I did in Arizona so your area could be much different and the nuggets were freshly buried.