Equinox 900 Coin Hunt High Mineralization

[phrunt]

The thing that bugged me and the reason I never took the Legend path is because at first it seemed Nokta was going to allow aftermarket coils on their detectors as previous models were allowing it then the Simplex came along and Detech was able to do some coils for it in a partnership type situation, Nel announced Simplex coils that never happened as for whatever reason Nokta wouldn't supply them with what they needed to make the coils, then they were no longer going to make coils for Nokta's modern detectors.  I'm not sure what went on there but it was some sort of coil protection Nokta has implemented, this was so disappointing.  I realize they want to sell their own coils but the one thing that they could have potentially had over the other brands is being welcoming and open to aftermarket coils.  The good thing is they have Detech coils available for the earlier model Simplex which probably can't be used on the new Simplex models but I've not seen anything from Detech either for the Legend which I'm sure they'd jump on if able to with how well it's been selling.

All I ask is a Nel Snake type coil on any of these Multi-IQ machines and I'll stop whinging 🙂   Maybe that's going to take Garrett to come out with a competitive multi freaker for it to happen, they seem the only one left not trying to prevent aftermarket coils.

[Jeff McClendon]

13 minutes ago, phrunt said:

The thing that bugged me and the reason I never took the Legend path is because at first it seemed Nokta was going to allow aftermarket coils on their detectors as previous models were allowing it then the Simplex came along and Detech was able to do some coils for it in a partnership type situation, Nel announced Simplex coils that never happened as for whatever reason Nokta wouldn't supply them with what they needed to make the coils, then they were no longer going to make coils for Nokta's modern detectors.  I'm not sure what went on there but it was some sort of coil protection Nokta has implemented, this was so disappointing.  I realize they want to sell their own coils but the one thing that they could have potentially had over the other brands is being welcoming and open to aftermarket coils.  The good thing is they have Detech coils available for the earlier model Simplex which probably can't be used on the new Simplex models but I've not seen anything from Detech either for the Legend which I'm sure they'd jump on if able to with how well it's been selling.

All I ask is a Nel Snake type coil on any of these Multi-IQ machines and I'll stop whinging 🙂   Maybe that's going to take Garrett to come out with a competitive multi freaker for it to happen, they seem the only one left not trying to prevent aftermarket coils.

Maybe this situation also has something to do with no Nel coils for the newer Simplex/Legend.

https://nel-coils.com/index.php/en/

[phrunt]

4 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Maybe this has something to do with no Nel coils for the newer Simplex/Legend.

https://nel-coils.com/index.php/en/

No, it happened before that.  I was talking to Nel about it on email about making the Snake for my Simplex and they said they can't do it because of Nokta but it is hard to understand them with the translations but they said they wont be releasing Nokta coils.  Their Simplex coils were advertised as coming soon on their site for over a year before the mess in Ukraine and never released.

[Chase Goldman]

2 hours ago, phrunt said:

I realize they want to sell their own coils but the one thing that they could have potentially had over the other brands is being welcoming and open to aftermarket coils. 

Lack of 3rd party coil support for Nokta is less of an issue than it is for Minelab as Nokta had two accessory coils available AT RELEASE for Legend and then provided 2 more less than a year later for a total of 5 coils and all are reasonably priced and cover the bases from 6" round, to small elliptical, to stock round, to mid-elliptical, up to large elliptical.  For Manticore, three months in...just promises and crickets.

[phrunt]

9 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Lack of 3rd party coil support for Nokta is less of an issue than it is for Minelab.

So very true. All I want is a little Snake 6.5x3.5" , I don't care who makes it although the tried and true Nel version would be fantastic, it's a brilliant little coil 😉 I said from day 1 I'd buy a Legend if it got a Snake coil, never happened, never got a Legend.

At the moment for that sort of size in a high frequency VLF I'm having to use my Gold Bug 2, I have a Nel Snake for my Gold Bug Pro but the detector itself being only 19kHz lacks the sensitivity I desire so defeats the purpose of using it.  I just want a Snake on a modern multi frequency machine, I don't care who makes the machine or coil, I just want it now damn it 😛

It's just a shame seeing manufacturers moving away from allowing aftermarket coils as their offerings don't always suit everyone and it's not viable I guess for them to make a big range especially with lesser selling sizes and that's where the aftermarket really took over, they just don't like when the aftermarket make better coils than theirs I guess.

 

[MSC]

Really nice finds Jeff. 

[dr_maddog]

Thanks Jeff for the detailed write up about a  successful park hunt.  As a new user to the 900 I appreciate the details for the detector setup.

[Steve Herschbach]

19 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Equinox 800 or 900 for gold prospecting in streams......I would pick the 900 with the 6" coil or the Coiltek 10x5" coil and hope that it won't leak.

Legend is also a very good alternative for gold prospecting in streams with its 6" or 10x5" coils.

I have the three oldest Equinox in the country, spent plenty of time underwater, and never had a leak. For every Equinox that ever leaked, hundreds did not. It’s a fact that improving the waterproof integrity of the new Manticore/Equinox/Xterra models was a major design goal, reflected in the increased depth rating. This is one concern I think you may be overemphasizing Jeff.

[Jeff McClendon]

19 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I have the three oldest Equinox in the country, spent plenty of time underwater, and never had a leak. For every Equinox that ever leaked, hundreds did not. It’s a fact that improving the waterproof integrity of the new Manticore/Equinox/Xterra models was a major design goal, reflected in the increased depth rating. This is one concern I think you may be overemphasizing Jeff.

I still have my original Equinox 800. It also has never leaked. It has been submerged a handful of times for maybe 8 hours total. Many water hunters have their detectors submerged that much in a day and repeat that daily. Some have reported multiple leaking 600/800s. Others haven't reported leaking or just haven't reported in general.

I finally had two 11" coils with cracking coil ears last year. That took thousands of hours of mostly dry land use but it did happen.

Anyone new to the Equinox that is expecting the 700/900 to be the "answer" as far as constant submerged usage or even occasional submerged usage needs to know there have been issues with the very similar 600/800 in my opinion. How big they were.....I don't know.

[Steve Herschbach]

4 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

I still have my original Equinox 800. It also has never leaked. It has been submerged a handful of times for maybe 8 hours total. Many water hunters have their detectors submerged that much in a day and repeat that daily. Some have reported multiple leaking 600/800s. Others haven't reported leaking or just haven't reported in general.

I finally had two 11" coils with cracking coil ears last year. That took thousands of hours of mostly dry land use but it did happen.

Anyone new to the Equinox that is expecting the 700/900 to be the "answer" as far as constant submerged usage or even occasional submerged usage needs to know there have been issues with the very similar 600/800 in my opinion. How big they were.....I don't know.

I agree. But these are not the 600 and 800 - completely new housing, no matter how similar it looks. The fact the issue existed in the 600 and 800 and were specifically addressed in the 700 and 900 should actually give people confidence, not the other way around. Engineer jobs are on the line with this one. Fail once - oops. Fail twice when you know about an issue the second time around, time to look for another job.

But as in all things new, only time will tell.