Coiltek 10x5 On The Eqx900

[HardPack]

I have only used the EQX 900 with the Colitek 10x5 detecting two high EMI sites so have not fully explored this coil on non-EMI sites. Both of the stock EQX 900 Nox 11” & 6” coils detected both of the EMI sites and were stable at higher sensitivity settings. On the other hand, even with the sensitivity lowered to 15 the Coiltek did not completely settle down. My thoughts were the coil was hyper-sensitivity which could be a good thing on a different site. The Coiltek 10x5 was originally designed for the EQX 800 correct. After reading about the Algoforce E1500 ability to caliber different coils, I started to wonder if perhaps the Coiltek 10x5 is not fully calibered to the EQX 900. What do you think?

[midalake]

On 2/7/2024 at 10:54 AM, HardPack said:

I started to wonder if perhaps the Coiltek 10x5 is not fully calibered to the EQX 900. What do you think?

I have nothing to compare to directly. But you are not the first to bring up issues with Equinox coils and capability. 

[HardPack]

10 hours ago, midalake said:

not the first to bring up issues with Equinox coils and capability. 

Plenty of good reviews of the Coiltek NOX 10x5 on the Equinox 800. Now that the sun has returned I’ll get the Coiltek NOX 10x5 mounted on the Equinox 900 out to a site far from any EMI. Provided the creeks go down. 

[Lynk]

I have some concern my Coiltek 10x5 caused my 900 to act squirrelly, so it's interesting to hear your experience.  Winter hit and have not been able to go out and verify, but I have actually bought another Minelab 6" coil just in case it is an issue. (My other 6" coils are on Nox 800s)

The same Coiltek coil was fine on my 800, so it's not a bad coil at all.  Again, I need to confirm all this as the weather warms, so take my comments with a grain of salt for now.

[HardPack]

Detected a site miles from any known source of EMI, the nearest road was three miles away. The rock formation was mica schist with horizontal bands of quartz. Used all factory pre sets on the EXQ 900, in gold 1 mode, noise cancelled, turned off the auto ground tracking, ground balanced the detector then set sensitivity with CT Nox 10x5 coil close to the ground. Sensitivity at 11 or lower the constant chatter stopped. Eventually moved the sensitivity up to 15, the chatter would subside enough to use while the coil was in motion. Bumped the coil into rocks multiple times to check for possible coil knock, don’t think this is the case. Experimented with field 1 with the save results. Dug all targets, found enough small pieces of lead to indicate the coil was functioning. My guess is the CT Nox 10x5 mounted on the EQX 900 is just more sensitive & noiser than the two stock coils. Time & targets will tell.

[Lynk]

Thanks for your report. I was out yesterday with the 6" coil on the 900 in an area with EMF and it ran fine.  

So maybe the 10x5 may not be as stable/too sensitive on the 900. That makes me wonder if anyone has experienced that with the other Coiltek coils on the 900?

[HardPack]

On 3/11/2024 at 1:32 PM, Lynk said:

So maybe the 10x5 may not be as stable/too sensitive on the 900. That makes me wonder if anyone has experienced that with the other Coiltek coils on the 900?

I did several tests between multiple metal detectors with different DD coils for gold prospecting. The Minelab EQX 900 with the Coiltek 10x5 NOX at sensitivity settings between 8 to 14 detected 0.2 gram and smaller gold flakes. The detection depth varied per soil mineralization and the size of the gold. On the claims prospected a sensitivity setting greater than 14 with CT 10x5 picked up enough EMI to mask smaller near surface small gold. On the other hand the EQX 900 with the stock 6 inch round coil allowed sensitivity settings ranging from 12, 14, 16 and 18 with less of an EMI or ground mineralization impact. The CT 10x5 had a strong detection center line. The higher the sensitivity setting the stronger the detection at the coil tips. For gold prospecting the EQX 900 wider -19 to 99 Target ID range is a plus for sites with a combination of hot rocks and small gold. The hot rocks TID 3 to 5 while the small gold TID 1 to 8, again depending on soil mineralization and target depth. The plus is the CT 10x5 will detect larger deeper gold plus smaller surface gold if the target is detected along the center line tip to tip. The coil edges do detect but on small gold the signal is weak even with headphones. The CT 10x5 NOX is a very sensitive coil so increasing the sensitivity setting will pick up more EMI and ground mineralization without much benefit. For gold detecting with the EQX 900 I keep the recovery at 4,  Iron Bias at 2 (which allows rusted square nail/iron signals to partially come through) then set the sensitivity to the site soil mineralization/EMI. Using the 1 to 99 Discrimination pattern avoids the lower TID ground noises ( -19, -18, -17). Hitting the All Metal horseshoe to verify ferrous (rusted iron) or non-ferrous targets…and dig all when in doubt.