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Wanting a new Machine have 3 sort of picked out.

luked

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2011
Messages
381
so I am looking at getting a new machine. I have a Tecknetics Omega 8000 that I will probably pass down to my son for him to use.
the 3 I am looking at are the
XP Deus
Equinox 800
eTrac

I am mainly a coin shooter right now and I know the eTrac is a coin magnet, but the higher priced of the 3 also.
I have been doing some reading and see a lot love the 800.

so would like to hear some opinions from you all

Thanks
 
Sort of depends on the type of spots you'd be hunting, but for general US coin shooting at sites with average soil/iron/trash conditions, I'd rank them in this order:
1) Etrac
2) Nox 800
3) XP Deus

The reason I'd put the Etrac first is because you said you're mainly a coin shooter. In my mind, this means exactly what it sounds like.. Cherry picking coin signals while skipping over most other target ranges. FBS tones, accurate TID & accurate depth meter gives you a LOT of information about the target. Makes it easy to pick out deeper coin signals, skipping right over the modern/unwanted stuff and quickly moving on to the next desirable coin target. Huge advantage. When it comes to this type of hunting, nothing beats an FBS detector IMHO.

For someone who is more of a relic hunter I'd rank them in the exact opposite order. Deus, Nox, then Etrac last. The Equinox remains in the middle because it's pretty dang good at both coins and relics, even though it wouldn't be my #1 pick for either category. IMHO, where the Equinox really excels is picking out good targets from extremely trashy "hunted out" sites. It doesn't have the most accurate or stable TID & depth meter, but it makes up for it with its ability to tag some tough targets that other machines simply cannot see due to co-located junk.

A few other things to consider:
1) Etrac requires a slower swing speed in trashier sites.
2) Etrac is noticeably heavier.
3) Equinox and Deus will hit small low conductors harder.
4) Nox is good to go for water hunting.
5) Learning curve (IMHO) from easiest to most difficult would be Etrac, Equinox, Deus. Deus is a great machine but it took me a little longer to sort out iron vs good targets. YMMV.

I've put lots of hours on all three of those detectors but keep in mind everything here is just my opinion. Others may disagree.
 
Great reply thanks a lot for the info.
one other question. I have had an eTrac in the past but was probably around 5 years ago and I really did not have it very long and had to sell it (x wife deal)
so I really never got to use it a lot at all and its always been a machine I wish I had just because I know its popularity on coins.

with that said I have also talked to a few people and they say that the 800 is very close to depth of the eTrac with a larger coil say a 15" DD coil. have you had any experience with that by chance?

I know there is a tad bit of difference in the cost of the 2 but also want to get the best bang for the buck I can.

I do plan to keep my Tek Omega 8000 if I ever were to do any relic hunting of any kind also.
 
Great reply thanks a lot for the info.
one other question. I have had an eTrac in the past but was probably around 5 years ago and I really did not have it very long and had to sell it (x wife deal)
so I really never got to use it a lot at all and its always been a machine I wish I had just because I know its popularity on coins.

with that said I have also talked to a few people and they say that the 800 is very close to depth of the eTrac with a larger coil say a 15" DD coil. have you had any experience with that by chance?

I know there is a tad bit of difference in the cost of the 2 but also want to get the best bang for the buck I can.

I do plan to keep my Tek Omega 8000 if I ever were to do any relic hunting of any kind also.

From what I've seen, with the OEM 11" coil the Equinox and Etrac/CTX are about even on depth with mid to high conductors. On small lower conductors the Equinox is deeper. I never tried the larger 15" coil so can't speak on that.
 
Some members of my club use the XP Deus,and they consistently find more coins at the club hunts, but boy!, that's an expensive machine.
I went with the Equinox and happy with the performance and light weight.
 
XP Deus and even the XP ORX are super fast recovery speed detectors with great target separation that are very easy to swing (2.2 lbs), fairly easy to learn, can go deep in good soil conditions and have fantastic audio adjustments and responses and just so/so numerical target ID responses. On deep coin sized objects (past 6 to 8" where I live) I only get tones and 99 or no numerical target ID.

Equinox 600 and 800 have almost as fast recovery speed with great target separation. They are a bit heavier and not as nice ergonomically than the Deus but nothing like the really heavy Etrac. They have very good tone options and outstanding numerical target ID even in badly mineralized dirt. I can hit 10"+ coin sized targets with accurate target ID and tones in my bad dirt. I have dug some 14" targets at salt beaches which had good enough numbers and tone that I knew it was a high, medium or low conductor. With most other detectors, targets that deep are usually beep, forget the numerical target ID, dig and hope......

The Nox 600 is a great detector by the way. So is the XP ORX and some dealers are still selling the XP Deus Lite too.

Jeff
 
I would agree with most of Rattlehead's assessment. What I will add is that while the E-Trac is a great coin sniffer a bit of time with the NOX 800 and it does just as well if not better as strictly a coin shooter. I use both the Deus & Equinox 800 currently but will eliminate one of them once I've made my final determination. I used the E-Trac for a good 7 years and loved it to death. Never thought I'd ever replace it but here I am with no E-Trac.
 
saw the like new eTrac in the for sale section here so im gonna go with that one. I had one years ago but that was before the Nox series but due to some life events at the time had to get rid of it so never really got to use it much at all. So after some looking and talking to some of the dealers here as well as some people im gonna give the eTrac another try. I might be making a mistake not going with the Nox 800 and I know the eTrac is a lot lighter than the Nox but if nothing else ill run the eTrac a while and maybe possibly get a Nox 800 in the future and see which one I like best and go from there.

there are so many choices out there now days it makes it nice but on the other hand makes it hard to determine which way to go. so im gonna choose the eTrac and see what happens
 
FBS is still king for coinshooting IMO. You said that's what your looking to do most, so I'd say you made a great decision! The etrac is second to maybe only one for deep coins, the CTX. :my2cents: good luck and happy hunting!
 
I went from an E-Trac to a Nox and have never regretted it. That should say something. BTW found more IHP's and Nickels than ever before this year
 
Well done đź‘Ť

I’ll second what the mighty Dewsweeper said...FBS in general is just our preference for hunting deep old coins in public places that are sometimes on the verge of impossible to hunt for various reasons. We live in a region that has a massive amount of glacial till, so soil changes radically everywhere you go. The ability of Multi frequency machines to sort out the ground signal from the coin is incredibly important, and makes a hell of a difference, believe it or not. That’s where WE live, and a huge reason why they work here. Anybody cranking out 100+ silver coins out of public places... in this state... on this forum.... use a Multi frequency machine.
The thing about something like the eTrac is this. You have to use it ALOT to realize what’s going on and to get the most out of it. That’s with anything, but it’s REALLY true in this case. Just go use it, and TRUST what it’s telling you. Dew can help you out, and there are other VERY good eTrac operators on here as well, just ask!
Can you tell it’s winter time here?? 50 MPH wind outside right now at about 10 degrees. Not so good...:no:
 
Some members of my club use the XP Deus,and they consistently find more coins at the club hunts, but boy!, that's an expensive machine.
I went with the Equinox and happy with the performance and light weight.

Yeah, $1500.00 Ouch! Plus too many adjustments for me.
 
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