Big Boys Hobbies

The Equinox Line is the Best Sub $1000.00 All Terain Detector on the Market

woodbutcher said:
I like minelab,alot..saw some people say I was basically a hater,,that is so far from the truth.
As far as all terrain machines, minelab was late to the date.Nothing false there,or bad on minelabs part.But let's not put the equinox or minelab up on the top shelf for all terrain machines,,they didn't set the bar.
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It depends on what all terrain bar you are referring.
Go ahead take the At series into the salt water or high mineral ground (and try to distinguish nonferrous from ferrous) in case you get the bright idea to use AM on the AT Max.
Good luck.

You see Equinox is truly an all terrain machine.
 
woodbutcher said:
I like Minelab,but I haven’t seen anyone playing catch-up to Minelab.Kinda the other way around.
Minelab launched the xterra in 2005,,its only midpriced affordable machine for the weekend warrior. Until the equinox this year there’s been a 13 year gap with nothing affordable,unless you consider the go find starter machine.
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tnsharpshooter said:
Imagine.
If Minelab would have made Etrac lite, weighting 3lbs with wireless headphones costing $800.
Then what.
And the detector could indeed use all of the older (non smart) coils currently out there.
Katy bar the door.
Garrett would be stung very hard.
First TeXas and White's as well.
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Minelab does have an 'etrac lite' that is under $1000 for the 'weekend warrior'. The Safari. It uses FBS technology. Its a great machine. The only thing it isn't is waterproof but it works on land and at the salt beach.

The safari has competed in the under $1000 market against the at pro, cz3d, etc. for like 10yrs now.
 
adamBomb said:
Minelab does have an 'etrac lite' that is under $1000 for the 'weekend warrior'. The Safari. It uses FBS technology. Its a great machine. The only thing it isn't is waterproof but it works on land and at the salt beach.

The safari has competed in the under $1000 market against the at pro, cz3d, etc. for like 10yrs now.
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Not quite.
See this link pages 35-36.
Weight looks to be around 4 pounds.
https://www.minelab.com/__files/f/4068/4901-0070-1.1 Instruction Manual Safari_Screen.pdf
 
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adamBomb said:
Minelab does have an 'etrac lite' that is under $1000 for the 'weekend warrior'. The Safari. It uses FBS technology. Its a great machine. The only thing it isn't is waterproof but it works on land and at the salt beach.

The safari has competed in the under $1000 market against the at pro, cz3d, etc. for like 10yrs now.
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I think we do tend to overlook the Safari, which by all accounts is a great machine (I have the Etrac, and the Safari is apparently much the same thing without a few bells and whistles and at a better pricepoint). But it is not waterproof, so wouldn't qualify here...
 
Safari...... It was a great machine and price point until the NOX. Probably time for ML to end production if they haven't already done so.
 
DaviDs said:
Safari...... It was a great machine and price point until the NOX. Probably time for ML to end production if they haven't already done so.
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But the Etrac is better than the Nox for deep high-conductive coins in most land situations (IMHO), so the Safari may be, too. Minelab probably should just lower the price of the Safari a bit.
 
Just returned my NOX 800 to Cabela's. Could not be happier to have the $900+ back in my wallet. After a month plus of testing I concluded it was a waste of money for MY type of Freshwater and beach hunting. I have had a NOX 600 prior to getting the 800 and it performs just the same and is all I need for this specific type of hunting. Any other type of hunting the 800 may suit you better, but for Freshwater lake and beach the 600 is all you need. I was not impressed by the sound quality of the wireless headphones that come with the 800 and if you have a larger head or large ears you will probably have a comfort issue with them. The response time was good though. I will be ordering a different brand off Amazon for my 600. The VDI number accuracy or rather the lack of are a huge let down. I'm not joking that in the sand you never know what you are digging. My XP Deus and even AT Pro you know almost 100% of the time what the target in the sand is. A penny should not have a 8 to 10 number variable, come on Minelab please improve the accuracy with a firmware update. More then glad to film this and post on YouTube for anyone that wishes to claim otherwise, but you have to film and post your proof debunking my claim. I have no plans of getting rid of the 600 and plan on buying a smaller coil for it when they come to market, but it's not my primary machine.

So my response to this thread is that the NOX series is not the one size fits all, end all beat all best deal under $1000. You have to determine what type of hunting you do, because several machines are better in niche hunting types and under $1000.
 
MiTreasureHunter, thank you very much for your response. Like you, the 600 was more than enough for my hunting needs. Obviously there are machines that will do one thing or another better than the Nox. If those things are particularly important to you then them over the Nox is a no brainer. The question is this is there a machine, sub 1000.00 that can cover all terrains, land, fresh, salt, gold, relic, coin... as well as the Nox. Kruzer looks to be in the running. I'd like to see some comparison videos of the two.

BCD



MiTreasureHunter said:
Just returned my NOX 800 to Cabela's. Could not be happier to have the $900+ back in my wallet. After a month plus of testing I concluded it was a waste of money for MY type of Freshwater and beach hunting. I have had a NOX 600 prior to getting the 800 and it performs just the same and is all I need for this specific type of hunting. Any other type of hunting the 800 may suit you better, but for Freshwater lake and beach the 600 is all you need. I was not impressed by the sound quality of the wireless headphones that come with the 800 and if you have a larger head or large ears you will probably have a comfort issue with them. The response time was good though. I will be ordering a different brand off Amazon for my 600. The VDI number accuracy or rather the lack of are a huge let down. I'm not joking that in the sand you never know what you are digging. My XP Deus and even AT Pro you know almost 100% of the time what the target in the sand is. A penny should not have a 8 to 10 number variable, come on Minelab please improve the accuracy with a firmware update. More then glad to film this and post on YouTube for anyone that wishes to claim otherwise, but you have to film and post your proof debunking my claim. I have no plans of getting rid of the 600 and plan on buying a smaller coil for it when they come to market, but it's not my primary machine.

So my response to this thread is that the NOX series is not the one size fits all, end all beat all best deal under $1000. You have to determine what type of hunting you do, because several machines are better in niche hunting types and under $1000.
Click to expand...
 
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BufordCityDawg said:
MiTreasureHunter, thank you very much for your response. Like you, the 600 was more than enough for my hunting needs. Obviously there are machines that will do one thing or another better than the Nox. If those things are particularly important to you then them over the Nox is a no brainer. The question is this is there a machine, sub 1000.00 that can cover all terrains, land, fresh, salt, gold, relic, coin... as well as the Nox. Kruzer looks to be in the running. I'd like to see some comparison videos of the two.

BCD
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There are a lot of detectors that ID better than the Nox but are not water proof.

If you list the Kruzer, you also have to list the AT series of detectors and the Quest Pro because they are all single frequency detectors meaning they operate in one frequency at a time and would not be very good in or around salt water.
 
graybeard said:
There are a lot of detectors that ID better than the Nox but are not water proof.

If you list the Kruzer, you also have to list the AT series of detectors and the Quest Pro because they are all single frequency detectors meaning they operate in one frequency at a time and would not be very good in or around salt water.
Click to expand...

Kruzer works in salt which is why I am allowing it for comparison sake.

BCD
 
graybeard said:
There are a lot of detectors that ID better than the Nox but are not water proof.
Click to expand...
NOX is so sensitive it can tell the difference between a modern penny, all copper penny and corroded penny. This is the reason for variance. Most folks mistake this amazing performance for quite the opposite.
 
DD - really? I’m curious under what circumstances you have observed this via the audio or screen indications and how you validated that this was indeed happening.

Not saying you are wrong, just saying that I haven’t experienced this with my Nox.
 
BufordCityDawg said:
Kruzer works in salt which is why I am allowing it for comparison sake.

BCD
Click to expand...

Kruzer works in salt. So does a bounty hunter and EVERY MACHINE made. The challenge is does it work as effectively in the dry as it does i the wet, and while transitioning between the two? MF-VLF machines can maintain their depth and sensitivity while scanning back-and-forth between dry, wet, and submerged without having to fuss with settings and such. So if I get 11" in the dry, I can usually get 11" in the wet.

I finally had the chance to see the Multi-Kruzer at the beach. You can tune it to work in each setting and it's impressive for a single frequency machine. But the salt and black sand in NE Florida quickly revealed the Kruzer's shortcomings.

Significant falsing happens when the Kruzer transitions between dry sand and saturated wet sand. We had to lower the sens and change the frequency. There were spots we could wade and it was fine, then spots were we waded and again found ourselves making adjustments and lower the sens.

If you take the lowest sensitivity, you could transfer from the ocean to the wet to the dry, but unlike a true MF-VLF, we lost depth and sensitivity to small objects. So if we maxed the Kruzer at 13" in the dry, we may only achieve 6" in the wet. More importantly, the Kruzer tasked its operator with relentless adjustments to maintain optimal functionality.

Again, these are my results from a harsh and dynamic environment. Others may have better luck in their area.
 
lytle78 said:
DD - really? I’m curious under what circumstances you have observed this via the audio or screen indications and how you validated that this was indeed happening.

Not saying you are wrong, just saying that I haven’t experienced this with my Nox.
Click to expand...

I think if most folks are diligent enough, they'll learn the trends. For those that want resources, it's in the books and when I have time will create a video too.
 
DaviDs said:
NOX is so sensitive it can tell the difference between a modern penny, all copper penny and corroded penny. This is the reason for variance. Most folks mistake this amazing performance for quite the opposite.
Click to expand...

LOL that is grand and hope your not trying to be serious. I guess it's so sensitive it must be able to detect different years and Mint facilities also and that goes for All US coins, not just a Penny. Please elaborate then how the same penny can jump between 14 and say 26, and this is repeatable. Out of 2 machines neither held a solid number for a single coin ever in the ground. Only out of the ground air tests showed a solid locked number.
 
DaviDs said:
NOX is so sensitive it can tell the difference between a modern penny, all copper penny and corroded penny. This is the reason for variance. Most folks mistake this amazing performance for quite the opposite.
Click to expand...

Although I have no proof of that, I believe the same.
If user programming of the software had been made available, one could change that so the Nox wasn't so discernable in that area. You could make it read like an older machine .. ..
 
OzarkDetector said:
Although I have no proof of that, I believe the same.
If user programming of the software had been made available, one could change that so the Nox wasn't so discernable in that area. You could make it read like an older machine .. ..
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User programming of the software? There would be no faster way to brick a metal detector ever.
 
OzarkDetector said:
Although I have no proof of that, I believe the same. .. ..
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Yep!

MiTreasureHunter said:
LOL that is grand and hope your not trying to be serious...
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Quite serious. We both have an experience that is unique to our machines and environments. However, my initial statement was based on NOX guide book publications and then confirmed with (2) 600's and an 800 with repeatable results.

In FL, many of our pennies are fresh drops or look like this...
 

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DD - honest, I though you were kidding. If the Nox can really do that then it should have no problem telling the each of same penny types from any other object and a nickel from any aluminum no matter what.

It will take a pretty good video or the testimony of several folks whose expertise is well established for me to buy it. The general consensus among most folks who have posted their experiences is that the Nox’s weakest feature (after the wobble rod) is it’s compressed and jumpy VID readings.

You wrote “tell the difference between a modern penny, all copper penny and corroded penny. This is the reason for variance.”

Can anybody do this or is some special training required?.

When somebody has buried 40 targets, 30 of them pennies (10 copper, 10 zinc ones and 10 corroded zinc pennies), 10 of them various non-ferrous junk - and then somebody else comes along and calls all 40, we will see what percentage were called correctly - then we will have some quantifiable results. When that has been done 10 times or so, we will have some indication of whether what you believe to be the case is correct.

Not saying you are wrong, just saying that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”. (The so called Sagan standard - Carl Sagan said it first)
 
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lytle78 said:
DD - honest, I though you were kidding. If the Nox can really do that then it should have no problem telling the each of same penny types from any other object and a nickel from any aluminum no matter what.
Not saying you are wrong, just saying that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof”.
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I have nothing to gain from sitting at a computer and making lofty claims. Try testing them yourself and you should find the same. My claims aren't some new found epiphany, nor are they original. These statements, along with technical explanations, are already in publication. :D
 
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