Equinox 600 - Not finding much?

longbow62 said:

Unless a person has a lot of changing ground conditions I would not run with ground tracking on.

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What would be the downside? Reduced battery life? Missed targets because ground balance gets thrown wildly off by a small area of high or low mineralization? Processing power being dedicated to ground balancing rather than target sensing/identification? I'm just making those up and have no idea if they are even true.

While I don't think small differences in ground balance is hugely important for the Nox in searching for coins in dirt, what can it hurt? Why not have it adjust automatically if you unknowingly step and stay in an area with wildly different mineralization?

longbow62 said:

If a person is hunting in trashy ground they need to hunt in Park2. That's iron or modern trash. I would not use Park1 for anything but very clean areas. I think I have found almost all my silver with the Equinox running in Park2.

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I generally agree. I think a newbie could get pretty frustrated digging A LOT more trash than necessary running Park 2 in an area with a wide range of metal trash. Not only are they going to hear a lot of sketchy higher tone beeps in 50 tones that are unrelated to coins/silver, they'll hear more falsing iron due to the low level of iron bias. Of course, that's also what makes it so good at finding partially masked silver.

One of the great things about the Nox, is how you can customize the modes to make blended versions of them. For example, some people like to run Park 1 in 50 tones to get a bit more audio detail, but still quiet things down by having Park 1's high level of iron bias, slightly slower recovery speed, and weighting on the lower frequencies. One could get used to that for awhile and then make the switch to Park 2 eventually. (Running Park 2 in 5 tones makes a bit less sense because you're losing much of the extra audio detail you get from the rest of the Park 2 default settings.)

longbow62 said:

The Equinox is without a doubt one of the top 4 detectors made. If a person hunting with an Equinox is getting out hunted by an ATpro on a regular basis it's because they don't know their machine. The Equinox is a great silver machine and in some situations I think it's the best silver machine.

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Just curious, but which machines would you rank as the other three?

Pete e said:

Just curious, but which machines would you rank as the other three?

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CTX, Etrac, Xp Deus.

ToySoldier said:

What would be the downside? Reduced battery life? Missed targets because ground balance gets thrown wildly off by a small area of high or low mineralization? Processing power being dedicated to ground balancing rather than target sensing/identification? I'm just making those up and have no idea if they are even true.

While I don't think small differences in ground balance is hugely important for the Nox in searching for coins in dirt, what can it hurt? Why not have it adjust automatically if you unknowingly step and stay in an area with wildly different mineralization?




I generally agree. I think a newbie could get pretty frustrated digging A LOT more trash than necessary running Park 2 in an area with a wide range of metal trash. Not only are they going to hear a lot of sketchy higher tone beeps in 50 tones that are unrelated to coins/silver, they'll hear more falsing iron due to the low level of iron bias. Of course, that's also what makes it so good at finding partially masked silver.

One of the great things about the Nox, is how you can customize the modes to make blended versions of them. For example, some people like to run Park 1 in 50 tones to get a bit more audio detail, but still quiet things down by having Park 1's high level of iron bias, slightly slower recovery speed, and weighting on the lower frequencies. One could get used to that for awhile and then make the switch to Park 2 eventually. (Running Park 2 in 5 tones makes a bit less sense because you're losing much of the extra audio detail you get from the rest of the Park 2 default settings.)

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Steve Herschbach DetectorProspector site. "For me the key to using ground tracking is that the ground must be highly variable. It is not how highly mineralized the ground is but how variable it is that matters. If the ground is relatively homogenous I don’t see a need to track the ground and in fact I would tend to recommend against it."


"In very low mineral / low salt ground there may not be enough mineral content to track to and the machine could run away with itself as you have described."

I have read in multiple places to keep auto tracking turned off. I saw a video on youtube of a class someone in England was putting on. The instructor was going through the ground balance procedures and emphasized keeping ground tracking turned off.

Park2 has just been the overall best performer for me. Park1 should hit silver better, but as I mentioned I think it works best in low trash areas. You are right about Park2 falsing on iron more with the default iron bias set all the way at 0. The thing is as you raise the iron bias number in any program you can loose those short high tones that clue you in on a target with partial masking around it. Also I am fooled by iron in Park1 more than I am Park2 if you try to lower the iron bias down in Park1 to catch those short deep high tones beeps. I think the reason the default iron bias is set higher in Park1 is simply because Park1 frequencies are more prone to iron falsing than the frequencies used by Park2. Hence the lower default iron bias setting in Park2.

I will use as an example of one park I hunt that has been hammered by many top in machines. This example shows why Park2 out performs Park1 in certain scenarios. This park does not have a lot of non ferrous thrash. I would call it medium trash levels of both deeper iron and shallow nonferrous. I knew a lot of silver had been found there, but after hunting it numerous times had found none. Once I hunted it with a buddy and he was using his etrac and I was using a Nokta Impact. We found no silver. He had always went on about how much silver he had pulled from the park, but it had finally dried up. He uses the CTX and Etrac. One day I decided to try the park again because of lack of other places to hunt. I had not hit it with the Equinox yet. I had the Equinox for about two months at the time and had decided Park2 in 5 tones worked best for me. I started finding a few deep wheats and then 2 very deep Mercs about six foot apart that first hunt. Anyway after many more hunts I ended up finding 9 Mercs, a silver war nickel, 1 buffalo, and many wheat cents. All were 6" plus, and some were very deep. I tried Park1 several times and never found a silver using it. In fact I dug more deep rusty iron nails in Park1 than I did Park2. I did not find huge amounts of silver but did find enough to be worth it to me. The thing is I was finding one or two Mercs every time I hunted it for awhile. It finally dried up even for the Equinox.

People should definitely use whatever works best for them. For me Noise cancel then ground balance in a clean spot with ground tracking off. Park2 overall works better than Park1, and is my go to program.

Longbow62, I agree with you about keeping ground balance tracking OFF unless it is absolutely necessary.

According to the Equinox Manual's description of Multi IQ multiple frequency technology, the Nox is already doing a form of automatic ground balance tracking no matter what form of ground balance is being used. Using multiple frequencies simultaneously means that there are two or more different optimal ground balance values being measured simultaneously too. Different frequencies have different ground balance values. The Nox has to constantly track and calculate those multiple optimal ground balance values in order for them to be combined into one ground balance number for us to ground balance to. Putting the Nox into ground tracking just adds another layer of filtering in my opinion.

Whether that effects sensitivity and depth is another discussion.


Jeff

longbow62 said:

........I think the reason the default iron bias is set higher in Park1 is simply because Park1 frequencies are more prone to iron falsing than the frequencies used by Park2. Hence the lower default iron bias setting in Park2......

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That's an excellent observation.

Do you still use Park2 in 5 tones as you mentioned in your post? If so, you must not feel the loss of more descriptive audio (especially in the high end) is all that important. Or, are you changing the tone bins or checking the VDIs to get more info about what's happening the in the higher end?

I will have to try Park 2 with default settings to see how that plays out for me. I have to admit in Park 1 I was CONSTANTLY pulling square nails from the ground and they were high ringing/sounding signals.

ToySoldier said:

That's an excellent observation.

Do you still use Park2 in 5 tones as you mentioned in your post? If so, you must not feel the loss of more descriptive audio (especially in the high end) is all that important. Or, are you changing the tone bins or checking the VDIs to get more info about what's happening the in the higher end?

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The tone bins have been changed to my liking in both pitch and volume. I do check the I.D. after the tone alerts me. I see many post on how tone is more important than I.D.. I myself hold the V.I.D. in high regard no matter the machine I am using. I personally would not want to hunt with tone alone.

longbow62 said:

The tone bins have been changed to my liking in both pitch and volume. I do check the I.D. after the tone alerts me. I see many post on how tone is more important than I.D.. I myself hold the V.I.D. in high regard no matter the machine I am using. I personally would not want to hunt with tone alone.

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After many years in the Forces, and also shooting and hunting in civvie street, my hearing is not what it should be, so I find interpreting the subtle differences in tones very difficult meaning I also rely on the VID a lot..

I have only ever used a Racer 2 and while generally happy with it, I wish the VIDs were a bit more consistent..

Next year I plan to upgrade, and one of my main "wants" is a machine with better VIDs....From what I have read, the CTX 3030 seems about the best, but all in all, I think Nox800 might be more practical not to mention more affordable....

I’ve owned the etrac and ctx3030 and now the NOX600. The level of accuracy for the VDI in each is really close to the same.

If everyone is honest with themselves who own minelabs, specifically the ctx and NOX owners. The NOX really seems to be a CTX Lite. By that I mean the software is lighter. There’s no GPS, no custom programming, etc. I believe the frequencies and the VDI sensitivity and accuracy are quite the same. Of course CTX owners will disagree to keep the perceived value of their machines higher, but let’s be real.

Having owned them all, I see no true difference in the actual VDI accuracy.

TheCoilist said:

I’ve owned the etrac and ctx3030 and now the NOX600. The level of accuracy for the VDI in each is really close to the same.

If everyone is honest with themselves who own minelabs, specifically the ctx and NOX owners. The NOX really seems to be a CTX Lite. By that I mean the software is lighter. There’s no GPS, no custom programming, etc. I believe the frequencies and the VDI sensitivity and accuracy are quite the same. Of course CTX owners will disagree to keep the perceived value of their machines higher, but let’s be real.


Having owned them all, I see no true difference in the actual VDI accuracy.

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I believe in clean ground the CTX and Etrac have a distinct edge in both hunting by tone and V.I.D.. Throw either of those in even low to medium trashy ground and the tone and V.I.D. in my opinion are no better than the Equinox. Just this week I had a great dime signal that was probably going to be silver due to depth. I had my buddy swing his Etrac over it from multiple directions and he said he would not dig it. It was a solid dime signal on the Nox 800. I am not sure why his Etrac would not tone or I.D. the dime. The yard was kind of trashy. It was a Merc, one of 3 I found in that yard. That being said if I am cherry picking a clean yard for silver and I want to make sure I dig as little as possible then the Etrac is what I use. In clean ground it I.D.'s with great tones and numbers.

Pete e said:

After many years in the Forces, and also shooting and hunting in civvie street, my hearing is not what it should be, so I find interpreting the subtle differences in tones very difficult meaning I also rely on the VID a lot..

I have only ever used a Racer 2 and while generally happy with it, I wish the VIDs were a bit more consistent..

Next year I plan to upgrade, and one of my main "wants" is a machine with better VIDs....From what I have read, the CTX 3030 seems about the best, but all in all, I think Nox800 might be more practical not to mention more affordable....

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The Nox 800 in my opinion is probably the best all around detector especially for the money. I have yet to swing over a target an Etrac hit that the Nox didn't also hit and I.D. well. I can also say on numerous occasions the Etrac has failed to I.D. silver the Nox hit! I really can't speak to the CTX because I have not used one or compared signals with one. Like I wrote above in clean ground the CTX and Etrac are amazing cherry picking machines as long as it's cleaner ground.

Thanks Gents,

Not sure if you guys get much coke in the ground over there? Its fairly common over here and on a couple of my permissions its quite bad...My mates Nox800 seems to be able to discriminate it out where as my Racer2 just loves the stuff...

The problem is that it comes up with a range of VDI and tones, often mimicking good targets so quite often catches me out....

If the Nox gets around this (or at least reduces the occurrences) it will be worth the upgrade alone...

The only other machine I am considering is the Xp Deus, but trying to get an accurate/unbiased comparison between it and the Nox is difficult.

The one thing I do like about the Deus is that there are a number of excellent tutorials on Youtube obviously sponsored by Xp..

They are very professional and very comprehensive and are a great resource for somebody relatively new to the hobby like myself...

Pete e said:

Strange how you guys are struggling with silver with the Nox.

Below is a hammered penny from the early 1300's...

Its a little smaller than a modern US One Cent and probably about half the thickness..

I found this particular coin with my Racer 2 but my mate has found similar with his Nox as have many other Nox owners over here...

Many have also found "cut halves" and "cut quarters" of these coins which are really small....

All in all both the 600 and 800 have good reputations for finding these which is one of the reasons these detectors are so popular over here...

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Your Hammered silvers are in a much lower conductive range than the silver coins here so it stands to reason why they are working so well over there. The Equinox will pull silver here as well, there are many machines that do well on silver here, including your racer 2.

bibelot said:

Your Hammered silvers are in a much lower conductive range than the silver coins here so it stands to reason why they are working so well over there. The Equinox will pull silver here as well, there are many machines that do well on silver here, including your racer 2.

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Thanks for that, if I decided to upgrade my detector, the Nox is looking to be the likely candidate so I am interested in hearing the negatives as well as the positives about it..

So to clarify, are you saying the Nox is struggling on silver coins with higher conductivity? Would that include coins such as silver dollars from the late 1800's?

The reason I ask is that I have a couple and might try some ground tests...
Regards
Peter

TheCoilist said:

I’ve owned the etrac and ctx3030 and now the NOX600. The level of accuracy for the VDI in each is really close to the same.

If everyone is honest with themselves who own minelabs, specifically the ctx and NOX owners. The NOX really seems to be a CTX Lite. By that I mean the software is lighter. There’s no GPS, no custom programming, etc. I believe the frequencies and the VDI sensitivity and accuracy are quite the same. Of course CTX owners will disagree to keep the perceived value of their machines higher, but let’s be real.

Having owned them all, I see no true difference in the actual VDI accuracy.

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While I don’t agree with most of this, it doesn’t matter. What matters are RESULTS for each person. I could be swinging a squash on a broomstick and if it found me deep old coins then that’s what I’d use. But between the 800 and CTX there’s been NO comparison so far...CTX hands down. It’s fascinating how 2 different operators can have results that differ so wildly with the same machine(s) but that speaks to all of the variables that are really involved with detecting in general.

Here in the USA in parks, beaches and public areas there is LOTS of aluminum trash of all sizes. The Equinox strongest suit by design is the iron to copper target range or -9 to +25 target IDs. It will find silver of any quality, no problem. I have found plenty of silver coins and jewelry with mine. I have also found over $3000 US in melt value gold jewelry and gold nuggets in a year and a half. I have also found two 5 gallon buckets full of pull tabs and small coin-sized aluminum trash without even considering the full buried cans that I try to avoid. That is the price I have had to pay to find the gold. Yeah, I get tired of digging aluminum. Aluminum is a mid to low conductor. The Nox will hit hard on it again, by design. I just consider finding aluminum targets to be one target closer to finding gold.

As far as what is the Equinox. It is not a CTX or an Etrac (much wider and better target ID scale for one thing) which are definitely built with a bias towards mid to high conductors and the Equinox should not be compared to them or work like them in my opinion. I see the Equinox more as a combination of the X-Terra 705, Eureka gold/Gold Monster and the Explorer series but with target recovery speed, unmasking ability and target separation that only XP can top. Just my opinion.

Jeff

Hi,
Also Coilist, if you just want to have a blast searching for US copper pennies, dimes, quarters, half dollars, Susan B Anthony, Sacajawea and Presidential dollars, or silver dollars, silver jewelry, etc. notch out -9 to +21, use Park or Field modes and go cherry picking. It's fun. Just remember that aluminum screw caps will hit hard at 22 and 23, buried cans can also scream anywhere in this range +22 to +40 (just size the target to avoid them) and check your mid 20s targets and 39 to 40 targets with the horseshoe button for iron falsing and iron wrap around. You can also turn up your threshold tone so that it is audible. It will null on any discriminated target ID number. Since the Nox is simultaneous multi frequency there should be no effect on depth using discrimination.

have fun,
Jeff

Pete e said:

Thanks for that, if I decided to upgrade my detector, the Nox is looking to be the likely candidate so I am interested in hearing the negatives as well as the positives about it..

So to clarify, are you saying the Nox is struggling on silver coins with higher conductivity? Would that include coins such as silver dollars from the late 1800's?

The reason I ask is that I have a couple and might try some ground tests...
Regards
Peter

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I really would be near the last person to ask for I am becoming quite biased for a different brand. I have 8 machines for sale which leaves my XP deus left. The new 9" x 35 coil is simply astounding. I plan on adding a HF 9" coil and I am done with trying the latest and the greatest offerings. for the iron infested sites for relics, nothing beats a XP deus.

I have hundreds of hours on the Ctx , Etrac, Safari, and Nox 800 and i can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt the Nox wins hands down. The Nox is majorly different than the FBS machines. I learned the secret of the NOX in one afternoon after i spent about 3 plus hours hunting with my CTX and Etrac at an old park. The CTX would be the best machine but, unless you are willing to watch your screen 24/7 you are missing a lot of targets. The machine will actually see targets but you will never get a tone. I tried nine ways from Sunday to make it give a peep on targets. The NOX will. I pulled 20 old coins from that park that day after putting up the CTX and Etrac. I went back again and found nothing again with either the CTX and etrac and pulled i think it was 18 with NOX again that day. Good targets in extreme trash,at ectreme depth, is the NOX's strong suite. Targets with the NOX at 8 to 10 inches, was about the depth i found them all, do not just scream out here i am. On my setup if i hear a good tone that is even a squeak i then investigate by warbling the coil in a tight spot where i think the target might be, then watch the ID, if you see good ID even if bouncy i dig. You will not get a solid ID in heavy trash and this is where most fail when detecting with the NOX, especially at 8 plus inches where all these old coins i found were. This was in red mineral rich clay in moist conditions. My trash to good target was about 90 percent good, 10 percent trash those days.

Trashfinder said:

I have hundreds of hours on the Ctx , Etrac, Safari, and Nox 800 and i can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt the Nox wins hands down. The Nox is majorly different than the FBS machines. I learned the secret of the NOX in one afternoon after i spent about 3 plus hours hunting with my CTX and Etrac at an old park. The CTX would be the best machine but, unless you are willing to watch your screen 24/7 you are missing a lot of targets. The machine will actually see targets but you will never get a tone. I tried nine ways from Sunday to make it give a peep on targets. The NOX will. I pulled 20 old coins from that park that day after putting up the CTX and Etrac. I went back again and found nothing again with either the CTX and etrac and pulled i think it was 18 with NOX again that day. Good targets in extreme trash,at ectreme depth, is the NOX's strong suite. Targets with the NOX at 8 to 10 inches, was about the depth i found them all, do not just scream out here i am. On my setup if i hear a good tone that is even a squeak i then investigate by warbling the coil in a tight spot where i think the target might be, then watch the ID, if you see good ID even if bouncy i dig. You will not get a solid ID in heavy trash and this is where most fail when detecting with the NOX, especially at 8 plus inches where all these old coins i found were. This was in red mineral rich clay in moist conditions. My trash to good target was about 90 percent good, 10 percent trash those days.

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What Trashfinder says is spot on. Exactly my experience, and why if there is trash involved be it iron or modern the Equinox gets the nod.