I've read previous 800 VS 3030 threads but...

Dr. Jay · Jul 1, 2020

I've had a Garrett AT Max for about a year and I'm having a lot of fun but I've run into a few major problems. Here in Rhode Island, the beaches are very mineralized and there are tons of hot rocks. The AT Max is screaming in my ear and makes locating a target nearly impossible. Even the Garrett pointer goes nuts when it's put into the sand on the reef that's exposed at low tide. I contacted Minelab directly and they seem to think that the 800 set on the Gold setting is best to find the lost rings I know are on that reef from surfers (including myself). Having said that, I have been given new permissions to go hunting on three farms that are dozens of acres with old corn fields, cow pastures, fruit tree groves, cellar holes, etc. These farms date back to the 1600's when they were farmed through land grants from King Phillip.

Knowing the two places I want to search which are very different, which machine should I get? The Minelab 800 is appealing because of it's lower price but the CTX is appealing because it will allow me to cherry pick the new large properties I was given permission for. The CTX is a stretch cost wise but I don't want to make a mistake and get the wrong machine. Everyone is cautioning about the weight of the CTX though I don't think that will be a big deal. What do you guys and gals think? Any advice would be great.

shellhouse · Jul 1, 2020

Sounds like a good recommendation from ML. Picked up a Nox 800 and CTX from a gentleman not too long ago and he really liked the 800 for speed and relic hunting and CTX for coin shooting silver. Nox is very well rounded, advanced, and incredibly popular as a result. I'm not speaking from experience but suspect that you'll be happy with either model.

Hopefully others can offer experience with the units and how they compare with depth, speed, target ID.

metaladdict · Jul 2, 2020

I use my Equinox 800 on a rusty metal laden beach and it finds the coins! I use beach 1 setting recovery speed 5
Fe is at 9 Also I use 5 tones.

Dr. Jay · Jul 2, 2020

That's the answer I've been looking for! I know the CTX would be great on the farms but I'm so darn curious about the beaches that are undetectable with any other detectors.

IDXMonster · Jul 2, 2020

I’ve had the opportunity to own both machines, and for what YOU want to do, I’d go with the EQX. It’s lighter, better for “scouting”, cheaper yet very capable....better for your specific needs. The two machines are simply two different tools. I hunt very deep turf silver, so that’s a completely different discipline for which I use the CTX. If I were you, knowing what I know, I would choose the CTX to do ALL of my work regardless of where it is if I could only have one machine, but I’m NOT you and you’re not me. THAT is the distinction that has to be made...we are not all the same with the same needs and resources.

vegasplayer · Jul 2, 2020

if you have the bank
get the 3030ctx a real machine gps and all 15 hrs battery life :cool3:

forget the nox 800

The Lama · Jul 3, 2020

or get a used cz21or excalibur for the beach and keep the at max for the farms

texan · Jul 5, 2020

I have owned both and prefer the nox 800.I didn't give the 30/30 much time but found it too heavy. There are plenty of cherry picking programs for the nox on the internet.

Beachhunter · Jul 5, 2020

Surfers losing gold rings on the reef? Maybe a little but not a lot here in CA.
Nowadays maybe tungsten or stainless.

Charly-in-CT-RI · Jul 7, 2020

If you want to cherry pick silver with the Nox, just set the discrimination up to 24. Silver dimes and larger hit above that. Small reales will be skipped over since since that can hit around the penny signal.

Rattlehead · Jul 7, 2020

I use them both regularly but for different situations.

*Equinox is faster.
*CTX has superior FE CO Target ID.
*Equinox will hit small low conductors better.
*CTX has a much better depth meter.
*Equinox is lighter, but the CTX balances very well.
*CTX has Target Trace which can show multiple targets under the coil (very useful!).
*Equinox will hit coins on edge better.
*CTX has 2D discrimination patterns which make it easy to avoid steel bottlecaps.
*Depth on most US coins is about equal in my soil.

-Coin shooting/cherry picking/selective digging in fields, pastures & lawns = CTX FTW!
-Relic hunting, sniffing out the last few good targets from heavily hunted sites, trashy sites or sites blanketed with iron = Equinox FTW!

All of the above is just my opinion.. YMMV.

I don't do any beach hunting but the people who do seem to do well with both of these detectors.

longbow62 · Jul 7, 2020

Here's the deal with the Equinox IMHO. In a clean spot it will find everything a CTX will. It will not I.D. them as good, and your libel to get fooled by some trash at times thinking you have a coin.

What it will do is blow your mind at times finding silver other detectors somehow missed. It does this either by it's fast recovery speed or by Multi-IQ somehow, maybe a combo of both. If you got medium to high trash the Equinox wins hands down unless you put a 6" coil on the CTX. Then it's a toss up, but the Equinox still might win.

LI Tom · Jul 11, 2020

I have and use both.The CTX is the better coinshooter ,hits silver better,has better target ID and useful extras like target trace,makes it excellent in high trash.It is heavy and I tend to keep the 6" coil on it.The Nox is a real nice,cost effective ,all around machine.Also waterproof,does well on the beach and a good coin shooter.It's light and fast but the target ID not as good,you will dig more trash.I use mine on less trashy spots,beach and scouting new spots.You will like both machines ,cost and weight should be the issue for you.

Charly-in-CT-RI · Jul 12, 2020

I had both. Sold the CTX. The Nox can find more silver in a trashy park then the CTX. There were 2 to 3 of us using the CTX and we could not find any more silver, In my first month using the Nox, I pulled 40+ silvers coins from the same area. I became a believer.

I've read previous 800 VS 3030 threads but...

Dr. Jay

New Member

shellhouse

metaladdict

Elite Member

Dr. Jay

New Member

IDXMonster

Elite Member

vegasplayer

Senior Member

The Lama

Elite Member

texan

Senior Member

Beachhunter

Elite Member

Charly-in-CT-RI

Elite Member

Rattlehead

longbow62

LI Tom

Senior Member

Charly-in-CT-RI

Elite Member

Similar threads