Equinox rant - just a small rant!

Well I guess I will take a shot at replying. I hope this thread remains informative.

The Equinox uses a higher frequency range so it responds to lower conductors better. Myself as a beach hunter I like that. Small gold is what I want. The Equinox has indeed found gold for me that my Sovereign would have never seen at all.

Digging low conductors in the dirt? It is not a science. If that would have been a small gold pendant then the Equinox would be the hero. We as hunters can not have it both ways. Limit the number of low conductor digs. Dig 10. Next time dig ten more.

Switch to single frequency will help the ID process.

My rant.....I think the pinpointing on the Equinox is terrible.

I have been using an Equinox 800 for 6 months and I find the same things I found with my AT pro. I do find deeper targets but not anything great. It is the same as I expected but still a good detector.

A lot of stuff was just about it wasn't true but is is still good and an upgrade from the ATP at least for depth. It is just a normal midrange detector but I like it. It is good to to have 2 machines that work differently because they will find stuff the the other missed.

staffydog33 said:

Love my Equinox 800.

BUT....getting SICK AND F****NG tired of it Identifying practically everything as a good target!!!!!

I know the CTX is wayyyy better, wayyy more expensive and i wouldn't get one for numerous reasons, mainly the !!!! screen and weight.

BUT....check out one example of what i mean here:

https://youtu.be/S3vZoqUOXeU

Equinox gives a slamming signal, but when CTX passes over same target...NOTHING!

Why? well...watch.....CTX could tell it was a SH*T target, so couldn't be arsed to go "bleep" BUT the Equinox, just practically orgasms over everything!!!!:BangHead::BangHead:

ARGHHHH!!!

Rant over.


No, not selling my Nox.

Matt

Click to expand...

Well,
CTX cost over double what Eqx 800 does and weighs a ton.
Been there and done that.

Believe it or not CTX will possibly misidentify a nickel ID wise calling it trash. The Eqx 800 has better chance of calling the same nickel CTX calls junk as a nickel.
Same goes with Etrac too as far as misidentifying nickels.

Now, take ferrous out of equation. CTX and Etrac do well on nickles.

And beleive it or not. I have read loads of folks who bought Eqx. And rehunted sites busted with Etrac, CTX.
Guess what?
Nickels finds are tremendous.

Yeah CTX one will dig less junk generally. But it calls nickels bs when nox don’t generally.

Eqx is a destroyer on nickels.
Yeah dig nickels signals using Eqx one will dig square tabs, beaver tails, etc.

There are always trade offs.
I have Etrac an Nox.
And both have their strengths and the reason I have both.

Myself If I gave a recommendation to someone, I wouldn’t recommend CTX but I would recommend one buy Etrac and Eqx. About the same loot with more detecting capabilities overall plus one has a back up detector in case of a problem or have an extra for a friend to use.

Some interesting stuff noted in this video I did. Both Nox, CTX, and Etrac users even explorers users may benefit.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EewdOH7wy20

Hi,

I dig those targets all the time and say to myself: "the Nox gave me a solid 11, 12, 13 signal at 6" so it could be a deep US 5 cent, deep pull tab, deep aluminum shard, deep lead or even better, deep gold." I would dig that all day and one out of five it's a US 5 cent, one out of twenty-five or so it is a nice relic and one out of a hundred or so it's gold jewelry. Instead of calling it garbage like the detector operator did I would say the Nox identified a valid low conductor target accurately with target ID, tones and depth and move on. No big deal.

None of my other mid-range detectors would even hit that target with accurate numbers. They would either up average it into the silver range or down average it into the iron range, or just not hit it solidly.

Also, I did not have to pay $2500.00 US for a wonderful detector for coin, jewelry and relic hunting that weighs over 5 lbs which I can only swing for short periods of time (CTX 3030) Instead I paid $800.00 US for a very good VLF detector that works great in most of my detecting situations including nugget hunting which has already paid for itself in one year in coins, jewelry and nuggets. I used the money I had left over to buy a slightly used Minelab GPX PI for the deep stuff. Couldn't be happier.

Jeff

I agree its not a great machine in trash, I prefer my At pro in trash.

metaladdict said:

I agree its not a great machine in trash, I prefer my At pro in trash.

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I t depends on what you are hunting for and where. High conductors like coins? The Equinox can pull high conductors all day long. High mineral dirt. The Equinox is quite good there too. Yes you will dig low conductor trash looking for nickels and rings. But then again you will have a better chance of hearing them as well. Know the machine and what it is capable of. Take your time and have fun.

tnsharpshooter said:

Well,
CTX cost over double what Eqx 800 does and weighs a ton.
Been there and done that.

Believe it or not CTX will possibly misidentify a nickel ID wise calling it trash. The Eqx 800 has better chance of calling the same nickel CTX calls junk as a nickel.
Same goes with Etrac too as far as misidentifying nickels.

Now, take ferrous out of equation. CTX and Etrac do well on nickles.

And beleive it or not. I have read loads of folks who bought Eqx. And rehunted sites busted with Etrac, CTX.
Guess what?
Nickels finds are tremendous.

Yeah CTX one will dig less junk generally. But it calls nickels bs when nox don’t generally.

Eqx is a destroyer on nickels.
Yeah dig nickels signals using Eqx one will dig square tabs, beaver tails, etc.

There are always trade offs.
I have Etrac an Nox.
And both have their strengths and the reason I have both.

Myself If I gave a recommendation to someone, I wouldn’t recommend CTX but I would recommend one buy Etrac and Eqx. About the same loot with more detecting capabilities overall plus one has a back up detector in case of a problem or have an extra for a friend to use.

Some interesting stuff noted in this video I did. Both Nox, CTX, and Etrac users even explorers users may benefit.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EewdOH7wy20

Click to expand...

I run the "Dr. Tones" program on my CTX3030 and it make nickels jump right out. Just need to set the tone bins correctly. After enough time on the CTX one can also differentiate the difference between a nickel and a beaver tail off a pull tab which is a pretty big accomplishment.
As far as the Equinox I think it is really just a matter of listening to the signal to tell the difference between different targets. Is the signal elongated in one direction more than the other? Does the tone drop off or ramp up? How big is the pin point area? These are the things that just take time to learn. There is no replacement for just spending the time to learn all the ins and outs as well as all the idiosyncrasies of the machine.
After hundreds of hours on the CTX I find that I can call a target correctly about 70% of the time before digging it.

While I do find more trash with my equinox than I did with my etrac or ctx there are many nuances with the nox that help identify trash. I have gotten to the point where I can cherry pick silver and wheat cents all day and dig almost no trash. I also dig a lot of good coins in areas that many including myself have pounded with etrac and ctx. I still own my ctx and I have not used it in almost a year.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Almost not comparing apples to apples. While many people think the Nox is the @#%$, remember Minelab stated when it came out it wasn't meant to replace the FBS on high conductors. They were going after the Deus market not the FBS market.

I have done a video comparing Etrac and Eqx 800. The way I had 800 set up this test also applies to 600 Nox unit.

Used a clad dime and a nickle in test comparing.

Will try to do another video using Indian head second generation and do same test. Folks I think will see a pattern of sorts develop.

Will be a while as video is uploading. Eqx users may get a few tips from video too if they watch.

Etrac run at auto plus 3 with 19 in the window and manual 26 sensitivty.
Not ran at 20 sensitivty and 23 sensitivity.

Etrac run fast recovery high trash. Recovery deep off.
Nox run at speed 6 iron bias 0.
Only used park 1 and and park 2 on Nox.
Did check using Etrac on dime with stock coin program at the end.

Video will be posted in this thread.
When I do test using IH coin I’ll put in in same spot here post wise.

I will also go back and do wiggle tests comparisons on the test younsee in video with nickel and clad dime. Will sweep each coin solo and let folks hear, then will sweep coin and nail configuration with short back and forth sweeps. Somfolks can see which detector on which coin and nail scenario they could recognize more for what is under the coil a size far as low, medium or higher conductive target.

Folks new to Etrac. The video you will see and results shown. I encouraged folks to go read gent- detectorist goes by name goesforever. You read his hunt stories/posts. You will definitley see he has seen exactly in the wild detecting what this video reflects as far as Etrac and nickels. CTX behaves very similar too.

Let’s take an old early 1900s site full of nails scattered around. And yes site for whatever reason has modern low conductive trash in it too.
Can the site be deemed nickel dead using Etrac or CTX with lots of detecting depending on ID to cherry pick the nickels ???
I won’t answer.
Watch the video.
Which detectors beteeen EQx 600 or 800 vs Fbs/fbs2 detectors would do a better job of finding any and all detectable nickels based solely on ID presented?? Using an 11” dd coil??

Yeah one could while using fbs/fbs 2 detector hear nickels at depths of 1-9” deep and never know they are there based on iD.
And a good ole Nox runner come behind and the Nox would light some of them up like a Christmas tree. Really no brainer signals with no brainer ID on many.

Foil comes in really low on the Dirty30, between 1-4 and he probably had it notched out. The CTX is an amazing machine but the Nox is no slouch if you get used to it. Park 1&2, iron bias 1, reactivity 3-5 depending on spot, and change the boxes/tones to your liking. I have been bringin home silver nearly every time out with the Nox. Even at sites I've hit many times with the CTX, but I do have the 15" on the Nox, that thing's like magic. I have noticed the numbers on the Nox do seem to jump around quite a bit, I get a lot of wheats that bounce all over from 20-26 but I'm digging anything with that high of a tone anyway. Silver dimes seem to be pretty steady at 27/28 unless they're on edge. I've always hit nickels fairly well with both machines, haven't noticed much difference there that others are seeing. I love both machines but been using the Nox more lately. I wish it had a trigger pinpoint and the CTX's ability to hit a button and start recording your hunt, everywhere you walk. Comes in very handy when you're hitting a large field site and want to hook it up to the pc and see exactly where you walked and covered already. Look up DirtFishing's settings on YouTube, they seem to work really well for a lot of people.

The Equinox 800 in Park2 is my go to detector for trashy places!

What numbers are you saying it's calling good targets? I have read this before and every time I do I want to bang my head on something. I honestly dig very little junk with the Equinox. I was in a place earlier today with an insane amount of both ferrous and nonferrous trash. I dug three deep Wheats a toy car and one bottle cap which I was peeved about cause I seldom dig screw on bottle tops/caps. I did dig a few iron targets that were very iffy to begin with. The old Purex/Clorox lids are impossible for me to tell apart from coins I admit having dug quite a few of those.

Silver coins are usually at least where I hunt deeper than junk. I don't dig shallow beeps for the most part. Irregular shaped junk will not have steady numbers if you circle it. Aluminum bottle caps I very seldom dig one they ring up in the 21-23 pretty consistent and almost always are shallower than silver. If it's junk that's bigger than a coin it's pretty easy to tell by lifting the coil.

Unfortunately I hunt very trashy places and most of my silver has been pulled out of iron nails and modern trash at these places with the Equinox! It will pull coins out of all kinds of junk. I shake my head when I see peoples trash piles no matter what detector they are using. I never dig much trash at all compared to most folks. I'm not cherry picking either per se. I dig lots of non perfect signals. I have a real good handle on being able to tell what is a legit target and when to walk away.

detectorben said:

While I do find more trash with my equinox than I did with my etrac or ctx there are many nuances with the nox that help identify trash. I have gotten to the point where I can cherry pick silver and wheat cents all day and dig almost no trash. I also dig a lot of good coins in areas that many including myself have pounded with etrac and ctx. I still own my ctx and I have not used it in almost a year.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Sorry I skipped your post. Sounds like our experience with the Equinox is the same. Exactly on pulling coins out of places Etracs, CTX's, AT Pro's and Whites could not detect!

Video comparing EqX 800 to Etrac- nickel and dime with nail in scenario.
Notice the advantage park 1 gives on dime vs park 2. Remember this is just one test scenario. Lots of different scenarios in the wild detecting. And guess what, this test done in ground- same/similar results.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2zpcwPERdYk

Like I said earlier will do test using second generation IH penny.
I have never done either btw.
I’ll bet Eqx and Etrac perform almost if not equal using IH coin.
Why?
Due to conductivity of coin.
IH (second generation) is at the crossroads with both detectors (tech). Frequencies used.

I watched video, and i knew that was not a good target instantly. This guy in the video needs more time with the machine for sure. I use etrac, ctx and nox and i knew what it was when i saw both machines, ctx 13-14 is trash and nox banging from 8 to 14 is trash is well. He will get the hang of it in time if he is willing to put the time in with the machine. Nox will be a lot more solid on 13 for nickels but have had some slightly bounce between 12-13.. But never have i dug anything but trash if that ID is bouncing that bad. If you see solid 12 it is 95 percent trash. If you ever see an 11 it is 100 percent not a nickel. IF you see mostly 13 it is 90 percent a nickel, if you see an occasional 12 but mostly 13 you have about an 80 percent chance of nickel. Any thing else is always not a Nickel. Hope this helps some of you.

More videos coming here today.
And some actual retesting of same scenarios above with some commentary.
I have gotten a few questions from folks via private message.
So maybe more videos and commentary will help answer.

I will be tightening up the actual detecting scenario in a video or 2 too.
To show possible Eqx behavior on more challenging scenarios in the wild.

metaladdict said:

I agree its not a great machine in trash, I prefer my At pro in trash.

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???? seems you do not know how to use the equinox properly.....or are comparing stock coil on the nox to a smaller atpro coil. my mxsport kills at pro in trash, and my nox kills my sport......

Trashfinder said:

I watched video, and i knew that was not a good target instantly. This guy in the video needs more time with the machine for sure. I use etrac, ctx and nox and i knew what it was when i saw both machines, ctx 13-14 is trash and nox banging from 8 to 14 is trash is well. He will get the hang of it in time if he is willing to put the time in with the machine. Nox will be a lot more solid on 13 for nickels but have had some slightly bounce between 12-13.. But never have i dug anything but trash if that ID is bouncing that bad. If you see solid 12 it is 95 percent trash. If you ever see an 11 it is 100 percent not a nickel. IF you see mostly 13 it is 90 percent a nickel, if you see an occasional 12 but mostly 13 you have about an 80 percent chance of nickel. Any thing else is always not a Nickel. Hope this helps some of you.

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So true. I have found that with my 600, a nickel hits a solid 13. If I "X" the target and see a 12-13 or a 13-14, I then look at the depth. If it is fairly shallow (4" or less in my soil anyway) it is not a nickel. I may still dig to see if it is a ring though. Over 4", I have found nickels but TID was 12-13-14 sometimes which in my opinion I look at that as 13 is the average number in that lot of three and I have found this to be a nickel let's say 60% of the time. In rare cases it has been a nickel with some trash next to or above the nickel in the plug/hole. I have found more nickels with the 600 in the time I have been swinging it compared to other detectors I have used in the past for the same amount of swing time. Maybe it's just my soil here but in my experience with the Equinox, it is a nickel hog.
I also look at target history of where I am hunting. If I am hunting a school for example, I already know that an 11 solid or an 11-12 is the eraser end of a pencil. Know where you are hunting and what you are most likely to find. If I were at an old house and got an 11, 11-12 TID, it could still be that darn eraser end of the pencil but I know I am not hunting a schoolyard and hopefully the odds will be in my favor so I am definitely digging.

you get what you pay for
you can buy 3 of the 800s
for the cost of 1 3030
i would NOT buy a nox for this reason
you have a built in charging for the battery
when that goes bad you have NO machine trash
with the 3030 you can charge a battery or use 8 aa s
as far as weight my 3030 is balanced great
so no problems...
last why have a machine named after a ford
i own 3 machines 1 3030 1 surfpi 1 atpro
all i need good luck with your findings