Equinox 800 has been out in the field over a year - results?

maxxkatt

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Ok guys, I see people are still considering buying the Equinox 800. I have had mine since March 2018 and it was a tough machine to really learn coming from the AT Pro.

So what is the verdict?
a) make all other VLF machines obsolete? as claimed by Minelab?
b) not worth the money or too hard to learn?
c) not for the the brand new detectorist?
d) best machine for the dollar amount cost ever?
e) finds overlooked targets in over hunted areas?
f) great beach machine?
g) great coinshooter?
h) great relic hunter?
i) lousy target ID range?
h) need the 6" and 15" coils to really round out the 800?


my opinion is that it has some warts, but it is a great machine for tailoring depending on what you are searching for. This is especially true of setting your breaks (bins) to focus on the particular items you are looking for that also depends on where you are hunting.

I would not recommend it to a novice detectorist as their first machine. Get a Garrett 400 or AT Pro (or any other decent detector in that class range) and learn about metal detecting first. I am afraid a novice will end up with the 800 being put in a closet forever after 2-3 frustrating hunts.

So there are quite a few of you guys who are very experienced and held back on the 800 purchase and finally pulled the trigger. What are your thoughts on the 800. Is it your "go to" detector? or just another arrow in your quiver?
 
I like mine. Does a great job of sniffing out non-Ferrous from heavily hunted sites. It’s a nickel vacuum too. However, it’s just another arrow in my quiver. The CTX is usually my go-to machine for the type of hunting I do.


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I love both my 600 and 800.
D,E,F,G,H and one you did not include:it is an outstanding prospecting detector for gold nuggets down to .1 grams and for meteorites.
My only complaint with the Nox is it does not have a true threshold based all metal mode for prospecting. Maybe that is not possible using simultaneous multi frequencies?????
Thats why I have a Makro Gold Kruzer and the XP ORX. They have great threshold based all metal modes for going deep, for high mineralization and for hitting those tiny gold targets.
Jeff
 
Ok guys, I see people are still considering buying the Equinox 800. I have had mine since March 2018 and it was a tough machine to really learn coming from the AT Pro.

So what is the verdict?
a) make all other VLF machines obsolete? as claimed by Minelab?
b) not worth the money or too hard to learn?
c) not for the the brand new detectorist?
d) best machine for the dollar amount cost ever?
e) finds overlooked targets in over hunted areas?
f) great beach machine?
g) great coinshooter?
h) great relic hunter?
i) lousy target ID range?
h) need the 6" and 15" coils to really round out the 800?

my opinion is that it has some warts, but it is a great machine for tailoring depending on what you are searching for. This is especially true of setting your breaks (bins) to focus on the particular items you are looking for that also depends on where you are hunting.

I would not recommend it to a novice detectorist as their first machine. Get a Garrett 400 or AT Pro (or any other decent detector in that class range) and learn about metal detecting first. I am afraid a novice will end up with the 800 being put in a closet forever after 2-3 frustrating hunts.

So there are quite a few of you guys who are very experienced and held back on the 800 purchase and finally pulled the trigger. What are your thoughts on the 800. Is it your "go to" detector? or just another arrow in your quiver?

A) Well I think it's pretty much a no brainer which machine to buy if you compare it to what's out there right now. If a person honestly compares the Equinox wins hands down in some cases by a lot!

B,C) It's as turn on and go as any other machine. If a person is new to detecting and buys a Nox and uses Park1 he or she will find just as much and probably more than using a cheaper machine. As they learn more about it they can take a deeper dive into features without upgrading later. My first time out with the Nox I was finding clad left and right. It was a friends machine I did not really even know what range coins rang up on the I.D.. I'm not a newbie but it was super easy and I was super impressed.

D) I would say yes it's the best machine a person could buy for the money considering the features.

E) The Equinox has proved to me over and over it finds silver others didn't. While the jury is still out I have yet to see in 6 months of use another detector find something it couldn't when comparing signals in the wild.

F) Zero beach experience can't comment.
G) See E

H) Most CW bullets and buttons are mid conductors and the Equinox kills mid conductors. It's also great in iron. I have found both with the Equinox but have not relic hunted with it much as it's not my main type of hunting.

I) I was concerned about a compressed I.D. range before I bought, but honestly it's no big deal at all. I personally believe I can call coins or trash with the Equinox as well as I can my Etrac. A person might dig a few more pennies with the Equinox vs. Etrac. If the Equinox can I.D./Find stuff others have passed over does it not stand to reason it I.D.'s pretty well regardless of being compressed as compared to 0-99?

J) I think the 11" stock coil is killer. It's deep and does really good in trash. The 6" coil I am not impressed with so far. I have yet to find a silver coin with the small coil. I had hoped in high trash areas I could pull a silver or two that the 11" could not alert on. So far I have not found the 6" to be worth it. I am keeping it, and maybe time might prove me wrong. I have not splurged on a 15" coil yet as I have no real need for one. The 11" in my opinion is all you really need.
 
I would not recommend it to a novice detectorist as their first machine. Get a Garrett 400 or AT Pro (or any other decent detector in that class range) and learn about metal detecting first. I am afraid a novice will end up with the 800 being put in a closet forever after 2-3 frustrating hunts.

This novice is me. I lurked around here until only 2 weeks ago and choose the 800 over the AT Max. I have had frustration yes, but I think less for the detector than the hunt area. As for learning about detecting: a more complicated machine offers a greater and longer range of learning, providing more entertainment with more bells and whistles to sound off. When all is learned, one holds a stronger position to judge the next choice. I guess it comes down to personal motivation and that's MD independent. Me and this equinox are gonna be spending a lot of time close together.

So what is the verdict?
a) make all other VLF machines obsolete? as claimed by Minelab?
b) not worth the money or too hard to learn?
c) not for the the brand new detectorist?
d) best machine for the dollar amount cost ever?
e) finds overlooked targets in over hunted areas?
f) great beach machine?
g) great coinshooter?
h) great relic hunter?
i) lousy target ID range?
h) need the 6" and 15" coils to really round out the 800?

Taking the multi frequency in to consideration only, a) I would say yes. why go back to single frequency except to narrow down targets?

even though I'm a cheap penny-picker-upper, d) I'll spend the Franklins all day to get the right tools. I think b) it's better to learn up to a higher end tool for a little more cost and c) the 800 seems to provide a simplistic starting point.

As for the the rest (e,f,g,h,i,h(?)), I will only find out when I obtain another detector. Unless one of you guys is gonna send me one, I'll only have my 800.

The verdict, to me the novice, is that the equinox is a metal detector that is a whole lot better than the thing I have from radio shack.

-TK
 
I bought my 800 in April and so far I have about 75 hours on it. I could see where one might think it hard to get used to but I watched many utube clips and read and re-read parts of the manual before I recieved it, then it only took a few hours of use to get the hang of it. I find it simple to use now. I have not had other machines so can not comment on comparsions to other machines. I have however used both the 11" and 6" coil and really like both. The six inch has found three of my 5 pieces of silver. Two were found up tight to a building and the other was in a tight area under some bleachers. I had detected 2 days before in the same spots with the 11" and missed them. It also found more coins the day I hunted with 2 others using 800s one with the 11" and one with the 15". Because of all the trash they both were getting changing signals as their coils were over multiple targets and they wouldn't dig them unless the numbers settled on one strong signal. That is where the 6" beat them out.- They now both have bought the 6" and use it in the trashy areas. -I know- once we get better we will know(learn) to dig those iffy signals. We need to dig all.
 
I bought my 800 in April and so far I have about 75 hours on it. I could see where one might think it hard to get used to but I watched many utube clips and read and re-read parts of the manual before I recieved it, then it only took a few hours of use to get the hang of it. I find it simple to use now. I have not had other machines so can not comment on comparsions to other machines. I have however used both the 11" and 6" coil and really like both. The six inch has found three of my 5 pieces of silver. Two were found up tight to a building and the other was in a tight area under some bleachers. I had detected 2 days before in the same spots with the 11" and missed them. It also found more coins the day I hunted with 2 others using 800s one with the 11" and one with the 15". Because of all the trash they both were getting changing signals as their coils were over multiple targets and they wouldn't dig them unless the numbers settled on one strong signal. That is where the 6" beat them out.- They now both have bought the 6" and use it in the trashy areas. -I know- once we get better we will know(learn) to dig those iffy signals. We need to dig all.

I probably need to use the 6" coil coil more often than I do. I need to make a concerted effort with it for awhile to see what it can do.
 
F) The Nox 800 is winning over the beach crowd and it seems that everyone is swinging the 800. The exception are those swinging the CTX 3030 but many of them have tried the 800 and now it is their back up where previously the Excal was the back up. I'm guilty as well, I swing the CTX and have the Excal as my back up and just ordered the 800 (great accessories offered) and waiting for delivery...
 
The Nox has a lot to learn. Im trying some different settings now after owning it for4-5
months.


I've had mine a short time, (three months) and basically use the factory pre-sets. I hunt activity fields and parks, I've found plenty of clad and a few tokens. I'm very happy with the MD and will explore the advanced settings when I'm comfortable using the pre-sets. What I haven't found is anything of real value, I'm not complaining, just saying. All in all, I'm very happy with my purchase.
 
Sold my Nokta Impact and my CTX. I found the Nox deeper and separates better then the CTX. CTX id's better. Impact is the deepest of the three.
 
I've had mine a short time, (three months) and basically use the factory pre-sets. I hunt activity fields and parks, I've found plenty of clad and a few tokens. I'm very happy with the MD and will explore the advanced settings when I'm comfortable using the pre-sets. What I haven't found is anything of real value, I'm not complaining, just saying. All in all, I'm very happy with my purchase.

I have been metal detecting for two years and I have yet to find anything gold. I have only found 6 or 7 rings all junk except for one silver .925 ring. I really don't hunt for rings though. I am in a month plus long silver drought stuck on 17 FTY because of lack of good permissions.

If silver is there the Equinox will find it. I have found 25 silver coins with it in 6 months of use that I could count for sure. Maybe a few more but 25 I can remember exactly. These were not mostly easy virgin yard silvers. I figure at least 20 of them came from very trashy or already hard hit places.

I am not ashamed to say I will pull out my Etrac in a clean spot before the Equinox, but if there is iron or lots of modern trash I grab the Equinox. I also use the Equinox first in spots that I know have been heavily hunted already. I use my Equinox most of the time because trashy over hunted spots are what I hunt most.

If I was hunting virgin yards I would use Park1, but if the spot is very trashy Park2 for sure.

Get in the right spot and you will find the more valuable items with your Equinox.
 
Some old haciendas I hit are littered with old bottlecaps, like several per swing. I would never swing my equinox at this place, my etrac can knock them out and just hit on the aluminum tokens i am looking for and the nox would drive you INSANE in those spots, you would spend all day rechecking signals...
In the water, it works, seems deep enough but I miss my excal every time I take the nox out in the salt water...
Is it the best on land or in the water, NO, but it does the job for less...
 
Some old haciendas I hit are littered with old bottlecaps, like several per swing. I would never swing my equinox at this place, my etrac can knock them out and just hit on the aluminum tokens i am looking for and the nox would drive you INSANE in those spots, you would spend all day rechecking signals...
In the water, it works, seems deep enough but I miss my excal every time I take the nox out in the salt water...
Is it the best on land or in the water, NO, but it does the job for less...

In my experience the Equinox separates way better than the Etrac. The Equinox I.D.'s better in trash. I've seen it over and over cause as I am sorry to say I have lived in the trash most of my short detecting career.

Did you miss type that or something because in my ground low to mid mineralization the Impact is not as deep as the Equinox when both wearing the stock coils. The Equinox is deeper by quite a bit. Don't know about a CTX, but the Etrac is slightly deeper than the Equinox. The Impact in my opinion is best with the small elliptical coil in 14Khz in 3tone. That's what I keep on it.
 
Longbow, my ground is very harsh, maybe that makes a difference, but because of the fe co readings on the etrac you you totally eliminate bottle caps so they don't even blip, there is no way to do this on the equinox with just the co readings. I have hit bottle caps that sounded great and even switching to all metal it was good enough to dig. On the nox you have to hit the all metal button or run in all metal and double check bottle caps to see if they give a negative reading before you move on. Etrac wins in that aspect hands down. As far as which is deeper, it's a coin toss for me, but i would rather not be triple checking every target on a few hour hunt.
 
Longbow, my ground is very harsh, maybe that makes a difference, but because of the fe co readings on the etrac you you totally eliminate bottle caps so they don't even blip, there is no way to do this on the equinox with just the co readings. I have hit bottle caps that sounded great and even switching to all metal it was good enough to dig. On the nox you have to hit the all metal button or run in all metal and double check bottle caps to see if they give a negative reading before you move on. Etrac wins in that aspect hands down. As far as which is deeper, it's a coin toss for me, but i would rather not be triple checking every target on a few hour hunt.

Everyone does what works best for them. I understand where you are coming from. Some days since I run my Nox so I hear everything including iron it gets old. It gets mind numbing actually with the constant barrage of beeps. I run mine with iron volume pretty low with increasing volume and pitch maxing out at on the higher conductors.

I have a theory that most Etrac users are in cherry picking mode 100% of the time. They think they know how well the Etrac identifies targets which it does in clean ground, but in trashy ground not so much. Sure you can occasionally get over a target at a trashy site that is free of anything partially masking it and get good tone/numbers, but they are few and far between.

I think the Nox separates better and with the better recovery speed or whatever just finds more silver in the trashy spots. It sees individual targets the Etrac can't give a proper I.D. on. The Etrac sees them but but gives a very skewed FE-CO I.D. and the person does not see a number he deems worth digging and just moves on until he sees a more classic number like 12-45, 12-47 etc. or at least numbers he thinks have a very high potential to be a good target. On the other hand the Nox user with a more compressed I.D. plus the better separation gets a tone and number he deems worthy of investigating to determine if it's good or not. I have seen it in the wild a lot. I tend to call targets both good and bad just as good and sometimes better than my buddy when he runs his Etrac and I am running my Nox. I think this is why the Nox has shown its self to find stuff others have passed over.

There has been a lot of post about how the Equinox has gone into places and found stuff other detectors have not found. I think the above is an explanation of why this happens and why I tend to use the Equinox in the places with lots of ferrous and non-ferrous trash.
 
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