Equinox 800 6”

Ronald68

Full Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2020
Messages
160
Location
Northeastern California
Got a 6” coil for for my Equinox. Been waiting for the snow to melt a bit. Still a lot out front but there are some patches of clear ground so I decided to go out in the rain and give it a go. I was able to pick out a penny tone in the middle of a bunch it iron grunts. I have the Andy Sabisch coin shooter program plugged into my machine that I use a lot. I dug down through several nails and pulled out another 1918 S penny. With the 6” coil I was going very slow and I was able to pick out a 21 display and slight high blip on my machine. I was going between all metal and the Sabisch program. Dug down through some nails and found an old wheat penny I’ve been missing with the larger coils.
 

Attachments

  • 235914C0-FC7F-4502-B651-1D3CE04A8F88.jpeg
    235914C0-FC7F-4502-B651-1D3CE04A8F88.jpeg
    100.2 KB · Views: 834
  • 193A1E77-E15E-4F5A-9011-14B9DE12B170.jpeg
    193A1E77-E15E-4F5A-9011-14B9DE12B170.jpeg
    176.8 KB · Views: 821
Nice save. I've read alot of people say the 6 is no better than the stock 11 at seperation. My results were like yours, it's superior seperation compared to the stock. Downside is coverage. Congrats
 
Nice save. I've read alot of people say the 6 is no better than the stock 11 at seperation. My results were like yours, it's superior seperation compared to the stock. Downside is coverage. Congrats

Woodbutcher, I am absolutely convinced that the 6” is superior to the 11” for separation! I’ve dug other targets on ground I have hammered with the 11” and 15” and have been able to pull decent targets with the 6” that I missed with the bigger coils! Of course there are instances where the bigger coils would be superior to the 6”. If the bigger coils are over a lot of iron with a good target below or amongst the iron they get masked easier with the bigger coils. Weaving the little coil through the iron with the 6” is easier! Or maybe it’s all in my head! 😂
 
I have to agree with you and Woodbutcher. I have been using the 6 in. pretty much since the new year. I also used it last winter with some success. It gets in tight areas, I don't see any depth loss and its ability to laser down in iron and pick out a target is almost uncanny. Fair to say in most of W. Pa. soil a deep coin is in the 7 to 9 inch range, maybe 10. So the 6in. has no trouble seeing those, And as far as coverage, it does limit you a little but I also think it forces you to slow down which also helps alot. With a larger coil I will grid search but when I use the 6 in I will pick a 12 to 15 foot area and work that methodically before moving on. For those who are not fans of the smaller coil I ask to give it another look. Also looking forward to trying the new 5x10.
 
I've done the same thing with the 11". As a matter of fact my first ever SLQ was found within a week of me getting the Equinox. I had another guy who was detecting standing there talking to me. I was swinging under a pecan tree that had been beat to death by three or four other guys including myself. Boom 30-32 and I told the guy I thing I got a quarter. I started pulling nails out of the plug. Then out of the hole. The guy said just nails. I said I don't think so and finally found the SLQ in the bottom of the hole. I think I made a post and photo on here about it in Nov. or Dec. 2018. The point of this example is I think this SLQ was to deep for the 6" coil. I've run the 6" all over this place and already this year found another Merc with the 11". Why didn't I find it with the 6" if it's so much better an un-masker.

I just quit using the 6" coil. I don't think it's any better than the 11" unless your working tight spots you can't get the 11" around. I'm about to get another 800 in trade that comes with a 6" coil. I'm going to put the 6" on that machine and leave it, and I guess sell the other one. I'm going to do some comparing in the wild. I have found 9 silver coins so far this year, and as of right now I think they all were to deep for the 6" coil.

I've said this in another thread on here in the past. The Equinox is so fast I don't think small coils work the wonders they do on other machines such as FBS machines.
 
I love my 6” coil. IMHO the small coil brings a lot more to the table than just separation. The 11” coil does indeed separate very well, but due to it’s size, the 6”er can actually get in between junk targets that are close together and really pick out those tough targets.. targets that are completely masked with a larger coil. Another benefit is the weight reduction. Swinging the Nox with the 6” coil feels almost like swinging a stick. It also speeds up the pinpointing process considerably since you really don’t even need the pinpoint button anymore. The diameter of your plug will likely be larger than the coil anyway. As for depth, in my soil this little coil has been extremely impressive for it’s size. It punches well above its weight class.

Yep, you do give up a lot of coverage with the tiny coil but I actually like jumping in the trashiest spot I can find and just going slow, sifting out those tough signals.

Honestly when I first got my 6” coil I wasn’t all that impressed with it. I was sweeping fairly fast with my recovery speed set pretty high (6 or 7 on my 800). After spending more time using it, what I’ve found works best for me is the exact opposite. Running a lower recovery speed of 4 or 5, and slowing my sweep speed way down. It might sound counterproductive but using this method I’ve been able to pick out several good targets at impressive depths from heavily hunted locations.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I think what some folks were saying (I agree btw), if we look at other detectors.
And compare say their performance overall between 6” Coil and a 11” Coil.
The Equinox differences will be mores near one another vs the other detector models.
I find smaller coil, biggest benefit hunting modern trash. Not so much in iron.
Granted hunting around and in areas with bigger iron, there will be gaps the smaller coil can help out with and yes one will find stuff.
There are some situations in nails where the small coil can help.

My experiences.
You bust a site old with iron using stock coil and Nox 800 a d you know what your are doing. Hunt the daylights out of. Then put 6” coil on, don’t expect your finds pouch to be runneth over.
Seems 6” more apt to get saturated. Vs stock coil. The reach round factor with stock coil can do wonders.
I ain’t getting rid of my 6” coil.

It might be fair to say.
As far as detector model series being engineered around stock coil.
The Minelab EQX series and the Tarsacci MDT-8000 likely are the ones engineered moreso to their stock coils vs the rest. Talking detectors using VLF freqs, not PI detectors.
I actually think this is true based on my EQX experiences. I may be able to say the same about the Tarsacci if and when I get the new released 12” coil. I could have it backwards here too with Tarsacci. Meaning coil is built to detector.
 
I am another Equinox user that does not use the 6 inch coil. I find that the advantage of target separation is slight to almost nothing at all. The key to masked targets with the Equinox is the iron bias setting and swing technique. I have found plenty of targets with the stock coil that had iron in the hole. Targets that I never found with other detectors including the Deus and CTX. I mention those two because of the prices. There are clear disadvantages to using the 6 inch coil. Target depth, coverage, and time digging junk. Time digging junk? I found the 6 inch coil likes to identify nails as good targets more than the stock coil. Considering the price of the 6 inch coil I will say the chances of recovering your investment is slim. But if you are happy who am I to say don't bother?
 
If the 6" is somehow better in bad EMI situations it's worth it. I don't think I ever tried it in bad EMI. Does anybody know if it is?
 
I love my 6” coil. IMHO the small coil brings a lot more to the table than just separation. The 11” coil does indeed separate very well, but due to it’s size, the 6”er can actually get in between junk targets that are close together and really pick out those tough targets.. targets that are completely masked with a larger coil. Another benefit is the weight reduction. Swinging the Nox with the 6” coil feels almost like swinging a stick. It also speeds up the pinpointing process considerably since you really don’t even need the pinpoint button anymore. The diameter of your plug will likely be larger than the coil anyway. As for depth, in my soil this little coil has been extremely impressive for it’s size. It punches well above its weight class.

Yep, you do give up a lot of coverage with the tiny coil but I actually like jumping in the trashiest spot I can find and just going slow, sifting out those tough signals.

Honestly when I first got my 6” coil I wasn’t all that impressed with it. I was sweeping fairly fast with my recovery speed set pretty high (6 or 7 on my 800). After spending more time using it, what I’ve found works best for me is the exact opposite. Running a lower recovery speed of 4 or 5, and slowing my sweep speed way down. It might sound counterproductive but using this method I’ve been able to pick out several good targets at impressive depths from heavily hunted locations.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you jack the sensitivity up above 20 a lot with the 6" coil? I have always ran a 0 IB, but have always ran a 6 recovery speed when using the 6". I never tried lowering the recovery down to 4 as I have started doing recently with the 11". As I have mentioned I have not used the 6" a whole lot since I got it. I thought I had used it enough to tell if I was gaining much with it. Once I get this other 800 I plan on putting the 6" on it permanently so I'm not changing coils in the middle of a hunt, and I will be able to compare some signals with the 11" and 6".
 
Do you jack the sensitivity up above 20 a lot with the 6" coil? I have always ran a 0 IB, but have always ran a 6 recovery speed when using the 6". I never tried lowering the recovery down to 4 as I have started doing recently with the 11". As I have mentioned I have not used the 6" a whole lot since I got it. I thought I had used it enough to tell if I was gaining much with it. Once I get this other 800 I plan on putting the 6" on it permanently so I'm not changing coils in the middle of a hunt, and I will be able to compare some signals with the 11" and 6".


Yes I do. I almost always have the sensitivity above 20 with the small coil if the ground/emi allows me to. I don’t really have any problems with EMI with that coil either. I also run IB at 0.

For whatever reason I started digging a lot less falsing iron when I lowered my recovery speed too. I’m guessing it was because the processor was clipping the signals so short that it made them more difficult to distinguish from falsing. Nowadays with the slower RS I can tell falsing from good targets pretty easily.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Yes I do. I almost always have the sensitivity above 20 with the small coil if the ground/emi allows me to. I don’t really have any problems with EMI with that coil either. I also run IB at 0.

For whatever reason I started digging a lot less falsing iron when I lowered my recovery speed too. I’m guessing it was because the processor was clipping the signals so short that it made them more difficult to distinguish from falsing. Nowadays with the slower RS I can tell falsing from good targets pretty easily.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the input. I can see how changing settings might help the 6". I don't know why I never thought of doing that. I guess maybe because I gave up on the 6" long before I had enough hours on the 800 to know better. I will re-evaluate it with some different settings.
 
I am the kind who after paying retail for something, $179 in the case of the 6" coil, I used it religiously for many hunts. The six inch "danced" for me, and I didn't really miss the coverage for some reason. It's depth and coverage is the best of any of my other 6" coils, on other machines. IMPO, it stands out from the field of six inch coils. It's not a Equinox but I tested the 4x6 coil for my Whites V3i back when I first got it, and I got good with that little coil, much better than Whites 6x10. You just have to use the Nox's 6" a lot to find out.
 
I am the kind who after paying retail for something, $179 in the case of the 6" coil, I used it religiously for many hunts. The six inch "danced" for me, and I didn't really miss the coverage for some reason. It's depth and coverage is the best of any of my other 6" coils, on other machines. IMPO, it stands out from the field of six inch coils. It's not a Equinox but I tested the 4x6 coil for my Whites V3i back when I first got it, and I got good with that little coil, much better than Whites 6x10. You just have to use the Nox's 6" a lot to find out.

Years ago when I had the MXT and the V3i, I had gotten a 6 inch coil. I would switch back and forth for maybe a month between it and the stock coil on the MXT. after that it lived on the MXT. I never had as much luck with it on the V3i but that coil was made for the MXT. A 6 inch coil has it's advantages you just have to use it to learn it. Depth just isn't one of them.
 
Back
Top Bottom