My rundown on Equinox 800 and some rambling thoughts....(VIDEO)

[www.youtube.com]


Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Dang, You gonna make Ole' Calabash cry! First time I didn't hear a reviewer falling all over Himself telling how great the Nox was. Kudo's to Keith for His honest report.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2018 01:10AM by Harold,ILL..

UH OH!

Excellent video Keith. I've noticed that the 11in coil on the Gold Gain is real good on low conductors outside the heavy iron. Super 6 is phenomenal in the heavy iron, maybe the 6 in for the Nox will be also.

Pedlar mills Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> UH OH!


+1----------Somebody's gonna be cryin all over his double cheeseburger!

Funny Harold! I did a review on the equinox myself. Notice in heavy iron I'm back to the Deus with hf coil...


Harold,ILL. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dang, You gonna make Ole' Calabash cry! First time
> I didn't hear a reviewer falling all over Himself
> telling how great the Nox was. Kudo's to Keith for
> His honest report.

I think the dirt is the key factor in the review differences of Calabash Diggers and Keiths videos. I'd love to have dirt like Calabash Digger but unfortunately I have dirt like Keiths.

I think the key factors are hype and youtube saturation,,,,Keith's has neither

I have dirt the same as north GA as I'm practically in North GA and hunt there about as much as I hunt here in TN. Interesting how two people with similar dirt can get such different opinions on detectors. I think the Nox is the best VLF I've ran to date for hunting in disc mode in bad soil. I have a Whites TDI as well and the Nox IMO, is better on high conductors than it is, and very close to the same for low conductors. Keith gave good reviews on the Impact and Relic, which I was opposite and thought they were mediocre at best. This is a case of use what works best for you, regardless of what others opinion are. All I know is, its been a while since a machine has put this many goodies in my pouch on hunts, and I've yet to take it to a new site in which we've NOT pounded to death. I have two machines, the Nox 800 and TDI big box. I have decided to let the big box go due to not really needing it anymore.

It seems not all bad ground is equal either, Keith rated the R2, and it had neat feature i'll admit, but it was well below average for depth in my ground. For this reason i just passed on the later Nokta and Makro's as i guessed they were of the same DNA.
Oddly Keith didn't rate the Signum, yet it has been by far the deepest pasture machine i've ever used, i think George rated it the best he used last year also.

In funky soil you just don't know 100% until you try, what works for one person, may not for the other.

Daniel Tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have dirt the same as north GA as I'm practicall
> y in North GA and hunt there about as much as I hu
> nt here in TN. Interesting how two people with si
> milar dirt can get such different opinions on dete
> ctors. I think the Nox is the best VLF I've ran t
> o date for hunting in disc mode in bad soil. I ha
> ve a Whites TDI as well and the Nox IMO, is better
> on high conductors than it is, and very close to t
> he same for low conductors. Keith gave good revie
> ws on the Impact and Relic, which I was opposite a
> nd thought they were mediocre at best. This is a
> case of use what works best for you, regardless of
> what others opinion are. All I know is, its been
> a while since a machine has put this many goodies
> in my pouch on hunts, and I've yet to take it to a
> new site in which we've NOT pounded to death. I h
> ave two machines, the Nox 800 and TDI big box. I
> have decided to let the big box go due to not real
> ly needing it anymore.

It looks like a nice beach machine. Low conductors and deep. When the accessories arrive.....maybe. weather too. For the price it is hard to turn away from.

And I will be curious to hear what folks will say when " area 51 " is released and can be spoken about. The gauntlet has been run. The bar has been set. Nice report Keith.

Thanks Keith for yet another fine effort to bring to the forum your Unbiased opinion---you gave Credit where due yet demonstrated limitations in various scenarios---NO BASHING, just your honest opinions.

When we have a new anything and WANT it to succeed, more times than not,it will succeed. Keith Wanted to report The Good,Bad,and Ugly and he Succeeded.

I've got somewhere around 80+ hours on mine and I feel like his thoughts were close to mine. Good honest report. And I didnt hear him really say anything bad. The machine is a good all around machine, not a specialty machine.

gee does that nail board test and results seem familiar!

[www.youtube.com]

It kinda reminds me of this nail board test..vista gold gain....

Good straight forward unbiased overall report there Keith

Your assessment mirrors/sums the unit up just like I called it from the get/go =

1: won't replace a Deus/top iron sifter in heavy/nasty iron infested sites
2: best for and excellent unit on the beach/in the saltwater
3: decent all arounder
4: won't replace CTX for modern trash sifting and especial on high conductors

on the other hand/at the same time (what your review and a few more coming out by others now also indicates is) = if someone needs a unit that will hit deep low/er conductors outside the heavy iron better/more so than the ctx/fbs units (especially in bad dirt) and/or wants a decent all arounder that does a good job for the all but the most hardcore highly demanding diggers in most sites/conditions and/or wants a top notch beach/saltwater unit = then this is the machine for them.

Not what I look for or need in/of a unit but to each his own/we all use what we want/need

Next

Excellent wrap up MRH ---so refreshing to read a Measured response.

MHR as to point number 4 in your post above..
For the average detectorist working modern trash, the CTX might be the better choice. It’s a more refined, pleasant hunt in moder trash.
For advanced users, the Equinox will find low, mid, and high conductors the CTX and E-Trac will miss..
The Equinox is deeper even on high conductors and much faster.
I almost exclusively hunt old parks, curb strips and old homes. I can’t go back to FBS now that I have experienced the Equinox 800.

Bryan

Cabin Fever Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MHR as to point number 4 in your post above..
> For the average detectorist working modern trash,
> the CTX might be the better choice. It’s a more re
> fined, pleasant hunt in moder trash.
> For advanced users, the Equinox will find low, mid
> , and high conductors the CTX and E-Trac will miss
> ..
> The Equinox is deeper even on high conductors and
> much faster.
> I almost exclusively hunt old parks, curb strips a
> nd old homes. I can’t go back to FBS now that I h
> ave experienced the Equinox 800.
>
> Bryan


Goes BOTH ways Brian. I’m 1000% positive that the CTX/etrac will find things in modern trash (or in any environment) that the EQ will miss too.

Also - you’re not going to beat the fe/co dual number scale as to VID accuracy when hunting modern trash with ANY unit running a single number scale and especially one that is crammed down to a 40 point scale. That being the case = too much trash reads the same single number as good targets do and vise/versa so you dig waaaaay more trash than with a unit using dual fe/co VID’s. That’s a known fact and has been since the day it was brought to market. Weather you believe it or not or accept it or not = that’s up to you. Doesn’t matter if the EQ is faster and deeper. That has nothing to do with accurately id’ing junk pulltabs, caps etc VS good targets in a much better/faster manner thanks to a dual fe/co number scale.

P.S. add in the target trace feature of the CTX and you’re not even on the same planet anymore between the 2 units for identifying trash VS good targets.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2018 03:39AM by MichiganRelicHunter.

Keith can't believe u like running it in prospecting mode ur crazy man.

MHR you talk like I’ve never used the CTX..
The last 4 years, I have used the CTX and E-Trac almost exclusively for all my coin hunting..
I’m a huge Minelab FBS fan. Before Multi-IQ it was hands down the best technology for old coin hunting
in modern trash, in my soil..
I don’t miss the FE/CO like I thought I would.. In retrospect, I didn’t give the FE number much weight when using my FBS units anyway..
If you do then good targets will be left behind..
Once I got through the learning phase of the the Equinox, I have noticed no additional trash digging compared to the CTX or E-Trac.
In fact while chasing Nickels, the Equinox has proven to be more tight.. Copper and silver coins stay in their range so avoiding tabs and slaw
in a park setting is quite easy.. I have had great success cherry picking coins from parking strips with the Equinox which is one of the worst
modern trash environments you will encounter..
After what I have seen the Equinox find, I do not agree with you that the CTX will see targets that the Equinox can’t..
Also the target trace on the CTX is overrated and a gimmick in my opinion.. It’s all in the audio.

With all that being said, the Equinox is not perfect..
I don’t like the mode system, modulation and limited audio range.
My hope is that Minelabs next higher end version of the Equinox addresses these and more..

I only use the detector I feel is the absolute best at finding old coins in my environment.
If I felt the CTX, E-Trac or V3i was better, that’s what I would swing. I can afford to own all 3..

Your environment, style of hunting or intended targets may call for a different detector, but the Equinox is
a top tier detector, no doubt.

Bryan



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2018 07:32AM by Cabin Fever.

I dig more trash with the Nox, even though with its better separation/unmasking it sees some targets that would be missed by my Etrac. So far, I have not gotten around the Nox's iffy TID and depth info (compared to the Etrac), although I am hoping that once I better learn the sounds in 50-tone mode that will help to make up for the deficiency. I like the Nox, but doubt it can replace my Etrac.

Thanks, Keith, been waiting to hear from you regarding the Nox. Suspicions confirmed. HH jim tn

I agree with Cabin Fever and echo his assessment.

The eTrac and CTX were my favorite coin machines for a long while. I have used all the FBS machines from the Explorer XS up to the CTX. To me, they were the pinnacle of coin hunting machines IN CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTS. But what somebody sees as coin hunting, may mean something totally different to another person. Some may just hunt tot lots, school yards, etc for clad or the occasional wheatie/silver. Some may hunt curb strips. Some may hunt yards of old home sites that are still standing...some may only hunt homesites of places that have been torn down or burned down. There is a long list of places to hunt for coins and each one will have its own set of challenges to contend with.

You can say the same for relic hunting, jewelry hunting, you get the picture.

Keith and I both hunt for Civil War relics. But our techniques and challenges are totally different although we are after the same basic targets. He hunts in an area where there were no dug in winter camps. By the time the troops came to his area in numbers, they were in full campaign mode and were not staying in once place in dug in winter huts. They had camps but not long term camps, and they did quite a bit of skirmishing and fighting in his area. My area didn't have that part of it; just a few minor skirmishes and a whole lot of idle time in camps. Therefore our hunting requires different tactics.

When it comes to detectors, we all are never going to agree that there is just one. I also could have any detector on the market and if I thought it was better, I'd have it. When I listed my CTX for sale, somebody here told me to not do it, that I would regret it. Well that's not the case. For me, the Equinox does everything better than it ever could. If you were to give me one today, I'd just turn around and sell it and keep my Nox. I believe it was Dan that posted on another forum that he finds himself asking "how did I miss THAT" a lot while hunting with the Nox in places he thought he had cleaned out with other machines...and that has been my experience too. If it happens once or twice, no big deal. We all miss things. When it becomes a reoccurring thing on every trip, there's something going on.

I DO wish I had an eTrac or CTX some times, to compare signals to the Nox as to see why I might have missed the target on those machines; or if they did get a signal and just mis IDed it and I passed it for trash. Whatever the case may be, I'm enjoying the fruits of it for sure and I'm not digging any more trash than I did with the CTX either. I added trash to my pouch all the time with tight 12-44 dime signals that were trash, and even more when going after those nickel window targets.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2018 12:35PM by Daniel Tn.

I am glad his results were close to mine. A lot of people said i was doing the test wrong. I got a lot of heat for my nail board test video.

Jobs to be done. If the job changes, the optimum tool has to change as well.

It would be interesting to know if Minelab designed their FBS/BBS machines to be optimum tools to find deep silver or whether this capability was the result of design choices which were made in the interest of overall performance and it remained for folks to discover that the deep silver capability was there.

In the case of the Nox, I suspect that ML may have tweaked the design so as to de-emphasize performance on high conductors. This would have the effect of leaving some room in the marketplace for a deep silver machine to replace the FBS/BBS devices.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

MichiganRelicHunter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cabin Fever Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > MHR as to point number 4 in your post above..
> > For the average detectorist working modern trash
> ,
> > the CTX might be the better choice. It’s a more
> re
> > fined, pleasant hunt in moder trash.
> > For advanced users, the Equinox will find low, m
> id
> > , and high conductors the CTX and E-Trac will mi
> ss
> > ..
> > The Equinox is deeper even on high conductors an
> d
> > much faster.
> > I almost exclusively hunt old parks, curb strips
> a
> > nd old homes. I can’t go back to FBS now that I
> h
> > ave experienced the Equinox 800.
> >
> > Bryan
>
>
> Goes BOTH ways Brian. I’m 1000% positive that the
> CTX/etrac will find things in modern trash (or in
> any environment) that the EQ will miss too.
>
> Also - you’re not going to beat the fe/co dual num
> ber scale as to VID accuracy when hunting modern t
> rash with ANY unit running a single number scale a
> nd especially one that is crammed down to a 40 poi
> nt scale. That being the case = too much trash rea
> ds the same single number as good targets do and v
> ise/versa so you dig waaaaay more trash than with
> a unit using dual fe/co VID’s. That’s a known fact
> and has been since the day it was brought to marke
> t. Weather you believe it or not or accept it or n
> ot = that’s up to you. Doesn’t matter if the EQ is
> faster and deeper. That has nothing to do with acc
> urately id’ing junk pulltabs, caps etc VS good tar
> gets in a much better/faster manner thanks to a du
> al fe/co number scale.
>
> P.S. add in the target trace feature of the CTX an
> d you’re not even on the same planet anymore betwe
> en the 2 units for identifying trash VS good targe
> ts.
Keith thanks for the vid .
MRH as far as fe/co numbers on the ctx and target trace yes it does have it's advantages over a tight scale of -9 to 40 but let's be real how many of those 12.45 are still out there in a pounded park I have used the ctx from it's release date . Most signals that are left are not your 12.45 and so on what's left is jumpy ids even on the ctx and it's the iron that does this not tabs and non-ferrous targets we get a blended co number such as a tab and dime together 12.35 depending on the tab.

Let's look at iron we have a nail that's been buried a 100 years not only do we have the iron we also have the halo of rust which is iron oxide surrounding the nail so now we have a nail and high mineralization surrounding the nail if a non-ferrous target is with that well the detector has to separate the nail and mineralize soil from the target . How good the detector is well depend on what id you will get which well not be a 12.45 for the ctx or nox


.Randy aka digger said it best conductive targets don't always lock on with a positive TID number, or provide a consistent audio tone. The beauty of the EQUINOX, as you well know, is it's ability to sort through the trash, separate targets and provide enough information to make us stop and dig. HH Randy

Well I can say the same for tha ctx I have had the nox for a month now lot's of testing I did but only 2 hunts in the wild I did find 3 targets that the ctx did not tone on but target trace showed that there was a non-ferrous target there the nox had a jumpy id but was in the coin range the thing is it alerted me to the target and the ctx did not .When the 6 inch coil comes out I think you relic guys are going to eat crow .

The nox is using a different way of getting rid of the ground signal if fbs was better than why the change to muti-Q it's better that's why I am sure that minelab will be using muti-Q and not fbs in the future machines .So if the nox alerts to targets that fbs does not well.

I am not a relic guy I hunt old coins as far as the nox it brings something different to the table I will be doing head to head with the ctx and see for myself which is better in my soil.

Keith's dirt and my dirt are not the same so we know how it runs in Keith's dirt but what does it do in your dirt .This is what I want to know but waiting for the 33 inches of snow that we got dumped on . sube

sube Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MichiganRelicHunter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Cabin Fever Wrote:
> > ------------------------------------------------
> --
> > -----
> > > MHR as to point number 4 in your post above..
> > > For the average detectorist working modern tra
> sh
> > ,
> > > the CTX might be the better choice. It’s a mor
> e
> > re
> > > fined, pleasant hunt in moder trash.
> > > For advanced users, the Equinox will find low,
> m
> > id
> > > , and high conductors the CTX and E-Trac will
> mi
> > ss
> > > ..
> > > The Equinox is deeper even on high conductors
> an
> > d
> > > much faster.
> > > I almost exclusively hunt old parks, curb stri
> ps
> > a
> > > nd old homes. I can’t go back to FBS now that
> I
> > h
> > > ave experienced the Equinox 800.
> > >
> > > Bryan
> >
> >
> > Goes BOTH ways Brian. I’m 1000% positive that th
> e
> > CTX/etrac will find things in modern trash (or i
> n
> > any environment) that the EQ will miss too.
> >
> > Also - you’re not going to beat the fe/co dual n
> um
> > ber scale as to VID accuracy when hunting modern
> t
> > rash with ANY unit running a single number scale
> a
> > nd especially one that is crammed down to a 40 p
> oi
> > nt scale. That being the case = too much trash r
> ea
> > ds the same single number as good targets do and
> v
> > ise/versa so you dig waaaaay more trash than wit
> h
> > a unit using dual fe/co VID’s. That’s a known fa
> ct
> > and has been since the day it was brought to mar
> ke
> > t. Weather you believe it or not or accept it or
> n
> > ot = that’s up to you. Doesn’t matter if the EQ
> is
> > faster and deeper. That has nothing to do with a
> cc
> > urately id’ing junk pulltabs, caps etc VS good t
> ar
> > gets in a much better/faster manner thanks to a
> du
> > al fe/co number scale.
> >
> > P.S. add in the target trace feature of the CTX
> an
> > d you’re not even on the same planet anymore bet
> we
> > en the 2 units for identifying trash VS good tar
> ge
> > ts.
> Keith thanks for the vid .
> MRH as far as fe/co numbers on the ctx and target
> trace yes it does have it's advantages over a tigh
> t scale of -9 to 40 but let's be real how many of
> those 12.45 are still out there in a pounded park
> I have used the ctx from it's release date . Most
> signals that are left are not your 12.45 and so on
> what's left is jumpy ids even on the ctx and it's
> the iron that does this not tabs and non-ferrous t
> argets we get a blended co number such as a tab an
> d dime together 12.35 depending on the tab.
>
> Let's look at iron we have a nail that's been buri
> ed a 100 years not only do we have the iron we als
> o have the halo of rust which is iron oxide surrou
> nding the nail so now we have a nail and high mine
> ralization surrounding the nail if a non-ferrous t
> arget is with that well the detector has to separa
> te the nail and mineralize soil from the target .
> How good the detector is well depend on what id yo
> u will get which well not be a 12.45 for the ctx o
> r nox
>
>
> .Randy aka digger said it best conductive targets
> don't always lock on with a positive TID number, o
> r provide a consistent audio tone. The beauty of t
> he EQUINOX, as you well know, is it's ability to s
> ort through the trash, separate targets and provid
> e enough information to make us stop and dig. HH R
> andy
>
> Well I can say the same for tha ctx I have had the
> nox for a month now lot's of testing I did but onl
> y 2 hunts in the wild I did find 3 targets that th
> e ctx did not tone on but target trace showed that
> there was a non-ferrous target there the nox had a
> jumpy id but was in the coin range the thing is it
> alerted me to the target and the ctx did not .When
> the 6 inch coil comes out I think you relic guys a
> re going to eat crow .
>
> The nox is using a different way of getting rid of
> the ground signal if fbs was better than why the c
> hange to muti-Q it's better that's why I am sure t
> hat minelab will be using muti-Q and not fbs in th
> e future machines .So if the nox alerts to targets
> that fbs does not well.
>
> I am not a relic guy I hunt old coins as far as th
> e nox it brings something different to the table I
> will be doing head to head with the ctx and see fo
> r myself which is better in my soil.
>
> Keith's dirt and my dirt are not the same so we kn
> ow how it runs in Keith's dirt but what does it do
> in your dirt .This is what I want to know but wait
> ing for the 33 inches of snow to melt that we got dumped o
> n . sube

Here's a short video I did and threw together on the Nox. My editing and camera skills are not as good as most people.

I had been to the home site the last several times with the CTX and Impact with small coil, hoping to turn up some coins in the heavy trash but it didn't happen. You see what happens in the video with the Nox there, and that is with the 11 inch coil. This has been happening at every site I go to. It's not making sites totally new again but it is making me say "how did I miss THAT before" quite a bit. You will note that none of the coins are deep. But all are surrounded by trash.

[youtu.be]