Equinox

Let's see now---negative "things" that have been posted about the Equinox.------Washed out screen graphics, broken coil "ears", wobbly shaft, screen protector immediately coming off, arm cuff cushion immediately coming off.-----Anything else?-------"Birthing pains" that Minelab will work through---poor design--or a little of both?------When the Xterra first came out I purchased one & had the problem of the detector shutting off during operation & broken coil ears (which to there credit Minelab took care of).-----But----not all this!------I'll say again what I said earlier---give it a year before purchase & see if it "flies"---or not.-------Just an ole mans humble opinion.------Del

I'm glad I bought one, a 600. It has found a number of coins that my Etrac couldn't have found, including five silvers. I've also packed it for airline trips, which I'd be reluctant to do with my Etrac.

I've been using the machine for three months now, and time is the one thing you can't get back. I'm glad I bought early.

Interesting to read the reactions of Nox owners who previously used an FBS/BBS Minelab. Clear opinion split - love the lightness, sensitivity to small low conductor targets, separation —- not so crazy about strange pinpointing behavior, ID performance, jumpy, range too small, loves steel bottle caps.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

My EQ800 hasn't had one lick of trouble, knock on wood

It has produced some very deep coins for me, seems to be a capable relic hunter (have yet to try it at my desert sites, heavily iron infested sites, some of my hardcore mineralized sites (VLF's severely handicapped), or at the beach yet, but it's been impressive everywhere I've taken it thus far. When I hit my tough relic sites, my MK will be my weapon of choice, but I have a few relic sites with funky ground that FBS machines don't have issues with, so I suspect the MK will kill it out there, as my VLF machines have been handicapped. I'm finding stuff at these hard core mineralized sites, but VLFs are crippled at these sites, the Nox should do well, can't wait to get out there but probably not until this fall....sigh. I like it's weight.

lytle78 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting to read the reactions of Nox owners wh
> o previously used an FBS/BBS Minelab. Clear opini
> on split - love the lightness, sensitivity to smal
> l low conductor targets, separation —- not so craz
> y about strange pinpointing behavior, ID performan
> ce, jumpy, range too small, loves steel bottle cap
> s.


I think the pinpointing is about the same as the CTX. I haven't really had an issue that I also didn't have with the CTX. I found the CZ/Excal pp much better. As a beach hunter, those IDs never mattered much. Overall I am happy - lighter and just as good as FBS/BBS and never needed the ID, just a beep for iron vs non iron. I would wager that minelab will come out with an upgraded CTX that uses mutlifrequency. They will call it multifrequency 2, it will be exactly the same performance as multifrequency 1, have GPS, CTX like ID, and cost $2500. Me, I'm eagerly awaiting the Fisher Manta. The nox is a great machine for me for now though. Can't beat the price for what it is.

_________________________________

Nox600, CTX, CZ21, Excal II and White's DF with 920i stealthscoop...I live and hunt at the beach in Wilm NC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2018 04:07PM by adamBomb.

I've been watching Max's videos with his beach hunting. He is digging bottle caps more than I care to. I'm not convinced. I'll wait.

As a beach machine, the Nox is OK - no better than any other multifreaker except for the weight and price. Since I only paid $275 for my old CZ, it isn’t even the cheapest option.

Having said that, I doubt any other beach VLF is going to compete with it for a good while. I suspect First Texas has the best chance, but nothing from them (with one exception) is expected soon.

Having said THAT, I expect that if the Fisher Manta (that’s the exception) does what it is expected to do, the Nox will be one of the also-ran machines - attractive for its price and versatility, but not king of the beach. Why do I say that? because the Manta has already demonstrated depth superior to any VLF, immunity to black sand (which kills VLF depth - even multifreaker), useful iron ID/exclusion (which no previous PI had demonstrated) and a minimum pulse delay of less than 8 microseconds which means it will be clearly superior to any VLF salt beach machine on small and low carat gold (ground balanced to exclude the salt signal makes them unable to detect the phase shift of these targets).

Of course nobody knows when the Manta will appear. The only thing I’m pretty sure of is that Fisher will want their own model name for it.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Rick ....... you left out warranty..... and IMO i believe ML underestimated the NOx as a beach machine.. especially in the water. Yes there are growing pains that people dont like..... but in the past 2 months ive paid for mine at least 4 times..... so its working well in the water. Only a few things the CTX and Xcal didnt do well on..... but most at least in air tests the Nox has the depth on. Give it time to get out and really get tested. Hey.... as far as i know NONE has flooded...... can any other recent water machine rsay that? Not many. I also remember not many liked the $2500 CTX when it first came out..... lot of criticisms, oh and it did flood..... and how bout that crazy price? But now...... awfully lot of them are being used and praised. The Nox likes iron...... but it also is very fast and will give good signal of targets right next to iron. I wont care one bit if i dont see any Noxs on the beach. Again IMO..... i believe the Nox is BETTER than most of the multi freq machines in the wet sand when using beach 1.

Dew

I haven't had any problems with mine.

I watch Max's videos too and have for a long time. He always dug bottle caps even with the CTX. I had commented on one of his videos where he was complaining about the caps with the CTX and told him to look for the splatter on the graph. He replied and said he couldn't see the meter most of the time due to the sun glare. I kinda knew what he meant but it really hit home when I myself was on the beach. I took to hunting at night cause I could see the screen and hunt the high traffic areas when there wasn't anybody there. He has started to be able to call caps pretty good now with the Nox though, but he still digs them to be sure. I have saw him dig more rings hunting with the Nox than I ever remember him finding with the CTX.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2018 08:00AM by Daniel Tn.

I love mine.
For the price paid and what is offered and performance.
Likely best detector overall offered to public to date.

I say this and hadn't even got to use small coil.

You know how one can tell how good it is?

What is missing on the Internet (you tube) wise?

Look what detectors in stock config the Nox is compared to.

Notice anything.

Looks like the Etrac and CTX are the ones.

Anything else seems has to have a non stock coil to compete. As far as a detector in the same price range.

So, yes let's see the F75 go after the Nox. Remember what some folks paid for those just a little while ago. Loads, right??

The White's V3i, yeah throw it up against the Nox and let's see what happens. They don't give those away either.

Equinox is not a perfect detector.
Anyone looking for one of those, good luck.

Loads of Equinox have been sold.
If it were so bad we likely would see loads of bad reports.

I don't see them.

There will be some who are never satisfied. Unless maybe the detector digs their find for them. Lol

Folks should remember, Nox is updatable. And I think in time some things will be done in this department.

A very versatile detector for price paid.

Comparing to a detector that cost twice as much should say something. Or even using such a detector in the same sentence.

Show me a first texas machine that will ignore bottle caps. Without a lot of playing with the coil. The manta will also detect a multitude of bottle caps.

Hey Del you are assuming we still have a few good years left for detecting, I went and traded for a Nox 600!

KIM JONG UN says the Only way he will get rid of his nukes: Give him his own Nox.

I don't think most people are too happy with the large stock search coil. It's a little too big for the detector for it to balance correctly. Next Minelab comes out with a really small search coil and people will buy it, but then realize that it's too small for everyday use. Later on Minelab will come out with a mid-size search coil that will be just right. Great marketing. If that had come out with the mid-sized one first they wouldn't have been able suck all that money out of your wallet. A 6 x 8 or 8 inch round search coil would be just perfect for the Equinox.

tabman

doc holiday Wrote:
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> KIM JONG UN says the Only way he will get rid of h
> is nukes: Give him his own Nox.


UH OH!!!!! Here comes some Hitler vids----only this time its with the little fat kindergarten boy (instead of Hitler).

Maybe not a FT machine, but for beach hunting the Sovereign and Excal users do not dig bottle caps. Yes they are heavier machines that can wear a guy out, but so can digging unessesary holes. Combine that with time digging those holes and now there is another factor to consider. Not knocking the Nox....If you like it that is great.

I just tested my Nox 600 vs. my Teknetics T2 on a fresh Becks Beer cap - legacy of today’s lunch.

The ID on both machines was not much help. Switching to “horseshoe” mode on the Nox threw off an occasional minus number. The T2 clearly gave me an iron buzz by just using the tilted coil edge to tickle the cap. Neither was brilliant on this tough target, but the T2 was easier to do. With either detector, you would be digging lots of them or leaving them based on an iffy ID.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

lytle78 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just tested my Nox 600 vs. my Teknetics T2 on a
> fresh Becks Beer cap - legacy of today’s lunch.
>
> The ID on both machines was not much help. Switch
> ing to “horseshoe” mode on the Nox threw off an oc
> casional minus number. The T2 clearly gave me an
> iron buzz by just using the tilted coil edge to ti
> ckle the cap. Neither was brilliant on this tough
> target, but the T2 was easier to do. With either
> detector, you would be digging lots of them or lea
> ving them based on an iffy ID.



On the Equinox, did you try raising the Iron Bias setting? That should help.

Were you in 3b (bottle cap mode) on the T2?

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2018 06:42PM by Badger in NH.

Haven’t tried that yet. This thing loves deep iron and without a pinpointer to show you target size....get a pinpointer.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Take Nox after getting signal on beer cap. Switch from multi freq to 5khz and see what happens. ID likely will go real high. Tell tale sign of cap. I dig very few caps using my Nox.

PITA

My Whites IDX Pro never fails to ID a steel cap as ferrous - it can be done - ML just didn’t do it.

P.S. Don’t bother to point out that my IDX is not submersible – I am well aware of that fact – the Nox is an extremely versatile machine but that doesn’t mean it’s the best at everything and it doesn’t mean it couldn’t of been better if they would’ve taken a little more time and worked a little harder on it.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2018 08:32PM by lytle78.

lytle78 Wrote:
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> PITA
>
> My Whites IDX Pro never fails to ID a steel cap as
> ferrous - it can be done - ML just didn’t do it.


I’m glad someone else still enjoys the sheer genius of the IDX....even though I now have an Explorer and CTX, the IDXPro is still a VERY relevant tool for me.

They are great detectors.They are even better with Mr. Bill's mods. Here's my twins.

Mine has the mods too - with the bigfoot coil it’s a quarter broom. Jack the discrim to the right, no tavs, no zincs.

I’m not bad mouthing the Nox, But every job has a tool which makes it easier. A Swiss Army knife can do a multitude of jobs but I wouldn’t want to Butcher a hog or drill holes with one.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Nox vs T2 vs IDX....ect, ect.... Wouldnt it be more of a coil thing. DD coils tend to love bottle caps. I dont have a Nox, but other models (with DD coil) can sometimes tell a bottle cap by raising the coil and seeing if ID drastically drops. I like that the Nox is waterproof, but is there any feedbacks of its use underwater???

You guys stop that now!!!!!!!! "Ur making me want to go out & buy (another) IDX Pro.---Yeah, that's a nice detector.-------And Frank--so you think you & I have a couple more years detecting???------With me it ain't the getting down for target retrieval that's the problem (gravity is a wonderful thing)----It's tha gettin back up (ageing joints is NOT a wonderful thing)! Better than the alternative though!-------Oh yeah, this is about the Equinox isn't it--I'm "hijacking" my own post! -----------Del

Everybody who sticks with the Nox will find the applications that it excels at. The wide range of modes will likely make that work for lots of folks.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Mike G. Wrote:
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> They are great detectors.They are even better with
> Mr. Bill's mods. Here's my twins.
>
>
>
>


Sweet Mike! Mines modded as well with those two exact coils. I think Arkansas is correct about DD coils on a non-FBS machine liking bottle caps. When I realized the Explorer could just pass on bottle caps cuz they read nowhere near a coin on the conductive side it was game on! There are tricks out there to try to weed them out,freq shifting being one. I don’t mind analyzing a target for another 15-30 seconds when the rest of what the machine does suits what I do. I’ll wait like Del though...just want to see what gets upgraded or downright changed in order to address any issues the EQ is having.

tabman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think most people are too happy with the large stock search coil. It's a little too big for the detector for it to balance correctly. Next Minelab comes out with a really small search coil and
> people will buy it, but then realize that it's too small for everyday use. Later on Minelab will come out with a mid-size search coil that will be just right. Great marketing. If that had come out with
> the mid-sized one first they wouldn't have been able suck all that money out of your wallet. A 6 x 8 or 8 inch round search coil would be just perfect for the Equinox.
>
> tabman

You could be right about their coil release strategy, but almost all new detectors come with an 11" coil as the stock coil. I didn't think it was too big for the places I've detected, but I'd love to have a 6x10 closed elliptical for relic hunting as well as prospecting.

tabman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think most people are too happy with the large stock search coil. It's a little too big for the detector for it to balance correctly. Next Minelab comes out with a really small search coil and
> people will buy it, but then realize that it's too small for everyday use.


The balance problem isn't because the stock coil is too big. It's because they put the battery in the handle when it should be under the arm cuff. That's why the Equinox has to be carried upside down. It's because the battery is way too high making it top heavy. The straight rod also affects the balance.

I think Minelab did a good job on the coil sizes.

The 11 inch is perfect for every day use. It's actually only 10.5 inches long.

For the small coil, I wouldn't want anything bigger than a 6 inch. If anything I'd go smaller. A 5 inch would be nice.

The 15 inch also looks perfect.

Since the 800 is set up for prospecting, I expect we'll see an elliptical coming out at some point.

.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2018 08:12PM by Badger in NH.