Equinox

IDXMonster, lytle78, I've tried many different detectors through the years but the ones I've used the most have been the Whites IDX Pro, Whites 5900/6000 and the Minelab Sovereigns. Each one was used for specific hunting conditions. I don't believe in the one size fits all when it comes to metal detectors. The type of hunting I do has slowly changed so my detector arsenal has changed. These days most of my hunting is done using the XP Deus and the Sovereign GT.

Same as don't buy a new model car the first year...wait till they get the wrinkles out..

Sometimes older units are fun to get out and take for a spin.

I decided to hang onto my Nox and at the same time, just committed to buying a decent looking Fisher 1236-X2 for a decent price.

I don't know what on earth I will do with it but I recall a thread here a while back in which it was discussed, and seemed to have a decent following. What got my interest were several people talking about how they had dug the most gold rings of any machine they had used, with the 1236.

In the past, I've came close to pulling the trigger on one of those IDX Pros with mods. They come up for sale from time to time, but I've always felt they were a little high on the prices for the ones I've saw. Most of them I've seen are $400 or there abouts. That may be the going price for them though.

Daniel Tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sometimes older units are fun to get out and take
> for a spin.
>
> I decided to hang onto my Nox and at the same time
> , just committed to buying a decent looking Fisher
> 1236-X2 for a decent price.
>
> I don't know what on earth I will do with it but I
> recall a thread here a while back in which it was
> discussed, and seemed to have a decent following.
> What got my interest were several people talking a
> bout how they had dug the most gold rings of any m
> achine they had used, with the 1236.
>
> In the past, I've came close to pulling the trigge
> r on one of those IDX Pros with mods. They come u
> p for sale from time to time, but I've always felt
> they were a little high on the prices for the ones
> I've saw. Most of them I've seen are $400 or ther
> e abouts. That may be the going price for them th


I have one of those IDX’s. With Mr. Bill mods.. only used it a couple times..Had it for 7 or 8 years.. guess I will have to get it out and try it?

Should have kept my modified IDX Pro, actually fun to use. The new owner has been enjoying, loves using it.

DeepTech Vista X with 3 search coils.
Works for me

I would bet some oldtimers with older units they know well might put manners on newtimers with new units they don't know well...one wonders how well we know our new units the way most upgrade...remember a 60 chevy or an 18 caddy will take you to your favorite fishing hole only the ride will be different...

The IDX Pro was probably under-marketed by Whites. The visual ID system is incredibly simple but quite brilliant. ;at a time when coin shooting was the main metal detector pastime, it had solid ID on US coins.

It also had a great discrimination range and solid depth. In an era before the aluminum fallout contaminated our hunting grounds, it was deadly as a coinshooter.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Dan I agree with you about the old-timers vs. newbies. Unfortunately right now I can only afford one machine and it happens to be the Equinox. So far it seems to be able to perform in every hunting situation that I've run it in. Every time I take it out I try to hunt with different settings to learn more about its abilities. Yesterday afternoon I had it back out in a iron infested lot and set park one to reject everything below eighteen with iron bias set to three and recovery set to eight. I then switched to all metal and listened for the high pitched sounds among all the iron. All metal seems to be more sensitive to good targets in heavy iron. Whenever I got a high tone in all metal, I would pinpoint the center of the target and then switch back into park one to see if it discriminated out. This may not seem to be the most efficient way to hunt but it got me a eagle button in an area that I had already been over in the other modes. I'm enjoying the learning process with the Equinox but feel that it may be a while before i can use it to its full potential.

Minelab took the Equinox in a direction that some of us were not expecting or didn't want. That doesn't mean it isn't a great detector......Just disappointing to some of us. Some were looking for that CTX lite version. As in a few less features with a lighter weight and a cheaper price. Included in that would also be that great target ID. Some of us were just hoping for a waterproof Sovereign that again has the light weight and would make a terrific beach machine. Basically a repackaged Excal. Heck the meter isn't even necessary for some of us. It is my opinion that there is still room in the lineup for those machines. There are those that are very happy with the Equinox and that is great. Those that are trying to make the Equinox do what it was not designed to do which is not great. And those that choose to wait for the correct detector to fit our needs.

goodmore Wrote:
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Some of us
> were just hoping for a waterproof Sovereign that a
> gain has the light weight and would make a terrifi
> c beach machine. Basically a repackaged Excal.

This with multifrequency tech. The one thing I don't like about the nox or the CTX was lack of an all metal mode. Hearing those whispers and targets on the edge are what made the difference. I just can't do that with the CTX/Nox because they don't have true all metal (for the beach that is the nox does have it in gold mode on the 800). Either way the nox does fill a void for now as I eagerly await the manta!

_________________________________

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

kinda goes with the saying...."you get what you pay for"......The Nox is not a CTX or Etrac. However even with less features still does perform, but much too early to tell how well. The Safari also has less features and it performs great. For beaches the Sovereigns and Excals are still fun to use. When the cheap Minelab Go-Find series came out, Tube videos were filled with, basically.......commercials. Choose your Spam...lol. Time will tell, commercials and real people videos will slowly filter and the real users remain.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2018 04:07PM by Arkansas.

The Nox performs very well, especially in its price range. It is not a E-TRAC or CTX...Thankfully! It does some things much better than either the E-TRAC or CTX can do and, of course, they do some things better than the Nox. Different tools for different jobs. For the type of detecting that I do....iron infested ghost towns/home sites...the Nox is King. I have both the E-TRAC and Nox. I feel that I have all of my bases covered with theses two machines. That being said, the E-TRAC has seen very little use since the Nox came on board.

Dean



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2018 03:36AM by bado1.

goodmore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Minelab took the Equinox in a direction that some
> of us were not expecting or didn't want. That does
> n't mean it isn't a great detector......Just disap
> pointing to some of us. Some were looking for that
> CTX lite version. As in a few less features with a
> lighter weight and a cheaper price. Included in th
> at would also be that great target ID. Some of us
> were just hoping for a waterproof Sovereign that a
> gain has the light weight and would make a terrifi
> c beach machine. Basically a repackaged Excal. Hec
> k the meter isn't even necessary for some of us. I
> t is my opinion that there is still room in the li
> neup for those machines.

"Well said Goodmore! Couldn't have said it better myself!

I had been 'banging on' for YEARS at them to produce 'an E Trac 2 on a stick!
We got 'a brick' in the CTX. It wasn't what I had wanted to give all my Customers that I had met in person, on the telephone and by E Mail for many many years! Heck, some of them knew my frustration!

I asked for 'a waterproof Sovereign', after the GT had come out and knowing it was to be the last of them!

I had asked for a pin pointer 15 years ago!!!

I had asked for 'a lightweight' machine 19 years ago!!!

They don't listen! Well they do, but to the wrong choir!"

well I don't own a Nox but to me it looks like more than just some new stickers on old tech

if that's what you want there is a company that delivers that already

I think the Nox is the step in the right direction = NEW tech @ affordable prices from a reputable manufacturer

whats not to like?

[www.earthscan.co.nz]

There are a few caps that have come in a little higher on the ID but a bouncy 13,14,15 even I turn on AM and do the wiggle of the coil off the target. Just as it moves off target I get a neg number and a faint grunt. Another non ferrous target will give a clean break. Still it could be a pop tab. So far it has been as reliable a way to tell with out having to go through the menu or change patterns. There is no doubt it is a sensitive MD on small deeper targets in Beach 1 and 2. I know its the beach I'm hunting and if I wasn't on a replenished beach it would do a great job. I still like my Excal though. Not bad on a belt and carbon shaft and no iron to speak of,

Rustic Charm nailed my thoughts pretty good.

There always seems to be a division between people as to what we want in detectors. Some people want relabeled versions of what we already had (Sovereign or CTX) in different configurations. And then there are other people who gripe when the companies never come out with anything new, and just give us repackaged and relabeled stuff. I'm in the latter group. I'd rather have new over repackaged 20 yr old technology.

Maybe First Texas was onto something with how they did their Fisher/Teknetics machines. Take the G2 and Gold bug for example. Same machine internally but 2 different rod configurations...one for the crowd that hates pistol grip and one for the crowd that hates S rods.

I'm glad the Nox is how it is. It's new and its different. I would have been disappointed had it just been a repackaged Sovereign or CTX. Neither of those done well in the soil I have. The Nox cuts through it better than either of those.