Equinox As a Beach Machinebeaches.

I’ve seen a few reviews here talking about the Nox’s capabilities on salt sand beaches. But I’m wondering how it compares performance-wise with other respected salt sand performers, e,g., Soverign, CZ, CTX, etc.

It compares very well. All are good machines and will find rings and coins and lots of 'other' things (trash). I believe the 800 is as good as any and in some ways better than the ones you listed (in some ways anyway). It's lighter, faster easy to understand and very adjustable to conditions. It does take some learning, but I don't know of any that don't. I've hunted with CZs, Excals, Explorers, PIs and many other detectors. I have literally thousands of hours beach hunting experience and have friends that have several times the experience I do and curiously we are all swinging Equinox 800s now. What does that say?

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

Mike ...... its a little more chatty than the others. The Xcal is known for HATING iron and the CTX with its smart screen does very well at disc and showing you what you have. The Nox seems to find any thing the others will.... and may be a bit more sensitivity to the smaller gold. Just seems to get a little more depth on them. It certainly wont miss anything the others find. BUT..... its pretty raw .... those digits are really crunched in the lower area. If you disc .... iron/falsing can move into that second bin so ive found it easier to use AM and lower the volume on the first bin moveing those targets back where they belong. It likes bottle caps..... but in the water you just dig less of them.... i think running in beach 2 with lower power reduces the sensitivity enough to ID them better. Do you need a Nox if you have one of the others ...... no. As far as the Xcal...... its cheaper and 3X the warranty. Moves well in the water....... but out of the water the balance makes it nose heavy. The CTX........ well its heavy and moves like you have a dead horse attached out there. IF the CTX wasnt so heavy and a little faster IMO it would be hard to put down.

You’ve indicated that the Nox tends to be nose heavy. I’m wondering if that has something to do with the straight shaft? I’ve read that some have opted to mod the machine to install an “S” shaft. Seems like a lot of effort to go through, especially if ML could just as easily offer an “S” shaft option (but maybe ML isn’t as nimble as Makro at making design changes).

I added an S shaft to mine. Used an S rod off a Whites because I had a few of them. Makes it swing better IMO. It doesn’t try to flop over at the end of each swing. I took my Nox to the beach last week for the first time and found a few deep coins in the wet but there weren’t enough targets to really get a feel for how it compares to my Sovereign GT.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2018 03:59PM by Tom Slick.

The Nox is a great beach machine once you get to know it. It's a little nose heavy if you like to hunt fast with the coil way out in front of you, but if you slow down and put the coil closer to your feet, it's not too bad. Its way easier to swing than the CZ's i've hunted with and I usually only hunt the two hours before and after low tide the low tide anyway and have experienced no detector induced fatigue. I usually hunt in beach two in all metal mode and find that if you have any low tones breaking through its almost guaranteed to be a bottle cap. The hardest thing with the Nox or any detector is learning to trust what the machine is telling you.

Mike ML cant win on that discussion. Most everyone swinging an Xcal begged for a straight shaft..... and wished we had one we could travel with. They did that ...... and now people want something else. Im ok with the shaft..... i put mine back and will use it as a travel shaft. I use an Anderson CF shaft....... same same to me...... buy a travel shaft or a daily use CF.... hey or even an S shaft..... but in the Water most of us dont like an S shaft.

You can change the balance by putting a counter weight on the back like i have used. Most machines are nose heavy if they arent in some way balanced. But in the water...... they move pretty well keeping the coil down with no floating. Its just trade offs.

I liked the Equinox 600 on the beach especially on the 'semi-wet' sand either from a rain shower or a tide in leaving it wet.
It went reasonably deep: possibly deeper and more sensitive to [ smaller and on-edge ] coins? Even found a ring easily enough (junk one though)

On the 'wet' it is a little harder to control and to get to work perfectly smoothly!

However, on the wet sand overall, the CTX 3030 is still King and the Equinox won't come close to the 'finesse' of it!

I've compared it with my CZ, Excal, and CTX and it was similar depth wise in air tests (maybe a tad deeper) though the 17'' coil on the CTX was obviously deeper. Its lighter, cheaper, and just as deep. It can possibly find smaller gold but I have yet to find anything my other machines wouldn't of. I have two gold rings and a bunch of silver finds thus far with the nox over the last few months.

The advantage of the CZ/Excal is that they have all metal mode, which I believe really helps find targets on the edge and faint signals. I really prefer all metal to the nox/ctx beeps. The advantage of the CTX is that its ID is much more stable and accurate. You can actually the use the CTX to disc out targets. The Nox ID is not very good. I had a penny yesterday ring up as a solid 2 because it was really corroded and have had them go as high as 26. You cannot pick out gold from pennies. Having said that those machines are much heavier and more costly. And when I say the nox is lighter, its way lighter. You can swing it all day no problem. It feels as light as a bounty hunter or fisher f2 type machine. But I look at the nox as a beep and dig machine on the beach...though most of my others were the same way too. As far as the straight shaft other here mentioned - I like it. No way do I want to go back to an S shaft. Minelab got the ergonomics correct...finally.

As far as the 800 vs 600. The 800 would of been a waste of $250 for me on the beach. Headphones on both are garbage since they aren't waterproof. The only settings I have actually adjusted was putting the iron bias to 0. I tried messing with recovery speed but found the default settings were best - low falsed every swing and higher lost significant depth. But that is just my opinion. I did a lot of research before buying one vs the other and got what I need for my needs. Its really going to come down to what you need.

_________________________________

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

Mike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You’ve indicated that the Nox tends to be nose hea
> vy. I’m wondering if that has something to do wit
> h the straight shaft? I’ve read that some have op
> ted to mod the machine to install an “S” shaft. S
> eems like a lot of effort to go through, especiall
> y if ML could just as easily offer an “S” shaft op
> tion (but maybe ML isn’t as nimble as Makro at mak
> ing design changes).

An S shaft might help but I think it's mostly having the battery in the handle that throws the balance off. If the battery were back under the arm cuff where it belongs, the Equinox would swing a lot better.

The equinox is the only detector I know of that has to be carried upside down. That right there shows that it's way out of balance.

.

Badger in NH Wrote:

> The equinox is the only detector I know of that ha
> s to be carried upside down. That right there show
> s that it's way out of balance.


"CTX...V3'...I've had to carry those upside down!

If a 17" coil on the CTX it's a struggle esp if going up any inclines!"

> The equinox is the only detector I know of that has to be carried upside down.
Well, it comes from Australia, does it not?


Bottom line is it is a mid range priced detector that runs with the big dogs. It is not perfect, but I don't know of one that is at any price.

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

Pasttom Wrote:

> Bottom line is it is a mid range priced detector t
> hat runs with the big dogs. It is not perfect, bu
> t I don't know of one that is at any price.


These are my thoughts as well. There is no perfect beach machine. To make the equinox perfect, I would of loved to see all metal beach mode, accurate VDI, time on the display (yes minor but I like it on the ctx), removeable battery, and come with good waterproof headphones.

_________________________________

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

I agree about the clock except the one on my CTX is so small I'd need a magnifying glass to read it! I am pleased that the Equinox has larger more legible read outs.

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

The Nox has a removable battery....... when replaced. I for one dont like opening the box..... it takes us out of the equation for damage. How many flooded CZs, AT pros, and CTXs... ugh. Its just a raw machine...... but im ok with that too. Takes a little more playing....... but is good as any out here at half the price...... and in the case of the Xcal.... 3Xs the warranty. I read all the suggestions for an upgraded Xcal....... this seems to fit the bill IMO.

Now....... im curious how many are using that tiny 6" coil on the beach and whats your result? Ive not seen a lot of postings from beach hunters. Ive still got my fingers crossed since it has made its mark as a good beach machine that ML will give us a coil in the 8 or 9" range. But then im betting the gold folks are wishing the same thing about better coil selections for their unique hunting. 3 coils....... for such a capable machine...... thats a neg to me. I think what made many of the ML machines popular was aftermarket coils.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2018 11:50AM by dewcon4414.

I find the balance of the Equinox just fine once you heat up the cuff and size it correctly to your arm.

By the time the battery finally needs to be replaced we will probably be able to buy one online with a higher capacity in the same physical size, so that is a plus also.

The more I use my equinox on the beach the more I find myself choosing it over my CZ.

One time I hit a spot where someone had tossed about 50 pennies.... after the 5th shiny penny it was easy to see what was happening... I could just avoid 19/20 ID's and keep hunting. My CZ would have had me digging every one of them.

I'm surprised at all the belly aching about the Equinox shaft and balance. When I had my ML Sovereign XS2a, I don't think a blind monkey could've designed a worse detector shaft setup, and balance....yeah it sucked too. The Equinox shaft compared to that is a thousand times better!

I'd be curious to know what multifrequency beach detector out of the box has a better shaft setup or is better balanced? Certainly not the heavy arse CTX, nor the Excal, or Sov. Fisher CZ20/21?

Cal -- I share similar thoughts regarding the balance compared to other "beach" machines. It was one of the first "must have" fix items for the Excal...buying an aftermarket shaft. BUT I must say, I know I am in the minority when I say that I liked the balance and feel of a CTX3030 out of the box better than the Nox. I could (and have) hunted with it all day with the 11 inch coil. Now, when you threw the 17 inch on it, it got a little heavy after a while.

Dew -- Yeppers on the coil options. I hope they open the gate for aftermarket coils for the Nox. That's one of the negatives of the CTX. I admit though, I'm more interested in the bigger coil for the Nox instead of the 6". An inbetween 8 or 9 inch coil would be great. As well as an in between coil for the stock 11 inch and the biggest one...maybe a 13" like the Ultimate series coils.

Cal_cobra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm surprised at all the belly aching about the Eq
> uinox shaft and balance. When I had my ML Sovere
> ign XS2a, I don't think a blind monkey could've de
> signed a worse detector shaft setup, and balance..
> ..yeah it sucked too. The Equinox shaft compared
> to that is a thousand times better!
>
> I'd be curious to know what multifrequency beach d
> etector out of the box has a better shaft setup or
> is better balanced? Certainly not the heavy arse
> CTX, nor the Excal, or Sov. Fisher CZ20/21?

Ain't that the truth!

Tom Slick Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cal_cobra Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I'm surprised at all the belly aching about the
> Eq
> > uinox shaft and balance. When I had my ML Sove
> re
> > ign XS2a, I don't think a blind monkey could've
> de
> > signed a worse detector shaft setup, and balance
> ..
> > ..yeah it sucked too. The Equinox shaft compare
> d
> > to that is a thousand times better!
> >
> > I'd be curious to know what multifrequency beach
> d
> > etector out of the box has a better shaft setup
> or
> > is better balanced? Certainly not the heavy ars
> e
> > CTX, nor the Excal, or Sov. Fisher CZ20/21?
>
> Ain't that the truth!

Agreed. i am very happy with the shaft. Light and easy to swing all day. Heck, I was happy with the CTX compared the CZ/Excal and Nox is 10x easier to swing than the CTX.

_________________________________

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

Odd how they complain about the shaft. If it was a two piece everyone would be whining about having to buy a TRAVEL SHAFT would they not? I think it was the perfect shaft to put on a machine. Face it many of us would buy another shaft ..... either the straight or the travel. I have no problem with the balance of the Nox..... its going to be noise heavy especially when extended and thats why we buy a straight shaft .... to extend it. The CZ ..... im short but felt like i was about to step on it it was just to short. For the weight of the CTX its balanced pretty well. BUT it dont compare to the Nox moving it around out there in the water...... huge difference.

You can please some of the people all of the time,
you can please all of the people some of the time,
but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

Cal_cobra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You can please some of the people all of the time,
> you can please all of the people some of the time,
> but you can’t please all of the people all of the
> time.


You sound like that Whites guy.

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Odd how they complain about the shaft. If it was
> a two piece everyone would be whining about having
> to buy a TRAVEL SHAFT would they not? I think it
> was the perfect shaft to put on a machine. Face
> it many of us would buy another shaft ..... either
> the straight or the travel. I have no problem w
> ith the balance of the Nox..... its going to be no
> ise heavy especially when extended and thats why w
> e buy a straight shaft .... to extend it. The CZ
> ..... im short but felt like i was about to step o
> n it it was just to short. For the weight of th
> e CTX its balanced pretty well. BUT it dont compa
> re to the Nox moving it around out there in the wa
> ter...... huge difference.


I've never swung a CTX... is it easier or worse in the water than the EQ800?

Flgliderpilot -- That's gonna vary person to person. Just like in this thread. Dew says he likes how the Nox swings in water compared to the CTX. I'm the opposite and thought swinging the CTX in water was like spreading butter on a hot piece of bread.

With the Nox, you have to swing the entire arc left to right and back again. With the CTX, it's so heavy, you just have to get it started in one direction and it will continue to move on it's own until you stop it to swing it in the opposite direction.

Swings like a dead horse is attached. With a lot of drift or waves it tends to want to float . It isnt heavy in the water but the battery box when hit by moving water causes a lot of coil flip which the CTX doesnt like in salt water. I like the CTX.... doesnt seem like it.... but thats what I was swinging when the Nox came out.

Cal_cobra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm surprised at all the belly aching about the Eq
> uinox shaft and balance. When I had my ML Sovere
> ign XS2a, I don't think a blind monkey could've de
> signed a worse detector shaft setup, and balance..
> ..yeah it sucked too. The Equinox shaft compared
> to that is a thousand times better!
>
> I'd be curious to know what multifrequency beach d
> etector out of the box has a better shaft setup or
> is better balanced? Certainly not the heavy arse
> CTX, nor the Excal, or Sov. Fisher CZ20/21?


Exactly right - top post

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