Equinox 800, simple question

According to most reports this detector appears to be better than most. It's got to be more than being able to run multi frequencies at the same time. What else is it?

price, light weight, versatility....and it's a minelab...just seeing the videos of their design/research team working in their labs is very impressive....

I like the tones too.
Adjustable....Waterproof... very stable ,handles EMI well. Deep in my soil. Not really complicated to use either.

What are the drawbacks. Are there any?

Drawbacks are alot of your other detectors will sit unused. The equinox is a really good detector. Super easy to use and everyone said everything else. I still use my deus in really thick iron but I have found lowering my sensitivity makes the nox compete fairly well . In modern trash I feel it does very well.. it finds alot of amazing finds. Tones are the best ..

Yes , Deus is better in the thickest iron as the Nox gets somewhat overwhelmed in the thickest nail beds. Its not bad there but its not Deus good either in that scenario. It however does run very stable and is a joy to use tone wise.

Another thing is its not that comfortable to swing. I can swing it all day but its not like a Deus and its not like a Ctx heavy either. If a person could only have one all rounder the Nox is the one to look at.

The interference from the cell is annoying sometimes too....

It has some drawbacks but its a solid unit....will set the bar for future releases. The ID is a problem for some but for what I do it doesnt matter..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2018 12:50AM by calabash digger.

A very good detector for the price.

Bill long Wrote:
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> According to most reports this detector appears to
> be better than most. It's got to be more than bein
> g able to run multi frequencies at the same time.
> What else is it?


When you starting grouping VLF detectors into the following categories.
1. Waterproof - this trims the list to not so many others.

2. Multi frequency -this trims the list to not so many others.

3. Light Weight with meter - this trims the list to not so many others

4. Price (especially model 600- this trims the list to not so many other models

5. Software updatable - this trims the list to not so many other models

6. Seems to perform in higher mineral soil - this trims the list to not so many other models

7. EMI handling - this trims the list to not so many other models

8. Can be used in salt water with above age results - this trims the list to not so many other models

9. Is easily modded with additional rod of one’s liking - this trims the list to not so many other models.

10. Can be used to prospect for gold nuggets with above average performance - this trim the list to not so many other models,


Hard to find a model detector other than Equinox that belongs to all the small families I mention above.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2018 12:54AM by tnsharpshooter.

Plenty of used ones for sale for less than 800 over on treasureclassifieds

What about service if needed on the unit. What about the battery. Can you just buy one and replace it yourself. Or do you have to send it in.

Don't know for sure but probably send it in but that aint no big deal. I have heard the new service center is good but no personal experience with them yet. Battery might last for years.. Some Deus owners are at the 5 year mark with theirs..

Bill long Wrote:
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> What about service if needed on the unit. What abo
> ut the battery. Can you just buy one and replace i
> t yourself. Or do you have to send it in.

Simple answer Bill,,it's like a WalMart coffee maker
If it breaks while under warranty , just take it back for a new one
After warranty , just throw it away because the cost of repair will exceed the cost of the machine , like today's TVs.

New Minelab service in USA is very good. I really think the battery issue is like fake news. It's not been a problem as far as I can tell. I have no idea why it keeps coming up.

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

I believe what shovel said is inaccurate.... A new Deus battery cost 50.00 bucks and I don't believe a Equinox battery is going to be that much different. I just looked a ctx battery pack is 150.00 My buddy basically had a eTrac redone at kellyco new face and all that jazz a year or so ago. I think it cost 175.00 it was out of warranty.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2018 01:53AM by calabash digger.

I think Minelab stated they can/will replace the battery if need.----It can't cost THAT much!

shoveler Wrote:
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> Plenty of used ones for sale for less than 800 ove
> r on treasureclassifieds


yeah!..why?..doesn't compute!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

shoveler Wrote:
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> Plenty of used ones for sale for less than 800 ove
> r on treasureclassifieds


My wife & I both got ours brand new for less than $800.---We're both veterans & got the military discount.------If you are a veteran and are interested in a Minelab product check into this.-----I believe Minelab allows veterans to purchase one detector a year with a military discount.

Like a Deus , replacing the battery is simple , even a hush puppy fryer at Long John Silvers can do it , however it will most likely void the warranty and finding a battery with the correct connector could be difficult. Without a warranty any non coil repair work the Equinox requires will require purchasing a new control pod which will not come with a new 3 year warranty, probably 90 days , and cost nearly as much as new detector.
Haven't we been here before?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2018 03:25AM by shoveler.

Where did you get that info? Moe at the Deus service center will change it for 50 bucks.

calabash digger Wrote:
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> Where did you get that info? Moe at the Deus servi
> ce center will change it for 50 bucks.

Batteries , if still available , were about 14 bucks each(takes three).
Ask Moe if you do it yourself if they will still warrant the units?

I know they will not honor it if you take it apart. I wouldn't honor it either... Take any detector apart from any company and see if they warranty it.

Not certain which machine you might be calling average for salt water hunting, its as good as the 3 top machines...... CZ/Xcal/CTX and seems to have a bit of an advantage on the small gold and depth in the wet sand. Its fast..... and you have the ability to speed up or slow down the recovery. It seems to be fairly forgiving with your settings.... but it will tell you if you are running it to hot. Repairs.... well that maybe just a swap out of the handle/box .... and right now seems like it may be less likely. Travel shaft ..... isnt designed for everyday use in the water nor is the cuff..... but its compact to take anywhere. I personally think they should design more coils for the specific modes as well. Coils seem durable but light. Even if the machine maybe second best in some situations...... over all its hard to beat as a multi use machine. Phones are what they are..... most of us wouldnt use the ones that come with most detectors anyway. Price and warranty.... just really shames what you paid for other detectors vs performance. It can get chatty in salt water. Battery....... man i have years on my ole Xcal batteries and some of those were 700 mah...... and these are lith with 3 times the juice and staying power and seems simple enough to change out.

The advantages are already well covered.

From first hand experience as an owner, I found the two biggest disadvantages are: 1) very nose heavy and does not balance well, which makes it actually more tiring to swing than many heavier but better balanced detectors such as the CTX. If there was some way to have put the battery under the arm cuff, that would have made it much better balanced, but that would have increased cost and complexity. 2) The double D coil design results in a much more sensitive edge effect, meaning a shallow target will sound off at the edge of the coil in addition to the center resulting in three separate signals. This makes the 11" coil nearly useless in heavy trash and very confusing whenever there are multiple shallow targets close to each other. For some reason, the Equinox Double D coil design is much worse than other brands in this respect, the edge signals are almost as strong as the center signal. Yes, you can turn down the sensitivity, but then you loose significant depth.

Still though, it's a great cheap detector, but not nearly in the same class as more expensive top-of-line models.

What class of more expensive detectors you talking about? For relics it will hunt circles around the CTX and eTrac. Of course coins might be a different story???

calabash digger Wrote:
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> What class of more expensive detectors you talking
> about? For relics it will hunt circles around the
> CTX and eTrac. Of course coins might be a differen
> t story???


Yes, I'm mostly talking about traditional coin and jewelry hunting. But there's also a big difference in build quality, adjustability, and visual information. There's far more useful visual information presented with the CTX, V3i, as just a couple examples. I'd expect Minelab to release an Equinox 1000 that incorporates many high-end features that are missing from the 800/600. By leaving off these features from the 800, they are probably just making room in their lineup for a new top-end model based on Multi-IQ. After hunting for years with a CTX and V3i (among others) it's too hard for me to go backwards to just a target ID number and rudimentary discrimination features. Not dinging the 800, it's just not a top end detector.

Here's the drawbacks from my experience it loves round rusty things like bottle caps and washers. It also requires you to buy at minimum a 100 dollar rod setup because the shaft gets wobbly and flexes while swinging it. The perks is it has good depth and it picks through nails very good.

Yes dry sand hunting with the rusty caps and other rusty round things quickly shows one area where the Equinox has limitations. Other detectors can do it much more efficiently. The nature of the this is well explained in Clive's book. All without dissing other detector brands.

wayfarer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> calabash digger Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What class of more expensive detectors you talki
> ng
> > about? For relics it will hunt circles around th
> e
> > CTX and eTrac. Of course coins might be a differ
> en
> > t story???
>
>
> Yes, I'm mostly talking about traditional coin and
> jewelry hunting. But there's also a big differenc
> e in build quality, adjustability, and visual inf
> ormation. There's far more useful visual informat
> ion presented with the CTX, V3i, as just a couple
> examples. I'd expect Minelab to release an Equino
> x 1000 that incorporates many high-end features th
> at are missing from the 800/600. By leaving off t
> hese features from the 800, they are probably just
> making room in their lineup for a new top-end mode
> l based on Multi-IQ. After hunting for years with
> a CTX and V3i (among others) it's too hard for me
> to go backwards to just a target ID number and rud
> imentary discrimination features. Not dinging the
> 800, it's just not a top end detector.


Traditional jewelry hunting, I guess you are talking gold jewelry.
I don’t really see any advantage of using the data (additional) on either the White’s V3i or the CTX for finding.

Wonder if,,back in time long ago all folks had to use to detect with were fbs/fbs2 detectors and stock sized coils and all the parks were busted hard for decades.
How much gold jewelry would be left today???

Imo tons!!!
Give me a Nox, turn me loose in those parks and BAM!!!

You start introducing ferrous to the equation fbs/fbs2 detectors fall way short compared to the mighty Nox when talking of finding lower nonferrous conductors.

You'd definitely find some gold along with a ton of aluminium. But that's part of being a gold jewelry hunter unfortunately.

>
>
> Traditional jewelry hunting, I guess you are talki
> ng gold jewelry.
> I don’t really see any advantage of using the data
> (additional) on either the White’s V3i or the CTX
> for finding.
>
> Wonder if,,back in time long ago all folks had to
> use to detect with were fbs/fbs2 detectors and sto
> ck sized coils and all the parks were busted hard
> for decades.
> How much gold jewelry would be left today???
>
> Imo tons!!!
> Give me a Nox, turn me loose in those parks and BA
> M!!!
>
> You start introducing ferrous to the equation fbs/
> fbs2 detectors fall way short compared to the migh
> ty Nox when talking of finding lower nonferrous co
> nductors.

This just demonstrates that you don't really understand the info these machines present you with to begin with.
I have hunted these types of parks countless of times now with NOX users and have yet to have one of them come up with more quality low conductor finds than I.
I have no doubt if we went to the same park and hunted together the results would be the same. I would have 8 nickels and you would have two,,,plus a lot more crappy foil



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2018 04:32PM by shoveler.