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My Equinox 800 Take (Tests and Commentary)

You made this thread, the nugget hunter's will want the test done :lol:, Happy nugget hunting bro., which day are you going :lol:

Nugget hunters better look elsewhere.

I ain't doing.

Waiting on your gold at the beach review Earl.

I am getting a scoop, and going to the freshwater beach. In my wildest dreams I would have never thought I would do- blame the Nox !!
 
It is time for a mini review and tips - Minelab Equinox 800

I receive my unit a week ago Monday late.

I have around 37 hours in the field and around 17 hours testing.

So, overall I am very pleased with unit.
Handles like a dream for me.

Menu system is layed out nicely.

Detector assembly is easy.

Couple things for folks new to Equinox to keep in mind.

Ground balance.
Different detect modes may balance differently as far as my,very in the meter when doing auto ground balance procedure as outline in instruction manual.

Factory programs are good to start off with, and I think folks will even find with even more experience using detector you won't deviate very far form the factory pre sets.

Charging detector is easy as long as you have proper charger. (Not included)

Users will have to determine which tones as far as how many to use you prefer.
Depending on your detecting goals and or site some may be better than others.

Pairing wireless headphones is easy a domce dome, unless you do a full factory reset all you should have to do is turn them on with detector and give a brief moment and your headphone icon will appear showing pairing.

Folls new to Equinox will undoubtably get curious and do settings changes. Just remember they will stay in each detect mode, meaning if you forget what you've changed, or are uncertain, you can always (I recommend before starting hunt) to go in and do a " search profile" only reset.

Users will need to get proficient at setting up things like tone breaks and target target tones.

When changing detect modes, good idea to do a noise cancel.p, especially if you are looking for peak depth performance. Also anytime you hear your detector sounding like it is waivering over targets or you hear audio that sounds like it is cramped, not flowing do a noise cancel.

Park 1 and Field 2 detect modes are a little neutered and may give new users more comfort until they get more experience with detector.

Don't forget about advanced settings, the settings in these not apparent unless you open the advanced portion and actually look to see the setting.

So far, all in all Equinox is shaping up nicely for me.
Hopefully the manufacturer will have most folks orders filled soon.
I want to hear form many more Equimox users.
 
I spent a great of time this morning comparing all three of these detectors.
Equinox wearing 11 DD coil, Deus wearing 11" DD coil, and Impact wearing 7x11" stock coil.

The site Imwent to test, nearest emi ground source is 500 yards away.
There were aircraft flying around overhead at various times.

This are happens to be an area I have spent a lot of time detecting.
Area chose free form both ferrous and nonferrous using Deus gold field IAR setting 0 reactivity 2 setting.

The goal of this post is just truthful reporting. Not to knock any detector model.

Ground conditions wet.
Deus mineralization strength is showing 6 ticks in the meter, Impact's meter is showing 2 bars with a flash of a 3 Rd bar at times bobbing coil.

Here is a pic of coins tested at some various depths.

ogj8nk.jpg


You see the coins, a clad quarter, clad dime, final generation IH penny (1899), and a copper 1973 penny.

I dig dig holes and kept plugs as intact as possible which was sorta easy due to the wetness.

First up was I buried clad dime 9" deep.
Checked with all detectors, only one detector on at a time. During all tests I checked different channels on Impact, I noise cancelled Equinox between mode changes.
On all these test Imdis everything within reason to get detector to detect the buried coin. Every time I changed freq using Deus pumping GB acquired. Iron bias was left at zero setting using Equinox for all tests. Impact disc left at 0 and isat left at lowest setting for all testing done.
So 9" clad dime.
Deus failed to detect, checked using deep program, hot program all freqs.- no cigar.
Impact detector failed to detect. Did give iron tone using deep and DI 4 programs.
Equinox passes test, both park 2 and field 2, park 2 having slight advantage signal wise. Speeds 5 and 6 gave best signal. Highest number ever in meter when sweeping was 7. Lots of 3.4 and 5s

9" deep Indian head coin.
Deus detects, but the only set of settings was using deep and 18khz reactivity 2 and 2.5 silencer -1. All other settings, modes failed
Impact failed to detect, Di4 and deep program gave iron tone..
Equinox detected IH using both park 2 and field 2, here on this coin the modes were tied, with one exception, field 2 seemed was more coil ,sweep speed friendly. Number in meter were higher than a clad dime, I say some low to mid teens on lot of sweeps.

10" deep copper penny.
Impact failed using any and all settings.
Deus field using any and all settings.
Equinox would give tone occasionally, speed setting seemed ultra critical, IMO Imwould be luckier than a dog to latch on to while hunting in the wild.

12" deep quarter.
Impact failed all settings tried. Use of 20kh only gave in iron tone in deep mode and 4 tone.
Equinox failed all settings tried.
Deus passes this test. Deep mode only freq 12khz I can hear, 18khz a better signal. Also using factory disc of 5.5 in deep mode a broken signal, lowering to 0 disc full tones using
18kh would dig the quarter every day of the week.

11" deep quarter.
Impact failed all settings tried.
Did get iron tone using 2 tone, 4 tone and deep mode using 20 kh only, the other freqs not a peep out of detector
Deus passes, again only program is deep mode, Imcould here this quarter using 8kjz unlike the the 12" deep quarter, freqs of 12 and 18 kHz provided signals,too. IMO 18 kHz was the top dog of signal achieved.

Equinox
Only tested using park 2 and field 2.
Field 2- nothing period tonally.
Park 2 a hit and miss signal, one special note here, seems lowering speed setting helped this quarter unlike what Imsaw on the 9" deep clad dime and IH coins. The signal here achieved though, I rate as I would be one lucky sucker to latch on to in the wild.

Keep in mind these test are reporting on freshly buried. Undisturbed coins at these same depths your mileage may vary.

I like all 3 detectors for different reasons and use them in different applications depending on what I am after and the site in general.
 
Great write up TNSS I've been following all your posts since you first got the Nox and I'm happy you've taken the time to do all these tests and write them up unbiased.
 
I spent a great of time this morning comparing all three of these detectors.
Equinox wearing 11 DD coil, Deus wearing 11" DD coil, and Impact wearing 7x11" stock coil.

The site Imwent to test, nearest emi ground source is 500 yards away.
There were aircraft flying around overhead at various times.

This are happens to be an area I have spent a lot of time detecting.
Area chose free form both ferrous and nonferrous using Deus gold field IAR setting 0 reactivity 2 setting.

The goal of this post is just truthful reporting. Not to knock any detector model.

Ground conditions wet.
Deus mineralization strength is showing 6 ticks in the meter, Impact's meter is showing 2 bars with a flash of a 3 Rd bar at times bobbing coil.

Here is a pic of coins tested at some various depths.

ogj8nk.jpg


You see the coins, a clad quarter, clad dime, final generation IH penny (1899), and a copper 1973 penny.

I dig dig holes and kept plugs as intact as possible which was sorta easy due to the wetness.

First up was I buried clad dime 9" deep.
Checked with all detectors, only one detector on at a time. During all tests I checked different channels on Impact, I noise cancelled Equinox between mode changes.
On all these test Imdis everything within reason to get detector to detect the buried coin. Every time I changed freq using Deus pumping GB acquired. Iron bias was left at zero setting using Equinox for all tests. Impact disc left at 0 and isat left at lowest setting for all testing done.
So 9" clad dime.
Deus failed to detect, checked using deep program, hot program all freqs.- no cigar.
Impact detector failed to detect. Did give iron tone using deep and DI 4 programs.
Equinox passes test, both park 2 and field 2, park 2 having slight advantage signal wise. Speeds 5 and 6 gave best signal. Highest number ever in meter when sweeping was 7. Lots of 3.4 and 5s

9" deep Indian head coin.
Deus detects, but the only set of settings was using deep and 18khz reactivity 2 and 2.5 silencer -1. All other settings, modes failed
Impact failed to detect, Di4 and deep program gave iron tone..
Equinox detected IH using both park 2 and field 2, here on this coin the modes were tied, with one exception, field 2 seemed was more coil ,sweep speed friendly. Number in meter were higher than a clad dime, I say some low to mid teens on lot of sweeps.

10" deep copper penny.
Impact failed using any and all settings.
Deus field using any and all settings.
Equinox would give tone occasionally, speed setting seemed ultra critical, IMO Imwould be luckier than a dog to latch on to while hunting in the wild.

12" deep quarter.
Impact failed all settings tried. Use of 20kh only gave in iron tone in deep mode and 4 tone.
Equinox failed all settings tried.
Deus passes this test. Deep mode only freq 12khz I can hear, 18khz a better signal. Also using factory disc of 5.5 in deep mode a broken signal, lowering to 0 disc full tones using
18kh would dig the quarter every day of the week.

11" deep quarter.
Impact failed all settings tried.
Did get iron tone using 2 tone, 4 tone and deep mode using 20 kh only, the other freqs not a peep out of detector
Deus passes, again only program is deep mode, Imcould here this quarter using 8kjz unlike the the 12" deep quarter, freqs of 12 and 18 kHz provided signals,too. IMO 18 kHz was the top dog of signal achieved.

Equinox
Only tested using park 2 and field 2.
Field 2- nothing period tonally.
Park 2 a hit and miss signal, one special note here, seems lowering speed setting helped this quarter unlike what Imsaw on the 9" deep clad dime and IH coins. The signal here achieved though, I rate as I would be one lucky sucker to latch on to in the wild.

Keep in mind these test are reporting on freshly buried. Undisturbed coins at these same depths your mileage may vary.

I like all 3 detectors for different reasons and use them in different applications depending on what I am after and the site in general.

Did you leave the sense at the factory preset of 20 for this test (for Nox)?
 
More depth test.
These items used.
14l34v5.jpg


Clad quarter, clad nickel, and a 58 cal 3 ringer.

Test done in the same site as yesterday. Ground wetter than yesterday.
Mineral strength meter on Deus says 6 ticks, Impact showed 2 bars.

First test up clad quarter at 10.25" deep.

Nokta Impact wearing stock DD coil.
Using any disc mode program no joy, only tones gotten was iron tones using some of the modes when disc was lowered below 3.
DI 99, Di3 even with disc at 0 yielded nothing tonally,
All freqs checked. 20khz use is the one to yield iron tones.
Deep, di4, di2 yielded iron tone with disc approaching 0.
Try a lot of gain settings too.
Could hear quarter using gen d mode. 20 kHz use provided best signal, could hear quarter using the other 2 freqs.

Deus with 11" dd coil
Only program to hit quarter was deep program.
Reactivity levels 2 and 2.5 I got a signal Imwould dig every day of the week.
Going lower with reactivity broken signal,,more forced sounding.
18 kHz gave best signal, could hear using 12khz. The other freqs all I got was stutters- nothing Inwould ever think about digging.

Equinox wearing stock DD coil.
Checked using field 1 and 2, park 1 and 2, gold 1 and 2. Iron bias at 0 using all.
Best signal achieved was park 2 and gold 1.

Park 1 nothing tonally.
Field 2 a chirp every. Ow and then.
Field 1 nothing tonally.
Gold 1 good signal.
Good 2 third best signal of the lot, I didn't like it though but did get tone on related sweeps.

Back to park 2 mode.
Speed setting 5 yielded best signal. Level 4 gave trailing tone only coming off of quarter.
Speed 6 was not too bad.
Speed 7 Notta, nothing heard tonally,

So I went to speed 5 park 2.
Played with iron bias.
I could get tone with right to left, left to right sweeps with iron bias dialed 0-4. Go to 5 got only tone trailing off of quarter. Same with level 6. Levels 7-9 quarter invisible.
It is my opinion Iron bias 0 gave fullest tone vs the other iron bias settings where I did get 2 way tone a sweeping.

Next test clad nickel buried at 12" deep- not a typo 12" deep.

Nokta impact reported on the nickel just like it did on the quarter above.
So see above to see what happened using this detector.

Deus
I could get signal,using both hot and deep programs.
Use of 18khz mandatory though
Reactivity settings 1-2.5 provide good signals.

Equinox
Equinox prococed nothing tonally using park 1 and field 1.
Park 2 again the clear winner speeds 4,5 and 6 gave signals.
Could hear nickel using field 2 but was dodgy at giving consistent tone on sweeps.
Gold 1 second best signal achieved
Gold 2 hit and miss with giving tone, better signal though than I got using field 2 mode.

Back to park 2.
I again played with iron bias setting.
Speeds level 5 used, I could get tone with back and forth sweeps with iron bias died all the way up to 6. Levels 7 gave trailing tone only, levels 8 and 9 nickel signal went bye bye.

Next test 58 cal 3 ringer at 12" deep.
Nokta Impact reported on this target the same as both the quarter and nickel I spelled out above.

Deus
Deep mode mandatory to get signal.
Hot program failed.
Reactivity levels 2 and 2.5 gave best signals..
Comparing Deus to Equinox in this test by the way Deus reported, it is my opinion Deus could detect this gullet deeper in this site vs Equinox.

Equinox
Park 2 again gave signal clear winner.
Field 1 and 2 failed as welll as park 1
Gold mode 1 again gave signal.
Gold mode 2 gave signal dodgy though.

Back to park 2 to play with iron bias
Speed level 6 gave best signal.
I could get tone sweeping back and forth on buried bullet as long as iron bias was at level 4 or lower. Levels 5 and 6 gave trailing tone only, 7-9 signal went bye bye.
Again iron bias setting 0 gave fullest sounding most robust tone.

I need to say. Equinox on the above test, NEVER did ID any of the targets properly.
Highest numbers to come in the meter was the foot deep nickel, I saw some 6,7.8 and 9s in the meter.

The other 2 targets meter wise showed the same numbers of 2,3,4 and a few 5s.

So were these test a waste of time?
No, I am absolutely certain of this.
Will be posting in my other thread shortly. And folks will see.
 
More depth test.
These items used.
14l34v5.jpg


Clad quarter, clad nickel, and a 58 cal 3 ringer.

Test done in the same site as yesterday. Ground wetter than yesterday.
Mineral strength meter on Deus says 6 ticks, Impact showed 2 bars.

First test up clad quarter at 10.25" deep.

Nokta Impact wearing stock DD coil.
Using any disc mode program no joy, only tones gotten was iron tones using some of the modes when disc was lowered below 3.
DI 99, Di3 even with disc at 0 yielded nothing tonally,
All freqs checked. 20khz use is the one to yield iron tones.
Deep, di4, di2 yielded iron tone with disc approaching 0.
Try a lot of gain settings too.
Could hear quarter using gen d mode. 20 kHz use provided best signal, could hear quarter using the other 2 freqs.

Deus with 11" dd coil
Only program to hit quarter was deep program.
Reactivity levels 2 and 2.5 I got a signal Imwould dig every day of the week.
Going lower with reactivity broken signal,,more forced sounding.
18 kHz gave best signal, could hear using 12khz. The other freqs all I got was stutters- nothing Inwould ever think about digging.

Equinox wearing stock DD coil.
Checked using field 1 and 2, park 1 and 2, gold 1 and 2. Iron bias at 0 using all.
Best signal achieved was park 2 and gold 1.

Park 1 nothing tonally.
Field 2 a chirp every. Ow and then.
Field 1 nothing tonally.
Gold 1 good signal.
Good 2 third best signal of the lot, I didn't like it though but did get tone on related sweeps.

Back to park 2 mode.
Speed setting 5 yielded best signal. Level 4 gave trailing tone only coming off of quarter.
Speed 6 was not too bad.
Speed 7 Notta, nothing heard tonally,

So I went to speed 5 park 2.
Played with iron bias.
I could get tone with right to left, left to right sweeps with iron bias dialed 0-4. Go to 5 got only tone trailing off of quarter. Same with level 6. Levels 7-9 quarter invisible.
It is my opinion Iron bias 0 gave fullest tone vs the other iron bias settings where I did get 2 way tone a sweeping.

Next test clad nickel buried at 12" deep- not a typo 12" deep.

Nokta impact reported on the nickel just like it did on the quarter above.
So see above to see what happened using this detector.

Deus
I could get signal,using both hot and deep programs.
Use of 18khz mandatory though
Reactivity settings 1-2.5 provide good signals.

Equinox
Equinox prococed nothing tonally using park 1 and field 1.
Park 2 again the clear winner speeds 4,5 and 6 gave signals.
Could hear nickel using field 2 but was dodgy at giving consistent tone on sweeps.
Gold 1 second best signal achieved
Gold 2 hit and miss with giving tone, better signal though than I got using field 2 mode.

Back to park 2.
I again played with iron bias setting.
Speeds level 5 used, I could get tone with back and forth sweeps with iron bias died all the way up to 6. Levels 7 gave trailing tone only, levels 8 and 9 nickel signal went bye bye.

Next test 58 cal 3 ringer at 12" deep.
Nokta Impact reported on this target the same as both the quarter and nickel I spelled out above.

Deus
Deep mode mandatory to get signal.
Hot program failed.
Reactivity levels 2 and 2.5 gave best signals..
Comparing Deus to Equinox in this test by the way Deus reported, it is my opinion Deus could detect this gullet deeper in this site vs Equinox.

Equinox
Park 2 again gave signal clear winner.
Field 1 and 2 failed as welll as park 1
Gold mode 1 again gave signal.
Gold mode 2 gave signal dodgy though.

Back to park 2 to play with iron bias
Speed level 6 gave best signal.
I could get tone sweeping back and forth on buried bullet as long as iron bias was at level 4 or lower. Levels 5 and 6 gave trailing tone only, 7-9 signal went bye bye.
Again iron bias setting 0 gave fullest sounding most robust tone.

I need to say. Equinox on the above test, NEVER did ID any of the targets properly.
Highest numbers to come in the meter was the foot deep nickel, I saw some 6,7.8 and 9s in the meter.

The other 2 targets meter wise showed the same numbers of 2,3,4 and a few 5s.

So were these test a waste of time?
No, I am absolutely certain of this.
Will be posting in my other thread shortly. And folks will see.

A lot of good info here! Thanks TNSS!
 
So what at this point would you say the best settings are for deeper coins?

I can't give definitive answer.
Seems soil mineralization is a player.

For example in mild soil park 1 just might be deepest on say a quarter.
Based on description in manual.

I know for coin sized, button sized what's deepest here.

Wish I could help more.
 
Ok, I have done some test using the Nox.

A tip here for folks to consider and even experiemt with.

I can't say Nox will behave in all places soil wise but in my soil.

Key setting IMO to up the odds on detecting (stopping on the fringe depth detected)- you won't know what is beneath the coil target wise, but you can suspect deep if coil sweeps are highly critical along with coil height. You don't have to dig necessarily either your choice.

Set ID range 1-6 to highest(er) tone or set 2-6 to highest (er) tone.
I have confirmed this does help me at least.
Cheers
 
Time for another test.
Here in this pic.
2rmpeae.jpg


You see the foil perched up on both sides of clad dime with a nail off to the right.

The reason I am posting this, folks don't forget about using 5 kHz single freq.
Equinox passes this test with flying colors speed 7 and 8, speed 6 iffy.
I have another detector with round 11" coil that won't pass this test.
I'll let folks guess.

I do have another detector I need to try to see if it will pass or not.
If it don't pass I don't know of another wearing 11" DD coil that will.

Little bits and pieces of aluminum foil, good strategy to use 5khz some.

Btw Equinox using multi freq here a FAIL.

And when I say pass, I mean giving high tone.
50 tones used above in test park 2.

Nokta Impact does give high tone, tie TID reads a little low. I rate it passing though. Remember only 7" wide coil. Di99 used.
But Equinox gives me more high conductor tone vs Impact.
Deus with 11" DD coil Fails all freqs, reactivitys etc- 4khz on Deus here couldn't get the job done.
Deus with 9" LF coil a pass. Gotta be set up right though.
 
Picked up an equinox today. I took it to a site that I have used to test my previous machines and coils. I was finding targets right away that had been missed before by a whole slew of machines. I never would of dreamed there would be GOLD hiding amongst the iron debris, but thirty minutes into the hunt I got a small gold pendant.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Picked up an equinox today. I took it to a site that I have used to test my previous machines and coils. I was finding targets right away that had been missed before by a whole slew of machines. I never would of dreamed there would be GOLD hiding amongst the iron debris, but thirty minutes into the hunt I got a small gold pendant.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pic please.
I love pics of gold.

Congrats on your purchase and your nice find.
 
Picked up an equinox today. I took it to a site that I have used to test my previous machines and coils. I was finding targets right away that had been missed before by a whole slew of machines. I never would of dreamed there would be GOLD hiding amongst the iron debris, but thirty minutes into the hunt I got a small gold pendant.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did you pre order or find one in stock?
Congrats on the gold!
 
Picked up an equinox today. I took it to a site that I have used to test my previous machines and coils. I was finding targets right away that had been missed before by a whole slew of machines. I never would of dreamed there would be GOLD hiding amongst the iron debris, but thirty minutes into the hunt I got a small gold pendant.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you remember what the ID was?
 
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