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Equinox 800 vs CTX 3030

detectorben

Elite Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2017
Messages
1,068
Location
Nebraska
Just wanted to share my latest video with everyone here. Nothing ground breaking but I have lots of live digs where I compared the targets using my ctx and equinox 800. I give some thoughts on both at the end of video.

After using both machines side by side for a few months I think that the equinox is a very good value for the price. The ctx does provide more info on targets in my opinion but the equinox will alert you to every target the ctx does. Maybe more in iron infested sites. The target trace on ctx is a huge plus and helps minimize trash targets. GPS function on ctx is very helpful in certain types of hunts as well. The equinox is much lighter and easier to swing for long hunts. The equinox is like a swiss army knife and does a lot if things well but isnt the best at any of them in my opinion. Overall I love both machines and plan on keeping them until something better comes along which could be a long time.

I plan to do some more side by side comparisons in different types of hunts like beach, heavy iron, and gold prospecting in the future so stay tuned!

https://youtu.be/nJrvvrgAvKA

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I came to the same opinion from testing it against the CTax, CZ5, XP Deus HF, Deeptech VGG and tesoros. It performed good but not as good as the rest. I asked myself if I would choose it over my current machines and decided the answer was no and sold it. Maybe one day with the small coil I will revisit it again. No regrets though , was fun testing it and it would be an excellent machine for someone who can only afford one etc.
 
Good video Ben, i can see why folks on your side of the pond love the CTX for park detecting. I wonder though, would park 1 be better for your higher conductor coins?
Over here in the UK we don't have the same access to parks for detecting, and even if we did, anything pre-decimal can't be spent, still a shame though.
I think the Nox has been such a hit in the UK simply because it hits hard on the lower ID numbers, most of the finds i'm digging for fall between ID 4 to 20, and i can see from your vid that you have a good portion of that range disc out lol
Enjoyed it though, and i'm looking forward to your next vid!
 
Good video Ben, i can see why folks on your side of the pond love the CTX for park detecting. I wonder though, would park 1 be better for your higher conductor coins?
Over here in the UK we don't have the same access to parks for detecting, and even if we did, anything pre-decimal can't be spent, still a shame though.
I think the Nox has been such a hit in the UK simply because it hits hard on the lower ID numbers, most of the finds i'm digging for fall between ID 4 to 20, and i can see from your vid that you have a good portion of that range disc out lol
Enjoyed it though, and i'm looking forward to your next vid!
Thanks for the input. I have used park 1 a bit as well but it did not id silver in my test garden as well as park 2. It did not seem to go as deep in my soil either. There is also the issue with bigger silver coins on edge in park 1. So I have shied away from park 1 for coin shooting.

As far as the lower numbers 4-20 I do often disc most of that out aside from nickel range when coin shooting. I am mostly looking for silver coins and want to avoid zinc pennies and other lower target id items. I will be doing some videos geared more towards jewelry and lower conductors in that range as well. I have been mostly silver coin shooting with the equinox to this point. I will do some beach videos as well probably this fall.

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Thanks for the input. I have used park 1 a bit as well but it did not id silver in my test garden as well as park 2. It did not seem to go as deep in my soil either. There is also the issue with bigger silver coins on edge in park 1. So I have shied away from park 1 for coin shooting.

As far as the lower numbers 4-20 I do often disc most of that out aside from nickel range when coin shooting. I am mostly looking for silver coins and want to avoid zinc pennies and other lower target id items. I will be doing some videos geared more towards jewelry and lower conductors in that range as well. I have been mostly silver coin shooting with the equinox to this point. I will do some beach videos as well probably this fall.

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Ben I'm curious. Like allot of us you said you use the Nox for silver. I am finding allot of clad and pennies are hitting like silver. Are you seeing the same thing and if so have you or anyone else found away around it?
 
Ben I'm curious. Like allot of us you said you use the Nox for silver. I am finding allot of clad and pennies are hitting like silver. Are you seeing the same thing and if so have you or anyone else found away around it?

I have heard this before. Here in southern Oklahoma there is a very distinct difference in ID of zinc penny, copper penny , silver dimes. Makes me wonder about mineralization differences between where I live and you live?
 
Must be different soil, and maybe what it does to coins over time. I don't find the TID so accurate or precise that I could predict silver--or maybe I need more practice.
 
Must be different soil, and maybe what it does to coins over time. I don't find the TID so accurate or precise that I could predict silver--or maybe I need more practice.

Well if your soil or machine is like his I can see why. I am either lucky or it is just my soil or emi difference, but I can predict coins very well, and my vdi is a lot more stable than his in the video.
 
Not the soil

I have heard this before. Here in southern Oklahoma there is a very distinct difference in ID of zinc penny, copper penny , silver dimes. Makes me wonder about mineralization differences between where I live and you live?

TF, I don't think the soil or time is causing false IDs. I got one of the first 800s and it was deadly. Lock on hard on a quarter 30 31 dime 27-28-29. memorial 25-26 bottle caps were 23-24-25 wheatie 23, most zincolns anywhere from 19 to 22 and Ihs at 19-20. Developed a few issues and sent it back to Minelab and they sent me a replacement. Not only did it have the wobbly shaft but the Ids were all over the place. And it will not lock on a number. I have had pennies hightoning in the 30s and dimes coming in 23 24. I have rechecked the plugs with my Etrac. Also most time I can't get it to quiet down, and these on the same sites I hunted with my original 800, and that ran smooth. I think there is a glitch in some of the later released machines. I haven't had much time to work with it over the summer but now with it cooling off a bit I will get back at it. I will probably wind up sending this one back as well. I f you remember the first reports on the 800s, they ran smooth quiet and deep with accurate numbers. N ow you read a lot of reports with jumpy numbers-false ids and chatty. In my my opinion somethings up. In no way have I given up on the Equinox, I know what its capable of and enjoy hunting with it . I wish I had never sent the first one back. Oh well. Good luck and HH Mark
 
TF, I don't think the soil or time is causing false IDs. I got one of the first 800s and it was deadly. Lock on hard on a quarter 30 31 dime 27-28-29. memorial 25-26 bottle caps were 23-24-25 wheatie 23, most zincolns anywhere from 19 to 22 and Ihs at 19-20. Developed a few issues and sent it back to Minelab and they sent me a replacement. Not only did it have the wobbly shaft but the Ids were all over the place. And it will not lock on a number. I have had pennies hightoning in the 30s and dimes coming in 23 24. I have rechecked the plugs with my Etrac. Also most time I can't get it to quiet down, and these on the same sites I hunted with my original 800, and that ran smooth. I think there is a glitch in some of the later released machines. I haven't had much time to work with it over the summer but now with it cooling off a bit I will get back at it. I will probably wind up sending this one back as well. I f you remember the first reports on the 800s, they ran smooth quiet and deep with accurate numbers. N ow you read a lot of reports with jumpy numbers-false ids and chatty. In my my opinion somethings up. In no way have I given up on the Equinox, I know what its capable of and enjoy hunting with it . I wish I had never sent the first one back. Oh well. Good luck and HH Mark

Very interesting! I knew something was up cause mine doesn't act like the one in his video.
 
The CTX numbers bounced in the video as well. Should you noise cancel every time you turn the detector on? I see people leaving the coil on the ground in their videos during noise cancel as well. Shouldn't the coil be held away from the ground? Could the camera be causing EMI. At the end the OP stated that EMI is a factor at his house and test garden. Hey I'm not trying to make excuses at all, and I do appreciate the video and time. The one thing I noticed is that I would not spend double the price on a CTX. I owned two CTX detectors. I currently have a 600. I have actually come to that conclusion before I watched this video. I actually posted the exact question on another forum. Is the CTX worth double the price of an 800? I have been wondering about other used detectors I see for sale in forum classifieds. Like a Safari for 450? I spent 500 on barely used Nox 600. Good luck with that. You held it too long. But hey I guess somebody out there might love a slow Safari that can't get wet. In conclusion I would like to just say........The Equinox didn't make other detectors obsolete, but it sure as heck has had a huge influence on detector value in my opinion. Mostly other Minelab detectors that it easily compares to. New and used. E Tracs, Old Explorers. All can sure find the good stuff. But how much will you pay for one?
 
The CTX numbers bounced in the video as well. Should you noise cancel every time you turn the detector on? I see people leaving the coil on the ground in their videos during noise cancel as well. Shouldn't the coil be held away from the ground? Could the camera be causing EMI. At the end the OP stated that EMI is a factor at his house and test garden. Hey I'm not trying to make excuses at all, and I do appreciate the video and time. The one thing I noticed is that I would not spend double the price on a CTX. I owned two CTX detectors. I currently have a 600. I have actually come to that conclusion before I watched this video. I actually posted the exact question on another forum. Is the CTX worth double the price of an 800? I have been wondering about other used detectors I see for sale in forum classifieds. Like a Safari for 450? I spent 500 on barely used Nox 600. Good luck with that. You held it too long. But hey I guess somebody out there might love a slow Safari that can't get wet. In conclusion I would like to just say........The Equinox didn't make other detectors obsolete, but it sure as heck has had a huge influence on detector value in my opinion. Mostly other Minelab detectors that it easily compares to. New and used. E Tracs, Old Explorers. All can sure find the good stuff. But how much will you pay for one?

Glad you are enjoying your Nox.
I told you it was in your wheelhouse.
Weight, costs, performance, salt beach capable.
 
Ben I'm curious. Like allot of us you said you use the Nox for silver. I am finding allot of clad and pennies are hitting like silver. Are you seeing the same thing and if so have you or anyone else found away around it?
I do find in my soil silver coins generally come in 1-2 vdi higher than their clad counterparts. So my clad dimes come in around 24-26 and silver dimes 27-28. Same with quarters. Wheat pennies are almost always 26 but sometimes copper memorials will be the same. Depth is usually a good indicator for me along with sound and numbers indicating silver or not.
The CTX numbers bounced in the video as well. Should you noise cancel every time you turn the detector on? I see people leaving the coil on the ground in their videos during noise cancel as well. Shouldn't the coil be held away from the ground? Could the camera be causing EMI. At the end the OP stated that EMI is a factor at his house and test garden. Hey I'm not trying to make excuses at all, and I do appreciate the video and time. The one thing I noticed is that I would not spend double the price on a CTX. I owned two CTX detectors. I currently have a 600. I have actually come to that conclusion before I watched this video. I actually posted the exact question on another forum. Is the CTX worth double the price of an 800? I have been wondering about other used detectors I see for sale in forum classifieds. Like a Safari for 450? I spent 500 on barely used Nox 600. Good luck with that. You held it too long. But hey I guess somebody out there might love a slow Safari that can't get wet. In conclusion I would like to just say........The Equinox didn't make other detectors obsolete, but it sure as heck has had a huge influence on detector value in my opinion. Mostly other Minelab detectors that it easily compares to. New and used. E Tracs, Old Explorers. All can sure find the good stuff. But how much will you pay for one?
I dont think the camera causes any emi because I have seen same exact results when not filming as well. All detectors I own have struggled in my yard and test garden. Both the ctx and equinox perform much better in my local parks. I have found coins at 10 inches with both machines.

Thanks again to everyone for watching my videos and giving feedback. I enjoy discussing these machines and their differences bad and good. I love both machines. The equinox is just a dream to swing compared to ctx which causes me to use it much more as well.

On another note I have developed the shaft wobble on my equinox now after pretty heavy use so I will need to contact minelab to get that taken care of.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
On another note I have developed the shaft wobble on my equinox now after pretty heavy use so I will need to contact minelab to get that taken care of.

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If you splurge for the Plugger’s CF shaft, you’ll probably do the same thing I did and kick yourself for not getting it sooner. It makes it wayyyyyyyyy better to swing. I say Pluggers because it’s a lot cheaper than Anderson, and they customize the shaft to your specs at no extra cost.
 
On another note I have developed the shaft wobble on my equinox now after pretty heavy use so I will need to contact minelab to get that taken care of.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

I sawed of the twist Came that were on the stock shaft and replaced them with cams made by Plugger. I also had to drill a new hole in the middle shaft for the spring pin. Total cost 24 bucks. His Cams use a plastic bolt to secure the shafts. No wobble. And sand jamming them up while beach hunting will never be an issue.
 
If you splurge for the Plugger’s CF shaft, you’ll probably do the same thing I did and kick yourself for not getting it sooner. It makes it wayyyyyyyyy better to swing. I say Pluggers because it’s a lot cheaper than Anderson, and they customize the shaft to your specs at no extra cost.
I definitely need to do that. I was under the impression that the cam locks were the issue and not the shaft itself. Is that not the case?

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