Really surprised with the Equinox 800

[Cherry Picker]

If you know me you know I'm mainly a jewelry hunter. No beaches here in southwest Kansas, but lots of tot lots, schools, and parks. I'd guess a good 90% of my hunting is totlots and parks. My choice for a long time has been the Deus 1. Light, fast, compact, and with the 9" HF coil, hot as heck on that small gold.

Here a while back I got the chance to get a Nokta Legend and Equinox 800. I love pitting detector against detector just to see if what I thought would be the outcome ends up being right. In 99% of the cases, it is. I no longer have my Legend, a great detector but one had to go and it was the first to get an offer. I've been comparing as much as I can the XP Deus and the Monelab Equinox 800 for my hunting needs and have been surprised. My thoughts were not exactly on par.

Both the Deus & NOX 800 are on par for depth and stability in and around schools where I generally deal with EMI. I have one of my smallest pieces of 14k gold, a lobster claw chain clasp maker 585, and have been running some tests in tot lot environments. To my surprise, the Equinox in stock Park 2 gets roughly 1 1/2" better depth on the clasp. I like the tone better than on my Deus, and it is a good clean hit.

Now the NOX 800 still is no comparison to the ergonomics of the Deus. The Deus is just a dream to swing for me, but, I wonder, knowing how gold sinks to the bottom, these little pieces of gold I am missing in my woodchip tot lots?

 

[Beachhunt1]

the Equinox in stock Park 2 gets roughly 1 1/2" better depth on the clasp.

You need to try beach modes. Also with horseshoe mode on. 1 tone! It will be deeper on gold.

 

[Cherry Picker]

You need to try beach modes. Also with horseshoe mode on. 1 tone! It will be deeper on gold.

I'm sure I could make a few adjustments and the Deus would match the 800, but this is the first time a detector in stock programs, Deus in Dues Fast, NOX 800 in Park 2, was able to best my Deus on small gold.

 

[jmaclen]

Thanks for the report. I am not surprised at all by your results.

I used the Equinox 800 and Deus/ORX with HF coils for gold prospecting many times. Both did very well on extremely small gold nuggets and flakes that were smaller than 0.1 grams. I was always impressed with Deus and ORX Goldfield modes for how well they handle tougher ground conditions in beep/dig situations. Not impressed with their lack of target ID accuracy in mineralization. I mostly use the Equinox 800's Gold 1 and Gold 2 modes in multi which gave me the best ground handling and depth. Both are very powerful set on 40 kHz too. I had a slightly modified Park 2 loaded into the User Profile that also worked really well for gold prospecting. Default is 50 tones and recovery speed is 6 I think. I lowered recovery speed to 4 or 5 and used 2 tones for prospecting and enjoyed giving my ears a break from the Gold 1 and Gold 2 one tone VCO audio.

I would love to hear your comparison of Deus Goldfield 31 or 54 kHz vs Equinox Gold 2 Multi or 40 kHz.

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

If you know me you know I'm mainly a jewelry hunter. No beaches here in southwest Kansas, but lots of tot lots, schools, and parks. I'd guess a good 90% of my hunting is totlots and parks. My choice for a long time has been the Deus 1. Light, fast, compact, and with the 9" HF coil, hot as heck on that small gold.

Here a while back I got the chance to get a Nokta Legend and Equinox 800. I love pitting detector against detector just to see if what I thought would be the outcome ends up being right. In 99% of the cases, it is. I no longer have my Legend, a great detector but one had to go and it was the first to get an offer. I've been comparing as much as I can the XP Deus and the Monelab Equinox 800 for my hunting needs and have been surprised. My thoughts were not exactly on par.

Both the Deus & NOX 800 are on par for depth and stability in and around schools where I generally deal with EMI. I have one of my smallest pieces of 14k gold, a lobster claw chain clasp maker 585, and have been running some tests in tot lot environments. To my surprise, the Equinox in stock Park 2 gets roughly 1 1/2" better depth on the clasp. I like the tone better than on my Deus, and it is a good clean hit.

Now the NOX 800 still is no comparison to the ergonomics of the Deus. The Deus is just a dream to swing for me, but, I wonder, knowing how gold sinks to the bottom, these little pieces of gold I am missing in my woodchip tot lots?

Great post here! Lots of good info, thanks!

 

[maxxkatt]

Great post here! Lots of good info, thanks!

That is the kind of info I like, from actual hunting sites and from a trusted member who is not in the youtube rock star business of detector compare videos.