Equinox - Just a beach machine?

[Kapok]

With some notable exceptions, the majority of stories I'm reading/watching about the Equinox are how it performs in beach situations, especially on gold. I'm not hearing that much about relic or old home site hunters having success, especially in deep trash--the majority of my hunting. Anyone out there finding this machine to be an exceptional old coin or relic machine? I've had mine about 2 months and have used it a LOT in these settings. Admittedly I'm still learning, but think I have a solid grasp of its capabilities. I'm finding it to be a good machine for this type of hunting, but not stellar. Just looking for some realistic feedback here. Thanks...

 

[Pyledriver]

Bill Southern (nuggetshooter) has been testing it in the gold fields and likes it. Calabash Digger has a bunch of comparison videos and some relic hunts. I think most people wanted it for its ability to handle saltwater though. Every other general purpose waterproof machine was struggling.

 

[azdigger]

I don't have salt water beaches or old home sites , but I can say this, it sure out hunts my other machines I have .
After using the 800 , I have not taken my MXT or MX sport out at all......Equinox does all I ask.....just my opinion

 

[REVIER]

With some notable exceptions, the majority of stories I'm reading/watching about the Equinox are how it performs in beach situations, especially on gold. I'm not hearing that much about relic or old home site hunters having success, especially in deep trash--the majority of my hunting. Anyone out there finding this machine to be an exceptional old coin or relic machine? I've had mine about 2 months and have used it a LOT in these settings. Admittedly I'm still learning, but think I have a solid grasp of its capabilities. I'm finding it to be a good machine for this type of hunting, but not stellar. Just looking for some realistic feedback here. Thanks...

I have the red SE. mineralized soil plus tons of extra iron here because of our geographic location plus the iron and steel industry built this city and bits, pieces, slay and tons more iron from microscopic to huge is everywhere.
All public sites I hunt are loaded with trash and even the homes I hunt have unusual amounts of iron plus trash.
Here is a movie that will show you what we typically run up against at most sites here, notice the shear amount of iron and trash signals per swing.
It doesn't get much more realistic than this.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=sejzlCo9rsY

I have done pretty well here mostly using my F70 and have learned to deal with the massive masking problem decently but I hoped this new technology would make things easier.
I believe it has.
On most of my other detectors especially that Fisher everything is extremely jumpy unless it us an inch or so shallow, using this one it seems to lock onto most targets fairly well even deeper down to about 6" so far.
Very little jumping, that is different for me and a very fun way to hunt.
As far as its abilities to deal with mineralized dirt and masking here, in this dirt, that seems to be true.
It's not a miracle worker but I have seen enough through my own experience plus a couple of buddies that also just got them that it is attempting to be.
We have all found some very hidden and masked targets in some heavily hunted areas that we missed before...for the Nox it was pretty effortless in most cases.
Surprisingly easy, actually.
Good targets for me have so far been stable and solid, so have a lot of trash targets but I will dig more junk if it gets me the better treasure.

Depth...it does seem to read through the first several inches here fairly easily, stunning depth might not be possible but the unmasking stuff us way more important here than crazy depth most of the time.

Of course not everything is perfect.
A pretty compressed target range, way too many things come in at the tab can slaw/good area of about 11-14, and so far I have not figured out how to tell everything apart...yet.
If that is possible that will be less frustrating and I will eventually dig less trash th an I am doing now which I am aiming for.
The pinpointer function seems pretty good and accurate, the depth level on targets I get seems to be more of a guess than anything but that isn't really that big of a deal to me as most of my targets are 6" or less around here.

On my first hunt I was only going after the best signals, I wanted to see how good I could cherry pick.
I opened 11 holes total, I found 5 great coins and a few pieces of trash.
Not a bad hunt at all considering how many holes I opened.
https://www.findmall.com/read.php?91,2449994

On a few other hunts I again found some very masked coins in small areas I definitely hunted previously...a lot.

In parts of the country where the soil is good I probably would never have even thought of going for this one, because of our challenging dirt anything new and or different could be the key to unlocking this puzzle so I believe it was worth a shot.
So far I am very happy with what I have seen and I am looking forward to trying it in the water.

Do I think it will obsolete all others, nahhh, but it definitely has some great instincts and so many adjustments to the settings available that it very well could be a very important and productive tool to combat most if not all of our issues.
Once I experiment with the settings, that is, which I am having fun doing but might take a while to get exactly right to do us the most good.

 

[IDXMonster]

With some notable exceptions, the majority of stories I'm reading/watching about the Equinox are how it performs in beach situations, especially on gold. I'm not hearing that much about relic or old home site hunters having success, especially in deep trash--the majority of my hunting. Anyone out there finding this machine to be an exceptional old coin or relic machine? I've had mine about 2 months and have used it a LOT in these settings. Admittedly I'm still learning, but think I have a solid grasp of its capabilities. I'm finding it to be a good machine for this type of hunting, but not stellar. Just looking for some realistic feedback here. Thanks...

I have the red SE. mineralized soil plus tons of extra iron here because of our geographic location plus the iron and steel industry built this city and bits, pieces, slay and tons more iron from microscopic to huge is everywhere.
All public sites I hunt are loaded with trash and even the homes I hunt have unusual amounts of iron plus trash.
Here is a movie that will show you what we typically run up against at most sites here, notice the shear amount of iron and trash signals per swing.
It doesn't get much more realistic than this.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=sejzlCo9rsY

I have done pretty well here mostly using my F70 and have learned to deal with the massive masking problem decently but I hoped this new technology would make things easier.
I believe it has.
On most of my other detectors especially that Fisher everything is extremely jumpy unless it us an inch or so shallow, using this one it seems to lock onto most targets fairly well even deeper down to about 6" so far.
Very little jumping, that is different for me and a very fun way to hunt.
As far as its abilities to deal with mineralized dirt and masking here, in this dirt, that seems to be true.
It's not a miracle worker but I have seen enough through my own experience plus a couple of buddies that also just got them that it is attempting to be.
We have all found some very hidden and masked targets in some heavily hunted areas that we missed before...for the Nox it was pretty effortless in most cases.
Surprisingly easy, actually.
Good targets for me have so far been stable and solid, so have a lot of trash targets but I will dig more junk if it gets me the better treasure.

Depth...it does seem to read through the first several inches here fairly easily, stunning depth might not be possible but the unmasking stuff us way more important here than crazy depth most of the time.

Of course not everything is perfect.
A pretty compressed target range, way too many things come in at the tab can slaw/good area of about 11-14, and so far I have not figured out how to tell everything apart...yet.
If that is possible that will be less frustrating and I will eventually dig less trash th an I am doing now which I am aiming for.
The pinpointer function seems pretty good and accurate, the depth level on targets I get seems to be more of a guess than anything but that isn't really that big of a deal to me as most of my targets are 6" or less around here.

On my first hunt I was only going after the best signals, I wanted to see how good I could cherry pick.
I opened 11 holes total, I found 5 great coins and a few pieces of trash.
Not a bad hunt at all considering how many holes I opened.
https://www.findmall.com/read.php?91,2449994

On a few other hunts I again found some very masked coins in small areas I definitely hunted previously...a lot.

In parts of the country where the soil is good I probably would never have even thought of going for this one, because of our challenging dirt anything new and or different could be the key to unlocking this puzzle so I believe it was worth a shot.
So far I am very happy with what I have seen and I am looking forward to trying it in the water.

Do I think it will obsolete all others, nahhh, but it definitely has some great instincts and so many adjustments to the settings available that it very well could be a very important and productive tool to combat most if not all of our issues.
Once I experiment with the settings, that is, which I am having fun doing but might take a while to get exactly right to do us the most good.

Great post!!

 

[bklein]

I frankly am only a beach hunter with the EQ800 and dig way more trash with it than I would with my CTX, mainly because the EQ is more sensitive and target IDs are all over the place for things not common coins. I have gold machines and probably the EQ is as good as they are for that purpose. I think the EQ has a better rx coil pattern than other detectors for targeting and is so fast you won’t miss targets with a faster sweep like you might with a slower machine. But... if you think you have trash now just wait til the EQ scans things. You might have so many trash targets you’ll go crazy trying to realize what to dig and what to skip.
No gold at the beach yet - other EQ owners must be hunting before I get there.
A lot of detecting is about how your mind syncs with the machine. I’m still having trouble with it.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

With some notable exceptions, the majority of stories I'm reading/watching about the Equinox are how it performs in beach situations, especially on gold. I'm not hearing that much about relic or old home site hunters having success, especially in deep trash--the majority of my hunting. Anyone out there finding this machine to be an exceptional old coin or relic machine? I've had mine about 2 months and have used it a LOT in these settings. Admittedly I'm still learning, but think I have a solid grasp of its capabilities. I'm finding it to be a good machine for this type of hunting, but not stellar. Just looking for some realistic feedback here. Thanks...

My dealer buddy is a HARD CORE RELIC HUNTER who was a huge fan of that other brand detector similar to the Equinox. He tells me the Equinox is crushing it relic hunting. But the sites he hunts are difficult, lots of iron and trash and nasty mineralized soil. If you live in an area with mild mineralization any depth advantage may be minimal vs other machines, or crank the EQ up for max depth and see what happens. If targets have not sunk that deep in your area again, if there are no targets deeper than other machines were able to reach well there you go. I hunted a promising site for silver some months ago, dang 5 inches of top soil then rock hard clay and round rock, nothing is going to sink into that concrete layer. Just my two cents worth.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

I frankly am only a beach hunter with the EQ800 and dig way more trash with it than I would with my CTX, mainly because the EQ is more sensitive and target IDs are all over the place for things not common coins. I have gold machines and probably the EQ is as good as they are for that purpose. I think the EQ has a better rx coil pattern than other detectors for targeting and is so fast you won’t miss targets with a faster sweep like you might with a slower machine. But... if you think you have trash now just wait til the EQ scans things. You might have so many trash targets you’ll go crazy trying to realize what to dig and what to skip.
No gold at the beach yet - other EQ owners must be hunting before I get there.
A lot of detecting is about how your mind syncs with the machine. I’m still having trouble with it.

Can the EQ reliably/accurately ID clad dimes and zinc cents? Those are my primary trash items I try to avoid.

 

[WaterWalker]

In salt water zincolons hit a hard 21 unless they are very corroded and pitted. I very seldom look at the VDI as I only have 2 detectors of 13 that have VDI. Knowing the sound audio give a wealth of information. On the other gold has shown up as 4, 13, 18, and 28 ... go figure. OH I know the Equinox is reporting all the metals of a target and gold amalgamation can have a few metal other than gold in the target.

 

[Coin Rescue Inc]

I am taking it slow with mine and having good success with the 600. Due to undergrowth and bugs this time of year it is parks or beaches for me.

One thing that sticks in my head after reading all that was written was a comment someone made that the Nox's was designed to lock in on good targets.

I take that to mean ignore the iffy signals. I think they are correct on that.

Two - for what is is worth on the 4th I did some shallow water hunting on a semi Private fresh water beach. Another tidbit stuck in my head that 10 was a good number.
It was - found a thin 10 K diamond ring. Actually I was digging most everything anyway....

 

[Kapok]

I’m still trying to find the optimal settings that will give me the target separation and unmasking I need. In my plot tests, the EQ struggles to separate a dime 2” from a rusty nail unless I come at it from just the right angle, whereas my “other” detector gets it much easier. I’m not trying to turn this into a comparison thread, since the mods don’t like those here and I don’t want to start a brand war. I’m just trying to find the right mix of settings that will be most useful in deep iron. I will say I really appreciate the EQ’s ability to ID targets at depth and its overall stability and flexibility, and am committed to learning this detector. I just need to put in the hours to see which detector will be my primary when looking for old coins and relics in fairly neutral soil and heavy trash.

Awesome responses so far, so thanks everyone.

 

[unearth]

Can the EQ reliably/accurately ID clad dimes and zinc cents? Those are my primary trash items I try to avoid.

In my area, So. Cal, zinc pennies come in at 16-21 depending on how corroded they are. Clad dimes come in at 24-26. Numbers 22 and 23 could be a zinc or copper penny, but mostly zinc penny. These numbers are general, but this is what I usually see. If you drop the zinc penny numbers, you may miss some bigger gold items. I'm sure there're some gold items in the clad dime range, but haven't seen any myself. Hope this helps.

 

[dewcon4414]

On zinc....... its as reliable as the others in salt water....... on a dime without a doubt you know its a dime. BUT....... on the beach some heavy gold fall right up there to digit 23 and a zinc is a good 21 on most. Ill also say...... the Nox doesnt seem to like angled targets as well as say the CTX.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

On zinc....... its as reliable as the others in salt water....... on a dime without a doubt you know its a dime. BUT....... on the beach some heavy gold fall right up there to digit 23 and a zinc is a good 21 on most. Ill also say...... the Nox doesnt seem to like angled targets as well as say the CTX.

I have a clad dime zinc cent jinx on me. My first couple of years beach hunting I dug huge numbers of zinc cents and clad dimes, guess how many chunky golds I dug that ID as zinc cent or clad dime? ZERO, total skunk. It dawned on me I was wasting more than half my hunt time digging them. I decided to hunt smart, not hard and my gold count skyrocketed. In the summer when targets are mixed altogether I ignore all cents and dimes. During the fall/winter/spring storms when the storm has sorted the targets for me by weight I will take a chance on a cent or dime signal if its on my heavy target line. Still have never dug a gold that ID as cent or dime though.

Now I'm talking textbook accurate ID on an Explorer. If a target is off that mark I dig, so I do end up digging a few rotted corroded zincs. I can only remember one gold signal that was close to zinc, by close it was at least 1/8 inch below zinc maybe a bit more. So even taking a shot on them when the odds are in my favor the number of gold finds near cents and dimes has been really low. I'd rather spend the time taking shots on gold chains and gold charms, those gold targets mixed with the foil and aluminum bits, that has paid off much better.

 

[UtahRich]

Kapok -

My primary reason for picking up the 800 was to venture into shallow water hunting (fresh water as I'm inland). HOWEVER, with the 11" coil, the 800 has proved to me to be worthy of old yard and park hunting as well. I've had it out in some Western Ghost Towns with the stock coil and while it does ok, I would much prefer to be using the smaller 6" coil which is NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. When and IF Minelab gets the 6" coil into our hands, I think we can begin to find out if the 800 can hold its' own in the "Deep Trash". If results with the 11" are good indicators, I think both the 600 and 800 will excel in these type of sites.


Rich (Utah)

 

[dewcon4414]

I do have a few that hit dead on or near that cent.... oddly thou they can sound different. A dime has been a dime. I guess I just have the time to dig lol. Im only looking for gold ....so I do waste a lot of time... I even dig a bobbie pin occasionally and junk jewelry....and I know what they are.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

I do have a few that hit dead on or near that cent.... oddly thou they can sound different. A dime has been a dime. I guess I just have the time to dig lol. Im only looking for gold ....so I do waste a lot of time... I even dig a bobbie pin occasionally and junk jewelry....and I know what they are.

I hunted a beach one night, dug everything except cents and dimes. The club hit the same beach the next morning, posted pictures of dozens of holes, but mentioned how odd it was they only dug cents and dimes. (mischievous grin)

 

[BootyHunter]

I got my Equinox 800 on February 13th. I used it strictly for relics and old home sites up until May. It’s an awesome Relic and old coin machine. I had the Etrac from the time it came out until the CTX came out then I had the CTX until the Equinox came out. I always felt the Etrac and Ctx were good machines but were hampered in my mineralized soil and around lots of iron. The Equinox was announced and after some research I thought it finally was what I was looking for from Minelab. And it Definitely is!!! It has ran circles around the Etrac and Ctx for me. I’ve found lots of civil war relics and old coins with it. If you have the relic hunters mindset then you’ll love it. I think the beach reports are heavy now because the time of year it is. I am strictly water hunting until probably September as it’s just too hot and dry to relic hunt now around here. But won’t be long til it will be relic season again, couple more months away. The Equinox is an awesome detector, the best one I’ve ever owned. It’s versatility is amazing, you really can do all types of detecting wthnit pretty much in any setting and do well. That’s my 2 cents.

 

[dbado1]

No. Not just a beach machine. It excells in iron laden relic sites.

Dean