for those that have an equinox also

[dflan83]

I have just been toying with the idea of getting an equinox. My hunting buddy has one and has been badgering me to get one because its the best thing since sliced bread and is so much better in the iron. I hesitate because my CTX works wonderfully and is only about a year and a half old at this point, I figure minelab will release a new flagship soon because of all the equinox sales. I kinda wanted to wait and see what is down the pipeline.. ok for my question and I hunt slow and so far with my CTX i can get any signal that my buddy can get even with the iron infestation. so here goes. Am I missing much by not getting the equinox or will my CTX serve me well until minelab unveils a new flagship detector?

 

[sprchng]

Why take a step down in features unless the weight of the CTX is too much for you? For Pete's sake , the nox doesn't even have a clock!!!
If one seeing something the other can't is the determining point your buddy will have a hard sell and the ability to disc targets still falls solidly in the CTX's favor.
The quality of the nox build leaves a lot to be desired also , time will tell on dependability , and if tones are important to you , the tones from the CTX are Celine Dion , the nox is Rosanne Barr.

 

[sgoss66]

I have a little different perspective. The Equinox is a good unit -- faster than the CTX, and it will find targets that the CTX won't. I think the build quality is decent to good, and I think the tones are good, too. DIFFERENT than the CTX, and not as clear of a "dig me" signal on a deep coin, but still very descriptive and intelligent.

HOWEVER, I do agree that I would not dump the CTX in favor of it. I use both; I can see a time and a place for both, and I'm glad to have both. IF you can afford to get a 600 IN ADDITION to your CTX, I'd say GO for it. If you give it a chance, and give it some time, I think you'll find its uses and talents. For me, it's a case of where instead of saying "should I switch to the 6" coil due to the trash in this spot" the question now changes to "should I switch to the Equinox due to the trash in this spot." In other words, I do NOT think the Equinox "obsoletes" the CTX, but it MIGHT obsolete the CTX 6" coil!

But no, if you are asking if you should TRADE IN the CTX for an Equinox, I'd say no, in my opinion. Add to -- YES. Switch to? No...at least, not for someone like yourself who describes himself as "hunting slow" and who the CTX "works wonderfully" for.

Steve

 

[thE-TRACker]

I've got the Ctx and the 800 Nox and love them both. I would not give up the CTX for the Nox but have a few reasons why I bought a Nox. First, the weight .CTX is a tank (especially with a 17" coil) and the Nox a feather. Target separation and pinpointing better on the Nox. Would rather blow a $900 machine in the water if something goes wrong than a $2500 machine. Again, pinpointing in water easier with Nox. My advice is to keep the 30/30 and get a 600 which seems as good as the 800 unless you're going nugget shooting. CTX King...Nox Prince.

 

[ironman200081]

For Pete's sake , the nox doesn't even have a clock!!!

I kinda wish it didn't. I have no excuse when my wife gives me the "You KNOW what time it is!" look after detecting. Takes away the "lost track of time" excuse.

. . . if tones are important to you , the tones from the CTX are Celine Dion , the nox is Rosanne Barr.

C'mon, Rosanne is a national treasure!

I hunt with a guy who has a Nox 800. We have cross-checked deep targets and the CTX has the edge. I also believe that the CTX will also find the same targets in mass iron, you just have to not over-sense your machine, slow your swing speed, and use recovery fast. BUT I understand that a lot of folks' swing styles are more suited to the Equinox in heavy iron. The other CTX bells and whistles are great, too, including target trace, the GPS mapping, and Fe-Co discrimination.

That said, I would love to add the Nox to my arsenal as a lightweight companion to my CTX and E-Trac that the younger kids could swing or that I could plop into my hiking pack and take off. And I would make the Nox my primary water machine because my CTX will be 6 this May, I am leery of dunking it in the water these days.

 

[RandyNorthridgeca]

I have the E-Trac, CTX and the NOX. I wouldn't get rid of the E-Trac or CTX to get the NOX. I still need more hours on the NOX as far as park detecting goes but I'm loving the NOX at the beach over my CTX. I pulled out two Merc's out of the same hole at a local park that has been pounded by myself and others using Explorers, E-Trac's and CTX's. This one small area at a park has been good to me over the years but the last 6 or 7 times there I've been skunked to the bone. The two Merc's were only about 4 inches deep but were mixed in with multiple iron targets. The people that know me, know that I like to creep along at a snails pace and I've pounded this spot from every angle with the CTX with the 6" coil too. I couldn't believe that these two shallow Merc's popped out. Got a war nickel and a wheat from the same area. The NOX is super fast and don't kid yourself, the NOX will work better in heavy iron than the CTX.

So to make a long story short, if you can add the NOX without getting rid of your CTX go for it. You'll enjoy the NOX.

 

[Architex]

Why take a step down in features unless the weight of the CTX is too much for you? For Pete's sake , the nox doesn't even have a clock!!!
If one seeing something the other can't is the determining point your buddy will have a hard sell and the ability to disc targets still falls solidly in the CTX's favor.
The quality of the nox build leaves a lot to be desired also , time will tell on dependability , and if tones are important to you , the tones from the CTX are Celine Dion , the nox is Rosanne Barr.

[size=large]X 2[/size]

 

[sprchng]

I saw your post on the Equinox forum and feel your pain. Disc on the CTX both visually and in audio are far more revealing , which is what is needed in your type of location. The whole "13 is a nickle thing" just doesn't stand up to real world detecting. People are digging nickels now because they didn't dig the numbers before with their FBS machine by being distracted by the off beat Fe numbers.The Equinox will definitely tell you something is there with it's version of a "round" tone but has reduced ability to tell you what it is. I agree it's deep and a good complementary tool in the right location but many are learning an aluminum filled trashy park is not the venue.

 

[ynnek4]

I have both and I find my CTX to be balanced better.

To echo what others have said; The Nox is faster but the deep target ID ability goes to the CTX. Can’t go wrong with either really.

 

[sgoss66]

The whole "13 is a nickle thing" just doesn't stand up to real world detecting. People are digging nickels now because they didn't dig the numbers before with their FBS machine by being distracted by the off beat Fe numbers.

It is easier for me to recognize and dig nickels with the Equinox, than it is with the CTX. Similiarly, it was easier for me to dig nickels with the 11" Pro Coil on the Explorer, than with the 13" Ultimate coil. I switched from the Pro coil to the 13" Ultimate, as the 13" was definitely a deep silver killer, but I had to sacrifice my "nickel" skill. It is TERRIBLE with ID on really deep nickels, compared to the 11".

So, fast forward to today; after becoming used to how poor the 13" Ultimate was at identifying deep nickels, and now that I am 6 months into my switchover to the CTX, I will say that the CTX and 17" coil allows me better skill digging nickels than the Explorer and 13" Ultimate did. I have had "some" success with it -- but its IDs are still REALLY bouncy, for me, in my dirt, on a deeper nickel. I dug a deep (8") V nickel about two weeks ago with the CTX and 17", but I ONLY dug it because I was a very small spot that had a history of giving up deep coins -- so I was almost in a "dig it all" mode trying to eek out a couple more deep ones. But NO WAY, if I were cruising through a park hunting nickels, would I have dug that target, as the ID was all over the place, and averaging higher on the CO scale than a nickel should have been (it was averaging upper teens and low 20s on the CO numbers). It's the same way on a deep nickel in my test garden -- IDs extremely bouncy, but generally averaging SEVERAL notches higher on the CO number than the 12/13/14 you might expect for a shallower nickel.

The Explorer and 11" Pro coil was very good on deep nickels -- conductive numbers right around "05," but with FE numbers creeping up into the teens, on nickels over about 7". An 11/06 shallow nickel might average say 16/05 when deep -- but it was stable and you could depend on it. It was definitely better than the CTX IMO, with ID stability at depth, on nickels. Now, with the Equinox, I'm becoming able to skillfully dig nickels again -- again, due to its ID stability with depth on a nickel-type target.

Steve

Steve

 

[Jason in Enid]

I saw your post on the Equinox forum and feel your pain. Disc on the CTX both visually and in audio are far more revealing , which is what is needed in your type of location. The whole "13 is a nickle thing" just doesn't stand up to real world detecting. People are digging nickels now because they didn't dig the numbers before with their FBS machine by being distracted by the off beat Fe numbers.The Equinox will definitely tell you something is there with it's version of a "round" tone but has reduced ability to tell you what it is. I agree it's deep and a good complementary tool in the right location but many are learning an aluminum filled trashy park is not the venue.

I have to completely disagree with your statements. On the CTX, I dug very few nickels because their VDI were most often terrible. It had nothing to do with the FE numbers, it was all because the CO number were erratic. The CTX uses a very low main driving frequency (something like 2.5 IIRC) which gives it great, stable IDs on copper and silver. The lower on the conductive spectrum you go, the more inconsistent the CTX becomes in accuracy.

The EQX is a direct opposite to this. It uses a much higher main driving frequency (ies). As a result it doesn't lock onto deep silver targets as well as the CTX but sure as hell locks dead-on to the nickels! No TID is ever 100%. You can't say because a TID flips back and forth from 13 to 14 or 13 to 12, that its not accurate. You simply look at where it hits most often or where the middle of the spread is to make an accurate guesstimate.

You claim people are only digging more nickel because "People are digging nickels now because they didn't dig the numbers before with their FBS machine". Absolutely not. I have dug more buffalo and V-nickels in 2 days with the EQX than I dug all last year with the CTX. The reason is simple. The EQX is just highly accurate VDIs on nickels (aka 13) , and damned impressive on depth. I quit testing last week when I was getting solid nickel hits at 11 inches in multiple modes.

Watch it here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkSR2Raidew

 

[Champ Ferguson]

Who knows how many I am leaving behind, but my CTX (and my Safari too for that matter) is very accurate on nickels. + I find them in a slightly larger percentage than they are historically minted. Yeah, I dig some pulltabs now and then, but not really that many imo.
Maybe different soils work against nickels in some of your areas.

 

[sgoss66]

Champ --

The soil MUST play a role; I'm in Oklahoma, as Jason is, and his results are the same as mine, verbatim...

I'm glad to know, though, that the CTX may be more accurate on nickels in other types of soil. I'll check this out this summer when I travel back home to western PA -- I haven't given the CTX a good workout in PA dirt, yet...

Steve

 

[sprchng]

I saw your post on the Equinox forum and feel your pain. Disc on the CTX both visually and in audio are far more revealing , which is what is needed in your type of location. The whole "13 is a nickle thing" just doesn't stand up to real world detecting. People are digging nickels now because they didn't dig the numbers before with their FBS machine by being distracted by the off beat Fe numbers.The Equinox will definitely tell you something is there with it's version of a "round" tone but has reduced ability to tell you what it is. I agree it's deep and a good complementary tool in the right location but many are learning an aluminum filled trashy park is not the venue.

I have to completely disagree with your statements. On the CTX, I dug very few nickels because their VDI were most often terrible. It had nothing to do with the FE numbers, it was all because the CO number were erratic. The CTX uses a very low main driving frequency (something like 2.5 IIRC) which gives it great, stable IDs on copper and silver. The lower on the conductive spectrum you go, the more inconsistent the CTX becomes in accuracy.

The EQX is a direct opposite to this. It uses a much higher main driving frequency (ies). As a result it doesn't lock onto deep silver targets as well as the CTX but sure as hell locks dead-on to the nickels! No TID is ever 100%. You can't say because a TID flips back and forth from 13 to 14 or 13 to 12, that its not accurate. You simply look at where it hits most often or where the middle of the spread is to make an accurate guesstimate.

You claim people are only digging more nickel because "People are digging nickels now because they didn't dig the numbers before with their FBS machine". Absolutely not. I have dug more buffalo and V-nickels in 2 days with the EQX than I dug all last year with the CTX. The reason is simple. The EQX is just highly accurate VDIs on nickels (aka 13) , and damned impressive on depth. I quit testing last week when I was getting solid nickel hits at 11 inches in multiple modes.



Watch it here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkSR2Raidew

First , I don't watch videos with embedded ads
Second , I think your making my point ,,,you don't dig the nickel signals on the CTX because you want a rock hard number which it may not always be.
Nor is it on the Nox except for those who refuse to dig a shaky 14 or 15 to find out if it's a nickel or not because "if it's not a 13 it can't be nickel". I don't think it's a dirt thing but an attitude thing. My dirt is terrible and for years I have out nickeled the competition by digging the shaky signals , the 11-11 to 23 -18s have turned up nickels if co located , so be it. The Equinox produces a steady solid tone on nickels no doubt , and you are digging them now , but to say your CTX wasn't telling you they were there , well maybe you weren't listening close enough.

 

[halfstep]

The whole "13 is a nickle thing" just doesn't stand up to real world detecting. People are digging nickels now because they didn't dig the numbers before with their FBS machine by being distracted by the off beat Fe numbers.

It is easier for me to recognize and dig nickels with the Equinox, than it is with the CTX. Similiarly, it was easier for me to dig nickels with the 11" Pro Coil on the Explorer, than with the 13" Ultimate coil. I switched from the Pro coil to the 13" Ultimate, as the 13" was definitely a deep silver killer, but I had to sacrifice my "nickel" skill. It is TERRIBLE with ID on really deep nickels, compared to the 11".

So, fast forward to today; after becoming used to how poor the 13" Ultimate was at identifying deep nickels, and now that I am 6 months into my switchover to the CTX, I will say that the CTX and 17" coil allows me better skill digging nickels than the Explorer and 13" Ultimate did. I have had "some" success with it -- but its IDs are still REALLY bouncy, for me, in my dirt, on a deeper nickel. I dug a deep (8") V nickel about two weeks ago with the CTX and 17", but I ONLY dug it because I was a very small spot that had a history of giving up deep coins -- so I was almost in a "dig it all" mode trying to eek out a couple more deep ones. But NO WAY, if I were cruising through a park hunting nickels, would I have dug that target, as the ID was all over the place, and averaging higher on the CO scale than a nickel should have been (it was averaging upper teens and low 20s on the CO numbers). It's the same way on a deep nickel in my test garden -- IDs extremely bouncy, but generally averaging SEVERAL notches higher on the CO number than the 12/13/14 you might expect for a shallower nickel.

The Explorer and 11" Pro coil was very good on deep nickels -- conductive numbers right around "05," but with FE numbers creeping up into the teens, on nickels over about 7". An 11/06 shallow nickel might average say 16/05 when deep -- but it was stable and you could depend on it. It was definitely better than the CTX IMO, with ID stability at depth, on nickels. Now, with the Equinox, I'm becoming able to skillfully dig nickels again -- again, due to its ID stability with depth on a nickel-type target.

Steve

Steve

I went to a local park about two weeks ago with my CTX and dug 31 nickels. The CTX is a great nickel machine. I can accurately predict nickels 85-90% of the time. But I use target trace and watch where the target builds on the screen. It will build the target to the left of where a push tab builds. I and using the 17" coil as well. Also, the nickel sounds a little softer and pin points softer. Nickels shiver when they hear my name. lol

 

[sgoss66]

halfstep --

Impressive. Again -- I think dirt HAS to have something to do with it. Where are you hunting, and what's the dirt like?

Steve

 

[mrsspk]

I saw your post on the Equinox forum and feel your pain. Disc on the CTX both visually and in audio are far more revealing , which is what is needed in your type of location. The whole "13 is a nickle thing" just doesn't stand up to real world detecting. People are digging nickels now because they didn't dig the numbers before with their FBS machine by being distracted by the off beat Fe numbers.The Equinox will definitely tell you something is there with it's version of a "round" tone but has reduced ability to tell you what it is. I agree it's deep and a good complementary tool in the right location but many are learning an aluminum filled trashy park is not the venue.

I have to completely disagree with your statements. On the CTX, I dug very few nickels because their VDI were most often terrible. It had nothing to do with the FE numbers, it was all because the CO number were erratic. The CTX uses a very low main driving frequency (something like 2.5 IIRC) which gives it great, stable IDs on copper and silver. The lower on the conductive spectrum you go, the more inconsistent the CTX becomes in accuracy.

The EQX is a direct opposite to this. It uses a much higher main driving frequency (ies). As a result it doesn't lock onto deep silver targets as well as the CTX but sure as hell locks dead-on to the nickels! No TID is ever 100%. You can't say because a TID flips back and forth from 13 to 14 or 13 to 12, that its not accurate. You simply look at where it hits most often or where the middle of the spread is to make an accurate guesstimate.

You claim people are only digging more nickel because "People are digging nickels now because they didn't dig the numbers before with their FBS machine". Absolutely not. I have dug more buffalo and V-nickels in 2 days with the EQX than I dug all last year with the CTX. The reason is simple. The EQX is just highly accurate VDIs on nickels (aka 13) , and damned impressive on depth. I quit testing last week when I was getting solid nickel hits at 11 inches in multiple modes.

Watch it here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkSR2Raidew

I use the DR. Tones program and have been killing it at nickels ever since. I do have to admit that the Nox does hit nickels very well but I can go toe to toe with it with my CTX and dig more.