Beach Metal Detector - Advice sought

americanartifacts33

Full Member
Jul 11, 2013
227
779
St Paul MO
Detector(s) used
Whites Prism IV
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi All,
I was at the beach for my honeymoon and brought my detector along. Its a simplex. The first day was frustrating until I learned to balance it out. Then I got on a roll, for coins that is. I did end up finding two silver rings but I felt it really struggled with locating that gold and depth for that matter. Heck i even tried to beep my wifes ring and it wasnt doing a great job.. Any advice on what detector i should be looking for, for beach hunting salt water etc.
Thanks! here are the beach finds.
 

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flgliderpilot

Bronze Member
Apr 28, 2015
1,504
1,427
Saint Augustine, FL
Detector(s) used
CZ-21, Minelab Equinox, Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Two main differences - 800 has built in wi-fi with wireless headphones, and an extra mode for hunting gold nuggets. If you are a dirt and beach hunter, and do not live in a state with nuggets, then the 600 is the way to go. 3720-0002 | Minelab Equinox 800 | Fort Bedford Metal Detectors

They both support both wireless module and bluetooth headphones. The 800 comes with bluetooth headphones and a wireless module.

Honestly the only feature of the 800 that I really use often is the low backlight setting (which I think they finally added to the 600 firmware), and the custom tone settings but I find myself using that less and less.

In which case I am using it like a 600 so one could save some money by going with the 600 unless they are planning to hunt gold nuggets in the midwest in which case they would want the gold mode of the 800.

BTW: Gold mode does not work on beaches, it's specific to nugget hunting in dry areas, so it is not useful for the beach.

Beach modes are identical between 600 and 800.
 

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americanartifacts33

Full Member
Jul 11, 2013
227
779
St Paul MO
Detector(s) used
Whites Prism IV
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
They both support both wireless module and bluetooth headphones. The 800 comes with bluetooth headphones and a wireless module.

Honestly the only feature of the 800 that I really use often is the low backlight setting (which I think they finally added to the 600 firmware), and the custom tone settings but I find myself using that less and less.

In which case I am using it like a 600 so one could save some money by going with the 600 unless they are planning to hunt gold nuggets in the midwest in which case they would want the gold mode of the 800.

BTW: Gold mode does not work on beaches, it's specific to nugget hunting in dry areas, so it is not useful for the beach.

Beach modes are identical between 600 and 800.

Thank you very much!!
 

flgliderpilot

Bronze Member
Apr 28, 2015
1,504
1,427
Saint Augustine, FL
Detector(s) used
CZ-21, Minelab Equinox, Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Interesting. I find the Excal is the easiest machine to use of all the 13 detectors I own, and almost all of the other 20 I've used. I hunt in PP (all metal), and pretty much put a brick on the gas pedal and dig everything that isn't a dead iron null when I switch to Disc. What could be more simple?

Learning the sounds and getting the settings right is the "harder" part for a beginner with an Excal.

Not necessarily difficult it just takes time. But to be fair this applies to all machines but less so for some than others.
 

Swamp Fox

Full Member
Sep 22, 2019
151
228
South Carolina
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sovereign GT Minelab Equinox 600 Garrett A T Pro Garrett A T Max
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have a Equinox 600 and its paid for itself 3 times over already. I also have a MInelab Sovereign GT and its an awesome beach machine if you don't plan on hunting the water where its over the control box. I saw one on ebay last night for sale. Its a beep and dig machine but once you learn what the machine is telling you then its a great machine and its 15 multi frequency.
 

cudamark

Gold Member
Top Banner Poster
Mar 16, 2011
13,173
14,461
San Diego
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
They both support both wireless module and bluetooth headphones. The 800 comes with bluetooth headphones and a wireless module.

Honestly the only feature of the 800 that I really use often is the low backlight setting (which I think they finally added to the 600 firmware), and the custom tone settings but I find myself using that less and less.

In which case I am using it like a 600 so one could save some money by going with the 600 unless they are planning to hunt gold nuggets in the midwest in which case they would want the gold mode of the 800.

BTW: Gold mode does not work on beaches, it's specific to nugget hunting in dry areas, so it is not useful for the beach.

Beach modes are identical between 600 and 800.

Mostly true, but, I disagree with some of what you say. It's true that they expanded the backlight settings on the 600 to match the 800. It's not true that the only place to use the Gold modes is looking for nuggets. The Gold modes work great in the dry sand at the beach. If you're looking for any tiny gold items, it's the best mode available for that. It's also a great option to be able to use the 20khz and 40khz single frequencies in a bad EMI area. The other feature that I find a benefit is the added adjustability of the recovery speed.
 

Mudflap

Bronze Member
Mar 31, 2012
1,312
1,655
Wallingford, Connecticut 1667
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT, Dual Field, CZ-21, Vaquero, Home Brewed (3).
Detecting since 1972.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Want to make sure I understand..... The 800 and 600 both have internal bluetooth transmitters? or do you have to use an external wireless transmitter on the 600 and 800??
 

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cudamark

Gold Member
Top Banner Poster
Mar 16, 2011
13,173
14,461
San Diego
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Both are setup the same. No additional equipment needed.
 

sandmartin

Sr. Member
Feb 20, 2015
296
284
Scarborough, England
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 900.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I have a Equinox 600 and its paid for itself 3 times over already. I also have a MInelab Sovereign GT and its an awesome beach machine if you don't plan on hunting the water where its over the control box. I saw one on ebay last night for sale. Its a beep and dig machine but once you learn what the machine is telling you then its a great machine and its 15 multi frequency.

I have just bought a Sovereign GT, always wanted to try one, haven't had chance to use it yet but looking forward to seeing how I get on with it. For $350 it was a no brainer.
 

troutbum

Jr. Member
Sep 14, 2014
67
58
Maryland
Detector(s) used
Minelab EXt 505, Tesoro Sand shark, Whites coinmaster pro. Tesoro Compadre.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I just bought a Nox 600. I watched the Gigmaster video on setting it up for the beach. He used a Nox 800. Everything went like he said on my 600, exept when I went to advance setting for the 2 tones. He was able to set t1 on 4 to get low grunt sounds and t2 up to 25. Mine only shows t1 on my advanced setting, It's new to me I could be doing something wrong for the advanced settings. Machine worked great at the beach yesterday. Thanks in advance.
 

sandmartin

Sr. Member
Feb 20, 2015
296
284
Scarborough, England
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 900.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I just bought a Nox 600. I watched the Gigmaster video on setting it up for the beach. He used a Nox 800. Everything went like he said on my 600, exept when I went to advance setting for the 2 tones. He was able to set t1 on 4 to get low grunt sounds and t2 up to 25. Mine only shows t1 on my advanced setting, It's new to me I could be doing something wrong for the advanced settings. Machine worked great at the beach yesterday. Thanks in advance.

That's where the two machines differ, the 800 offers a few more adjustments.
 

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