First weekend with the 800...finds and impressions(vs AT Pro)

[hageneyr]

Hi All,

Went out for 2 hours Saturday and 2 hours Sunday with my 800. I went to my favorite park in the Philly burbs where I crushed it with the At Pro. I wanted this park to be my first with the 800 because it would allow me to see what it can do vs my beloved AT. I say up front....I love my AT Pro and have done very well with it at my favorite local parks. However, It is not good at the beach...specifically in the salt water and I figured at a minimum I will use the 800 at beach and consider both detectors for the parks. However, after this weekend i honestly don't see my AT Pro leaving the house again.

So I went to this park where I covered every square inch several times with the AT Pro...pulled a lot of silver, buffalo's and wheaties out of there. Its been an amazing run...I figured I got everything and along comes the 800...within 2 hours I pulled 6 wheaties, 1891 IHP, 1936 Buffalo, 1957 Rosy and a boatload of clad. I think I stayed in a 25 square yard area(its 2 acres) before I ran out of time.

A couple of thoughts on the 800:

1) Since I'm just learning the 800 I dug most every beep trying to learn the VDIs. I have not learned any of the settings yet...I just followed the "quick start" quide that came with it and off I went. I truly feel that a lot of the coins that I missed with the AT were because they were near trash and the 800 was able to separate it out. The 800 was definitely chattery but it was because I had it wide open and it was picking up every little thing. I really had to slow down my swing speed.

2) Its deeper for sure. That buffalo was 10-11 inches...and some of those wheaties were so damn deep.

3) I didn't feel any ergonomic or balance issues with the 800. I was fine with the AT Pro in this regard as well.

4) I knew the AT Pro like the back of my hand and knew how to customize and program it so it was perfect for what I was searching for. The AT-Pro is a simple machine. I definitely think its going to take a while for me to figure out how to program and customize the 800 to my liking. Its a more sophisticated machine for sure
but the upside is immense and I can't wait to get more experience with it.

Gonna stop there folks....take care.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[Terry Soloman]

Congrats on your finds!

 

[darktower007]

Awesome!

 

[detectorben]

Great hunt! I totally understand as I used at pro for years. The 800 will detect circles around the at pro. I loved the at pro as well and thought I would keep it forever as a back up until the equinox came along.

 

[tnsharpshooter]

Nice finds.
Good start with Nox.

 

[smokeythecat]

Nice finds. It's always nice to go out and find something. I've also heard the Equinox is overall better than the AT Pro.

 

[Pointman]

I am very curious if the Equinox is all that it is supposed to be. I've got 3+ years of experience with a CTX and I would hate to add another machine to my arsenal that collects dust. If I had a machine that was close to the CTX and gave better depth than I would pay the price for it.

Please keep us informed of any new developments.

 

[devldog]

Great post and review of the 800 and it's potential. Continued Success to you and the new Equinox. I am considering a 600 maybe a little further down the road.

 

[flgliderpilot]

Nice work. The Equinox is the machine the AT Pro wants to be. It's similar in how it sounds sorta.... but far more capable.

 

[sgoss66]

Just my two cents, Pointman, as I have both...

The Equinox may not REPLACE your CTX, but I feel it would be an outstanding COMPLEMENT to it. For me, so far, and I need much more time with it, but it seems to me like the Equinox will become the machine I choose if I'm hunting in trash/iron, for instance (instead of choosing FBS with a small coil, I'll choose the Equinox, instead...)

I do feel it would have a rather prominent place in your arsenal, should you be able to afford both. Even if you just wanted to try the 600, I think you'd find it would NOT "collect dust" (and neither would your CTX). That's my take, so far, as an owner of both...

Steve

I am very curious if the Equinox is all that it is supposed to be. I've got 3+ years of experience with a CTX and I would hate to add another machine to my arsenal that collects dust. If I had a machine that was close to the CTX and gave better depth than I would pay the price for it.

Please keep us informed of any new developments.

 

[ARC]

Very good review.

Thanks for sharing your experience... and review.

well worded as well.

 

[flgliderpilot]

I am very curious if the Equinox is all that it is supposed to be. I've got 3+ years of experience with a CTX and I would hate to add another machine to my arsenal that collects dust. If I had a machine that was close to the CTX and gave better depth than I would pay the price for it.

Please keep us informed of any new developments.

Unless you just want to shed some weight from the machine I would keep your CTX. I love my equinox but I don't think I'd leave a CTX for one unless my arm was doing the talking. Having said that I really like my 800. Unless of course you end up with both

 

[vferrari]

I am very curious if the Equinox is all that it is supposed to be. I've got 3+ years of experience with a CTX and I would hate to add another machine to my arsenal that collects dust. If I had a machine that was close to the CTX and gave better depth than I would pay the price for it.

Please keep us informed of any new developments.

Unless you just want to shed some weight from the machine I would keep your CTX. I love my equinox but I don't think I'd leave a CTX for one unless my arm was doing the talking. Having said that I really like my 800. Unless of course you end up with both

What pilot said. CTX is definitely the depth king on deep silver and high conductors and has rock solid target ID accuracy to boot. Stick with the CTX alone unless:

You want a light weight, waterproof machine that does not have to have its battery removed for charging risking a gasket malfunction and can be used with commonly available and inexpensive BT headphones.

You want a machine that can hit just as hard on mid-conductors such as nickels and gold jewelry (and even chains) as it can on high conductors.

You want a machine that can get you good depth and solid audio and visual target ID in highly mineralized soil as well as wet sand for all conductors and types of targets (e.g., relic hunting)

You want a machine that has the speed that allows you to pick through extremely dense trash and iron to ferret out gems like this http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/equinox/571603-i-heart-trash-testiment-equinox.html#post5735969.

You want a compliment to the CTX that is priced about the same as two or three high quality coils (EQX 600) but is like at least six machines built into one due to its various Multi IQ profiles.

You want a simple to understand and navigate menu system that is not more than two levels deep.

If you don't need or want any or all of those things, no sense it getting anything in addition to your CTX. It is unquestionably the depth king and bottle cap rejector extraordinaire.

HTH

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratualtions on the nice old coins!

 

[Calabash Digger]

congrats!!! Learn that 800 well and you will be a dangerous man!!