Minelab equinox 800

[usinadi]

Hello Everyone,

I am currently metal detecting with a Garrett AT Gold which I love but I am going to purchase a Minelab Equinox 8oo. I know that there is a learning curve but I find that exciting because it is due to the abilities of the device. I am also considering ordering a the 6" coil and Andy Sabisch The Minelab Equinox 800 Metal Detector Hand Book as well, are they good purchases being that I am new to the Nox? I do have some old trashy locations that I hunted with the AT Gold that I am interested in going back over. I live in Northeast Oklahoma. Thank you for any information or advice!

 

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[relicmeister]

The book is fine but more useful is going through new and old postings on this and other forums. YouTube has many videos including useful short tutorials by dirty hands
My own personal advice, stick to presets for a while and stay away from trashy locations until you’ve put in some time.

 

[usinadi]

Ok thank you!!! I'll check out the videos!

 

[GoDeep]

Personally, if you have experience with other mid to high end detectors, the learning curve is small. Even the base programs get you 95% of where you want to be. You can tweak it as you learn and go....

 

[usinadi]

ok thank you!

 

[67GTA]

The 6" coil is very good in super trashy sites, but it falses really bad in heavy iron. The Equinox 11" coil gets better separation than the Garrett 5x8 IMHO. The technology is just that much better. Used to think my AT Pro with the 5x8 was the best detector ever. Check out Calabash Digger on youtube. He gets a lot of flack because he bashes Garrett, but he shows you how they perform against each other. And as relicmeister mentioned look up Relic Dirty Hands on youtube. She made an Equinox guide that is better than any book.

 

[smokeythecat]

Use the factory presets at first.

 

[usinadi]

Ok I’ll look up the videos and start with the presets first....thank you all for the good advice... I bought the Nox 800 today from Barts Big boy hobbies and was told it should be delivered Friday or Saturday.... Thanks Calabash for the referral

 

[MikeRo]

Get 75-100 hours on it in factory presets then you can start to tweek it to your specs. Swing low & slow & get an ear for what its trying to tell you. You will be amazed! Good luck & enjoy!

 

[smokeythecat]

I agree with Godeep and MikeRo. Take it easy, go slow. What I have found over the years is no matter what machine I use, when I go over a spot with something different I always get more stuff. Today was no exception. Hunting conditions changed at the one beach and I got a pocketfull of goodies. I had been at that spot at least 5 times before.

 

[Lemarquez]

Hi, I am in France. and I came across a pretty interesting article on the equinox. it is a complete comparison of the equinox. normally there is machine translation but it is well done.I use it and it's a very easy machine to use both the 800 and the 600. https://www.lefouilleur.fr/fr/blog/post/test-des-minelab-equinox.html

 

[usinadi]

Thank you all for all the advice...I appreciate it!

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Get 75-100 hours on it in factory presets then you can start to tweek it to your specs. Swing low & slow & get an ear for what its trying to tell you. You will be amazed! Good luck & enjoy!

Great advice here. The Minelab Equinox 800 is OUTSTANDING right out of the box!

 

[usinadi]

I got to go out for a Couple of hours yesterday to mainly get familiar with the identification system. I took my minelab Pro Find 35 out as well and used it about 10 minutes before it just started making a low clicking sound. I tried everything with the buttons but it wouldn't pinpoint so I looked up the problem on the internet and found out that most said that it was the battery it came with. I walked back to my house and put a new battery in it and it worked! I can't wait until I can get more time to spend with the 800. I really liked the back light especially since its almost dark when I get off of work now. Thank again Bart!

 

[usinadi]

I do have a question....Can I just turn on the Nox 800, select Field 1 for old house places, and start detecting? Do I need to ground balance and noise cancel in Field 1? I am just trying to figure out the step by step process to first using the 800 and making sure that I am not forgetting anything. Thanks for any advice that I can get!

 

[OhioTrevor]

So I have had the Equinox 800 for 1 year. Used to use a Whites. I LOVE the 800. Learn to trust the machine and swing slowly. I went out this weekend with someone that just got a new 800 and they were swinging it far too fast. I can't tell you how many times I have recovered a nail and thought the detector was falsing only to discover a coin or other valuable relic right beside it. That's when I apologize, pat the machine and say, "good machine."


Cons = I dig a lot of square nails that come across as high tones. So far F2 setting has not seemed to improve that. The standard coil is pretty heavy. I end up switching to the six inch coil a lot in trashy areas and would almost go so far as to say its necessary (optional) equipment.

On the whole, I am a very happy customer and can't help but think that the Equinox has sucked all the oxygen out of the market - a jump in technology sufficient to lead to Whites demise (selling to Garrett). Not sure about that is true but, in my opinion, other detector companies will be out of business if they don't up their game to keep up with Minelab.

 

[brianc053]

I do have a question....Can I just turn on the Nox 800, select Field 1 for old house places, and start detecting? Do I need to ground balance and noise cancel in Field 1? I am just trying to figure out the step by step process to first using the 800 and making sure that I am not forgetting anything. Thanks for any advice that I can get!

I think you should always noise cancel once you're at the location where you'll detect.
As for ground balancing, some of the experts may tell you to do it every time but I honestly don't - although my soil in NJ is not very mineralized.

I have maybe 200 hours on my Equinox 800 now, and for the most part I still use the factory settings with a few exceptions:
- I hunt in either Park 2 or Field 2 depending on location (I tend to start with Field 2 but if I'm getting a lot of iron i.e. square nails etc. then I'll use Park 2).
- Using Park 2 I've created a "coin cherry picking" User Profile where I've discriminated out everything below 18. I know I'm missing a chance at a gold ring, but I'm trying to recover all the wheat pennies and silver coins primarily.
- I try to run the sensitivity up around 21 but often it's 19 or 20. I haven't gone higher because it seems to get noisy.
- I've played with Iron Bias and Recovery Speed settings, but even with 200 hours experience I don't think I've figured it out fully. I'm using the new F2 iron bias mode with the number set low (2 or 3), and a recovery speed that's pretty high (around 7) to be able to separate iron falses from coins that are nearby. But I may play with a lower recovery speed to get some more depth at some locations.
- I have not played with tone breaks yet but I may make 18-19 a higher tone along with the 20's since pennies here in NJ's soil can show up as 18-19.
- I've been having trouble with EMI (electro magnetic interference) on certain properties. The detector goes "wild" and starts pinging high tones even when not moving it. It's been happening at two homesites where an electric line has been buried; at one of these homes (a 1700's home) they have a 220V pump in the old well, and the electric line is in a straight line between the well and the back door - exactly where people would have walked. So frustrating. Anyway, I'm experimenting with using single-frequencies in these EMI areas (but not having great success) and I have to turn down the sensitivity to 16 or so. Noise cancel in these situations does nothing for me.
- I have the 6" coil, and I use it at two locations where there were old homes (1700's homes) and thus a lot of square nails and other old iron. It helps me pick out good targets (buttons, coins) from the iron, but I still dig a lot of nails. The nails tend to be "choppy" i.e. some good tones (24, 25) mixed with some questionable tones (1, 12, 17, 39). Coins & buttons are more consistent from multiple directions. I dig the nails because - what if it's a coin sitting next to the nail? This has happened; I've found a few pennies (Indian Heads) next to a nail, and even found a Standing Liberty Quarter when I thought I was going to dig a piece of iron with a halo of corrosion around it. So you never know.

These were just some of my thoughts off the top of my head. Please let me know if any of this didn't make sense or if you have questions about any of my comments.

Good luck - you have a great detector!

Edit: I noticed OhioTrevor posted while I was writing. Trevor, it sounds like you and I hunt similar locations and have had similar experiences!

 

[vferrari]

I do have a question....Can I just turn on the Nox 800, select Field 1 for old house places, and start detecting? Do I need to ground balance and noise cancel in Field 1? I am just trying to figure out the step by step process to first using the 800 and making sure that I am not forgetting anything. Thanks for any advice that I can get!

V's guide to getting started with Equinox:

Here's how to get started hunting:

Turn On, will come up in Park 1 Detect search profile, if you have already paired a wireless
headset allow it to attempt to reconnect, then select Settings Mode, Noise Cancel for EMI (coil
in the air), Ground Balance, Do not change ANY of the other default settings. Go back to Detect
mode and swing away.

Regarding ground balance - doing an auto ground balance takes about 5 seconds to pump and go, so I recommend doing it as a matter of routine. But the reality is that if you are operating in Multi-frequency you really won't notice a poor ground balance situation because Multi does a good job of not letting that affect non-ferrous target signals. You will only notice it if you are operating with no discrimination selected (e.g., with the horseshoe button enabled, sometimes erroneously referred to as all metal mode - no true unfiltered all metal mode on the Equinox) as continuous -9/-8 TID and associated low tone ferrous grunts. If you don't intend to operate with no disc you won't notice the situation. Also note that ground balance is unique to each mode, each mode ground balances to a different number so if you are going to use more than one mode at a site, you should ground balance both if you plan on operating with no discrimination.

In the Park 1 mode search profile you have a five tone machine (the 5 tone segments
are marked around the outer dial of the display with the first segment -9 to 0 being ferrous and
that is discriminated out by default), TID 13 +/- are nickels but pull tabs and gold jewelry are in
this range too. TID Mid to High 20's and Low 30's are high conductors (copper, silver coins and
jewelry). Play with the pinpointer function with a test target until you get used to it. And if you
want to hear everything in the ground just hit the Horseshoe All Metal Button (very convenient
instant suppression of all disc and notch filters). Park 1 is geared towards high conductive coins
but you will find the whole gamut of targets including mid-conductors like nickels, aluminum
trash, and gold jewelry so it is a great general purpose and learn the machine search profile.


Avoid the temptation to switch search profiles just yet until you get used to the interface and the
way the machine sounds and how it displays targets. Every search profile changes up the
frequency spectrum a little so you can optimize different types of targets and site conditions
(e.g., Park 2 is geared more towards smaller, mid-conductive targets like jewelry but will still hit
on high conductive coins, Field 1 is a two-tone high conductive beep dig search profile, Field 2
is also geared towards mid-conductive targets but more "relic" focused. Beach 1 is designed for
dry and wet salt sand (not freshwater beaches) while Beach 2 is designed for surf and deeper
salt water hunting (up to 3 meters).

Each Search Profile is like a different detector (including the need to separately noise cancel
and ground balance each search profile) so to avoid constantly resetting your learning curve,
stick with Park 1 for now to learn the machine.

Detailed Search Profiles Rundown:

If you make any changes to the search profiles settings, they stick. You can individually reset
the search profiles or reset the entire detector to get back to factory defaults. Check the manual
Each search profile is set up with a frequency spectrum (Multi IQ) that favors certain types of
conductors and has software algorithms and user settings that enhance the resulting signal you
hear assuming certain environmental conditions. The Multi IQ frequency spectrum is comprised
of a combination of all 5 frequencies but the processing for each search profile "favors" or
weighted towards either the high or low frequency signals, even though it "listens" to all the
frequencies. It works out like so (forget about what Minelab called the search profiles because I
think that just confuses things).

Park 1 is weighted towards the lower frequencies in the spectrum and therefore favors high
conductors like pure copper, silver, and clad coins which tend to be detected better/deeper at
low frequencies like 5 and 10 khz. Regardless, all five frequencies are still used so you are also
still going to hit on mid conductors like nickels, brass, aluminum and even gold. This is probably
the best "all around" search profile to use and to learn the machine with. Probably best for coin
shooting in parks and athletic fields.

Park 2 is weighted towards the higher frequencies and will hit harder on the mid-conductors
(nickels, gold) and small targets (earrings, pendants) than Park 1 but will still hit on the high
conductors too, perhaps not to the same depth as Park 1, though. Good search profile if you
want to zero in on jewelry, especially gold jewelry. But will hit small silver and copper jewelry
and also coins as well. Some like to use this search profile for relic hunting, too.
Field 1 is similar to Park 1 in that it is biased towards high conductors, but is a two tone search
profile. Have not used this search profile at all.

Field 2 is similar to Park 2 in that it is biased towards mid-conductors. It has slight differences in
ferrous/non-ferrous tone break and recovery speed vs. Park 2. This search profile is my favorite
relic hunting search profile and the search profile I have found the most old silver with (because
that silver was in the same fields as the relics I was hunting).
Beach 1 is biased to high conductors and is for dry and wet sand salt beaches. Great search
profile for beach hunting. Don't be fooled by the fact that it biased to high conductors, it will find
gold, too.

Beach 2 is able to deal with the ground phase effects of changing salinity better than Beach 1
and is suited for salt surf and underwater detecting. Same targets as Beach 1 but under water.
[Gold search profile is 800 ONLY]

The Gold search profiles are very different than the other search profiles in that they use VCO
audio which varies pitch and volume based on proximity to the target (similar to pinpoint mode).

Gold 1 is suited to milder ground and Gold 2 is suited to more mineralized ground. The both are
optimized for gold so, again, even though they are multi-frequency, they favor the high
frequencies (mid-conductors).

Each of the search profiles are very different in how they sound and behave. Therefore, I
would stick with a single search profile (Park 1 if land hunting or Beach 1 if beach
hunting) to learn the machine before search profile hopping.​ Because the machine uses
multi-frequencies, it is unlikely that you will actually be missing out much despite the fact that
the search profile may "favor" certain types of conductors. It still sees practically everything.

Single frequency modes can be useful under specific situations but you lose some Multi IQ features such as ground compensation (you can still do a ground balance to eliminate ground noise, it is just in single frequency you may notice ground noise more if out of balance) and there is no iron bias in single frequency. 4 khz (just added with the last firmware update) is a great deep silver mode and the higher frequencies of 20 khz and 40 khz tend to be more immune to EMI, hit mid conductive targets like relics and jewelry harder, but also don't penetrate into the ground as well so your depth is more limited.

Final tip - download and read the electronic PDF user guide - it is pretty comprehensive and provides types not only specific to Equinox but that apply to detecting in general. Lots of tidbits, extra info, and "exceptions to the rules" in the blue inset text boxes.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting

 

[sgoss66]

Trevor,

I concur with you, on the square nails. I will say, though, that I have found the situation to be the same with all of the other units I have owned/used, as well (CTX, Explorer, Gold Bug Pro, etc). In other words, this is not an issue that is "unique" to the EQX.

Square nails are simply the "trickiest" trash item, in my opinion, to learn to deal with. It takes alot of work, ALOT of work, which of course also means alot of digging, to start to learn the nuances that most square nails will offer that allow you to gradually dig fewer of them. And I say "fewer" because I don't think you can EVER stop digging them entirely, assuming you don't want to miss good targets. Too many of the "best-sounding" square nails sound like a "somewhat iffy" coil signal, such that I almost never leave a site that is full of square nails, without at least a small handful of them in my trash pouch. Sure, you can get to a point where you can pretty accurately say "I am pretty sure this is a square nail, but I'm digging it anyway," but I don't think you can ever get to where you can 100% differentiate between a "good-sounding" square nail, and an "iffy" coin hit. That's been my experience, anyway. You can DEFINITELY learn to dig fewer and fewer of them, with time. But if your goal is to not miss any deeper, subtle coin signals, you will NOT be able to 100% eliminate some square nail signals that "fool" you just enough, that you have to dig them...

Just my 2 cents..

Steve

So I have had the Equinox 800 for 1 year. Used to use a Whites. I LOVE the 800. Learn to trust the machine and swing slowly. I went out this weekend with someone that just got a new 800 and they were swinging it far too fast. I can't tell you how many times I have recovered a nail and thought the detector was falsing only to discover a coin or other valuable relic right beside it. That's when I apologize, pat the machine and say, "good machine."


Cons = I dig a lot of square nails that come across as high tones. So far F2 setting has not seemed to improve that. The standard coil is pretty heavy. I end up switching to the six inch coil a lot in trashy areas and would almost go so far as to say its necessary (optional) equipment.

On the whole, I am a very happy customer and can't help but think that the Equinox has sucked all the oxygen out of the market - a jump in technology sufficient to lead to Whites demise (selling to Garrett). Not sure about that is true but, in my opinion, other detector companies will be out of business if they don't up their game to keep up with Minelab.

 

[usinadi]

Thanks to all of your for the welcomed advice! I am going to screenshot these comments to my phone until I get used to the 800. I can't wait to try out these recommendations this weekend.