Minelab X-Terra 305 vs Minelab Equinox 600

[Phatt_Rhatt]

I have the Minelab X-terra 305 is it worth it to upgrade to the Miinelab Equinox 600? I like my 305 and find things would the 600 be better and worth it?

 

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[AstralDruid]

Hi Fat Rat
You're gonna get all sorts of answers to this.
I just moved to the 600 from an Ace250, i think the XT would be far superior to the Garrett, and to be honest, i wish i had waited or bought something else.
I am stuck with it now, but it really ain't what it's hyped up to be... That's my opinion..

 

[Toecutter]

Not sure what AstralDruid is doing wrong but the Nox is a great machine and with the multi IQ technology the separation rate is unsurpassed at that price range...

 

[AstralDruid]

Not sure what AstralDruid is doing wrong but the Nox is a great machine and with the multi IQ technology the separation rate is unsurpassed at that price range...

Hi Toecutter

Don't think i am doing anything wrong,, but am still learning,, this is true.
I have found some nice things with the 600, but nothing yet that would make me think 'the old Ace would have missed that'... if you know what i mean.. Everything has been in same depth range as Ace and fully detectable by it.. This may change someday, when i hit something great,, buit that ain't happened yet.

holding out for my first Nox 'love in' moment

 

[Phatt_Rhatt]

so like the depth range is probably the same on the 305 vs 600?

 

[AstralDruid]

so like the depth range is probably the same on the 305 vs 600?

Well, if you were getting decent hits at 6-8 inches, then it will be pretty much similar, there has been no noticable depth gain for me,,, To be clear it is early days for me with the 600, but the price increase compared to the XT and it's kin, for perhaps an inch ?? Waterproof is a plus i suppose.

 

[Toecutter]

The Nox has Multi IQ technology, it scans using more then one frequency, this is beneficial in trashy sites and helps separate the good stuff from the bad stuff...

If your hunting in places that you dig everything well no point in upgrading but if your hunting in trashy areas then the Nox is the best detector at that price range..

I hunted with the ATpro for awhile and did well, I went back to sites that I thought where hunted out with my Nox and did really well...

 

[Toecutter]

so like the depth range is probably the same on the 305 vs 600?

Not sure about the 305 but here is a link for a post about the nox depth

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/equinox/622441-how-deep.html

 

[AstralDruid]

Opinion and advice can often be confused...

 

[vferrari]

Hi Toecutter

Don't think i am doing anything wrong,, but am still learning,, this is true.
I have found some nice things with the 600, but nothing yet that would make me think 'the old Ace would have missed that'... if you know what i mean.. Everything has been in same depth range as Ace and fully detectable by it.. This may change someday, when i hit something great,, buit that ain't happened yet.

holding out for my first Nox 'love in' moment

I think maybe your expectations were a bit off. If you thought Equinox was deeper than any other vlf machine out there, well then, that is probably why you are disappointed. The main thing that determines depth performance is the coil size and soil conditions in relatively junk free mild ground. Multi IQ doesn't improve detection depth at all. It enables imoroved performance under challenging soil conditions or in salt over a wider range of target conductivities vs. a single frequency machine. In other words, it is more versatile in that it can give you decent performance over most of the environmental andcsoil conditions you might encounter. Combine that with fast signal processing (recovery speed), improved rejection of iron falsing (different than just iron discrimination), and a waterproof housing and you have a detector that you can take into the water or that can help you pick out shallow non-ferrous that has been masked by iron and has been passed over by detectorists using slower detectors (e.g., your Ace 250). Yeah,the Equinox probably won't significantly outperform an Ace or an X-Terra on a typical coin target in non-challening conditions, but that is not point. Depth is not the only detector performance parameter that matters and the Equinix is more versatile and will outperform either of these detectors in thick iron or mineralized soil where target depth capability realky suffers. HTH

 

[AstralDruid]

Hi VF
i hear ya...
My expectations were obviously too high, this is true... I was hesitant, before taking the plunge on the Nox.. now i am detecting more than before so finds are increasing..due' to time in the field..
I get that the recovery speed is better and there are some features that are relatively advanced compared to the old Ace, i dunno, i just thought it was gonna be more, more of what ? i'm not sure.. Expectations are always a curse.
So now i get on with it and will use the nox for the next few years, but i am not a fanboy and will not sing undue praises of an over priced relatively small upgrade..perhaps it will prove to be great and i will be the first to acknowledge it..
I gotta sort out the Iron bias carry on...

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Hi VF
i hear ya...
My expectations were obviously too high, this is true... I was hesitant, before taking the plunge on the Nox.. now i am detecting more than before so finds are increasing..due' to time in the field..
I get that the recovery speed is better and there are some features that are relatively advanced compared to the old Ace, i dunno, i just thought it was gonna be more, more of what ? i'm not sure.. Expectations are always a curse.
So now i get on with it and will use the nox for the next few years, but i am not a fanboy and will not sing undue praises of an over priced relatively small upgrade..perhaps it will prove to be great and i will be the first to acknowledge it..
I gotta sort out the Iron bias carry on...

Dude, believe me you just need to put in a significant amount of time with the Nox to flip from the ACE. I wanted to wrap the Nox around a tree multiple times and switched back to my 250 in the first 6 months of heavy detecting. I too was a bit of a naysayer initially. The 250 is a really fun, capable machine that will pull significant finds as long as you have unlimited virgin clean soil to hunt. It will also surprise you with some really deep targets if you use the larger Garret DD coils.

Hang in there with the Nox and you will eventually have that epiphany moment of clarity...but don’t expect to find 2x as much stuff or much deeper or no trash or... in general I would say that my hunts are 25% overall more productive than with the ACE. (Part of this improvement is most likely due to becoming a better overall detectorist and trying new/better techniques.)

 

[Phatt_Rhatt]

What kinda coil could I add to my X-Terra 305 to get more depth?

 

[Toecutter]

What kinda coil could I add to my X-Terra 305 to get more depth?

A bigger coil will get you more depth...