Trashy sites are my new friend.

[Dan(NM)]

Ok, I've taken my 800 to several heavily hunted places where I had finally stopped pulling anything worthwhile the last couple of visits. I have pounded these places into submission with the Etrac and several large and small coils. Then last January I went back with the CTX and took out a few more keepers using the stock and 6" coil. The trash is light to moderate here, I normally run an open screen with combined tones on the CTX, 2TTF on the Etrac with no disc as well.

I had visions of taking the EQ to these sights and finding a few more coins and things I thought I may have missed with the FBS and FBS2 machines. Well, you know what happens when expectations meet reality, disappointment. I spent 3 days and 15-20 hours hunting behind the CTX and I scored a big fat zero, nothing old, deep or worth keeping. I was kinda bummed out to say the least!! I tried using Park 1 and 2 with a low recovery speed, 3-4 and iron bias at 2-3 and as high a sensitivity as possible.

I was reading a post by someone on one of the forums about him hitting a iffy target with a recovery speed of 4, he then upped the speed to 7 and he got a nice clean repeatable signal in some heavy trash. Light bulb moment!!! I came to the conclusion that I was trying to force the Nox to perform the same as the CTX and not for the purpose I had bought it(extreme trashy sites) I had sold a Racer 2 and some some coils to buy the Nox for the same purpose I had acquired the R2, fast recovery in heavy trash.

So, I set my 800 up in Park 2, 5 tones, full volume on all segments, tone break for high conductors at 21, recovery at 7 and iron bias at 3 with no disc. Yesterday I headed to an an old abandoned baseball field that must have been used as a dumping ground at one point, it is the trashiest place I've hunted in town.

I fired up the Nox and did my noise cancel and GB, set my sens at 20 and began swinging. It didn't take long to see where this machine is going to shine for me, the speed and crispness of the tones even in a heavily polluted sight was amazing. I used a moderate swing speed, faster then I would swing my CTX, but, not whipping it.

There was no doubt when I hit a target in my high tone zone :biggrin: I ended up taking out 2 Mercs yesterday a 1940 and 44 and one today, 1924, along with a wheat. I zeroed in one the nastiest places on purpose since I had spent hours with the CTX on the cleaner spots and didn't want to waste my time, maybe another day!!

I found more memorials today than I had in the last 3-4 trips combined, all intermingled with trash and iron of every kind. The high tones pop compared to the lower tones and left no doubt I had run my coil over a high conductive target. The copper pennies read 25-26 with steady numbers, deep flattened alum screw tops read 29-35, very bouncy. The merc I found today locked on at 28, 4" down and almost straight up and down with a sweet high tone.

So, what I now realize is, the 800 will not take the place of my CTX in light to moderate trashy sites, it provides way too much target info on the deeper high conductors. But, anywhere I need target separation and a faster sweep speed, the Nox will take over from there. I just need that 6" coil to really see what this machine can do, I'm sure I'll have another big surprise in store.

 

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[sgoss66]

Dan, a superb write-up, educational (thanks for sharing), and CONGRATS on the finds! You are doing really well with the EQ. Like you, I'm starting to venture much more confidently into "nasty" trash with the Equinox, as it's definitely proving to be "up for the challenge..."

Steve

 

[Truth]

I’m a believer!! Congratulations

 

[digger460]

Thanks for the informative info! Keep them coming

 

[Showtime2385]

"So, I set my 800 up in Park 2, 5 tones, full volume on all segments, tone break for high conductors at 21, recovery at 7 and iron bias at 3 with no disc."

Right here reminds me why I don't really use my e-trac lol So much fiddling to get lost in and the next thing you know your picking up a talk show on AM radio and don't know how to get back lol I guess I'm just simple folk and prefer something a little more turn on and go like my at-pro or T2. Glad you got it figured out though.

 

[WaterScoop]

Dan that is AWESOME.

Your review and ‘ride along’ on your detecting trip were very helpful in understanding it’s capabilities.

I can see myself add a Nox to my Harem for Parks. I currently use a Garrett AT Pro or XP Deus due to their size.

I think the Nox will feel similar to the others 2 and have better results then the Garrett for sure. I think my AT Pro is on its way out but I think the market is saturated with them now. A local flip will probably yield a higher profit than online.

Cheers and thanx Again Dan

 

[☠ Cipher]

Seems like people are still happy to pay around $350 or so for a used AT Pro. I think the saturation is going to get much worse as the Nox reaches more hands. I think now is the best time to move it out. I had to make that same decision with my MX Sport. I moved it out before the Nox even started shipping. Now is the next best time. Many people are only holding on their current machines until they have the Nox in their hands or until they see how it works out for others and then there will be used ATs as far as the eye can see. I would not be surprised to see the value of a Pro hit a low of $250. It's not just the Nox the others are competing with now, but also the Xterra 305 at $259 and the 505 at $350 etc., which all now have coils that open up their frequency selection without switching. Minelab has truly cornered the market.