Any equinox guys out there in the water?

Hookka

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Detector(s) used
Garrett AT PRO, Garrett AT GOLD, Minelab Equinox 800, Tesoro Sandshark, Garrett Carrot
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All Treasure Hunting
I see alot of videos of guys in the wet sand but not much in the water. I have an equinox arriving soon and I'm gonna try and use it in place of my now dead sand shark. Any thoughts on it performing in the water. I saw a video where it was getting deeper than the excal with a 10" coil. I'm wondering how everyone's experiences have been. I've got a while to wait for my waterproof headphones to get here before I can go too deep but I'm pretty excited to swing the new machine around.
 

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Very good saltwater machine you will like it. Good luck
 

My Excals with a 15" coil go deeper than the Nox 800 with the 11".....as it should be. I just got the 12 X 15 " coil for the Nox, but, haven't had it out in the surf yet. It works great in the wet sand though. Too early to tell if the depth is better, worse, or the same as the Excals yet. I'll be at the beach later today, but, haven't decided if I want to get out in the water yet. After our recent storms, there's lots of bacteria in the water, so, they recommend you stay out for a few days until it gets better.
 

There is a reason most machines are compared to the Xcal. In PP mode it’s just a hard machine to beat. The Nox is different...not as refined /smooth ....and unlike the wet or dry sand things get more equal out there. But the Nox is a bit better on small and high K gold I’d say.
 

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You’re going to love it in the water. It does take a little getting used to though. Give it time and you will be happy with your purchase I’m sure. Good luck.
 

I’m willing to bet that most owners of the Equinox (in Calif.) only go knee deep, if at all, into the water. IMHO Lol! Some of our California surf can be brutal at times.
 

Thanks for the inputs guys, I guess I just gotta give it a shot. It gets here this evening, I'm probably gonna do a night hunt in waist deep to see how it goes. I don't mind sacrificing some depth if I don't have to dig the outrageous amount of iron in the area like with my sand shark. I just hope it runs smooth and stable enough in the water.
 

Two different detectors PI / Multi-freq. I believe a PI will find deeper targets depending on the beach bottom make-up, I.e. black sand. I have no data to back this up, just my experience. Each detector will shine in its own environment. That is why I have 13 to choose from.
 

Yeah, I'm aware of the different tech. I usually use a sand shark but it is royally f**ked now after maybe 3 home repairs in a few month from leaking issues and then jamming some wires in the battery sled after putting it back together. The leak started when my headphone canbles just started falling apart somehow and I replaced them with grey ghosts.

I'm very interested in being able to disc out iron. There is plenty of fresh drops around here and not much competition. I don't need to go 2 feet to be productive like in some areas. Lots and lots of iron though.
 

I’m willing to bet that most owners of the Equinox (in Calif.) only go knee deep, if at all, into the water. IMHO Lol! Some of our California surf can be brutal at times.

Same on the east coast, I know of three hunters who's Nox's took on water from the rough surf in the Mid-Atlantic region. They were replaced by Minelabs very fast and they no longer use them in the ocean surf for fear of damaging.
 

Yeah, I'm aware of the different tech. I usually use a sand shark but it is royally f**ked now after maybe 3 home repairs in a few month from leaking issues and then jamming some wires in the battery sled after putting it back together. The leak started when my headphone canbles just started falling apart somehow and I replaced them with grey ghosts.

I'm very interested in being able to disc out iron. There is plenty of fresh drops around here and not much competition. I don't need to go 2 feet to be productive like in some areas. Lots and lots of iron though.

Dubai............You got to post us some of that nice rich yellow gold. :icon_thumright:
 

Thanks for the inputs guys, I guess I just gotta give it a shot. It gets here this evening, I'm probably gonna do a night hunt in waist deep to see how it goes. I don't mind sacrificing some depth if I don't have to dig the outrageous amount of iron in the area like with my sand shark. I just hope it runs smooth and stable enough in the water.

It should work great for that!
 

The machine is in! Gonna read up tonight and tomorrow I'm hitting the beach. Really wish my waterproof headphones would get here already. I guess speaker it is for tomorrow.

I tried to post some gold but I guess it didn't go through. Maybe it will work this time [emoji857] IMG_20181116_132731.webp
 

It's not bad. I switched back and forth between a CZ-21 and my EQ800, and finally determined with certainty that the EQ800 was better.

It's not as nice on the ears as the CZ, but I found many targets that the CZ did not even register. The weight difference was also a huge factor. Being able to get out of the water and hit the dry sand without changing machines is also a huge plus.
 

I'm trying to retrain my ears to register the quicker tones. At this point I wish they held just a little longer instead of the quick chirps I'm getting right now. I'm used to the at pro and sand shark in vco giving me longer stronger tones.

Besides that though, I've quickly learned how much it will pick up on and how deep. I'm pretty impressed for a machine that does all it says it does. So far I'm pretty happy, now I just need to wait for the surf to die down so I can learn without getting pounded by the waves.

I hit some volleyball courts I gridded with the at pro a couple days prior and it gave up plenty more targets when I thought it was cleaned out for a while. That is a good sign in my books.
 

Pushing the thing in the water wears me out. Its less ergonomic than an excal on a straight shaft. My two cents but it will find treasure.
 

I've been knee deep at low tide with my 600. Works great!
 

There are guys out there diving with it just check youtube.
 

GM........ those guys are testing MLs warranty over time IMO. Then ..... what ... they post it leaks right? I prefer its movement in the water over the Xcal. Larger coil ..... and if you swing it slower .... as you should be doing with the Xcal she moves pretty smooth. Im out there neck deep.... and have been since Mar with a LOT of hours now..... knock on wood no issues.
 

Pushing the thing in the water wears me out. Its less ergonomic than an excal on a straight shaft. My two cents but it will find treasure.

Agree with this, there is a lot of drag which sucks but it's still better than the drag on my CZ. Just swing slower.
 

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