Maiden voyage

[cudamark]

I took the Nox900 out for it's first hunt yesterday.....about 5 hours. I haven't even looked at the manual yet, but, coming from using an 800, it was an easy transition. I'm liking it so far. I just did a land hunt, so, I can't comment yet on how it will be in the ocean or at night. I hunted an area that isn't all that old, or, had real deep targets. I was mainly wanting to dig tons of targets to get used to the new expanded TID numbers, and to see if there were any major differences or changes from the 800 that needed to be explored. The expanded TID range helps a lot IMO. Targets that were close to others numerically, can now be separated more easily. The only drawback I noticed was nickels. Granted this is only one outing, so, my experience is severely limited so far, but, on the 800, nickels were almost always a solid 13.....sometimes a 12 if it was a bit corroded. With the 900, a nickel can be anywhere from 25 to 30. I ran over probably 25 modern pull tabs and they all read 31-up, so, that helps. I didn't come across any complete old tear-off beaver tails, but, I did find two of just the tails which read in the upper 20's, so, they will continue to mimic a nickel, along with the partial tabs. Much more time and targets might help narrow down the good nickel signals. The pairing and unpairing of the headphones is now much quicker. Same with the start up procedure and linkup. The telescoping shaft system in nice, however, you might need to tighten the adjustment on the clamp(s), as, I found the shaft will rotate on you even after I did while using the 800's 12 X 15" coil. A minor annoyance. Keep in mind that even though the coils will interchange with the 600/800, the lower rod will not, so, quick coil changes will require you to buy more lower shafts. Heads up Steve G! I ended up finding a bit over $10 in change, a dog tag, a hot wheel, a souvenir squashed penny, some junk jewelry, etc. Another plus so far, is that the bottle cap rejection seems even better than the 800, and at a lower FE setting. This place was carpeted with bottle caps, but, I didn't dig a one at the default FE4 setting. Well done Minelab!

 

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[jas415]

Tks. I ran a 4-5 hour demolition site test/first run and got a lot of coins and junk. To me, the zincs were mostly in the 60's, wheats in the 70's,. clad dime was 80 and sometimes higher, six or eight clad quarters were in the 88-92 (92 was three stacked) and nickels were 25-30. But I got several DEEP screw caps at mid 90's. I took out 8 war nickels with varying degrees of that crusted black asphalt type material on them and they had zero consistency of VDI - ranging from a low of about 30 to low 80's.

 

[Singlestack Wonder]

Did Minelab update the coil mounting ears on the Equinox 900 as they did on the Manticore?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Did Minelab update the coil mounting ears on the Equinox 900 as they did on the Manticore?

From pictures I have seen the coil ears have been reinforced and are stronger but kept most of same design so the 800 and 600 coils would still work on the 700 and 900. The bolt for coil screws in to the left side wing hole and wings are different shape and much thicker with molded reinforcement behind them.

Here is someone reviewing 900 and talks and shows the new coil ear setup.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Here is close up of new coils showing the new ear design.

 

[Singlestack Wonder]

Is the Nox900 firmware user upgradeable when new versions are released?

 

[Kray Gelder]

Congrats on the new machine. Good review of your first outing with it.

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

The new Minelab Equinox 900 is a home run for sure! AMAZING depth!

 

[cudamark]

I just got back from a week detecting in the water in Aruba. The 900 worked excellent. I used it underwater a bit more than above water and had no flooding issues, love the carbon fiber telescoping shaft for quick and easy storage in the trunk, and being able to use my 15" coil from my 800 made my day. I used it and the stock 11" and both worked great. I haven't tried the 6" yet. I did a night hunt too and I like the red backlight to save my night vision and the flashlight is handy for identifying things if you forget your headlamp like I did. The expanded TID will take a bit to get used to, but, the iron bias even at a low setting was working good on avoiding bottle caps. Pull tabs and screw tops are still a problem and I expected that. I dug over 130 of each on this trip. I also dug 20 U.S. nickels which could easily have been gold rings. I did get 3 gold rings in the 11 rings I found, so, my decision to dig everything above iron paid off I think. The improved wireless headphone pairing is great along with flawless pin point activation. As many of you 800 users know, it has a flaw where many times you have to hit the pin point button twice to make it work right. Not a problem on my 900. It works first press. Still not pleased with the on/off button location, but that's a minor nit to pick. Well done Minelab.

 

[Singlestack Wonder]

Thanks for the report!

 

[billb]

Congratulations on your nice recoveries.
Thanks for sharing how the Equinox 900 performs

 

[civil_war22]

Can anyone give me an idea on what programs they like for coins, jewelry? I’m new to NOX territory, I’ve always been a whites, fisher, Garrett or Tesoro person. I mainly hunt civil war relics and that includes fields. Is there a preference in a setting one likes more than the others? I don’t have a clue in the world on what I’m doing here

 

[cudamark]

Not knowing your soil makeup and mineralization, depth of targets, and degree/type of trash, it's a bit hard to make a recommendation. In my area with fairly mild ground, I like Park 1 for most types of dirt/turf hunting. I run 50 tone, and horseshoe on to hear iron. Recovery speed, Iron bias, and sensitivity settings are site specific depending on the type of ground, target depth, and trash type/density. Sometimes it just a matter of experimenting to find the best combo of settings. Since this is all new to you, I'd start out with the default settings and make just minor tweaks to make the machine stable before you start playing with any major changes. Find a few different targets in the area you want to detect, both shallow and deep, high and low conductor, with one mode, (say Park 1) and then switch to another mode (say Field 2, or any/all of the other modes for that matter) and compare the signal strength and stability of the target I.D. Pick the mode that seems to work the best and go with it. Once you get 100+ hours of use in the field, you can start experimenting with some of the more advanced settings.

 

[civil_war22]

Not knowing your soil makeup and mineralization, depth of targets, and degree/type of trash, it's a bit hard to make a recommendation. In my area with fairly mild ground, I like Park 1 for most types of dirt/turf hunting. I run 50 tone, and horseshoe on to hear iron. Recovery speed, Iron bias, and sensitivity settings are site specific depending on the type of ground, target depth, and trash type/density. Sometimes it just a matter of experimenting to find the best combo of settings. Since this is all new to you, I'd start out with the default settings and make just minor tweaks to make the machine stable before you start playing with any major changes. Find a few different targets in the area you want to detect, both shallow and deep, high and low conductor, with one mode, (say Park 1) and then switch to another mode (say Field 2, or any/all of the other modes for that matter) and compare the signal strength and stability of the target I.D. Pick the mode that seems to work the best and go with it. Once you get 100+ hours of use in the field, you can start experimenting with some of the more advanced settings.

I’m in Arkansas. Soil where I am is good, in all my years hunting this area I’ve had two hot rocks out of 31 years. I think that’s pretty good. Mineralization wise soil is good, I’ve also only had a handful of false signals. I’ll be hunting in an old homestead and field. The field is topsoil, and clay down about 2 feet. Native American debitage or tools in every other scoop. The yard I partially dug up to about 4 inches and spread it out. Zero modern trash, the only thing I’ve found that’s annoyed me but is a good sign is the square nails.

So knowing the soil, depths are also shallow as well, anyways knowing soil, depth, and types of conditions like spread out dirt or fields that are top soil and deep clay no mineralization what would you say? I mean I’m new to Equinox 800’s and even my 900, but my brother always had a 800, and also an AT Max. I got that down, and I’m the type I listen to the tones more then I watch the meter(too many years with a dad who sold Tesoro’s), so I planned on also doing the multi tones. It’s going to be more relic hunting because there was some Civil War activity and the house was built in 1838. Im supposed to fix it up and the older women who own it have no family left to give it to so I’m doing my best to help them out by finding objects, doing excavations with the same degree the state archeologists do, and I planned on having her get several display cases for each period of important occupation so I can help her file for the State side of the Register of Historical Places, and if accepted I’m also going to have to write out her grants(I did a dozen or so in the 13 years of law enforcement)😂 so I was just asking in general since everyone seems to be so vague.

We don’t have any hot soil to contend with or anything to cause interference. Thanks for responding. We plan on going out tomorrow morning and trying it out. Well after I run it over my test bed a time or two just to get the hang of things. If you have any other relic settings or a general all around coin setting go ahead and let me know, I’m open to any advice. The grass in the field is chewed to the ground in 80% of places and the other 20% is maybe 8 inches tall that could easily be gone through. Then I get the distinct and dusty effort of looking under the house for anything that may have been lost since it was a dirt floor.

 

[cudamark]

Looks like you have plenty of detectors in your arsenal to get the job done. There's nothing magical about the 800 or 900. Your Etrac will find just about anything the Nox will and probably do a slightly better job on deep silver. The plusses for the Nox will be in the iron, as it has a much faster processor and can separate targets better than the other machines you have listed. (a Deus 2 would probably do an even better job in the iron) It will also find and hit harder on tiny targets that some of your other machines won't see at all. For that scenario, experimenting with the recovery speed and iron bias setting can help with those pesky nails. A faster recovery speed will help in separation, but, reduce your depth capabilities. Usually a lower iron bias setting will help increase depth and target I.D. accuracy, but, you'll want to swing a bit slower. Balancing that with the recovery speed will be site specific and something you'll just have to experiment with to get the best balance. Since you're also looking for relics (some iron ones I presume) you will probably want to adjust the iron tone a bit higher. The default is a fairly faint low tone with the horseshoe on. I find it just right for me, but, I rarely look for iron objects and would rather just know the iron is there, but, quieter than a good target. That will be a personal preference you'll have to make. For high target concentrations that I would expect around the house, I'd dig and run the top foot or so of soil through a classifier/sifter/magnet to make sure I got it all if Indian artifacts are part of your main thrust. I'd also try to find the old outhouse locations and dig those out carefully for vintage bottles and other artifacts. Sounds like you have quite a project going! Good Luck!

 

[civil_war22]

Looks like you have plenty of detectors in your arsenal to get the job done. There's nothing magical about the 800 or 900. Your Etrac will find just about anything the Nox will and probably do a slightly better job on deep silver. The plusses for the Nox will be in the iron, as it has a much faster processor and can separate targets better than the other machines you have listed. (a Deus 2 would probably do an even better job in the iron) It will also find and hit harder on tiny targets that some of your other machines won't see at all. For that scenario, experimenting with the recovery speed and iron bias setting can help with those pesky nails. A faster recovery speed will help in separation, but, reduce your depth capabilities. Usually a lower iron bias setting will help increase depth and target I.D. accuracy, but, you'll want to swing a bit slower. Balancing that with the recovery speed will be site specific and something you'll just have to experiment with to get the best balance. Since you're also looking for relics (some iron ones I presume) you will probably want to adjust the iron tone a bit higher. The default is a fairly faint low tone with the horseshoe on. I find it just right for me, but, I rarely look for iron objects and would rather just know the iron is there, but, quieter than a good target. That will be a personal preference you'll have to make. For high target concentrations that I would expect around the house, I'd dig and run the top foot or so of soil through a classifier/sifter/magnet to make sure I got it all if Indian artifacts are part of your main thrust. I'd also try to find the old outhouse locations and dig those out carefully for vintage bottles and other artifacts. Sounds like you have quite a project going! Good Luck!

Oh yeah it’s a huge project. I found the privy, hadn’t had time to start on it because the Native American artifacts, and the bottles, square and Rosebud nails. The privy is something I’ve got marked out and plan on digging once I get a day where it’s dry. I went out to the test bed in my yard I’ve had targets buried for years, tried park 1, and ran just normal settings and was having a hard time hitting a .69 minie ball, and a Indian Head cent at 6”, no iron in the ground, it ground balanced as low as 22, and I think I’m going to have to lower target speed down some, and figure out the iron stuff. I need to find a way to fine tune it where I can hear those iron grunts, but the brass, lead, silver and gold all are mid to high tones. I rarely look at the screen and listen for the sounds. But either way I’m still trying to chug away at it. I’m going to have to use the small coil in the yard. Just too many iron objects mainly square nails, and in the field I’ll just have to hunt it and figure out how to get the chatter down.

 

[civil_war22]

Got out today and sat for over an hour and a half while my cousin took a quest on his. He’s never ever used or owned one, so I just let him take off in the big field. After I sat and figured out the settings and got three Indian Head Cents, 2 buttons, and some other clothing related items. Got the iron bias and also got the settings where I wanted them and worked out amazing. Absolutely amazing machine and I’m only getting started. Maybe need to try and program me some coin modes now on the park setting. I used the Field one and went from there making changes to the tone, pitch, iron bias, and also custom program, and of course turned the sensitivity down a bit