Question for Nox 600/800 Users

[Son&Son]

I am shopping for a new detector and am trying to determine which model will work best to help me progress in my detecting abilities and increase my success. I have spent a lot of time learning my tesoro machine and feel quite confident, but there are certain targets that sound just too close to a coin or ring to not dig (which is something i'm sure we all experience).

Since you got your Nox, do you dig less:
-Pull tabs
-Aluminum bottle caps
-Pop can chunks
-Aluminum wire pieces from chain link fence installation
-Round rusty steel objects
-Large deep steel objects
-Pieces of aluminum flashing from house construction

Or are these all just too similar to our desired targets to ever be filtered out or ignored. Does having a number really help tell a scrap of aluminum flashing from a quarter?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

 

[eman1000]

It is awful hard to discriminate out all of these. With the Nox you can switch frequencies and tell modern bottle caps. Older pull tabs are going to be in the Nickel range (and most certainly in the same range as gold rings and jewelry)

I don't think there is a machine out there that won't be fooled by some of these items in your list. I can tell you I dig a lot of trash at old sites if I think there is Silver coins to be found. I would say the ratio is 15 trash items to 1 keeper or higher.
At a modern park I may just trust the VDI and dig.

When I had my Vaquero I dug more of this stuff than I did with the Equinox it is better IMO if you want to trust the VDI #'s
The Tejon with dual discrimination can emulate this.
The Deus and V3i both have a polar plot type feature (not sure what they call it on the Deus) but you can learn a lot about the target (non-ferrous/ferrous) before you dig. (Might miss something good though)
The CTX 3030 and Etrac both also have the reputation for being spot on with the VDI for coin shooting at great depths. - depends on soil of course..

 

[Son&Son]

It is awful hard to discriminate out all of these. With the Nox you can switch frequencies and tell modern bottle caps. Older pull tabs are going to be in the Nickel range (and most certainly in the same range as gold rings and jewelry)

I don't think there is a machine out there that won't be fooled by some of these items in your list. I can tell you I dig a lot of trash at old sites if I think there is Silver coins to be found. I would say the ratio is 15 trash items to 1 keeper or higher.
At a modern park I may just trust the VDI and dig.

When I had my Vaquero I dug more of this stuff than I did with the Equinox it is better IMO if you want to trust the VDI #'s
The Tejon with dual discrimination can emulate this.
The Deus and V3i both have a polar plot type feature (not sure what they call it on the Deus) but you can learn a lot about the target (non-ferrous/ferrous) before you dig. (Might miss something good though)
The CTX 3030 and Etrac both also have the reputation for being spot on with the VDI for coin shooting at great depths. - depends on soil of course..

Thank you for your insights.

I feel as though I will have trouble trusting the VDI just as one can no always trust the tones now. Can I ask how long you used the vaquero before making the switch? Do you feel like the move only helped you?

 

[Tpmetal]

you will absolutely miss good stuff trying not to dig those targets. Buttons that sound just like shotgun shells, rings that sound just like pull tabs, irregular coins like half dimes that ring up below something like an indian head penny. the list goes on. Dig all non ferrous targets, unless the area is so full of them that you have to get a smaller coil and start targeting certain signals.

 

[xr7ator]

If in doubt dig it out.
If you don't dig it you will never know what it was.
Marginal targets can be the best finds of the day.
He who digs the most trash gets the most treasure.
Don't trust any VDI as they are only an indication.

 

[saanich2018]

Bing a total novice with my first detector, a Nox 800, I have found it can discriminate between items.

However, as everyone told me, dig everything! My first outing, I almost passed up a gold ring as thought it was a pull tab.

 

[eman1000]

Thank you for your insights.

I feel as though I will have trouble trusting the VDI just as one can no always trust the tones now. Can I ask how long you used the vaquero before making the switch? Do you feel like the move only helped you?

This is a difficult question to answer... I would say that for me this is a hobby (I do not find anywhere close enough to pay for what I have in machines so far) so for that reason alone I would say I have more fun hunting with a machine with VDI. Half the fun is seeing what the screen says and having a good idea of what your going to dig. If I had to chose between a machine with crappy averaging VDI and a good Beep & Dig machine I would chose the Vaquero all day.

For example the F22 is a nice little machine to keep in the truck for tot lots but when you use it around too much trash it averages good targets and bad targets very poorly. For example a quarter is 72 and a pop tab is 33 then you will get a vdi of 48 maybe... I hate this

A good VDI machine will give you pretty reliable VDI (It may be jumpy) but its typically going to take a large piece of iron or an irregular shaped piece of iron to affect the VDI number and then it will average up instead of down. Tpmetal might provide some insight into this as well but I think the NOX and MX Sport are both good at this.

I also think the right coil at the right location can be just as important as the machine.

I wouldn't say I am any better or worse (or my finds are any better or worse). My personal preference is a larger VDI range though because as TPmetal stated you learn what an Indian head comes in at verses most other pennies. I have never dug a half-dime I purchase one to test with and they are very small and thin.

Chasing new machines can be a bad habit - I have four or five on my to try list now...HH

 

[xr7ator]

I haven't been out with my EQ800 yet but with a Garrett I have found nickels anywhere from 38 up to 65. Indian head pennies can hit anywhere from low 40's to 79.
I have found three Morgan dollars with my Garrett AT Pro. The first one was when the machine was new and it hit a 99 VDI. That was back in 2009. I found the second one in August of 2017 and the third one in April of 2018. I can't tell you what the VDI was on the last two because I didn't bother looking. I go by sound and gut. I definitely don't bother standing there and sweeping over and over to get an idea of what the VDI is trying to lie to me about. I dig it and move on to the next target.

 

[CarsonChris]

Depends. I feel I dig less than I did with my AT Pro.

 

[Bodkin]

I am shopping for a new detector and am trying to determine which model will work best to help me progress in my detecting abilities and increase my success. I have spent a lot of time learning my tesoro machine and feel quite confident, but there are certain targets that sound just too close to a coin or ring to not dig (which is something i'm sure we all experience).

Since you got your Nox, do you dig less:
-Pull tabs
-Aluminum bottle caps
-Pop can chunks
-Aluminum wire pieces from chain link fence installation
-Round rusty steel objects
-Large deep steel objects
-Pieces of aluminum flashing from house construction

Or are these all just too similar to our desired targets to ever be filtered out or ignored. Does having a number really help tell a scrap of aluminum flashing from a quarter?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

I've actually ended up digging more of these things. I've been surprised too often with this machine to not dig a signal.

 

[smokeythecat]

Dig it all let God sort it out. One of those "pieces of aluminum flashing" turned out to be a Rev War plate.

One aluminum bottle cap turned out to be a massive gold and diamond ring.

Large deep steel objects are often cannon balls where I dig.

Discriminate too much and another detectorist will come behind you and get what you missed.

 

[cudamark]

I've actually ended up digging more of these things. I've been surprised too often with this machine to not dig a signal.

I seem to dig more too, mainly because it see's more targets. The tiniest pieces of scrap copper and aluminum come through loud and clear. I tend to dig a lot more bottle caps too compared with my E-trac. They just don't sound bad enough with the Nox.

 

[ripvanb]

I'm also coming from a Compadre and at the moment I'm still digging pretty much everything except stuff with really low numbers. Just trying to get a feel of the tones and VDI numbers as I've never experienced anything but a single tone machine. I've been out about three times with the 800 and am beginning to become more and more confident with it. The only thing I'm having a little trouble adjusting to is how much more noisy the Equinox is compared to the Tesoro, which was dead silent.

 

[Whyme]

Dig it all. VDI's are just guesses.