Thinking about jumping on the Equinox wagon

[Coinucopia]

Weather has me stuck indoors and it's been a long boring day. I ended up browsing the web looking at various vendor sites, not that I need a new detector by any stretch of the imagination. But....

Just window shopping and somehow got stuck on the idea of buying an Equinox.

Someone talk me down.....please. Yeah, who am I kidding. Like that's gonna happen here.

 

[IDXMonster]

For the things the 800 model can do and the adjustability,I’m not going to talk you down. Jump! You REALLY want to go coin hunting? You REALLY want to jump? Get a CTX...

 

[mh9162013]

Well, Minelab is rumored to come out with 2 or 3 new models later this year. Perhaps one of those might be more suited to your liking than the Equinox? You'll need to wait to find out for sure...

 

[Coinucopia]

Well, Minelab is rumored to come out with 2 or 3 new models later this year. Perhaps one of those might be more suited to your liking than the Equinox? You'll need to wait to find out for sure...

I had considered that very thought and may just wait the market out and see what's new. But as my wife would attest to, I get something stuck in my head and well....

I was looking at the 600 but she would predict I eventually would want the 800 and push me to just spend the money for that one and get it over with. I married a keeper for sure.

 

[lockster99]

I love mine. Found more rings in a year than the whole time I've been detecting. It really stands out at the beach. Makes gold way easier to find. I have had an AT Pro, Max, F75 and a CTX 3030.

For those about to try to beat me up about the CTX....forget it. It DOES Do better at the beach.

 

[smokeythecat]

New machine huh? Well the White's you have listed is no slouch. For wet salt sand, but not deep water the Equinox would be an advantage, but in Arkansas? I don't think the Gulf comes that far north. If you want a Minelab, I would wait till the new models come out and have gone through the OMG This Thing! Arrggh! stage and they get any bugs worked out. THEN get one. Every new anything has bugs. If you want supernatural (almost) discrimination in iron get he XP Deus. If you want something that pounds hard and deep and you don't especially need a meter, get a higher end Tesoro if you can find one. And please go test drive any new machine. It will save a lot of headaches. Not all machines are for all folks.

 

[eman1000]

It depends on the type of hunting your doing. For me personally I used the Equinox 600 and found I prefer the tones and VDI range for coin-shooting in the Midwest of the Whites machines. Occasionally I will hunt in rainy weather and use a bag and I don't mind that (I may upgrade to the MX7 or Sport for this)

The 50 tones I found personally too much to process and then you go down to 5 tones. It's multi freq but you have no idea what freq is doing what? (V3i will tell you far more info so much it almost takes the fun out of digging the holes)
In Mulit-Freq on the Nox your going to have to deal with bottle-caps and pull tabs (pull-tabs are 13/14 and bottle caps are 30-33) both of which are spot on the Nickel VDI and Quarter VDI of the Nox. Actually in my experience a lot of aluminum falls in the 13-15 range and a lot of iron will be close to a quarter/half dollar enough you'll want to dig it all (Nothing wrong with that but sometimes I don't have the time)
Also the back-light on the 600 is not ideal for hunting in the dark (if this is something you find yourself doing get the 800 or some kind of see-through solution)

I have found with my MX5 and V3i I could with very little time in <20 hours tell with much more accuracy a Nickel over a pull tap (19/20 Nickel versus 22-24 pull-tabs) and even though I am still getting the same vdi on bottle caps at least with the V3i I don't have to change freq (like you would on the Nox) I can quickly polar-plot or pull the trigger and see what freq the higher VDI is coming from. I've found more Nickels this year because I have 90% confidence if I get a solid tone and a 19 I just know its a Nickel (So far Whites is the best machine I have used on Nickels)

As you already know the MX series (MXT for sure) are very fast but IMO still fall short of the equinox processing / separation speed (I haven't tested the MX7 or Sport to see if how they would compare but the equinox will find targets in-between iron or trash very well - even better with the tiny 6" coil) I use the 5.3 coil most of the time on my MX5 and it is very good but not nearly as good as the 6" coil on the NOX. The NOX you can swing as fast as a beeb & dig Tesoro and get a tone.

I'm probably more impressed with the MX5 than the V3i in terms of ease of use and it light weight. I know its not a multi-freq machine but I have no problem detecting small earrings, gold rings, and coins which is all I'm after anyway. For what I'm hunting I'm not convinced the Multi-Freq is providing that much benefit.

I would give the Equinox 11" coil an edge on depth - slight compared to the 10dd on the V3i maybe 2" possibly 3" in my experience. Not out of the range of the MX series with a 13 inch Detech I don't believe.
I can't sway you one way or the other on anything gold hunting related.

With anything you have to find what you like and I know if someone can master those 50 tones they can probably discern a lot that I couldn't but I found it overwhelming. For me personally I don't regret selling that machine it just didn't click with me.

I would like to give a Deus or MX7 a run to see if I could achieve the speed & separation of the Nox that I think my current machines are lacking a bit.

 

[tinpan]

Hi , Got a link to the big gold nuggets found with the trendy VLF brands . No you just get LIKES for finding old broken rubbish. Bunch of protenders Nearly everything that has been posted about Pulse Induction is just plan lies made up by a bunch of self proclaimed experts who know know nothing. TP

 

[ToddsPoint]

I think the finds shown on this forum by 800 owners have probably sold more machines for them than any other advertising. I want one, but don't hunt enough to rationalize buying one. Gary

 

[fyrffytr1]

My buddy just got the 800 and he loves it. He was finding silver pieces so small that his pin pointer couldn't pick them up. And, I helped him dig a hole 2 feet deep to recover a signal that turned out to be a gunpowder keg iron hoop. If it wasn't as heavy as my White's DFX I would buy one in a heartbeat! I went with the XP Deus because of it's light weight among other things.

 

[Toecutter]

I can say that in the three weeks of owning the 800 I have recovered more wheat pennies then what I did in 8 months using other detectors, Im getting more consistently good targets, very happy with it, this site was a big influence on my choice.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Great choice, as far as new detector coming, there are always new detectors on the horizon coming from Minelab.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Do you live near me? If so, get something else!

As long as you're not competition, dont hesitate. Its an awesome detector. Light and fast like the DEUS, loves silver like a Minelab, pulls rings like mad! Like another poster said, I dug more gold rings last year with the EQX than most years combined with all my other detectors.

Don't worry about "upcoming" detector models. The ONLY thing known right now is that Minelab has one new model in the works. They have revealed the name and nothing else. Is it for silver? Is it for gold? Is it for relics? Is it a PI? When will it be released? nobody knows. so don't wait around for something that may not even be for your hunting.

 

[Coinucopia]

Here I sit looking at the differences between the 600 and 800 while trying to be logical about this.

Main area of interest is relic hunting and occasional coin shooting, although not much of the latter.

Prospecting....do I do that? Not a lot of opportunity around here, if any at all.
Wireless headphone capability the 800 offers....I could take it or leave it. No preference over wired or wireless and I've always used wired. No problem there.
More advanced setting adjustments 800 vs 600....Nice but not a must have personally.

Leaning more toward the 600 I think. Spousal unit told me to go ahead and get what I want so it's a go. Just need to decide which one for certain.

 

[mh9162013]

Here I sit looking at the differences between the 600 and 800 while trying to be logical about this.

Main area of interest is relic hunting and occasional coin shooting, although not much of the latter.

Prospecting....do I do that? Not a lot of opportunity around here, if any at all.
Wireless headphone capability the 800 offers....I could take it or leave it. No preference over wired or wireless and I've always used wired. No problem there.
More advanced setting adjustments 800 vs 600....Nice but not a must have personally.

Leaning more toward the 600 I think. Spousal unit told me to go ahead and get what I want so it's a go. Just need to decide which one for certain.

Even if there was a preference, it's not like you can't add that capability with a few Minelab accessories.

If it were me, I'd get the 600 and if I ever needed more, then there's the CTX 3030 (or it's replacement, which might come out this year) or a dedicated gold detector.

I'm a believer that if you can afford it, get multiple tools, each with its own specialization or advantage.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Here I sit looking at the differences between the 600 and 800 while trying to be logical about this.

Main area of interest is relic hunting and occasional coin shooting, although not much of the latter.

Prospecting....do I do that? Not a lot of opportunity around here, if any at all.
Wireless headphone capability the 800 offers....I could take it or leave it. No preference over wired or wireless and I've always used wired. No problem there.
More advanced setting adjustments 800 vs 600....Nice but not a must have personally.

Leaning more toward the 600 I think. Spousal unit told me to go ahead and get what I want so it's a go. Just need to decide which one for certain.

The CTX spoiled me for wireless headphones. So when the EQX came out, I chose the 800 just for that option. Thing is though, the 600 already has the same wireless functionality, just doesn't come with the hardware. So you could later buy a WM-08 for it, or you can just buy a set of BT headphones (you can buy the exact ones that come with the EQX, just without the logos) and save yourself about $180.

Even though I used the WM-10 on the CTX on every hunt, I NEVER use it on the EQX. I have tried it, but after the initial "play time" I have always used the BT phones.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Jason has a very good analysis of the need of the 800 here. I got the 800, I like it. I think it's been two years since I used the CTX now. With the CTX, my greatest love was the sounds over targets, audiology, descriptive reactions to targets. Using the 800, it's just as adept.

 

[lockster99]

Wireless was a must now that I've used it for a number of years. Not dealing with the wireless module was a big plus also. So, for me the 800 was the way to go. Haven't regretted it in any way.

 

[ToddsPoint]

You guys are going to have me spending my kids inheritance on an 800! Gary

 

[Coinucopia]

Well.....I figured why the heck not, just go big or don't go. With the wife's encouragement (knew that was gonna happen) I just placed the order for an 800. The 15% military discount was a no brainer.