Minelab Gold Monster Or Equinox 800

[lures]

Hi all
After some advice, I cant decide between a gold monster or a equinox 800.
I am not a serious detectorist but I do have properties in the Charters Towers area I can go to.
I just want something I can find all sorts with and maybe a bit of gold.
I know most will say a PI machine and I would love one but funnily enough I love just digging up anything
Thanks heaps
Gary

 

[Goldtarget]

From what youve written Id say 800, youll get descrimination, target ID, and user options. The 800 can find gold maybe need a 6 inch coil and more benign soil types to get the most out of it in the gold search.

Im not familiar with the area you are likely to be hunting gold in.

Perhaps there are other detectors that could be considered but of the two options the 800 covers the most detecting scenarios.

The GM is quite capable on small gold that is shallow relative to a PI option.

 

[LORD]

I have both and from what you have said I would reccomend Nox 800 and a 6" coil.
Very capable on the small shallow gold VLF's love and you will love finding coins and relics when not out on gold fields.

 

[UnderEmployedGeo]

I got a Equinox 600 and as I understand it, so long as you are happy to fiddle with the settings a little, they are just as capable for gold as the nox 800. I can confirm the 600 is great at finding coins and stuff too. Seems to be the idea general purpose detector and not bad at finding gold either.

 

[Goldtarget]

Not sure I agree on 600 vs 800. Once you get to the size and depth the 800 with a 6 inch can find gold at the additional settings in frequency and recovery speed gives the 800 a fairly distinct edge. This difference is even more pronounced as the mineralization is increased.

Neither are as pronounced as the GM. However when switching over to coins the difference between the 800 and 600 is much less obvious.

I certainly wouldnt claim to know all 3 to highest degree of proficiency, but I have tested them all against each other with dug and undug targets also supported with the use of an sdc on gold from mild to hot soils.

With any gold you want confidence in your machine, whether that be a single freq vlf right up to a gpz and everything in between, every one of them has their limitations. Once your opting to use a nox which is a multi purpose vlf you want to bring the odds in your favour by selecting the higher freq of the 800 and the smaller coil. Its already difficult starting from that base, let alone a 600.

The multi freq ability is far less useful in small shallow gold for producing accuracy, let alone a recognised response, much better the dedicated single freq the 800 offers imo.

 

[Rockwall]

Not sure I agree on 600 vs 800. Once you get to the size and depth the 800 with a 6 inch can find gold at the additional settings in frequency and recovery speed gives the 800 a fairly distinct edge. This difference is even more pronounced as the mineralization is increased.

Neither are as pronounced as the GM. However when switching over to coins the difference between the 800 and 600 is much less obvious.

I certainly wouldnt claim to know all 3 to highest degree of proficiency, but I have tested them all against each other with dug and undug targets also supported with the use of an sdc on gold from mild to hot soils.

With any gold you want confidence in your machine, whether that be a single freq vlf right up to a gpz and everything in between, every one of them has their limitations. Once your opting to use a nox which is a multi purpose vlf you want to bring the odds in your favour by selecting the higher freq of the 800 and the smaller coil. Its already difficult starting from that base, let alone a 600.

The multi freq ability is far less useful in small shallow gold for producing accuracy, let alone a recognised response, much better the dedicated single freq the 800 offers imo.

just starting with the 800 after using sd, gp, gpz for many years. This sort of info is much appreciated.

 

[Katabatic]

As a relatively new 'Nox 800 user, I'd just like to add one tip.......and it comes from experimenting extensively with buried bits of yella stuff in the backyard.

Be very careful using the "Gold" settings on the 800......both Gold 1 and Gold 2 are preset to reject targets in the -9 to 0 range.

If you run like that you are going to miss a lot of small pieces of gold (that's assuming they are there )

My testing indicated plenty of consistent smaller negative IDs (-3 to 0) on test pieces in the range 0.1 to 0.5 gram (OK...so I haven't got anything bigger)

Many times at depths up to around 80mm, the 800 would completely miss the test piece in either of the default "Gold" settings......and scream its head off in "All Metal" over the same target.

At the very least, if you want to use either of the Gold settings, customise the Discrimination to accept at least -4 to 0.

You'll find quite a bit of talk about this in various threads here:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/53-minelab-equinox-forum/

 

[Rockwall]

As a relatively new 'Nox 800 user, I'd just like to add one tip.......and it comes from experimenting extensively with buried bits of yella stuff in the backyard.

Be very careful using the "Gold" settings on the 800......both Gold 1 and Gold 2 are preset to reject targets in the -9 to 0 range.

If you run like that you are going to miss a lot of small pieces of gold (that's assuming they are there )

My testing indicated plenty of consistent smaller negative IDs (-3 to 0) on test pieces in the range 0.1 to 0.5 gram (OK...so I haven't got anything bigger)

Many times at depths up to around 80mm, the 800 would completely miss the test piece in either of the default "Gold" settings......and scream its head off in "All Metal" over the same target.

At the very least, if you want to use either of the Gold settings, customise the Discrimination to accept at least -4 to 0.

You'll find quite a bit of talk about this in various threads here:

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/53-minelab-equinox-forum/

thank you

 

[Katabatic]

In case you haven't already found it, this thread is a ripper:

My Tips On Nugget Detecting With The Minelab Equinox

https://www.detectorprospector.com/...on-nugget-detecting-with-the-minelab-equinox/

And this link is to a gold mine of equinox information compiled by Steve Herschbach:

Minelab Equinox Essential Information

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/5979-minelab-equinox-essential-information/#comments