Xterra 705 or Equinox 800 ?

[grubstake]

Hi Willows
My advice to you is buy a gold detector if you want to find gold I own 800 with both coils and it is useless at finding gold. I have been on many trips with friends using a 8oo and cheap garretts and they never found any thing but rusty crap. where as the wife and I using sdc2300 or6000 found many small nuggets .any gold detector 4500 5000 will do the job .

In your experience perhaps, but the other PA members who've been consistently successful nugget hunting with the 800 would disagree. The other PI gold detectors that you mention are certainly more capable of finding nuggets, but they're also much more expensive than an 800.

 

[red devil]

In your experience perhaps, but the other PA members who've been consistently successful nugget hunting with the 800 would disagree. The other PI gold detectors that you mention are certainly more capable of finding nuggets, but they're also much more expensive than an 800.

grubstake I would very much like to see some gold found with a nox800 if you have pics or vid it would be great to see. I know the 800 finds coins and is good at it as i have found .

 

[grubstake]

Here's one example:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...tips-settings-and-questions.35754/post-582525
And another:
https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/14855-124g-nuggy-with-the-equinox-last-week/

 

[mbasko]

Some more finds here:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...ttings-and-questions.35754/page-3#post-484150
https://www.prospectingaustralia.co...-tips-and-questions.23409/page-59#post-430822
From my experience (Equinox 600 only) best in milder ground with the 6" coil.

 

[grubstake]

Another gold prospecting 800 example today:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/broken-coils-800.40897/post-663973

 

[red devil]

Thanks Grubstake for the info but I believe with gold detector you have a far better chance of finding gold than using a treasure detector, and it depends how serious one is about it and what one can afford , happy hunting
Red

 

[willows]

Thanks for all the help! I've just ordered an 800, downloaded the manual, and eagerly waiting for the postman!

 

[grubstake]

Good luck, Willows.

Remember, keep your coil 'low and slow' in the goldfields and dig EVERY signal, no matter how small. And don't trust the discrimination or the display when gold-hunting - nuggets are just too unpredictable.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[AussieTex]

Willows, I think that you will be happy with the EQ800. I had been waiting for a light weight multi-freq for a while. The Explorer was my first and that was a beast to use after more than a few hours and sounded like a bloody pinball machine on a bad day.

I don't think the EQ800 is a bad machine for the gold fields as long as you follow what grubstake said. I would add to get one of the Coiltek 10x5 coils for it. I used mine up outside Clermont and was pretty surprise to find it pretty well suited for the task. You do need to learn the gold programmes and adjust as you see fit. I dug up a few specks for the trouble. My wife was using my XTerra 705 with the 5x10 and she became pretty frustrated whereas the EQ800 ran pretty well using both Gold 1 and Gold 2 with little tweak. She won't go back out until I get her something like a Gold Monster or a more advanced PI. We don't go up there enough to get either a SDC or GPX tho I would like to try out the Axiom as a change of pace. Not sure about the EQ900 or Manticore yet...I'd love either but rather spend the money on a more dedicated gold machine if I were getting a new machine. Happy to keep the EQ800 for awhile more...it is still fun on sand and dirt or in water.

Though once we discovered the Gemfields...not sure if she wants to head out to dig gold anymore. I sure wish the gold we found was the size and amount of sapphires and black spinels we hauled out of there. Just waiting for my wife to get a job out that way so I have to follow.

 

[shakergt]

Thanks for all the help! I've just ordered an 800, downloaded the manual, and eagerly waiting for the postman!

Willows just watch the tab on the coil. I had my coil replaced under warranty. Turned out my coil tab was faulty. Besides this known issue the 800 is fantastic for what I do. I am yet to try it in the goldfields of WA. Grubstake why use only the 6 inch coil? I am curious.

 

[grubstake]

shaketgt: Grubstake why use only the 6 inch coil? I am curious.

Users report that the small Nox coil is hot stuff for the tiny pieces of gold that are the most likely goldfields finds. Its size almost forces you to slow down and closely follow the ground contours, while allowing better access in and around rocks and logs and underneath bushes. Also, on uneven or rocky ground, bigger coils will usually be further away from any buried targets.

 

[AussieTex]

Willows just watch the tab on the coil. I had my coil replaced under warranty. Turned out my coil tab was faulty. Besides this known issue the 800 is fantastic for what I do. I am yet to try it in the goldfields of WA. Grubstake why use only the 6 inch coil? I am curious.

You can by all means use a larger coil than the 6" or 5x10" coils but it is easier to remember that larger coils pick up everything inside the middle line of the coil length on a Double-D coil. Almost all modern VF machine coils now work with Double-D coils as they work better in most ground in most cases. Simplistic, eh?

Best way to think of it is if there are multiple targets (ferrous/non-ferrous) in that middle line, it will pick all of them up so it will distort the signal and the head unit will play harder to decipher that information. With a smaller coil, though, there is less ground to scan along this line and though it is not as deep, a detector with a Double-D coil can better analyse the returned signal and hopefully Bob's your uncle and your detector finds you some yellow like that guy who just found that massive nugget with his EQ800. PI detectors like the GPX series, on the other hand, work off a different tech in the coil and processing of the returned signal. Because of this, they have an edge in highly mineralised ground tho PIs can do your head in if you don't like alot of noise with your fries. Just saying...