Minelab Equinox 800

Caravan Happy · Member

Minelab Equinox 800

Bicyclecamper · Guru

I can say Minelab equipment is excellent, and worth their money, I have an 18000 XT series, and it has been very profitable, but it would want to be for $1200 back in 98'.

TravellerBob · Veteran Member

Its a great detector for general work like detecting beaches and parks for coins, rings and relics etc. It can take a bit of time to work out how to use it to its best but there are plenty of videos on youtube to help.
On the gold front . It will find gold but if you want to mainly look for gold there are better choices out there. Again it all comes down to the amount of money that you want to spend

If your looking for a general all round detector then the 800 is a good unit.

I had a 800 for a few months last year and used it for relic hunting at Hill End NSW where I found plenty of old relics including a cricket belt buckle and a couple of ring, a few coins and buttons and general rubbish.
I only sold the 800 as Im currently detecting fulltime in WA for gold and had no real use for it.
Currently Im ising a Minelab GPX 4500

The 800 is a great starting machine . Just be carefull, once you start detecting and find a treasure you will be hooked

Cheerrs

Bob

peter67 · Guru

That sounds like fun.

Mike Harding · Guru

As best I can tell from the Minelab website this is not a pulse induction (PI) detector.

I am not up to speed on recent detector technical developments but it has been the case for many years (decades) that if you intend to detect for gold in the Golden Triangle area of Victoria then you really do need a PI detector as the variable oscillator style is very susceptible to false triggers caused by the ground mineralisation in this area - no doubt this situation will apply to many other gold areas in Oz too.

The Eq 800 appears to be priced around $1050, for that sum or a little more you should be able to buy a secondhand PI detector.

Minelab produce a quality product and within its limitations I'm sure you'll be pleased with the Eq 800.

Mike Harding · Guru

TravellerBob wrote:
Currently Im ising a Minelab GPX 4500

I've had a GPX4500 for some years and have no intention of upgrading it. It will find gold as deep as I'm prepared to dig :)

I also have a Garrett Infinium for sale for $1000 plus shipping.

TravellerBob · Veteran Member

I too have no intention of parting with my 4500 but Im hoping to buy a 7000 by the end of the year if the gold gods smile on me. I had intended having one
by now but having to do an engine rebuild on my Patrol took all the spare gold that I had found last year. Ive witnessed the 7000 find gold in areas that I have been over with the 4500 and beleived that there was no gold left to be found

I intend to buy another 800 when I head back over to the east coast at the ernd of the year and get into a bit of relic hunting

TravellerBob · Veteran Member

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Hi Jo

Here is a copy of the TID chart ( Target Identification ) for the Nox 800

It can help you see what target you are likely to dig up. Its only a rough guide and not every target 21 you get will be a $2 coin

It will pay you to take a pen and paper with you at first and when you get a target note down the number as see how what you dig up comparers to the list

Caravan Happy · Member

Thanks everyone for the advice and thanks TravellerBob for the ID chart.

PeterInSa · Guru

TB re your potential purchase of a 7000, I have a Z and they are great, but heavy for some who are on the wrong side of 60 ( previously had a ML45) I suggest you look at the ML 6000 its lighter and should find the small stuff which is more common on the goldfields.

Also have a Nox 800 good on the beach and with a 6 inch coil in trashie areas in the goldfields.

www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/15581-learn-the-gpx-6000-video-training-series/

Caravan Happy · Member

Hi PeterinSa Can you tell me why you said 6 inch coil in trashie area. I am totally new to this and thought the coil it comes with was the one to use?

PeterInSa · Guru

Ch, you can use the standard coil in the goldfields, and in the past I for one have avoided detecting in areas with lots of iron/tin rubbish when using a Gold detector, some have persevered and found good gold. talking to acquaintances( driving past their detecting site) some years ago 32oz in a rubbish area in WA.

Imagine a 24 inch round coil, covering the ground with 5 pieces of tin and a piece of gold underneath, it would be hard to pick the gold ID with the Nox, the smaller coil allows you to pickup and identify a good signal that much closer to rubbish than a larger coil. May last year friends and SWMBO detected in a Trashie area in the Vic GT, this area have been done over approx 2 months earlier must have been 100+ holes ( neatly filled in, grass had just started to grow) probably using gold detectors with bigger coils, we found approx 20 old coins in the area, some as close as 6cm ( from memory) from a rubbish signal.( most late 1800's/early 1900)

I think the 6" coil is also more sensitive to smaller gold and by and large the bigger gold has already been found in most areas.

Peter

Caravan Happy · Member

Thanks PeterInSa
Your information was helpful. As I said I am totally new to this. Looks like I need to buy extra coils as well.

PeterInSa · Guru

Re (Looks like I need to buy extra coils as well.)

Suggest you get to know/use the standard coil first

www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/15595-coiltek-for-equinox-setting-sales-records-shortages/

Mike Harding · Guru

Caravan Happy wrote:
Looks like I need to buy extra coils as well.

Don't buy more coils until you understand what your detector can do - it took me about two years to discover that.

TravellerBob · Veteran Member

PeterInSa wrote:
TB re your potential purchase of a 7000, I have a Z and they are great, but heavy for some who are on the wrong side of 60 ( previously had a ML45) I suggest you look at the ML 6000 its lighter and should find the small stuff which is more common on the goldfields.

Also have a Nox 800 good on the beach and with a 6 inch coil in trashie areas in the goldfields.

www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/15581-learn-the-gpx-6000-video-training-series/

Hi Peter,

Im still on the right side of 60 so using the 7000 is no problem. Ive used a mates one so am aware of the weight but with a properly balanced harness it is fine.

I carried my sdc 2300 to WA for 2 years and never used it so sold it. Im happy leaving the fly speck gold for others to find. Im generally hunting on virgin ground looking for patches with the 17 x13 evo.

I also use the 14 x 9 evo and that has found gold down to 0.12g

The 7000 is a tried and trusted, proven machine where as the 6000 is still to do that.

PeterInSa · Guru

re (The 7000 is a tried and trusted, proven machine where as the 6000 is still to do that.)

If the 6000 is an early success, you could well buy a second hand Z for the same price ($8k) or lower, better than my 10.7K some years ago.

SWMBO kept her 4500 when she purchased her 2300, she has some great memories with it, and as Eastern staters ( to WA) its a great backup detector plus 14x9 evo. Have seen friends wait 2 weeks in WA when they had problems with their detector and sent to SA, for repairs, they end up sharing their partners detector. I sold my 45 to offset the Z purchase.

Caravan Happy · Member

Thanks for all the advice and information. The 800 has been ordered and is on its way. Cant wait to try it out. Jo

Mike Harding · Guru

Caravan Happy wrote:
Thanks for all the advice and information. The 800 has been ordered and is on its way. Cant wait to try it out. Jo

If you live near the beach a good way to start is to gather a handfull of "stuff" (5c pieces, washers, nails etc) and a small plastic garden trowel (Bunnings) and bury individual pieces of junk in the sand (easy to dig holes) at varying depths - mark the spots with a cross. You can then detect the junk you buried and this will give you a good sense of how the detector performs.

When you dig up a target wave each trowel of sand over the detector coil as an easy way to discover when you have found the target.

Enjoy :)

PeterInSa · Guru

Mike mentions Beach detecting, if you are going to do a lot suggest a sand scoop as per below. Have seen plastic ones made out of drilled stormwater pipe. My 1970's version is made out of Gal wire/mesh with metal scoop and rubber/metal handle, with a shake sand goes thru the mesh very quickly leaving your coin/target visible.

www.ebay.com.au/itm/Beach-Sand-Scoop-Metal-Detecting-Tool-Stainless-Steel-Metal-Detector-Tools-AU/154130448402%3D1&hash=item23e2e40012:g:JEMAAOSwhzRgTs-x&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkxGz2ccqatkEnoeekHqhLkdthKhYUM8uogTQ1oiStbETdnirpiGIBiwsMnW6qPwYPHbRkR8W7em6%252FBa9peNg2GozlsG7cHnDXe0MIZlbXh2uNHOgqBOFGNI6fns%252FAhsuqJ%252BeNUxliI%252BTmGLopPgCjuzJIAT358fqv97b%252BROYFGEXAUaki7D76Boev63llt97VzBmpDyKsDJqiqdBqjqkBacRwyyD98qkdPhGhBPQtj3w7ZwHkGU3t4qd1y6%252F9po3cHEVW9eKEreytssnzMyDZaBPchv9Lp%252FnBLncrJb9A0r9M2p2FfY9B73ZRdY9GA08PewpYCG5n2I7KFbqSCcvXLRdV%252FPGCMPETFur6%252F%252FOCcRGnfU1b2RhjErH%252FUFK0c0GTTQeCPKU5uP6WuINbBIf%252B40t58XrQJhqbncHslHdWo05jKTTyoHu3jJsCXKMPXPTkwi8qYIn%252FJnnfz14qRNTkZ07mbdOO8AclI%252BTvsfIpPoeEHe3q7eJ4Hte3ufhYrzIcizvs42NeNwX8iT5lMlwN1DyHUrMg%252FygGRNvnwdEWbQJUpxq1d1yyL52eAtE%252FP1%252F1pUfNljtJhuvWnibK5Er1WRxCzJL3Lb%252FZPT8tVzaKPxXG7TKBMPcheJ4HoRwsUVlsgnOR1iKWjNa1xnHwAp4MqdTczP6B3UGRPblfDkUHKnffHhyF7bom02eiM3ADxOXu3Ds3eFer05PMoRuEgPxvCQYhgdLn%252F8AiRgn3%252B9bIa33ygRxuv3lu6ZbYhpDOAByOKoBEL0Drzp8nWrgVDGn%252Fcw%253D%253D%7Ccksum%3A154130448402600d727a8a8d480cb756c8a35fe3e7f3%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524

banjo · Senior Member

I bought the 800 around 6 months ago, bit overwhelmed at first but found heaps of junk and dug lots of holes Lol ! YouTube is a godsend.

Getting used to it now and after that first $2 coin, then a small silver ring I'm totally hooked, just love it.
You quickly learn the tones to dig and with practice it becomes second nature what the likely target
will be.

You still get junk like bottle tops and pull tabs if you dig all targets but hey one day it may be that elusive gold ring.

Great hobby to keep you active.

A good pinpointer is very useful, as is a sand scoop.

Caravan Happy · Member

Hi All My equinox 800 has arrived. Do you need permits/licences to detect or only when in state/national parks? TIA

Mike Harding · Guru

Caravan Happy wrote:
Do you need permits/licences to detect or only when in state/national parks?

You'll need to do some research to properly answer this question. And, as you may expect, regulations differ between states.

In general gold prospecting and gem fossicking are prohibited in National Parks.

Beach hunting is, I think, allowed on all beaches.

In Victoria it's wise to obtain a "Miner's Right" to gold prospect.

Don't over-stress about the issue; if you're in the wrong place and a ranger happens along he'll most likely simply tell you to stop detecting.

One thing: *ensure* you back-fill the holes you dig.

PeterInSa · Guru

Re (One thing: *ensure* you back-fill the holes you dig.)

And take away the rubbish that you dig up, BUT leave the Sovereigns and gold behind for the rest of us.

Detecta · Member

Caravan Happy wrote:
Hi All My equinox 800 has arrived. Do you need permits/licences to detect or only when in state/national parks? TIA

If you register on this site https://www.prospectingaustralia.com.au/forum/ you'll have all your questions answered about all types of detecting, it's a great website for Aussie detecting.

gdayjr · Senior Member

Tune in to Miners Den on the interweb tonight at 20.10hrs for the chance to win a metal detector valued at over $1700.00

Great source of information for those into metal detecting, and all things Mine Lab

The new GPX 6000 is available to order now.

Caravan Happy · Member

Thank you

banjo · Senior Member

As said for just relic and coin hunting no permits required.

Again as mentioned practice digging the smallest holes as I've been to parks that have been decimated by thoughtless detectorists, holes left and not filled properly. Then they wonder why metal detecting is frowned upon.

Most coins I find are only in the first few mm of soil or grass(unless been there for years) and can easily be scraped from the ground with very minimal disturbance.

A good tool is the Tyger coin probe, but a screwdriver or gasket scraper will do similar job.

For beaches I bought the Sita scoop, very heavy duty unit and with a Bunnings cheapo fibreglass shovel handle is ideal.

A good pinpointer like a Deus Mi-4 completes the kit, no batteries as it's rechargeable, I did start with a Minlab Pro 35 pinpointer but it ate 9v batteries and was very unreliable.

Good hunting, Oh and when you hit that first goldy $2 coin you'll be hooked !