Finally got an 800 first impressions

[flgliderpilot]

Finally have an 800 in my hands. I haven't hunted with it yet, just some quick tests in the yard before I go to the beach tonight. It's still charging.

Made well. The lower shaft appears to be plastic core, but wrapped with carbon or fiberglass. You can feel the spiral layers where the wrap was during curing. Doesn't whip and flex like the CZ-21 lower shaft. It's extremely light.

Upper shaft is nice, and the twist locks are very smooth. Arm cuff convenient in that it can be adjusted without a tool.

At first it was REALLY chatty... like an AT Pro on an iron infested beach. I was not enjoying it AT ALL. Then I remembered I forgot to do noise elimination and ground balance. DUH much better!

Language is foreign to me... the tones are different pitch than what I am used to so I have some adapting to do.

Ergonomics not as great as I imagined.. it does twist when you swing as others mentioned and it get sort of tiring. Shortening the shaft so the coil is right in front of my feet helped for now. I run my coil close anyway to reduce shoulder fatigue. The S shaft mentioned in another thread would help by placing the lower shaft in line with the grip.

It's light, and the coil is very light for an 11". Balance not as good as expected though. Adding a little weight to the cuff may help with this.

Air test was average. Who cares about air tests!

The wireless headphones sound ok, but they are a little small for my ears, and they make me sweat like crazy. Not sure why. You can run them with a cable if the battery dies I see in the manual. That's handy but I'll be replacing them anyway with something more comfortable.

There are so many settings ... there is just no point in touching them until I have some time on the machine. I'm hunting tonight an area previously cleaned out with my CZ-21 and my Buddy's Excal. Will report back when I get home!

 

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[curious2]

If you find the ML-supplied headphones small for your ears, you might like the Avantree Audition Pro aptx low latency headphones ($69). I use those with my EQ 600 and find the earcups a bit larger than usual, which I like. Make sure you get the "pro" version of the Audition, which is the low latency, not regular, aptx. I am also going to try earbuds at some point soon, just so I can more easily wear a hat Probably will be the Sennheiser CX 6.00 BT, which are low latency aptx.

A pity ML didn't use the S shaft. Probably saved $5 or so going with straight rods--or maybe there are people who actually prefer them.

 

[flgliderpilot]

I think the straight shaft is more desired in general, but the straight shaft with without the weight of the machine hanging under it with the coil makes for a strange roll movement. Having said that I hunted for 3 hours last night and came to the following conclusions:

Still think headphones are a little small but I used them for 3 hours and didn't feel the need to complain to my buddy about them, so thats good.

Somehow I adapted to the twisting and now it doesn't twist on me. I didn't even think about it.

My arm felt better! Usually I quit at 3 hours because my shoulder is crying from the CZ. I could have hunted for another 3 easily.

Backlight at lowest setting was great... something I always wanted from my old AT pro.

The headphone and coil connector ARE o-ring sealed. It's a face seal, but there is an o-ring down in there. The rubber cap holder is not the seal.

I dug some really deep crusty quarters that were so loud they startled me!

I found I needed to turn the sensitivity down to about 17 in certain areas or it would start being really chatty like the at pro popcorn pusher mode.

Even with sensitivity down to 16 or 17 I was digging very old deep targets, down into the hard pack on the beach.

After three hours of hunting with low backlight, the battery indicator had not changed. All bars lit.

We ended up at a different spot so no CZ-21 comparison just yet.

The tiniest bits of foil were picked up in the 2-8 range. Super tiny. Hoping gold doesn't usually read that low so I can pass on these.

I have a thin chain necklace that it could not pick up. I'm going to experiment with the settings to see if I can get a hit on it.

Pinpoint mode is actually very nice. I don't ever use pinpoint mode, but on this machine it is easy on the ears, and it automatically detunes, do you aren't constantly pressing pinpoint trying to zero in. It's nice!

Saved all my trash so I can check the numbers.

 

[Rookster]

Way to go. Very helpful info. I'm trying to compare the Eq and the XP.

 

[flgliderpilot]

EQUINOX : CZ Tone, would dig? : Description

-5 : CZ Low, No : Tent stake
1 : CZ Mid weak, maybe : Gum foil wrapper
4-7 : CZ Mid Weak, maybe : Tiny foil piece
5-7 : CZ Low, No : Rusty Bottle cap 1
6 : CZ Mid YES : Foil pull top : |
12 : CZ Mid, yes : Nickel
13-14 : CZ High Low, Maybe : Rusty Bottle Cap 2
15-16 : CZ Mid, Yes : New bottle cap (aluminum?)
15-16 : CZ High/Low, NO: Michelob bottle cap
20-22 : CZ High yes : Zinc penny
25 : CZ High yes : Dime
25 : CZ High, Yes : Miller Lite Large aluminum screw cap
25 : CZ High yes : Copper penny
29-30 : CZ High yes : Quarter

Discovered the iron tone (t1) volume is set very low in beach modes. Turning it up to max made it easier to identify bottle caps, etc.

Iron bias didn't make much difference.

 

[flgliderpilot]

I didn't see this mentioned, but you can bind your headphones to the machine and your phone at the same time. So you can take calls without having to take off headphones and locate your phone.

 

[vferrari]

I didn't see this mentioned, but you can bind your headphones to the machine and your phone at the same time. So you can take calls without having to take off headphones and locate your phone.

No thanks. I'm sticking with the, "I had my headphones on while detecting and didn't hear the phone" excuse for as long as I can get away with it.

 

[Echoplex]

No thanks. I'm sticking with the, "I had my headphones on while detecting and didn't hear the phone" excuse for as long as I can get away with it.

And you don't even have to be actually wearing them to use that excuse. Double bonus!

 

[lookindown]

Is it picking up gum wrappers and small foil that your CZ doesn't hear?...my CZ21 with 10 inch coil doesn't hear those targets...I dig everything above iron, so those targets in the water would kill me.

 

[vferrari]

Is it picking up gum wrappers and small foil that your CZ doesn't hear?...my CZ21 with 10 inch coil doesn't hear those targets...I dig everything above iron, so those targets in the water would kill me.

Tone audio quality and the pinpointer gives you a clue as to how tiny they are and their shape (symmetry) so you can decide whether or not to dig but be aware that you may be passing on small gold. Hope you are not saying that because your CZ doesn't hear them that is necessarily a good thing. That means it also probably isn't hearing some small gold too because it certainly is not just selectively discing out foil and hearing just the gold. Or am I missing something? Not too familiar with the CZ21 so forgive me if I have it wrong, just going by your statement about it not "hear[ing] those targets".

 

[flgliderpilot]

Is it picking up gum wrappers and small foil that your CZ doesn't hear?...my CZ21 with 10 inch coil doesn't hear those targets...I dig everything above iron, so those targets in the water would kill me.

yeah it picks up tiny foil that that the CZ ignores.... but, the CZ DOES pick up tiny gold and metal bits just not foil. EQ800 also picks up those iron flakes, but not more than a couple of inches of depth. Worst part is they don't sound like iron. In some ways I like my CZ better... but it's nice to have a machine which will work wet, dry, water. In the dry I want to avoid those foil tops and gum wrapper and they usually come it under 7 and can be ignored. I can't honestly say I would do better with the EQ800 than my CZ21. Can I dig less trash? yeah... will I dig more gold? I dunno. All I can say is it's lighter, and it's better in the dry sand.

 

[lookindown]

Heading to work...I will give a reply when I get home...thanks.

 

[flgliderpilot]

Tone audio quality and the pinpointer gives you a clue as to how tiny they are and their shape (symmetry) so you can decide whether or not to dig but be aware that you may be passing on small gold. Hope you are not saying that because your CZ doesn't hear them that is necessarily a good thing. That means it also probably isn't hearing some small gold too because it certainly is not just selectively discing out foil and hearing just the gold. Or am I missing something? Not too familiar with the CZ21 so forgive me if I have it wrong, just going by your statement about it not "hear[ing] those targets".

The CZ absolutely picks up very tiny bits of metal. Very tiny... much smaller than an earring stud tiny. it does not pick up most tiny thin foil. It does pick up foil, just not tiny little 4mm fragments. I have a love affair with my CZ that is going to be hard to break. I'll be doing a head to head comparison video soon.

 

[lookindown]

Tone audio quality and the pinpointer gives you a clue as to how tiny they are and their shape (symmetry) so you can decide whether or not to dig but be aware that you may be passing on small gold. Hope you are not saying that because your CZ doesn't hear them that is necessarily a good thing. That means it also probably isn't hearing some small gold too because it certainly is not just selectively discing out foil and hearing just the gold. Or am I missing something? Not too familiar with the CZ21 so forgive me if I have it wrong, just going by your statement about it not "hear[ing] those targets".

flgliderpilot pretty much answered your question...the CZ21 hits on very small gold like 1 gram rings and stud earrings...it will pick up solid tiny aluminum like rivet heads too with a good signal...it doesn't hear foil and tiny can slaw or small iron flakes...I guess its a pretty amazing saltwater detector...I have great confidence when using it...I wanted the Equinox because of the weight, screen and way it charges the battery but I wont be getting one...its going to be a great detector for many people but I hunt 95% of the time in the water...I would spend way too much time on tiny targets ringing in above iron and Im not able to leave any target above iron...I got to scoop em.

 

[vferrari]

Yep. Thanks. It does sound amazing and explains why it has a small, dedicated water hunter following. In the water everything is a thousand times harder so it is imperative that you minimize wasted energy. I get what you and pilot are saying.

 

[flgliderpilot]

Tried my 800 and CZ in my test bed today while setting up my 800 for 3 tones instead of 5.

My CZ was hitting my burried quarter solid and loud, nice high tone. The 800 couldn't even hear it... sometimes it would pick it up and it was broken and bouncy from 5 to 25. A quarter is around 29. Bad enough that I would not have dug it. Tried Field 1, Field 2 and beach modes. Ground balanced, sensitivity turned up and down. I would not have heard it if I didn't know exactly where it was. If I screwed around over it for awhile the machine would finally see it at 29-30, but this took serious repeated swinging exactly over the coin, and knowing where it was.

This mirrors the experience I've been having on the beach with it... sometimes quarters sound good, but 50% of the time they are bouncy and broken and you think it's a bottle cap. I don't think this quarter is more than 8" deep.

I assumed the quarters must have been on edge, but it seems unlikely that half of the quarters I've dug are on edge. It's possible but I just can't see it, because I never had this issue with my AT Pro.

Not bashing the machine here, just being honest about what I am seeing with it. My AT pro had no problems with this quarter. Sort of stumped!

At this point I'm ready to dig it up again to make sure it's actually a quarter to see for sure which machine got it right! Maybe my memory of my coin bed is confused : D

I'll do that later today.

 

[captbo]

when did you place the order?

 

[vferrari]

Tried my 800 and CZ in my test bed today while setting up my 800 for 3 tones instead of 5.

My CZ was hitting my burried quarter solid and loud, nice high tone. The 800 couldn't even hear it... sometimes it would pick it up and it was broken and bouncy from 5 to 25. A quarter is around 29. Bad enough that I would not have dug it. Tried Field 1, Field 2 and beach modes. Ground balanced, sensitivity turned up and down. I would not have heard it if I didn't know exactly where it was. If I screwed around over it for awhile the machine would finally see it at 29-30, but this took serious repeated swinging exactly over the coin, and knowing where it was.

This mirrors the experience I've been having on the beach with it... sometimes quarters sound good, but 50% of the time they are bouncy and broken and you think it's a bottle cap. I don't think this quarter is more than 8" deep.

I assumed the quarters must have been on edge, but it seems unlikely that half of the quarters I've dug are on edge. It's possible but I just can't see it, because I never had this issue with my AT Pro.

Not bashing the machine here, just being honest about what I am seeing with it. My AT pro had no problems with this quarter. Sort of stumped!

At this point I'm ready to dig it up again to make sure it's actually a quarter to see for sure which machine got it right! Maybe my memory of my coin bed is confused : D

I'll do that later today.

Yep, definitely something to keep an eye on. At the beach I think I was getting bouncy on quarters too for both deep and shallow. Nickels were solid (beach 1). Still all diggable signals for me, though.

 

[GoDeep]

Not dissing the Equinox as i'll be getting one myself. But aren't CZ's famous for their exceptional depth on certain targets?

 

[flgliderpilot]

Not dissing the Equinox as i'll be getting one myself. But aren't CZ's famous for their exceptional depth on certain targets?

Yeah, they are pretty well known for depth. The equinox has similar depth, it just seems to struggle with quarters for some reason. It hit all the other coins solid no problems. There might be some iron next to it or something. I noticed that lower recovery speeds actually made it disappear completely.