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Tom Dankowski Tips For Low Mineral Ground


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There are so many valuable nuggets of info coming from this thread (and the one on Tom D.'s site) that my head is spinning.  My overall takeaway is that there's a big wide wonderful world out there in two ways -- the variation in sites and the variations in detector settings.  The assignment:  match the two.

One thing I've noticed in problem solving in general is that it's easier to solve a problem if you know there is a solution.  An issue I've been having is that when my detector doesn't seem to be performing the way I think it should, after a few half-hearted adjustments I get into a pessimistic view that "this is as good as it gets".  I'm starting to realize that I should take the optimistic approach:  there is a combination of settings which will overcome the issues I'm facing and create a top performing detector -- first task is to go and find them.  Only after that can I find the treasure.

 

 

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On 7/30/2019 at 1:01 PM, GB_Amateur said:

There are so many valuable nuggets of info coming from this thread (and the one on Tom D.'s site) that my head is spinning.  My overall takeaway is that there's a big wide wonderful world out there in two ways -- the variation in sites and the variations in detector settings.  The assignment:  match the two.

One thing I've noticed in problem solving in general is that it's easier to solve a problem if you know there is a solution.  An issue I've been having is that when my detector doesn't seem to be performing the way I think it should, after a few half-hearted adjustments I get into a pessimistic view that "this is as good as it gets".  I'm starting to realize that I should take the optimistic approach:  there is a combination of settings which will overcome the issues I'm facing and create a top performing detector -- first task is to go and find them.  Only after that can I find the treasure.

 

 

My detecting "Philosophy"

I cannot understate how much a good attitude and confidence play into detecting success.  Not only does a good attitude and optimism help you focus on the task at hand but have you ever noticed how your energy and focus fades as the day goes on and how it is worse when you are having a bad detecting day.  Conversely, noitce how energized and refreshed you feel after a good find is recovered or if you get into a zone and the finds keep coming.

The confidence piece of the equation doesn't just come with success but also when you have confidence in knowing your machine and, more specifically, when you have a firm grasp and knowledge of how you expect your machine to respond as you tweak settings.

Having the knowledge to know the tradeoffs of the parameters you can adjust and what you gain AND lose with each adjustment is important and allows for "informed" experimentation rather than random tweaking to see what works.  That being said, don't be afraid to go out on a limb and try something counterintuitive like using a low frequency in a high EMI environment or a low recovery speed in a high density area, or lower your sensitivity to sift for shallow keepers.  Just manage your expectations accordingly.

Also, be careful of absolutes.  There really are very few absolutes in detecting.

Examples -

Higher frequencies hit harder on mid-conductors and are generally more immune to EMI but have lower ultimate depth than lower frequencies.

Increasing senstivity can increase depth up to a point before it just starts becoming a noise amplifier and realize that the impact on depth is not linear and plateaus out at high sensitivities (i.e., you get less depth increase bang for your buck if you drive Equinox sensitivity much above 22 - the reason I don't fret if I can't increase sense due to chatter).

Multi Frequency is ALWAYS better than single frequency (Wrong).

Reducing recovery speed can effectively increase depth until it starts to increase ground noise.

I could go on and on.

In summary:

Tips for success

Site selection trumps most other varibles including detector and detectorist capability (this may require some up front detective work and research).

Know your machine well.

Coil coverage is key - you can't detect it if you never put your coil over it.

Have a good attitude and enjoy the day regardless of what you find.  Be glad you got the opportunity to detect, especially if you got to do it with good friends, good weather, and/or good scenery.

?

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5 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Increasing senstivity can increase depth up to a point before it just starts becoming a noise amplifier and realize that the impact on depth is not linear and plateaus at high sensitivities (i.e., you get less depth increase bang for your buck if you drive Equinox sensitivity much above 22 - the reason I don't fret if I can't increase sense due to chatter).

One thing I've wondered about that is likely related:  does signal strength of iron (small iron, especially nails) increase with a higher slope than non-ferrous?  Flipside: can turning down sensitivity when getting lots of ferrous background hits actually improve the signal (non-ferrous) to noise (ferrous) ratio?

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I did a little contrived experimenting, and I have to comment that going to a lower recovery speed in dense ferrous did not hurt things as I would expect. Though I can't honestly say it made it better either. But based on theory at least going to a low recovery speed like 2 should make an Equinox near blind in dense ferrous and it does nothing of the sort. It still picks targets. I'm guessing it's part of what is going on with Multi-IQ but don't know.

That said when I do experiments like this I hate seeing coins in plain sight get blinded by a nail under one end of the coil. All detectors do it. A coin in plain sight can be made invisible by a single nail 6" away if the nail is positioned right. Kind of like the old bury a dime at 6" and a staple directly over it at two inches and coin is gone. There is no doubt in my mind that no matter the detector ferrous is hiding a huge number of good items out there. You can't see through ferrous, you can only see between or around it. And it highlights how you have to hit ferrous beds with small coils and from 12 different directions to even have a chance. Yeah, we all pat ourselves on the back about what our detectors do find in ferrous, but nobody has any idea really what they are missing unless you remove every signal from the ground until no signals remain. The truth really is painful.

Dankowski Classics:

Beneath The Mask

The Painful Truth

I am definitely interested in hearing from others who may try low recovery speeds in dense ferrous, especially here out west or the Appalachian mineral belt. Like I said, did not hurt like I thought it would but with my limited work so far I saw no real reason to go lower either. Depth really does not matter much because nobody gets much depth in a true ferrous bed. It’s all about extracting any non-ferrous at all.

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This is a great discussion.  All I can contribute is this, for what it's worth (very little): two nights ago I went back to an trashy 1890s median that I've heavily hunted recently, changed recovery from 6 down to 3 (Park 1, 5 tones) and in a short time dug two deep wheat cents and a 1940 quarter-size bronze coin from Iceland (!).  Did the change in recovery speed result in these finds or was it just random luck, who knows.  It may not have helped but it didn't hurt, and I was pleased with the response of the machine.
The bottom line, as we all know, is that results like this are anecdotal and there are so many variables even on returning to a known site (ground moisture, EMI, etc.) that it's hard to draw conclusions from any one person's results.  Still, I love getting tips and inspiration from more experienced hunters, that's how we keep learning.

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Can you tell us if you think you are in mineralized ground or milder ground? That is the major defining factor. Low recovery speeds work well in medium to milder ground. If I were back east I’d probably be running recovery 3 as standard instead of 5 or 6. Well maybe not :laugh:

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I'm in central Kentucky.  I believe the soil here would typically be considered mild to medium mineralized.  When I'm able to find a clean enough patch to ground balance it usually ends up in the 45-55 range, which I realize is not an absolute measure of mineralization but it's all I have to go on.

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I tried Recovery Speed 3 the other day with good success.. I hated pretty much every minute of it because of the drawn out audio but it did produce, even in the heavy trash areas.  I purposely hunted the same area that I had the week before using Recovery Speed 5 and 6 where I only pulled 3 old Nickels in 6 hours of hunting. My friend and I have been pounding this area since last fall and it had started to feel cleaned out..

When I went through on RS 3 this time I got 7 old coins. 3 Wheats, a Buffalo, a V Nickel and 2 Mercury Dimes.  The 2 dimes came from a section my friend and I have both gridded from multiple directions more the once, so they were definitely a surprise. Not a scientific test by any means but my friend didn’t get a single old coin out of the area while hunting with me running his MX Sport. It could have been that the drawn out audio was forcing me to slow down. Nothing was any deeper then usual. One of the Wheats had a large nail directly above it which was interesting given the signal was so good..  

My take on this experiment is just mix things up a bit when the area stops producing and see what happens..

Bryan

 

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Just my opinion but I think a big part of the Equinox mystery is that there is so little hardcore factual info about what makes it tick. I'm always looking for an edge and keep an open mind toward listening to what others say and or their experiences/data. I currently have all the little books/guides on the Equinox and every one of them is filled with hearsay and guesses as to how this or that works.  Not at all what I was hoping for.

Take the detect modes for example. On most other detectors, those modes are nothing more than saved programs that have different discrimination patterns and tone options. It's no big deal to jump from one to the other and you can know you probably aren't missing anything unless that particular mode has it discriminated out.  It's different on the Nox, because each mode acts like a different machine. The only clues to how to utilize the Multi IQ and the modes, are found in a few short words in a chart from Minelab.  Everything else at this point...books included...are just guesses/theories.  A lot of us have had this machine for over a year now, and speaking for me personally, I still haven't wrapped my head around a full understanding of the machine.  Sure, I have found a lot of stuff with it but I'm always doubting myself with it, wondering if I have missed something by not selecting the optimal mode.  This almost always leads to me rehunting the same areas with different modes and a lot of mode flipping while I've got a target located.

It is nice for a change, to read someone's direct involvement with the product, to begin explaining a little more of what this or that does instead of it all just being mysterious and educated guessing.  I find myself in the boat of always wanting to learn. Based on what I've learned, I can take that and apply that knowledge to helping me make a more solid choice in finding optimal performances for me.  Maybe even making a light bulb click on, to something I had not given any thought to.  

In my case for recovery speed, I personally experimented a lot with that, and still do from time to time.  Over in my world, in more severe mineralized soil, I found I get better target response by using the faster recovery speeds.  However I admit, I have actually never really experimented much in Park 1.  Most of my hunting has been done in Park 2 and the Field modes.  I have dabbled into the Gold modes some due to some claiming astonishing performance in mineral vs the other modes for relic hunting.  I can't say that has been my experience with those particular modes.  I seem to have better success in the regular modes and opening the whole disc screen (horseshoe button).

Now, a great example of something I would have never thought to try:   I discovered this a couple weeks ago at a badly mineralized freshwater beach I hunt.  This particular beach, a machine like the CTX 3030 would null continuously due to the ground being so bad.  That particular machine wants to run single digit sensitivity there.  The Nox is extremely chatty in the Park and Field modes there. In fact, all machines I've had there are that way, some are useless at it.  Nothing is deep there, so the way I always hunt it is to just lower the sensitivity down to extremely low levels and scoop the solid hits.  This helps but does not eliminate the falsing on the Nox.  I read on one of the forums where another person was experiencing this, and had tried the Beach modes and they said their machine was quiet as could be.  By my understanding, the Beach modes on the Nox are just for salt beaches and salt water.  Everything you read on the forums say to use the other modes for freshwater.  Well guess what.  I gave the beach modes a try and the Nox is insanely quiet on this beach now. I can run my sensitivity up to 18-20 and not hear a sound until the coil is over something worth scooping.  See, I would have never figured to even try that since the books and manual says it's designed for saltwater use, and that there is no way to ground balance in it. 

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