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What Am I Doing Wrong?


2Valen

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Thanks for all the input and suggestions that everyone has given me.

For the past couple of weeks I have watched every video  that I could find on YouTube and have tried to sift through all the forum threads here to help.

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Jeff,

Today I tried your suggestions and even took a copy of what you said with me.

I set my 800 as you stated and started walking around the park, and with the numbers that you gave me I did find several items.

There were close to 30 pieces of aluminum and cans, 6 bottle caps, 1 nickle, and 3 pennies.

I did not try to dig anything below a 28 and most came in as 32 to 36.

I keep hitting my head against the wall it seems.

Next Saturday I am suppose to meet up with someone and check both units side by side to make sure it is not a bad unit.

Thanks for the info and I will still be using them if I can learn this crazy unit.

 

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Chase,

7 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

I think I've suggested this to you before, but your best bet is to hook up with a local detectorist or local detecting club.

I am getting together with someone next Saturday to compare both units, and if it is me I have given him the O.K. to hit me up side my head.

These 2 old churches are so remote that the pastors live in the houses next to the churches with their families. They are the security systems for the churches.

I installed some equipment for them and that is the only reason they gave me permission to detect on the property. They have never allowed anyone to do it in the past as they do not believe in using electricity if you get the meaning.

I have tried this unit on beaches, camp grounds, ball parks, soccer fields, parks, lakes, and play grounds.

I have found almost every type of aluminum that you can think of, so if you ever need to find some of it I'M your guy for that .

Chase once again I am thanking you for your input as everyone's input does mean a lot to me. Please let me know if you will be able to travel to TN. to help locate the money wagon when I go. I am having a new system put together that will get us deep to where I think it is. Since it will take several measurements with the new coils it can give us a structural picture of what is underground to a depth of about 6 feet. That will ensure we find our target in less time. This system shows in real time on a tablet or laptop so someone has to be watching as we pull the coils around the area.

Tim

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18 hours ago, IRON MASK said:

Here are some really great tutorials for the Equinox. They are easy to understand and very well done. Have a look at the Iron Bias and Recovery speed videos as that may help you a bit in the iron infested areas.

Thanks for the information and I will be looking at those videos as I learn what I am doing. I have already watched over 30 different videos and these should be just as interesting.

Thanks

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4 minutes ago, 2Valen said:

Thanks for the information and I will be looking at those videos as I learn what I am doing. I have already watched over 30 different videos and these should be just as interesting.

Thanks

Cheers. These tutorials are very informative and easy to follow. Are you interested to try a program we use over here in Europe? I use a program called 4x4 and I only change the iron bias and recovery speed for the ground conditions. 

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2 minutes ago, IRON MASK said:

Are you interested to try a program we use over here in Europe?

Once I learn this unit and feel comfortable using it, then I might want to try the program. Right now all I want to do is to learn as much as I can and know what I am seeing and hearing.

Thanks

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Hi Tim,

your target recovery numbers definitely went up. That's really good. 50 or so targets retrieved is about right for a short 1 to 2 hour hunt.

Did you do some testing with your own targets first, buried in relatively clean ground or bark at 3" or less?  From what you are reporting today it sounds like you need to practice more and hunt less so you can learn what the common targets sound like in the ground. Take that nickel, one of those pennies, one of the bottle caps, and one of the cans and any other coins or jewelry you want to practice with and bury them just under the surface and learn what they sound like in detect mode and pinpoint mode and remember the numbers on the detect mode display.

Do you know how to do a factory reset? With the Nox off, hold down the power button until you see FP. Once you see FP release the power button. You might need to do that and you will have to reset Park 1 settings like described. 

The only aluminum that I have ever dug that was over target ID 28 was a can or large pieces of a can (much bigger than a pull tab or coin). Signals for aluminum above 22 sound really good like "please dig me!!!!!" but you need to learn how to pinpoint big targets as opposed to small targets. Unless you want to recycle lots of aluminum can pieces and clean up the trash buried in the park (a noble endeavor for sure) you could be using your time more wisely and finding more valuable things that will eventually pay for your detector. Also, I would rather see you dig all of the 12-13 coin sized targets and the 24 to 31 coin sized targets. At least where I live, targets in the high 30s (33 and up) are almost always deep iron or large aluminum. Again, learn how to tell the difference between a coin sized object and an aluminum can sized object. The Nox 800 does a fantastic job of letting the user know what sized object is under the coil for the most part. However, no detector can do that for you. You are the ultimate decider and your ears have to learn how to discriminate even better than your detector. Again, learn the difference between large and small buried targets. It just takes some practice on your end. The Nox is already giving you the information you need.

HH,

Jeff

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Jeff,

I started this morning with a test in a neighbors flower bed as he has it raised with good clean dirt and mulch. I did that for about an hour and then went to the local park.

When I arrived at the park I did a FP, and then did the settings that you suggested once I did a noise cancellation.

Trust me the park has about 5 lbs. less aluminum in it tonight. No I did not recycle it!

Once I have a solid target I use the pinpoint feature on the 800 and then set it down and use my handheld pin pointer to see if it is close to the surface. Once I start digging and removing about 2 inches I insert the pin pointer again to make sure I am going in the right direction. Once I find the target I pull it out and recheck the hole again to make sure there is nothing else that I may have missed. Then I fill everything back in and pack it down.

I have seen several targets that are around the 15 to 19 range that I did not dig. I dug mostly 20 to 32 range after I swept in 2 directions and have the same readings.

I will continue to practice but I think I need to compare this unit with another one just like it. I am going to meet up with someone this Saturday I hope.

Thanks Jeff for your insights on this.

 

Tim

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On 8/4/2019 at 1:41 AM, 2Valen said:

Today I started searching an old church (1852) when I came across a tone that didn't sound like anything that I had heard before. This item was showing a solid 2 in all directions, but it said it was deep. I started digging and then about 22 inches deep I found what appeared to be a piece of glass, but it had a rusted ring around it and a disk that shows gold on it. I have no idea how much gold it is or if it is just gold leaf. Where the gold is at it is not magnetic at all.

That was the only thing that I was able to find good enough to bring home except an odd looking spike. The spike is only about 6 inches long, 1/2 inch thick, with a head of about 1 inch.

Have no idea what it was used for, but I thought it was cool looking.

You posted a nice photo -- except -- there is no way for us to determine the size.  For small items, including a coin in the photo for scale does the trick.  For large items (and even small), include a ruler or measuring tape in the photo.

My guess it that what you found is some kind of magnifying mirror.  The fact that it appears to be gold plated makes me think it was meant to be attractive.  One possibility is that it was carried in a woman's purse for the purpose of makeup touch-up.  I suppose it could also have been a fire starter.  That's enough WAGging from me.  ?

The spike sounds like a railroad spike.

What you're learning about your detector is common.  Digging it all is an excellent learning tool and even experienced detectorists do that when first getting a new detector.  Some even do it most of the time.  Discriminating (the detector kind and the human brain kind) saves time but it also loses valuable targets.  It's something to turn on and off as conditions dictate.

Target ID isn't as simple as it is sometimes depicted.  Nicely shaped items (such as coins) near the surface, and oriented flat -- yes.  But even coins, the deeper they go and the further off-angle they are buried the more the TID varies.  Jeff and Chase have mentioned that coil control also affects TID.  That will come with experience.

I think you're doing the right things; it just takes time = experience.  When you meet up with that fellow detectorist next weekend you'll get more info (and confidence).  ?

 

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Keep it simple is my opinion. Use Field 1 with just one tone and leave everything else as factory settings. When you do this your just listening to the iron low tones and the non iron tones. Doing this let's you focus on the one good tone. Once you get a good signal you can then look at your VMI and determine if it's hitting on a solid number or numbers that jump all over the board. If it's hitting solid dig it. I think this helps learn the machine and what it's telling you. Once you get comfortable with doing this you can add more tones and features. The Nox will find great stuff with just the factory settings. Good luck!

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