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Tips For Detecting In Big Iron


Lacky

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12 hours ago, phrunt said:

I notice on the 6" Iron washer with the iron bias at low it picks it up as a 13 on the ID's, likely the same thing the Nox would do, drives me nuts getting bigger iron as non-ferrous usually around 13....  I do love that little coil, I wish they made that for the Nox too.  I guess it is just a mini-me of the Nox though.

The guy in the video bought that Vanquish at a place called Dicks Sporting Goods on a black Friday sale so they obviously do have some on sale in the USA.

Does the switch to single frequency and watching for number changes work on big iron? Hoping, hoping

(Thanks Steve,  I felt a bit guilty hijacking that thread) 

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21 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Fiddling with iron bias helps but too time consuming for me, I haven't tried switching frequencies on big iron as I don't find it often enough however I find the quickest easiest method is just to use pinpoint and if the target feels way too big and it's a number 12 to 15 (usually 13 for me) it's not worth my energy digging it 🙂  When I am fooled lately it's usually a big old rusty washer.

 

I mostly ask because there is a ghost town/mining site that is just horrible with it. I havent been back again, it's a summer only option, but I am soaking in all the tricks I can in case I go back next summer.  Honestly I think the best option is probably picking outer spots, nice views, picnic spots, etc and avoid the heavy iron areas.

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10 hours ago, Lacky said:

I mostly ask because there is a ghost town/mining site that is just horrible with it. I havent been back again, it's a summer only option, but I am soaking in all the tricks I can in case I go back next summer.  Honestly I think the best option is probably picking outer spots, nice views, picnic spots, etc and avoid the heavy iron areas.

I know this doesn't help most Equinox users, but when iron gets really bad, I usually just switch over to my Deus (or the less expensive ORX which works just as well) and a smaller coil.  This is is why I have been saying for months, that the two detectors compliment each other.  I love them both and would not be without both in my truck for any detecting situation. 

But here are some iron site tips for Equinox/Vanquish users because they can still get the job done:

Make sure any ground noise is cancelled out by properly ground balancing your detector for each mode you plan to use.  You don't need ground noise (in all metal) pounding your head in addition to all the ferrous hits.  You should check this over clean ground, obviously, but that is sometimes hard at thick iron sites.

I like using the new F2 iron bias at or near the default setting of 6 (4 to 7 seems to be the sweet spot to preclude masking).  Use whatever setting works best on Vanquish-suspect Vanquish uses the new F2-like iron bias filter.  Iron bias set too high tends to mitigate the advantage of higher recovery speeds causing non ferrous masking, so it is a delicate balancing act to find the Goldilocks (just right) iron bias setting.

Use a higher recovery speed setting if the target density is high.  For Vanquish, this means coin mode.  Unlike Equinox, Vanquish has basically one Multi IQ mode and the other "modes" (coin, relic, jewelry) are merely differentiated by default recovery speed, tone breakpoint, and discrimination settings.  See this post for more info.

Unless you are going to remove ALL the iron as you go (impractical for most detecting situations), try using a lower sensitivity to "sift" through the iron and look for shallower non-ferrous finds.  The lower sensitivity helps keep the deeper, big iron and shallower iron from overloading and overwhelming the detector.  It is counterintuitive and takes some discipline, but lowering sensitivity can be a powerful tool.

The threshold feature will alert you to ferrous targets if you have ferrous discriminated out as it blanks when you pass the coil over discriminated iron targets.  So if you are seeking out or seeking to avoid the iron patches, using threshold can be useful.

Use the horseshoe button to interrogate high tone hits to see if there are iron tones mixed in.  Problem is, it could be a single iron target or multiple mixed targets so...

Use the pinpointer (not available on the V340) to ascertain whether you have multiple targets in the hole or a single target.  And since pinpoint is a non-motion mode, you can trace the outline footprint of the target to tell whether you are swinging over a coin-sized object or a larger iron or aluminum target such as a can or actual horseshoe which can ring up high.

If you have an Equinox 800, sometimes I find Gold mode to be useful in thick iron situations as either a primary search mode or something to quickly switch to to interrogate an iffy signal as the VCO-like audio can work similar to pinpoint in revealing target strength or multiple adjacent small targets (though you can't target footprint trace because it is a motion mode) with the added benefit of visual target ID.

If target density is high, try using the smaller available coils (e g , 6 inch round for Equinox).  Yes depth will be slightly less, but fewer targets under the coil simultaneously helps with reducing coil overload and you might be able to use a higher sensitivity and lower recovery speed. Note also, that if you use a different sized coil, your sweet spot iron bias settings might also change.

Final tip, don't be afraid to wade into the iron patches.  Since most low recovery speed detectors have trouble there, it is perhaps your best bet to find a shallower keeper that has been masked all these years.  It takes patience and use/honing of the skills above plus you WILL be digging a lot of iron regardless (and getting it out of your way), but the reward for that can be huge.  Even if you get a 99% probable iron signal the only way to know for sure is to dig it and see what else might be in that hole.

Hope these help and give you some ideas how to attack an iron site with your Equinox/Vanquish.

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Thanks for the tips Chase! I do actually have a second detector, a lobo supertrak with a DD and a concentric coil. Don't know if it would do any better, but if I make it back there I'll take it along and try everything. 

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