Fine Tuning The Equinox

[Propjob]

Ok, have recently read an article in another forum about fine tuning the equinox  in the field.  It was basically listening while in different recovery and iron bias settings to hear the best sound and using that setting.  Many times , if you go on site, you end up changing between modes and then have to retune again, and that can be intense .  I believe that if you sense what your detector is telling you, and then you can make adjustments on the fly.  I am wondering if you do the same, and utilize one particular program as a basis to work with? With all of the horsepower and knowledge on this forum, what land and beach program do you use as a good basis for testing your settings.  The second subpart to the question is do you use a program that utilizes 50 tones or 5 and do you switch between the two?

I have read and watched over the years many different thoughts  ( just like a you tube cure), however I find this forum is the one that addresses issues in a more technical and believable way.

Look forward to your answers.                                                                   PROP

[Jeff McClendon]

From your post, I have no idea what your are hunting for, how deep your desired targets are or what your EMI and ground conditions are. Those aspects (and more I'm sure) determine what adjustments I make. For me, the two most important adjustments are proper noise cancelling and especially accurate ground balancing. After that I adjust sensitivity for the ground and EMI conditions (not for how deep I want to detect or not) and adjust tones, recovery speed and iron bias according to what I am detecting. At a salt water beach I keep it simple and just use 2 or 5 tones in Beach 1 and only go to Beach 2 when the Nox becomes unstable. When I'm gold prospecting and relic hunting I also may use a Park or Field mode in 2 tones along with the 1 tone Gold modes. Coin and jewelry hunting I may use 5 tones or 50 tones depending on the amount of trash. I don't mind hearing some iron so instead of trying to eliminate it by turning up the iron bias and possibly masking smaller, deeper or weaker non-ferrous target signals, I keep iron bias on minimal settings and I just turn down the iron tone volume level or use a threshold tone for nulling rejected targets (like iron) and check with the horseshoe button. I use as much recovery speed as possible in heavy trash or when small gold prospecting/micro jewelry hunting. I turn down the recovery speed if I am coin and jewelry hunting or relic hunting for deeper targets in a sparse target area.  

So, apart from these adjustments, the Equinox right out of the box in its default settings is generally where I start. The Equinox is not like an XP Deus or other mid to upper level single frequency VLF detector where getting exactly the right settings for marginal detecting conditions is crucial.

Jeff

[TedinVT]

Jeff pretty much hit it with his posting.  Ground balance & noise cancel are a must.  I don't use 50 tones - too much for my brain to handle.  5 tones for P1, P2, F1, F2 & B1.  2 tones for B2.  I turn the iron tone down to 4 so it's less annoying.  I move the T3 tone break up to 20 and the T4 tone break up to 31 so I don't get the tone bounce between tone breaks on zincolns (19/20) and quarters (29/30) when coin shooting.  I'll play with recovery speed and iron bias depending on site conditions, using the F2 settings for iron bias to get more range.  It all comes down to where you are detecting - parks, fields or the woods and what the ground conditions are.  I detect fresh and saltwater beaches.  P1 setting for fresh, B1 for salt in the dry and wet & B2 in the saltwater.  No gold to hunt around here.

Nice write-up, Jeff.

[Steve Herschbach]

All detector tuning for me is just signal balance. Ground, EMI, high conductors, low conductors, ferrous targets, non-ferrous targets, large targets, small targets. Unfortunately optimizing for one desired target often enhances the signal from an undesired target. So how do I optimize the desired target as much as possible while suppressing undesired targets as much as possible? The modes for me range from “hot” to “least hot” as shown below.

Most sensitive to small signals, hot rocks, EMI, signals from salt/alkali conditions. Most sensitive to very small targets like gold nuggets; max depth on all targets under perfect conditions. Under poor conditions, increase in noise to target signal ratio can work against target definition.

1. Gold Modes

2. Park & Field Mode 2

3. Park & Field  Mode 1

4. Beach Mode 1

5. Beach Mode 2

Least sensitive to small signals, hot rocks, EMI, signals from salt/alkali conditions. Less sensitive to very small targets, some depth sacrifice on all targets under perfect conditions. However, under poor conditions improved target signal to noise ratio can enhance target definition.

Each mode gives me a starting point I can work from, fine tuning by varying every available setting, including single frequencies. I find most coin and jewelry type detecting to be relatively simple... it is gold prospecting in bad ground that challenges me and makes me really use all the options available. My nugget tuning tips illustrate how I use every option on the machine to deal with the issues I encounter while nugget detecting. I have notes on every setting there that explains my thinking on them. I can imagine a scenario where I would be using any mode including Beach modes while nugget detecting, and single frequency options can be a lifesaver dealing with certain hot rocks. The same in theory applies to any type of detecting... I might use any mode for any type of detecting under unusual circumstances.

For most other detecting however I’m not looking for quite the edge I need for chasing gold nuggets in extreme mineral conditions. So for most coin and jewelry detecting Park 1 is my favorite base to to work from, unless on saltwater beaches, then beach modes. No matter where or how I detect I do not like a totally quiet machine and so my tuning just automatically chases the edge of where noise bleeds through from the ground or EMI or whatever. It’s a little hard to describe how I get there but I’m always riding the ragged edge. Generally 50 tones wide open for full feedback with disc employed visually as a “small item filter.” I’m very shy of any iron bias at all, preferring to keep it at zero under most circumstances.

After all that though other than nugget detecting I really don’t obsess over settings much, as in my world hours and location plus getting the coil over the target matter more than some mystical magical settings. I’ll often just grab the Equinox and run close to stock settings, just going to 50 tones and bumping the gain up if a can, and go detecting. The stock settings are some of the best on any machine and the biggest mistake beginners make is messing with Equinox settings not understanding what they are doing.

[Propjob]

Good explanations, Jeff, Ted and Steve. I really appreciate the time you guys took to answer and write.    I guess beyond knowing the machine, it is knowing your surroundings  I guess I have gotten in the mindset of considering a coin hunt as a relic hunt also. I have found old Military buttons and ferrous items while shooting for coins and jewelry, So I try not to miss those opportunities if I can . Most of our beaches are salt and I mostly use the Beach modes as dictated.  I agree that noise cancel and ground balance are real important, and I agree with Ted that 50 tones in my world can be overwhelming.  I do like the 5. Admitedly, I think I am looking for the machine to be everything all of the time, when I should be focused more into less generalized hunting.  As far as fine tuning perhaps I should be more cognizant of the modes that I choose as you shared Steve. I guess it goes back to knowing your machine. To recant what I said in my opening, the technical info and caliber of operators on this forum are second to none.

 

Prop

[Jeff McClendon]

Prop,

kudos to you for picking the detector that best covers all of the bases for you. The Equinox really can just about do it all extremely well. There have been a few detectors sort of like it in the past, the MXT/MXT Pro apart from not being wireless and waterproof, to name one. Some of us on this forum had high hopes for the MX Sport  ...............😪

 I am still learning how to use the Nox everyday and it has never failed me yet. Someday I hope I get to use it more in "normal" dirt instead of the crazy hot dirt that I am usually detecting in. 

good luck,

Jeff

[Steve Herschbach]

10 hours ago, Propjob said:

Admitedly, I think I am looking for the machine to be everything all of the time, when I should be focused more into less generalized hunting.

When I think about it I always go out looking for a certain thing, and funny story is I find what I look for more often than not. If I want to find large gold nuggets I have to pick machines, coils, and locations that favor large gold nuggets. If I chase small gold nuggets, it’s a different gig, and indeed that is what I then tend to find. Or I am hunting normal jewelry, or I’m hunting micro jewelry. Or silver coins. In each case I’m focused on a certain type target and location, machine, coil, tuning, and mind set are all aimed at that target. I’m almost never just out detecting for any old thing that comes along. That’s what I love about Equinox, not that it is perfect at finding everything at once, but that it can be optimized to do extremely well at so many different type detecting scenarios.

[Smithobx]

On 5/11/2020 at 12:31 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

That’s what I love about Equinox, not that it is perfect at finding everything at once, but that it can be optimized to do extremely well at so many different type detecting scenarios.

Very true, the most versatile detector I have owned in the last 30+ years.