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Equinox 800 Missing Silver?


Tony Downs

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I am new to detecting but have about 400 hours of YouTube detecting experience 😁. I got my equinox 800 about 3 weeks ago and have dug at 3 places old school (war nickel and wheat penny),  60’s abandoned house (clad dime and memorial copper penny} and an old farm house/boarding house built in 1890’s ( GOLD ring, Mercury dime, 4 Buffalo nickels, 1 war nickel, 8 1945-48 nickels, 35 wheat pennies and 5 memorial pennies. I am very very happy with my less than 1 month of digging but somehow I feel I’m missing silver at the old farm house. With that many coins from to 30’s and 40’s and only one Mercury dime and 1 silver nickel I’m not sure but wanted opinions as to what I am missing or is it just coincidental that no silver is popping up. I’m running park 1, all defaults with noise cancel and ground balanced out except yesterday I slowed recovery to 4 and decreased FE to 4. Thanks for the add and looking forward to suggestions. Tony

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Chase, thank you for the response and break down, being new and trying to learn i read watch videos and try to decipher what I see.  I think this could get addicting. I love the equinox and I think as you said a few more hours swinging it I will get better. That ring was hitting a solid 14 and when it popped out I almost fell out.  Once again thank you for the response and great information. I have lined up a Couple more old mansion style 1800’s homes to hit after if finish with the one I’ve been to a couple of times. I went yesterday and it gave up more wheats and a couple of old buttons and a rifle slug or 2 so I need to hit there  again I feel. Maybe a lot more goodies as I actually concentrate and cover the ground and not go Willie Nilly across it. 

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28 minutes ago, Tony Downs said:

being new and trying to learn i read watch videos and try to decipher what I see

One word of additional caution regarding videos - editing makes any hunt look like the targets are just repeatedly popping out of the ground.  None of these you tubers are going to keep the clips of digging junk and pull tabs.  Videos seldom reflect the reality of typical detecting session - hours of nothing but dug junk, punctuated by a few seconds of pure elation.  However, just digging the finds is not the end all and be all of detecting IMO.  Meeting new people with a common interest in history and the stories behind the strange things we do pull out of the ground (trash and treasure) and enjoying the sights and fresh air or simply the feeling the history of the place you are detecting are all part of the adventure.  Regarding test and comparison videos - always be skeptical of the motives of those posting the videos (lack of knowledge of the settings/nuances for the detectors being tested, personal bias, or having a vested financial interest in the detector(s) being tested).  You tube is great place to learn techniques and to learn about equipment but I would not look to it as a realistic depiction of detecting in general or if you are really seeking the truth about any particular detector.  That takes first hand experience and testing.

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3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

continue to learn the language of your detector

Tony,

Your finds are quite remarkable.  Some of that may be the result of your YouTube training but there is only so much you can learn from watching a video.

Chase gave you a very good reply.

The language (audio and screen) of Nox is pretty 'pure.'  There isn't much slang or accent but it does require a bit of concentration.  Use patience and listen to the full sound and then interrogate the target with short swings, fast swings and slow swings.  Listen as the different parts of the coil go over it.  Look at the screen numbers and maybe make an adjustment or go to your User ID that uses more discrimination than your 'find a target' settings.

We all get iffy targets but after many hours of use they are less and less iffy and more and more 'I think I know what that is!'

Mitchel

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7 hours ago, Tony Downs said:

 

 

I am new to detecting but have about 400 hours of YouTube detecting experience 😁. I got my equinox 800 about 3 weeks ago and have dug at 3 places old school (war nickel and wheat penny),  60’s abandoned house (clad dime and memorial copper penny} and an old farm house/boarding house built in 1890’s ( GOLD ring, Mercury dime, 4 Buffalo nickels, 1 war nickel, 8 1945-48 nickels, 35 wheat pennies and 5 memorial pennies. I am very very happy with my less than 1 month of digging but somehow I feel I’m missing silver at the old farm house. With that many coins from to 30’s and 40’s and only one Mercury dime and 1 silver nickel I’m not sure but wanted opinions as to what I am missing or is it just coincidental that no silver is popping up. I’m running park 1, all defaults with noise cancel and ground balanced out except yesterday I slowed recovery to 4 and decreased FE to 4. Thanks for the add and looking forward to suggestions. Tony

Hi Tony and welcome to this forum.

I believe I already gave you a long reply on another forum. I see you are asking the same question here. You will get similar answers. Your Nox is fine. Since you are finding some wheat pennies, the older silver will eventually happen. For me, where I detect, finding a mercury dime is a big deal since this area has not been inhabited by people with coins for very long. So, my wheat penny to mid 1900s silver nickel, dime, quarter ratio is at least 10 to 1. Make that 50 to 1 for wheats to early 1900s/late 1800s silver coins, indian heads and V nickels for last year.

Chase is a field trainer for the Equinox and he hunts near your area. Read what he says very carefully and try to follow his suggestions.

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Hello Tony! Welcome to the forum.  I’m new to this forum too, but I’ve been detecting for decades, and have made hundreds of finds/instructional posts across several other popular online detecting forums for 13 years now.  I’ve been using Minelab detectors since 2007, and just last year, I bought an Equinox 800.  You’ve already received great advise from very knowledgeable hunters here.  I’d like to give you a different perspective of someone else’s finds (my own) from a different area of the US (So California).  I’d consider myself a hardcore hunter...well, I used to hunt 4-5 times a week for the past 10+ years, but last year, I managed 2-3 hunts a week.  I detect mostly parks, old schoolyards (if I can get in), and beaches.  I have hundreds of parks/schools where I’ve dug silver coins, wheat pennies, older sterling jewelry, and a small sprinkling of gold. My parks where I hunt are so littered with aluminum trash that I tend not to dig a high number of lower conductors, such as nickels.  For instance, last year I dug over 300 silver coins, 1700 wheat pennies, and 40 or so pieces of sterling jewelry. I have a 13 year avg of 4-6 wheat pennies for every 1 silver coin I find.  These wheat/silver ratios have been the norm here for me for years, yet in other areas of the country, those ratios are far from realistic. I surmise your ratios will not be the same as mine, but you need to hunt at least a year at various sites around you to compute a more accurate silver/wheat dig ratio.   

Now, here’s something of interest:  Out of all those old coins I found this year, I have maybe 10 Buffalo nickels and a few V nickels.  So, in one month’s time, you nearly dug more old nickels than I did all year.  You would go batty digging nickel signals in my area. 🤢 

You certainly picked the right machine for what you’re interested in finding.  As I stated above, I  chose the Nox 800 last year after swinging a ML Explorer SE for the past 13 years.  I was averaging 500+ silver and 3000 wheats a year with my SE for over a decade.  The Equinox has been a joy to use so far, and has performed beyond my expectations.

Best of Luck, 👍🏼

Dan

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