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Equinox 800 On Newer Canadian Coins


BMaxx

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Can anyone weigh-in on the following?

I am new to the Equinox 800 and am learning the machine.  So far, finding silver and/or copper type coins does not appear to be a problem.  Generally, I get a response that clearly tells me that it is a good coin target.

However, on the newer Canadian coins that are made of steel, the detector simply does not find them well at all.  We have set up rows of these newer Canadian coins on top of the soil and the detector hardly even "sees" them.  Numbers are all over the place and basically meaningless.  Even pinpointing is difficult.

Clad US coins are easy to find because of the copper content.

So i am hoping that folks with a better handle on this machine can pass on along a little wisdom on this topic.  And maybe someone can even shed a little light on what the meaningfulness of the numbers are on the Equinox display.  (So far, I rely almost exclusively on audio signal).

 

Thanks all.

 

PS - the sign-a-graph and vdi numbers on my Whites DFX actually meant something and were very helpful for targeting decisions.

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37 minutes ago, BMaxx said:

However, on the newer Canadian coins that are made of steel, the detector simply does not find them well at all.  We have set up rows of these newer Canadian coins on top of the soil and the detector hardly even "sees" them.  Numbers are all over the place and basically meaningless.  Even pinpointing is difficult.

How far above the coins are you positioning/swinging the coil?  How far apart are the coins when you do these tests?  Do you have all dTID channels accepted or are your discriminating against the lowest (iron) channels?  (Annoyingly, IMO, when initially turned on the ML Equinox defaults to discrimination settings rather than all channels accepted -- what Minelab refer to as 'all-metal'.  They could make everyone happy and have it remember which way it was set when last turned off....  The 'horseshoe' button toggles between notched out and wide open.)

I would expect the 90+% iron composition of all denominations below $1 to ID in the iron range, but I've not experienced detecting modern Canadian coins, only the historic versions.  From a detectorist's viewpoint it's disappointing that governments contribute to the amount of (masking) iron trash in the ground, as if we don't already have enough of that to deal with.

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I tried from 3" above to almost touching the coins.

 

Coins were placed singly (as in by themselves), and then in a row 12" apart.

Now that I think about it, all metal mode was off in Park 1 and 2.    Ultimately these coins are basically worthless to me because I am hunting for silver, copper & possibly gold coins.  I think I now understand that steel basically qualifies as ferrous and therefore detectors are not really liking it.  Conversely, I could then detect in all metal mode and if i get a consistent signal at a low range, it might be one of these steel coins.  Will test on some to see if this is the case or if you get that scratchy iron sound and it is still a coin - it's going to make discrimination real fun.

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Hey all

Solution found.

I came across a video on You-tube from Arbor Osborne.  Have tested the setting and it is very satisfactory for the Canadian clad.  Thanks Arbor.

 

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OK - went out yesterday and hit a park close to home.  What a DIFFERENCE!  Targets all over and I used Park2 on 40 kHz and in all metal mode.  Came back with a pocketful of change and a big smile on my face.

Now i am starting to see why the 800 for a lot of folks, is their go-to machine.

Happy hunting all.

 

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21 hours ago, BMaxx said:

Hey all

Solution found.

I came across a video on You-tube from Arbor Osborne.  Have tested the setting and it is very satisfactory for the Canadian clad.  Thanks Arbor.

I have experience on Mexican ferrous coins. Yes they do not ring in discrimination. The only way to detect them is in horseshoe mode. I find the different varieties will not identify correctly with a minus [-] number. Meaning a certain coin will not just give one number if it is ferrous. 

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