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If you're truly a newbie then stay in one of the parameters already set up for you. I'm anything but a newbie but when in the dirt I have stayed in park2 the entire time and have upped the reactivity(recovery) to 7 from 6. That's it. 

As for getting it all, you won't that is unless you investigate every inch of ground from every direction and how you control your coil will determine what you find. Your ear needs to be attached to your wrist in that it will dictate where you swing again to check signals. GB is right that in the time you have do some bench testing not for depth but for sound. You have to learn the sounds, over and over again. If you're looking for low conductors figure out a sound that resonates well with you so that when you swing and you get a target between 3-12 your sound is one that will stand out to you. To many folks run the sounds with little or know difference between them and they start to melt into one another. Maybe go with 2 tones, a low for 3-13 and disc out 14-19 and run a high tone for 20-35. 

Above all have fun. You're going to get fooled a lot but every dig is a lesson. 

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On March 24, 2018 at 2:10 PM, Lighthouse said:

 

Yeah right. OK. I am 46, so falling to my knees for every 9-12 hit is probably not going to happen... Buuuut, am I understanding correctly that in certain modes, a 9-12 maybe "deep gold" in certain settings on a beach for example? 

Get a beach scoop and there will be no knee dropping. If you want to find gold rings your gonna want to dig those 9-12’s and much lower as most gold will fall in the foil range. Big gold can sound off in the zinc penny range. Gold is the hardest to find of all but on the beach at least the digging is much easier. The best thing to do is get to know the machine and stick with the standard settings for the environment you are hunting in. Do this for the first 50-100 hours and when you feel comfortable then try tweaking things around. I’ve had my CTX for 4 years now and I’m still learning the machine. The reality is you will like some settings that work and most likely hunt with those most of thee time. Good luck and post anything cool you find.

strick  

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2 hours ago, fredmason said:

... there are too many variables and square feets.

yaht... I'm starting to understand that. I guess I'll have to wait for the visual tech to improve before I get what I ultimately want, which is x-ray vision. ;)

 

1 hour ago, Skate said:

You're going to get fooled a lot but every dig is a lesson. 

Being a musician as well, I think my ear will eventually start to tune into to the tones that will best protect my knees and lower back. I know there is going to be a discrimination learning curve, but I have yet to master the learning curve of my insatiable curiosity. Though I'm looking for the "magic bullet" technique as it were, it looks like I'm probably going to just have to dig EVERYTHING starting out.

 

1 hour ago, strick said:

If you want to find gold rings your gonna want to dig those 9-12’s and much lower as most gold will fall in the foil range. Big gold can sound off in the zinc penny range. Gold is the hardest to find of all but on the beach at least the digging is much easier

GRRRRR... Yeah... that's what I suspected.

OK... So thank's all for your input. I guess I was looking for the ideal formula to nail gold and silver jewelry, avoiding as much physical pain, and expending the least amount of energy as possible. Which is why I'm choosing soft beach sand to start out in the first place. Not that I'm unhealthy or anything, just trying to work smart, not hard is all. It looks like I'm just gonna have to dig, and dig some more no matter what tones I'm hitting. It'll be a funny sight I'm sure, those first few times out. I'll be the guy on the beach surrounded by 75 holes in a 15' x 15' area, having nothing to show for it but a pile of heavily rusted Matchbox cars, broken sunglass hinges, and swimsuit eyelets.

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Lighthouse, don't be too worried about working hard. This is part of why I even metal detect at all, it get's you in shape. Don't worry about the physical side of it, it's the mental edge that tends to get fatigued quicker than the body and that's another cool part of detecting it helps train concentration and focus.

Good luck.

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Just now, flakmagnet said:

Lighthouse, I would only suggest you not be too worried about working hard.

I'm in shape, and I have never run from the work of a worthy task, as it's the heart of my life's success. However, the joy of work for me has ALWAYS been finding and sussing out a "better way", which is to say "working smart, not hard". When I find that way, I CANNOT WAIT to share it. I'm actually more excited to share those better ways, than my finds, yet I'm excited to share my finds as well. Thanks for your feedback, and my apologies for leaving the impression that I'm trying to avoid hard work.

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Ha ha, I didn't take it for laziness - and I completely agree with working smart as opposed to wasting time and energy. Best of luck to you I look forward to your better ways, I am sure you will find them.

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Mr Lighthouse 

I am 73 yrs old and believe me I wish I was 46 but if you don't drop to your knees to dig an iffy target you won't find the gold, silver or clad.

Yesterday I dug 31 coins in less than an hour and that means I dropped to my knees 31 times in less than an hour.  I hit a honey hole I am heading to at daybreak because I want to be gone before others see me there and start hunting it as well. 

Stay with the factory pre sets until you know your detector well enough to see the effects of changing from pre sets to a setting that may work well for others. You must also understand not all soil conditions are not the same and what works for Joe in Montana may not work for Bob in TN.  Read the posts and watch the U-tube videos and often times you will find the guy on U-tube isn't very good. Just because someone does a U-tube video don't mean he is an expert. Learn techniques from them or learn what not to do as well. 

You need at least 100 hours on your machine as a newbie to understand the slight blips and the different tones so you know what's worth digging and even then you will dig a lot of tabs, bottle caps and cans. You learn by experience. Any old timer will tell you if you don't dig it you won't find it. After you get 100 hours on your machine changing settings will become 2nd nature and you will know what works and what don't. If you are only going to use your Equinox occasionally I would never change anything except sensitivity and tones. 

You never completely hunt a park or beach out. Whether you use the same detector over and over or different detectors you will always find something. Friday morning I was hunting a practice athletic field that was the main field for the school 12 yrs ago and before and I found a nickel in an area I have went over no less than 5 times with my E-Trac and 3 times with the Equinox. I thought the park was hunted out with the E-Trac and I have since found over $25 in clad with the Equinox. I took the Equinox there on my 1st hunt with it and in 45 mins found $1.46

I have had 6 detectors and the Equinox is probably easier to learn than any of them and by far the best out of the box. I had a V3i and I never really did conquer it. I found what worked for me after many hours of beating hunted out parks. I had an AT Pro that I felt I was as good as anyone can with it. I found over $2500 in clad in less than 2 years with it. 

One final thought. The only magic setting that works for everyone is the factory pre settings. When a man as knowledgeable as Steve says it's pretty good out of the box take his advice and run with it. 

I know it's a long reply but it's 5:30 am here and I am waiting for daylight to head out to my honey hole. 

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52 minutes ago, Norm S said:

...If you don't drop to your knees to dig an iffy target you won't find the gold, silver or clad.

Agree.  Soft kneepads (cost $5 a pair at my local big box lumber/hardware) make a huge difference.  Another thing my hard head found out the hard way.

52 minutes ago, Norm S said:

You need at least 100 hours on your machine as a newbie to understand the slight blips and the different tones so you know what's worth digging and even then you will dig a lot of tabs, bottle caps and cans.

How about everyone, newbie or seasoned expert?  I'm to the point where I don't want to watch comparison videos anymore.  An expert uses a detector for 6 hours, compares it to one he's used for hundreds of hours, and we're supposed to trust the comparison?  True, someone who has done this a lot with multiple detectors will pick things up faster, but also run the risk of missing subtleties based upon trusting that experience too much.  A year from now I expect many (including me) will look back and say "wow, how naive I was...".

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I never liked comparison videos. It is too easy to slant the video to your brand. Now, I do trust some seasoned people for their opinions on the machine they are trying. Those I always watch. But someone new to the hobby that has just bought a machine has no business telling me how it performs :laugh:

 

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