Jeff McClendon

I enjoyed the video and also saw some accurate depictions of the Legend, Deus 2 and Nox 900. I can't speak for the Manticore....never even touched one. The video maker leans towards being pro Nokta based on previous videos. Nothing wrong with that. I would be even more impressed if those had been wild targets or at least targets that they had not planted themselves. Anyone can gather up specific iron and mixed ferrous/non-ferrous targets that will confuse a specific detector. So, for me anyway, this video was not by any means unbiased.....

Is this using Park M3 in its Beta version?

I jumped into this topic with both feet because this kind of testing is all about learning ones' detector and what it can and can't do. I am not trying to start an argument or contradict Digalicious. This really is a very interesting topic.

Are you using the same settings including audio settings when you notice that about M3?

Once again, that is a a debatable statement. The medium (fairly EMI free air) that the coil detected those targets in that allowed for the results we both noticed, in my opinion is also a target. Change the medium (high EMI, mineralization, amount of moisture and/or multiple competing targets) and drastically change the target size and those percentages may change. Maybe they won't. It is good to know that I can count on not missing too many targets running my Legend at 25/26 for coin, jewelry and relic hunting. It is also good to know that a person with very little detecting experience can run the Legend in its most basic, conservative settings and still get plenty of depth while missing the little stuff like chatty EMI by running sensitivity at 19/20 or even lower.

I don’t assume anything. So I didn’t assume that the same targets would have the same results in different frequency modes considering their different sizes, densities and conductivity. The 3.5” difference between the maximum and minimum setting and the approximately 1/2" increments were consistent. The actual air tests distances were not. So, I like to do some testing and I like to be thorough and double check everything and assume nothing.

That was an interesting test. Thanks for doing it and for giving me something else to do on a cold day. My air test results were slightly different and a little more incrementally predictable which is what I would expect from Nokta Engineering. I used a clad US dime, clad US quarter and US nickel in Park M1, M2 and M3. My coins are glued to what amount to medical tongue depressors so I didn't have to worry about keeping my fingers perfectly aligned and I could see the coin clearly at the end of the tongue depressor. I kept the swing roughly the same length, the same speed and at the same height near the center of the 6" coil. I was listening for when the coin stopped giving an audible beep on each left and right pass across the center of the coil. Recovery speed was 5, the frequency scan for each mode ended up being 3 and I used 6 tones. It turned out that reducing the sensitivity by two digits starting from 30 down to 15 resulted in approximately 1/2 inch of distance lost for each coin. So for instance in Park M3 at sensitivity 30 and 29 the clad dime result was 10", quarter was 11" and the nickel was 11". Park M3 at sensitivity 28 and 27 the clad dime was 9.5", clad quarter was 10.5" and the nickel was 10.5". This pattern was continued all the way down to where I stopped at 16/15 where the dime was 6.5", quarter was 7.5" and the nickel was 7.5". With the two sensitivity setting pairs, there might have been a 1/8th inch difference just beyond or short of the recorded distance for each coin but I just kept it simple. There were eight roughly 1/2" changes in air test results between sensitivity 30 and sensitivity 15 for each coin. The Park M2 results with the same settings had roughly the same 1/2 inch change per 2 increments of sensitivity. At 30/29 sensitivity the clad dime was 10.5", the quarter was 11.5" and the nickel was 12". At 15/16 sensitivity the clad dime was 7", the clad quarter was 8" and the nickel was 8.5". The Park M1 results had roughly the same 1/2" change per 2 increments of sensitivity too. At 30/29 sensitivity the clad dime was 11", the quarter was 12" and the nickel was 12". At 16/15 sensitivity the clad dime was 7.5", the quarter was 8.5" and the nickel was 8.5".

With the creation of the user adjustable iron filter and with subsequent updates to that feature and the addition of the bottle cap feature, writing and publishing an actual physical book with current information is just about impossible.

My Deus 2 in the areas I detect where the mineralization meter is 1/2 to 3/4ths full all the time, does take a little bit longer to initially ground balance than my Legend and Equinox especially since there are 3 or 4 increments for each separate ground balance number. It does work fairly well however so I can't complain. However, I haven't had a chance to detect an extremely iron mineralized location with volcanic rocks added in that will constantly peg the meter. EMI for me is about the same as the Equinox and Legend where I live and detect. I just wear a watch since the time on the screen is not accurate. Go Terrain.........I gave up on that years ago. I hope XP get the known issues sorted out properly. Just don't take years to do it PLEASE!

As far as the Legend is concerned, I am not generalizing. Those scenarios I described are based on real experiences.

The iron filter settings and bottle cap settings are included to help with iron target identification and to avoid digging iron targets if one chooses. These settings offer options. Using a magnet to help identify questionable mixed ferrous/non ferrous targets when testing them or adjusting settings in the field can help especially on shotgun shell head stamps that have ferrous components and steel shotgun pellets or other mixed alloy targets. So, these settings will have very little effect on totally non-ferrous targets tested by themselves unless you are testing those non-ferrous targets on highly iron mineralized ground or black sand OR there is an actual ferrous target nearby that you didn't notice somehow. The iron filter setting will help to identify and avoid targets that are true iron targets as you noted. Depending on what discrimination pattern is being used, raising or lowering the IF setting will help to give iron targets more or less iron responses if the discrimination pattern accepts iron and more or less non-ferrous chirping if the discrimination pattern rejects the iron target IDs. I could be at an old home site where the most predominant targets are nails of all sizes that are iron or steel alloy and I am just looking to dig non-ferrous targets only. Good luck with that no matter what detector is being used. I personally would probably try to hunt that site with some or all of the iron target IDs accepted, with the iron audio volume set a little lower and with IF and IS on 1 to begin with and then adjust the IF and IS settings upwards if needed. I could also just run the F discrimination pattern, set IF and IS at 3 or so and take my chances on hitting some partially masked non ferrous targets while hearing very little non-ferrous chirping from the nails. I could take extreme measures and raise the IF value even higher but the risk of making the masking of non-ferrous targets even worse is a real possibility. The Bottle Cap setting work similarly on steel alloy bottle caps. I am at a beach or park where the most annoying target that keeps fooling me and my detector and wasting my time are steel alloy bottle caps which are magnetic according to the magnet I am carrying with me. My Legend is setup to not hear iron meaning that I have my discrimination setting on F but my bottle cap reject is on 0. I can go into the bottle cap settings and raise the bottle cap value to 1 or 2 and see if the non-ferrous responses from the bottle caps stop or at least begin to crackle or break up. I could also go to the nuclear option and just put the bottle cap setting on 5. If the pesky bottle caps don't have any aluminum foil on them I won't hear them. However, if a desired target is near a steel alloy bottle cap and the BC setting is 5......good luck hearing the desired target unless one gets lucky. In the same scenario I could have my Legend's discrimination pattern setup for some (G) or all (A) iron targets to be accepted and heard. A BC setting of 0 may cause the steel alloy bottle cap to have little or no iron responses. Just changing the BC setting to 1 may help to identify some bottle caps as the mixed ferrous/non-ferrous target that they truly are. A BC setting of 5 may cause the same steel alloy bottle cap to sound like all iron with little to no non ferrous response. There is no perfect way to use these settings. It all depends on the site and the targets being hunted and what approach you want to take. At least the Legend gives the user a ton of viable options.

You can test this for yourself with some iron and steel targets and with some USA coin targets if you are in the USA.

Ground Grab on the Equinox is the same as auto ground balancing since you go into the ground balance setting and gently raise and lower the coil while pressing the Accept/Reject button and the Equinox will automatically choose a ground balance value. Manual ground balancing is also possible on the Equinox. Sometimes I will go into the ground balance setting after doing a ground grab and press the plus or minus buttons to manually change the value. You always have a choice of putting it in tracking if you want. Just press the Accept/Reject button while in the ground balance setting and look for the sine wave symbol...top right. Keep asking your excellent questions and you will learn the Equinox. Most of us had the same questions 4 years ago. Also check out the Minelab Equinox Essential Information topic at the top of this Equinox area. Lots of fantastic DIY information in there.

The Vanquish 440 is just about the perfect grab and go detector. It’s like a single tone Tesoro Cibola on steroids as far as having just the right number of controls for a newbie while also having outstanding target ID accuracy. Coin sized targets and coin sized jewelry are no problem for the Vanquish if they are at detectable depths. Mine did very well on southeast coast USA beaches and was blissfully quiet. I have taught total beginners how to be successful with the Vanquish 440 in 5 minutes. I would need a lot longer to train a beginner using the Legend or Equinox.

At 0.20 seconds of the video Gary says "Oh just one note. I'm not using the default Full Tones mode, Sensitive FT. I'm using some of my own tweaks on this one......." after which the video shows the screen clearly and at the top is 3.H2

Unless you are in Pinpoint Mode, you can't "hover" the coil over a possible target and still get a target ID for very long. The display will eventually time out. The Equinox is a motion detector......the coil has to be in motion in order to respond to a target under it with a numerical ID on the screen and audio when using the detecting modes. You should definitely hover the coil over the suspected target in non-motion Pinpoint Mode. However, with the 600 and 800, if there are any numbers displayed they are just the last number that was displayed before going into pinpoint mode and may not be the target's ID. EMI that is not being detected very well can have audio with no target IDs. So can some really small and edge of detection targets. Ground noise can also cause both iron and non-ferrous type responses that are weak blips and pops depending on how you have your detector setup. Hunting with all targets accepted can cause even more EMI and ground noise to be heard. So, I would be careful as a beginner and only use the horseshoe button when you want to further investigate a target. Hunting with it on all the time may be too much for you at this point. Your choice.

In moderate to high mineralization either on dirt or beaches, I have found that automatic ground balance tracking simply can't keep up. I would rather do a ground grab several times during a hunt on changing ground than listen to siren like sounds every time I am unable to execute the perfect swing or when I encounter yet another odd ball hot rock or suddenly hot ground. I have used auto ground balance tracking at some east coast USA beaches and when using Beach 2 submerged but I performed a ground grab periodically. On some of the west coast USA beaches I have hunted........I turned auto ground balance tracking off pretty soon after trying it....it could not keep up with the changing salinity and magnetite concentrations even using Beach 2. Just my experiences. Not issuing an edict here. I'm just hoping people experiment and find out what works for them individually.

There seems to be the word "always" in this post. I use tracking ground balance when I need to which is very rare. Tracking ground balance is a default setting for the gold modes. At least where I do detector gold nugget prospecting, using tracking ground balance is a total nightmare. So, I would recommend that any North American based Equinox user think very carefully about "always" using tracking ground balance or 0 for their ground balance setting and instead find out what your ground is telling you and not what the manual (written by people from another planet, oops I mean continent) or what someone else is telling you.

The third Manticore/Deus 2 side by side hunt video with a short appearance by an Equinox 800. At the end of the video there is a quick wrap-up and summary of the three videos and some preliminary conclusions.

No problem with new members private messaging me or me sending them a private message so far aside from some new (former) members not taking my advice about how to act on this forum!!!!

Welcome to this forum!!! There were plenty of early users and some original testers that found the default 20 sensitivity setting to be too aggressive for higher EMI areas and for mineralized ground conditions when hunting for coin/jewerly sized objects. Then there are people like me that had plenty of detecting experience who found the Equinox 600/800 to be a very noisy detector. This was not because there was something wrong with it. This was because it is a very sensitive detector that will detect extremely small physical targets along with EMI from ANY nearby source of electricity using its multi frequency modes especially. Noise can also be caused by not having it ground balanced. Using it in tracking ground balance or just leaving it on zero can cause issues at some sites. Some people say they always use tracking ground balance. Others say they always use it on zero..........for me there is never an "always". I set my Equinox up for the ground/beach conditions that are presented. The Equinox basically took the lid off of just about every place I have used it and lit up the ground/beach. Some of the targets responses are atmospheric (EMI) and ground noise. Anything that gives a solid 2 way beep with stable numbers should be investigated while learning it. There is nothing wrong with turning the sensitivity down to below 15. It will still hit any coin sized target that is under the coil in the 6 to 8" range in normal dirt/sand. Learning what real targets sound like instead of chasing after spurious or super deep targets is important for a beginner. Get the Equinox quiet enough to learn what it is telling you. Practice on some desirable targets and on trash even if it is inside your home. Just turn the sensitivity waaaay down and learn those repeatable coin and jewelry audio and target ID responses. If there are scrolling numbers and a jumble of audio responses when the coil is not parallel to or flat on the ground, you are hearing EMI. Definitely check to make sure that your coil wire connection on the control box is tight and that your coil cover isn't full of sand. Otherwise, turn the sensitivity down to where there are no scrolling numbers and the background noise is very low while testing and even while detecting until you get used to the Equinox. For a beginner, I would turn the sensitivity way down until an actual target is easy to hear and spurious audio responses are minimized. I would also use Beach 1 for dryer sand and save Beach 2 for the wet sand/submerged. Listen to Chase and the other beach hunters when they recommend getting waterproof wired headphones for frequent beach/water use even if you are wading. They are not joking.

There are several refineries that will smelt gold, silver and platinum jewerly for the public with no limit on the amount sent in. Look for one that pays above 90% for gold and does not charge a smelting fee. Some will also remove gemstones and either return them to you or pay for them even though the removal fee can be high on channel and bezel mounted gemstones.

If you have done gold prospecting with the Equinox 800 using one of the gold modes then you already know a lot about using the 900 in one of its gold modes. You also have the option of using the 900 or 700 in Park 2 or Field 2 setup sort of like I explained above using DP tones. I have hunted eight different gold prospecting sites with the Equinox 800. It could easily handle the mineralization at those sites. The GM24K couldn't and was very unusable at two of the sites. At the other sites the GM24K was outstanding. That is my experience and others may have a totally different take from their experiences. What makes the Equinox be "high fidelity" as Clive described it, is what makes it an incredible gold prospecting VLF. I wouldn't change that for anything. No one that is experienced with the Equinox 600 or 800 would ever recommend it as a "beginner's" detector unless the one recommending it is willing and able to help that beginner personally for a good stretch of time. I have helped many of the club members in my area transition to the Equinox 600 and 800. Those that had some previous experience have eventually done very well if they put in some time with their Nox. The absolute beginners to a person..........gave up detecting period, as I expected they would. The 600/700/800/900, the Legend and Deus 2 are way beyond the capabilities of even brilliantly gifted beginners, unless they are willing to hunt in the most basic mode with sensitivity on 1/3 or less of max gain for quite some time. Otherwise, there is just way too much audio information for a complete beginner. I don't have a problem with Minelab refusing to spoon feed beginners with tons of advice on how to detect with the Equinox. I'm glad that Clive and Andy have written some good books for using these more complicated detectors. A Minelab Vanquish model is a much better/safer detector for a beginner. Just my opinions from experience.

My Legend and Equinox ground balance between 3 and 8 on many of the places in my area. Legend's mineralization meter shows 4 to 8 bars of Fe3O4. My Deus 2 shows 5 to 8 bars in the mineralization meter and ground balances between 86 and 92. So don't be surprised by a low ground phase number on the Legend along with moderate to high iron mineralization.

This is a repost of something I wrote a week ago. I have rechecked again with the same results....... "Back to the gold prospecting point that people often make. That reason is no longer a reason in my opinion. The Nox 700 due to DP tones, just became a really good gold prospecting detector compared to the Nox 600 being just OK. I did a little comparison air testing and in the ground testing with my Nox 900 using Gold 1 and Field 2 with Field 2 setup to match the settings of Gold 1. Other than the frequency weighting possibly being a little different between Gold 1 and Field 2 (impossible to know for sure) the only other big differences are the true threshold in the Gold modes vs the reference threshold of the other modes, Gold modes have VCO audio for all target IDs with no iron tone and no nulling threshold, versus Field 2 using DP tones the VCO audio is 2 tones with a moveable ferrous break point and nulling threshold. So I changed the ferrous tone break of DP tones using Field 2 multi down to -18 which meant -18 to +99 would give a non-ferrous higher VCO tone and -19 would give an iron grunt VCO tone versus Gold 1 VCO giving a higher VCO tone for all target IDs. The results on a 0.15 gram nugget and a 0.05 gram flake were virtually identical with a 1 to 2 millimeter difference at most in favor of Gold 1. Equinox 900 using basically the same settings but putting Field 2 in 1 or 2 tones like on the Nox 600, the results were between 1 and 2 centimeters of difference in favor of Gold 1. So, the excuse that the 800 or 900 has gold prospecting modes.........at least where the 700 is concerned, basically no longer applies in my opinion."