Chase Goldman

I have both accessory coils and keep returning to the stock as it balances all the trade offs (depth, coverage, separation, small target sensitivity, EMI susceptibility, and weight) best IMO. At the beach, coverage is king (except that coil drag comes into play in the water) so I am going to use the 11” or possibly the 12x15 but not the 6 - that would literally drive me nuts.

All I’m asking for is a little clarity on how tracking GB is different than Multi IQ ground compensation. While I understand that ML has to protect it’s intellectual property, that aspect should’t be a state secret, quite frankly. Especially considering all the other information ML decided to put out in its Treasure Talk Multi IQ articles.

Well, maybe just a little magic...? Thing is with the Equinox, even if you "lock" the GB, Multi IQ is still continuously compensating for ground conditions in the background (not a user choice) if you believe this ML statement from the ML treasure talk article describing Multi IQ: Gold 1 and Gold 2 process the higher weighted combination of the Multi-IQ band while still ground balancing for soil. However, they use different setting parameters better suited for gold nugget hunting. This is purely describing Multi IQ signal processing differences between modes and does not factor in default user settings for those modes (e.g., whether GB is "fixed" or in tracking). In other words, ML implies similar Multi IQ soil or salt balancing for the other modes which don't have tracking on by default. So one might argue that if you genuinely want Equinox to fix the ground balance point for prospecting so micro gold is not "tracked out", best to put Equinox Gold mode in single frequency also, which is where ML was originally headed as the default for Gold mode. Thoughts? As an engineer, I find the ambiguity and vagueness in ML's descriptions of ground compensation to be somewhat frustrating especially since the relationship/magnitude difference between multi IQ ground compensation and Equinox ground tracking (independent of multi IQ) is really unknown. I guess for prospecting, I would "trust" the Multi IQ ground compensation "more" than ground tracking, but who knows, quite frankly...

The question is will tracking actually react to and track small gold out in the absence of magnetite but it also doesn't help either. I can see Steve's point that tracking could overreact to the ground variations due to hot rocks and magnetite. All of this means tracking should never be used in any situation (hot or mild) whenever searching for milligram gold, so ML's default GB setting for the Gold modes should generally not be used. Prospecting is just a completely different ballgame than what I do. Thanks again Jeff and Simon. I am always learning from the awesome forum members here.

Thanks folks for setting me straight on small gold and tracking. As I said, I don't prospect (yet), but it really was not detrimental for relic hunting in mild and mineralized ground. For example, I had no trouble recovering tiny mid-conductive percussion caps in either soil situation with tracking engaged (about the tiniest relic target worth recovering, other than the button shank I recovered below), but I suppose those wouldn't be considered comparable to small gold targets. With all due respect to Steve's description, I still don't consider ground tracking to be a filter in the traditional sense, like discrimination or iron bias, as it is not directly acting on how a target signal is processed, it is merely setting the ground balance point reference and in that context, I have a hard time understanding how it can actually be detrimental to target detection. In fact, I have found that in low to mild mineralized soil, the ground balance point setting has little impact on the target signal even when it is manually set several points away from the measured balance point. Will have to take a look at the impact in highly mineralized soil. That being said, I can understand how it might be perceived that way and frankly, it does make sense to just turn it off if it is not needed as there is no upside to using it, so no argument there Great discussion. Thanks

In my experience with Equinox, ground tracking is either effective or ineffective at reducing ground noise, but I have never found it to be detrimental in conditions where it is not necessarily needed, provided that the detector was ground balanced in auto/manual mode at the start of the session. Engaging tracking will have absolutely NO detrimental effect on recovery speed or target masking as actually responds rather slowly to mineralization changes. Granted, I am not a prospector, but I do relic detect in really hot ground and manual ground and basically leave tracking on by default if there is any mineralization or ground phase variability whatsoever have not seen tracking to be detrimental. I use gold mode frequently for relic hunting. It is a default mode setting for gold mode, after all. Now I cannot say the same thing for iron bias. Unlike tracking, Iron Bias is a filter that does affect detector response and I HAVE found it to essentially degrade recovery speed and exacerbate target masking in thick iron situations and generally leave it at 0 setting. Just my take based on my experiences with EQ tracking and tracking GB in general which I also use with the Deus.

You obviously have a lot of experience on pressing, milling, and the creation of die forms. I really need to see a genuine graded uncirculated coin as the control for comparison to the suspected fakes. Plus the "business case" for expending the effort on conterfieting non-key coins just doesn't seem to be there as pointed out by others.

I am not seeing that. I am seeing feet clearly over/above the log on the ebay coin. Why is that suspiscious? Dies are known to often suffer from various minor defects and damage resulting in coins that slip through the inspection process and make it into circulation. I support your word of caution regarding purchasing collectable coins online, but really not seeing a strong case here, especially when a highly worn and damaged coin is being used as the reference for comparison.

VDI variability is a key “discriminator” of junk targets like bottlecaps and cans and the only way you can truly get an audible sense of that is using 50 tones. So the site and likely junk and keeper targets go into my decision as to number of tones I am going to run at a site. Less likely to run 50 tones in the water, though, where environmental conditions are likely to affect vdi stability.

IMO - This one really comes down to personal experience, recovering targets and reinforcing in your brain's muscle memory what the detector was telling you. I can't imagine just learning this by seeing pics of finds next to some sound signature or audio file. Clive Clynick does a good job of trying to provide some general sketches of tone forms for various target types in his Equinox guides, but it is basically generalized. The variability in environmental factors makes approaches to learning tones of limited value.

Congrats Dan - what a great site.

Saw this on Amazon Zlobrik Minelab Equinox Carbon Fiber Shaft https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PBZCF53/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_zlTbDbVJ94YSE

Generally, they should be repeatable but at depth in very dry soil + nearby targets (esp ferrous), a lot of variability. Helps if you specify mode and any settings different than the default.

You can try the mini sampson by Lesche I personally like Wilcox long handled trowels: Hope that helps.

Did you cycle the horseshoe (AM) button? If that doesn't work, simply do a factory reset by turning off the detector and then hold the power on button for 8 seconds. FP will display and your settings should be back to normal.

In the water no reason really to go multi tone, especially if your objective is gold jewelry. Frankly, I think the VCO audio of Gold mode is best and is more similar to the Excal, but since it is not a tone option for the other modes, including beach, can't be used in salt water. I really wish ML would enable gold mode audio as an option on the other modes.

That's basically how Field 1 is set up tone-wise and I have used it at beaches (dry/damp sand) known primarily for coin, high conductor deposits from off-shore wrecks following storms.

LOL - I hear ya, but that also is one of nature's cruel jokes on detectectorists - 8 - 15 is where the best gold jewelry also resides. OOF.

EMI will manifest as chatter with the coil in the air, if you don't hear anything then no need to lower sensitivity. As far as ground targets are concerned, the machine gun chatter due to targets you are experiencing is due to the super fast recovery speed you will have to get used to. Good luck.

You didn't say, but I presume that before you reduced sensitivity, you did a noise cancel to try to knock the chatter down first. If you only have to reduce the sensitivity down a few clicks from the default of 20, then that is not too bad, much more than that then you might have to consider other remedies like making sure your cell phone is not in the vicinity of yhe control head, switching modes or going to single frequency. But if you are simply trying to learn the machine, I would advise going to a site that has low EMI so you can focus on learning using a single mode (most commonly Park 1 or Beach 1 if learning at the beach) at the default settings so that you can understand the "language" and response of the machine to different target types, including trash. Once that feels relatively comfortable, then consider minor settings tweaks to see how they affect target response, etc. Enjoy and post back if you have specific questions. Use Steve's Essential Information consolidation thread at the top of the Equinox forum to click on specific topics including numerous tips to getting started with Equinox. Good luck.

Check out Detecting Doodads. He makes 3D printed accessories including a sturdy Deus charging clip. Not inexpensive though.

Nothing ML has put out supports a CTX refresh this year, but ML did announce the Vanquish which appears to be a lower end land/water, multi frequency detector priced between the GO FIND and the Equinox 600.

Jeff's Can't argue with Jeff's settings and success, but just wanted to offer a counterpoint to this statement. I used to be a big "0 disc" guy on the Deus but have changed my tune, especially in thick iron. The Deus and Orx both offer iron volume. This allows you to cut in disc yet still hear the disc'd targets while allowing the disc circuit to do its thing and keep the iron from down averaging non-ferrous targets. In mineralized soil, deeper lower conductors like lead may get pushed into the ferrous region or even wrapped around high. But the Orx also provides an "Iron probability" display. That along with iron volume allows you to hear and see targets that fall in the disc range and gives you that extra tone breakpoint so you can decide if you want to dig what is most likely a ferrous target but could also be a minie ball. Bottom line, I would experiment with both 0 and default disc in the coin modes and see which works out better. Jeff and I agree that if you need that extra umph for deeper targets in mineralized soil, you can use the gold modes and that is what I go to if I want to run effectively all metal. Jeff - I welcome your thoughts on this, especially if you think I am overlooking something.

Dave - no black sand and you weren't getting the overload symbol right? In beach 2 the transmit power is lowered and lowered even further in the presence of black sand, but that doesn't seem to be the issue here and your settings seem sound. Hope you can figure it out with some tweaking.

Dew - you might be on to something there. Can't find documentation definatively that Equinox is doing a SET salt balance rather than adjusting the fly (like tracking GB) but it certainly cannot be manually overriden. I also noticed something in the user guide I had not noticed previously - "Beach Mode specifically identifies any residual salt response and assigns a ferrous Target ID - indicating that it's an unwanted target – so that desirable low conductive targets (such as gold chains) can readily be detected with minimal interference from the salt water." This could explain why Equinox has trouble dealing with high salt concentrations (as evidenced by more chatter reported by users such as Dave) and target depth in deeper water and why Equinox recommends reduced transmit power Beach 2 while wading or shallow diving.