Chase Goldman

Please let us know when you figure that one out. It's kind of a cruel practical joke nature has played on detectorists About the closest I have found is telling the difference between an irregularly shaped target like a jagged piece of aluminum and a nice round ring or mid-conductive coil (US Nickel). They may all ring up with similar numbers in the mid-teens (that is why I do not worry about precise TIDs, I am just looking for viable ranges in TID numbers). If you train your ear, the AUDIO is the key. You can get a LOT more useful information from the quality of the audio tone than you can get from a number flashing on the screen. In 50 tone mode, the tone frequency will correspond to a unique Target ID number, but the quality of the tone will vary depending on some of the physical characteristics of the target such as shape, orientation, and even density or mass. Listen for solid "ping" tones without a lot of distortion indicating the symmetric magnetic field lines associated with a round target vs. scratchy, sharp or even muted/flat tones associated with light weight targets such as irregular strips of aluminum. On the other hand round junk or nearly round junk like pull tabs or round aluminum freshness seals from fruit drinks sound awesome. Basically, if you want to find the gold, you are going to have to dig your share of junk to get to it.

It is similar to the Deus silencer feature and I have also turned that off on my Deus based on Tn Sharpshooter videos demonstrating how silencer can cause masking and one way signals of non ferrous targets near ferrous objects.

I purposely did not get into Iron Bias in my previous posts because I don't know what to do with it. I think it affects detectability more than depth, actually (it certainly doesn't help depth). What I mean by that is with it on, you will tend to get worse masking or one way hits on non-ferrous targets in the vicinity of iron. It is kind of like turning down recovery speed for iron targets only without any of the benefits (i.e., increased depth or less clipping of target signal at depth). Like most filters, it just seems to mask the things you want to hear in addition to the things you don't want to hear. Discrimination filters have their place (including helping to prevent down/up averaging of non-ferrous signals in the presence of iron), but iron bias seems to be there because ML figured out they could do it with Multi IQ (note that iron bias is not even present when operating in single frequency) but did not at least articulate the down side. It seems to be a setting that has no benefit other than to prevent SOME falsing but with a lot of down side IMO. I am not even sure having it set at low values is beneficial, so I agree with you it is IRON BIAS = 0 for me too. It is definitely something to be aware of in Park 1 AND the Beach and Gold modes.

Hap - as an experienced FBS detectorist, you should just go with your detecting instincts. Don't try to overthink or over tweak the Equinox - focus mainly on selecting your best case detecting mode for your site conditions and target objectives, getting the machine to run quiet (noise cancel, GB as necessary, adjust sensitivity accordingly AND perhaps dial back recovery speed for depth), focus on the audio and dig all repeatable targets. What it all boils down to for you, I think, is that the lack of depth related modulation with Equinox is throwing you off and you may also just be in a "slump" where your coil is not getting over any really deep silver. Also, I will say that I think a good FBS machine (eTrac, CTX) is a good compliment to the Equinox, so I would hang to an FBS. Under "ideal" conditions (low ferrous trash, low mineralization), the FBS machines will go deeper than Equinox and will give a more accurate ID at depth on high conductors. The Equinox, though, is no slouch and is much more versatile and effective for many more conditions, situations, and targets than FBS. HH

Jeff - 100% agree and in my epic length post also mentioned, that in mineralized soils the "2" modes will likely have an advantage for all target types at depth vs. the "general" case (mild soil) where the "1" modes and lower frequencies will dominate at depth (especially for high conductors). Note that hammered silver or small silver (e.g., trimes) due to its size, thickness, and also, in the case of hammered silver, variable silver purity, will often ring up as a mid-conductor which also favors the higher weighted frequencies ("2" modes). Thanks for clarifying that. Like I said, the thing about detecting is there are truism's but not many absolutes.

Hap, One other thing I noticed as I was going through your compendium of quotes and advice posted above. You quoted someone as saying: “I found that there isn't a real need to turn up the sensitivity to a high setting to get good depth. To a large part, the sensitivity just amplifies the audio response. The difference in depth between say 18 and 22 sensitivity settings is not noticeable if you're using good headphones. Also, I prefer using 50 tones so the need for tone breaks etc. on the 800 would be a big waste for me” I look at sensitivity a little differently and some testing I ran at the beach last fall following the firmware update kind of opened my eyes regarding sensitivity and depth with Equinox. More about that below. The key to Equinox is optimizing the signal-to-noise ratio. So think of the things that increase or decrease signal (e.g., sensitivity) or that increase or decrease noise (e.g., sensitivity). The following are truisms, but just like everything in metal detecting, there is always a tradeoff, caveat, or "it depends" YMMV involved. Lower frequencies penetrate deeper (raw depth) but do not necessarily result in maximum effective depth because that is dependent on soil condition, target conductivity (including corrosion), size, shape, and orientation. Higher frequencies excite mid conductors (gold, lead, brass, aluminum, nickel) and resolve smaller targets better than lower frequencies (due to the smaller wavelength of higher frequencies). This means that with all things being equal (soil condition, EMI, coil size, sensitivity, target size/shape/orientation) a higher frequency can detect a mid-conductive target deeper than a low frequency. However, the deepest mid-conductor that can be detected by a high frequency is still likely shallower than the deepest high conductive target of the same shape/size/orientation that can be detected by a low frequency. In other words if I had two dime sized targets - one consisting of gold and the other consisting of silver. I can probably detect the gold target deeper at 40 khz than I can at 5 khz. However, that 40 khz gold target depth will likely be much shallower than the max depth at which I can detect the silver target at 5 khz. Even though lower frequencies can penetrate deeper overall (more "signal") they are also more susceptible to EMI than higher frequencies (more "noise"). Higher recovery speeds result in greater target separation but may impact depth. However, there is a limitation on how much depth you can gain by lowering recovery speed, because the resulting slower swing speeds may result in higher ground noise which limits effective depth at low recovery speed. So a lower recovery speed may increase depth ("signal") but that may be offset by increased ground "noise". You should run sensitivity only as high as you can to maintain stability to maximize depth. Just cranking up sensitivity for the sake of maximizing the "signal" in the name of depth only serves to potentially increase the "noise". Does that mean you should never crank sensitivity? No. If you can get away with 22-23 or even 25 sensitivity without increase "noise" and chatter - then by all means use that higher sensitivity, there is typically no downside (unless there is a lot of ferrous trash - more on that below). Conversely, if you have to lower sensitivity into the teens to get rid of chatter, then do so. But be advised, the thing I found that was eye opening in my beach tests is that lowering sensitivity even down to 15 REALLY affected depth capability. I was testing various types of targets buried at around 8 to 10 inches in the sand and I found that many mid-conductive and even some small high conductive targets were on the edge of detectability at that depth even at low frequencies. Lowering sensitivity to 15 definitely made some 8 to 10 inch targets completely disappear. I was very surprised that lowering sensitivity from 20 to 15 in dry sand caused a depth loss of 3 to 5 inches or more. In other words, I respectfully disagree with whoever said above that lowering sensitivity from 22 to 18 has a negligible affect on depth. You should not hesitate to lower it if you need to get rid of chatter, but don't fool yourself in thinking that there is no noticeable difference in depth. Finally, one case where it might be useful to lower sensitivity in the absence of EMI/chatter is when you are detecting in highly mineralized and/or thick ferrous trash conditions. Depending on the target of interest and soil conditions, you should choose your best mode (e.g., a "1" mode for silver or a "2" mode for mid-conductors, or consider just using a "2" mode for all target types in moderate to high mineralization). Select the appropriate coil or recovery speed based on target density (the smaller coil does not necessary separate better, recovery speed is the main factor in separation, but you will have less targets under the coil with a small coil which makes for better target acquisition). Finally, consider whether you should lower sensitivity to prevent the mineralization and thick ferrous target density from overloading the coil which may allow some partially masked shallow keepers to emerge from ferrous trash muck. Use of the pinpoint feature, single frequency, number of tones, and suppressing discrimination (horseshoe button) can also have varying effects on how well you hear the signal from the desirable targets but I reckon to a lesser degree than proper ground balancing, mode selection, sensitivity setting, and recovery speed. Anyway, every situation is different. The detectorist who understands the various tradeoffs between sensitivity, frequency, recovery speed, swing speed, discrimination, and even ground balance is the one has a leg up on those who are just guessing about what the settings do and are kind of wandering around in the wilderness, figuratively and literally. HTH

Jeff, I don’t recall nor can I find where the manual recommends Park 2 or Field 2 for “deeper” targets. It does say the “2” modes are more suited for more difficult “conditions” (e.g., mineralized soils, high EMI, mid conductor and small target sensitivity can be enhanced) which makes sense for the higher frequency weightings of those modes. But higher frequencies are naturally attenuated more by matter which means that they simply cannot penetrate as deeply as lower frequency signals. For raw depth, the “1” modes dominate in general, especially for high conductors simply due to physics, though under some specific circumstances (e.g., mineralized soil) the “2” modes can have higher effective depth. So if the manual says that the “2” modes are more suited for deeper targets, that would leave me scratching my head. Can you point me to the page in the manual where that is written, thanks.

You are so right. In fact, some might argue that it is even more than that depending on soil conditions. The air gap really causes a lot of signal loss so you might even be losing MORE than an inch for every inch off the ground. Scuff that coil scuff plate, that is what it is there for. BTW - agree with Cabin Fever. The Equinox has minimal modulation with depth. That means if it can be detected at depth, it will still come in pretty strong, just as aluminum cans sound like a 2-inch quarter. The only caveat being coins on edge or at the edge of detectability will have unreliable TIDs. But the tone volume will still be fairly loud even if the tone ID is incorrect or unstable. The only mode that may give you squeaker audio is gold mode because it is VCO pitch based and has a true threshold that enhances the ability to discern super weak signals if set properly. As far as high sensitivity drowning out signals. My deepest coin finds have come in the wet sand of the tide line - several 15+ inch nickels at 25 sense (Beach 1) and the signals were unmistakable normal volume tones, not squeakers. HTH.

Awesome. Great minds...ha ha.

Steve, Nice DIY shaft adapters for the control head. I am still looking for the shaft adapters mentioned in one of our "favorite" blogs. (Lol) https://md-hunter.com/minelab-equinox-shaft-adapter-another-shaft/ Goes to the trouble of describing them and showing a pic but no links or mention of where they can be obtained. Someone in the comments section noted that they look like motorbike handlebar accessory adapters. BTW Steve - with three Equinoxes, besides a specialized usage micronox grabngo machine, large coil machine, and stock configuration. You can also have one running original firmware and another running the upgrade (less falsing vs. better edge-on performance). The "G" Man

Hmm. I don't understand why the sticker is inducing fear in submergence. Is that because there is no warranty coverage there or something? I thought ML stood behind their detector if it became water damaged as long as users were using it in accordance with the instructions and depth limits.

If you wiggle off the end without going into pinpoint mode then you eliminate the issue of multiple targets under the larger coil causing the built-in pinpoint function locking-in on an off-center target. On the beach, just scoop a bucket full of sand and get it on the surface and it is much easier to find and recover the target and move on. It does not have to be a precise pinpoint for recovery as you are not tearing up the landscape. I mainly only use built-in pinpoint to get a bead on the size and depth of the target due to the lack of modulation in the search modes vs. pinpoint for recovery purposes. HTH

Let us know whether the detector does better for you once you find out what the material is.

Not the same ones. He described a right angle connector and that they were $46 shipped from CA. The linked ones are a straight connector, $43, and shipped from FL. Those were the only ones that popped up when I entered his search terms, also, so I suspect the ones he was referring to are out of stock or no longer being sold. Nevertheless, the linked ones should work fine. Personally not a big fan of wearing earbuds when getting pounded by the surf, but they are an option.

Great - let us know how it turns out. Earbud APTX-LL phones are hard to find at any price. Last supposed APTX - LL headphones I ordered online did not pair up with the bluetooth "+" mark on my Equinox. You never know for sure until they are paired up and you see the plus sign. I have not found any non-APTX-LL BT phones to be usable due to the delay.

Funny, but if that is where you had it, that should have been good unless it was opposite the detector control head.

No problem if the module is close to the headphones, big problem with the module close to a cell phone. Are you getting drop outs or no signal at all? The module seems to be easily blocked by your body. Unlike the wireless headphones where the receiver/transmitter is on your head, the WM08 module basically needs to be on the same side of your body as where you are swinging the control head, i.e., clean line of sight. If it is blocked by your body or if there is a cell phone near the module, it tends to break up the signal. It's ok for it to sit in a breast or hip pocket as long as it is on the same side as where you are swinging the detector. HTH.

This behavior (large coil likes recovery 4) seems to be a fairly common observation. I have heard others say the same thing. This may be partially driven because you can go deeper with this coil than stock, so lowering recovery naturally tends to clean up those deeper targets. But that is not really the case on the shallower iffy signal targets, so I can only guess is that they are otherwise more challenging due to their orientation or other factors. It could also simply be that 4/5 recovery just happens to be optimal for this coil vs. stock and the 6" but I don't have solid technical theory on why that is the case.

You mean in addition to the already released ORX?

Also, when you practice in your test garden, focus on the different types of audio coming through the headphones and correlate that to the numbers. The number is just a number but the audio can give you much more information about the nature of the target. Start with 5 tones and test out 50 tones. Also use the all metal horseshoe pushbutton to remove discrimination and listen to the iron tones. Finally, learn how the pinpointer sounds for different target sizes, shapes, and depths. You will find in time, the pinpointer does more than pinpoint targets, it helps you discern the nature of your target. For example a quarter and a crushed aluminum beer can can give you the same target ID number, even a similar tone quality, but the pinpointer will clearly tell you that what you have underneath your coil is too big to be a coin. Gold mode has different audio audio as well. It is similar to but still different than the pinpointer in audio type.

Yep, marketing detecting tech in general is a ridiculous laugh fest of hyperbole but comes with the territory. Everyone who has something to sell, "sells" it. Minelab by no means has a monopoly on ridiculous tag lines. Could easily say the same of Garrett, XP, Whites, First Texas, Nokta/Makro, and by extension Apple, Samsung, Google, Amazon, Sony, Panasonic, Canon, and my local used car dealership. But I never buy detectors (or tech in general) based on marketing claims but on specs and the real life experiences of those I trust. I should hope most others do the same. ?

Once you got the basics down, I posted this in other forums but geared to those with a new Christmas present who are new to detecting and/or the Equinox... For those who just got a new Equinox but who have less detecting experience (Equinox is their first or second machine), I recommend a few things to help you climb the Equinox learning curve faster:Test it out on test targets in a test garden or at a productive site like a park, athletic field, or on a dry sand part of the beach to get used to its language. It can be different than what you are used to, but the way to learn it best is to just get out there and dig targets.While you are learning the machine, avoid the temptation to adjust any of the user settings or to switch modes. Stick with a single mode, preferably Park 1 (works well even on the dry sand of a salt beach), at the default settings and get really comfortable with the machine. Since each of the modes behave somewhat like a different detector, you want to avoid the situation where you are climbing multiple learning curves at once.Even though each of the modes are "optimized" for certain types of targets and detecting situations/site conditions (see the manual), any of the Park/Field modes used at their default settings will work for 90% of targets and 90% of conditions and there is plenty of target overlap between modes (i.e., you can find silver coins in a relic mode such as field 2 and relics in a coin mode such as Park 1), so pick a mode and stick with it while getting comfortable with the Equinox. Quick Mode Summary (remember, these are the optimizations, all the modes will detect most non-ferrous target types, just that some will be more sensitive and you may get slightly more depth or the optimal targets will "pop" more in certain modes):Park 1 - high conductive and large deep targets like silver and copper coins, coin spills, and coin caches. (Low frequency weighted). Minimal falsing due to high iron bias setting and disc at 1. 5 tonesPark 2 - mid-conductive coins and small, typically gold, jewelry items (higher frequency weighted). 50 tones. No iron bias. Disc at 0.Field 1 - Similar to Park 1, designed for plucking non-ferrous out of plowed fields, but weighted towards high conductive targets (most coins) therefore just a 2 tone mode. No Iron Bias. Disc at 2.Field 2 - Similar to Park 2 - but optimized for relics and small mid-conductive targets such as brass, lead, tin, nickel, pewter, gold, and, unfortunately, aluminum (nature's little practical joke on detectorists). Disc at 2.Beach 1/2 - Optimized for high conductors but will find gold jewelry on wet sand (Beach 1) and surf (Beach 2). Disc at 0. Medium iron bias.Gold 1/2 - VCO audio mode ideal for nugget shooting or mid conductive relics, will display a target ID but no audio ID just tone intensity and pitch raises with larger and/or shallower targets.The default settings are fine for 95% of normal detecting situations. The only adjustments you need make are to noise cancel the machine, run a ground balance (even then you can get away with the default ground balance setting for most situations), and then adjust sensitivity only as high as necessary to keep the machine running stable. Anywhere from 18 to 22 on sensitivity will give you plenty of depth. There are situations, especially in mild ground or where there is low EMI where you can run up to the max sensitivity, if desired. But avoid overdriving sensitivity just for the sake of trying to max it out, you will likely just introduce noise and instability and end up doing worse than if you just left it alone or reduced it a bit. Sometimes, even when the machine appears stable (i.e., no chatter with the coil in the air) at high sensitivities, there may be other subtle clues you have sensitivity too high such as excessive iron falsing or unstable target IDs, so be aware of these "tells" if you are running at high sensitivity. Site conditions other than EMI levels such as ferrous and trash density also play into the sensitivity level setting decision. In some cases, establishing target separation is more important than depth (discussed more in the recovery speed section below), so establishing your best recovery speed setting in balance with the right sensitivity setting will optimize the situation at hand.When you get comfortable enough to adjust other user settings such as discrimination, tone breaks, recovery speed, and iron bias. Go easy on the adjustments so you don't turn the machine into something you can no longer recognize. Performance settings such as recovery speed and iron bias only typically need need to be adjusted one or two clicks from the default at most. Higher recovery speed settings improve separation in high trash but set too high and you will affect depth. Trying to lower recovery too low to max out on depth (similar to overly increasing sensitivity) you will start to introduce ground noise, especially if you don't adjust your swing rate consistent with your recovery speed setting. Iron bias helps (a little) with iron falsing but it can also tend to mask keeper targets hiding amongst the iron (which counters the primary advantage of Equinox, its fast recovery speed enabling separation between trash and treasure). I just leave Iron Bias at 0 most of the time.Use Beach mode only on salt sand beaches (wet sand and surf). Any of the modes will run stable on dry salt sand beaches and in freshwater conditions. The beach modes can be slightly less sensitive in normal terrestrial hunting because they are optimized for salt ground conditions and will also throttle back transmit power when high mineralization conditions are sensed, so don't use the Beach modes other than at wet salt sand conditions.Avoid the prospecting/gold modes at first, until you have a level of comfort with the machine, because it does not have tone ID and uses VCO pitch audio, which is a whole different ball game and has a learning curve of its own. All modes and settings have their advantages and tradeoffs (downsides). Learning how to master the Equinox by balancing those tradeoffs and understanding what the tonal nuances are keys to success. To get there, you need to put in the swing hours and dig a lot of trash targets and you will gradually kill it out there. There are no shortcuts, so avoid deviating from the plan out of frustration. Be patient, learn and you will do well.Finally, there are no absolutes, so don't be afraid to experiment a little but also, if something is working for you, stick with it.

Um, no. You and about a thousand other snow bird detectorists. Lol. Happy hunting, sounds like fun. Hoping the storm we have now cuts up the Eastern shore a little. Always looking for the next Sandy.

I am from No VA so PM me if you want to get together and learn the 800. I have a bit of experience on the machine. Here's some starter tips I previously posted you can read while we're waiting for the snow to melt:

While it's true that some of the Multi IQ dependent processing that differentiates Park 1 from Field 2 and other features such as iron bias disappears when you go to single frequency, from what I have seen, what is left over is a helluva capable single frequency machine that rivals anything high end (single) out there, including MXT, F75, and even Deus. Can't speak for machines I haven't owned such as the Nokta/Makros.