Ringtail

Thanks, maybe I just had a bad battery. I see how this one does. Meanwhile, I’ll always keep spares with me.

Joe

After 5 trouble free years my original Garret Pro-pointer II (the black one) finally stopped working properly.  I replaced it with an AT Pro-pointer (the orange one). I like it but the battery life is not as good. The factory installed battery was not alkaline so I wasn’t surprised when that died quickly. I replaced it with a fresh alkaline and it died in about a month. 

Has anyone else noticed poor battery life on the AT Pro-Pointer?

Joe

Garrett Pro-Pointer II Pinpointer for Metal Detectors

Garrett Pro-Pointer AT Pinpointer for Metal Detectors

I agree, the wireless headphones work great and are nice and light. I am a little concerned about how the buttons will hold up over time. They don’t seem to be sealed against dirt and it’s almost impossible to keep them from getting a little dirty. Larger, more glove friendly buttons with a little bit of weatherproofing would be a big improvement.

Joe

I took my new 15” coil out on Saturday and Sunday this weekend and I love that coil. I agree with others who are saying that it seems to hit harder on deep targets. I also found it very easy to pinpoint. Overall it’s almost identical to using the 11” coil but you cover a lot more ground and it goes a little deeper. It is very light for such a large coil but I did notice the extra weight due to the design of the Equinox. I love the light weight of the unit but, I’m considering adding a small counterweight at the top of the shaft to improve the balance.

Results: I found one Civil War Bullet each day and som camp lead. Not that exciting but they were both new spots and there wasn’t much there. I did find a lot of deep memorial cents and modern bullets, shell casings, etc. If there had been any good relics there, this coil would have found them.

Joe

In case anyone didn’t know Minelab Equinox coils come with washers and plastic nuts and bolts. I was trying to order these and my dealer was sold out. Both my 15” and 6” coil came with washers and bolts, that was a nice surprise.

Joe

Amazing finds, Steve. A trip like that is on my bucket list and I think you just convinced me to make it happen.

Joe

Cabin Fever - thanks I’m going to try the other modes.

Joe

Phrunt - I took your advice and just ordered the 6” coil. My dealer only had one in stock.

Thanks,

Joe

7 minutes ago, phrunt said:

In bad EMI I just take off my 11" coil, put on my 6" coil, lower my sensitivity to about 15 and do an auto noise cancel,  if still noisy I up my discrimination a bit and do an auto noise cancel again, if still not happy I change my noise cancel number manually until it clears up.  If still no good I change out of Multi IQ into my desired single frequency, usually 20khz works a treat as does 40khz, 5khz and 10khz are the most effected by EMI around here and after doing that I can normally up my sensitivity again.

Any one of these things may sort it out for you.  Don't discount manual noise cancelling though, I find it often works better than the auto noise cancel.  Just try each number until it clears up. 

Phrunt, 

I guessed that about the 6” coil even though I don’t have one yet. I’m excited to try the 15” coil for searching large fields but I’m guessing it might be more susceptible to EMI than the 11”, since it’s a bigger “antennae”.

Thanks for the thorough list of ways to cut down on EMI. I’ve tried all of those things at least once but I need to try manual noise cancel and single frequencies more often, they didn’t work the first time I tried them and I didn’t try any more. EMI comes in all different forms and sometimes it’s specific to a small range of frequencies and sometimes it’s over a broad range of frequencies. I used to switch between single frequencies to kill EMI with my V3i and it worked very well. I’ve been reluctant to use single frequencies with the Equinox because Steve H. says the Equinox works “magic” with multiple frequencies, lol.

But if the EMI is really bad and all else fails single frequency hunting is detecting has to be better than not detecting at all!

Joe

Thanks Cabin Fever, that’s good advice. I haven’t tried Park 1 and Field 1 much. Is it just me or do Field 1 and 2 seem almost identical. When you look at the factory pre-sets in the owners manual all of the settings are the same except Field 1 is 2 tones and Field 2 is 50 tones. I’m guessing that the frequency weighting and signal processing is different.

El Nino - you’re absolutely right. Turning off all metal silences a lot of EMI. I usually hunt with it off unless I’m searching a new site and trying to find out where all of the iron is.

Thanks!

Joe

What techniques do you experienced users have for manual ground balance in areas with hot soil, lots of iron, and lots of EMI?

Most of my hunting is in Northern Virginia in areas with hot soil that reads in the 40s or 50s on the Equinox. These spots also have lots of iron and EMI from electric fences, nearby houses, etc. My technique is start with auto noise cancel, then I find a spot with no metal and do a manual ground balance. I also do frequent manual ground balances periodically, especially if when switching from one type of terrain to another. It’s surprising how much the ground balance changes even in different parts of the same field. I found that in my dirt auto ground balance seems to drift, possibly due to the combination of lots of iron, high EMI, and hot soil.

Usually my technique works fine, but I find it hard to accurately ground balance when I get close to an EMI source (ground balance numbers sometimes shoot up to 70s or 80s). Usually I move away from the EMI, and also turn down the sensitivity to get an accurate ground balance number. Then I go back to the spot  where I want to hunt and turn the sensitivity up as high as I can go without getting too noisy. 

From what I have read on this forum, ground balance is not much of a concern for Equinox users in areas with mild soil. My experience in my hot soil is that getting an accurate ground balance is key to keeping the machine quiet and finding deep targets.

I’ve been using the Equinox 800 with the stock coil for about 2 months and have been very impressed with the results. I used a White’s V3i for about 5 years and after lots of research and experience was able to use it to its fullest potential (found lots of relics and coins). Now I’m going back to the same places and finding more stuff with the Equinox, go figure.

One other observation: when I used the V3i,  I tried all of the coils available from the manufacturer. I found out that all of the concentric coils were less susceptible to EMI and allowed me to turn gain all the way up with boost on. The double D coils for that machine were way too sensitive to EMI.

As I said, I’m finding lots of great stuff in pounded areas with my Equinox and have no complaints at all. However, I do think that a concentric coil would help in high EMI areas.

FYI - I usually hunt in Park 2, RD 7-8, IR 0-3.

I used Field 2 with the same setting for the first month with great results, but Park 2 seems to lock in on deep signals better. 

Joe

My 15 coil arrived today, can’t wait to try it out this weekend!

Ringtail

Hi everyone! I’ve been reading and benefitting from the advice in this forum for the last 3 months. I finally got around to joining.

I spent 5 years finding lots of great relics using a V3i, then I took a 5 years break. I started reading this forum and it inspired me to sell my beloved V3i and buy an Equinox 800. I’ve been using the Nox for 2 months now and I love it! I’m finding lots of relics and coins at my old hunted out spots. 

Thanks to Steve and everyone else for the great info you post here.

Joe

”Ringtail”

(Formerly “Three Ringer”)

Hi everyone, I’ve had my Equinox 800 for 2 months and I feel like I’m a little late to the party. I’m making up for lost time and getting out every weekend with the Nox, so far I’ve found a US buckle, 1781 half real, 1852 three cent silver, a colonial copper, many colonial buttons, lots of CW bullets, miscellanious CW relics, and 1800s jewelry. Almost all of those things came from spots that I previously hunted thoroughly with my Whites V3i.

My 15 x 12 coil had shipped and is due to arrive in Northern Virginia on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to taking it back to the same spots and seeing what else I can find!

Ringtail