2Valen

Got rained out on Sunday and the construction site is now 6 inches under water. I don't know if I will be able to get into the area now.

I think I am starting to get the hang of this metal detecting thing, and I am still learning from everyone here on what to expect out of this 800 unit. Thanks to everyone who has been helping guide me through this and yes I want to find gold everyday with it! This is where I posted Saturdays find and how long it took me. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/10613-suggestion-for-construction-site/ Valen

Phrunt, Be here around 9:30 and you can join me, it only takes a few hours for you to get here. If I wasn't so tired right now I would be looking, but I mowed for 5 1/2 hours before I went there today. I also helped a friend take down a large oak tree for firewood and that by itself was hard enough. When I was in my 20's I could go for days before getting any sleep, but I am over 60 now and it seems that hard work just kills me anymore. Valen

Phrunt, Thanks for the encouragement, but I am afraid that come Monday it will be over when they move the rest of the soil and haul it off. I forgot to mention that this side of the Ball Field was straight down the first base line to the outfield. The section that they had the ground cleared is about 75 feet past the first base and about another 100 feet down the line. They have gone to second base to the outfield in a pie wedge for the building and parking lot. Valen

This is what I have found in just 3 hours today after I mowed the yard. I just got back and ran some water over this batch of finds and patted them dry. I found so many rusted nuts and bolts I lost count. Those rang up as a solid 12 so I dug them thinking of a nickel. The chain that I found is Silver and has Mother of Pearl in a tear drop shape and that was the first thing that I hit. Who would have thought that it was sitting right on top of the soil and not in bad shape. I did place it in my ultrasonic jewelry cleaner and I think it came out fairly nice. The coins were found within 2 to 4 inches deep since the grass was removed. I have not yet searched more than a third of the area yet due to all the hits I had, so tomorrow I will be back there again. Valen

Since I posted this it has rained and the whole area is under about 4 inches of water and the mud makes it impossible to walk. The construction is at a standstill for now and I am looking for my old rubber boots. Don't know if I will be able to sift the mud and water to get to anything yet but I am sure going to try it. Yesterday all the coins I had found were from the late 30's to early 50's so I know it is going to be fun! I will give everyone updates on what I find, Valen

I am looking for suggestions for detecting at a construction site. A local village has sold some property that was once a baseball/football field to a store. Currently they have removed the top 4 inches of the site and has placed it along the perimeter of the job site, and is going to take out the next 12 inches of soil to bring in new soil in which to build on. I have permission to check what ever ground I want as long as I don't interfere with the construction, and then there is the rest of the property that will be needed to be gone over. The topsoil and grass that they have placed on the outer edge is 5 feet tall by about 6 feet wide and is in a lot of clumps. These areas is the outfield of the ball field and the main playing field for football that they have moved the soil on. So if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear how to do this search. I have only been there for about 20 minutes and have found about 11 coins already. I would have stayed longer, but I didn't notice my battery level being on 1 bar. Valen

I have found if you get within 2 feet of the swings, slides or their frames it will give false signals, so I steer clear of them as much as possible. When going around the swings I hold the chains away from where I have the detector and it seems to do just fine. Some of the hardware that they use to support the playground equipment may not always be in the area you think it is, as the legs are always further than you think. Also I turn the sensitivity down to about 15 and my 800 gives good targets, whether it be trash or coin it is still a constant target. Valen

phrunt, The link that you shared I know about as they do have a U.S. version. They work in some of the areas, but I have seen them cause more trouble than a standard router. Valen

phrunt, They have had the equipment installed about 2 years ago in our area and have upgraded it to 5 G in the past few months. When I a am within 50 yards my new 800 goes off into lala land thinking everything is in the ground or even in the air. I noticed it doing it the first time I had gotten to an area that I knew it was at, and it took me a couple of minutes to figure it out. One trick that I had done to lower the effects was to wrap the coil wire half way up the shaft tie it off, and then wrap it the rest of the way opposite way to the plugin. That helped some but by being able to move further away from the lines stopped the chatter. I then did another ground balance and that seemed to do the trick. Valen

Randy Dee, We also have the microwave internet in our area and some places still can't get it due to the terrain. I have seen microwave units do the same thing in our area, as there are few options for the internet here in the rural areas. The power companies have been working to perfect the internet over their lines, so that they can compete with the phone companies. Currently they can do meter readings, turn on or off the power to select homes/business's without ever being in the same city. Valen

Lacky, If the power company has installed smart meters in your area they are using the power lines for the internet and they send a frequency through it in order to have their internet for the meters. The high voltage lines will cause many problems during high humidity and can cause certain connections to pop every now and then. If you hear that it is a sign that it is the power lines. Valen

Skookum, Thaks for the article and I am still thinking about what to do with the penny. Right now I have placed it in a very small amount of mineral oil to try to keep it in it's current condition. I am going to look into your method and then decide what to do in a few days. I would rather work with some knowledge on this and try to test it on something of lesser quality first. I know that it feels lighter than similar pennies and that the edges feel thinner, so you can probably tell that I am a little scared to do to much to this coin. Once again thank you for the information. Valen

I wish to thank everyone for their input on cleaning this coin, and I hope to make a decision on whether to clean or not to clean. I know that I should at least preserve the coin with something as to stop the buildup of the green patina on the coin. I really want to be able to place it in a frame and pass it down to 1 of my grand kids someday. I especially want to thank GB_Amateur for his help with the 800 last week in Casey, IL. I am almost ready to go to an old church that has never been touched before, and within a mile is an old mine that someone was getting small amounts of gold from. I will post more photos of my finds in the future. Thanks, Valen

On Thursday I went to search for more coins in a local park and in just 15 minutes I came across this Indian Head penny. I would like to know the best way to clean this coin so I may have it placed in a frame and hang it on a wall. This is the oldest coin that I have found to date, and it even beat out a 1924 dime that I found within 15 feet of where I found this penny. It had a lot of mud on it when I dug it up so I ran some water on it and found the date. This penny was wedged between 2 roots standing on edge and about 8 inches down. I had a ID number of 19 in one direction and a 20 in another direction so I decided to dig it up. I used the settings that another member showed me a week earlier when we met in Casey, IL. and I am sorry for not knowing the settings off the top of my head to put them in here. Please if someone knows a way to clean this up I would greatly appreciate your knowledge. I guess I am starting to get the hang of this Equinox 800 and I can only hope that this is just the beginning of a long and wonderful relationship of metal detecting. Valen

Today I met up with a very nice person from this forum who took his time to check out my unit and give me some much needed directions. The detector is not a problem it just has someone who doesn't understands it yet. Yes I admit that I am not the smartest person when it comes to this, because I really have not tried it. What I am learning from this forum and it's members will help me learn this detector and make me better with it. I wish to thank everyone who has taken so much of their time for their insights and help.

Very nice!

Here in the middle of Illinois I searched a local beach and also noticed the numbers jump all over the place in side to side and front to back motion. Not knowing what it was I dug it up! Turned out to be a bullet impact into the sand about a 9mm size. It was located about 6 inches below the ground but gave a good signal while jumping from a 4 to a 15 in all directions. I think it may have something to do the the minerals in the ground, but being new to this I just don't know for sure.

Jeff, I started this morning with a test in a neighbors flower bed as he has it raised with good clean dirt and mulch. I did that for about an hour and then went to the local park. When I arrived at the park I did a FP, and then did the settings that you suggested once I did a noise cancellation. Trust me the park has about 5 lbs. less aluminum in it tonight. No I did not recycle it! Once I have a solid target I use the pinpoint feature on the 800 and then set it down and use my handheld pin pointer to see if it is close to the surface. Once I start digging and removing about 2 inches I insert the pin pointer again to make sure I am going in the right direction. Once I find the target I pull it out and recheck the hole again to make sure there is nothing else that I may have missed. Then I fill everything back in and pack it down. I have seen several targets that are around the 15 to 19 range that I did not dig. I dug mostly 20 to 32 range after I swept in 2 directions and have the same readings. I will continue to practice but I think I need to compare this unit with another one just like it. I am going to meet up with someone this Saturday I hope. Thanks Jeff for your insights on this. Tim

Once I learn this unit and feel comfortable using it, then I might want to try the program. Right now all I want to do is to learn as much as I can and know what I am seeing and hearing. Thanks

That is what I was fighting for 2 days, once I turned it off and did a factory reset I was able to get it connected. I just wasn't paying attention what I was doing and what I was trying to connect to . It was the first time with a detector such as this.

Thanks for the information and I will be looking at those videos as I learn what I am doing. I have already watched over 30 different videos and these should be just as interesting. Thanks

Chase, I am getting together with someone next Saturday to compare both units, and if it is me I have given him the O.K. to hit me up side my head. These 2 old churches are so remote that the pastors live in the houses next to the churches with their families. They are the security systems for the churches. I installed some equipment for them and that is the only reason they gave me permission to detect on the property. They have never allowed anyone to do it in the past as they do not believe in using electricity if you get the meaning. I have tried this unit on beaches, camp grounds, ball parks, soccer fields, parks, lakes, and play grounds. I have found almost every type of aluminum that you can think of, so if you ever need to find some of it I'M your guy for that . Chase once again I am thanking you for your input as everyone's input does mean a lot to me. Please let me know if you will be able to travel to TN. to help locate the money wagon when I go. I am having a new system put together that will get us deep to where I think it is. Since it will take several measurements with the new coils it can give us a structural picture of what is underground to a depth of about 6 feet. That will ensure we find our target in less time. This system shows in real time on a tablet or laptop so someone has to be watching as we pull the coils around the area. Tim

Jeff, Today I tried your suggestions and even took a copy of what you said with me. I set my 800 as you stated and started walking around the park, and with the numbers that you gave me I did find several items. There were close to 30 pieces of aluminum and cans, 6 bottle caps, 1 nickle, and 3 pennies. I did not try to dig anything below a 28 and most came in as 32 to 36. I keep hitting my head against the wall it seems. Next Saturday I am suppose to meet up with someone and check both units side by side to make sure it is not a bad unit. Thanks for the info and I will still be using them if I can learn this crazy unit.

Thanks for all the input and suggestions that everyone has given me. For the past couple of weeks I have watched every video that I could find on YouTube and have tried to sift through all the forum threads here to help.