Bash

Well, perseverance, study, asking questions, and dogged desire, are slowly paying off! I was going to go to an old park this morning, but the weather was crap, so I didn’t make it. Things settled down in the early afternoon, so I went and hit the parking strip here and the next door neighbor’s house. I wanted to apply some of the things I’ve learned from some questions I asked here on the forums, and from reading Andy and Clive’s books. It was a good afternoon! I found my second Merc - a 1943D, my first nickel - a 1963 Jefferson, AND my first Buffalo nickel - 1928. I’m feeling much more confident, and starting to correlate what I’m seeing and hearing from the Equinox to what’s coming out of the ground. Looking forward to getting out to that park!

Heya Blue. Welcome aboard!

Welcome to the forum, Skiddim! You've landed in a great spot with a lot of great folks willing to impart their (considerable) knowledge. Best of luck to you and your wife.

Welcome to the forum, Boogness! Hope you find a great claim to work. I'm interested in doing something similar in Idaho/Montana, but am not quite there yet. Best of luck in your quest!

The next door neighbor walked by today while i was out in the parking strip detecting, and suggested I try their front yard and parking strip area. I got my first permission and didn't even have to ask! 🙏 So I just did a quick session out in their parking strip, and applied some of the suggestions from the replies to my original post. Eureka! I dug way less trash, and in 1/2 an hour got four copper pennies and a clad dime. No silver or wheaties, but I'm pretty happy with the new knowledge. There were some signals in the high thirties that showed to be deep, that I haven't dug yet, but I will look at those tomorrow. I hope to get out to a park area tomorrow that was originally established in 1880. It's morphed quite a bit but a good portion of it is still a park. We shall see...

Thanks for the responses, guys. Much appreciated. I was out at an old ranch today, and while I didn’t find anything of note, some of the comments here have certainly clarified and supported what I saw in the field. I decided on the Nox for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I wanted a “crossover” machine with a proven capability for gold prospecting as that is of primary interest to me, but I didn’t want just a nugget shooting machine - I wanted something for coins, jewelry, and relics too. The Nox filled that bill. I knew it was a more advanced machine and not necessarily for a beginner. Which brings me to my second reason for deciding on the Nox. I’m extremely technically savvy, with a degree in Computer Science, and twenty plus years of application development experience, so the use of technology is second nature to me. I wanted a machine that would challenge me, as well as a machine I could grow into. Plus, I didn’t want to buy an entry level machine, and then want a different one in a year. “Buy good tools, and you only cry once”, is a motto that has served me well over my 63 years. I do have Clive’s “From Beginner to Advanced” book along with Andy’s This is a great explanation. I’ll be testing and practicing this when I go out this afternoon! This should put me on the right track to a better understanding of what I am seeing. Thanks again to GB, maxxkatt, and Jeff for the responses! -Mark

Thanks GB! The one to the left of the 33 D is a 1919, as is the one to the right. The left one is so worn the second "1" is completely gone, but you can barely make out the "9" under heavy magnification.

Well, I have about fifteen hours in with the Equinox 800. This is the entirety of my metal detecting experience. All my detecting so far has been in the yard, alley, and parking strip of an 1890 Queen Anne style house in an older neighborhood near the downtown core of Helena, MT. I’m having a blast learning to detect, while trying to unravel the idiosyncrasies of the Nox. I’ve found some cool stuff, the pinnacle of which, so far, is a 1917 D Merc dime, in reasonable condition. (Pics are included) Needless to say I am hopelessly hooked. But… I have questions. Lord do I have questions. 🤣 So I’ve been perusing the forums to try to learn as much as I can from previous questions here, and I also picked up Andy Sabisch’s book, which has helped clarify several points. Following much of the advice given here and elsewhere, I’ve been sticking to the stock settings in PARK 1, and FIELD 1, though I have also played with one of the programs for coin shooting in Andy’s book. (That’s the settings I found the Merc with) So my first two questions: 1. What is the detector telling me when the target signal is erratic? ie. The signal bounces from 21 to 29 to 18 to 39 etc. with the depth indicator also jumping. So far when I’ve dug targets exhibiting this behavior, they’ve usually turned out to be some heavily rusted piece of metal - nail, chunk of iron, etc. What am I missing? 2. What is the detector telling me when I get a strong, high VDI number when swinging one direction, but nothing coming back the other direction, or when swinging 90 degrees to the original swing, the target disappears, but reappears when swinging the original direction. Thanks for any insight you can provide. I know the Nox is pretty sophisticated, and I am inexperienced. I understand I need way more time on it to begin to not only figure out the machine, but also the mechanics of detecting in general! Here’s some of the stuff I’ve found so far:

Welcome aboard, Coinboy! You've landed in a great space on the interwebs here!

Hey Hammer&tongs, You can find a PDF file of the ID cards in the first message in the thread here: Free ID Cards for the Nox 800 The file name is idcardfinal.pdf

Majuba Man, You live in the Moscow area?! I'd love to connect when I get back over there. Gonna hunker down in Helena for a couple of months, but should be back over there early summer. I'm not getting crazy on the settings with the Nox, just trying to figure out what it is telling me in Park 1... Lol Did find my first coins in the parking strip yesterday - 1919 wheats. Pretty sure there's some silver out there too, but it started to snow and dinner was on, so I didn't dig the signals. May get a chance this afternoon, but for sure tomorrow. Bashin

mossy99, You can find a link to a PDF file of the cards in the first message in this thread. Then you can print and laminate as many as you need.😁

Hey Riccardo! Welcome to the forum! You will find a wealth of information and some very knowledgeable, and friendly folks here. Hope you are staying safe and healthy in Milan. My grandmother immigrated to America in 1902 from Cozenza in Calabria, so I have very strong Italian roots on my mother's side. Welcome aboard!

Welcome to the forums, mrtune! I'm new to the forum and detecting in general. I decided to get the Equinox 800 based on the things I read here on the forums, and the fact that I wanted a multi-purpose machine (Coins, Relics, Gold), but just as importantly a machine I could grow into as I learned more about the hobby. I've had it for about a week now, and so far am very pleased. The presets work well, and it is configurable enough to do more as I learn more. Best of luck!

These are awesome, especially for a newbie like me! Printed today, and will laminate tomorrow. Thanks!

Greetings everyone! Newly minted detectorist here. I live in Moscow, ID, but spend a great deal of time in the Helena, MT area. I started prospecting for gold a little over a year ago, and decided I would add a metal detector to my toolset, not only for gold, but also for relics and coins. I’m currently hunkered down in Helena, socially distancing, watching a lot of YouTube, and Netflix. I’m also learning to use the new Equinox 800 I received a mere four days ago! This forum/website is mostly responsible for my Equinox purchase. I wanted a machine I could use for gold AND relic and coin hunting, and the info I was able to glean from all the posts and articles here helped me to make an informed decision. Thanks for that! The learning curve of the machine and the hobby is a bit steep, but very manageable, and again the forums and website make it all a damn sight easier! I’m currently staying with a friend in an 1890’s house, and have been detecting her yard the last couple of days. And I’ve found my first two non-trash pieces. A small enameled piece of jewelry, and an old chinese coin! I’m very excited to explore more of the yard when the recent snow disappears, and it warms up again! I’m sure I’ll have some questions along the way, but so far I’ve been able to get a lot of answers just exploring the site. If anybody is in the Helena, MT, or Moscow, ID area, and wants to share some knowledge and detecting time, I’d totally be up for it! Best luck to everyone, and stay safe out there! Mark