Argyris

Very happy for the conversation in this thread. All these "negative VDI - iron buzz" testimonies in deep and/or small non-ferrous targets that many experienced, and my own experience with iron buzzes in non-ferrous targets when using max iron bias (as witnessed in 2€ coins, uneven melted aluminum nuggets etc), was the reason I raised this iron bias thing in this beach-hunting thread and looked for answers........cause many of us were thinking that iron bias would only affect unmasking capabilities of the detector in iron-masked targets, and would be ready to use a higher IB setting thinking it should be harmless in the beach where there is no high iron density (so no iron-masking issues). This discussion and the "iron-buzzing" effect that iron bias has in lone (not iron-masked) magnetic targets or targets burried in magnetic ground/sand has proven that, even at an iron-free beach, a high iron bias setting could possibly eliminate some small and/or deep gold even with no iron nearby....and beach hunting is all about gold afterall so.... If gold nuggets (even large ones like Simon's example) or coins (like GB Amateur's Buffalo nickel) are able to give iron buzzes with a high IB setting, I'm expecting exactly the same for a very thin gold chain, earring, or even a ring that happens to be burried in ferromagnetic ground or beach areas with even little magnetic black sand...high iron bias will "filter" this magnetic sand signal, and maybe will eliminate the gold also by giving iron buzz to both of them. Combining this, with the fact that we run the least gold-sensitive mode underwater (very low weighted beach 2) which already works against us regarding small gold, things become even harder. Anyway, remains to be seen if a F2@zero setting is still usable in underwater salt conditions regarding stability (with proper GB, reactivity and sensitivity)...otherwise I'll try to not exceed F2@4 max or maybe I'll try the smaller 6'' coil to read less bottom signals with the expense of area coverage.... something I have to try this week and keep you posted on the results.

+1...and those days that we can't detect (work, weather etc), what's best than reading and learning the key theory behind our favorite hobby & machines...otherwise, all settings would be just "buttons". First you understand what something can do (theory)....then you do it (practice)...then you do it better (time)

We are aligned, so Iron Bias mystery closed 🙂 I only have to test (maybe tomorrow) what's the minimum possible IB F2 setting that allows me to run stable while underwater...I use Beach 2 mode there, with reactivity from 4 to 6 max (whichever runs stable in salt) and sensitivity from minimum 17 to 20 regarding minerals/salt falsing...my underwater seabed conditions are quite difficult due to soft rocks, pebbles and sand mixture of the bottom, and some "black ashy staff" underneath that I witnessed to come to surface may times while fanning to retrieve targets (maybe black sand)..... If I can manage to run F2 at zero with above RE/Sens settings and still be stable, I'll be happy....but I'll try not to exceed F2@4 in any case. I have the whole upcoming week to hunt and practice there so no more pc staff till newer observations 🙂 Already packed my wetsuit, fins, mask, snorkel etc, so I'm hopping for my second gold in this beach...Happy hunting everyone!

I won't say much 'cause I don't have enough knowledge to do it, so I'll leave the comments to the experts, BUT I understood all that I needed through your response GB Amateur.....great reply, at least for my understanding level! One comment only: When I realized through my testing as described in this thread, that Iron Bias setting affects the signal of ferromagnetic targets (whatever sticks to a magnet), my second thought was that Iron Bias setting may also affect signals of non-magnetic targets that are burried in ferromagnetic ground.....so a high Iron Bias setting it may give iron buzzes not only to ferromagnetic targets (eg my 2€ coin example), but also to very deep non-magnetic targets with week signals, because of the ferromagnetic ground around them when using high iron bias setting... (and all these info also enhances the importance of ground balance too, since it's also affected from ferromagnetic ground) This assumption was the main reason to overthink it regarding iron bias (and not only the "loosing 2€ coins issue that I staed), cause it indeed helps to eliminate some unwanted beach targets (which was the main reason to start this thread), but if my beach has ferromagnetic matterial in the bottom underwater (or the same case when inland), a high Iron Bias setting will also run the risk to have iron buzzes even in deep pure non-magnetic targets and will may miss them. All in all, I'try to limit the use of IB to the minimum setting needed in order to run stable, at least underwater in my beach. Thanks for the great reply GB Amateur...all make sense now! (and I guess that maybe I have to change my thread's title, because there is some really useful knowledge in these thread, at least for me) Best, Argyris

correct, so that could explain the iron bias effect (iron buzz when f2=max) to the 2 euro coin only

hmm...GB Amateur indeed, I confirm that both €1 and €2 coins inner part is slightly magnetic due to nickel. (The outer part has no magnetic properties). However, 1€ coin doesn't affect at all from max F2 Iron bias...pure high tone @vdi 22.....Only the 2€ coin gives strong iron grunt with max F2 setting.....(I assume that it has to do with how % magnetic material (nickel) is between the two) So, what does this tell me? That basically, a high iron bias setting gives iron buzz only to ferromagnetic targets that have enough magnetic metal in their composition?...(eg iron containing targets such as bottlecaps, and iron-free but high magnetic targets such as the 2€ coin due to high % pure nickel content)...and that iron grunts from max iron bias is not a "bi-mettalic / tri-metallic" or whatever complex target issue, but a megnetism thing instead. If that's the case, I assume that all targets that are not magnetic, even if it happens to be a rare bi-metallic jewelry (not alloy) that has a silver piece attached to a gold piece for example, should not turn to iron buzz even with max iron bias. I learned something new today for sure so thanks for that info! However I'll stay away from max iron bias setting cause these 2€ coins is our most valuable clad coin in Europe and I expect to find plenty of them underwater while hunting for jewelry. I only have to experiment with the lower or lowest settings and see if I can handle F2@0 regarding stability....otherwise I'll use the minimum IB needed, cause especially underwater where trash isn't an issue I don't really find any reason to use IB at all, and don't wont to risk loosing anything deep that may sound as iron because of IB like others mentioned. Other than that, I'll try hard to not overthink it with the settings and deep-dive explanations as Chase always advices me and correctly mentions in his awesome answer some posts ago ...I know he's 100% right, but my stubborn head doesn't seem to comply... 😛 Thanks again guys

JB Amateur described very good which targets I was trying to refer, but just to make myself more clear (since English are not my mother tongue but i'm trying to do my best), by the term "bimetalic" or "macroscopic mixed" alloys I indeed do refer to targets that are composed of two (or more) separate metals joined together or mixed inconsistently (not in atomic scale), instead of being a mixture of two or more metals that are well mixed together like real alloys (in atomic scale, hence I used the term "microscopic" for the latest).... There, regarding Iron Bias setting, the answer is yes by me....it has a major effect as can be witnessed when set F2@max, and swing over a "complex multi-metal mixture" 2€ coin (Outer segment: copper-nickel. Inner segment: three layers: nickel-brass, nickel, nickel-brass.) vs a 10k gold ring (alloy mixture in atomic scale)....none of those targets contain any iron, but still, the 2€ coin is giving strong iron buzz with F2@max and you miss it, when the gold ring gives pure high tone. Same thing witnessed to some large inconsistently melted aluminum nuggets at the beach as others have adviced me to try...max iron bias eliminates them to! When lowering the iron bias, 2€ coin returns to a pure high tone.....so, based on this 2€ coin or inconsistent melted aluminum experience, I trully believe that a high iron bias F2 setting may give iron buzz (as many witnessed) in some good targets that not contain any iron neither have any iron junk nearby (eg a jewelry composed of different metalls...not alloy, same as the 2€ coin example), hence my comments about it regarding using high IB underwater when jewelry hunting when you probably don't need to due to absence of iron issues. Just an observation anyway, maybe I'm wrong, but Iron Bias seems to not only affect iron containing targets but iron free targets too... so maybe it needs some extra attention when using it. Apologies if I wasn't clear, hope it makes sence now since I was reffering to iron bias properties and how could affect good unmasked and iron free targets Thanks for the usefull comments everyone 🙂

Thanks everyone...going underwater seems to verify everyone's insights regarding beach hunting: treasure/junk ratio is the best possible in the water, vs in the dry part where I have to dig 100 aluminum junk targets for every good target. No light trash underwater since waves take care of them and drive them in the shore...only heavy good targets stay in the water...so I guess I'm already hooked to the underwater thing 🙂 Anyway, regarding iron bias and following GB Amateur, Phrunt and Jeff's comments, when I tried in the dry beach part the other days and used high iron bias to help some with melted aluminum nuggets, I experienced the same iron grunts on many good coin targets with no iron nearby, and I also had iron grunts in complex alloy targets such as bimetallic coins or big melted aluminum...but I''try to describe how I understand it after reading some Clive's posts to help some: High IB settings allow to "brake" and give strong iron grunts in not pure consistent one-metal targets or not good microscopic-level mixed alloys, or targets that are very "grounded" (their metal is very well mixed in the soil such as rusted iron for example because iron especially is more close to the ground characteristics than a non-ferrous), so iron bias reads this inconsistency between ground-metal or between the multiple metals of inconsistent alloy targets and depending of the setting either favors iron buzz or high tone. A shallow gold ring eg. of whatever karats or silver coins (that are well mixed alloys in microscopic level - clean metals- and not multimetal or "grounded-mixed in the soil") always give a pure high tone no matter the Iron Bias setting. However, targets that are macroskopic-mixed alloys or bimetallic compositions, or very rusted-corroded items (eg bimetallic 2€ coins, big melted pieces such as alum nuggets that probably contain other metalls too, rusted corroded coins that behave as multi-metal targets due to rust, bottlecaps offcourse and many other "complex" aloys that contain multiple metalls), with a max iron bias they "brake" and give strong iron grunts because iron bias reads this inconsistency due to multiple metal composition. The same happens with iron due to the "ground-mixed" effect descibed above. I quote some Clive's info on iron bias from another thread which describes what I'm talking about: “Iron Bias” is a filter. Whereas the ground’s signal represents a large, unstable, response, a good target can be seen as a small, narrow and consistent response. “Iron Bias acts to mediate the “line” where this distinction is made. This doesn’t just include iron—but any object which contains multiple metals. So “Iron Bias” can be used to change responses from bottlecaps, corroded coins—anything that’s not “clean” metal such as silver, copper aluminum or gold. What a detector does is to assess both the ground and any metal that’s in it and then separate the two—based upon this consistent / inconsistent scale. This is the scale that an “Iron Bias” control operates on." So from my perspective, this could explain the iron grunts in some non ferrous targets but also explain why very deep targets (week signals) could be mixed with the ground response and give iron grunts, due to a high iron bias setting which acts in the "incosistency line" of ground response vs metal. Regarding underwater, I must play with the iron bias setting to further decide what to use but when unerwater, testing is quite difficult....The way I see it, high iron bias can help to eliminate some underwater-ground & minerals response or black sand incosistent response, but a high setting could also give iron buzz in small good targets or deep ones if ground signal & minerals dominate over them...Iron masking is not an issue when underwater in my beach since there is almost no iron junk, but there are many "ceramic" red rocks and some other black coal type soft ones and also some black sand in some areas that experienced when faning with my hands (one of the reasons I notched out -9 to -7 vdi), so a high iron bias could have a bad effect and give iron grunts in good targets near them.....that's the reason I'm thinking to run with iron bias F2=0 but I must check again if I'll have underwater stability issues due to salt/ground/minerals etc with the lowest IB setting. Thanks everyone for your comments, this first gold with nox was a good boost to continue hunting this difficult beach. best, Argyris

Well, I finally made it to my favorite pebble beach for a decent 2 hours hunt and thought I should share my results! I intented to hunt only the dry part to make some practice in these aluminum junk targets that make me suffer, but the huge amount of trush between the pebbles nightmare and the fact that the water was so calm and without swimmers, I very soon decided to give it a first try underwater in waste depth while snorkeling with my mask. It was my first time with Nox underwater so I was really nervous to see if it leaks but everything went fine and really enjoyed it 🙂 In my very first underwater hunting, I didn't messed a lot with settings but made some minor adjustments..I was running beach 2 mode in 2 tones (set all VDI >0 to pitch 23 with max volume in order to hear it underwater, since I was using only the control box' speaker while snorkeling with my mask.) I also notched out only -9 to -7 to get rid of ceramic rocks and some ground noise and set iron (-6 to 0) to low volume. Reactivity was left at default 6 and Iron Bias (F2) setting also @6. Sensitivity @18 and GB at tracking mode since I didn't have enough time to experiment with auto-pumping. Well...as expected, ZERO JUNK UNDERWATER!!! No aluminum, no foil, no iron.....only good targets. In these 2 hours, I managed to get 30+ (!!!) early clad coins (drachmas of 90s...nothing special unfortunatelly and very corroded too), also found a HUGE amount of lead sinkers, and also found my first gold ring with nox (!!!)...so pretty happy with my first underwater experience!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Ring is marked 14k with 7 little rocks and came at a rock-solid vdi of 11 from all directions. Almost all targets where really shallow (the specific beach has a pretty solid bottom - no soft sand at all so staff don't settle very deep I guess....I suppose that's the reason I could easilly find these old drachmas of 90s in no more than 3-4'' deep). However, I do have a question regarding iron bias: is there any reason to run iron bias at zero (f2=0) while underwater in salty conditions? Does iron bias could make me miss thin chains/earrings or other difficult or very deep targets if no iron is present to mask them? Iron masking and junk doesn't seem to be an issue underwater in my beache, so I left it at f2=6 (I prefer F2 over fe) since it was my first underwater hunt and thought that maybe higher iron bias would help to eliminate some chatter from deep salt & underwater minerals...what's your usual Iron Bias setting while underwater in salt? Any pros/cons or tips regarding iron bias while underwater? best, Argyris

Thanks Joe, I'm also waiting for one of Clive's Equinox Skill books to arrive...I love hunting, but also love to read and learn as much as I can about my hobbys when I can't be in the field...and also, being a mechanical engineer, it's in my DNA to learn the fundamentals and interprete the behavior of these machines......! However, Minelab has already done a great job with the factory settings so I keep telling to myself to not overthinking it...Turn on, choose Park 1, noise cancel, GB, adjust sensitivity and go hunting....field time will teach us everything else....it's a fun process afterall and should stay as such! Such a great community in here I have to say...and really knowledged members than know what they're talking about...really glad to be a part of it! 🙂

Some great info in you post El Nino77....Thanks a lot! I already saved a 5khz programm in the user profile slot & will test it in every signal produced by other modes (beach 1/park 1) before digging, to see if it can help me somehow to ID/give me clues to ignore unwanted or complex targets (falsing iron, tiny low conductors, melted aluminum nuggets). As expected, it can ignore super tiny low cunductors, but also gives a strange jump in the VDI of some specific junk vs solid rings/coins but I have to confirm in field...same phenomenon as with bottlecaps (and yes, I did a factory reset and still does this VDI jump in specific junk targets, especially the large melted aluminum nuggets vs coins/rings) Regarding Iron Bias (max F2), I already see some VERY interesting results in mixed-complex alloy targets as Clive suggested to test... Indeed it seems to give high clues if a targets is 100% single metal composition (eg pure silver, pure copper) or "microscopic" (atomic level) well mixed alloys (eg karat gold, silver coins), VS bimetallic makroscopic alloys (bimetallic coins, large melted aluminum nuggets that may contain other metal to, etc)...great example the 2€ coin to observe what i'm saying, but knocks-out many of my large melted alum nuggets also so definetelly needs more testing. Based on the 2 facts above, the most interesting observation is that the aluminum nuggets that give a large increase in VDI when using 5 khz vs multi, are the same ones that are knocked-out if I use iron bias F2 @ max setting.....xmmm Anyway, can't wait for Friday to come and go hunting to test all of the info here... Thanks guys, my very first thread in the forum has already pay-out with some very usefull tips! Best to all, Argyris

Agree Mike... that's the only way to test those great tips in practice and figure out by myself how to interpret their outputs....Overthinking it and overasking it is definetelly not good....so I'm just waiting for the Friday to come and then (at last!) I'll have 4 full days of real field hunting & testing. Till then, I'm glad that I was lucky enough to collect all these great info that everyone provided in this thread, so huge thanks to all! Best, Argyris

Many thanks Clive, I definetelly have to check this in iron-free areas (beach) where masking is not a risk.... I thought that iron bias would help only with iron-containing targets (eg bottle caps), but I have to try your suggestion for sure, thanks a lot! 🙂

Guys, any guess on the VDI observation above? What causes this large increase in VDI of these pure aluminum nuggets when using 5 khz single freq vs low weighted multi? I know that this is a common tell-tale to ID iron containing bottlecaps when checked with 5 khz (they do jump in higher vdis)...but what about these pure iron free aluminum nuggets? Maybe it has to do with their shape irregularity and 5 khz catches that and multi doesn't..?....I don't know! ps. As you can see, all other good targets (coins/rings) didn't show the same vdi increase when checked with 5khz...they were +/-1 point VDI steady between multi/5khz. In my newbie perspective, I would assume that I can use this 5 khz check method and ignore everything that shows a large VDI increase when checked with 5khz vs multi VDI....but it was just an air test so I don't feel confident enough to use it before I get some of your insights on this phenomenon and if it could indeed work in real hunting conditions... Thanks

Yes mate 🙂 Many stories of small cans containing gold sovereigns that were throughn from British allies' airplanes at night, to support Greek resistance during WW2...My village in Pelloponissos has some really old history too and is my primary hunting area when in holidays or day offs (I live in Athens)...Have not found any hoard yet, but some thousand years oooold finds here are even more important than gold and taking their place in Nomismatic Museums after seeing the daylight again after so long...great history in Greece and we all try to preserve it 🙂 Regards from Greece, I too have many relatives in Canada...maybee I should visit them someday 🙂

Guys, check this out: I just finished a bench test with different targets to 1) see the VDI stability from all directions vs target's shape, and 2) implement the 5 khz test method that Chase mentioned to see if I get something usefull... Well....regarding test #1 (vdi stability from different swing directions vs target's shape): no new info here...all round objects (rings/coins) have extreme vdi stability from all directions - one number rock steady vdi period. The aluminum nuggets of my picture showed some minimum vdi directional instability but not much to depend on it (only +/-1 or +/-2 points divergance when changing swing direction so no real clues). However large misshaped can slaw or other misshaped aluminum showed a definite change in vdi from different swing directions so I'll keep this clue. Now..the most interesting part....VDI test with 5 khz vs Beach 1 Multi...check the info below: Beach 1 5 khz Silver Dime 26 27 Silver old coin 26 26 Silver pendant 17 18 Copper coin 21 22 Old Nickel coin with hole in the middle 20 21 Thin junk ring 16 17 Gold band 13 14 Small aluminum pull ring 12 12 Aluminum nugget 1 13 21 Aluminum nugget 2 20 27 Aluminum nugget 3 18 21 Aluminum nugget 4 20 28 Aluminum nugget 5 16 19 Aluminum nugget 6 20 26 Aluminum nugget 7 22 27 *The result above when using 5 khz, was already stated as a method to identify bottle caps: change from multi to 5 khz and bottlecap's vdi should jump really high (I tried that to, and indeed they jump at 30s when applying 5 khz...but beach 1 mode with F2 setting @6 already takes care of them anyway) But I also see a major VDI increase for the majority of these aluminum nuggets when changing from multi to 5 khz....their VDI jumps pretty higher....furthermore, the larger the nugget, the more VDI increase/divergance in 5 khz mode vs multi observed.....All other targets (coins, rings etc even low conductors like old nickel coin or aluminum pull ring) didn't jump in higher vdis when tested with 5 khz but stayed almost the same vdi wise.....strange...... and wonder if I could take avantage of this VDI increase in undesired targets like the aluminum nuggets of my beach...what do you think..??? I really believe that I'm missing something here...can't be so obvious....and this was only an air test after all so things could be way different in the ground....but I thought it was something worth sharing with you..

Yes Jeff, need to train my ears for sure....there's no shortcut to the learning curve...just some "tools" to help me some in my beggining (my cheat sheet from all members' tips in this topic). I'm waiting for the rainy days to pass and will go out hunting again. Till then, I'll continue my bench testing and try all tips given to gain some first experience! In the end of the day, I really enjoy it and don't expect miracles...! Hunting time will teach me what I need to know afterall!

Thanks Mate 🙂 Feel free to use my "cheat-sheet" attached below....this will be my "newbie toolbox" till I gain the "brain muscle memory" as I did with the Deus also! Best, Argyris

Wow Guys, what a great welcome response to my very first message in the forum, many thanks for the tremendous help to all of you!!! Needed some time to read and re-read all the info and tips provided and I’m keeping notes to practice all of them! But if I could sum-up all the messages to just one sentence, that would definitely be: “give it some time to learn the tone nuances and learn to correlate signal strength, target size, loudness, and the depth reading between junk vs coin like targets” as Clive and others said. No way around and I think this is the best piece of advice. Practice, practice, practice. No shortcuts. Now, in order to make the best out of your responses, I’ll try to categorize and sum-up your key-tips to have my first “cheat-sheet” to try in the beach/field, and also help any other member that maybe reads this topic and runs into the same tiny junk elimination issue: Chase: - Use single frequency mode (5khz) as a target interrogation tool rather than as my standard mode, and check every “suspect” tiny junk signal by switching to 5khz, to see if it locks on as a decent size coin/ring would do - Extended practice of the pinpoint mode to differentiate between micro targets vs. rings and coins (signal length, volume and pitch) - After digging the suspect target and have it out of the hole, quit chasing it if my pointer doesn’t get it, to save my time Steve: - Try very low weighted Beach 2 mode (wherever tiny aluminum junk is a major issue, beach or inland) to eliminate tiny low conductivity targets but still hit hard on decent size coins/rings - In places where most valuable targets are expected at depth and not in the surface, play the odds and take advantage of DD coil tendency to triple signal on shallow stuff to ignore them Mike: - Try the VCO mode (gold mode in equinox) to identify tiny sized targets vs coin/ring size targets. Chase also mentioned this as an alternative to the pinpoint mode to size the suspect targets. The tiny stuff will sound tiny and the good targets will sound robust. Clive: - Undertake some serious bench testing with coin/ring size targets vs tiny junk to train my ears on the nuances “sets of signal characteristics” of both. Learn to correlate signal strength, target size, loudness, and the depth reading. Looking for "sets" of target characteristics in exactly this way is the key to becoming an accurate and effective hunter. Great piece of advice here, I think it describes best the quintessence of effective hunting. Jeff: (hi mate 😊 , glad to have you here also!) - Learn how these pieces of aluminum sound using the pinpoint function in combination with what the depth meter says, how the audio sounds and if the numbers are solid or jumpy in detect mode. Ps. To Jeff: Yes, these tiny pieces of (melted aluminum?) metal are everywhere in my local nearby beaches, but I don’t know yet if they also exist in other areas to make a clue…They do read pretty high for aluminum but maybe because they are solid pieces rather than can slaw? Attached I made a picture of them with their VDIs in Beach 1…I included some small ones (the difficult ones I'm mentioning in this post), but some big ones also to make a clue of the matterial, with a silver dime in the pic to compare their size. As you can see, even the smaller ones come in teens range of vdi and strange thing that the size doesn't always corelate with their size....most of them are jumpy in vdi (that's a first clue) so I wrote the most dominant vdi of the range for each item. See pic below. Again, thanks everyone for the great tips provided…I now have some tools to try and will come back with results and thoughts! Best, Argyris

Many thanks for your great inputs guys! Nice to meet you everyone here, and Chase, really glad to see you here too!) Back to the subject, in fact I was forcing myself to NOT think of the single freq solution, since that will eliminate Equinox' main strength and divergence from other machines like Deus (multi freq operation) so I hear you Chase...BUT I have a really hard time with these tiny micro aluminum melted nuggets, especially in my local pebble beaches where target recovery and "diging" through the pebbles is already a nightmare.... Anyway, I'm seeking for the best solution to eliminate all micro staff but 5 khz maybe isn't the answer...and the Nox seems extremmely sensitive even in low weighted modes! Now, regarding your thoughts: - Steve, I'm located in Greece...I don't know if it's a European thing but these tiny nuggets of (melted?) aluminum are everywhere especially in our beaches. And yes, even they are tiny ones, their VDI is unusual high in the teens range so I can't reject them by ID cause I'll miss the gold staff...if they were at 0-5 vdi I would be happy! Thankfully, in farm fields aluminum tiny nuggets are not that common, but there I have another nightmare wich is tiny aluminum can slaw. However, here in Greece and especially in my usual hunting farm fields, finding some 2.500+ year old little silver coins are very possible so I have to be extra carefull when eliminating targets... With the Deus @8khz I could still find these little 10mm+ little treasures (silver most) and still could eliminate the super tiny aluminum in either case (tiny nuggets or tiny can slaw)..that's why I thought the use of 5 khz as a solution with the Nox... - Chase, I tried using the pinpoint mode to identify the targets as you suggested, but this tiny bits of aluminum nuggets where giving me the immpression of a very deep coin when pinpointing: veeery short response and veeery low pitch and low volume too from every direction....so I still can't distinguish tiny solid aluminum from maybe a deep coin...however I do need more practice with pinpoint...is the first time I use such a mode (Deus lite experience only since now) and maybe should try the gold mode also for sizing. Unfortunatelly, the scoop solution to let this tiny bits fall and ignore is a no-no in pebbles.... So what's left: - Steve's idea on Beach 2 Mode: will definetelly try this in the beach....With Beach 1 I could definetelly hit the hardpack depth (+/- 1 ft depth) under the pebbles for coin/ring size targets (weak & low volume response but clear enough to make me stop), so I will give a go to Beach 2 mode to see if it can help with these tiny aluminum nuggets but still be able to hit a coin/ring size target at hardpack 1 ft depth such as beach 1 does - Chase's idea to reduse sensitivity: In the beach I mentioned, I was indeed running Beach 1 too hot with sensitivity @22...so maybe I'll force myself to lower it some to get rid of tiny aluminum but need to verify if I can still hit the hardpack level-depth under the pebbles - Chase's idea to leave whatever my handheld pointer can't hit should also be a solution to my problem and save some digging, and hopefully I won't ignore a thin chain instead that pointer also doesn't hit! - Joe, thanks also mate! I'm already air tested these tiny aluminum nuggets but tone wise, I can't distinguish them vs a ring or coin yet...they do sound weaker in volume but a deep ring/coin will also sound that way..:/ and yes...these tiny staff, beach or inland, are such a pain for me also.... Thank you all!

Hi everyone, glad to find this wonderfull forum 🙂 This is my first message here so I'll make my intro with an Equinox 800-newbee question: I must state that I have very limited field time and experience with my brand new Nox 800...and only used it in a local beach since now (dry part) to learn it some. But, my first observation is that even in Beach 1 mode (which is a low weighted multi freq mode) I'm getting super tiny targets, usually tiny micro bits of aluminum or lead. I know that for many this is an advantage in order to hit micro gold jewelry and such on the beach...but sometimes it gets really frustrating and time consuming to chase super tiny bits of metal that my PI pinpointer struggles to hit. Trully, I wasn't prepared for such a sensitivity (which is good for the Nox) but isn't always what I need in trashy sites when I'm playing the odds some and focus only in rings or coins. So, my understanding based on the above initial beach experience is that, if Beach 1 is so sensitive to tiny staff, then Park 1 (which is also low weighted but not that low weighted as beach 1) should be even more sensitive to tiny micro sized targets. These targets even they are so tiny, they still register VDI >5 cause they usually are micro bits of melted aluminum (nuggets), tiny can slaw or tiny lead, so rejecting 0-5 vdis doesn't get rid of them like it does with small foil. Now...I'm asking this having inland hunting in the back of my mind also: when hunting in old farm fields with lots of such aluminum/lead tiny pieces, I was used to run in 8 khz with my old Deus to get rid of such tiny targets and still be able to hit high conductive coins or decent sized hammered coins and other decent sized low conductors, gold/silver jewelry etc. My first Nox experience shows that even if I use park 1 mode in these farm fields, I'll still hit hard on these tiny junk pieces even if i notch 0-5 vdis....so I was thinking to maybe use Park 1 in single freq @5 or 10 khz in such cases, and go after all small or decent size coins & rings, but not the super tiny 1-5 mm diameter junk...My understanding, however, is that with single freq I'll lose the advantage of VDI stability in depth that multi offers.....and maybee will have up-averaging vdi issues..... What are your thoughts on this? Take as a fact that, time efficient wise, both when inland hunting or beach hunting, I want to focus only in gold/silver rings and small to decent size coins, but eliminate all tiny 1-5mm micro staff (even if I lose a gold chain/earring on the beach or a really tiny hammered coin on the field)...With the Deus @8khz this strategy was working pretty good and I was able to hit even small thin silver 10mm hammered coins...but not the 1-5mm junk....what about the Nox, what would you propose? ps. Below, a sample of these tiny aluminum bits...they read at 12-15 vdi range so unfortunatelly I can's avoid them through notching cause I'll lose the gold also. So I need a strategy that eliminates by size (tiny ones) and not by conductivity! Best, Argyris