Hello

 

So I was just practicing and testing with the detector again. We tried another lawn, first we did noice cancel and ground balance. Then we took Field 1, held the detector with the coil down and had it still, it sounded a lot, the same when we held it in the air, so I guess it was EMI interference. But we changed the sensitivity from 25 to 15 and it went well and gradually tried to all the way up to 21, no noise then and tried different frequencies such as 15, worked well.

I then went back to the lawn I first wrote about which was problematic. I also first did noice cancel and ground balance, Field 1, but it sounded a lot of noise, but when I lowered the sensitivity to 15-16 it disappeared. When I tried to sweep it over the ground, it pepped sometimes and sometimes not, so that should be a sign that it worked well? It was the same on the other lawn.

Something that surprised me was when I tried to put it in the ground and hold still and sometimes lift it above ground in the air, still Field 1, sensitivity 15, and it went well in 10 KHz, 15 KHz, 20 KHz and 40 KHz, no strange sounds when still with the coil in the grass, or still in the air. But with the same sensitivity 15, it made a lot of noise at 5 KHz and in multi mode. That it would make more noise in the multi mode I had expected, but that it would make a lot noise in the 5 KHz mode surprised me. Shouldn't it be the other way around, that 40 KHz makes the most noise, 20 KHz less and 5 KHz the least?

Only when I changed the sensitivity to 11 did the 5 KHz stop making noise when I held it still, while the multi mode stopped at sensitivity 13. How can that be, should not 10 + KHz be more sensitive to EMI than 5 KHz? So the higher the frequency, the more sensitive to EMI? But here the lowest frequency, 5 KHz, seemed to be the most sensitive  and made noise while the others (except multi) were silent. How can that be?

I was maybe 50-70 meters from the powerline, when testing, but in addition, I went closer to the powerline, and tried to stand almost below the powerline just som meters from it, and it did not seem to give any EMI when I tried with 15 and 20 KHz, with sensitivity 15 and some higher. It seemed that there was less EMI, the closer I got to the powerline. Does that seem strange? Maybe it was something from the two houses by the lawn that disturbed the most, maybe satellite or similar?

Maybe the frequency in the powerline right now was weaker today maybe?

 

24 minutes ago, 67GTA said:

Wifi signals can also cause it to go crazy. Just about every house has a wireless network. You can try holding the coil in the air and noise cancel a few times to see if that helps in trouble spots. Can't remember how many frequency offsets the noise cancel has off the top of my head.

Thanks. Yes that to. We had a smart phone and was looking on som video about how to do noise canceling and ground balancing on youtube. So that might have caused it too? I did not think about that.

Thank you all for the answers.

The pinpointer was not on. Also we got two cell phones on.

When you say EMI, it may have been EMI interference!  Powerlines maybe 50-60 meters or so, from where I was trying to detect. Something like this: https://lrf.imagevault.media/publishedmedia/owsse6zjb6kddcq2rriy/ElledningKlyftamonALH.jpg

When I think about it now, it is electricity network I guess, which goes through a fairly large town with 5,300 inhabitants, so may have to assume that it is really strong and powerfull powerlines, and that it therefore disrupted the detector.

I did use it on Field 1, multi, but also tried 5, 10, 15, 20 KHz but still making a lot of noice.

The sensitivity, I think we tried from 25, to down 15 and below, but still we heard a lof o noice. And also tried noise canceling and ground balancing.

It happened all around the yard, and in the forest near.

 

So we practiced with my Equinox 800, on a simple yard, lawn. We read in the manual (pages 39-40: https://www.minelab.com/__files/f/326548/4901-0249-1 Inst. Manual, EQUINOX 600 800 EN.pdf) about auto ground balancing and noise cancellation, and we did that. We tried Filed 1, multi and all other frequencies. But the detector sounds wherever we search on the ground, so it gives the sound and shovel symbol and so on. It also sounds and runs crazy when we hold it in the air and so on.

A few weeks ago I tried it on a field, and used Filed 1, then it worked well. I did not do auto ground balancing and noise cancellation then, but it worked good. When I sweep around it, it was sometimes quiet, then it made a sound when it found an object, and then I dug up metals, so it found good.

But now that I tried on a simple lawn, and to learn auto ground balancing and noise cancellation, I do not understand at all what is happening, or what I am doing wrong. Whenever I sweep it, it sounded all the time, and I could not find a single place where it did not make a sound.

I do not know if ground balance worked properly, although it seemed to work, same with noise cancellation.

On page 40 under Auto Ground Balance, point 3 it says: "Raise and lower the coil repeatedly over a clear patch of soil that does not contain any targets."

But if I do not find a clear patch of soil that does not contain any targets or that is not making sounds? Wherever I sweep the coil, it sounds like it has found a target, even when held in the air.

What do you think I'm doing wrong?

Thanks.

Thank you schoolofhardNox, GB_Amateur, and nordic for the info.

On 8/25/2020 at 4:58 PM, nordic said:

Just to add, worth checking detecting laws, archaeological zones in Sweden. If you find a lot of musket balls, the site could be of an archaeological/historical interest and one can get into trouble detecting there. Some countries are stricter than others.

Good point Nordic, thank you.

If you want to be discreet when looking for metal. Do you guys think it might be a good idea to take a thin garbage bag around the detector, so it is not visible what it is you are holding? It should be fine to search anyway, or do you think it damages the detector's ability to find metal? I'll try it.

 

On 8/25/2020 at 2:40 AM, schoolofhardNox said:

 

 

Thank you for the help schoolofhardNox.

The two last pictures are those also musket balls?

The last one looks just like a metal thing I found! But I have no idea of what it is or how old it is etc!

 

On 8/24/2020 at 5:56 PM, GB_Amateur said:

Difficult to say without being there with you.  One thing I've learned (and have to remind myself) -- once you get the hang of a detector you can quickly tell a true target from a false one, but it does take time.  If I get a true target, there is some kind of metal or magnetic mineral there.  Digging and finding nothing means I've likely misjudged its location, lost it in the removed dirt, changed its orientation to an undetectable one,....  The list goes on and on, but it didn't disappear and it wasn't a ghost.  😉

We don't know your Swedish soil so it's hard to help you with things like ground mineralization and hot rocks (assuming you even have the latter).  You seem rather new to detecting -- so welcome -- but if that's the case it might be that you've taken too big of a step out in the wilds (woods and fields) where uneven ground, for example, can make things more difficult.

Do you have access to milder landscape, such as parks, schools, even the yard of a residence?  If so you may be better off in the long run putting some time into hunting those first, as training for your more ambitious sites.  (Of course know the laws because some European countries seem to be pretty strict from what I've read.  Again, you might be the first Swedish detectorists to post here so I don't know what your situation is.)

I suggest starting in either Park 1 defaults or Field 1 defaults if you can practice on some 'easier' sites as I've suggested.  It sounds like your intended use is relic hunting which might mean Field 1 (default is just two tones -- low for non-ferrous and high for ferrous) is the better training choice.  Park 1 has 5 tones -- each tone covering 10 of the 50 digital Target ID channels.  (Always refer back to the User Guide until you have it practically memorized!)

The other thing to keep in mind is that lower gain/sensitivity settings are easier to use.  I think factory default is 20, but going down to 15 will still finds lots of targets for your practice sessions.  For the first 1 1/2 years I used the Equinox I didn't go above gain/sensitivity of 20.

You gotta learn to walk first before you try to run!

 

Good points GB_Amateur, thank you.

I do not know if I understand your definition of "hot rocks", can you explain it? (When I search for the picture, some music group comes up) In any case, I dug up large stones that the machine found and made noises from.

I went up in a dense forest, by a big mountain, when big rocks, many roots, etc., so was probably a difficult terrain. But I later tried with the detector on a field, set to Field 1 and multi, and then I found a lot easily, found old bullets from Swedish mauser rifles among other things, so it went well. Thought about what you guys wrote in the thread, tried different frequencies, etc. And I think if I found such bullets etc in that field, it is probably  that I can find the musket bullets in the similar field, because they are probably coarser than the bullets from mauser gevers.

 

 

3 hours ago, schoolofhardNox said:

 

 

3 hours ago, schoolofhardNox said:

 

 

Thank you very much schoolofhardNox.

Interesting about the battles. Yes Massachusetts, I guess that makes sense, in the east coast in the heart of the oldest parts of USA, many battles in the history there I guess.

 

schoolofhardNox: "Also plowing can bury deeper the round ball you are looking for."  

Yes, and I guess the machines can also unfortunately break the bullets? Sometimes it can be positive if you are lucky, that the machines, on the contrary, plow up what you want to find so it will be easier to find, right?

 

schoolofhardNox: "I find the smaller round ball are harder to find as they get deeper. So, the lower numbers are usually the small ball. "

Good to know. The small bullets, are they usually from musket pistols, rather from musket rifles?

The musket bullets you found from 1637-1812, how did they look in general? Where they round, and did they look like musket bullets/balls, or where they flat and rather unrecognizable metal objects? After they have been fired and lying in the ground for 200-400 years, maybe they have usually changed a lot and do not look like typical round musket balls/bullets?

schoolofhardNox "A: Yes, go to 20khz or 40 khz if you are having too much trouble in multi near power lines."

And if too noisy, then go down to 15 kHz or 10 kHz etc as Badger-NH wrote, right?

But 20 kHz lean more towards lead (like musket bullets right?) as Badger-NH pointed out, but just a slight advantade over 10 or 15, the differences is not to big right, is that your experience too?

And then first use a recovery speed as you wrote 3, or 4 as Badger-NH wrote, but then if too much noise then raise it to 5-6, and in extreme amount of iron, raise to 7 or 8, you do that too?

On 8/20/2020 at 10:30 PM, Badger-NH said:

 

A false signal is one that is caused by the ground and not a metal target. False signals are random beeps caused by the ground conditions. They move around and cannot be pinpointed. If you are experiencing ground noise, that is when you need to do the GB procedure.

 

When I tried yesterday and searched in the woods, it started beeping, then I used pinpoint and it gave sound several times, in a couple of places, but when I then picked the detector up and used pinpoint again at the same spots, the sound was gone and it no longer makes sounds and it happens quite often. What could it be due to?

 

By the way, do you guys hunt with the headphones or without them? I have been hunting with my brothers and then without headphones so we can all hear the sounds, but I read somewhere that some people think that you hear better with the headphones and that you otherwise risk to miss some sound, that is hard to hear otherwise? What do you think about it?

 

On 8/21/2020 at 9:36 PM, GB_Amateur said:

Small rusted iron (typically nails) and ground sound quite similar.  But if pumping the coil up and down *everywhere* gives sounds then your ground balance is off.  If pumping the coil in several different locations typically results in no noise then it's ground balanced and the 'grunts' are iron.

Important Note:  The above applies if you are *not* discriminating out the lower TID channels.  When you turn on the Equinox it comes on *with* discrimination meaning (unless you've programmed it differenly than default) the low channels are ignored -- in sound, not in Digital Target ID.  So push the horseshoe button and notice that the incomplete circle (approximately 8 o'clock to 4 o'clock) of boxes around the outer, upper part of the screen are all dark.  Then check your ground.

Some (like I) always have iron (low channels) active, but turn down the volume some.  If you leave the iron volume turned up the sounds can get tedious if you're in iron infested areas, which is pretty common around buildings, for example.  But other people like to block out the iron tones completely.  There are 50 Digital Target ID notches (-9 thru 40) on the Equinox and you can blank out any you desire.  Detector presets have the lowest 10 or so blocked.

2nd note:  I'm specifically talking about the Minelab Equinox, but most detectors with ground balancing capabilities work similarly when it comes to ground noise and how to know when you're out-of-balance.

 

Great points, thank you GB_Amateur.

 

On 8/21/2020 at 8:52 PM, Stu said:

Any special things to think about, or something else?

Hi, no idea on detector settings - I was reading the comments but looking at the field!

I have found musket balls in all kinds of places, but if a battlefield the sides of the ridges, the old treeline (if there was a map or any clues it has moved?), hedges, or a description of the action. The tactics of the time may give some clues, routes in, numbers of men in lines shooting at who, where?.

Each find is likely to be a clue to a bigger picture. Un-fired musket shot (normally no marks),  spent (just grazed slightly) or direct impact  - normally flattened or mushroomed. Other finds would be expected. The or something else in such a big field is to keep a note of what found where - it makes the big picture easier to see in the long run. Hope you find what you are after.

 

Hi and thanks for your reply Stu.

I have also thought, and tried to figure out what it might have looked like 300 years ago. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be much information or maps in the place I want to search.

Thanks for the info, I have not thought that the musket shots often become flat, very good to know, and that is the un-fired ones. What about does fired, that miss the targets and did go down in the ground in battlefields, what could and should we expect them to look like after 300 years in the ground, in general?

On 8/21/2020 at 2:11 PM, Badger-NH said:

Notching refers to accepting/rejecting certain targets in the ID scale. Learn how on page 49 of the manual.

Unlike metal targets, false signals will not repeat the tone over the same spot. Just swinging the coil over it should confirm if there is no target there.

20 kHz might have a slight advantage on lead but if 10 or 15 kHz are quieter, I'd choose one of those. On musket balls, the differences will be trivial. Musket balls are very dense targets. The detector will easily pick them up.

I don't know about your phone. I guess if it is causing interference, you could not carry it on you.

 

 

Thanks for your reply Badger-NH.

"Unlike metal targets, false signals will not repeat the tone over the same spot. Just swinging the coil over it should confirm if there is no target there."

Except from false targets as hot stones, right?

You wrote earlier that: "Looking at your field, I would use Field 1."

Why do you prefer field 1 instead of field 2 in this case? Is there anything about field 1 that makes it more convenient and better to find musket bullets than  field 2?

 

 

Thank you Badger-NH and GB_Amateur for the help.

"Notching means discriminating out a specific ID number or group of numbers."

How do I do that?

"If you don't hear any false signals coming from the ground, then the machine is okay, you don't need to ground balance.

A false signal is one that is caused by the ground and not a metal target. False signals are random beeps caused by the ground conditions. They move around and cannot be pinpointed. If you are experiencing ground noise, that is when you need to do the GB procedure. "

Aha, ok so if I suspect it is false signals, the way to find out is to use the pinpoint, if it sounds as usual when I use the metal detector but does not sound when I use pinpoint, there is false signals caused by the ground?

Does the sound, sound very different when there are false signals caused by the ground, unlike the usual signals caused by metals?

"If Multi is too noisy, 15 kHz is a good all around frequency to use. 10 kHz leans more towards silver. 20 kHz leans more towards gold or lead. If necessary, pick the frequency that is quietest. The differences are minimal."

By the way I think muskel balls/bullets, often are made off lead, so 20 kHz might be ideal for searching for it?

Do you think I should leave my cell phone in the car?

Hmm, I also just found this video, he says it is  not necessary to do ground balancing. 7:13 in. What do you guys think about that?

 

I did search on "Equinox 800 EMI" on youtube and found this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV2fVGd17iY

He changed from multi-frequency to single-frequency and then the crazy sound disappeared.

So maybe to problem I have been having is either one or all of this?

1. I did not do Noise Cancel and Ground Balance.

2. I should when I hear a lof of noises all the time, switch from multi frequency  to singel frequency.

3. I have had a mobile phone in my pocket, it could give EMI?

"A cell phone operating in your pocket will drive the 800 and 600 mad as well." ?

Should I leave my phone in the car, while hunting on the field?

 

 

2 hours ago, Badger-NH said:

 

Hello, I was adding my advice to what had already been posted.

You should always Noise Cancel and Ground Balance. They aren't settings. You don't set them. The NC and GB procedure will set them for you.

My Equinox will pick up EMI from power lines as far as 500 feet away depending on how much electric current is running through them. I generally find I can set my sensitivity higher near power lines using the single frequencies.

If Multi is too noisy, 15 kHz is a good all around frequency to use. 10 kHz leans more towards silver. 20 kHz leans more towards gold or lead. If necessary, pick the frequency that is quietest. The differences are minimal.

Looking at your field, I would use Field 1. Set the Sensitivity as high as it will go as long as the detector remains fairly stable and quiet.

Use a Recovery speed of 4 to 6. Setting it at 4 will get more depth but if there is a lot of iron or hot rocks, you may need to raise it to 5 or 6 for better separation. If there is an extreme amount of iron, like multi iron targets within every square foot, you might need to raise it to 7 or 8.

Hot rocks can be a nuisance. Ignore them as best you can. If they all ID the same, you could notch them out.

Lowering the sensitivity will give you less chatter from the ground but will also lessen your depth.

I don't recommend Gold mode until you know the machine better but by all means give it a try. Use Gold 1, Multi-IQ, single tone, all metal off, Tracking GB off. If I find I'm digging too much trash, I like to raise the discrimination to 10 or even 20 sometimes. Gold mode gets great depth and the targets really jump out at you, but it takes some getting used to and isn't appropriate for all sites. I use it in the woods where there is very little iron trash. Occasionally fields.

MA stands for Massachusetts.  I'm in NH which is New Hampshire. They are both states in the USA.

What part of the world are your fields located?

 

 

 

Thanks for the info Badger-NH.

The fields are located in Sweden.

I should always Noise Cancel and Ground Balance?

But I read on the manual about park 1-2 and field 1-2: "Field 1 Multi-IQ processes a lower frequency weighted multi-frequency signal, as well as using algorithms that maximise ground balancing for soil, to achieve
the best signal to noise ratio. "

It maximise ground balance and gives the best signal noise ratio? Does it not mean that it performs ground balancing and  Noise Cancel automatically if I select these modes? Why do I need to do Noise Cancel and Ground Balance then?

How do I notch the noise from hots rocks out? Aha from Recovery speed 4, to 5-6 to notch the noice from hots rocks out?

Hmm, I want ta have as much depth as possible, because I do not know have deep the bullets may be, if they are still there after 300 years. But as you wrote if the noise is to much, and make noise about everything, then I guees it will be hard finding it anyway. How much depth do you think I will loose by lowering the sensitivity?

Sounds good about Gold mode, would you say it will go deeper than the field mode?

13 hours ago, schoolofhardNox said:

I do a lot of hunting for round ball and have probably dug near 600 of them from various 17th and 18th century sites. Fields can be tricky for the Equinox, especially if plowed. I use gold 2 , but if takes some getting used to. Otherwise the field modes work well. I'm in MA. We can have some odd dirt sometimes. The larger ball are not usually an issue. Set recovery speed to 3 and hunt slow and steady. The smaller ball, under 40 caliber, can come in spotty and vague sometimes. Dig iffy targets in the lower number range to make sure you do not miss the small shot. If there is too much EMI switch to 20khz or 40khz. Good luck and let us know how you do.  As a side note, if you have a GPS, try recording the round ball you find to get an overall picture of how they are dispersed.

Thanks again schoolofhardNox. Cool that you found so much of them! From some war?

Some questions.

What do you mean, that  "Fields can be tricky for the Equinox, especially if plowed" ? Does it become more difficult to find objects then? Why?

What would you say are the benefits of using Gold 2, over Field 1 or 2 when looking for musket balls in the fields? Does it work better or as well as field modes, would you say?

Sorry, what is MA?

Sorry for my bad english, but what do you mean with this: "Dig iffy targets in the lower number range to make sure you do not miss the small shot. "?

" If there is too much EMI switch to 20khz or 40khz."  If it's interference from powerline, then I go from multi to a single frequency, I understand what you mean here I think.

When it's EMI, how do I know? How does the equinox-800 react then, to tell me that there are disturbances? Is it when it beeps all the time on everything?

Do you know how close to a power line the metal detector needs to be to be disturbed by it? Is it if you stand under it, or a few meters away or is it a longer distance as well?

Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Badger-NH said:

Hello, the best advice is to read the manual a few times. 

Power lines can cause a lot of interference. Using the single frequencies instead of Multi might help quiet it down.

Good looking field. There should be some nice coins and relics out there. Musket balls are pretty common. Every field has them. You don't need any special settings to find musket balls.

Thank you Badger-NH. So all modes are as good at finding musket balls on fields, would you say?

Just using single frequencies near powerlines, and use Field mode or Park mode, it does not matter, would you say? No special settings needed, no ground balancing or noise cancelling or the like?

Thank you very much for the information Cudemark, FloridaSon and schoolofhardNox.

I am very new to using metal detectors, so I have a lot to learn.

But when I use fields and parks, it's like sometimes it makes sounds all the time, even when there is no metal under the ground. And most recently it sounded over some stones, why does it do that? Should it not be automatically set the ground balance etc, in those modes, to remove such sound that is not metal? And should it not automatically remove soil etc, that might otherwise sound and fool one? And also i tried, laid out a coin and tried field and park, sometimes finding only on the field mode, but not the park mode. How can that be?

 

I want to ask for tips and advice regarding finding old bullets from muskets in fields (from the 18th century, about 300 years old, from an old battlefield), using the Equinox 800. The site has not been searched, but farmers with tractors have plowed the field over the years.

Bullets something like those:

In a field like this:

Any tips on what settings and tricks one should use on the metal detector? Any special frequencies? Any special things to think about, or something else?

If there is also an powerline nearby, is there anything special one should think about?

Thanks.

 

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

Thanks for compiling these and posting them for our use/interest.  IMO, the person who gave the #3 answers has best confirmed what outsiders (posters here on detectorprospector.com -- not connected with Minelab) have deterimined independently.  If there seems to be a conlict between the three, go with #3's answers.

Thank you too. Good to know about answer 3.

Hello,

Thanks for the help in this thread.

I also sent before and asked Minelab about the differences between 600 and 800. I Have compiled the questions and answers below, I got three answers from three different persons. In case anyone else here is interested in the information.

 

 

Answer 1:

 

"1.     "What is the difference between Equinox 600 and Equinox 800? (Beside the gold mode.)"

Here are the Differences:

EQX 800 has 4modes and  EQX 600 has 3modes each modes has 2 Customs Detect Profiles so EQX800 has 8 Customs Profile and EQX 600 has 6 Custom Profiles.

In Frequency Operations, EQX 800 has Multi,5,10,15,20,40khz while the EQX 600 has Multi,5,10,15khz only.

 

2.    "What do I miss if I buy 600 instead of 800 in practice? Does the 800 find things farther down the ground or the like? Or are they equal in that regard?"

The EQX 800 here is the best all-around detectors, but if you like only Coin and treasure (beach detecting) Then EQX 600 does not have any big difference on the performance use. On EQX 600 will not get extra features and some accessories like AptX (low latency) Wireless Headphones and WM 08 on EQX 800, In EQX-600 will get normal non-wireless headphones without the WM 08.

 
3.   "Is the 800 better suited for archeology than 600? If so, why?"

Not really have big difference on this purpose, finding large target with the use of the larger coils.

 

4.   "I have heard the 600 has 5kHz, 10kHz, 15kHz and the 800 also has 5kHz, 10kHz, 15kHz, but also has 20kHz, 40kHz. I have also heard that in Multi-IQ the 600 can also use 20kHz, 40kHz, but only the 800 can use 20 and 40 khz in individual frequency mode. Is this true? (Yes it is True)+Multi."

Both of the device has Multi IQ (simultaneous frequencies) according to their range frequency levels available. Both of them has manual frequencies operation running single frequency base on their range. The higher frequency 20kHz and 40kHz suites for Gold prospecting to find small golds on high mineralise ground, that also makes the machine stable on those difficult ground conditions.

 

5.   "If so, what are the benefits of this in practice, can you give an example? When is it necessary to use them individually? And what is the difference and advantage in practice using 20 and 40 khz in individual frequency mode (800), instead of using them all in MultiIQ (600 and 800)?"

The Difference is that EQX 800 has more features to use find smaller target and better sensitivity when come to Gold Prospecting. But on Coin and treasure performance they can perform almost the same. If you’re looking on specific target then run on manual frequency and if your new on that area and want to cover all the target on more stable performance then run on Auto or Multi IQ (simultaneous frequency).

 

Hope that I answered all your questions.

To know about more detailed specifications of this two devices you can visit our website. https://www.minelab.com/
 

With all your questions, I’m sure you have  the ideas on this matter. "

 

 

Answer 2:

"There are a number of differences between the Equinox 800 and the Equinox 600.

The Equinox 800 comes with the ML80 Bluetooth LL headphones, the Equinox 600 comes with wired headphones. The Equinox 600 does have wireless capability if you have your own Bluetooth headphones but they must be at least Bluetooth V4.2 or higher to work with the detector.

The Equinox 800 has a number of advanced settings that the Equinox 600 does not have, depending on your level of expertise will depend on if this is relevant to your detecting style or not.

These advanced settings can be read in detail in the instruction manual (attached to this email) on pages 38, 43, 45, 47, 48, 50 & 52.

 
The depth ability of the Equinox 800 and the Equinox 600 will be the same if they have been setup the same. If you are working in heavily mineralised soils with iron ore in them then the gold prospecting mode on the Equinox 800 will give you more depth than the Field mode on the Equinox 600. This will depend on the soil you are trying to detect in though.

In regards to detecting for archaeology this will depend on the soil type. If the soil isn’t full of iron ore then either detector will suit purpose.

Yes it is true the Equinox 600 has 3 manual frequencies 5, 10 & 15kHz. The Equinox 800 has 5 manual frequencies 5, 10, 15, 20 & 40kHz.

The Multi-IQ signal is the same in each detector."

 

 

My question: Thank you very much for the information.

And the Multi-IQ signal is it 5-40khz on both the 600 and the 800?

Answer: "The exact frequencies that are transmitted in the Multi-IQ setting have not been released to us from our engineering team to protect the company IP.

We can tell you that they are a mixture of the manual frequencies."

 

Answer 3:

"Please see my responses to your questions below.

 

1. "What is the difference between Equinox 600 and Equinox 800? (Beside the gold mode.)"

There are both function and accessory differences between both units. On the accessory side BlueTooth Headphones and the WM08 (which allows you to pair via WiStream with detector, cutting latency down to 19 milliseconds) come in the 800 box and just wired headphones in the 600. On the function side the EQ800 can run the additional 20khz & 40khz single frequencies which the 600 does not. The 800 has 1-8 recovery speed options, vs. 600 with 1-3.  The 800 also has more customizable settings if you require them.

 

2. " What do I miss if I buy 600 instead of 800 in practice? Does the 800 find things farther down the ground or the like? Or are they equal in that regard?"

The hardware of the Equinox is the same in both the 800 and 600. If using multi frequency on Beach, park, and field mode they will operate the same.  There are some setting changes you can make on the 800, such as recovery speed, that will allow to go somewhat deeper at the lower number, and will give you more separation on the higher. The additional customizable settings also allow you to set up a search profile for a particular site that you may be spending a long period of time on.

 

3. "Is the 800 better suited for archaeology than 600? If so, why?"

Both would be suitable.

 

4. "I have heard the 600 has 5kHz, 10kHz, 15kHz and the 800 also has 5kHz, 10kHz, 15kHz, but also has 20kHz, 40kHz. I have also heard that in Multi-IQ the 600 can also use 20kHz, 40kHz, but only the 800 can use 20 and 40 khz in individual frequency mode. Is this true?"

You can run the 20/40khz, in single mode, only on the 800 and not the 600.  In either unit, when in Multi Frequency, the frequencies being run are dependent on the mode you have selected, and not the single frequencies.  That is one of the most important advantages of Multi IQ, the detector is not limited only to the frequencies that can be run individually, but the machine adjusts the frequencies based on the mode.

https://www.minelab.com/multi-iq

 

5. "If so, what are the benefits of this in practice, can you give an example? When is it necessary to use them individually? And what is the difference and advantage in practice using 20 and 40 khz in individual frequency mode (800), instead of using them all in MultiIQ (600 and 800)?"

I always detect in Multi IQ and very little in the individual frequencies. The clear advantage of Multi IQ over other detectors is that it allows you a search range that single frequency detectors simply do not. For example where I am located here in Ireland I do a lot of beach detecting. No other detector gives me the ability to so seamlessly move from wet sand to dry sand while detecting … again the magic of Multi IQ.  Equinox was designed to run in Multi Frequency mode the vast majority of the time. We however wanted to offer the end user the chance to switch to single frequency if they felt they needed it as an option. Any end user buying an EQUINOX for the first time will be coming from a single frequency world so they will be in a position from the outset to compare both options.

 

Do you know anybody that is using an EQUINOX. If they have switched from a different model then I am sure they will be able to also let you know what their user experience has been like.

 

I hope this also helps you with your decision."

Thanks for the help Randy Dee, Chase Goldman, and GB_Amateur 🙂