CPT_GhostLight

Awesome finds, strick! It looks like a lot of ladies items in there, so I would think the butterfly buckle is a lady's as well. Ecellent save!

Awesome, thanks, Steve!

While we're on the subject, is there any down-side to using ground tracking on land?

I usually hunt in all metal (no discrimination) mode with the 10x5" coil in highly mineralized parks with FE2=0-2, and have been trying ground tracking after doing an auto ground balance. It quiets my iron ground noise to almost nothing. I'm a little worried that it may be hampering target response in some way, but it seems like it's not. Both ferrous and non-ferrous targets come through loud and clear, but those tiny bits of iron soil noise are gone. 

The last couple of times out, I tested a few areas with tracking on and with tracking off, trying to cover the exact same ground, before and after removing targets, and both modes hit the same targets, with none missed in either mode. Both modes seem to get the same depth too, but tracking ground balance really makes the ground in most places silent. Has anyone else used tracking GB inland?

We really need the experts to weigh in here as I only have a little over a year and a half on my Equinox. But in my high iron mineralized soil I'm noticing a difference. When I started out, it was factory presets Park 1 and Park 2 with 0 Ground Balance all the way. I did okay with that, but as I detected more and in different locations, some ground was just too noisy so I started doing the Auto Ground Balance (ground grab) and it tamed the wild ground alot and I noticed more good signal coming through. Of couse each place has different amounts of good targets, so that is anectdotal at best. But I started using Auto GB more and more when iron tones from ground noise becomes unbearable and it quiets the noise down quite a bit. I even played around with Ground Tracking after doing an Auto GB and that makes the ground really quiet. So much so that I'm almost afraid to use it. Anyway, I figured out in the iron-hot Colorado soil, I pretty much have to use Ground Balance.  

You went above and beyond to find her phone. Even if she never finds out, you did more than most to find it and try to get it back to her. Maybe someday you'll make contact, but you should feel great that you remembered where she was frantically looking for her phone, you went back there months later, climbed up to where it was lost, and you actually found it! That counts in my book. ?

I'm not a diver, and maybe some real divers here could weigh in here, but I feel like many folks are misinterpreting the whole "waterproof" badging of some detectors and should consider some things if they are expecting to dive with or use a detector submerged for extended periods of time, specially in the ocean.

First off an IP rating does not guarantee an electronic instrument is dive worthy (true waterproof at depth in large bodies of water). An IP68 rating means a device is dustproof and can be submerged for longer than 30 minutes to at least 1 meter (3.28 ft), with no pressure rating requirement. According to IEC, manufacturers can determine the duration and depth test, which are typically 30 minutes to 1 hour at 3 meters (9.8 ft). This is usually done in a water container and not in actual ocean and wave pressures. So an IP68 rating is really doesn't mean you can dive with a device. It means it can be dunked and survive.

Clearly the Equinox was not meant to be a dive machine, although some people do use them for shallow diving. It's a wading proof detector. Even Minelab's marketing material states "WATERPROOF - EQUINOX is fully submersible, ideal for detecting at the beach and in rivers, streams and lakes. (3m / 10-feet)." But it does not say for detecting in oceans, or for diving, as opposed to their Excalibur which states; "WATERPROOF - Deep Dive Specialist - 
Waterproof up to 200ft (66m)".

With the new Nokta Legend having the exact same rating, "IP68 Fully submersible up to 3 meters (10ft) and protected from total dust ingress.", I'd be careful about expecting it to be much more waterproof than the Equinox even with a tighter housing and I wouldn't dive with it. 

 Now XP's new Deus II, even though tagged with IP68, exceeds those requirement to 20 meters (65.6 ft) and has addressed pressure differences as well. So I would expect it to be more waterproof than either the Equinox or Legend.

I'm not trying to be critical of the new machines, but wanted to point out things that may help someone who needs a machine they can safely dive with or have their detector submerged for extended periods of time, specially in ocean water. We won't really know what the new machines can do until we've seen them used in the field and underwater by real users, but I'm hoping for the best because there are few choices for the divers out there.

14 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

I got it mostly to "Take one for the team". The discrimination feature really intrigues me, especially for multiple targets in a hole. It will save time in some instances, and get me on to the next dig quicker. Seems to work well. I'll probably do a separate write up on it after some field trials. ? so far so good.

Thanks for that, F350P, I look forward to your full review.

6 minutes ago, mh9162013 said:

My guess is that the boost setting might cause it to false more often. So by giving it a "boost" setting, people know it's not a setting they can rely on for most hunting conditions. This means less complaining from the customer when it falses.

The boost mode probably drains the battery faster too. 

I guess that's not too bad, that's only 3 ounces heavier than the Nox 15x12" coil. 

Does anyone know how much the Arrow coil weighs?

How much does the Arrow coil weigh?

3 minutes ago, Rick N. MI said:

SMF has pushed vlf's ahead. How much more can be engineered out of vlf technology.

How about an SMF VLF/PI hybrid? That would be interesting. 

2 hours ago, strick said:

Great story  and nice pics...I was on  pins and needles there for a moment...did she give you an explanation as to why it was not in the search area she told you guys to hunt? 

strick

My hunting partner who is a very accomplished ring finder told me more than half the rings he finds are nowhere near where people think they lost it. This certainly applied here.

She didn't notice the ring was gone until she went back in the house. She had been wearing gloves while working in the chicken coop, but couldn't remember exactly where she took them off, assuming it was somewhere along the path from the coop to the house. From where I found the ring, she probably took her gloves off after exiting the coop and the ring went flying downhill toward the hose without her seeing or feeling it come off. It did fit very loosely on her finger. Her husband told her they were going to go get that ring sized down the very next day. ?

That is so awesome! It looks like you and Chase had a fun time and you both found some good stuff. But that Reale, wow, way to go! Congrats!

Excellent find! ... I think the pirate flag would draw attention. Maybe replace the dive flag with a plastic shark fin to keep people far away from you. ?

Years ago, when I first started looking at getting into metal detecting, I was into gold panning and dreamed of nugget hunting with a detector. Most gold machines that I could find were pricey and Minelab was the pinnacle of gold machines with astronomical prices, so I could only dream. I later got a Fisher Gold Bug 2 which I still have, but life got in the way of detecting until some years later. When I got back into the hobby, the Equinox was coming out and I was "retiring", so it was doable and I'm very happy with that machine. I have since looked at PI machines as the next level, but $6K for a PI is back in dreamland for me. Of course I'm only a hobbyist so I get it, but it would be nice if hobbyists could get in the PI game for under $2K, and with the way the economy is going, even $2K is probably not going to be realistic for many detectorists.

3 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Great story, CPT_G.  Another example of not taking the 'eyewitness' account literally.  Could it have rolled down the hill and been stopped by the hose?

Looks like you're making good use of the Coiltek Nox 5"x10" and a Steve shaft.

Thanks GB_A! Yessir, I love the Coiltek 10x5 and Steve's Rod on the Nox. A match made in Detector Heaven! ? 

Interesting debate, but I have a question. Since all the SMF machines (except Vanquish) can also run in single frequency modes, why would you need a single frequency machine, except something highly specialized, like tuned to meteorites or something? I understand maintaining SF machines for the low end market, but as Jeff mention, with the Vanquish 340 coming in under $200 US, The low end SF machines might have to be in the sub $100-$150 range to sell after a while. As I see it (and I could be wrong), if you have one of the four SMF machines (not Vanquish), you have mutiple SF machines and a SMF machine in one unit. What else would you need, except maybe a PI machine?

2 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

If you guys want to have a debate about who stole what from who, or contrast brands, take it over to the appropriate forum. I promise I will delete any more posts here that are about anything other than Nokta/Makro products. So just expect it when it happens. Same goes for the other brand specific forums, all of which are for fans/supporters of each brand. The Detector Advice & Comparisons Forum is brand agnostic, and there specifically to keep brand comparisons off the brand specific forums. I'm serious about this as I have seen brand wars/flaming ruin other forums, and frankly you don't drop into a Ford Forum to talk crap about Ford. It's simply not polite, and I like polite people. 

As they say in law enforcement, “thank you for your cooperation” 

I for one have no intention of debating anyone. I apologize to all parties if my post of Nov. 19th offended anyone. I was going through some stuff and I'm sure it colored my posts around that time. I am better now and hopefully back to normal and I am going to keep an open mind about the Legend and everything else that comes along. Whether I buy it or not, I hope it does well as more good detectors being offered to the hobby is a good thing for all involved. ?

Here's a new pinpointer from Quest that has discrimination.

Quest Xpointer Max

I would ask some of our British members. The UK seems to have figured out a way to make a law that benefits the government, archaeologists, and detectorists. They all seem pretty happy with it.

That's what I love about this forum. Here we can express our ideas and opinions and have differences of opinions without bashing each other or calling each other names like they do on some other forums. When people discuss ideas openly and respectfully to each other, minds can remain open and listen to each other. Sometimes this can change open minds or we can agree to disagree, and that's okay too. Civility has a home here. It's a rare space... cherish it.

On 11/27/2021 at 8:49 AM, locator said:

Great thread, CPT_GhostLight.??

Mine is nothing special, too, but it is really comfy and may carry all my detecting stuff.

Excellent rig, you can't go wrong with army gear! I love the harness. I might have to add one to my belt so it doesn't fall down all the time. Great idea!