Chip CT

I think that is a cool find, I do see where you think it could be an eagle but I think its a little to far gone for me to see it. I found a similar button around an 1830 gristmill site in Connecticut it has the shank attached and is 14mm across. Looks like two piece. I didn’t try to identify it as it has a similar amount of corrosion.

Chase, thanks for the clarification, I chose Field 1 more from lack of experience than anything. I figured I was not at the park where there would be more modern trash and clad but long grown over farm fields hoping to find some older coins or buttons. I did not get any coins but did get one ferrous button shank intact but crusted beyond being able to identify it. I figured the site to be mostly iron and planned to dig everything and found lots of iron as I speculated. What would you recommend for a site like this 1830 grist mill. I did detect the river and the side across from the mill now mostly wooded former farm field but the actual mill site is adjacent to a road where there was construction for the road that would have dug the site and foundation below along with all the modern roadside trash.

Thanks guys, I think GB_Amatur’s advice to dig it up may be the best with a site like I was at relics mostly iron not a lot of modern trash. But Steve you state to “listen to the tones” So if I hear you right you are saying that using 50 tones and when finding a large iron target will give the high 39 type tone along with the low -9 to 1 ferrous tone and by training your ear you can then determine the likely target of iron not silver or gold. Makes sense I guess I will need to start setting the tones to 50 and see if I can turn the noise into music. Thanks again, I find the hobby to be challenging and will keep me coming back to get a bit better every time out.

So I am a little unclear here, let me first say this hobby and the equinox are new to me, but I was out at an 1830’s Grist Mill Site this weekend and found mostly iron targets as expected along with a couple of crown bottle caps and beaver tail pop tops and I found that while in Field 1 ground balanced and noise canceled and sensitivity set to 20. I found square nails, and modern nails in the 19 to 35 vid range depending on depth. The 35 was about 4 nails an inch deep all together. I am not using anything other than standard program settings but I am coming to the conclusion that VDI numbers are a guide and not gospel. Yes the tin can rang up a 35 but so did 2 iron plates 1/2” thick 4”x8” one at 2” deep and the other at 6”. I did have a question for the more experienced, I noticed when I had clear ground to swing and then bumped a fern it would give a mid tone but when I pushed the fern out of the way and reswept the area the signal was gone, can a plant contact cause the false signal?

Welcome, glad to see another from CT here. I am up in Litchfield county but will get to the beach every now and again. For now it’s farm fields and old homesites. Maybe we will run into each other one day. Let us know how you do.

I would have to say it started with my grandmother and her love of history. She got me started as she was a member of the DAR and Mayflower society. When I got older a friend that I had worked with, Dan also appreciated history and invited me out to detect with him one day. It took another five years before the kids were old enough to where they could help detect with me. I just bought my first machine earlier this year and my seven year old enjoys helping locate our treasures. I hope this time together will last in her memory and she someday will also take up the search for history.

I just started this hobby and don’t have anywhere near the experience of many of the contributors on here but agree that some simple tweaks could make a big difference in ergonomics for the end user. Having the equinox 600 I immediately noticed the screen is in a neutral position to accommodate a left or right handed swing but seems like it should be able to be tilted so it creates a direct viewing angle same with the handle in general a ball and socket would allow for a little adjustment to find the sweet spot. And as for the counterweight it seems like it would be something that would be included and you add the weight you need. But for a beginner this seems like a pretty awesome machine otherwise.

Thanks to all this is great info, I am brand new to the hobby and the equinox. Looks like I will be adding these books to my reading list

I am a new to detecting starting out with a Minelab Equinox 600, living in Connecticut I will have the chance to work beaches but will usually focus on parks and private sites looking for coins and relics. I have seen already that the Equinox is a fairly advanced machine and will take some time to get used to, so far I have been digging everything and found a few modern coins and a lot of aluminum pop tops, cans and bottle caps. I seem to be picking up a lot from the more experienced users on this forum and appreciate the info and sharing you all do. I will stick with Park 1 , noise balance , and auto ground balance for now until I get the VDI numbers down but hope to branch out as I learn more. Thanks for the great introduction to this hobby

I just got my Equinox 600 and unboxed it, charged overnight and went out in the yard to give it a try. I had the same issue I had to lower the sensitivity to 8 or less. Then it hit me I have an invisible fence to keep the dog in the yard. I went in and unplugged it and tried again. Now I am able to run up at 20-22 on sensitivity and it seems to be working ok in Park 1. I do have a bunch of junk in my yard as it was filled when the house was built and has lots of screws ,nails, bottle caps and scraps of metal but I guess this will only make me a better detector in the long run knowing how to deal with all the junk.