GB_Amateur

Andy, hope your invitation is long standing because being able to take one's time at such an historic site has to be the way to approach it. Definitely post pics of your finds (it's pretty easy as even I've shown), despite if they seem modest by British standards. My wife is supportive but that's as far as it goes -- she has her own hobbies. No dogs but the cats couldn't care less as long as I don't bring home any feline competition. Tomorrow is a US holiday (so as not to rattle you Brits I won't mention which one ?) and I'll be able to get in a few hours before the family reunions, barbecues, fireworks, etc. (and humid heat) commence. Good fortune in your hunts!

Here's an ironic twist -- you know those ads on the top and sides of the forum? One just showed up for silicone wedding bands. You probably think I'm kidding (wish I were) but you'll see them pretty soon, I suspect. I guess they're not selling enough breast implants anymore and they've got to make their money somehwere. At least (if really silicone) they won't trigger our detectors!

A while back (last autumn?) you broke the forum into different topics. That seemed to allow people faster access to the topics they were interested in and less scanning/searching through posts they weren't. IMO that worked well. In the last several months the Equinox Fan Club (a special sub-forum) appears to have dominated the traffic. I see the advantage of that special forum and I do think it needs to continue. However, now that much of the excitement, anticipation, frustration, etc. has calmed down significantly I wonder if many of the "finds" reports being posted there should revert to the (now) traditional forums (coins and relics, jewelry, etc.). If a topic/post is primarily questions or comments about settings, features, peripherals, etc. then the Fan Club forum still seems like the appropriate spot. Even though I have an Equinox, I've wondered if the 'club' aspect has turned away and/or maybe even hurt some feelings of those who don't share in that common bond. They all use detectors and dig interesting stuff -- that is one of the things that bring us together here. Why don't we join them back on the appropriate forums when reporting our finds?

Welcome, Andy! Sounds like you are off and running with your Equinox. You detectorists in the old country have the advantage on us by a couple thousand years of lost valuables, but I guess that means a couple thousand more years of trash, too. ?

Are you running with discriminate on or off (toggle horseshoe button)? My guess is that you are running with discrimination and missing the low conductor signal because it is below threshold. I suspect in "all metal" you will get a high tone one direction and a low tone the other. I haven't noticed this much with the Eqx (more frequent with other detectors) and one time I dug a target it was a keeper. However what Mark said about possibly "some type of iron" is the likely culprit. Until you know the (any) detector inside and out, I'd just dig it. That's the best way to learn.

Nice haul, Dan, especially the silver! Did you leave the ground balance setting at 0? About how deep were your key finds?

I don't understand what this video shows. He adjusted iron bias (Eqx 600 so range is {0,1,2,3}) but I didn't notice much, if any difference in the signals. Also, I wish he had used all metal mode in all his testing (just saw that on in the very first run with iron bias = 0).

Quite a day, FT! Virgin old homesites are what most of us coin hunters live for. That is very high gain. I've never been able to get my Eqx quiet above 23, and most of the time I hunt in 20 or lower. Keep in mind that higher gain also increases the ground interference (and possibly masking if in iron infestation), so even though in air tests that adds to depth, in the ground it can do just the opposite. But bottom line is that you were finding the goodies so your setting must have been pretty decent.

I see a connection....

Welcome, Ruthless! I see 'Colorado' is your location. If you're in or near Denver I suggest attending one of the monthly meetings of the Eureka Club: http://www.eurekathc.org/ Lots of friendly, knowledgeable people there who are happy to help and advise. Also check out Gold-N-Detectors (and visit with Louise and Bill) in Golden: https://www.goldendetectors.com/ In the meantime you've come to a great place to gain knowledge on detectors and detecting.

What this thread (and one or two other recent ones) just made me realize: Make a list of the longest running (in market) detectors in history. Here are 4 that may be in the top 5: Fisher Gold Bug 2, Fisher CZ3, White's MXT, and White's GMT. What do they have in common? Pretty amazing trophy to have on one's mantel in this modern electronic age.

A nice bonus of these is that they come with three sets of the soft plastic earpieces (transparent structures in Steve's pic above) to accomodate different ear sizes. For $40 the ergonomics is very good.

https://www.ebay.com/p/Bose-SoundSport-In-Ear-Only-Headphones-Black/238696192?iid=263520826168&chn=ps were recommended by Steve H. and have worked well for me. They are comfortable and stay in place pretty well. I use them with the WM08 receiver which I put in a shirt pocket. I've been using these for over two years with my other detectors (in those cases with the Deteknix/Quest transmitter-receiver units). The one downside with using in conjunction with WM08 is that there is no volume adjustment downstream from the Eqx control module. Yes, you can adjust the global volume plus individual tone volume in the Eqx control module but the top end could have higher amplitude, IMO. I set the global volume at max (25) and same for the local volume of the nickel range (TID = 12-13) and high conductive coin range (variable depending if I'm wanting to reject Zincolns or accept Indian Head pennies) and that works, even in my noisy sites. My hearing is probably about average for someone in his mid-60's.

Nice! Here's a similar (but certainly not identical) bottle find (post #30 at bottom of page 2): http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/bottles-glass/239791-who-collects-cobalt-blue-bottles-show-us-2.html

So you don't count this one?

Interesting response by a commentator (seen at end of blog): E.T. on June 3, 2018 at 11:01 There is no uPC inside the coil and it means that there are no “protection codes”! 6 month for R&D and 6 month to start “production” so in spring 2019 we will have a great choice of coils from MarsMD, NEL, MGC Lab and so on! Thanks to great variety of coils Equinox will be extremely popular metal detector! I would have thought just the opposite.

Nice finds, Gerry! I think this is the company that made your spoon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Parker_Company

I tried this technique while out hunting the last couple days. I didn't accept it as the end-all; I know better. What I was tending to see (it's never easy, and I do mean 'never') is that for isolated targets it worked well. However, isolated targets (for me, anway) are the easy ones to figure out. For multiple targets near/under the coil it wasn't as helpful. There are a lot of tricks in metal detecting. In real world trashy sites your bag of tricks needs to be large. Even then I doubt there is any 100% accurate method. If you don't like digging then skip all but the cleanest signals. If you don't like leaving any (potentially) valuable item in the ground then dig-it-all. If you're like most you have to find your own happy medium in between these two extremes. Fill your bag with tricks, but don't expect any (or even all together) to give you Superman's X-ray vision.

Are you doing a (auto) ground balance? If you're lifting your coil slightly at the end of your swing (I know I do) the out-of-balance ground may be the cause of the iron signal. I know the manual says leave the ground balance set to the default (zero) unless you are experiencing ground falsing. The implication is that mild ground doesn't need adjustment. My ground isn't particularly mineralized but I've certainly noticed signals from the ground when the coil gets closer and farther from the surface. I've just gotten into the habit of ground balancing every time out, and sometimes check during a session as it can change even in my mild-to-moderate ground. I'm constantly working on my coil control as I know, particularly for gold hunting, that keeping the coil a consistent height helps. But just like a golf swing, unless you're the 1 in a million born with the knack it takes lots of practice (that is, time in the field).

Mark G. did another video on this issue -- with gold coins and a gold ring. IMO, Mark's videos are always meaningful.

Did you notice the letters/numbers on the first photo, about 6 O'clock, roughly halfway from center to edge? Looks like 'PAS 19' but not sure, especially the 'S'. Somethings that big only hitting 35 makes me think it's not a very high conductor (so it's not copper). What's "an old round"?

Welcome, Michael! Keep us up-to-date on your finds. Don't expect too much out of your Eqx on day 1. You might hit the ground running, but possibly not. Keep it simple and only adjust a bit at a time after you get comfortable with the stock mode settings.

Don't forget the GPAA which I mentioned in the Meet and Greet thread you started. Check out their website: http://www.goldprospectors.org/ There are 17 local chapters in California alone (see the map on the website). Find one (or more) close to you and contact them to find out when and where they will have their next meeting. You don't need to be a member to attend the meetings. The national organization conducts open-to-the-public regional gold shows (as you'll find on the website) -- about 6 each year. They do the Western US in the Jan-May time window and the Eastern US in the Autumn. I don't think they've posted their 2019 shows yet; last two this year are Lawrenceville, GA (20-21 Oct) and Springfield, OH the following weekend. There should be at least one in California early next year. But you don't need to wait for those to attend a local chapter meeting. When you attend a show, make sure to check out the hour-long lecture/presentations which are usually on Saturday. There will likely be at least one on metal detecting for gold.