Newbie Help

[Abstemious]

Hey all. So there's this spot near me, it's an old WWII prison camp for conscientious objectors and such, desert land, sagebrush. I've been here three times recently, and it's pretty frustrating (equinox 800). I'm using Park1 and 2, getting constant signals all over the place (did noise cancel and ground balance), all the way from 1-40 lol, the place is full of old building debris mostly, I'm getting bolts and old rusty iron of every conceivable size, tho I'm trying to not dig "iron" numbers. Also occasional aluminum nails and old bottle caps. I'm trying the trick of using differnent freqs to see if the number changes and I still seem to be getting mostly iron? Any advice would be much appreciated, I might settle for searching only for solid numbers for clad coins in a very narrow range, just to start digging something besides rusty things. I was even wondering if the machine's working right, but I suppose all newbs do that, I think it's just new user and tough area. Thanks

[2Valen]

You also may want to be sure that you have the newest update. When I bought mine and started to learn it I then got the update. Talk about having to learn the 800 again, and I am still learning the unit.

Good luck and happy hunting!

[RickUK]

If the site is littered with non desirable targets ie iron etc then possible the best way forward would be by using the smaller 6'' coil and swing methodically slow and low.

On some of my sites which have alot of nails and other habitational rubbish a small coil is the best combination,i would use Park 1 or 2 and use AM mode and dig everything over 2 that way you wont miss anything decent.,but in trashy site situations small coils in my mind are the only way forward.

[palzynski]

Hi , yes with the Equinox the 6inches coil will work better than the 11 stock coil.on iron trashed areas . But the Nox 6inches coil is quite small and its surface coverage  limits it to small areas. 

Otherwise the best setting that I found on my the Equinox 11inches  coil :

Field2 , sens 25 , iron bias from 4 to 6

Iron bias is very important , it is a kind of filter of the ferrous . The higher Iron bias is set and the more the ferrrous are filtered, then the quieter is the detector . You loose a little depth when iron bias is set high but this is not the most important on iron trashed areas

However for iron trashed sites the MLs are not the best to my opinion and specialized detectors will do better .For example the XP Orx or Deus with a 9inches white HF coil gives excellents results on such areas , because they are faster and more reactive than the MLs multifreqs . Also they are much quieter . The XP 9inches coil offers a good surface coverage while being excellent to pick up good targets amoung the ferrous.. 

For info I have also a Vanquish 540 with the V8 and V12 coils. The V8 coil is quite good on iron trashed areas , and with its 8inches size  provides a better surface coverage than the Equinox 6inches coil

 

[Abstemious]

Hey all, thanks for the settings and advice, will try it. Newest update, didn't notice anything lol. Man couldn't possibly dig everything, constant hits wherever I step, must be something good in there tho. For one, this park was used for decades as a party site everything from biker gangs to teenagers, one of which was me... changed so much can't quite recognize the spots, will keep lookin! Thanks again

[2Valen]

1 hour ago, Abstemious said:

constant hits wherever I step, must be something good in there tho.

My back yard is exactly like that, but I have also dug up a 1886 Indian Head penny from there.

There is a lot of trash that has been thrown down there, only because it used to be an old church.

There is no way for me to get rid of all the trash because I do want a green yard without all the holes.

Good luck on learning your 800 as it will serve you well.

[palzynski]

7 hours ago, Abstemious said:

Hey all, thanks for the settings and advice, will try it. Newest update, didn't notice anything lol. Man couldn't possibly dig everything, constant hits wherever I step, must be something good in there tho. For one, this park was used for decades as a party site everything from biker gangs to teenagers, one of which was me... changed so much can't quite recognize the spots, will keep lookin! Thanks again

Yes same for me I didnt notice anything with the last Equinox update . All the updates that I have done up to now either with my XP Deus or Equinox did not fundamentally change the detector behaviour , it rather added functionalities like new coils compatibility and so on .. Although these updates are a very good thing , they will not transform your detector in a "miracle' machine ..  So will not transform your Equinox in an iron trashed area specialized machine like the Deus , Orx , Tesoro Lobo , Tek G2 ,  etc ...

[Guest Tnsharpshooter]

Sounds like a challenging site even for real experienced detectorist.

My advice.  Hunt periphery areas of where highest concentration iron is.  You may benefit from engaging horseshoe button on Nox.  Walks around and listen.  Located perimeter areas where iron gets less concentrated.  Then detect (hunt) these areas.  Ground balance over clean ground doing auto GB per manual.  Run field 2 or park 2  using 50 tones  and Sens around 21-22.  Iron bias 4 using FE iron bias.  Speed 6 multi freq.  Detect with horseshoe button disengaged These settings to get you started.  Use stock coil.  Swing not too fast.

cheers