Iron Mineralization Legend Vs Equinox 800 Video

[Jeff McClendon]

I made this 12 minute video because several people on another forum asked for it. I wish I could have made it outside but weather conditions made that impossible.

There has also been a lot of discussion about the Equinox 900 vs 800 vs Nokta Legend as the way to upgrade from Equinox 600s, Vanquish models, X-Terra Pros and versions of the Nokta Simplex or other older single frequency VLFs.

There have been issues with performing online software updates for the Nokta Legend. I had them early on also.  I have had issues with Deus 1, Deus 2 and Garrett APEX online software updates too. As far as the Legend, there have been some valid issues.

There have also been some less experienced detectorists and total newbie Legend owners that for obvious reasons, don't know if their Legend is working correctly or not. We are seeing the same thing here on this forum with the Manticore and the Equinox 900. For me anyway, I am also really just getting familiarized with some of these newer detectors too but I feel pretty confident using the Equinox 800 and the Legend even though I am still learning.

Add iron mineralization into that mix along with using default settings which often include total iron target ID response rejection and it can really look like ones detector simply doesn't work. Plus, all of these newer, very versatile simultaneous multi frequency detectors are great but their versatility is also part of the confusion. There are lots of settings and getting them out of whack for the target and ground conditions presented is easy to do.

So that is why I made this video. I wish I had seen one like this about 10 years ago when I started branching out into coin and jewelry detecting. 

I'm running similar settings on these two detectors with sensitivity between 18 and 20, recovery speed 5, iron bias/iron filter 1 and the tone breaks for the two tone Field M2 and Field 2 are at 10 and 0. Both detectors were ground balanced off camera. I had the Equinox Gold 1 threshold a bit too high.......my bad! 

Thanks for reading and for watching.

https://www.facebook.com/100017775675679/videos/2195298124009796/

 

 

[HardPack]

49 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Thanks for reading and for watching.

Jeff,

Apparently, the Facebook link is broken. Can you upload to YouTube?

[Jeff McClendon]

3 minutes ago, HardPack said:

Jeff,

Apparently, the Facebook link is broken. Can you upload to YouTube?

I tried the Facebook link right after reading your post. It is working fine for me. Loading it to YouTube takes forever but I might have time to do it later today.

[Digalicious]

The link works fine for me.

Maybe try another browser HardPack.

[HardPack]

1 minute ago, Digalicious said:

Maybe try another browser HardPack.

Probably need a Facebook account. I’m just getting the most popular videos.  Interesting but not related to detecting.
 

1 hour ago, Jeff McClendon said:

I'm running similar settings on these two detectors with sensitivity between 18 and 20, recovery speed 5, iron bias/iron filter 1 and the tone breaks for the two tone Field M2 and Field 2 are at 10 and 0. Both detectors were ground balanced off camera. I had the Equinox Gold 1 threshold a bit too high.......my bad! 

Jeff, 

Do you recall the ground balance number(s) you used? I have been having problems with EQX 900 in the gold modes (GB40) on a high EMI site. May be just the overall volume setting is set to high or the tone volume (12) ran the sensitivity down to  0, still to loud to detect small targets. 

[Jeff McClendon]

1 minute ago, HardPack said:

Probably need a Facebook account. I’m just getting the most popular videos.  Interesting but not related to detecting.
 

Jeff, 

Do you recall the ground balance number(s) you used? I have been having problems with EQX 900 in the gold modes (GB40) on a high EMI site. May be just the overall volume setting is set to high or the tone volume (12) ran the sensitivity down to  0, still to loud to detect small targets. 

Both detectors ground balanced between 1 and 4 on the Central Arizona dirt I was testing with. 
 

A YouTube link will be provided later today. 

[HardPack]

Great, thanks

[HardPack]

11 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Both detectors ground balanced between 1 and 4 on the Central Arizona dirt I was testing with. 
 

The EQX 900 gold mode factory settings discriminates -19-0.  No telling how long it would been before being noticed. Mild ground around here grounds balances in the 30’s on the 900. Add iron masking and we’re talking some big gold and fat dimes. Thanks for posting.

[Jeff McClendon]

3 hours ago, HardPack said:

The EQX 900 gold mode factory settings discriminates -19-0.  No telling how long it would been before being noticed. Mild ground around here grounds balances in the 30’s on the 900. Add iron masking and we’re talking some big gold and fat dimes. Thanks for posting.

Do you still have a Deus? If so, it has a really good iron mineralization meter. I wouldn’t assume anything by the Equinox ground balance numbers.

Just some other possible settings changes for the 900 Gold modes to consider…….turn off ground balance tracking, lower iron bias to 1 or 0 and adjust recovery speed to quiet ground noise if default 5 is not the best setting. I would keep recovery between 3 and 6 however if there is any magnetite/maghemite in the area.

The 900 is an excellent gold prospecting detector and very powerful. Like I showed in the video, turning down sensitivity to get it stable if you have too much EMI will not neuter the 900 similar to how it doesn’t hurt the 800.

Also, the testing in this video with disturbed moderately iron mineralized dirt and fresh targets is probably a worse case scenario for that level of mineralization and in real world conditions both the Legend and Nox 800 might have performed better on established targets in undisturbed dirt.

[HardPack]

I tried the EQX 900 gold modes with the 11 inch coil real quick today. Turned the volume down. It ran more stable than the 10x5 CT but still too much EMI for small target detection on this high EMI site. I’ll try your suggestions with the stock 6 inch coil early next week. But first an area cleared of all the buried iron trash for ground balancing is needed. Small & large rusted iron & tin buried everywhere. Bedrock is slate, no magnetite but a few hot rocks higher on the slope hitting the 1 & 2. Power plant and overhead high voltage lines four miles away. 

Yes, still have the XP Deus plus the 9 inch x35 & 9 inch HF coils. I’ll give the Deus a try after I finish drowning the multi-frequencies in EMI. Thanks