First Day Out With The Nox 800 - Question

[sstephenson]

So much to let sink in here guys. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and experience.

 

[Mark kus]

Everyone has their method of a target ID and I dig a lot of holes but I have learned that’s the only way to find the hidden silver especially in hunted out spots.
I literally wear out a shovel in about a year and a half‘s time also if you do not do that in saltwater you will miss lots of coins especially deep silver most would never dig these signals I seen on saltwater low tide spots I hunt especially with the nox it will false and give negative numbers in the saltwater and I’ve dug very deep silver coins because I don’t pass up those signals.
Mark

 

[sgoss66]

I totally agree, Jimmy. In fact, not digging such signals is one of the strongest reasons a spot is never totally hunted out. Not all such targets are good, but it is almost amazing when one is actually good, it frequently is special. HH jim tn

I respectfully disagree and I will explain why. Doing so, it can talk someone right out of digging a severely masked target. For the most part, I actually stopped doing this. While I am hunting and stumble upon a target, and its severely masked, I will work on it from the very angle as I discovered it. I noticed when I started circling around unknown targets, the majority of time it would talk me right out of digging. Now, I do not do that anymore, my old coin finds have skyrocketed!! Why? I am not overloaded with "should I" or "shouldn't I"

I have a good friend that told me when he hit on a target he would circle around or at least turn 90 degrees and check it. In addition, he told me that if he didn't get a good reading from another angle or at 90 degrees, he left it behind. As I was speaking to him on the phone I said, "Are you nuts you are leaving good stuff behind!!" He questioned me with, "why?" I explained the very reason I shared up above. I then told him, "the next time you go hunting try this method. My buddy calls me a few days later after hunting this old property he and everyone else has pounded. First thing he says to me, "you were right" I responded, "about what?" my buddy explains he would of never of dug this target but kept my suggestion in the back of his mind. He hit an "ok" high tone but when he circled around it all he heard was iron grunts. (he was using the Equinox 800). The only good angle is when he first approached the target.I asked him if he dug it. He told me he was very happy he dug as it was a large cent! He doesn't fiddle around targets anymore like he use to. To each their own.
However, I feel I need to share not only my experience but a good friend of mine. I wish everyone the best in 2022!!

Gents,

Understood, and I agree with you that you will leave some good targets behind at times, if you rotate the target, and don't know what you are listening for... BUT...

I'll offer a counterpoint. The reason I said what I did is that the OP is BRAND NEW on the Equinox, and you guys are talking about trying to "unmask" a partially masked coin, in and amongst iron. That is a skill that is at a more "expert" level. I agree, if you want to pick old coins out of heavy iron, you will usually be digging targets that may be "one-way" signals, and/or ones that often won't "repeat" from other angles...maybe only a 30 or 40-degree "sector" will offer you the clue that there's a coin there.

HOWEVER -- a person trying to learn a new machine, is a different story, in my mind. IF a new user is advised to dig one-way signals, or signals that don't repeat from multiple angles, they run the risk of getting frustrated rather quickly, in my view, due to all the iron they would dig. If they dig all the high tones they hear, without any repeatability from other angles, they'll end up with a pouch full of iron, and that is what I hear from so many new Equinox users -- "I am digging way more iron with my new Equinox than I used to with my 'fill-in-the-blank' detector!" And that complaint doesn't come from folks who are digging iron grunts, and wondering why they are digging iron! It's from folks getting "fooled" by high-tone "falsing."

Example -- on an Equinox, and also on an Explorer, a bolt, or newer nail, in my experience, will often give a decent number of high tones (albeit somewhat "harsh" in character much of the time) from the "zero degree" sector, but turning to 90 degrees, the tone becomes solidly "iron tone." Then, at 180 degrees, you are back to some high tones again, and finally at 270 degrees, you hear almost exclusively iron tones again. That is a telltale sign of an iron target, a large percentage of the time -- often a steel bolt. Can that type of target behavior represent a coin co-located with iron? Of course; we've all dug some of those at times. BUT -- for a person new to Minelab units, I would not advise them to dig every high-tone that won't repeat from other angles when they are starting out trying to learn the machine. In my mind, that would cause them to become frustrated. Again, the skill you guys are talking about is -- in my mind -- a more "expert-level" skill that is "too much" at first, for a person trying to learn the machine. It's best to dig "repeatables," in my opinion, at first, to begin to gain confidence in the machine. It's simply the "walk, before you run" thing. I think looking for repeatable targets is really important, for new users learning a new machine.

Just my two cents.

Steve

 

[Mark kus]

Gents,

Understood, and I agree with you that you will leave some good targets behind at times, if you rotate the target, and don't know what you are listening for... BUT...

I'll offer a counterpoint. The reason I said what I did is that the OP is BRAND NEW on the Equinox, and you guys are talking about trying to "unmask" a partially masked coin, in and amongst iron. That is a skill that is at a more "expert" level. I agree, if you want to pick old coins out of heavy iron, you will usually be digging targets that may be "one-way" signals, and/or ones that often won't "repeat" from other angles...maybe only a 30 or 40-degree "sector" will offer you the clue that there's a coin there.

HOWEVER -- a person trying to learn a new machine, is a different story, in my mind. IF a new user is advised to dig one-way signals, or signals that don't repeat from multiple angles, they run the risk of getting frustrated rather quickly, in my view, due to all the iron they would dig. If they dig all the high tones they hear, without any repeatability from other angles, they'll end up with a pouch full of iron, and that is what I hear from so many new Equinox users -- "I am digging way more iron with my new Equinox than I used to with my 'fill-in-the-blank' detector!" And that complaint doesn't come from folks who are digging iron grunts, and wondering why they are digging iron! It's from folks getting "fooled" by high-tone "falsing."

Example -- on an Equinox, and also on an Explorer, a bolt, or newer nail, in my experience, will often give a decent number of high tones (albeit somewhat "harsh" in character much of the time) from the "zero degree" sector, but turning to 90 degrees, the tone becomes solidly "iron tone." Then, at 180 degrees, you are back to some high tones again, and finally at 270 degrees, you hear almost exclusively iron tones again. That is a telltale sign of an iron target, a large percentage of the time -- often a steel bolt. Can that type of target behavior represent a coin co-located with iron? Of course; we've all dug some of those at times. BUT -- for a person new to Minelab units, I would not advise them to dig every high-tone that won't repeat from other angles when they are starting out trying to learn the machine. In my mind, that would cause them to become frustrated. Again, the skill you guys are talking about is -- in my mind -- a more "expert-level" skill that is "too much" at first, for a person trying to learn the machine. It's best to dig "repeatables," in my opinion, at first, to begin to gain confidence in the machine. It's simply the "walk, before you run" thing. I think looking for repeatable targets is really important, for new users learning a new machine.

Just my two cents.

Steve

Great points Steve I’ve had to show and let my friends hear what I’m telling them is a very deep coin then they are like I would never have dug that it’s definitely a technique you learn over time with practice and of course digging trash lol.
Matk

 

[fwcrawford]

These are all very good points and advice.
We are all at deferent levels at detecting and using the Equinox.
Personally I do check signals from different angles, and may have passed over some good targets, but when I do get what I call an iffy signal, to me they always seem different and something about certain ones tells me it is worth digging.
I usually rely on the tones more than the TID on these types of targets and like JimCT, I also use 50 tones which give ms me more information.
Iron seems to be mentioned a lot when talking about masking, but a nickel will wreak havoc also when laying close to or in the same hole as a coin.

 

[JimmyCT]

These are all very good point and advice.
We are all at deferent levels at detecting and using the Equinox.
Personally I do check signals from different angles, and may have passed over some good targets, but when I do get what I call an iffy signal, to me they always seem different and something about certain ones tells me it is worth digging.
I usually rely on the tones more than the TID on these types of targets and like JimCT, I also use 50 tones which give ms me more information.
Iron seems to be mentioned a lot when talking about masking, but a nickel will wreak havoc also when laying close to or in the same hole as a coin.

Very good point! Various denomination coins mixed together is far worse then dealing with just iron. However using 50 tones, a user can hear the various metals compared to 5 or less tones.

 

[JimmyCT]

Gents,

Understood, and I agree with you that you will leave some good targets behind at times, if you rotate the target, and don't know what you are listening for... BUT...

I'll offer a counterpoint. The reason I said what I did is that the OP is BRAND NEW on the Equinox, and you guys are talking about trying to "unmask" a partially masked coin, in and amongst iron. That is a skill that is at a more "expert" level. I agree, if you want to pick old coins out of heavy iron, you will usually be digging targets that may be "one-way" signals, and/or ones that often won't "repeat" from other angles...maybe only a 30 or 40-degree "sector" will offer you the clue that there's a coin there.

HOWEVER -- a person trying to learn a new machine, is a different story, in my mind. IF a new user is advised to dig one-way signals, or signals that don't repeat from multiple angles, they run the risk of getting frustrated rather quickly, in my view, due to all the iron they would dig. If they dig all the high tones they hear, without any repeatability from other angles, they'll end up with a pouch full of iron, and that is what I hear from so many new Equinox users -- "I am digging way more iron with my new Equinox than I used to with my 'fill-in-the-blank' detector!" And that complaint doesn't come from folks who are digging iron grunts, and wondering why they are digging iron! It's from folks getting "fooled" by high-tone "falsing."

Example -- on an Equinox, and also on an Explorer, a bolt, or newer nail, in my experience, will often give a decent number of high tones (albeit somewhat "harsh" in character much of the time) from the "zero degree" sector, but turning to 90 degrees, the tone becomes solidly "iron tone." Then, at 180 degrees, you are back to some high tones again, and finally at 270 degrees, you hear almost exclusively iron tones again. That is a telltale sign of an iron target, a large percentage of the time -- often a steel bolt. Can that type of target behavior represent a coin co-located with iron? Of course; we've all dug some of those at times. BUT -- for a person new to Minelab units, I would not advise them to dig every high-tone that won't repeat from other angles when they are starting out trying to learn the machine. In my mind, that would cause them to become frustrated. Again, the skill you guys are talking about is -- in my mind -- a more "expert-level" skill that is "too much" at first, for a person trying to learn the machine. It's best to dig "repeatables," in my opinion, at first, to begin to gain confidence in the machine. It's simply the "walk, before you run" thing. I think looking for repeatable targets is really important, for new users learning a new machine.

Just my two cents.

Steve

I agree Steve. A newbie needs to spend more time on targets to learn the nuances. I remember when I first started, I was ready to wrap the equinox around a small Maple tree where I dug 3 large nails man did that target sound good! Now I understand how iron behaves and dig very little of it.

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

Many pull tabs will give very strong signals (at #14 for me) but often bounce around quit a bit as you move the coil up and away. Push tabs are more stable and for me at Beach 2 run consistent at 17-18 and can be easily confused for zinc cents. Coins and rings (from #3-24) provide more stable VID numbers. Nickels are very stable at #12-13 and often can be told apart from pull tabs which are less stable as coil is moved up and away. Just had a large hunt where I must have detected 2,000+ pull tabs (and dug only a few from #14-16) and recovered 49 push tabs at #17-18 and 103 coins in 3 hrs. Now I'm hearing pull tabs in my sleep!

 

[KenB]

Yes, you could miss targets by not digging the multi beep signals. A coin is consistent in shape (round) and in thickness, thus the solid "strong beep" you mention. A pull tab is elongated and with differing shapes and thicknesses along its length, so the machine can actually "read" those thicknesses and shapes and notify you of them, thus the multiple beeps. If your pulltab is folded in half, again, you have different thicknesses that the machine will analyze and give you a different tone than if the pulltab was elongated and not folded over. Should you dig multi beep signals. Yes and no. If you're short on time or patience, skipping them can save you time digging because often, the multi beep will end up being a poor target. But, it could also be caused by having multiple targets in the same hole or near to each other, and one of those targets could be a keeper. Or, it could be a lone target with an odd shape that creates multiple beeps. Think of a cross. It has four points or ends to it that can give multiple beeps as the machine analyses it, and the center is where one vertical section of the target is bisected by a horizontal section of target, so the machine will "read" this as "different" than what it had been "seeing" or reading with the outer tips, so it can give a different signal for that section of the target as well. A little air or ground surface testing can provide you examples of these situations. And there are many more possibilities where a multi beep can be good to dig.

 

[MackDog]

I use park 1 multi freq, 50 tone, and the horseshoe. If you lay out targets on the ground and go over them, the good targets will really scream at 50 tones. When using the Nox tone is way more important than the VDI. Tones will sound of when the VDI breaks up or isn't showing at all. Make sure to circle your target after you pinpointed it. When you change angles and loose the tone it's usually junk. When the tone stays the same but has a scratch at the end it's usually good but has masking going on. I use the 12 x 15" coil all the time except when water hunting. It separates so well.
Good Hunting

 

[JimmyCT]

When you change angles and loose the tone it's usually junk.

This method surely leaves good targets behind. Just my .02. Good luck