Mineral Zones..?

[fastdraw]

Let me rephrase this, I have heard mentioned several times that I can look up the mineralisation in my area. I thought it was CT zones but I guess I was mistaken. so with you know what I'm talking about and know how to look this up for my state Nevada please let me know.

 

[jmaclen]

you being in Nevada makes it hard to know just like me in Colorado. There are areas here where the soil is fairly mild and half a mile away most of the detectors I've used will overload on a medium sensitivity setting........ Nevada has similar issues. The Equinox since it is simultaneous multi frequency was designed and built for situations like this. I always own a single frequency detector with a mineralization meter so I can double check soil conditions and I always ground balance my Equinox, no matter where I am.

Jeff

 

[Monte]

'fstdraw', I am mostly with Jeff on this reply.

Jeff is in Colorado where I have detected frequently in years past and there are some reasonably mild areas, some very mineralized areas, and a wide-range of in-between mixes. I'm north of you, in far Eastern Oregon, and I can guarantee you we have an equally challenging bunch of places to hunt. And as Jeff stated, there in Nevada you have much of the same. I wouldn't spend a lot of time tracking down maps and suggestions of how bad things might be. just 'go prepared!'

I do disagree somewhat of how versatile a Simultaneous Multi-Frequency detector can be as I have owned many of them since the early '90s, and today have two M9nelab Vanquish 540 Pro's and one Equinox 800. With my V-540's I don't have frequency selection so I am dependent on how well they handle some ground mineral challenges. With the EQ-800 I gain the benefit of selecting a Single Frequency in a few modes, and I have done just that when I find the mode, the frequency and the settings that provide me some enhanced performance.

And I'm 100% with Jeff that whether I am using one of my other-brand detectors that show a visual and numeric reference for the GB phase and Magnetic Mineralization Indication or not, I always Ground Balance for the site I am searching. And update the GB as needed during the search, too. If you want the best performance you can get with the Equinoix, take a brief moment to GB before getting under-way ... in most any ground mineral environment.

Monte

 

[fastdraw]

'fstdraw', I am mostly with Jeff on this reply.

Jeff is in Colorado where I have detected frequently in years past and there are some reasonably mild areas, some very mineralized areas, and a wide-range of in-between mixes. I'm north of you, in far Eastern Oregon, and I can guarantee you we have an equally challenging bunch of places to hunt. And as Jeff stated, there in Nevada you have much of the same. I wouldn't spend a lot of time tracking down maps and suggestions of how bad things might be. just 'go prepared!'

I do disagree somewhat of how versatile a Simultaneous Multi-Frequency detector can be as I have owned many of them since the early '90s, and today have two M9nelab Vanquish 540 Pro's and one Equinox 800. With my V-540's I don't have frequency selection so I am dependent on how well they handle some ground mineral challenges. With the EQ-800 I gain the benefit of selecting a Single Frequency in a few modes, and I have done just that when I find the mode, the frequency and the settings that provide me some enhanced performance.

And I'm 100% with Jeff that whether I am using one of my other-brand detectors that show a visual and numeric reference for the GB phase and Magnetic Mineralization Indication or not, I always Ground Balance for the site I am searching. And update the GB as needed during the search, too. If you want the best performance you can get with the Equinoix, take a brief moment to GB before getting under-way ... in most any ground mineral environment.

Monte

yes I always very carefully ground balance. But in Nevada sometimes I have to reground balance when I've only moved a couple hundred yards from the original place that I did a good ground balance and it's kind of a pain in the butt but I guess I don't really have a choice

 

[Monte]

yes I always very carefully ground balance. But in Nevada sometimes I have to reground balance when I've only moved a couple hundred yards from the original place that I did a good ground balance and it's kind of a pain in the butt but I guess I don't really have a choice.

A "couple hundred yards would suggest a very neutral ground mineral make-up. Over half-a-century of very avid detecting and I can't think of any place where I've hunted, coast-to-cost in many states, where I could traverse that much territory and not encounter numerous variances in the ground mineral make-up where I could maintain an unchanged Ground Balance.

Now, that doesn't mean an area can't be searched in a motion-based Discriminate mode w/o problems because if a detector has a 'functional' GB in the Disc. mode, it ought to perform adequately. If the GB in the Disc. mode is too positive or too negative, then the search efficiency can easily be impaired to some degree. When performance would be more noticeably affected would be when hunting in a true Threshold-based All Metal mode. In that case it is best to establish and maintain a 'spot-on' GB.

This past five years I have been spending most of my dedicated Ghost Town Hunt-time to sites in Eastern Oregon and Northeastern Nevada, but several of them I have hunted a good deal going back to mid-to-latter '80s. that means I have used, and continue to use, an assortment of makes and models, most of which feature an Automated GB or a Manual GB or both. Some have a preset GB for the Disc. mode so I am not able to adjust for that, only in the All Metal mode on those models. But I adjust a GB when I start out at my vehicle, and I check and re-balance whenever there has been significant change in the ground make-up.

I had a friend with a preset GB detector who was having a lot of falsing issues at a block-square of renovation work in Ogden, Utah back in '96 so I went to work the site with him. I adjusted thre GB of my Tesoro Bandido II near the east-side on a house and driveway, We hunted along toward the next house to the east and there was roughly a 35'-40' space between the two structures. From the side of the driveway to a point about half-way between the two driveways, the terrain went from a grassy turn to dirt to a dirt and small gravel mix. From where I started to that mid-point, I adjusted my detector twelve times. That's right, 12- times due to the changing ground mineral make-up. His falsing was caused by a too-negative GB that started falsing about 2' from the driveway where the iron mineral ground content increased rapidly. I didn't have any falsing issues because I was able to maintain a 'functional' GB setting.

At the Nevada ghost towns, or similar places here in Oregon or Utah or Colorado or most places I travel to to hunt, it isn't uncommon to have a GB change ne3eded every 10-15 feet to possibly being called for every 30-50 feet. Not a "couple hundred yards." By that I am referring to even a modest change, and most of the time Disc. mode searches will work just fine if there isn't a significant change in the ground or the GB adjustment.

I'm curious what detector make & model were you using and with what size and type of search coil?

Monte

 

[fastdraw]

A "couple hundred yards would suggest a very neutral ground mineral make-up. Over half-a-century of very avid detecting and I can't think of any place where I've hunted, coast-to-cost in many states, where I could traverse that much territory and not encounter numerous variances in the ground mineral make-up where I could maintain an unchanged Ground Balance.

Now, that doesn't mean an area can't be searched in a motion-based Discriminate mode w/o problems because if a detector has a 'functional' GB in the Disc. mode, it ought to perform adequately. If the GB in the Disc. mode is too positive or too negative, then the search efficiency can easily be impaired to some degree. When performance would be more noticeably affected would be when hunting in a true Threshold-based All Metal mode. In that case it is best to establish and maintain a 'spot-on' GB.

This past five years I have been spending most of my dedicated Ghost Town Hunt-time to sites in Eastern Oregon and Northeastern Nevada, but several of them I have hunted a good deal going back to mid-to-latter '80s. that means I have used, and continue to use, an assortment of makes and models, most of which feature an Automated GB or a Manual GB or both. Some have a preset GB for the Disc. mode so I am not able to adjust for that, only in the All Metal mode on those models. But I adjust a GB when I start out at my vehicle, and I check and re-balance whenever there has been significant change in the ground make-up.

I had a friend with a preset GB detector who was having a lot of falsing issues at a block-square of renovation work in Ogden, Utah back in '96 so I went to work the site with him. I adjusted thre GB of my Tesoro Bandido II near the east-side on a house and driveway, We hunted along toward the next house to the east and there was roughly a 35'-40' space between the two structures. From the side of the driveway to a point about half-way between the two driveways, the terrain went from a grassy turn to dirt to a dirt and small gravel mix. From where I started to that mid-point, I adjusted my detector twelve times. That's right, 12- times due to the changing ground mineral make-up. His falsing was caused by a too-negative GB that started falsing about 2' from the driveway where the iron mineral ground content increased rapidly. I didn't have any falsing issues because I was able to maintain a 'functional' GB setting.

At the Nevada ghost towns, or similar places here in Oregon or Utah or Colorado or most places I travel to to hunt, it isn't uncommon to have a GB change ne3eded every 10-15 feet to possibly being called for every 30-50 feet. Not a "couple hundred yards." By that I am referring to even a modest change, and most of the time Disc. mode searches will work just fine if there isn't a significant change in the ground or the GB adjustment.

I'm curious what detector make & model were you using and with what size and type of search coil?

Monte

Slow down Monte.....! That was allot to swallow,,... I read it twice,.. and will read your answer a third time. I only follow about three people, and your one of the three. But don't let
it go too you head Ha.. Ha.! Let me first answer your question. I'm using the Equinox-600 with the stock 11 inch Double-D Coil. I'm 58 years old, and this is my
FIRST M-Detector. (I Started with an Advanced Model Detector) unlike 99% of beginners..! I had absolutely ZERO knowledge or ZERO experience in metal detection until I purchased
the Nox-600 about. 7-Months ago. I detect 2-days per week, all day long for the past 7-months. I'm "Hooked" on detecting..! So,.... now you know my level of knowledge, and experience.
I'm NOT going to purchase different detectors, at this stage in the game. So.... what is "Disc" mean...? Is the Auto tracking ground balance, a good thing...? I think Not..! What do you think..?
I was just surprised at how often the ground changes..! I am very familiar with Eastern Oregon..! You find any meteorites at "Big Hole in The Ground" ..?

 

[jmaclen]

Your doing great Fastdraw, just keep asking questions even when you don't know exactly what words to use.

Disc. means a search mode that has a lot of discrimination capabilities that the user can setup in order to accept or reject a target range like iron or individual target ID numbers for specific targets like pull tabs or zinc pennies. You can also think of it as ways to identify or categorize targets. So different tones and numbers for different targets are also a form of discrimination.

Since Equinox 600 is your first detector, you would not have known about the difference between discrimination mode and threshold based all metal mode like all of us old timers. All of the search modes on the Equinox 600 and 800 are discrimination modes and have all sorts of ways to discriminate targets that you might want to reject or filter in order to help identify them or just concentrate on certain desirable targets. So all six default modes have all of the iron targets discriminated or rejected. You won't hear really low tone iron audio or see negative numbers unless you accept those iron targets by manually accepting them with the accept/reject button in Settings, or by doing that the quick and easy way by pressing the horseshoe button. The horseshoe button is something Minelab has included on many of its detectors that instantly and conveniently lets all targets be instantly accepted so you can analyze them better with just a push of a button. Different iron targets can respond in many ways on the Equinox. Some people see this as a weakness. I just see it as the Equinox trying to analyze a target that has multiple conductive characteristics due to its present composition and use those characteristics to help identify it. Some people call this iron falsing. I tend to think of it as another result of iron discrimination.

You can also go really old school like I do and add a little threshold tone to any mode on the Equinox 600. That way, even if I am using say basic Park 1 and its default discrimination pattern, the threshold tone will go silent over rejected iron targets. So, instead of not really knowing if any iron is present or not, I can hear a slight waver or break in the threshold tone around an otherwise really good sounding target that I might want to dig. I hit the horseshoe button next to check out the target more fully for iron responses.

After hundreds of hours on the Nox 600 you should also be able to tell if you may have an iron target just by the quality of the audio if you are hunting in one of the preset discrimination patterns and iron is rejected. Most iron targets will have somewhat broken medium or high tones or you might get a clear higher tone and numbers in one swing direction and much lower numbers and tone at 90 degrees or even hear nothing in one direction when you X the target. Some iron targets will give extremely high iron wrap around numbers like 39 and 40 too which is usually a dead giveaway unless your coil is over a silver cache....

Using a lot or little discrimination is site specific. Most relic hunters and gold prospectors want to hear as many of the targets in the field as they can so I will often relic hunt with my 600 in two tone Field 2 with nothing rejected, but I will turn down the iron tone volume very low so the non-ferrous higher tone will be easier to hear and my ears won't take such a beating.

All of these features plus several more on the Equinox like Iron Bias adjustments are forms of Discrimination and can definitely help reject, analyze and identify targets once you get used to them.

Jeff

 

[fastdraw]

Your doing great Fastdraw, just keep asking questions even when you don't know exactly what words to use.

Disc. means a search mode that has a lot of discrimination capabilities that the user can setup in order to accept or reject a target range like iron or individual target ID numbers for specific targets like pull tabs or zinc pennies. You can also think of it as ways to identify or categorize targets. So different tones and numbers for different targets are also a form of discrimination.

Since Equinox 600 is your first detector, you would not have known about the difference between discrimination mode and threshold based all metal mode like all of us old timers. All of the search modes on the Equinox 600 and 800 are discrimination modes and have all sorts of ways to discriminate targets that you might want to reject or filter in order to help identify them or just concentrate on certain desirable targets. So all six default modes have all of the iron targets discriminated or rejected. You won't hear really low tone iron audio or see negative numbers unless you accept those iron targets by manually accepting them with the accept/reject button in Settings, or by doing that the quick and easy way by pressing the horseshoe button. The horseshoe button is something Minelab has included on many of its detectors that instantly and conveniently lets all targets be instantly accepted so you can analyze them better with just a push of a button. Different iron targets can respond in many ways on the Equinox. Some people see this as a weakness. I just see it as the Equinox trying to analyze a target that has multiple conductive characteristics due to its present composition and use those characteristics to help identify it. Some people call this iron falsing. I tend to think of it as another result of iron discrimination.

You can also go really old school like I do and add a little threshold tone to any mode on the Equinox 600. That way, even if I am using say basic Park 1 and its default discrimination pattern, the threshold tone will go silent over rejected iron targets. So, instead of not really knowing if any iron is present or not, I can hear a slight waver or break in the threshold tone around an otherwise really good sounding target that I might want to dig. I hit the horseshoe button next to check out the target more fully for iron responses.

After hundreds of hours on the Nox 600 you should also be able to tell if you may have an iron target just by the quality of the audio if you are hunting in one of the preset discrimination patterns and iron is rejected. Most iron targets will have somewhat broken medium or high tones or you might get a clear higher tone and numbers in one swing direction and much lower numbers and tone at 90 degrees or even hear nothing in one direction when you X the target. Some iron targets will give extremely high iron wrap around numbers like 39 and 40 too which is usually a dead giveaway unless your coil is over a silver cache....

Using a lot or little discrimination is site specific. Most relic hunters and gold prospectors want to hear as many of the targets in the field as they can so I will often relic hunt with my 600 in two tone Field 2 with nothing rejected, but I will turn down the iron tone volume very low so the non-ferrous higher tone will be easier to hear and my ears won't take such a beating.

All of these features plus several more on the Equinox like Iron Bias adjustments are forms of Discrimination and can definitely help reject, analyze and identify targets once you get used to them.

Jeff

I've already learned about half of what you just said but the other half I didn't know about. and you can never have too much ammunition information.