New to the EQ

[jspeedy]

Gentlemen and ladies, I just purchased the 800 and I am not doing to well with the unit. I have been using the E-Trac and XP Deus for years and thought I'd give the 800 a try. For me it's not a turn on and go machine. It's noisy and won't "grab" a signal any deeper than about 2" unless it is a large item (can). I am working in upstate NY soil. Also, I'm not not hearing any iron tones (I assume I need to make a change in the program). Please advise. Thanks!
-John

 

[Jeff in Pa]

Do you carry a cell phone? If so put it in airplane mode or turn it off. Try it and see if it helps. Alot have said a cell phone interferes with the Equinox. My phone doesn't but many do.

 

[Tom Slick]

Did you buy new or used. The Nox saves the last settings you used and if you bought used it could have some goofy setting stored in it. I'd start off with doing a reset to factory settings and then make sure you read the owner's manual completely and not just the quick start guide. I can't believe the number of club members that have never even downloaded the complete manual. Spend $900 on the detector and not read the free manual? Crazy IMO.

 

[IDXMonster]

Almost EVERY manufacturer will tout how “easy” the particular machine is to use, it’s in their best interest to sell machines! It’s in OUR best interest to be able to set a machine up for our own area, if we want anywhere from “decent” to ”best” performance. You’ll have to put your speed on hold a bit there Speedy...the Equinox is NOT an eTrac, though they are both very good in their own respects. Although not all settings work for everyone, return to the basics to start.
Noise Cancel
Understand and set the Ground Balance
Set SENSITIVITY so that the machine is STABLE
Starting with those three and GETTING THEM RIGHT provides a solid platform to work from, no matter the rest of the settings.
That being said!....site soil conditions and different levels of EMI are also huge players, as I’m sure you already know. This is where the “turn on and go” mantra has to be set aside in some cases, one of which might be yours.

 

[fwcrawford]

Looks like others have given some very good advice.... only thing I can add is to slow down on your swing speed also.... that Equinox can certainly find coins and other items a lot deeper than 2”.... you’ll soon see once you get the problem figured out.... good luck!

 

[Ted S]

Do you carry a cell phone? If so put it in airplane mode or turn it off. Try it and see if it helps. Alot have said a cell phone interferes with the Equinox. My phone doesn't but many do.

This!!^^^^^^^ My hunting completely changed when I put my cell phone on airplane mode! My last hunt I found a 1911 wheat that was deeper than my Whites TRX probe. Hang in there buddy and you will get it!

 

[jspeedy]

Great stuff. I always read the manual...again and again. It is a new machine. Also, I put a silver half, clad dime and quarter and the ground in my back yard and it only picked up the half at about 2"with a ok tone. The clad were garbled sounds. Thanks for all the input! I'll keep trying.

 

[trojdor]

jspeedy,
Everyone has given you great advice, and it's all spot on .... HOWEVER .... it concerns me that you can't pick up a clad quarter or dime lying on top of the ground.

I'm having a hard time picturing any combination of mis-settings that could reduce your sensitivity by that much.
(Unless you just cranked your disc up all the way? I guess you could try doing a factory reset on powerup.)

If you've got a detector club anywhere near you, someone will own an EQ you can compare yours to. (Clubs are usually packed with helpful sorts.)
Otherwise, you might consider shooting a video, and contacting ML service with it?

good luck,
mike

 

[Piedmontartifacts]

I would start by doing a factory reset. Then only change volume if needed.

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Try the same test by holding the coins in the air with coil nowhere near the ground..don’t forget to signal balance prior to test and put sensitivity somewhere around 18.... this way you can eliminate the ground and possibly EMI as contributing factors.. if you have really bad ground with iron and coke it greatly affect depth...

 

[jspeedy]

Thanks all. I reset the machine and now it acts as I would expect. I wouldn't think that I would have to do a reset on a new unit...Anyhow I look forward to some digging. Thanks again.

 

[Donut]

Jspeedy.
whenever you do a full hard reset it will reset the profile settings.
leave cell in car.
in some situations wher I am getting a lot of EMI I lower the sensitivity and go to 10khz .
if you lower the recovery rate you csn increase the depth.
On a DD coil you have to be more precise over the target or you can miss the target and loose depth.
you never said what pattern you are using.
Some have shelved their Etrack and some havent. Both are good machines. Most like the Nox 800 over the etrack.
All just my opinion.
Doug