50 Tone Target Setting

flgliderpilot

Bronze Member
Apr 28, 2015
1,504
1,427
Saint Augustine, FL
Detector(s) used
CZ-21, Minelab Equinox, Garrett AT Pro
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Metal Detecting
Who’s using it? Is it easier to identify targets? Can you spot the bottle caps by tone? Haven’t read any user experiances with this tone setting.

I tried today. It seems to lag a little... and in trashy areas it's just bouncing all over the place. I find the mode actually very difficult to use. Heck it's hard to even find a target when you know where it is with this mode. I may use this mode in the water where I can't actually see the display... but to be honest I'm still finding 3 tone mode (custom setup) to be the most productive. I'd like to hear what others have to say about it.
 

GroundBalanced

Full Member
Aug 4, 2017
100
76
WestCoast-FL
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Minelab Equinox 600
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I've been trying both out. 5 tones & 50 tones and I'll be honest, i think 5 tones works for me at the Beach, but i do like 50 tones on land. On land, its usually quieter, the subtle nuance of a 15 vs a 16 TID can actually be easily discerned compared to seagulls, waves crashing, water recycling, kids playing, security guards yelling (oh wait, that's a different thread). Anyway, i'm starting to like 50 on land but i think it's going to take more time to really audibly know the 50 tones, and i just have not had enough time to do that yet but i'm going to keep trying. Meanwhile,... 3 tone mode? Might work well too like flgliderpilot has it setup for discriminating as desired. Let's see what others think....
 

Terry Soloman

Gold Member
May 28, 2010
19,410
30,020
White Plains, New York
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Nokta Makro Legend// Pulsedive// Minelab GPZ 7000// Vanquish 540// Minelab Pro Find 35// Dune Kraken Sandscoop// Grave Digger Tools Tombstone shovel & Sidekick digger// Bunk's Hermit Pick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I use the 5-tone with my 600. Had the same experience with 50-tone, but like learning to hear the "ragged edge" on the signal to hear can slaw and pulltabs with the Vaquero, with another 100-hours on the headphones, who knows?!:occasion14:
 

McKinney_5900

Bronze Member
Jul 30, 2010
1,137
925
I use 50. The tones can't be made to be flutey like the Explorer series, but I find 50 tones gives a variance of tones which are pleasing. I found a silver the first day out, and a silver on day2, running 50 tones. I tried 5 tones in my coin garden. Just wasn't appealing
 

1942 merc

Sr. Member
Sep 14, 2012
413
755
sd
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xp deus , Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Park 2 / 0 GB or GB either one / 5 tone /24 sens / recov 2 and I can not hit a quarter deeper than six inches and is iffy at six inches . Mild ground . 5 tone is the best for me so far . Really frustrating on the depth here . My deus hits at ten inches no problem .
 

eman1000

Hero Member
Feb 24, 2016
728
1,105
Elizabethtown, IN
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XP Deus ORX, Etrac, F75, Simplex, MX5, V3i, Equinox, Tesoro Vaq, F22
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I use 50. The tones can't be made to be flutey like the Explorer series, but I find 50 tones gives a variance of tones which are pleasing. I found a silver the first day out, and a silver on day2, running 50 tones. I tried 5 tones in my coin garden. Just wasn't appealing

I agree. The 5 tones is probably sufficient but the 50 tones are easy on the ears. Kinda sounds a bit like my toys from the 80's :laughing7:
 

GroundBalanced

Full Member
Aug 4, 2017
100
76
WestCoast-FL
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Minelab Equinox 600
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All Treasure Hunting
Park 2 / 0 GB or GB either one / 5 tone /24 sens / recov 2 and I can not hit a quarter deeper than six inches and is iffy at six inches . Mild ground . 5 tone is the best for me so far . Really frustrating on the depth here . My deus hits at ten inches no problem .

Doesn't seem normal 1942_merc... I've hit quarters at 8" a few weeks ago but i was using Field 2 at 23 Sens. Just to be sure, if you've been doing any beach-hunting or anything in water w/sand then pop off that skidplate from the coil & clean it out, it gets gunked up with sand, and although it shouldn't cause an issue at 6" for a quarter, it will incrementally cause some signal decay depending on the type of sand. Meanwhile, i'd love to hear if you have better luck in field 2 (though i would think not) since I definitely hit a quarter in the dirt at 8". I've seen guys hitting targets at 12".
 

b3y0nd3r

Hero Member
Aug 27, 2011
982
1,172
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ctx 3030 nokta impact Equinox 800
50 tone is great for identifying iffy's or deep targets due to the smearing of the tones. This was made famous with the e-trac's "silver warble". The warble was a type of tone you could use to identify a silver dime from a clad.
 

1942 merc

Sr. Member
Sep 14, 2012
413
755
sd
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xp deus , Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Yeah , I got some ocean front property here in SD I will sell ya . Or better yet you can have what is left of the snow on the ground and the OTHER ft I have coming . Worst spring ever .

I have seen vids of ppl hitting deeper targets . Me not so much . I have a six inch quarter by my wood fence post and can not get a solid hit or reading on it like the deus . 50 tones is all over the place so I use 5 . This is my first minelab so thresh hold and this goofy GB thing have me at the moment . I can not seem to get outside to use it much . Maybe 10 hrs so far ?
 

birdman

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Jan 28, 2005
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Choctaw Beach Florida
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To me 5 tone is less all over the place.
 

Owassokie

Sr. Member
Jun 28, 2012
497
422
Oklahoma
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Equinox 800, Ace 250
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All Treasure Hunting
Yeah , I got some ocean front property here in SD I will sell ya . Or better yet you can have what is left of the snow on the ground and the OTHER ft I have coming . Worst spring ever .

I have seen vids of ppl hitting deeper targets . Me not so much . I have a six inch quarter by my wood fence post and can not get a solid hit or reading on it like the deus . 50 tones is all over the place so I use 5 . This is my first minelab so thresh hold and this goofy GB thing have me at the moment . I can not seem to get outside to use it much . Maybe 10 hrs so far ?

I'm having the same problem. I'm guessing it's just me not understanding the machine yet but my 800 struggles to find a quarter at 7 inches in an air test. I'm super frustrated with that and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. All that said, I have very little time in the field with it so far so hopefully it's just me...not the detector.
 

jeg208

Jr. Member
Jan 29, 2016
78
43
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I dug a copper rivet from some old jeans at about 9" last weekend, so that is crazy to hear about depth issues on quarters. My ground isn't too bad, as I ground balance to +13ish, but I picked it out of a yard with 3+ targets per swing.

I am going to give 50 tones an honest try, but for now I have been running Park 2, 2 (4) recovery, 1 (2) iron bias, 5 tones, and GB to around +13 and have been quite happy.
 

sgoss66

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Jan 11, 2011
1,084
1,394
Norman, OK
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Minelab Manticore, Minelab Equinox 800, Minelab Equinox 600, Minelab CTX 3030
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
To the two gents talking about struggles hitting a 6" to 7" quarter, something is wrong. I am in Oklahoma red clay (i.e. not the mildest of soils), and I can hit a 10" quarter in my test garden. And, I have dug measured 8" deep pennies/dimes "in the field" with it. Furthermore, the 10" quarter in my test garden can be detected using Park 1's default settings.

As for tones, I run in 50 tones, and I think it's the best way to learn the machine as there's a very intelligent/nuanced language when running all 50 tones (but that would not affect the depth you could hit a quarter). If it were me, I'd encourage everyone to learn 50 tone -- and only after you understand the language consider switching to 5 tones if you so desired. But there is intelligent information, I believe, contained in the full 50 tones, that you "lose" by running only 5 tone bins. And it takes TIME to learn that language...

Steve
 

ARC

Gold Member
Aug 19, 2014
37,156
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Tarpon Springs
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JW 8X-ML X2-VP 585
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To the two gents talking about struggles hitting a 6" to 7" quarter, something is wrong. I am in Oklahoma red clay (i.e. not the mildest of soils), and I can hit a 10" quarter in my test garden. And, I have dug measured 8" deep pennies/dimes "in the field" with it. Furthermore, the 10" quarter in my test garden can be detected using Park 1's default settings.

As for tones, I run in 50 tones, and I think it's the best way to learn the machine as there's a very intelligent/nuanced language when running all 50 tones (but that would not affect the depth you could hit a quarter). If it were me, I'd encourage everyone to learn 50 tone -- and only after you understand the language consider switching to 5 tones if you so desired. But there is intelligent information, I believe, contained in the full 50 tones, that you "lose" by running only 5 tone bins. And it takes TIME to learn that language...

Steve

You must have gotten one of the good ones. :)
 

Tedyoh

Bronze Member
Apr 13, 2013
1,566
1,619
N.E. Ohio
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XP Deus, NOX 600, XP Deus II
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All Treasure Hunting
I havent had a problem with the 600....but I do noise cancel and run auto or tracking ground balance....not sure why people think tracking or A.G.B is not the way to go?

I mostly relic hunt so there's really no need for 50 tones....5 tones works....may actually switch to 2 tones....non ferrous beep = dig.
 

digger460

Silver Member
Sep 19, 2015
2,972
3,295
Southeast Grundy, Illinois
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To the two gents talking about struggles hitting a 6" to 7" quarter, something is wrong. I am in Oklahoma red clay (i.e. not the mildest of soils), and I can hit a 10" quarter in my test garden. And, I have dug measured 8" deep pennies/dimes "in the field" with it. Furthermore, the 10" quarter in my test garden can be detected using Park 1's default settings.

As for tones, I run in 50 tones, and I think it's the best way to learn the machine as there's a very intelligent/nuanced language when running all 50 tones (but that would not affect the depth you could hit a quarter). If it were me, I'd encourage everyone to learn 50 tone -- and only after you understand the language consider switching to 5 tones if you so desired. But there is intelligent information, I believe, contained in the full 50 tones, that you "lose" by running only 5 tone bins. And it takes TIME to learn that language...

Steve

I can relate to the learning the 50 tones. First time I used it, it was like, what the heck is going on here.:laughing7: So I flipped to 5 tone, but it was in the back of my head that when I used my ATP, I depended more on what the sound was telling me then anything else. I'm just going to start using the 50 tones, and go thru the learning process. It's just alot different then the AT, and probably alot of other detector's.
 

1942 merc

Sr. Member
Sep 14, 2012
413
755
sd
Detector(s) used
xp deus , Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
My ground is mild like fluffy top soil so tracking GB is not recommended . I have tried 0 GB and manual GB .Trying to find a clean area to GB on is difficult . I thought maybe I am not passing over any deeper targets ? I dug a mason jar lid at a foot deep yesterday through frozen ground .Fun fun .I put a quarter at seven inches and the tone and tdi is all over the place . I go over many targets that sound like the quarter so how much am I missing ?

After I dial the equinox in my next test will be getting permission on fresh ground starting with the equinox and then going back over the area with the deus to see what was missed . I have a permission pounded by the deus 10k gold ring many IHC barber dimes and quarters buffs and more .I ran out of signals and half of it is still frozen but the other half is not and I took the equinox over it with no luck yet , of course the depth issue so who knows .
 

McKinney_5900

Bronze Member
Jul 30, 2010
1,137
925
You must have gotten one of the good ones. :)

I agree. My Etrac won't even hit even get those results here in Texas clay. My 600 misses a long time buried 7" quarter. That quarter is near a 5" quarter and my circle drive. The Etrac can hit that thing. Is it a great signal? No.

I would hang onto that particular detector. All in all I am not seeing depth strength with the Equinox yet, but to it's defense, I ain't been to any area which hasn't been pounded and pounded. Logically, even these spots should pop a missed, deeper signal if the Equinox is a deep machine, coupled with enhanced separation. It certainly seperates in moderate and shallow conditions.
 

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