My first outing with the 800

[tjarrett]

First I’m super pleased so far and love this thing. Coming from the BH Land Ranger Pro to the 800 is well not comparable. Target id, setup, and just ease of operation is awesome for a person like myself that has not detected that long.

Decided to load the coin setup mentioned here on a YouTube video. Target id and target lock is wonderful, though I didn’t find a lot(knew I wouldn’t at this park) I really just wanted to stop by on way home this morning.

Questions I have are:

When hunting in a coin setup, would it miss rings and stuff or would you still pick them up just have to watch and listen for a good lock.

Some targets were jumpy with the numbers which I figured were trash, is this the wrong way of thinking.

I do plan on testing and seeing what locks in but just curious

 

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[sgoss66]

tjarrett -- I don't know what "coin setup" you were using, so it's hard to say if you would miss rings, and stuff.

To me, the best way to learn the machine is choose your mode (I'd suggest Park 1 if you are primarily a coin hunter as it sounds like you are), and set it up like this:

somewhere around 5 reactivity
somewhere around 4 iron bias
somewhere around 20 sensitivity (up or down, as needed, to achieve a "stable" machine AFTER you noise cancel and set your ground balance using the "auto" balancing option)
and -- 50 tones.

I know, many will tell you that 50 tones is "too much to listen to at first," and it WILL be...at first. BUT -- in my opinion you lose out on ALOT of information that the machine can provide, through it's audio language (and all the nuances therein) if you try to run only a few tones. It's like telling me I can type this message, but only use a 10-word vocabulary. Why limit what the machine is capable of telling you? Of COURSE you won't understand much of what it is saying to you, at first. But, in time, it will become clear to you -- and once used to its language, you WILL be able to hear things in the nuance of the language that a "3-tone" or "5-tone" user can't/won't.

Finally, I'd do one more thing. I'd hit the "horseshoe" button, taking off all disc, so that you can "hear" the iron. The Equinox has a unique feature where the iron audio in the 50 tone/multi-tone setting is VERY low-pitched, and "unobtrusive." The machine, in 50-tone, assigns a VERY low pitch to -9 targets (iron), and then a tiny notch higher of a pitch for -8 targets, and then a tiny notch higher for -7 targets, etc., all the way up to -1. THEN -- a change occurs, that I feel is excellent. The "0" target ID (roughly the break point between ferrous and non-ferrous) jumps up MUCH higher in tone, as compared to the -1 target -- so you CLEARLY can hear the difference between the "highest" of the ferrous tones, and the "lowest" of the non-ferrous tones. From there, a "1" ID is a tiny notch higher of a pitch than 0, 2 is slightly higher than 1, etc., all the way up to 40. SO -- my long-winded point is that all 50 ID numbers on the unit are assigned their own pitch/tone, slightly higher than the previous ID number -- BUT you have that "switchover" between -1 and 0, where you jump up SIGNIFICANTLY in pitch from -1 to 0. This keeps the iron "audible," but kind of "in the background," since it sounds so much lower in pitch than your non-ferrous targets.

Anyway, running your machine this way, you will hear a lot of sounds, but you will learn what all those sounds mean, in time. And running it this way, you will definitely hear BOTH coins AND rings/jewelry. You will learn to use your EARS as a discriminator, instead of the machine's disc. settings.


Anyway, that's just what I'd suggest. If you don't like this answer, that's totally fair! In that case, tell me specifically how you set your machine up in a "coin setup," and I will then tell you if the way it is set up would still allow you not to "miss rings," which was your question.

As for jumpiness -- I'd say yes AND no. If you are SURE it is a single target, and it's jumpy on the ID, then yes, it's very likely junk. BUT -- since the machine is so fast, and the coil so "sharp" or "tight," the unit is EXCELLENT at seeing targets very close together. SO, say you have a nickel a few inches from a quarter. As you sweep over those two targets, YES, the ID will be "jumpy," but it will be because of the two targets in close proximity, in that case. But in general, yes, jumpy ID = junk target. Only a couple of numbers of deviation (or, in the case of something really deep, maybe 5 or 6 or 7 digits of "jump") means a likely rounder/better target.

Steve

 

[RustyGold]

Great post Steve. Nicely explained.

 

[sgoss66]

Thank you kindly, Rusty!

Steve

 

[tjarrett]

Steve I was using 5 tones with the zones set at
1-@0(iron)2-@11(aluminum)3-@13(nickels) 4-@18(other trash) 5-@19(other coins) didn’t really play around with any other settings except for sensitivity a little. I’m sure I’m missing a lot and that was my first little hunt.

I do appreciate your explanation and will give it a shot. I’ve never dealt with a detector with so many settings so there’s the learning curve. I’m always open to suggestions

 

[doubloon hunter]

Steve, I run my 600 exactly that way at beach too... Hearing the low iron tone next to jumpy targets helps you identify target...

Those not using 50 tones are missing what machine is capable/designed for.... Minelab founders were AUDIO EXPERTS before starting minelab.... Put some tape over the meter, and just listen....

 

[sgoss66]

tjarrett -- sounds like you set up 5 tone bins; if you were not discriminating anything, then you would have "heard" any gold rings you passed over, as it would have sounded of in one of your tone bins. I have not used the 5-tone option on the machine, but it sounds like you had zone one -9 to 0, zone two 1-11, zone three 12-13, zone four 14-18 -- and then I'm guessing you had zone 5 from 19-40, from what you said? Makes sense to set them up that way, as a coin hunter, with zones 3 and 5 your "coin zones."

So, it sounds like you were "accepting" (not discriminating) all non-ferrous targets, and thus you WOULD have "heard" a detectable ring if you passed over it, falling into one of your tone bins...most likely within zone 2, 3, or 4...

Steve

 

[sgoss66]

Steve, I run my 600 exactly that way at beach too... Hearing the low iron tone next to jumpy targets helps you identify target...

Those not using 50 tones are missing what machine is capable/designed for.... Minelab founders were AUDIO EXPERTS before starting minelab.... Put some tape over the meter, and just listen....

Totally agree, doubloon hunter.

Steve

 

[smokeythecat]

Best way to lesrn a machine is to go play with it!

 

[sgoss66]

tjarrett -- don't let all the settings and adjustments intimidate you. Even though I gave you what I think would be a good way to set up the machine, another option is just run the factory default Park 1 setting, and go hunt. I WOULD change it to 50 tones, from 5 (if Park 1 defaults to 5 tones, which I THINK it does, if I recall). But otherwise, learning the language of the machine is FAR more important, as a first step, than messing with settings. It's a great unit and it will do you well, as soon as you begin to "click" with its language...it's a VERY capable machine, and I think you will find it a substantial upgrade over your prior unit.

Steve

 

[Normsel]

My suggestion is factory default. By running default you can learn the machine and get comfy with it and later decide how you want to tweak it. Unless you have bad soil I wouldn't mess with ground balance. My practice has always been to run factory defaults until I know what the machine is telling me.. 50 tones or 5 tones that is a preference. If you're a coin shooter 5 works very well. If you have an ear for gold..lol then 50 may be better. With all the smart people in this world no one has ever been able to develop a tune for gold. Somehow gold and nickels don't seem to be in the same category but more gold is found in the nickel range than any other range.. Most likely because it is usually rings. Many find gold anywhere from 1 - 7 but that is usually fine chains and earrings.

I constantly read what others do and take from it what I feel is useful. Not that anything I say is worth a hill of beans because I don't try and science the detector I use it for recreation. Don't put a lot of stock in a Utube video unless it's from someone like Calabash digger and a few others like him.. There are a lot of smart people on these forums.

 

[dirtlooter]

a lot of great advice from from great guys. good luck