800 - Ground Balance and Beach Frequency?

[saanich2018]

As I stated in another posting, I have ordered my 800 and it should be here this week.

I am new to this hobby only having used a cheap small detector in the past. I have been watching videos and reading what I can, but I am hoping someone can explain ground balancing and the frequencies to me.

I plan on going to the beach in the next week or two so I need a crash course. The beach is where I will mainly be using this detector.

What setting do I use for the beach for dry sand, wet sand, and shallow water/surf? I understand there are pre-set settings in the 800?

Do I need to do a ground balance? If so how? Plus, what exactly is this and how often does this have to be done?

I have been reading about the 800 and all the frequencies settings available. Do I set the frequency or does it do it automatically?

How do i know what frequency do I want to use?

I have been looking at on line videos but cannot find any that address these issues.

Thank you and I know there will be more questions to follow.

 

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[Deep1]

For dry sand/shallow water use beach 1.
Here's the manual:
https://www.kellycodetectors.com/pdf/manuals/equinox600-800_english.pdf

 

[sandmartin]

For dry sand/shallow water use beach 1.
Here's the manual:
https://www.kellycodetectors.com/pdf/manuals/equinox600-800_english.pdf

Thanks buddy I was looking for this, I have just downloaded the whole manual.

 

[saanich2018]

I did too and spent about three hours reading it last night

Still have some questions, but those are coming later

 

[Racso]

There’s no need to ground balance and when you choose a beach mode it’s already in multifrequency.
First thing you do is pair your headphones.
2nd you choose beach 1
3rd you noise cancel
Last you can save your settings in your profile to access them easier/faster. Use the presets for at least 100 hrs before you start making any changes. Have fun and good luck.

 

[vferrari]

Ask away when you are ready.

Here are some Equinox Beach Hunting Tips in the Meantime

Always perform a noise cancel before hunting in the mode that you are going to use (each mode needs to be noise cancelled and ground balanced separately).

Ground balance is typically not needed on the dry sand, but it also only takes a few seconds to do it so you might as well do it to learn if for no other reason.

After Noise Cancel and GB - set sensitivity only as high as you can and not hear chatter. You can be successful at Sensitivity Setting 20 (the default) but can eek out some more depth at higher settings of 22 to 23 or even all the way to 25 if there is no chatter. The dry beach sand is were you can usually get away with higher sensitivity settings because there is little ground feedback chatter and hopefully little to no EMI unless there are a lot of hotels and concessions close to the shore with wifi blasting or if there are a lot of beach goers with cell phones.

Use Beach 1 on the dry sand although you can probably get away any mode. I recommend Beach 1 anyway because that is what you will want to use in the damp/wet sand at the tide line anyway where the other modes become unstable due to the increased salinity concentration in the ground reference. So, just go with the Beach 1 defaults. Learning Equinox on the dry/wet sand in Beach one is a GREAT way to learn the machine, so go for it. After you gain more confidence in the Equinox and have a better understanding on what the settings do, then start to experiment with them. Especially, the various tone settings and the recovery speed settings. Iron Bias is tricky and is only something you want to fool with if there is a lot of ferrous on the beach.

If you are going to take Equinox beyond the tide line into shallow salt water or surf, then you will probably want to opt for Beach 2 which is more stable under those conditions. If there is a lot of black sand, moving water/sand then you will probably want to switch Ground Balance to tracking because the ground reference will rapidly change with the surf action. Again, if you switch to Beach 2 you will want to noise cancel and ground balance or go to tracking when switched into that Search Profile mode.

There is a lot more to beach hunting than meets the eye for the inexperienced detectorist.

It is not just randomly puttering around the beach and if you do that it might be a frustrating experience for you.

Look for the towel line and on-beach concession areas and lifeguard stations and beach entrances. Think like a beach goer and where you typically lose stuff. Putting your keys in your pocket before you hit the sand, bending over and taking off your flip flops, reaching for pocket change for a concession stand item, placing your watch and other valuables under your hat on your towel then forgetting you did that before you pick up the towel to shake it off. Depending on the number of people on the beach most of those towel line "fresh drops" of jewelry or clad only hang around for a day or so, if that, before being scooped up by the local detectorists or sinking beyond the reach of detectors, or are sucked up by sand grooming machines at night or dawn.

The real treasure is beyond the tide line. People most typically lose their jewelry the moment they first enter the water. The cold water shrinks their fingers and boom the ring drops off. Or they get hit by a wave and lose the watch, bracelet, or earrings. If the jewelry is heavy gold, it is going to sink fast and deep.

It does not take a lot of sand depth to put finds out of the reach of detectorists. That is why beach detectorists are in the water where the losses occur or looking for cuts in the tide line where sand has been removed from the beach by a recent storm or watching the tide table so they can follow the ebb tide out as it reaches the low point.

You will encounter a lot of trash that will "sound good". Aluminum can ends that tear off of beer and soda cans sound great and can be deep. Intact aluminum cans also sound great. If they are shallow you can get an idea of the size of the target by using the pinpoint feature. If the pinpoint signal traces a footprint larger than a coin or ring, it is usually junk. But even the small junk targets easily fool folks like pull tabs which ring up at 14 or 15 just above nickels (13), or round freshness seals that ring up at a solid 7 and sound like a gold ring. Bottle caps can also sometimes sound good with variable numbers but peaking in the 20's, but they will also typically have a telltale iron grunt that you can hear if you press the horseshoe button removing all discrimination while swinging over the target. Variable numbers usually indicate a junk target like a bottle cap or other mixed metal junk, but it could also be a coin spill or just a deep target on the edge of detection. So my recommendation is to just scoop everything - this helps you learn the language of the detector but also ensures you don't miss a good target. You will likely get frustrated with a lot of ketchup packets, crown caps, pull tabs, fishing sinkers, cans, and aluminum tent stakes but you will also probably end up with a few dollars in clad and perhaps something more valuable.

Have fun.

 

[cudamark]

In the wet sand and water, you might find Beach 2 works better than Beach 1, if you start getting some false signals. Run the sensitivity up as high as you can and still keep stable. Noise cancel, if necessary. You shouldn't need to do anything else.

 

[vferrari]

Also, make sure you have a decent, long-handled water scoop if going into surf or heavy wet sand. A hand sand scoop or long-handled sand scoop will not cut it in heavy wet sand.

If you go into the water, make sure everything is tethered to you because you will lose it after the first decent wave hits you. You will tire quickly if you are not used to surf hunting due to wave action pounding you, coil drag in the water, and the difficulty in recovering targets covered with water and heavy wet sand that keeps refilling your hole. Stick to the dry sand and tide line if this sounds overwhelming to you, because it probably will be a little much especially if you are learning a new machine.

 

[sandmartin]

Ask away when you are ready.

Here are some Equinox Beach Hunting Tips in the Meantime

Always perform a noise cancel before hunting in the mode that you are going to use (each mode needs to be noise cancelled and ground balanced separately).

Ground balance is typically not needed on the dry sand, but it also only takes a few seconds to do it so you might as well do it to learn if for no other reason.

After Noise Cancel and GB - set sensitivity only as high as you can and not hear chatter. You can be successful at Sensitivity Setting 20 (the default) but can eek out some more depth at higher settings of 22 to 23 or even all the way to 25 if there is no chatter. The dry beach sand is were you can usually get away with higher sensitivity settings because there is little ground feedback chatter and hopefully little to no EMI unless there are a lot of hotels and concessions close to the shore with wifi blasting or if there are a lot of beach goers with cell phones.

Use Beach 1 on the dry sand although you can probably get away any mode. I recommend Beach 1 anyway because that is what you will want to use in the damp/wet sand at the tide line anyway where the other modes become unstable due to the increased salinity concentration in the ground reference. So, just go with the Beach 1 defaults. Learning Equinox on the dry/wet sand in Beach one is a GREAT way to learn the machine, so go for it. After you gain more confidence in the Equinox and have a better understanding on what the settings do, then start to experiment with them. Especially, the various tone settings and the recovery speed settings. Iron Bias is tricky and is only something you want to fool with if there is a lot of ferrous on the beach.

If you are going to take Equinox beyond the tide line into shallow salt water or surf, then you will probably want to opt for Beach 2 which is more stable under those conditions. If there is a lot of black sand, moving water/sand then you will probably want to switch Ground Balance to tracking because the ground reference will rapidly change with the surf action. Again, if you switch to Beach 2 you will want to noise cancel and ground balance or go to tracking when switched into that Search Profile mode.

There is a lot more to beach hunting than meets the eye for the inexperienced detectorist.

It is not just randomly puttering around the beach and if you do that it might be a frustrating experience for you.

Look for the towel line and on-beach concession areas and lifeguard stations and beach entrances. Think like a beach goer and where you typically lose stuff. Putting your keys in your pocket before you hit the sand, bending over and taking off your flip flops, reaching for pocket change for a concession stand item, placing your watch and other valuables under your hat on your towel then forgetting you did that before you pick up the towel to shake it off. Depending on the number of people on the beach most of those towel line "fresh drops" of jewelry or clad only hang around for a day or so, if that, before being scooped up by the local detectorists or sinking beyond the reach of detectors, or are sucked up by sand grooming machines at night or dawn.

The real treasure is beyond the tide line. People most typically lose their jewelry the moment they first enter the water. The cold water shrinks their fingers and boom the ring drops off. Or they get hit by a wave and lose the watch, bracelet, or earrings. If the jewelry is heavy gold, it is going to sink fast and deep.

It does not take a lot of sand depth to put finds out of the reach of detectorists. That is why beach detectorists are in the water where the losses occur or looking for cuts in the tide line where sand has been removed from the beach by a recent storm or watching the tide table so they can follow the ebb tide out as it reaches the low point.

You will encounter a lot of trash that will "sound good". Aluminum can ends that tear off of beer and soda cans sound great and can be deep. Intact aluminum cans also sound great. If they are shallow you can get an idea of the size of the target by using the pinpoint feature. If the pinpoint signal traces a footprint larger than a coin or ring, it is usually junk. But even the small junk targets easily fool folks like pull tabs which ring up at 14 or 15 just above nickels (13), or round freshness seals that ring up at a solid 7 and sound like a gold ring. Bottle caps can also sometimes sound good with variable numbers but peaking in the 20's, but they will also typically have a telltale iron grunt that you can hear if you press the horseshoe button removing all discrimination while swinging over the target. Variable numbers usually indicate a junk target like a bottle cap or other mixed metal junk, but it could also be a coin spill or just a deep target on the edge of detection. So my recommendation is to just scoop everything - this helps you learn the language of the detector but also ensures you don't miss a good target. You will likely get frustrated with a lot of ketchup packets, crown caps, pull tabs, fishing sinkers, cans, and aluminum tent stakes but you will also probably end up with a few dollars in clad and perhaps something more valuable.

Have fun.

very helpful to me too buddy thanks.

 

[ColonelDan]

Ask away when you are ready.

Here are some Equinox Beach Hunting Tips in the Meantime

Always perform a noise cancel before hunting in the mode that you are going to use (each mode needs to be noise cancelled and ground balanced separately).

Ground balance is typically not needed on the dry sand, but it also only takes a few seconds to do it so you might as well do it to learn if for no other reason.

After Noise Cancel and GB - set sensitivity only as high as you can and not hear chatter. You can be successful at Sensitivity Setting 20 (the default) but can eek out some more depth at higher settings of 22 to 23 or even all the way to 25 if there is no chatter. The dry beach sand is were you can usually get away with higher sensitivity settings because there is little ground feedback chatter and hopefully little to no EMI unless there are a lot of hotels and concessions close to the shore with wifi blasting or if there are a lot of beach goers with cell phones.

Use Beach 1 on the dry sand although you can probably get away any mode. I recommend Beach 1 anyway because that is what you will want to use in the damp/wet sand at the tide line anyway where the other modes become unstable due to the increased salinity concentration in the ground reference. So, just go with the Beach 1 defaults. Learning Equinox on the dry/wet sand in Beach one is a GREAT way to learn the machine, so go for it. After you gain more confidence in the Equinox and have a better understanding on what the settings do, then start to experiment with them. Especially, the various tone settings and the recovery speed settings. Iron Bias is tricky and is only something you want to fool with if there is a lot of ferrous on the beach.

If you are going to take Equinox beyond the tide line into shallow salt water or surf, then you will probably want to opt for Beach 2 which is more stable under those conditions. If there is a lot of black sand, moving water/sand then you will probably want to switch Ground Balance to tracking because the ground reference will rapidly change with the surf action. Again, if you switch to Beach 2 you will want to noise cancel and ground balance or go to tracking when switched into that Search Profile mode.

There is a lot more to beach hunting than meets the eye for the inexperienced detectorist.

It is not just randomly puttering around the beach and if you do that it might be a frustrating experience for you.

Look for the towel line and on-beach concession areas and lifeguard stations and beach entrances. Think like a beach goer and where you typically lose stuff. Putting your keys in your pocket before you hit the sand, bending over and taking off your flip flops, reaching for pocket change for a concession stand item, placing your watch and other valuables under your hat on your towel then forgetting you did that before you pick up the towel to shake it off. Depending on the number of people on the beach most of those towel line "fresh drops" of jewelry or clad only hang around for a day or so, if that, before being scooped up by the local detectorists or sinking beyond the reach of detectors, or are sucked up by sand grooming machines at night or dawn.

The real treasure is beyond the tide line. People most typically lose their jewelry the moment they first enter the water. The cold water shrinks their fingers and boom the ring drops off. Or they get hit by a wave and lose the watch, bracelet, or earrings. If the jewelry is heavy gold, it is going to sink fast and deep.

It does not take a lot of sand depth to put finds out of the reach of detectorists. That is why beach detectorists are in the water where the losses occur or looking for cuts in the tide line where sand has been removed from the beach by a recent storm or watching the tide table so they can follow the ebb tide out as it reaches the low point.

You will encounter a lot of trash that will "sound good". Aluminum can ends that tear off of beer and soda cans sound great and can be deep. Intact aluminum cans also sound great. If they are shallow you can get an idea of the size of the target by using the pinpoint feature. If the pinpoint signal traces a footprint larger than a coin or ring, it is usually junk. But even the small junk targets easily fool folks like pull tabs which ring up at 14 or 15 just above nickels (13), or round freshness seals that ring up at a solid 7 and sound like a gold ring. Bottle caps can also sometimes sound good with variable numbers but peaking in the 20's, but they will also typically have a telltale iron grunt that you can hear if you press the horseshoe button removing all discrimination while swinging over the target. Variable numbers usually indicate a junk target like a bottle cap or other mixed metal junk, but it could also be a coin spill or just a deep target on the edge of detection. So my recommendation is to just scoop everything - this helps you learn the language of the detector but also ensures you don't miss a good target. You will likely get frustrated with a lot of ketchup packets, crown caps, pull tabs, fishing sinkers, cans, and aluminum tent stakes but you will also probably end up with a few dollars in clad and perhaps something more valuable.

Have fun.

From one seasoned beach hunter to another; Excellent and very comprehensive reply! Great advice all around.

 

[saanich2018]

I think I know the answer to this, but when using Beach mode, will it detect items like a gold ring or do you need to use Gold setting.

Please understand, I am not going into this with the expectation of finding gold rings, etc, on the beach, I was just wondering about the settings.

A friend of mine laid his gold wedding ring on the ground and his detector (a small fairly inexpensive unit) would not detect his ring at all

Thanks

 

[vferrari]

You can detect gold in all modes, the only caveat is some modes may give you a stronger gold signal based on the frequency profile they use. You don't need to worry about those nuances at this point, though.

As a novice at detecting, put some targets on the ground and see how the Equinox responds to them. Use Park 1 as it will sound similar to Beach 1.

When you get to the beach, I recommend that you focus just on using Beach 1 (at the beach) and Park 1 modes (everywhere else) until you learn the detector. Learning the detector in the dry sand is a great place to start. You get a variety of good and junk targets and recoveries are easy with a sand scoop vs. a shovel and/or digging tool on hard ground. (You dont even need a pinpointer with a scoop unless the target is smaller than the scoop mesh/holes). If you just stick to the dry sand, you can use Park 1, but Beach 1 allows you to venture down to the wet sand at the tide line ankle deep water because Park 1 is unlikely to be stable down there. Stick with default settings and you should be good to go.

I do not recommend using gold mode until you are comfortable in Beach, Park, or Field modes because the audio behavior is completely different in Gold mode. You don't need to be learning two machines at the same time when learning how to use your first metal detector.

 

[TexasRT]

First I'm no expert by any means. Yes in Beach Mode 1 or 2 it will definitely pickup gold rings and more. I was at a beach yesterday and I got two gold necklace clasps (among other things) both were about 1/4" in dia. The Nox is an awesome beach machine, at least in my opinion. I use standard beach modes (mainly 1) and all I change is run the sensitivity up until it doesn't chatter and it goes deep. Hope this helps, get out and play with it.

Edit: Like others have emphasized - make sure you noice cancel and ground balance also.

 

[saanich2018]

Once again, thank you very much. I get to the beach in two weeks!! Excited to try this 800 out.

 

[kajunoutlaw]

You can detect gold in all modes, the only caveat is some modes may give you a stronger gold signal based on the frequency profile they use. You don't need to worry about those nuances at this point, though.

As a novice at detecting, put some targets on the ground and see how the Equinox responds to them. Use Park 1 as it will sound similar to Beach 1.

When you get to the beach, I recommend that you focus just on using Beach 1 (at the beach) and Park 1 modes (everywhere else) until you learn the detector. Learning the detector in the dry sand is a great place to start. You get a variety of good and junk targets and recoveries are easy with a sand scoop vs. a shovel and/or digging tool on hard ground. (You dont even need a pinpointer with a scoop unless the target is smaller than the scoop mesh/holes). If you just stick to the dry sand, you can use Park 1, but Beach 1 allows you to venture down to the wet sand at the tide line ankle deep water because Park 1 is unlikely to be stable down there. Stick with default settings and you should be good to go.

I do not recommend using gold mode until you are comfortable in Beach, Park, or Field modes because the audio behavior is completely different in Gold mode. You don't need to be learning two machines at the same time when learning how to use your first metal detector.

Which one is deeper , beach 1 or 2 ?

 

[vferrari]

Which one is deeper , beach 1 or 2 ?

Hard to say without more specifics. Deeper for what type of target? What are the sand conditions? Black sand present? Wet sand or dry sand? There are just too many variables trading off to answer that question in general terms other than to say Beach 1 may be slightly deeper than Beach 2 in certain circumstances because Beach 2 trades greater saltwater stability for depth by automatically reducing transmit power by up to half if it detects black sand mineralization (it will display a hazard like symbol when it does this). That is why Beach 2 is recommended over Beach 1 in surf. The exact difference in depth performance is impossible to quantify.

 

[saanich2018]

Great info - once again vferrari - thank you!!!

 

[cudamark]

Try switching between the two when you get a deep target to see which comes through the clearest, then use that mode. I do that with iffy targets to get a better feel for what I may have found. That won't apply to every target, but, it may help with most at a given site.

 

[kajunoutlaw]

Hard to say without more specifics. Deeper for what type of target? What are the sand conditions? Black sand present? Wet sand or dry sand? There are just too many variables trading off to answer that question in general terms other than to say Beach 1 may be slightly deeper than Beach 2 in certain circumstances because Beach 2 trades greater saltwater stability for depth by automatically reducing transmit power by up to half if it detects black sand mineralization (it will display a hazard like symbol when it does this). That is why Beach 2 is recommended over Beach 1 in surf. The exact difference in depth performance is impossible to quantify.

Thanks for the info Vferrari. The beaches I hunt aren't black sand. It's too cold to hunt in the water right now. I've been hunting wet surf and dry sand and I've done well. I was using beach 2. I will try beach 1 next time and hopefully get another inch or 2 and maybe get a ring that's been just out of reach.

I did find a gold chain with a pendant and it was hitting a solid 1. Also found a 14k earring and it also was hitting a solid 1. Snagged a couple of gold rings as well as 4 silver rings. Still I will try beach 1 and see how it fares.