Equinox 800 Audio Quality compared to Deus

[jmc24]

I hate to admit it, but I run "Deus Fast" exclusively on mine with tracking balance, four tones, 74khz and everything else is factory preset. That Deus fast program kills it in iron infested sites. I went to a park awhile back with it and pulled out innumerable Indians, buffalos, wheaties and modern coins I got tired and bored and went home (I dig relics). A whole bunch of people his this small place all the time to detect. Love that hf coil.

Deus Fast and ORX Coin Fast are great in moderate to high mineralization. I even use ORX Coin Fast for gold prospecting at 31 or 54 kHz to give me a second opinion on targets that I detected in one of the Gold modes. Deus Fast was the only program that worked well for me in most of the places I detect which are highly mineralized even when relic, coin and jewelry hunting. That is the main reason I switched to the ORX. I just wasn't using the vast majority of the great features on the Deus. Hopefully the person I sold it to is able to use them all unlike me.

Jeff

 

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[cudamark]

jmc24, thanks for the info!

I listen carefully to what you say, but could you give me a more specific example to help me some?
eg....using Nox800 with only 2 tones (ferrous / non ferrous), park 2 (higher weighted multi freq.), running all metal, tone break @0, recovery 6, iron bias 0 .... how could you tell the difference between an irregular aluminum melted piece (can slaw) vs a round gold ring or a coin? What would you do to help distinguish some between the two by using audio/depth meter/sound/pinpoint ?
With the Deus, I was trying to hear the signal edges...coins and rings signals were very progressive and smooth at the edges when sweeping 360 degrees...a "round echo tone" progressivelly faint at the edges through all directions....how about the Nox?

You're using these settings at a salt water beach? Not what I would use. Depending on what you're trying to find, and where on the beach you're hunting (ie. dry sand, moist slope, sopping wet sand, or water) I would use different modes than Park 2. Dry sand, Park 1 (depth, silver, and more stability in the higher sensitivity range) , Beach 1 (2nd best for the same hunting and a bit better in black sand), and Gold 1 (for tiny gold) would be what I would use. I usually try Park 1 on the slope if it runs stable, otherwise Beach 1. Beach 2 in the wet and water, or heavy black sand. 50 tone, all metal, Sensitivity as high as needed and still stable, Iron bias on FE2 set at 5 or higher to handle bottle caps, and stock ground balance in each mode. Time in the field will help on tone I.D's. It's still not an exact science, so, you'll dig lots of junk. Since you dig all non-ferrous anyway (a good habit on the beach) it really doesn't matter what the reading is or the sound it makes, but, I always like to get an idea of what it probably is before I scoop. I play a little guessing game to see how good I am at predicting the target. That guessing game experience comes in handy when you hunt inland, especially areas where you're not going to dig everything. I was going to get a Deus too, but, I just couldn't handle the sounds it made. To me it sounded like the cross between a dog's squeaky toy and fingernail on a blackboard! If you like that sound, try the Gold modes on the Nox. They're pretty close. I can only handle them for a little while and then have to give my brain a rest!

 

[Skiron]

You're using these settings at a salt water beach? Not what I would use. Depending on what you're trying to find, and where on the beach you're hunting (ie. dry sand, moist slope, sopping wet sand, or water) I would use different modes than Park 2. Dry sand, Park 1 (depth, silver, and more stability in the higher sensitivity range) , Beach 1 (2nd best for the same hunting and a bit better in black sand), and Gold 1 (for tiny gold) would be what I would use. I usually try Park 1 on the slope if it runs stable, otherwise Beach 1. Beach 2 in the wet and water, or heavy black sand. 50 tone, all metal, Sensitivity as high as needed and still stable, Iron bias on FE2 set at 5 or higher to handle bottle caps, and stock ground balance in each mode. Time in the field will help on tone I.D's. It's still not an exact science, so, you'll dig lots of junk. Since you dig all non-ferrous anyway (a good habit on the beach) it really doesn't matter what the reading is or the sound it makes, but, I always like to get an idea of what it probably is before I scoop. I play a little guessing game to see how good I am at predicting the target. That guessing game experience comes in handy when you hunt inland, especially areas where you're not going to dig everything. I was going to get a Deus too, but, I just couldn't handle the sounds it made. To me it sounded like the cross between a dog's squeaky toy and fingernail on a blackboard! If you like that sound, try the Gold modes on the Nox. They're pretty close. I can only handle them for a little while and then have to give my brain a rest!

Great reply here Cudamark, thanks a lot!

So,

- regarding beach hunting, my main target is gold jewelry (coins and silver only as a second priority) so the answer is yes I was thinking that for the dry part Park 2 (with zero iron bias, all metal, Reactivity lowered @4 and 2 tones) would be the best to use since I'm after all the gold and I should dig everything non ferrous ...and I'm afraid to use iron bias in order to not loose masked small misshaped gold (eg chains) if any....
BUT: your input (regarding the dry beach part) got me thinking.... I wasn't thinking using park 1 at all cause it's low freq weighted and I'm afraid that I would loose the small gold staff...however it would help to avoid tiny aluminum but I would also loose tiny gold so it's a trade off.

- Same thinking for using beach 1 at the dry part....not as sensitive to small gold I believe...so wouldn't Park 2 be always superior vs Park 1/Beach 1 for the dry part regarding gold

- As for the Gold 1 mode...maybe I will give it a try...I never used VCO audio cause that "dog's squeaky toy and fingernail on a blackboard" sounds don't really suits me, but i'm after all the tone info I could get so maybe I'll give it a try...

- Lastly, for the wet part, yes...beach 1/beach 2 seams the only choice (even if are low freq. weighted) depending on which one runs more stable in salty conditions and in highest possible sensitivity and recovery between 4-6


ps. Yes, in the beach I'm a "dig it all" guy, but as you said, it's nice to have clues for every target before digging....helps my learning process and can use this info when inland hunting to avoid aluminum as much as I can...that's why I'm trying to find the best settings to have the most audio nuances that Nox could offer....With my Deus I was able to achieve all that info with just 2 tones....Hope to manage the same with the Nox

Great help here guys, thanks everyone

 

[cudamark]

Field 2 is actually the best choice for tiny gold, but, the Gold modes work even better, so, I didn't mention it. I still find lots of small gold with Park 1 and I find it goes deeper than any of the other modes, so, that the one I primarily use. I can run a bit higher sensitivity in that mode and with less chatter than the others for whatever reason, so I figure that is helping on the depth too. In my area, there are tons of bottle caps, so, the high iron bias is a must for me. I still find tiny gold, so, I don't think it's much of an issue running it that high. If there's little iron or trash, I tend to run a slower recovery speed for depth....say 3 or 4. My usual swing speed is not very fast, so, I don't think I'm missing any deep targets that way. In the water you will sometimes get some falsing at those settings, so, I usually bump it up a few points until it quiets down. Aluminum sounds good no matter which mode or settings you use as far as I've been able to determine, although, setting the iron bias to max helps on melted aluminum and slaw in some cases. I usually dig them anyway even though I'm 99% sure they're junk. With a good scoop, it's just easy to see what it is and not wonder or 2nd guess yourself if you just passed up a good target. All beaches aren't the same, so, don't be afraid of experimenting a little. Try Park 2 and Field 2 for the tiny gold and see how it does, both on gold and some of the higher conductors. In my testing Field 2 was the best of the non-gold modes to hit on tiny gold. After testing and using mine for the last couple of years, I don't use Park 2 at all. Park 1 is better on copper and silver, Field 2 is better on gold, so, I don't see any use for it. YMMV.

 

[Skiron]

Thanks guys, all tips where really usefull!

Tomorrow I'll give it a try to see how it goes with the tones' quality and nuances in aluminum trash in the beach...

For the wet part of the beach in low tide, no doubt I'll use Beach 1/Beach 2 modes (whichever proves more stable in salty wet conditions allowing the highest possible sensitivity) - In any case i'll start in all metal with zero f2 iron bias, 2 tones, and slightly lower reactivity @4 ....

But for the dry part of the beach (which is a pebble beach mostly and not sand) I'll stay with my first "theoritical" choice of using Park 2 (full open, all metal, zero iron bias, recovery @4) since it is very sensitive in small gold staff & chains due to higher frequency weight...If I find myself ready for brain damage due to it's sensitivity, then I'll change to Beach 1 or Park 1 (low weighted) as of your suggestions, to save some of my mental health, hoping to not loose much...

I'll come back with some feedback regarding audio nuances and after the huge amount of aluminum **** I'm expecting to dig...

 

[Skiron]

Hey guys, some feedback since I managed to test my Equinox for a couple of hours in the dry part (towel line) of a local pebble beach.

1. Indeed, as most stated, and even in the dry part, Beach 1 was better choice and more stable than Park 2. Park 2 was clearly more sparky so I settled on using Beach 1 in 2 tones, running All Metal, Reactivity @4, F2 iron bias @0, Sensitivity @22.
Initially, I used auto GB by pumping the coil in a clean spot to grab a number (settled @15), but after a couple of meters when I did an auto GB again it settled at a way different number (30), so decided to use Tracking instead for this first run....tracking would settle lower numbers in the +/- 5 range.... Not sure why I had such a difference in auto GB numbers in the same area....and why tracking settled in even more different numbers....the particular beach has no high mineralization as I remember by the Deus, so maybe I did something wrong in auto-pumping GB but I had not enough time to test (rain was coming) so I left it in Tracking

2. Really impressed with the depth capabilities of Beach 1... didn't find anything special, but hitted 2 nickel coins of the early 90s at a depth well over a foot, right on the hard-pack level underneath the pebbles layer. The fact that the coins are 100+ years old (nothing special just a little old) and the hard dirt surface that where found underneath the pebbles, gives me confidence that I can reach the goodies that finally settle in the hard pack depth, regardless of their age.

3. Regarding the coins at this extreme depth: VDI was unbelievably stable (!) from all directions, giving a clean signal with a smooth lower volume. Equinox doesn't have the depth volume modulation that Deus had, but still you could say the depth by the slightly lower volume/fainter signal of the Nox

4. Extreme sensitivity in xtra tiny aluminum staff...wasn't expecting that the low freq. weighted Beach 1 should be able to see 1-2mm diameter aluminum bits, some of them in decent depth also....we're talking about chasing really tiny bits of aluminum between the pebbles that my pinpointer couldn't pick....so no doubt that whatever sized gold would be an easy pray for the nox to find...hopes are high even for gold chains now

5. Misshaped aluminum: Nox' VDI would jump around enough and the signal would have a "bubble-gum" effect if the item was lenghty....bubble-gum signal = long signal that "sticks" to the coil longer than a coin/ring should do (short signal)

6. Large aluminum (crashed cans): steady VDI from all directions but easy to tell by size = lifting the coil high enough in the air and still get it, especially in pinpointing mode where the target was screeming and was long enough to identify the size of it

7. Melted aluminum nagets: no way to identify them...as expected

8. Iron buzz everywhere: as I stated, I was running all metal with no iron bias, reactivity @4, sensitivity high @22 and GB tracking....I had much more iron signals (negative numbers eg -8) than I was expected in this beach....I have hunted this beach again with my Deus and I can't remember any high iron density there...
So why so many iron tones? Could be a GB issue? I was on tracking gb so I don't think so......Could it be a Nox Multifrequency issue and is to be axpected to have iron grants on good target's edge? Could it be a size or depth of target issue? I know that sometimes very deep targets could start as negative ID due to depth....but I had so many negative numbers yesterday that if i decided to dig EVERYTHING even negative numbers I would soon give up due to brain damage....Furthermore, sometimes even some clean aluminum pieces that I recovered, had this iron buzz (negative numbers) on their signals' edge as I was sweeping the coil off them....mixed signal with good tone over the target and iron buzz in it's edges....and the were not masked by any neerby iron....These are the kind of signals that maybe I wouldn't dig with Deus....but with Nox seems to be defferent and don't wanna loose any keepres....is this something normal with Equinox? Unfortunately, my time there was limited (rain was coming) and trying to dig in pebbles is already a nyghtmare, so I didn't dig any pure iron signal to confirm what it was....and it was many of them pure iron.....however, I dig some 50/50 and prooved to be aluminum as i stated above....Definetelly I have to test again and see where this iron buzzes are coming from

best,
Argyris

 

[Skiron]

Some update regarding the post above and the "iron tones everywhere" issue...:

Everything I read advocates that it was an improper Ground Balance issue since a) the beach I hunted is basically iron free (already hunted there with Deus)...... and b) most of these iron grunts where registering at -8/-9 VDIs which indicates ground feedback and not iron...
Need to test again for sure, this time by starting with default gb @0 to see if I'll have the same issue...and then do auto gb if needed

 

[vferrari]

Yes - proper setting of ground balance is key to eliminating ground noise in AM and is a dead giveaway you have not properly ground balanced the machine if it is occurring. Ground noise can also rise up if you use lower recovery speed settings too.

As you found out, Skiron, the beach modes are wicked deep even on mid-conductor targets (like nickels and also, therefore, gold) even though they are "weighted" to a lower multi frequency spectrum. So no problem finding larger, ring sized gold targets in Beach mode. You just might not find micro gold and jewelry targets like you would in Park 2, Field 2, or the Gold modes. But frankly, who needs to be sifting through the sand trying to painstakingly recover an earring back, anyway. Not worth the time and effort, quite frankly. That diamond stud is an unlikely find so I will leave those for the lottery winners. Go for the rings, pendants, and large chains. IMO.

Use tracking if you are having issues with ground variations (indicating black sand) and, if that is the case, you might want to try Beach 2 which is more stable under those conditions especially the variable salt concentrations in the surf.

You rightfully discovered the use of coil lifting and pinpoint mode to "footprint" targets, which compensates for the lack of Equinox target signal modulation and allows you bypass obvious aluminum can sized targets. Bent aluminum might give a good TID number but are usually unstable in TID or sound warbly and usually allow you to bypass. Still would scoop it if easy to do so, just to make sure. Also a variable target ID could reflect a multi-denomination coin spill, so you gotta check those out. Pinpointer again helps here because it will detect multiple small footprint targets in those cases rather than a single target indicating a bent tab. Crown caps are also unstable but will have some intermittent good sounding IDs, but in AM you will hear the iron grunt as you edge the coil off the target.

Also, there is no such thing as "no iron bias" on the Equinox in multi frequency mode. Equinox always has an iron bias filter applied in multifrequency mode (it is totally absent in single frequency mode, which doesn't exist in Beach mode) even if iron bias set at "0". This became evident when ML came out with last year's 2.0 update to add the F2 iron bias filter. The Equinox 800 F2 iron bias filter setting of "4" was equivalent to an FE iron bias setting of about "0". Anyway, the point is all you can do is minimize iron bias to the minimum setting that FE or F2 allows but it is never completely "OFF" even at "0" setting. F2 allows a greater effect and range in iron bias filtering than FE (even though they both have 0 to 9 settings - the actual effective ranges are vastly different). I prefer F2 iron bias filtering and normally set it at 4 to 6 (the default setting).

Sorry you sold the Deus for the Equinox. I never would have done that myself. Deus serves a purpose for me and Equinox serves a different purpose. Oh well. I find the Equinox to be a better beach machine overall, so if that is what you mostly do, enjoy!

 

[Skiron]

Thank you V !!!
Your inputs are always valuable for me, and especially when I'm trying to learn a new machine, the first thing I do is finding aaaall your posts about it and keeping notes from what you're saying to shorten my learning process

Yes, I too feel a little sorry for selling the Deus but couldn't afford having two machines unfortunatelly, so I pulled the trigger for the Nox to have an "all arounder" since I do beach hunt a lot and Deus wasn't as much stable in the salty wets.


Anyway, regarding your complete response above I feel a little more confident now that I'm in the right direction to learn my new Nox. Some key points:

- Yes, it must be an imporper GB issue since I really had a lot -8/-9 vdi signals in an iron free beach (I know that from deus hunts there). So I came in the same conclusion that I must meshed up with the initial auto GB process (which maybee stabilized at higher numbers than needed for this beach)...I have to test again and be more carefull this time or use tracking from the beggining there.
Regarding reactivity, I was running beach 1 with lower Reactivity @4 in order to gain some xtra depth to reach the hardpack underneeth the pebbles...so maybee that was another reason for increased ground noise as you suggest. I'll return to the default setting of Re @6 since it seems to have minimum effect on depth, and allows for higher sensitivity setting (much for important for depth) while running more steady and noise free.
Does higher Reactivity @6 vs 4 makes VDIs more unstable/less accurate or shouldn't worry about it?

- As for the gold: Even in Beach 1 mode, I was chasing tiny little milimiter sized bits of aluminum staff (a nightmare in a pebble beach like mine) so I hear you when you suggest to better go for larger staff (rings, pendants, and large chains) time efficiency wise.
Would you propose to disc out some low VDIs also (reject VDIs 1 to 5) or just put these VDIs in iron tone if running all metal, to get rid of them/ignore them? In every VDI NOX "statistics" I read, the vast majority of gold seems to come in the 5 to 20 range...(up to 25 for some very big gold rings or gold coins)...so I'm thinking to play with the odds and use my hunting time more efficiently by ignoring at least the low 1-5 VDIs and maybe 25 to 40 if I'm after only gold and not silver. I know I may loose any thin chains / small earrings but better to play with the odds I think...chasing tiny aluminum is a nightmare in that pebble beach
(comments here are for the dry part only. In the wet, aluminum is much less so i'll run Beach 2 full open in the wet part)

- Regarding all metal mode: do you personally use it always on (horseshoe always on) or push the horseshoe only occasionally when you wanna interrogate a specific suspect iffy signal? I'm asking for both beach and inland hunting....I'm used by the Deus to run all metal to hear everything and help me identify iron falsing (inland)...or bottle caps (beach) by edging the coil of the target or "weight" the % domination of iron vs good tone in suspect targets....my logic is "you can't reject something if you can't hear it"....However I read some interesting posts regarding Equinox, that VDI and signal are more accurate and stable when NOT running all metal....and that with the horseshoe on, it tends to put more negative numbers on the meter vs horseshoe disengaged....What's your experience tell? Do you use all metal always on or not? is there any disadvantage to always run in all metal like I was doing with Deus?

- Lastly, yes...as you and another valuable member also already told me, there is a difference between FE/F2 levels...Based on these, I was thinking to run new F2 mode @0 both for inland and beach hunting (= least possible iron bias for best possible unmasking, and least possible effect on signal tone's quality.....like Deus @silencer -1)...do you use/suggest F2 @4-6 only on the beach or in inland also? I suppose you're using F2 @4-6 to help some with iron falsing and bottlecaps? I remember that you were usually using silencer off (-1) with your Deus.....so whats the advantage in using F2 @4-6 vs using F2 @0 with the Equinox?

Again, huge thanks for all responses and pms here guys!
Best to all,
Argyris

 

[cudamark]

Personally, I don't find changing the recovery speed effects the VDI readings.....just a bit on target depth. I run it low when I can, but, in salt water, I almost always have to raise it up above 4 to keep the false signals to a minimum. Other areas and depending on your ground mineralization, you'll just have to play with that setting to see where it will balance out. I run all metal at the beach, period.....and most of the time on land. By hearing the iron better, you can sometimes find good targets next to iron that you might miss or decide it isn't a good enough sound by silencing the iron tones. My two best rings (both $32,000 platinum diamond engagement rings) I.D'd at 2 on my Equinox 800. I've had one 14K gold ring and many stud earrings that read 1, so, no way I'm going to discriminate those low numbers out. I'll dig the foil, smile (maybe grimace), and remember what those two 2 rings were, and could be again. Now if your beach is just too overwhelming to scoop millions of 1-5 targets, well, I guess you'll have to just go for the bigger gold/platinum. I run at least F2 at 5 all the time at the beach. Sometimes I run it all the way up to 9 depending on the amount of junk. I haven't noticed a significant loss of depth or target masking doing that, so, I'll continue to use it to get rid of the thousands of good sounding bottle caps on my beaches. F2 @ 0 just doesn't do it for me when it comes to bottle caps. At that setting, they still don't sound bad enough to ignore. Even at my settings, the caps with the foil on top still get dug.

 

[Skiron]

Cudamark, you're perfectly right regarding discriminating the very low IDs (0 to 5) and I wouldn't think of discriminating anything if I was hunting in a sandy beach where target recovery is not an issue....BUT in a pebbles beach like the ones of my area, when every attempt to dig a hole through the pebbles just brings new pebbles into it (trust me, is a nightmare) I think I might increase my odds some by using my hunting time more efficiently and avoid the really low IDs...and the very high too (25+).....unfortunatelly, most aluminum junk will read in my "acceptance 6-24 range, but even 10 less holes of junk will save me almost an hour of total digging...

Now...you would ask me why I hunt such a beach with pebbles... Well, first because that's the majority of my nearby beaches that I can visit even everyday if I want (However, I'm already planining to travel to some sandy beaches when I can). Second, I believe in Casper's moto "dig where others will not", and third, going wet (underwater) where junk is muuuch less and odds are muuuch better, isn't always possible due to weather etc....so sometimes I'm just stack in the dry part and the pebbles nightmare!!!

Anyway, we all know there is no way around if gold is the target...we should dig pretty much everything....just trying to increase my odds some

Thanks for the comments everyone

 

[vferrari]

Personally, I don't find changing the recovery speed effects the VDI readings.....just a bit on target depth. I run it low when I can, but, in salt water, I almost always have to raise it up above 4 to keep the false signals to a minimum. Other areas and depending on your ground mineralization, you'll just have to play with that setting to see where it will balance out. I run all metal at the beach, period.....and most of the time on land. By hearing the iron better, you can sometimes find good targets next to iron that you might miss or decide it isn't a good enough sound by silencing the iron tones. My two best rings (both $32,000 platinum diamond engagement rings) I.D'd at 2 on my Equinox 800. I've had one 14K gold ring and many stud earrings that read 1, so, no way I'm going to discriminate those low numbers out. I'll dig the foil, smile (maybe grimace), and remember what those two 2 rings were, and could be again. Now if your beach is just too overwhelming to scoop millions of 1-5 targets, well, I guess you'll have to just go for the bigger gold/platinum. I run at least F2 at 5 all the time at the beach. Sometimes I run it all the way up to 9 depending on the amount of junk. I haven't noticed a significant loss of depth or target masking doing that, so, I'll continue to use it to get rid of the thousands of good sounding bottle caps on my beaches. F2 @ 0 just doesn't do it for me when it comes to bottle caps. At that setting, they still don't sound bad enough to ignore. Even at my settings, the caps with the foil on top still get dug.

Cudamark, you're perfectly right regarding discriminating the very low IDs (0 to 5) and I wouldn't think of discriminating anything if I was hunting in a sandy beach where target recovery is not an issue....BUT in a pebbles beach like the ones of my area, when every attempt to dig a hole through the pebbles just brings new pebbles into it (trust me, is a nightmare) I think I might increase my odds some by using my hunting time more efficiently and avoid the really low IDs...and the very high too (25+).....unfortunatelly, most aluminum junk will read in my "acceptance 6-24 range, but even 10 less holes of junk will save me almost an hour of total digging...

Now...you would ask me why I hunt such a beach with pebbles... Well, first because that's the majority of my nearby beaches that I can visit even everyday if I want (However, I'm already planining to travel to some sandy beaches when I can). Second, I believe in Casper's moto "dig where others will not", and third, going wet (underwater) where junk is muuuch less and odds are muuuch better, isn't always possible due to weather etc....so sometimes I'm just stack in the dry part and the pebbles nightmare!!!

Anyway, we all know there is no way around if gold is the target...we should dig pretty much everything....just trying to increase my odds some

Thanks for the comments everyone

Cuda pretty much answered your questions the way I would. See my specific answers in bold below...

Thank you V !!!
Your inputs are always valuable for me, and especially when I'm trying to learn a new machine, the first thing I do is finding aaaall your posts about it and keeping notes from what you're saying to shorten my learning process

Yes, I too feel a little sorry for selling the Deus but couldn't afford having two machines unfortunatelly, so I pulled the trigger for the Nox to have an "all arounder" since I do beach hunt a lot and Deus wasn't as much stable in the salty wets.


Anyway, regarding your complete response above I feel a little more confident now that I'm in the right direction to learn my new Nox. Some key points:

- Yes, it must be an imporper GB issue since I really had a lot -8/-9 vdi signals in an iron free beach (I know that from deus hunts there). So I came in the same conclusion that I must meshed up with the initial auto GB process (which maybee stabilized at higher numbers than needed for this beach)...I have to test again and be more carefull this time or use tracking from the beggining there. Make sure you do a ground balance first before engaging tracking so that you get tracking "in the ballpark" of the actual ground phase. Tracking is designed to track relatively slowly so as to not overtrack and cancel targets, so it is best to start out with GB set at the actual ground phase than just engaging tracking.

Regarding reactivity, I was running beach 1 with lower Reactivity @4 in order to gain some xtra depth to reach the hardpack underneeth the pebbles...so maybee that was another reason for increased ground noise as you suggest. I'll return to the default setting of Re @6 since it seems to have minimum effect on depth, and allows for higher sensitivity setting (much for important for depth) while running more steady and noise free.
Does higher Reactivity @6 vs 4 makes VDIs more unstable/less accurate or shouldn't worry about it? Higher reactivity does not affect displayed target ID stability, it only affects your ability to hear the tones because the tones are shorter in duration as the processor resets to acquire the next target.

- As for the gold: Even in Beach 1 mode, I was chasing tiny little milimiter sized bits of aluminum staff (a nightmare in a pebble beach like mine) so I hear you when you suggest to better go for larger staff (rings, pendants, and large chains) time efficiency wise.
Would you propose to disc out some low VDIs also (reject VDIs 1 to 5) or just put these VDIs in iron tone if running all metal, to get rid of them/ignore them? In every VDI NOX "statistics" I read, the vast majority of gold seems to come in the 5 to 20 range...(up to 25 for some very big gold rings or gold coins)...so I'm thinking to play with the odds and use my hunting time more efficiently by ignoring at least the low 1-5 VDIs and maybe 25 to 40 if I'm after only gold and not silver. I know I may loose any thin chains / small earrings but better to play with the odds I think...chasing tiny aluminum is a nightmare in that pebble beach
(comments here are for the dry part only. In the wet, aluminum is much less so i'll run Beach 2 full open in the wet part) Resist the temptation to disc out small TID stuff unless you really are wasting too much time chasing ghosts or small aluminum. It is a judgment call. But every time you do that you take the chance of missing micro jewelry keepers, broken rings, and chains which tend to ring up in the single digits.

- Regarding all metal mode: do you personally use it always on (horseshoe always on) or push the horseshoe only occasionally when you wanna interrogate a specific suspect iffy signal? I'm asking for both beach and inland hunting....I'm used by the Deus to run all metal to hear everything and help me identify iron falsing (inland)...or bottle caps (beach) by edging the coil of the target or "weight" the % domination of iron vs good tone in suspect targets....my logic is "you can't reject something if you can't hear it"....However I read some interesting posts regarding Equinox, that VDI and signal are more accurate and stable when NOT running all metal....and that with the horseshoe on, it tends to put more negative numbers on the meter vs horseshoe disengaged....What's your experience tell? Do you use all metal always on or not? is there any disadvantage to always run in all metal like I was doing with Deus? I tend to like to run with Horseshoe engaged (always in no disc mode). Sometimes I get audio overload and switch disc back in. But I really want to know if that high tone is mixed with a low tone because that tells you a lot about the potential target.

- Lastly, yes...as you and another valuable member also already told me, there is a difference between FE/F2 levels...Based on these, I was thinking to run new F2 mode @0 both for inland and beach hunting (= least possible iron bias for best possible unmasking, and least possible effect on signal tone's quality.....like Deus @silencer -1)...do you use/suggest F2 @4-6 only on the beach or in inland also? I suppose you're using F2 @4-6 to help some with iron falsing and bottlecaps? I remember that you were usually using silencer off (-1) with your Deus.....so whats the advantage in using F2 @4-6 vs using F2 @0 with the Equinox? Like Cuda, I run with higher F2 settings (usually 5 min or just run with the default at F2). With the Deus, I opted to cut in Silencer at the beach to break up the bottle caps. Less chance of target masking at the beach so forcing the bottle caps to sound bad with higher F2 overrides any concern with ferrous masking. Also, running F2 much below 3 or 4 things start to get really chatty chirpy. F2=0 is impossible to use most places I hunt.

Again, huge thanks for all responses and pms here guys! Sure, no problem. Good luck with the new Equinox.

Best to all,
Argyris

 

[Skiron]

Oh...now I get it about auto GB and tracking GB....So tracking should be used only when there are decent ground changes in order to have something to read and work correctly, and even then, it is better to engage tracking after have first settle in a number through auto GB in order to "help" it start from a close point.
That could explain my trouble and the extended ground noise/negative -8s/-9s IDs...
I was auto GB initially, but with such a low mineralization in the beach I believe I just picked-settled in an incorrect number (higher than needed) while auto-pumping the coil or I just didn't do it right and the ground wasn't completelly clean (AM was on)....that should have caused the negative ground readings/low tones everywhere right after the auto GB.....Then, when I turned to tracking, it needed enough time to settle to a correct number since initial auto GB was way off and high (again, very low mineralization beach without major shifts) and that could again explain the ground noises with tracking also. I recall that when tracking finally settled in lower numbers (after some time though) it eliminated most of these signals.

I'll keep everyone's advices and see how it goes in the next dry pebbles beach hunts. I'll start with a correct auto GB at Beach 1 (or leave it at default 0 if it's ok), All metal mode, Reactivity@4 (or higher if needed) and also try F2@6, with max possible but stable sensitivity, and proceed from there.

Only thing that still confuses me is when running in all metal mode, Equinox has a tendency to give iron buzzes in the signal edges of even isolated and shallow good non-ferrous targets with no iron nearby (not masked), as many have mentioned in many posts I read (Tnsharpshooter, Calabash etc.)...So I'm trying to understand when running all metal, when these iron buzzes should be readed as iron falsing or a good target....but this should need some hunting hours & field experience in order to distinguish between the two situations and learn whatever nuances Equinox gives to help id these iron buzzes. This new nuances learning (vs Deus nuances) was the initial purpose of this thread afterall so will need some time

Thanks everyone and happy hunting!

 

[vferrari]

If the target ID is fairly stable, then ignore the iron buzzes on the beach and dig the target. I get deep quarters that will iron buzz off edge, but the ID is still pretty stable.

 

[cudamark]

I KNOW why you hunt pebbly beaches! I love them for old stuff. When the majority of the sand washes away and leaves just the cobble, there can be lots of good targets now within range of my detector. Digging in that cobble is a real pain though! I know what you're dealing with. I added an extended point on one of my scoops to help get deeper quicker with my scooping. It also reinforces the bottom of the basket to keep it from caving in while levering the scoop out. As for iron buzzes, I get lots of those when I'm in black sand (mainly due to iron mineralization). Sometimes larger non-ferrous items can give a real sketchy reading if they're fairly deep. Even if they initially give a good reading, once you start scooping sand away, that signal can change to a terribly scratchy sound, or a solid iron null. Sometimes the signal will disappear completely! Don't give up! Keep scooping until you get that signal out of the hole. When it's out, that great signal will now return in the sand pile.

 

[Skiron]

At last...someone feels my pebbles nightmare (and love for that kind of beaches also!)....thanks Cudamark You also gave a nice idea to modify a special scoop for pebbles work!

And yes, in this beach (and many other similar pebble beaches nearby that are "virgin" as nobody detects them - never ever saw anyone anyway) I can easily reach the hardpack depth underneath with the equinox...here in Greece we have no major tides or huge storms, so whatever sinks in the dry or wet part stays there for ages waiting to be found....I recently recovered some really old coins (100+ years old) and some other old staff from there, so I really hope that finding some old gold jewelry should be a matter of time....I'm also planning to hit the underwater knee to waist deep level (while snorkelling) with a small PI (still afraid to use my Nox underwater :/) but first things first.

Anyway, this is a "Nox' tones quality" thread so don't want to be very offtopic. Next days I have a plan to hit this beach again "in layers" so will learn a lot from my new machine...

The first round would be to recover the easy & obvious ones to not drive myself insane at once:

- 4-Ways Repeatable in the Same Spot under the coil (avoid any iron falsing etc)
- 4-Ways Steady VDI (minimum or no vdi deviation from all directions such as round/symmetrical targets give)
- Isolated Without Iron Buzz in target's center while tightening my swings (but allowed to have some iron buzz while coming of the edge of the target...many deep, thin, or tilted targets may do that unfortunatelly)
- Short & Tight in Pinpoint (small coin/ring sized targets will always have a short & very tight pinpoint signal about 1" wide, usualy weak & low pitched, with well defined & clear edges...vs cans etc)
- Not 39/40 VDI (avoid wrap around)
- Iron Bias F2 @5-6 to eliminate most bottlecaps
- Give priority to Low Volume Faint signals (deep small targets in the hardpack level)
- Give priority to VDIs from +5 to +25 (most gold range)...incude 0 to 5 if I have enough time to go after thin chains, earrings etc

In the second round, I'll go for the difficult iffy & 50/50 or masked ones or the hard ones that you mentioned above, and hopefully after some days I will clean the beach and move for the next one. That's my plan anyway..

thanks again and happy hunting!

 

[cudamark]

Here's what I did to my Stealth 720 scoop to help dig in the rocks.

 

[GoDeep]

I concur with 67GTA. To me everything sounded much the same on my Equinox. Now that I've had the Deus quite a while I can "hear" the difference between aluminum and good targets almost all the time. The aluminum just "sounds" different. I couldn't do that with the Nox.

Repectfully, I remember your posts, you literally used the Equinox for about one day before putting it up for sale due to comfort issues. I can tell Aluminum from good targets on my Equinox. Had you given it more seat time, like you did the Deus, you would have learned the tone nuances too.

 

[pulltabfelix]

Get good wireless headphones that are 4.2 bluetooth compatible. Only ones I found are the Tround BH01 - so much better than the wireless headphones that come with the 800.

 

[cudamark]

Get good wireless headphones that are 4.2 bluetooth compatible. Only ones I found are the Tround BH01 - so much better than the wireless headphones that come with the 800.

What makes them better than the stock ones? Who supplies them?