Equinox 800 reading on cast iron

[BH505Man]

Took the Equinox 800 for a short outing in a local skateboard park yesterday. Was using the stock 11" coil ... big mistake! There were so many targets in the ground that my mind went into complete overload. Next time I go there, I'll definitely put on the 6" sniper coil. Anyway, I didn't let that stop me from doing a little searching. I concentrated only on the repeating signals. Some tended to jump around from high to lower readings. I dug up numerous aluminum cans, foil, and pull tabs. After about 45 minutes of digging up trash... no coins, I got one jumpy signal from 21 to 30 however it was repeatable. So I dug it up. Turned out to be a cast iron toy railroad tanker car. Even though the axles were rusted and bent, it still had the original wheels still on it. (the kid didn't run the wheels off it) LOL. Cast into the metal was the following... MIDGETOY ROCKFORD ILL. U.S.A. PAT. 2775847
I looked up information on the company that made it on the internet and found this link.
https://toytales.ca/midgetoy-1946-1982/

 

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[smokeythecat]

Numerous targets under big coils just get most machines confused. Well known thing.

 

[brianc053]

BH, congrats on the toy! I love finding those things, although it always makes me a little sad to know that some kid was probably sad when he/she lost it.
As for the 11" coil on the Equinox 800: through experience you'll get used to using that coil in trashy areas. Smokey is right and any detector will get confused to some degree when there are many targets under the coil, but the Nox does a nice job of separation even in those situations - but it's really important to scan the target from multiple directions (the typical "rotate 90 degrees and swing again" technique). As you gain experience with the Nox you'll learn what coins sound like when you do that multiple direction scanning.
You'll also learn what cans, foil and pulltabs sound like through experience, but the thing that helps me with those is the "size/shape" of the target. Using the pinpoint mode you'll learn to hear whether the target is small (coin sized) or large (can, large foil). Small bits of foil will still fool you (and me, and everyone).
Pulltabs ring up between 12 and 15/16 on the Nox - but so do nickels (and rings/jewelry). As with any detector, if you want nickels / jewelry then you gotta dig pulltabs. BUT, I've noticed:
- the complete pulltab ring up above 13 (like a 14,15,16), and they jump around a little on the VDI.
- the tongue of an older pulltab (i.e. no ring) give a 12 VDI very consistently.
- nickels will also come a solid 12 (maybe a squeak of 13, less often a squeak of 11).
- so in summary, if I'm in an area that will have buffalo nickels or if I want to earn $0.05 then I'll dig a 12 (even if it squeaks a 13) but will avoid anything that jumps to 14+. I don't get much jewelry where I've hunted so I'm comfortable skipping those 14+ midtones.

I also recommend that you get used to the detector using the stock programs before you start to customize (I know you didn't even mention this - I'm just being proactive here). Eventually you may want to create a personal program that notches certain VDI numbers out (my personal program is my coin shooting one, where I notch out anything below 11 and between 14 and 17), but I think you learn a lot about the detector by digging all the signals during the first...3 months or so?
I've had mine for about 2 years now and I'm still refining my knowledge.
Good luck! Don't get discouraged by the 11" coil - it's a great all around coil.

 

[BH505Man]

BH, congrats on the toy! I love finding those things, although it always makes me a little sad to know that some kid was probably sad when he/she lost it.
As for the 11" coil on the Equinox 800: through experience you'll get used to using that coil in trashy areas. Smokey is right and any detector will get confused to some degree when there are many targets under the coil, but the Nox does a nice job of separation even in those situations - but it's really important to scan the target from multiple directions (the typical "rotate 90 degrees and swing again" technique). As you gain experience with the Nox you'll learn what coins sound like when you do that multiple direction scanning.
You'll also learn what cans, foil and pulltabs sound like through experience, but the thing that helps me with those is the "size/shape" of the target. Using the pinpoint mode you'll learn to hear whether the target is small (coin sized) or large (can, large foil). Small bits of foil will still fool you (and me, and everyone).
Pulltabs ring up between 12 and 15/16 on the Nox - but so do nickels (and rings/jewelry). As with any detector, if you want nickels / jewelry then you gotta dig pulltabs. BUT, I've noticed:
- the complete pulltab ring up above 13 (like a 14,15,16), and they jump around a little on the VDI.
- the tongue of an older pulltab (i.e. no ring) give a 12 VDI very consistently.
- nickels will also come a solid 12 (maybe a squeak of 13, less often a squeak of 11).
- so in summary, if I'm in an area that will have buffalo nickels or if I want to earn $0.05 then I'll dig a 12 (even if it squeaks a 13) but will avoid anything that jumps to 14+. I don't get much jewelry where I've hunted so I'm comfortable skipping those 14+ midtones.

I also recommend that you get used to the detector using the stock programs before you start to customize (I know you didn't even mention this - I'm just being proactive here). Eventually you may want to create a personal program that notches certain VDI numbers out (my personal program is my coin shooting one, where I notch out anything below 11 and between 14 and 17), but I think you learn a lot about the detector by digging all the signals during the first...3 months or so?
I've had mine for about 2 years now and I'm still refining my knowledge.
Good luck! Don't get discouraged by the 11" coil - it's a great all around coil.

I used the park 1 setting, noise canceled and ground balanced it. In hindsight, I could have reduced the sensitivity some to eliminate some of the chatter. However I look at the outing as a learning experience exercise in getting to know my detector. All good.

 

[BH505Man]

Numerous targets under big coils just get most machines confused. Well known thing.

Yes, in hindsight I should have used my 6" sniper coil for that trashy park. However it was a good learning experience using the 11" and learning to use it in that trashy park to separate targets.

 

[vferrari]

FWIW - Die Cast is not the same as cast iron. Die cast toys and objects are typically comprised from any of a number of different types of non-ferrous metal alloys including zinc, aluminum, tin, pewter, copper, or magnesium cast from a steel mold. So other than the rusted steel axels on the toy, it is probably a soft non-ferrous metal alloy, likely the zinc alloy Zamak (zinc with aluminum, copper and magnesium) based on the article linked below. That probably explains the high and variable TID you observed.

Midgetoy History ~ Al & Earl Herdklotz ~ Die Cast Toys 1948 to 1968

 

[BH505Man]

FWIW - Die Cast is not the same as cast iron. Die cast toys and objects are typically comprised from any of a number of different types of non-ferrous metal alloys including zinc, aluminum, tin, pewter, copper, or magnesium cast from a steel mold. So other than the rusted steel axels on the toy, it is probably a soft non-ferrous metal alloy, likely the zinc alloy Zamak (zinc with aluminum, copper and magnesium) based on the article linked below. That probably explains the high and variable TID you observed.

Midgetoy History ~ Al & Earl Herdklotz ~ Die Cast Toys 1948 to 1968

Thanks for your commentary and the weblink to more information on Midgetoy. The history behind our finds is one of the most interesting aspects of our hobby.

 

[MackDog]

Use the 15" all the time will separate multiple targets. It takes a while to get used to it though

 

[BH505Man]

Use the 15" all the time will separate multiple targets. It takes a while to get used to it though

Those were some really awesome finds that you made with your Nox. WTG

 

[67GTA]

If there is that much trash, then there are probably other good targets hidden that others have passed over. Crank your recovery speed up and work small areas. I like to visualize a 6ft x 6ft square and work it in different directions.

 

[billb]

Congratulations on your recovery pretty cool

 

[BH505Man]

If there is that much trash, then there are probably other good targets hidden that others have passed over. Crank your recovery speed up and work small areas. I like to visualize a 6ft x 6ft square and work it in different directions.

I'll put on my 6" coil and crank up the recovery speed and also tweak up sensitivity as high as is stabile and see what turns up. Let you all know how it turns out.

 

[vferrari]

Actually, if you are in a target rich area, you might want to consider lowering sensitivity as you are trying to search for shallower, partially masked targets. The lower sensitivity gets you sufficient depth without the junk targets overwhelming the detector input signal processor. It's counterintuitive but works well, especially in thick iron.