"dig em all" is this rule now obsolete with equinox

Wild Colonial Boy

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Sep 7, 2013
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As a spin off from IFFY SIGNALS iron discussion.

I just want to know if the old motto "dig em all" really applies to the new Technology of the Equinox

from my experience, It should now say "dig if you get a repeat solid number mixed with iffy signals"

I have to say I find the technology dependable and honest in regards when i doubt a signal with high tones but jumpy and still dig it is Iron every time

I would love to hear what others have experienced in regard to successfully iffy signals
 

pa-dirt_nc-sand

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I pretty much agree with your experience with the signals. Still hard to pass on a 26-31 even if you are certain it will be rusty iron. Depends on how much time and how many holes I want to dig.

I sometimes still pull out my A250 when I want to cover an acre in 2 hours and want to run with the philosophy of “You don’t know what you don’t know”
 

rc2125

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Feb 15, 2010
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Not hardly obsolete, lol. They are the most sophisticated dig-all machines i've ever had.
 

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Wild Colonial Boy

Wild Colonial Boy

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thanks

do you dig inconsistent and minus signals with out repeat solid numbers and get results?
 

Oct 5, 2014
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IMHO: With all of the variables we encounter in the field (farm fields, woods), for me I dig everything (only being selective in sensitive areas; i.e. groomed properties...etc.!

A Morgan dollar that appeared to be a large soda or aluminum junk object (dig a lot of junk in the farm fields) by sound [sounded thin and squishy] turned out to be a very nice find. Metal detectors are machines that cannot be trusted 100% on target ID, depth...etc. You really never know unless you dig.
 

smokeythecat

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Amergin, if you get too picky you'll leave stuff behind, especially when relic hunting. And the Equinox is not exempt. Neither is my XP Deus. I just dug a Mercury dime that was deep in horrible mineralized ground with the Deus, and was an awful tone. It was next to a broken old horseshoe. Most folks probably would have skipped it. Now if you are just a cherry picker type of digger, then by all means jack that discrimination up and only dig the higher tones.
 

HighVDI

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I dig deep coins every hunt that range from foil to mid to high 30's. Usually deeper wheaties and copper pennies. Most of the time the audio never changes just the TID.
 

smokeythecat

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In 2017, or late 2016, time flies, I was digging with a group at a 1700's site. They had been there before, I had not. There were quite a few aluminum cans around the old building. I dug some up and worse than that, larger pieces of aluminum siding that had been bent into smaller shapes, so they presented as good targets. One of the "cans" was extremely shallow, like less than 2". I dug it anyway, I'm not sure if I was a glutton for aluminum punishment or what, but it was a cast brass Revolutionary War cross belt plate. So my motto is dig it all, let God sort it out. My other favorite saying is miss it by an inch, miss it by a mile.
 

Icewing

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I don't have an Equinox but after having found 7 sterling silver forks in a city park with my Exterra I can't help but dig iffy signals. And wonder what they would sound like 6" below the surface under an Equinox.strange shapes make strange sounds.
 

smokeythecat

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I don't think which machine you use matters a whole lot in this scenario. Since I mainly relic hunt, I dig iffy stuff.
 

Trezurehunter

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I always dig iffy signals. Don't ever have to wonder what I'm leaving behind that way ! Sometimes they are good signals, and sometimes they are bad, but the exercise is always good !
 

pulltabfelix

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IMHO: With all of the variables we encounter in the field (farm fields, woods), for me I dig everything (only being selective in sensitive areas; i.e. groomed properties...etc.!

A Morgan dollar that appeared to be a large soda or aluminum junk object (dig a lot of junk in the farm fields) by sound [sounded thin and squishy] turned out to be a very nice find. Metal detectors are machines that cannot be trusted 100% on target ID, depth...etc. You really never know unless you dig.

I have come to that conclusion also. Before buying my Nox 800 I was impressed by everyone talking at the time about how it really found targets among the iron trash using the faster recovery speed and iron bias. Well at that time not many were talking about the problem of iron falsing. So now I have a detector that I thought would allow me to trust my ears and TID. Foolish me. I am back to when relic hunting digging everything. At the trashy parks, I have an easier task with the 800 cherry picking since most of the trash is pull tabs and pop tops and foil but not so much iron. And of course tot lots and volley ball courts are a piece of cake, but then a bounty hunter jr will find anything in those two types of sites.

So we are still waiting for the magical detector that will tell us what really is under our coil when relic hunting.
 

OBN

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I base my "dig all" on the locations History and the odds of being a great find,.......this being at the beach, or old beach and with any machine.

Like my Quot below...
 

vferrari

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I have come to that conclusion also. Before buying my Nox 800 I was impressed by everyone talking at the time about how it really found targets among the iron trash using the faster recovery speed and iron bias. Well at that time not many were talking about the problem of iron falsing. So now I have a detector that I thought would allow me to trust my ears and TID. Foolish me. I am back to when relic hunting digging everything. At the trashy parks, I have an easier task with the 800 cherry picking since most of the trash is pull tabs and pop tops and foil but not so much iron. And of course tot lots and volley ball courts are a piece of cake, but then a bounty hunter jr will find anything in those two types of sites.

So we are still waiting for the magical detector that will tell us what really is under our coil when relic hunting.

Lol, I'm not waiting for that detector...I just get out and detect and gain the wisdom of experience. Technology can only get you so far beyond knowing you have metal undetneath the coil.

Learning what the audio clues are telling you can help and that comes with experience.

Dig it all perhaps, but all iron doesn't false and lead backed plates ring up almost like aluminum cans (almost - and that is the key). What I do know is that applying iron bias to reduce falsing: a) isnt that great at preventing falsing and 2) is awesome at keeping non-ferrous targets masked amongst the iron.

The variables that have to be managed to give high certainty as to what exactly is under that coil become unweildy for the detector designer.

Frankly, I think I would actually abandon the hobby if all doubt were removed before recovery. At that point it would merely be a matter of how efficiently you can sweep your coil over the ground, turning it into the all the thrill that comes with a seeded contest hunt.

Some of the most rewarding finds are from those iffy signals at pounded sites left behind by those who decided to play the odds and not dig. If no one is playing the odds anymore because the detector removes all doubt, things will dry up pretty fast. No thanks. I am thankful technology gives you an edge but not certainty.
 

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stewielouie

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I have come to that conclusion also. Before buying my Nox 800 I was impressed by everyone talking at the time about how it really found targets among the iron trash using the faster recovery speed and iron bias. Well at that time not many were talking about the problem of iron falsing. So now I have a detector that I thought would allow me to trust my ears and TID. Foolish me. I am back to when relic hunting digging everything. At the trashy parks, I have an easier task with the 800 cherry picking since most of the trash is pull tabs and pop tops and foil but not so much iron. And of course tot lots and volley ball courts are a piece of cake, but then a bounty hunter jr will find anything in those two types of sites.

So we are still waiting for the magical detector that will tell us what really is under our coil when relic hunting.

If your skipping those pull tabs your leaving gold rings
 

Hawks88

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Aug 26, 2012
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I dig it all so that I don’t ever have to think of what I may have left behind.
 

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Wild Colonial Boy

Wild Colonial Boy

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Thank you all so much, as a novice I was trying to trust Equinox too much , based on early promises, it all down to experience in the end, the Technology can only take it so far
 

gunsil

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In 48 years of detecting with a lot of different machines with different technologies one thing for sure, the only true target ID is when it is in your hand. I may have more patience than some since my first machines were beep and dig with little or no discrimination and I had no choice but to dig all targets. If a new site I may cherry pick for silver if I think the place will be hit often, but usually in a relic type area I just HAVE to know what the target really is and the ONLY way to be sure is to see and handle it.
 

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