Eqinox and cell towers

[Juiceman]

I have been experiencing some noisy interference problems with my 800 and what I have determined to most likely be Cell tower signals. It is most prominent in multi IQ mode and makes the 800 unusable in some situations at some parks. I was able to hunt using 15k instead of multi IQ. but I did also have to turn the sensitivity down to about 16 to get the 800 to quit "chattering". I am not having this problem with my Cibola (possibly because it to is around 15k) Is anyone having this problem, and am I doing the right thing by switching to single freq. The machine is unusable at some parks in multi IQ. Any advice is appreciated Thanks!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[vferrari]

First make sure it isn't your own cell phone (put it in airplane mode or at least away from the Equinox control pod. Have you tried manual noise cancel (auto and manual has to be done separately for each search profile)? How far do you have to lower sensitivity in Multi? Have you tried different search profiles beside Park 1 in the bad areas (e g. Park 2 or Field 2)? I don't like to lose multi IQ which somewhat cancels the main advantage of the Equinox, but if you cannot otherwise use the Equinox, then single frequency is your last best option.

 

[adamBomb]

could be that. could be electrical wires. could be the ground. could be other things buried in the ground. could be a million things. most likely its just a combination of the environment and your settings. the default settings don't work for every place/user. you are just going to need to play around and learn the settings to make the machine stable in multi mode.

 

[Juiceman]

I do not carry a cell phone with me (old school) so not that. I have tried auto and manual NC no help in certain areas. The only thing that helped was going to 15k or higher. 5k, 10k and multi are useless in the areas I am working and they are both city parks. one of them has a cell tower right next to it, that is why I assumed it could be cell related. The other one is about 20 miles away and I do not see a cell tower but still get the issue. I have run over underground electrical and it causes a similar issue but as soon as I move away from that area it goes away.

First make sure it isn't your own cell phone (put it in airplane mode or at least away from the Equinox control pod. Have you tried manual noise cancel (auto and manual has to be done separately for each search profile)? How far do you have to lower sensitivity in Multi? Have you tried different search profiles beside Park 1 in the bad areas (e g. Park 2 or Field 2)? I don't like to lose multi IQ which somewhat cancels the main advantage of the Equinox, but if you cannot otherwise use the Equinox, then single frequency is your last best option.

 

[Juiceman]

I agree it could be many things. I have played with the settings and found that in these areas Multi, 5k and 10k do not work well. 15k and up seem to be fine. I have not found any combination of settings in multi that will work at these parks. I am happy that I was able to make it work in 15k as I can still detect these areas. I cannot be the only owner that has experienced this concern and was interested to see what others have experienced and what settings are working for them. Thanks

could be that. could be electrical wires. could be the ground. could be other things buried in the ground. could be a million things. most likely its just a combination of the environment and your settings. the default settings don't work for every place/user. you are just going to need to play around and learn the settings to make the machine stable in multi mode.

 

[vferrari]

I do not carry a cell phone with me (old school) so not that. I have tried auto and manual NC no help in certain areas. The only thing that helped was going to 15k or higher. 5k, 10k and multi are useless in the areas I am working and they are both city parks. one of them has a cell tower right next to it, that is why I assumed it could be cell related. The other one is about 20 miles away and I do not see a cell tower but still get the issue. I have run over underground electrical and it causes a similar issue but as soon as I move away from that area it goes away.

A couple of questions I had you didn't address:

Does it do it in all search profiles? Multi IQ profile is different for each search profile and some may be less susceptible to the local interference. For example, if you are trying to use Park 1, try another profile.

How low do you have to drive sensitivity in multi to make the interference away? If you are still at 12 or 13 on sensitivity you will still be in business.

When you go to single frequency in the Park and field modes, Multi IQ dependent features such as Iron Bias goes away and the search mode "personality" goes away. The only thing remaining to differentiate the search profiles are the user settings. GB is less accurate in single. Just considerations you should be aware of going to single. But if that is the only way you can detect due to the local EMI, it will work as good as any other single frequency detector.

 

[Juiceman]

V, yes all profiles in multi, sensitivity from about 5 on up. It is worse in 5k, about the same in 10k as multi, gets better in 15k sens 14 and below (useable sens 12-13).

A couple of questions I had you didn't address:

Does it do it in all search profiles? Multi IQ profile is different for each search profile and some may be less susceptible to the local interference. For example, if you are trying to use Park 1, try another profile.

How low do you have to drive sensitivity in multi to make the interference away? If you are still at 12 or 13 on sensitivity you will still be in business.

When you go to single frequency in the Park and field modes, Multi IQ dependent features such as Iron Bias goes away and the search mode "personality" goes away. The only thing remaining to differentiate the search profiles are the user settings. GB is less accurate in single. Just considerations you should be aware of going to single. But if that is the only way you can detect due to the local EMI, it will work as good as any other single frequency detector.

 

[vferrari]

Yep, that's some bad emi, unfortunately. The higher operating frequencies are typically more immune, so that is consistent with your observations.

 

[Juiceman]

Yes I agree, The more I use the 800 the more I realize how sensitive it is. I am still able to hunt in single frequency 15k and up, I have also found coins when the machine is chattering due to EMI but I get ear fatigue and a headache.

Yep, that's some bad emi, unfortunately. The higher operating frequencies are typically more immune, so that is consistent with your observations.

 

[sprailroad]

Been having the same problem in a park I've hunted many, many times with other detectors. I explained it all on a thread by Mrs. Gold I believe, "EMI or Ground Balance" I'm becoming a little disappointed with the, or perhaps only my 800, because of this ONE thing, but a major one to me. No cell towers around, just same park, different detector.

 

[fuceye]

Was detecting under the high line at the beach last week....it was very foggy....had to move 50 feet away to get it to settle down....battery was showing one bar.
Put the equinox on the charger and had lunch. After lunch it still was very foggy and the battery only climbed by one bar. Took the equinox back under the high line
And there was no chatter what so ever...

​