Horse shoe or No Horse shoe

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

This question is for more experienced Equinox users. Do you use the horse shoe button to hear the iron or only sparingly to decide on iffy signals?

I have been running with horse shoe on all the time (but the iron segment volume is turned down), mostly hunting around old cellar holes. If I turn it off, it doesn’t feel right. Recently have been going out with some other Nox users that only use it sparingly.

I also read an excerpt from Clive’s book and it seemed to imply more depth not using horse shoe.

What are y’all doing with this feature?

 

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[Minelab Matt]

I never use it.

Matt

 

[cudamark]

I like to hear everything all the time.

 

[67GTA]

I leave it on and just turn the iron volume down. If you are cherry picking a clean park or field,then it doesn't matter that much. If you are hunting an iron infested site and trying to squeeze the last few targets out, then you might miss a partially masked target. Some of those iffy signals can be easier to pass over because of how the digital audio gets clipped. You can also miss good targets much the same way by notching. Co-mingled target tones can be pulled down lower depending on what the lower conductive target is.

 

[charlives]

Although I agree with 67GTO and cudamark, I'm a bit older and I can't listen to that many sounds for that long, so I've been using the horseshoe mostly to check targets. Many times I'll turn it on away from the cellar hole just in case there is a cabin site or other building, but even then I've found you can still hear the iron as the Nox sputters over nails even without the horseshoe.

 

[67GTA]

Although I agree with 67GTO and cudamark, I'm a bit older and I can't listen to that many sounds for that long, so I've been using the horseshoe mostly to check targets. Many times I'll turn it on away from the cellar hole just in case there is a cabin site or other building, but even then I've found you can still hear the iron as the Nox sputters over nails even without the horseshoe.

Have you tried playing with the iron volume? You can turn it down to a really low level in the background. If I leave it on the default level, I get ear fatigue after 2-3 hours in heavy iron.

 

[mrmastadon]

That's interesting, the idea that having it off increases depth -- I have found just the opposite. I typically leave it on for depth, and because I like to hear a more complete picture of what's under the ground. I turn it off occasionally in especially trashy areas when I am feeling overwhelmed by the constant audio.

 

[vferrari]

I leave it on and just turn the iron volume down. If you are cherry picking a clean park or field,then it doesn't matter that much. If you are hunting an iron infested site and trying to squeeze the last few targets out, then you might miss a partially masked target. Some of those iffy signals can be easier to pass over because of how the digital audio gets clipped. You can also miss good targets much the same way by notching. Co-mingled target tones can be pulled down lower depending on what the lower conductive target is.

Couldn't have said it better. Iffy signals that may have a ferrous component due to masking or depth down averaging get clipped with discrimination. If the ferrous tone is driving you nuts 1) make sure you are ground balanced because the ground noise will overwhelm and 2) lower the bin 1 tone volume.

 

[MackDog]

I leave it on and just turn the iron volume down. If you are cherry picking a clean park or field,then it doesn't matter that much. If you are hunting an iron infested site and trying to squeeze the last few targets out, then you might miss a partially masked target. Some of those iffy signals can be easier to pass over because of how the digital audio gets clipped. You can also miss good targets much the same way by notching. Co-mingled target tones can be pulled down lower depending on what the lower conductive target is.

Ditto leave it on all the time. It helps me pick out more masked targets. Definitely has made a difference in finds in hunted out areas

 

[MikeRo]

I run with it on all the time. I like to hear everything in the ground....to me, thats what a detector is for. I think with it on it seems to pull the good targets out of the iron....just gotta learn to hear them!

 

[midalake]

This question is for more experienced Equinox users. Do you use the horse shoe button to hear the iron or only sparingly to decide on iffy signals?

I have been running with horse shoe on all the time (but the iron segment volume is turned down), mostly hunting around old cellar holes. If I turn it off, it doesn’t feel right. Recently have been going out with some other Nox users that only use it sparingly.

I also read an excerpt from Clive’s book and it seemed to imply more depth not using horse shoe.

What are y’all doing with this feature?

Well you never told us WHERE you are hunting? I would NEVER uses "horseshoe mode" at a salt water beach with direct water contact.
HOWEVER: I go to horseshoe mode to decide on all targets to dig.

For me the horseshoe mode is the TRUTH MODE! I used the truth mode many times today!

There most definitely is a purpose for that mode! In my case there are too many targets to run it all the time, and in salt water contact it is too unstable!

 

[cudamark]

Well you never told us WHERE you are hunting? I would NEVER uses "horseshoe mode" at a salt water beach with direct water contact.
HOWEVER: I go to horseshoe mode to decide on all targets to dig.

For me the horseshoe mode is the TRUTH MODE! I used the truth mode many times today!


There most definitely is a purpose for that mode! In my case there are too many targets to run it all the time, and in salt water contact it is too unstable!

That's one area where I make SURE it's on. I just wish I could figure a way to make it the default on my machine. Sometimes I forget to punch the button when I first start out.

 

[CoinHunterAZ]

I leave it on and just turn the iron volume down. If you are cherry picking a clean park or field,then it doesn't matter that much. If you are hunting an iron infested site and trying to squeeze the last few targets out, then you might miss a partially masked target. Some of those iffy signals can be easier to pass over because of how the digital audio gets clipped. You can also miss good targets much the same way by notching. Co-mingled target tones can be pulled down lower depending on what the lower conductive target is.

This is what I do most of the time too, turn down the iron volume in the first bin. Depending on the site though, I do sometimes turn it off and use the horseshoe for verification. Some of the spots I hunt are just too trashy with iron bits (ghost towns) and even with the iron volume down it's gets annoying after a while.

 

[Calabash Digger]

Best to leave it on all the time IMO... That way you learn what a masked target sounds like and if your a relic hunter it is a must ...or it is for the way we hunt. If you use the horseshoe to check targets you might be messing up if you hunting in iron... Now that is coming from a pure relic hunter point of view.

Well even if you are coin hunting it would at least alert you to slow down as there is a ton of iron under feet....

 

[SultansOfSwing]

I leave it on. I have a 600 so I cant adjust the volume. I've become accustomed to the noise and just consider it part of the detectors language. If I dont hear iron, im constantly swinging over my boot to make sure my detectors working. Always throws my concentration off when things are too quiet.

 

[charlives]

What about keeping the horse shoe on but turning the iron all the way to zero? Could I get the best of both worlds...or is the benefit the way the iron sound interacts with the higher tones?

 

[midalake]

I leave it on. I have a 600 so I cant adjust the volume. I've become accustomed to the noise and just consider it part of the detectors language. If I dont hear iron, im constantly swinging over my boot to make sure my detectors working. Always throws my concentration off when things are too quiet.

That is actually what your sensitivity is for. If in discrimination mode your sensitivity should be high enough where you know your detector is "on" by getting a little click or pop every couple of swings.

 

[midalake]

What about keeping the horse shoe on but turning the iron all the way to zero? Could I get the best of both worlds...or is the benefit the way the iron sound interacts with the higher tones?

I personally do not use the pinpoint mode on the Equinox. I pinpoint in the horseshoe mode. In the horseshoe mode the Equinox does run the most pure. Example. When running in discrimination and then switching to horseshoe, I have had targets go both ways. Meaning what I thought was dig-able target was clearly iron, and like wise what I though might be iron was clearly something that should be dug.

I do not feel one can make a clear judgement on a target unless the Equinox is in horseshoe mode. [of course unless the target is a pure lock] However, at least for the beach I have ZERO need to hear everything in the ground. I am really only interested in targets that want to consistently break the "0" threshold. Pure deep iron will be ignored in Disc. mode.

 

[dsrtdwg1]

For me, like most here. Iron ON, iron volume set to 1. I know it's there , it is just not annoying.

 

[sprailroad]

When talking "Bins", I'm thinking you are not? using Multi-tone?. If starting out somewhere in the woods, I'll use all metal just to see if and when I stumble upon something, dig it to see what it is I am on, and then if a lot of iron signals, I then switch to Field 1 or 2 accepting everything from 0 on up, with iron bias set at 0 or 1. I do not know if this is good or not, it's just something I seem to do. I read the threads just like this one, to learn a few things that I may very well be missing or am not really clear on. Good answers to this topic fella's.