Why does my EQUINOX 600 absolutely LOVE fooling my with rusted objects????

DDLoopscreamer81

Full Member
Apr 23, 2018
131
313
Bethlehem, PA
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I can’t stand this machine even though it has paid for itself the first 2 weeks I am having withdrawals from the real machines like the ETRAC and Explorer SE PRO!!! Occasionally they fool me with the rust but this equinox is in a love affair with it. Why they even have iron mask when it barely masks a thing!?!?!?
 

Can someone please please please help me lower the huge let downs this junk machine has given me
 

What mode are you using? what size and shape are the rusted objects, I get fooled once in awhile but not nearly as bad as your whining about.....:laughing7:
 

yeah run us through your settings, and someone can probably help. I've had my 800 in the cellars recently, and thick deep iron occasionally fools me, or high copper content nails. Even with those though they are not great signals, and its apparent that its a chancy dig, just like any other machine really.
 

My 600 likes some iron too but not super bad. part of the time the signal has a slight difference in the sound but as I have found out, I still dig them anyways. I mainly hunt in Park 2. I sometimes use the horseshoe to see if the sound sounds more iron but it doesn't always make a difference.
 

Stick with Park 1, no more than sensitivity 21. Only dig signals above 8 and below 36, potentially discriminate or pass on 16-17 VDI’s.

Most important thing to avoid rusty metal is only dig targets that give repeatable signals when swinging at it from multiple directions. (Beep-beep, turn 90 degrees, beep-beep).

Rusty iron or bent square nails will give a good tone in one direction or will give a nice 26 VDI in one direction and all sorts of other VDI’s in other directions. 1 in 20 of these iffy signals is something good partially masked with iron, so if you are getting frustrated pass on all but the purest signals. You can always go back when you have more experience with the machine and see if you missed anything. Good Luck!
 

The machine rarely lies outright when it comes to iron. Just like playing poker, you have to learn its iron "tells". A couple have been touched on like coil lifting and ensuring you are getting a solid 2-way signal. But there are other clues too, including using the horseshoe button to remove disc and listen for telltale irin grunts, clipped high tones when running disc (indicating a mixed ferrous/non-ferrous response typical of if nails, large round iron, or bottlecaps), looking for tone and visual ID instability (which can also happen in a coin spill situation), and sweeping over the target in pinpoint mode to get a feel for footprint which can clue you in to large iron targets. Learn the language of the machine and you will get more adept at IDing probable iron. Recognize also that the only way to be 100% sure is to dig all iffy signals. But at least if you do understand the probable iron telltale signals and set your expectations accordingly, your surprises will generally be pleasant ones instead if disappointments. HTH.

BTW - you can go back and edit your posts after the fact so you don't have to create a new post every time a new thought pops into your head, unless of course you were doung it for dramatic effect...lol.
 

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Lol no drama here! Just tired of swinging nonsense machine I need to get a 3030
 

Lol no drama here! Just tired of swinging nonsense machine I need to get a 3030

SMH

It will take you a little longer to pay that one off, but if you want to find deep silver in in low trash situations, that will do it for you. It's precise target ID comes at the expense of a pretty slow recovery speed and it has less affinity to mid conductive targets like small gold vs. Equinox. Frankly, I believe ML to be moving away from FBS/BBS technology and will try to make a Multi IQ version of the eTrac or 3030 - with the precise target ID of those units with the recovery speed and mid conductive performance of Equinox. Equinox is a much more versatile machine than the CTX and does a host of things better than CTX in a more ergonomic package. The areas were CTX excels over the Equinox is a comparably smaller piece of the detecting pie. What I am trying to say is that you should wait to see where ML is going with Multi IQ before you drop that much coin on aging FBS tech.
 

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DDLoopscreamer --

I have a 3030, AND an Equinox, and before that, I hunted a Minelab Explorer (the "little brother" of the E-Trac) for 7 years. From my perspective, I dig no more iron, than I do/did with either the 3030, or the Explorer. It took awhile to "learn" the Explorer; once I did, I learned how to recognize most iron (rarely would I get TRULY fooled). Once I got the 3030, its similarity to the Explorer allowed me to rather quickly learn how to "tell" iron, from most of the coin-type targets I seek. Again, only on occasion, when "reaching" for really deep signals hoping for a fringe-depth dime, will a bent nail fool me.

Now that I've swung the Equinox for well over a year, I find the same thing -- I rarely have a nail entirely fool me. Occasionally, a very deep, bent nail will pretty closely mimic a very deep silver coin. But, as others have said, once you learn the machine, you learn most of the "tells" that allow you to significantly reduce the number of times you are "fooled" by iron. I can honestly say that at the end of a hunt, I have no more nails/iron in my pouch if I hunt with the Equinox that day, versus a hunt with the CTX.

After swinging a new machine for only two weeks, I personally would not EXPECT to be able to understand the nuances of the unit, such that I wouldn't be digging more iron that I was used to digging with my prior unit (of whatever brand/make), that I had substantial experience with...

Steve
 

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To clear up my poor communication skills, I have had the NOX 600 since April 2018. I had found enough during the first 2 weeks in April of 2018 to pay for itself.
I get caught in these “droughts” and I am getting frustrated with hitting silver, I think I have it down then it mind rapes me and I loose all confidence. Like yesterday at the Saylorsburg Lake Old old old baseball field I got raped with about old,pre1900, rusty nails. Or whatever the hell they were trying to make and call a nail back then
 

The machine rarely lies outright when it comes to iron. Just like playing poker, you have to learn its iron "tells". A couple have been touched on like coil lifting and ensuring you are getting a solid 2-way signal. But there are other clues too, including using the horseshoe button to remove disc and listen for telltale irin grunts, clipped high tones when running disc (indicating a mixed ferrous/non-ferrous response typical of if nails, large round iron, or bottlecaps), looking for tone and visual ID instability (which can also happen in a coin spill situation), and sweeping over the target in pinpoint mode to get a feel for footprint which can clue you in to large iron targets. Learn the language of the machine and you will get more adept at IDing probable iron. Recognize also that the only way to be 100% sure is to dig all iffy signals. But at least if you do understand the probable iron telltale signals and set your expectations accordingly, your surprises will generally be pleasant ones instead if disappointments. HTH.

BTW - you can go back and edit your posts after the fact so you don't have to create a new post every time a new thought pops into your head, unless of course you were doung it for dramatic effect...lol.
I agree 100%

Matt
 

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