EQ-600 Bouncing Everywhere

[Stringtyer]

This topic has probably been discussed elsewhere and maybe I'm just too lazy to look for it so I'll ask again. First, I know that I have to spend sweep time with my detector to learn how to use it ... and I do that at every opportunity. I also know that I have to dig a lot of junk before the Morgans start jumping into my finds bag.

My question revolves around why my EQ-600 chatters so much over almost any ground. On the one site that I am using to learn the machine (an approximately 100 year-old home site that has been uninhabited for over 20 years), I get constant chatter from my machine with numbers jumping all over the range. It does grab a good, repeatable signal now and then. When it does, I dig. I don't mind digging junk because I'm looking more for history than "treasure".

At the advice of many forum members, I have been using the detector on either Field 1 or Field 2 with no adjustments. What can I do to help settle down the chatter? I'm thinking several things and hope that y'all can point me in the right direction.

Should I be ground balancing the machine each time I use it?

Should I turn down the sensitivity?

What else should I try?

Thanks.

 

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[IDXMonster]

Number 2.

 

[GameOfTones]

Ground balance

 

[cudamark]

If it chatters while holding the coil up in the air, it's EMI that's causing it. Sometimes noise cancel will take care of it, sometimes not. If it's only the ground causing your noise, start with ground balance and a reduction in sensitivity. If it's ton's of targets in the ground, up the recovery speed and work REAL slow, and with the 6" coil, if you have one. Park 1 seems to be a quieter mode than some of the others on some sites. You may want to use that one as a baseline for your adjustments.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Noise cancel, auto ground balance. Start at sensitivity 15 and work your way up (no more than 22). I recommend Field2 and turn off the Horseshoe when you are first learning. Make sure you are at recovery 1or 2. (I only go to high speed 3 recovery in select small areas.)

If this does not work, there is potentially strong EMI interference. Try another site (ball field) to see if it calms down.

It’s also worth exploring Park1 as many users find this mode easier to start out.

Good luck!

 

[Stringtyer]

Thanks to all for the hints and suggestions. I'm heading out tomorrow morning to my learning permission and will try these suggestions. I'll report on my success ... or lack thereof.

 

[HighVDI]

Could also try a factory reset and make sure your coil wire is securely screwed into the machine.

 

[Stringtyer]

OK, here's my after-adjustments report. I managed to get out to my learning permission before dark, did a factory reset on my machine, noise cancel, then an automatic ground balance. The chatter ceased and I started finding some good, repeatable signals. There are still a lot of signals where I am working but they are more identifiable as repeatable signals, not just junk chatter.

Again, thanks to all for your hints and suggestions. Someday I may get smart enough to read the manual and do what I'm told there. In reality, I'm one of those persons who learns better by lecture and demonstration than by text, so all your experiences were very helpful.

Now, if it isn't pouring rain tomorrow - as promised - I'll try to spend a couple of hours working the permission.

 

[A2coins]

Glad you got all that help!!!!!!

 

[IDXMonster]

Great feedback for when I pick one of these up next year. The machine reacting to varieties of ground sounds like it does indeed have great sensitivity! Now CONTROLLING it so that the machine provides useful,interpretable information...I’ll have to work on that when the time comes. Glad to see you’ve got it under control now...good luck with it!