Over-Sweeping a Target, Flurry of Beeping After Digging

[Overkill Overkill]

Hello all,

I have an Equinox 600. I read in the Minelab Equinox book (p. 70) that "repetitive sweeps over the target can result in highly inaccurate and inconsistent readings; i.e., a large piece of iron trash can actually produce signals that would indicate a good target if the coil is swept across it often enough...Typically only 2-3 sweeps should be sufficient to produce a good indication of what you have detected."

1) I over-sweep a lot. How do I avoid it? Just sweep 1-2 times, and then sweep a final time after throwing the sand that I just dug out? What if I need to sweep again as I don' t yet have a pinpointer? And how can I 'recalibrate' the detector if it is maybe giving an inaccurate signal because I am over-sweeping: maybe do a noise cancel?, maybe turn the detector off and then on?

2) Related question: Often, after I dig a targer, I will throw the sand out and then scan that small excavated pile of sand. But then I start getting signals all throughout the spread out pile of sand (as well as in the hole I just made) instead of just one localized signal or beep where the supposed target is. I realize I need a pinpointer, but in the meantime, what is going on (let's assume that the problem is not that the target has been sitting in the sand a long time and has leeked metal throughout the sand)? I end up finding nothing and walking away after 5-7 minutes, which I know is too long anyway.

Any suggestions regarding 1) and 2) above will be welcome. Thanks in advance!!

 

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[cudamark]

I haven't experienced that with my Equinox 800 and 900. Noise cancel has to do with EMI, nothing else, so, that won't help or hurt that situation. Once you start excavating, the target signal can change drastically and sometimes disappear altogether. Take a few more scoops and sweep the pile again. If still nothing, I always run a pin pointer down into the hole to see if it might be a large target just a bit deeper. You can also find targets in the sidewall of the hole should you be a bit off-center in your pin pointing. Sometimes deeper iron targets will give you a non-ferrous sound too, but, if you turn 90 degrees and sweep again, most of the time you will get the iron grunt (if you have the horseshoe turned on) or a nulled out signal. Most metals can produce a halo effect as fine particles of the metal leach into the soil/sand making the target seem a bit bigger than it really is. This can also change the I.D. number(s). If it's a mineral deposit or ferrous target, breaking it up while digging can scatter that signal or make it disappear altogether. Just sweeping away from a target for a few nano-seconds will allow the detector to "reset". Adjusting your recover speed can affect that too. No need to shut the machine off and restart.

 

[Overkill Overkill]

Thank you cudamark. And what is recover speed.

 

[cudamark]

It's an adjustment you can make to either speed the processor up to hunt target rich areas, or slow it down to find deeper targets in cleaner ground. There's trade-offs from changing that speed. Faster gives you easier target separation, and a little lost of depth, slower gives you more depth, but, if you swing too fast, targets may get masked easier. The far right icon on the bottom of the display is where the adjustment is made. Use the upper center button (the one between the + and - buttons) to toggle over to the far right setting. On a 600, you have a choice between 1 and 3, with 1 the slowest recovery speed, and 3 the fastest.

 

[sprailroad]

Do you have ground balance in "Tracking"? In tracking it is my understanding that the more you sweep over a target, the more "Tracking" will try to balance to the target. Just a thought..