When to use the Horseshoe on Vanquish or Equinox

Rad1sh · Nov 1, 2020

I have been wondering which is best. Do i use the horseshoe to test questionable targets or hunt with volume down. My other machines if it has iron volume I turn iron down to a whisper and go. I do not notch anything typically. Any advice I can get will be much appreciated.

jmaclen · Nov 1, 2020

The iron range audio is different on the Equinox and Vanquish. You have lots of control over the pitch, volume and target ID range/tone break of the iron target tone on the Equinox along with two different iron bias adjustments with many settings. So if you want to hear the iron in general, pressing the horseshoe button in any search mode on the 600 will let you hear it just about anyway you want if you decide to adjust the iron tone settings.

Sometimes after adjusting them the way I want I will for instance make Park 2 accept from -3 to +40. That way I can hear a little iron but tune out ground mineralization noise and really tiny iron particles or tiny iron trash that hits in the -9 to -6 area usually. If I need to really investigate for iron I just hit the horseshoe button and everything is accepted.

On the Vanquish 540 specifically you have a low and high iron bias adjustment and you can notch out some of the iron target range like I described earlier. You cannot adjust the iron tone pitch, volume or tone break on the Vanquish 540.

When I am hunting with the Equinox or the Vanquish with no iron accepted I listen for the tones to stutter and break up and/or have a wide range but consistent numerical target IDs when swinging in all four directions over the target=+. If they are like 30 to 39 in one direction and 10 to 20 in the crossing direction and have some sound drop outs, that usually tells me that I better hit the horseshoe button and listen for iron.

Rad1sh · Nov 1, 2020

Thanks!

Monte · Nov 5, 2020

Rad1sh: said:
I have been wondering which is best. Do i use the horseshoe to test questionable targets or hunt with volume down. My other machines if it has iron volume I turn iron down to a whisper and go. I do not notch anything typically. Any advice I can get will be much appreciated.

Here's my easy advice, and I am specifically using the Vanquish 540 regarding this:

• I do NOT use the All Metal Accept 'Horseshoe' selection because I hunt in very mineralized areas, and even in the moderately bad ground I have problems with the V-540 when the Horseshoe is activated. Depending on the mode selection, it misbehaves and falses was if either a Negative GB or a Positive GB based on the design for that mode. The user has no control over the Vanquish GB setting.

• All the selection does is open up the Discrimination segments, notches, to accept ALL of th Disc. range and that allows the issue to be heard.

• I like to hear a lot of targets in the ground, both ferrous and non-ferrous, so I usually hunt, with any detector, to at least accept Iron Nails. With my V-540, and using the smaller 5X8 DD coil most of the time, I use my 'Custom' mode. I base it on the Jewelry mode and Accept ALL Discrimination segments except the first two on the far left. I her most metal targets, and I have not experienced any of the falsing issues as when all segments are accepted in the Horseshoe-activated search.

• I have Iron Audio Volume control on my Apex, Relic and Simplex + and was glad to do the Vanquish update so I now have that feature on my V-540. I keep the Iron Audio Volume low so it is very comfortable to hunt iron littered sites.

• The majority of the time I hunt with the default High Iron Bias at turn-On, and the only time I use the Horseshoe button is for the press-and-hold to activate Low Iron Bias. I use it very seldom, but that's the only time I use that button.

Monte

KenG · Nov 6, 2020

Monte said:
• I like to hear a lot of targets in the ground, both ferrous and non-ferrous, so I usually hunt, with any detector, to at least accept Iron Nails. With my V-540, and using the smaller 5X8 DD coil most of the time, I use my 'Custom' mode. I base it on the Jewelry mode and Accept ALL Discrimination segments except the first two on the far left. I her most metal targets, and I have not experienced any of the falsing issues as when all segments are accepted in the Horseshoe-activated search.

I'm new to the Vanquish and still learning but accepting most all the segments seems to be working best for me. I still dig a big old honking nail with a high VDI every now and then but that's part of the game to me.

Diabolik · Nov 6, 2020

I’ve been using my Vanquish a bit more and I feel like I am getting more confident with it. I’ve mainly been running Jewelry mode with the first two segments notched out. I use the horseshoe if the VDI is in the higher range especially if it is jumpy. Most of the time I feel like I am avoiding digging iron. The Vanquish is very stable and I’ve found when the VDI is jumpy, something is up. I’ve been seeing this a lot with pull tabs too. It’s not uncommon to see it jump from a 14-15 to a 1 depending on swing direction on pull tabs.

Rad1sh · Dec 10, 2020

Small update:

I bought the 540 and updated it. I now just turn iron on and lower the iron volume. This had been very successful and I dug a lot less trash than before. Great machine and when I get my nox it will go as a backup.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Diabolik · Dec 10, 2020

Rad1sh said:
Small update:

I bought the 540 and updated it. I now just turn iron on and lower the iron volume. This had been very successful and I dug a lot less trash than before. Great machine and when I get my nox it will go as a backup.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Vanquish really grew on me and bouncing between that and the NOX 600 has been a breeze since they are so similar.

Rad1sh · Dec 10, 2020

Diabolik said:
The Vanquish really grew on me and bouncing between that and the NOX 600 has been a breeze since they are so similar.

That’s kind of what I was figuring. So glad I got the 540, 5 tones and iron volume changes everything fit me. Bluetooth is also cool.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Diabolik · Dec 10, 2020

Rad1sh said:
That’s kind of what I was figuring. So glad I got the 540, 5 tones and iron volume changes everything fit me. Bluetooth is also cool.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Even the control layout is similar for the basic stuff. When I was bouncing between the Vanquish and Simplex I kept shutting down the Simplex thinking I was hitting the pinpointer. That got old real quick. Having the same tones is a huge plus too (at least for me)

JimR_TN · Dec 10, 2020

I use the horseshoe button quite a bit. If the ground is pretty clean I somethings hunt with it on. It tells me if there are so many targets per swing that I should slow down as even with a high recovery speed targets can be missed. If there are too many targets per swing I'll turn the horseshoe off and slow my swing. I check iffy signals with it to determine if it is iron falsing or a real non-ferrous target.

John Madill · Dec 10, 2020

Icon question for V540 owners

Hi

I just got a Vanquish 540 a couple of days ago. Went to the metal detector store planning on buying a new 440.

but the store had a slightly used 540 for only $10 more. Store owner said it had never been registered so he could back it up with the full 3 year warranty for me.

so i opted for that. but it does not come with an owner's manual. he said he complained to Minelab when they stopped printing manuals. he was told the company was going "green" and the buyers could print out their own manual.

not very "green" to me. instead of having a nicely printed pocket-sized reference guide to use in the field i have a 24 page letter-size manual held together by one staple and not very handy. plus printed with the world's most expensive ink.

now to my question: not really sure what a few of the icons stand for.

i assume the red pair on the far left are iron targets. then small gold jewelry.

Not sure what the next one is, foil or gold nugget. then i am guessing zinc penny. The pull tab and ring are obvious but the next one looks like a Big Mac to me. I like Big Macs but don't want to dig one.

not sure of the last 2. silver coins? gold coins?

Can one of you vets tell me what the icons marked with yellow X's are?

thank you!

Found a wheat penny with it yesterday, 2 clad dimes and 3 lead sinkers along the river today and some Budweiser cans.

Another question, how on earth do modern beer cans find themselves 12 inches below the surface?

they ring up nice but dig up hard!

MTtrashdigger · Dec 10, 2020

John Madill said:
Hi

I just got a Vanquish 540 a couple of days ago. Went to the metal detector store planning on buying a new 440.

but the store had a slightly used 540 for only $10 more. Store owner said it had never been registered so he could back it up with the full 3 year warranty for me.

so i opted for that. but it does not come with an owner's manual. he said he complained to Minelab when they stopped printing manuals. he was told the company was going "green" and the buyers could print out their own manual.

not very "green" to me. instead of having a nicely printed pocket-sized reference guide to use in the field i have a 24 page letter-size manual held together by one staple and not very handy. plus printed with the world's most expensive ink.

now to my question: not really sure what a few of the icons stand for.

i assume the red pair on the far left are iron targets. then small gold jewelry.

Not sure what the next one is, foil or gold nugget. then i am guessing zinc penny. The pull tab and ring are obvious but the next one looks like a Big Mac to me. I like Big Macs but don't want to dig one.

not sure of the last 2. silver coins? gold coins?

Can one of you vets tell me what the icons marked with yellow X's are?

thank you!

Found a wheat penny with it yesterday, 2 clad dimes and 3 lead sinkers along the river today and some Budweiser cans.

Another question, how on earth do modern beer cans find themselves 12 inches below the surface?

they ring up nice but dig up hard!

pretty sure the foil or gold nugget could actually be either but would go with foil.
the Big Mac is supposed to be a screw cap and the the last two are small silvers like dimes to quarters and Big Silvers like halfs and dollars

John Madill · Dec 10, 2020

Thanks!

Of course, screw caps!

My other detector relied on S/C for screw caps.

I find a lot more bottle caps than screw caps.

Rad1sh · Dec 10, 2020

Best advice I have is dug it all until you get an idea if the tones and what the vdi us telling you. The vdi numbers are a guesstimate.

I downloaded the manual online and keep a copy in my phone.

Cans are a mystery to me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Monte · Dec 10, 2020

John Madill:Hi

I just got a Vanquish 540 a couple of days ago... Good choice. I own two of the V-540's and keep the 5X8 DD on my most-used unit and the 9X12 on the other for open-area / sparse-target hunting.

... but it does not come with an owner's manual.... I read the manual onmy computer but didn't print it out. The Vanquish 540 is very simle and there's really not a lot to learn, at least after an outing or two and you'r comfortable with the simple settings.

now to my question: not really sure what a few of the icons stand for.

i assume the red pair on the far left are iron targets. then small gold jewelry.... The Horseshoe for large Iron, a Nail of smaller-size Iron, then the two side-by-size earings, hopefully you'll find them of gold.[/COLOR

Not sure what the next one is, foil or gold nugget.... Foil.

... but the next one looks like a Big Mac to me.... Aluminum Screw Cap.

not sure of the last 2. silver coins? gold coins?For USA coils, the lower Coi icon slightly above '10' would be the US 5¢ piece or similar conductivity targets. The last two would be, from lowest-to-highest, 1¢ and Clad & Silver 10¢, Clad & Silver 25¢ as well as modern $1 coins, and the highest includes Clad & Silver 50¢ & larger-size $1 coins.

Monte

John Madill · Dec 10, 2020

Great advice Monte, thank you.

A couple more questions:
I have the standard 12DD coil.

What differences would i notice with the 8DD or 10DD?

And are there any smaller "sniper" coils available for the 540?

Monte · Dec 12, 2020

John Madill: said:
Great advice Monte, thank you.

A couple more questions:
I have the standard 12DD coil.

What differences would i notice with the 8DD or 10DD?

And are there any smaller "sniper" coils available for the 540?

I keep the V12, the 9X12 DD, for wide-open areas with limited trash targets to deal with. I use it in wide-open grassy parks, plowed fields or a beach.

The 5X8, that they call a V8, is my primary-use coil on my V-540. Lighter and much handier for working in and around trash, building rubble, or maneuvering in and around brushy conditions.

Monte

iggy_AZ · Jan 4, 2021

How to use a Vanquish 540

Watch this video and learn alot about the Vanquish series.
I have the manual but its too large to attach here.
Send me a PM with eamail address and I will send it to you.

https://youtu.be/1bO-rmiYZOY

Bajanick · Jan 5, 2021

John Madill said:
now to my question: not really sure what a few of the icons stand for.

The pull tab and ring are obvious but the next one looks like a Big Mac to me. I like Big Macs but don't want to dig one.

On the upcoming Vanquish 640, Ive heard there is a breakfast burrito mode and you can choose ham or bacon and notch out onions or whatever else you dont want on it.

:egyptian:

When to use the Horseshoe on Vanquish or Equinox

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