Equinox threshold is your friend - use it

maxxkatt

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This has probably been posted before or variations. But it is worth repeating.

On your Equinox increase your threshold so you can hear it. It will tell you the amount of iron and other ferrous or non-ferrous targets under your coil.

For instance I was hunting a trail along the river recently. Parts were loaded with trash and other parts had very little trash.

The threshold tells you which area you are in especially if you discriminate out certain VDI #'s like pull tabs. The threshold tone will break when you have a target under your coil even if that target is discriminated out. It also tells you the amount of trash your coil is passing over.

Thus in a high trash area you increase your recovery speed, reduce your sensitivity some, increase your FE2 settings and thus will have a better hunt finding more masked targets.

When your threshold quiets down you are in a low trash/target area and you can adjust for better signals and depth by reducing your recovery speed, slow your coil swing, reduce your FE2 to 0 and find those deeper targets now you are out of the high trash area.

Using the threshold will be your guide to which settings you should be using. On this hunt I found my 2nd silver a 1945 Washington quarter. That park trail has been hunted quite a bit since I found on several prior hunts only modern clad.

Here is a good article about recovery speed.

https://www.minelab.com/community/treasure-talk/recovery-speed-target-masking
 

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Using an audible threshold tone in default Park, Field and Beach modes is a great idea especially if you don't want to constantly hear iron responses. It also works as maxxkatt said for example as a way to know that discriminated non-ferrous targets like part of the pull tab range (14 to 19) are present or not. Just hit the all metals accepted horseshoe button to check if that 14 to 19 target ID sounds good enough to dig. So, the threshold tone in those modes is a reference threshold. It tells you that discriminated targets are under your coil or not. It will not give you a depth boost like some of the older Whites and Tesoro detectors.

Using the threshold in the Gold modes (if you have the 800) will provide more depth on all targets just like an old fashioned threshold based all metal mode threshold does. It will get unstable when mineralization levels change too, signaling a possible need to ground balance again. It also has the same ability to act as a reference threshold like in the other modes for discriminated target IDs.

As a gold prospector, I use the Gold modes regularly. For me, it is really helpful to set the threshold tone pitch and volume level at different levels from the VCO tone so they don't sound similar. I really use the threshold tone in some gold prospecting locations where there is lots of gold camp iron trash to give my ears a break. It also works great in extremely mineralized areas where almost all targets that aren't very shallow, especially small nuggets, will only give iron target ID responses. Those faint, repeatable wobbles in the threshold tone that are reading -8 or -9 or have no numerical target ID often turn out to be small gold nuggets which read +1 to + 6 on or near the surface. Without using the threshold tone, I would not have known they were there. The same strategy can be used for deep, mineralization masked, non-ferrous relics in heavily mineralized areas or for slightly increased detection depth in milder soils on any edge of detection targets. Target IDs in the Gold modes using Multi are identical to those in the other modes too. The Gold modes VCO tone is not the same and takes some getting used to.
 
I always caution on using blanket statements. I do not think an audible threshold should EVER be used on a salt beach. However you can sneak a notch or two in to enhance deep targets and it is still not really "audible" .

The OP assumes hunting in Discrimination mode. I much prefer hunting in horseshoe mode and I think the advantages FAR outweigh disc mode. [but that is another thread]

Another issue: coil swing, which should be stated as coil control is much more an important factor in recovery speed, than IB modes. IB and coil control is irrelevant.

I think we need to bury the IB and depth thing for good. There is very little to gain running a 0. I tested programs for over a year. There is little to gain and the extra interference using zero just may hurt you.

Processed signal. The Equinox signal is highly processed. I will wait for an explanation on how one can tell the difference between a 14 pull tab and a 14 gold ring. IT'S NOT HAPPENING. Heck, one guy told me the other day I don't even need headphones [LOL]

Carry on......
 
Running a threshold in Beach modes at already noisy saltwater beaches with lots of black sand does not make much sense. Too much discrimination at most saltwater beaches doesn't make much sense either at least for me.

For turf/relic hunters in milder dirt, using a threshold tone for discriminated targets in Park or Field modes actually works pretty well. If iron responses or pull tab range responses are overwhelming and cherry picking but with some idea what is under the coil using the reference threshold is the only possible way to hunt, it is nice to have that option. Iron bias default settings or using 4 to 6 for normal coin sized targets in those areas has worked well for me. I see no advantage in using Fe or F2 iron bias of 0 in those conditions.

Blanket statements can go both ways.....Gold prospecting for tiny gold nuggets using the Gold modes........my iron bias is on 0 or 1 at the most. This has no effect on depth. It does help to keep some of the shallower and smaller non-ferrous targets in the non-ferrous range. In high iron mineralized gold prospecting ground I will use any advantage I can to keep those really small nuggets from responding as iron.
 
Running a threshold in Beach modes at already noisy saltwater beaches with lots of black sand does not make much sense. Too much discrimination at most saltwater beaches doesn't make much sense either at least for me.

For turf/relic hunters in milder dirt, using a threshold tone for discriminated targets in Park or Field modes actually works pretty well. If iron responses or pull tab range responses are overwhelming and cherry picking but with some idea what is under the coil using the reference threshold is the only possible way to hunt, it is nice to have that option. Iron bias default settings or using 4 to 6 for normal coin sized targets in those areas has worked well for me. I see no advantage in using Fe or F2 iron bias of 0 in those conditions.

Blanket statements can go both ways.....Gold prospecting for tiny gold nuggets using the Gold modes........my iron bias is on 0 or 1 at the most. This has no effect on depth. It does help to keep some of the shallower and smaller non-ferrous targets in the non-ferrous range. In high iron mineralized gold prospecting ground I will use any advantage I can to keep those really small nuggets from responding as iron.


Touché............:detector:
 
This has probably been posted before or variations. But it is worth repeating.

On your Equinox increase your threshold so you can hear it. It will tell you the amount of iron and other ferrous or non-ferrous targets under your coil.

For instance I was hunting a trail along the river recently. Parts were loaded with trash and other parts had very little trash.

The threshold tells you which area you are in especially if you discriminate out certain VDI #'s like pull tabs. The threshold tone will break when you have a target under your coil even if that target is discriminated out. It also tells you the amount of trash your coil is passing over.

Thus in a high trash area you increase your recovery speed, reduce your sensitivity some, increase your FE2 settings and thus will have a better hunt finding more masked targets.

When your threshold quiets down you are in a low trash/target area and you can adjust for better signals and depth by reducing your recovery speed, slow your coil swing, reduce your FE2 to 0 and find those deeper targets now you are out of the high trash area.

Using the threshold will be your guide to which settings you should be using. On this hunt I found my 2nd silver a 1945 Washington quarter. That park trail has been hunted quite a bit since I found on several prior hunts only modern clad.

Here is a good article about recovery speed.

https://www.minelab.com/community/treasure-talk/recovery-speed-target-masking

This is a GREAT post! Back in the day when we would relic hunt we will use the threshold to find the deep stuff.
 
It is obvious by these comments that you guys are too knowledgeable by revealing some of THE KOB'S secrets ! I gotta believe you have done this through some trial and error as I have done only with time swinging. A threshold on mineralized beaches are a must for me on ultra deep targets for gold. These are barely audible. Having good hearing and a slow sweep and recovery is a must. Ground balancing can be a constant nightmare and at times is not worth it. But more importantly than all these things is knowing your beaches and the conditions when it's presented to be able to take advantage of these opportunities where the large majority of guys will pass over.
 
Being an oldtimer I miss having a threshold. I know the manufacturers claim new tech makes a threshold obsolete, but I just don't buy it. I have good ears and I can hear even the slightest change in a threshold.
 
It is obvious by these comments that you guys are too knowledgeable by revealing some of THE KOB'S secrets ! I gotta believe you have done this through some trial and error as I have done only with time swinging. A threshold on mineralized beaches are a must for me on ultra deep targets for gold. These are barely audible. Having good hearing and a slow sweep and recovery is a must. Ground balancing can be a constant nightmare and at times is not worth it. But more importantly than all these things is knowing your beaches and the conditions when it's presented to be able to take advantage of these opportunities where the large majority of guys will pass over.

On Florida beaches a big percentage of beach hunters you see are not local (they are on vacation) and don't have a clue how to hunt ocean beaches, so most of the locals don't give them a second thought.
 
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