Equinox 800 California black sand

Tripleseven · Oct 8, 2018

I'm having some problems with my equinox not cutting through the black sand.
It keeps falsing and if I turn on all iron mode its getting hits non stop.
I have tried all modes and lowered sensitivity to 19. If I do get a hit it's very unstable and hard to pin point.

Mud-puppy · Oct 8, 2018

Tripleseven said:
I'm having some problems with my equinox not cutting through the black sand.
It keeps falsing and if I turn on all iron mode its getting hits non stop.
I have tried all modes and lowered sensitivity to 19. If I do get a hit it's very unstable and hard to pin point.

You are running 19? Sheesh! I'm, running 13 here on the magnetite black sand in the Fresh Water to get stable! I'm in beach 2...Still though...plenty of punch! Nice and tight...

You gotta be hearing stable signals to be finding!...dont worry about depth, find the right cut and its a non issue...dont even worry about "Hey? How come did this nickel at 10" sounded zacktly like a Quarter?" Get the rig stable and find the cuts and then simply scoop er'ythang like a madman!!

You cannot expect to be hunting wet salt black sand hearing the perfect pings like a guy does on the dirt...you gotta know though what the rig is comfortable with and then find the right cuts to work it in...dont even bother pinpointing on the beach! Not in the black sand! ..just friggen scoopNscatter!

Work the numbers in the right locations!! A big massive gold chain will sound like a stainless steel hose clamp..Nobody would dig that on the dirt!.

dewcon · Oct 8, 2018

It helps if you go into the iron bin and reduce the volume.

Walrus350 · Oct 8, 2018

Turn on auto tracking.
It may tune out deep targets. Bump up the sensitivity when you investigate.
GL HH

metaladdict · Oct 8, 2018

Have you played with the iron bias? Maybe that will help?

Tom_in_CA · Oct 8, 2018

Tripleseven said:
I'm having some problems with my equinox not cutting through the black sand....

How "black" is the sand that you're talking about ? Got a pix ?

There is SOME levels of "black" sand that are just going to be *so* nasty, that no discriminator (with all due respect for the Nox) is going to be able to cut it. If you are looking at gunpowder grey/black sand (that ... even after kicking it with your foot, is still black for multiple inches deep), then I'm afraid that it might need a pulse machine to cut through.

If it's just *moderately* black (a lighter dull-blueish-grey), then you have a fighting chance with a standard machine like the nox. But you might have to lower your sens. down to 10 or 12-ish. And hold your coil a tad off the ground. And move *real* slow.

I've seen black-sand conditions SO bad, that on my Exp. II, I have to go into auto-sens. mode (which kills depth), and hold the coil off the ground. And then, I'm lucky if I'm getting 2" deep on coin sized targets. I've seen other black sand SO bad, that I can't even get a signal off a coin, ON TOP of the ground. And ... in conditions that bad, I don't think the Nox will fare any better. It's simply not a pulse.

The downside of a pulse is: No iron disc. :no:

Racso · Oct 8, 2018

I run beach 1 sensitivity 21-24 on black sand. I keep ground balance, iron bias and recovery speed at factory settings. I don’t use auto tracking either. Have you cleaned the coil cover and coil? Also check if these falsing signals aren’t actual targets. Good luck

Tom_in_CA · Oct 8, 2018

Racso said:
I run beach 1 sensitivity 21-24 on black sand. I keep ground balance, iron bias and recovery speed at factory settings. I don’t use auto tracking either. Have you cleaned the coil cover and coil? Also check if these falsing signals aren’t actual targets. Good luck

If you are getting away with those settings, then ...... me thinks that sand must not be that "black"

Racso · Oct 8, 2018

Tom_in_CA said:
If you are getting away with those settings, then ...... me thinks that sand must not be that "black"

I guess it’s not black sand but it’s looks exactly like the picture posted by Mud-puppy. What would you call sand with that tone?

Tom_in_CA · Oct 8, 2018

Racso said:
I guess it’s not black sand but it’s looks exactly like the picture posted by Mud-puppy. What would you call sand with that tone?

I would have to kick it, and see how deep it extends below. But seeing as how it's only up close to the cut (a narrow parallel ) It might be moderate.

Also let me clarify : A person can run hotter settings *if* he hover/floats his coil a little higher off-the surface. Then, in effect, that becomes like going lower sens.

lytle78 · Oct 8, 2018

The only detectors which penetrate black sand like it isn’t there are Pulse Induction machines. They operate on a different principle than VLF IB detectors (even multifrequency ones).

Of course, up to now, PI detectors don’t have any usable form of iron ID for beach work. That may change soon - hopefully.

Compass · Oct 8, 2018

"19" does seem pretty high for black sand. The other day I was dropping down to "14" high on the slope where the black sand was thick and bumping the sensitivity up as high as "22" low on the slope where the Nox ran smooth.
Until recently I wouldn't even go near the black sand with the Nox- I would break out the Dual Field. But as I get more used to it, I am starting to have more success with the Nox in highly mineralized sand. Everyone has their preferences but I like a single tone, high pitch, "0" iron bias, all metal, beach 1 mode.

Walrus350 · Oct 10, 2018

I forgot to mention....

Keep that coil parallel to the ground and have a steady swing. I think the manual says 2-3 seconds. (I'm sure I read that somewhere) :roll:

*edit- bottom of page 51
I run sensitivity at 20 and beach 1 seems to false if I don't slow down.
If the falsing is bad just cut out the iron.

Bklein · Oct 10, 2018

Bring a magnet next time to verify the black is iron - but sure sounds like it if you are complaining.
Check if that squiggly TX warning thing is coming on. Haven’t seen it yet...
High coil may let you have higher sensitivity than if you scrape it on the ground(?)
Just bury a nickel in the (black) sand and test settings on it. Best you can do. Let us know.

brncofan · Oct 11, 2018

good luck with your black sand problem keep us posted

Equinox 800 California black sand

Tripleseven

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Mud-puppy

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dewcon

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