equinox 600 beach help

michaelsmetal

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Aug 14, 2020
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So I recently got a used Minelab Equinox 600 on here. I read the manual online so I have some sort of idea how to use it. I went to a fresh water beach the other day and put out some coins, trash, and a gold necklace to get an idea on the different numbers that pop up for different metals. In the book it says beach preset one is mostly for coins, and beach preset two is for fine jewelry. I followed suit, preset one picked up the coins no problem with a specific number for each one, however it did not pickup the necklace at all. Preset two also picked up the coins at different numbers. What I have been finding is that the lower the number the more likely it is trash. However it picked up the necklace at a 1 on the screen. I'm trying to find a way to find both coins and jewelry but eliminate trash. However this weekend I will be at a salt water beach. Does anyone have any insight as to what settings I should use?
 
Welcome to metal detecting. If you ever figure out how to dig just the good stuff and not the junk you will be a millionaire. 🤣 With that being said when hunting for gold you will have to dig absolutely everything.
 
... However it picked up the necklace at a 1 on the screen....

As wild-digger says: Welcome to the harsh realities of gold and aluminum sharing the same TID's.

And fine necklace/chains (especially the tinsel thin variety) are ALWAYS a problem for ANY detector. Because the machine is trying to see each link individually. So as you experienced, it will be super low, in the birdshot and pinhead range. And the moment you go to accept all those low type #'s, is the moment you're going to be bedevilled with tttteeennnnssssyyyy foil-turd junk (if in the dry sand anyhow).

If I were you, I'd forgo looking for tinsel thin chains and micro-jewelry (earring studs, etc....). There's simply no weight involved in that type jewelry, and it shares the range with too much junk.

As for gold rings, even the smallest wire gold rings will read way higher than that. Gold rings will also share TID ranges with various foil and aluminum items. But by knocking out the micro-gold #'s, you can spare yourself a lot of grief.
 
Sounds like you are definitely getting to know your Equinox. You have been given some great advice so far.

Just for future use, at freshwater beaches you can hunt in any mode. I really like Park 1 most of the time but will use Park 2 also. The manual actually recommends Park 1.

You have some choices at saltwater beaches. I would not pay much attention to the target recommendations for the Beach modes. I would just use whichever mode responded the best to the beach conditions. I've hunted the dry sand in Park 1 and Beach 1. I've hunted the wet sand in Beach 1 too unless it is too noisy (from the salt levels, black sand, etc) and then I switch to Beach 2 especially if you take your Nox into the shallow surf. I have hunted some beaches where Beach 1 was all I needed. Others required Beach 2 if the sand was even slightly damp. When the Nox starts to chatter a lot you either need to switch modes or adjust for EMI which can also happen at crowded beaches.

As far as settings for discrimination it depends on the trash levels and what you want to hunt. Tom said it best, micro gold jewelry hunting at a saltwater beach is fun but it won't pay for your detector as fast as big gold will. Chasing targets that respond with a +1 to +6 and ending up with a tiny piece of foil or other aluminum is not fun after the 20th time. The money is in the targets that come in at +7 to + 22 or so as far as big gold rings, etc. Just realize that you will dig plenty of pull tabs, screw caps and crown bottle caps IF you are being thorough and really going for the gold. You will also dig some nickels and some post 1982 pennies which fall into that range so even if you don't find any gold jewelry you will definitely find some small denomination modern US coins. If you get a good signal from four directions that seems like it is coin sized, dig it if it come in between +7 and +38. If you get a huge signal (circumference wise) that comes in between +10 and 38 it could be an aluminum can or big iron or somebody's cell phone or a toy car............

When I saltwater beach hunt I either use 2 tones of 5 tones again depending on trash levels. That might be a good way for you to start too. You could reject some of those low non-ferrous numbers 0 to +6 or just ignore them.

Some detectors made for the USA tell you what you are about to dig right on the screen which is a joke at least 50% of the time when that is really not what you are about to dig. The Nox (being an internationally used detector) treats you like a world-wide citizen and a grown-up and forces you to learn what the sounds and numbers really mean and which targets overlap.

Good luck on your first saltwater beach hunt.

Jeff
 
Sounds like you are definitely getting to know your Equinox. You have been given some great advice so far.

Just for future use, at freshwater beaches you can hunt in any mode. I really like Park 1 most of the time but will use Park 2 also. The manual actually recommends Park 1.

You have some choices at saltwater beaches. I would not pay much attention to the target recommendations for the Beach modes. I would just use whichever mode responded the best to the beach conditions. I've hunted the dry sand in Park 1 and Beach 1. I've hunted the wet sand in Beach 1 too unless it is too noisy (from the salt levels, black sand, etc) and then I switch to Beach 2 especially if you take your Nox into the shallow surf. I have hunted some beaches where Beach 1 was all I needed. Others required Beach 2 if the sand was even slightly damp. When the Nox starts to chatter a lot you either need to switch modes or adjust for EMI which can also happen at crowded beaches.

As far as settings for discrimination it depends on the trash levels and what you want to hunt. Tom said it best, micro gold jewelry hunting at a saltwater beach is fun but it won't pay for your detector as fast as big gold will. Chasing targets that respond with a +1 to +6 and ending up with a tiny piece of foil or other aluminum is not fun after the 20th time. The money is in the targets that come in at +7 to + 22 or so as far as big gold rings, etc. Just realize that you will dig plenty of pull tabs, screw caps and crown bottle caps IF you are being thorough and really going for the gold. You will also dig some nickels and some post 1982 pennies which fall into that range so even if you don't find any gold jewelry you will definitely find some small denomination modern US coins. If you get a good signal from four directions that seems like it is coin sized, dig it if it come in between +7 and +38. If you get a huge signal (circumference wise) that comes in between +10 and 38 it could be an aluminum can or big iron or somebody's cell phone or a toy car............

When I saltwater beach hunt I either use 2 tones of 5 tones again depending on trash levels. That might be a good way for you to start too. You could reject some of those low non-ferrous numbers 0 to +6 or just ignore them.

Some detectors made for the USA tell you what you are about to dig right on the screen which is a joke at least 50% of the time when that is really not what you are about to dig. The Nox (being an internationally used detector) treats you like a world-wide citizen and a grown-up and forces you to learn what the sounds and numbers really mean and which targets overlap.

Good luck on your first saltwater beach hunt.

Jeff
Nevermind lol just saw this thanks jeff
 
Your detector will tell you. It should be fairly quiet. Just start with Beach 1 with default settings. If you start to get lots of chatter, do another noise cancel and/or lower your sensitivity a bit and see if the chatter improves. If it doesn't then go to Beach 2. Some people prefer to hunt parallel to the shoreline and stay in the same type of sand (dry or wet). Others like to hunt perpendicular to the beach or zig zag. It's up to you and the beach conditions.

Practice on all of the targets you are likely to find as far as trash, US coins and any gold and silver jewelry you have on hand and try to memorize their pitches, other audio characteristics and numbers. There is no big secret to this hobby. Learn you detector and how it responds to different targets by air and surface testing them a lot and by hunting as much as time allows.

If you are generally a lucky person, you will do just great. If you are like me and have to grind away at just about everything it may take more time to find your first gold jewelry.

Jeff
 
.... I've hunted the wet sand in Beach 1 too unless it is too noisy (from the salt levels, black sand, etc) and then I switch to Beach 2....

And alas, another reason to kiss micro-jewelry (tinsel thin chains, etc....) goodbye , when hunting the wet-salt sand : Wet salt can read in the #s of micro-jewelry . Like the "1" reading on your tinsel thin chain. So in order to quiet the machine down, you'll have to dumb it down, go into the less sensitive beach modes.
 
I actually used my Nox 800 at a saltwater beach for the first time today. It worked very well in the sand and in the water. Never really had any problems with falsing or chattering. Use Beach 1 for the dry sand. Use Beach 2 for the wet sand and water. When you’re done, take off your coil cover and wash the sand from your coil and cover with regular water.


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I'm more inline with Wilddigger. For THE KOB , gold is the game. Going by the size of the target will help immensely. Otherwise I dig a very high % of targets. I don't mind the tiny targets , it's the price I pay. I can tell you look out for those targets that read a #3 and #4. Small gold with big stones drop in that range.
 
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