Big Boys Hobbies

Tips for detecting in lot is iron

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aamechs2

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Jan 19, 2017
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I am new to my Nox600 but getting more comfortable. I was in a field that had houses years ago there. They have been bulldozed and are gone now. But the ground has iron almost everywhere.
What are some good tips for this kind of detecting? Swing very slow? Only dig the clean signals? I know the iron is bound to mess with the VDI numbers.
What settings Field 1 or 2?


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Everyone has their own method but this is what works for me: For thick iron I like Park 2, set up in 5 tones. Iron Bias usually at 1 and recovery speed around 6 (on Nox 800). I use the 6” coil with a slow to medium sweep speed, covering the area from several different angles.

As for tones, repeatability is key for me. Doesn’t have to hit in both directions, but has to repeat every time in at least one direction as long as the coil position and sweep speed remain the same.

Checking that the pinpoint location is the same as the tone location can help weed out some falsing iron. Only works when there’s no cluster of other targets nearby.

If hunting coins or coin sized targets you can cut down on some digging by skipping the bigger signals. You might miss a few desirable targets, but it’s a trade off.

I don’t pay much attention to the ID when hunting thick iron. If I get a repeatable signal in an accepted target range, I dig it.


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I detect old farm sites that are loaded with iron but use a older detector design (a DIY Tesoro Golden Sabre with DIY graph display).
I look for iffy signals that not ID'ed as only iron.
Also the sound can be broken indicating possible multiple targets.
Sweeping slow and from different angles can help 'see' the non-ferrous through the iron.
This past weekend I found an 1813 1st Artillery button that was 3" below an Ox shoe. The sound and VDI was not a clean ferrous/non-ferrous so I dug it and glad I did.
I also dug a few .22 shells that had rusty nails in the hole. None of the holes I dug only had ferrous so even with an older design the good target can be found amongst iron.
 
I have the Equinox 800 and have not found any settings that work good in iron on it. So for farm fields I use other detectors that do better in iron.
 
depends on the location. fields on my 800 i use the 12" coil.
parks 11" or sometimes the 6" if very, very trashy.

hint: take some of your old iron trash, e.g. rusty nails and bury them in same hole above your coil or what ever non-ferrous targets you are hunting.

then play around with your recovery speed, sensitivity, and iron balance. It does not take large changes in the settings to make significant changes in the 800's ability to sniff out non-ferrous among ferrous trash.

the engineers did a very good job with their default settings on each mode. Look at the manual and remember what the default settings are for each mode.
 
graybeard said:
I have the Equinox 800 and have not found any settings that work good in iron on it. So for farm fields I use other detectors that do better in iron.
Click to expand...

how long have you had your 800?

hard to imagine other detectors that are better than the 800. That is one of it's strong points. But then I don't really know much about other detectors other than the AT Pro and Simplex+.
 
maxxkatt said:
how long have you had your 800?

hard to imagine other detectors that are better than the 800. That is one of it's strong points. But then I don't really know much about other detectors other than the AT Pro and Simplex+.
Click to expand...

I have had the Equinox 800 over 1 1/2 years, and I can tell anyone it is NOT the best detector I have run in farm fields.
 
Proper ground balance helps eliminate a lot of falsing. There’s still some but less if properly done. Field or park 1 and 5 tones until you get used to it. Then re-hunt in park 2 or field 2. The 50 tones separates better but you are forced to slow the coil or the 50 tones overloads the senses.
 
I Own the 800 so here's my settings for a saltwater beach loaded with chunks and pieces of iron rust... recovery speed 5, FE 9, sens Max(25) I didn't ground balance because I'm in multi Freq.
I picked out a barber dime with a high tone.😄Happy hunting!
 
Last edited:
I would first give the property a quick go-over and see what it's potential is. Because in order to detect it, you may need to do some prep work first. Some old home sites are not worth the effort so doing a quick go-over can help you to not waste anymore of your time. If things look promising, you will need to remove some of the iron. Depending on the ground and vegetation, you maybe able get a magnet mounted on wheels and go over the ground to remove some of the iron. Iron junk on or near the surface of the ground will mask anything good below it. So it is important to remove surface trash if you can.
 
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