Equinox 800 chatter with no values shown to discriminate?

[jiffle]

Hi All. I've just got my first Minelab Equinox 800, read through the online manual and had a play so I think I understand the basics but I've got a question around what's probably 'chatter'. Basically, depending on the ground, the detector quite often bleeps without showing any numbers on the display. I can see how it could be triggered depending on the soil and stones, but my question is: would you at least expect it to show the triggering number which could then be discriminated? I've done Noise Cancel and Ground Balance, and lowered Threshold (currently zero) and I've tried different Detection Types and Frequencies (currently on Gold#2 at 40kHz) with virtually all discrimination points rejected. It's not set to 'All metals' and the battery is freshly charged. I have Threshold at 0 and stilll I get a variety of tones (not a constant one with intermittent breaks so it's not the threshold). When people talk about 'chatter' does this usually involve the detector display numbers (which can then be rejected) or is it common for 'random' bleeps to occur which don't show up on the display and therefore can't be discriminated against? I don't think it's a poor connection because it's consistent (eg hovering over some coins on the floor). I just would have assumed that anything liable to trigger a sound would equally be represented on the screen by a corresponding value? Thanks for any advice, Jay

 

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[midalake]

Detection Types and Frequencies (currently on Gold#2 at 40kHz) with virtually all discrimination points rejected. It's not set to 'All metals' and the battery is freshly charged.

I think you need to tell us more.
Are you detecting for gold?
What location is your testing? Home, park, middle of no where?
What is your sensitivity setting? Does it chatter regardless of sensitivity settings?

 

[jiffle]

I think you need to tell us more.
Are you detecting for gold?
What location is your testing? Home, park, middle of no where?
What is your sensitivity setting? Does it chatter regardless of sensitivity settings?

Hi Midalake. I was trying to find a gold earring which was lost on a gravel drive, and evidently many of the stones or the soil below them were triggering the detector. I didn’t want to lower the sensitivity much because it’s a small earring however I noticed the detector would beep yet show no number on the display. I’ve just tested sensitivity of 1 holding it over some coins, not in All Metal nor Pinpoint mode, and it beeped a few times - but didn’t show any numbers on the screen. I can see why it may have been triggered with the gravel but was surprised not to see numbers on the display. Hmm I am wondering if it sometimes bleeps when close to an selected discrimination unit .. I have turned them all off and it was quiet; I turned one on near the range for some coins and when I hovered over the coins it bleeped a little yet didn’t show a number for them. Almost as if what triggers a sound and what triggers a number to be displayed are not ‘exactly’ linked but are approximate to the discrimination range so it’s possible to get audio if near a selected discrimination point (or one part of the detector thinks it falls within it) but no number displayed if not actually in the discrimination point (or another part of the detector thinks it doesn’t fall within it). I know that sounds strange but it is the “varying audio tones - not threshold hum - near a trigger metal but no number on the display” which puzzled me. Maybe I just need to blank out more segments but even so would have expected to see a number whenever I got a tone.

 

[midalake]

I’ve just tested sensitivity of 1 holding it over some coins, not in All Metal nor Pinpoint mode, and it beeped a few times - but didn’t show any numbers on the screen. I can see why it may have been triggered with the gravel but was surprised not to see numbers on the display.

While I am not familiar with gold modes. I think your issues with noise is EMI.

If you have the other earring, test the response in field, park even beach modes with the horseshoe mode on. You should get a response. These modes are less EMI prone.
In discrimination mode and auto ground balance it is possible for a target to disappear "hovering" over it.
Hovering over a target is not a real good test of any thing. Sweep speed and coil control are important with the Equinox.

EMI will not normally give number readings, and if they do it would be bouncy minus numbers.

Make sure cell phones are 30ft or more from the detector.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Equinox is a great detector and you do not need to put it in gold mode to look for small gold earrings. Reset it to factory settings, noise cancel and do auto ground balance, set sensitivity where it is stable, mine is usually set between 18-22. I would use park mode.

Check out this group of videos on Equinox.

This is the 1st video of the series, it will automatically advance to next videos.

 

[cudamark]

I'm a bit confused about your testing. First thing is to get the detector stable regardless of which mode you're in. For a small gold earring, the gold modes work the best. Next best would be Field 2 in my testing, but, if the earring is big enough, it will be detectable in all modes. If you have a sample of the same earring, I'd use that to test with. Ok, assuming you're not hunting on a bed of nails or mineralization that bad, start out by ground balancing and noise canceling it. If it's still chatty, turn the sensitivity down, even if you have to turn it down to 1 to get rid of the chatter. If it doesn't clear up, hold the coil up in the air and see if the chatter goes away. If not, try another location away from anything that can product EMI. If it's still chatty, it's defective and needs to be returned to Minelab. If the noise goes away holding the coil up in the air, you have some nasty ground that may not be huntable. When testing or using the detector normally, the coil has to be moving unless you're in pin point. You mentioned not getting a read out on the display......can you get one with a test coin by holding the coil up away from anything metallic and swinging a coin over the coil? Swing the coin over the top or bottom....doesn't matter, just make sure you don't have any other metal in your hand (ring, wristwatch, etc) so you get an accurate reading. Good Luck!

 

[cudamark]

Oh, and when you're hunting for tiny gold, I recommend hunting without any discrimination (All numbers and horseshoe button on). If you just can't stand hearing the iron, you can turn the horse button off, but, keep in mind that some tiny gold can give iron readings. If you're talking about a stud gold earring with a stone (so very little metal to detect) it will probably read 1 or 2. Zero is iron, so you can see how close the reading can be. Also, if you have the 6" coil, use that. It will help with target separation in trashy areas and areas with bad EMI. On a fresh drop earring, depth is not going to be an issue, so, if you need to turn the sensitivity way down to get it stable, do so. Personally, I like to have a slight threshold hum, especially for tiny targets with weak signals. Don't expect to get a banging signal from a tiny target. It's not going to sound off like running over a quarter! It should be a stable number or two, and repeatable though.

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Equinox is a great detector and you do not need to put it in gold mode to look for small gold earrings. Reset it to factory settings, noise cancel and do auto ground balance, set sensitivity where it is stable, mine is usually set between 18-22. I would use park mode.

Check out this group of videos on Equinox.

This is the 1st video of the series, it will automatically advance to next videos.

Good advice here. All machines randomly beep randomly once in a while. Especially if you have EMI in the area or if your sensitivity is too high. What you're looking for is a constant repeatable audio signal. It's all a part of the learning curve.

 

[jiffle]

Hi everybody thank you all for taking time to reply to my original query. Since it seems that EMI can trigger sound without any numbers being displayed for discrimination (which had initially confused me, and made me wonder if there was a problem), I’ve focused more on the other settings and also tried some of the other profiles. I’ve not yet found the missing ear ring, though to be fair it was very small, but I’ve now got the chatter under control so have much more confidence in the readings I am getting.