Hey guys need a tip for iron bits

Truth

Truth

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Apr 13, 2016
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Abita Springs La....Born in New Orleans
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Detector(s) used
EQUINOX 800
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Metal Detecting
I’ hunting a old property that had a lot of small iron pieces old nails etc. pretty much for the first time dealing with this old of property. I’m digging up iron pieces, 17-21 jumpy, but none the less I dig them because that’s where the buttons and small silver I’m after hit. Is there a way of having the best of both worlds and lowering my odds of digging nails? I found my first half dime bust amongst 7 nails and not sure if I dug it because the silver or iron (another reason I always dig big plugs)

My 800 GB is usually in high 60 so my soil is mineralized pretty well. Thanks for maybe making my life a little easier. God Bless is all [emoji1317]
 

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It seems pretty universal with all detectors and not just Equinox specific but a couple things I've learned.

Usually, iron will do one of a couple things. First is the signal will often wander....making it hard to lock on to the target.

Another thing I've noticed with my 800 is if the depth meter is showing deep and the audio response is faint, often iron nails and bits will sound off much louder than the expected target when pinpointed. Meaning it's just falsing on say a corner of a square nail and when in all metal pinpoint it samples the whole target.

I've been digging a bunch of iffy signals lately just to try and see if there is any repeating results and those are the most obvious I've seen so far.
 

Not sure how this will work on small bits of iron But.....When I have a questionable good target....maybe even only one way, I've dropped the RS one or maybe even two and with a slow sweep have cleared up a good target in w iron that could have been masking and/or falseing.
 

HighVDI said:
It seems pretty universal with all detectors and not just Equinox specific but a couple things I've learned.

Usually, iron will do one of a couple things. First is the signal will often wander....making it hard to lock on to the target.

Another thing I've noticed with my 800 is if the depth meter is showing deep and the audio response is faint, often iron nails and bits will sound off much louder than the expected target when pinpointed. Meaning it's just falsing on say a corner of a square nail and when in all metal pinpoint it samples the whole target.

I've been digging a bunch of iffy signals lately just to try and see if there is any repeating results and those are the most obvious I've seen so far.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean the Equinox can smack a targets but you can’t wait or at least I can’t wait on a perfect target. I’m so used to digging iffy singles from my ATP,AT Max, F75 that it’s almost like I have too. I’m trying to find a balance, but I’ve been searching for balance in every aspect of my life. Lol

I’ve always had that All in or All out character trait. Normally it’s a crash and burn at the end, but during the process it’s intensely fun. Lol
 

hunter_46356 said:
Not sure how this will work on small bits of iron But.....When I have a questionable good target....maybe even only one way, I've dropped the RS one or maybe even two and with a slow sweep have cleared up a good target in w iron that could have been masking and/or falseing.
Click to expand...

Good advice I’ also just digging iron itself. Rusty big nails hitting good not necessarily smacking it, but intriguing enough to dig. I’ve also been known a a gambling man. I just want the odds a little more in my favor. But if I have too I’ll dig them. Same VDI as that bust 1/2 I found in with 6 nails. I truly don’t think a heard the silver more. I can tell you I’m gonna start taking more time using 50 tones. I used it today and I think I like it better. Is 50 tones known to be good in above average iron ground?
 

If it's a spot you can spend a ton of time in then just keep digging any repeatable tone and or iffy one. No detector is immune to masking which I'm sure you know.
 

The problem with small iron masking and falsing is that even with pinpoint it is hard to tell an iffy signal because pinpoint will tell you it is a small target, though you may get a better idea if you have multiple small targets under the coil. Falsing big iron is pretty obvious when you go to pp mode, though because you can "see" you are passing your coil over a big target so it is obviously not a coin, although what is under that big iron, so you have to dig it. I do think High VDI's pinpoint advice is about the best you can do to make an educated guess, though, without digging. Other tools to "interrogate the target" are going to AM to see if the iron tone and high tone come in together indicating a ferrous target vs. some delay between the two indicating a possible masked non-ferrous target. My other "tool" is to put the "opposite" program into the user profile slot. For example, hunt with field 2 and then put park 1 (no iron bias though) and with a diff recovery speed in the user profile slot to see if it hits differently in the suspect target and "brings out" the masked ferrous target, kind of a variation on hunter_46356's recommendation above. But frankly, but the situation is unfortunate though and the only real way to know is to dig all the iffys. If you want to be conscientious to the landowner though and minimize the plugs, there is really no magic bullet in this situation. HTH.

P.S., Another thing you might want to experiment with is Gold Mode. It sounds completely different than the other modes because it's VCO pitch vice discrete tones so you don't get a lot of audio info other than getting a good idea about the size and or depth of the mystery targets under your coil kind of like you are running the pinpointer, but it is a motion mode (unlike the pinpointer) in that you have to swing the coil to get the sound. But also unlike the pinpointer, it will give you a VDI. I have tried it in thick iron situations and found it to be good in some ways but I also missed the tone audio information. Anyway, worth a shot.
 

Last edited:
vferrari said:
The problem with small iron masking and falsing is that even with pinpoint it is hard to tell an iffy signal because pinpoint will tell you it is a small target, though you may get a better idea if you have multiple small targets under the coil. Falsing big iron is pretty obvious when you go to pp mode, though because you can "see" you are passing your coil over a big target so it is obviously not a coin, although what is under that big iron, so you have to dig it. I do think High VDI's pinpoint advice is about the best you can do to make an educated guess, though, without digging. Other tools to "interrogate the target" are going to AM to see if the iron tone and high tone come in together indicating a ferrous target vs. some delay between the two indicating a possible masked non-ferrous target. My other "tool" is to put the "opposite" program into the user profile slot. For example, hunt with field 2 and then put park 1 (no iron bias though) and with a diff recovery speed in the user profile slot to see if it hits differently in the suspect target and "brings out" the masked ferrous target, kind of a variation on hunter_46356's recommendation above. But frankly, but the situation is unfortunate though and the only real way to know is to dig all the iffys. If you want to be conscientious to the landowner though and minimize the plugs, there is really no magic bullet in this situation. HTH.

P.S., Another thing you might want to experiment with is Gold Mode. It sounds completely different than the other modes because it's VCO pitch vice discrete tones so you don't get a lot of audio info other than getting a good idea about the size and or depth of the mystery targets under your coil kind of like you are running the pinpointer, but it is a motion mode (unlike the pinpointer) in that you have to swing the coil to get the sound. But also unlike the pinpointer, it will give you a VDI. I have tried it in thick iron situations and found it to be good in some ways but I also missed the tone audio information. Anyway, worth a shot.
Click to expand...

Everything you said made sense, but really I personally HAVE to dig it to be 100%. I’m always say to myself @Trust your machine” but most times won’t. If I get a hit or 2 high tone I’m going in.The whole day today I dug falsing iron. Where’s a small coil when you need it
 

I was having same frustration with nails
My only resolve is I search completely open in all metal
And the strong repeat tones I dig
I am in field 2, set to 5 tones and bias at 3 and recovery 5
I have found tiny bronze and copper items
That got discriminated in regular Park 2
I still get falsing but when doubt I drop down to 5khz
And if it blanks or mixed signal I walk
And or I check with
a user program set in park 2
Set at 2 tone, I adjusted tones where iron is at 1 and low volume
And tone 2 at 20 pitch and louder volume
If it is iffy and numbers and sound all over the place
I walk and don’t dig
 

Some of you guys should be metal detector salesmen.
 

Truth1253 said:
I know what you mean the Equinox can smack a targets but you can’t wait or at least I can’t wait on a perfect target. I’m so used to digging iffy singles from my ATP,AT Max, F75 that it’s almost like I have too. I’m trying to find a balance, but I’ve been searching for balance in every aspect of my life. Lol

I’ve always had that All in or All out character trait. Normally it’s a crash and burn at the end, but during the process it’s intensely fun. Lol
Click to expand...

No crash & burn .

I find digging most every signal that is at-least "OK" not most but many times cool stuff pop's out.
GD
 

Amergin said:
I was having same frustration with nails
My only resolve is I search completely open in all metal
And the strong repeat tones I dig
I am in field 2, set to 5 tones and bias at 3 and recovery 5
I have found tiny bronze and copper items
That got discriminated in regular Park 2
I still get falsing but when doubt I drop down to 5khz
And if it blanks or mixed signal I walk
And or I check with
a user program set in park 2
Set at 2 tone, I adjusted tones where iron is at 1 and low volume
And tone 2 at 20 pitch and louder volume
If it is iffy and numbers and sound all over the place
I walk and don’t dig
Click to expand...


AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

This is why I need to 'Burn' while detecting "Patience".
 

this is when in doubt I dig. There have been many times when I didn't dig a iffy signal and later that evening wondered if that was the right decision and thought that I bet it was something good I missed.
 

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