Impatient 1st day Nox owner question about modes & frequencies

[Golden oaks]

My impression was each mode was set up with frequencies that would be best for each of the 4 modes. I now see with my 800 there are frequencies choices too! Will someone please, in layman's terms, please explain the difference and benefits to changing either mode or frequency? I also wonder why to have a User mode if you can edit each of the modes yourself.

Thank you,
Steve

 

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[hageneyr]

I think the modes are only relevant when running in multi vs individual frequencies. When running in multi different modes represent different alternating frequency patterns. At least thats my understanding/assumption.

 

[vferrari]

Each mode is set up with a frequency spectrum (MultiIQ) that favors certain types of conductors and has software algorithms and user settings that enhance the resulting signal you hear assuming certain environmental conditions. The MultiIQ frequency spectrum is comprised of a combination of all 5 frequencies but the processing for each mode "favors" or weighted towards either the high or low frequency signals, even though it "listens" to all the frequencies. It works out like so (forget about what minlab called the modes because I think that just confuses things).

Park 1 is weighted towards the lower frequencies in the spectrum and therefore favors high conductors like pure copper, silver, and clad coins which tend to be detected better/deeper at low frequencies like 5 and 10 khz. Regardless, all five frequencies are still used so you are also still going to hit on mid conductors like nickels, brass, aluminum and even gold. This is probably the best "all around" mode to use and to learn the machine with. Probably best for coin shooting in parks and athletic fields.

Park 2 is weighted towards the higher frequencies and will hit harder on the mid-conductors (nickels, gold) and small targets (earrings, pendants) than Park 1 but will still hit on the high conductors too, perhaps not to the same depth as Park 1, though. Good mode if you want to zero in on jewelry, especially gold jewelry. But will hit small silver and copper jewelry and also coins as well. Some like to use this mode for relic hunting, too.

Field 1 is similar to Park 1 in that it is biased towards high conductors, but is a two tone mode. Have not used this mode at all.

Field 2 is similar to Park 2 in that it is biased towards mid-conductors. It has slight differences in ferrous/non-ferrous tone break and recovery speed vs. Park 2. This mode is my favorite relic hunting mode and the mode I have found the most old silver with (because that silver was in the same fields as the relics I was hunting).

Beach 1 is biased to high conductors and is for dry and wet sand salt beaches. Great mode for beach hunting. Don't be fooled by the fact that it biased to high conductors, it will find gold, too.

Beach 2 is able to deal with the ground phase effects of changing salinity better than Beach 1 and is suited for salt surf and underwater detecting. Same targets as Beach 1 but under water.


The Gold modes are very different than the other modes in that they use VCO audio which varies pitch and volume based on proximity to the target (similar to pinpoint mode). Gold 1 is suited to milder ground and Gold 2 is suited to more mineralized ground. The both are optimized for gold so, again, even though they are multi-frequency, they favor the high frequencies (mid-conductors).

Each of the modes are very different in how they sound and behave. Therefore, I would stick with a single mode to learn the machine before mode hopping. Because the machine uses multifrequencies, it is unlikely that you will actually be missing out much despite the fact that the mode may "favor" certain types of conductors. It still sees practically everything.

Don't mess with the single frequencies. They are purely there for backup purposes or to help with interrogating certain targets. I have never used the single frequencies. Examples, sometimes strong EMI situations will interfere with the MultIQ so you may find that going to a specific single frequency knocks down the EMI. In that case you can still detect, but you are limited by the single frequency you have chosen and some MultiIQ features will not be available like Iron Bias which can help reducing falsing by small iron (bent nails, round iron). Therefore, I would never use single frequency extensively unless I was forced into that situation since you lose the true benefit of the Equinox, Multi IQ and what that brings to the table. Some folks also use the single frequencies to to interrogate targets. By seeing how the VDI changes when you switch from MultiIQ to single frequency, you can ferret out junk targets like bottlecaps. I don't bother with this cumbersome method, but use the ALL METAL pushbutton instead to see if I can hear an iron grunt along with the bottlecap high tone, that is a giveaway that it is not a coin, as coin audio is pure.

HTH.

 

[sgoss66]

hageneyr is essentially correct. Different modes have different "blends" of frequencies (according to Minelab), and thus switching modes, you get a frequency set that is matched to certain types of targets. Apparently, there are also some "ground handling" differences also "built into" the different modes. In other words, beach mode is set to adjust to beach/salt conditions, gold mode to highly mineralized soils normally found in "gold country," etc.

In general, the "1" modes are more sensitive to high conductors (biased toward lower frequency transmission), and the "2" modes are more sensitive to lower conductors -- but also more susceptible to ground chatter (biased toward higher frequency transmission). The opposite is true in the Beach modes where Beach 1 is more sensitive to smaller targets than Beach 2. Beach 2 is the least sensitive to small targets of ALL the modes (but handles saltwater the best).

In my opinion, there is little reason to ever "hunt" in any of the single frequencies; much of the "magic" of this machine is in the multi-frequency "Multi-IQ" technology. Switching to single frequency may sometimes be useful in a high EMI site where you just can't get the machine to quiet down; it will sometimes be easier to find a single frequency that is "quiet," than other ways of mitigating the interference. There are also some "checks" you can do on certain targets (rusty bottlecaps, for instance) where a low teens reading in Multi-IQ but then a much higher ID if you switch briefly to one of the single freq. modes, can be a clue that you are dealing with a junk target. Otherwise, my advice would be to stick with the "Multi" setting in all modes...

Steve

 

[cudamark]

The reason for the different modes and ability to adjust them, is to able to adapt to the different ground/soil/mineralization/EMI conditions you will encounter from site to site.

 

[Coil-2-Soil]

vferrari, once again thank you for your reply. I have been watching the EQ threads and have learned a lot from what you have posted. I have an 800 to be delivered soon. Also,thanks for your honest reviews on this machine. Keep posting as I still have a lot to learn. HH

 

[vferrari]

Thanks Coil, much appreciated.

Also, to Golden oaks, I did not address the User Profile button. It is a handy feature where you can store your most commonly used, customized program for instant recall or you can store a program there for instant access to see what toggling between your main program or your user profile program does to a target signal when interrogating a target. For example, in relic hunting I like the Field 2 pretty much unmodified, it has zero iron bias by default. If I am at a site that is giving me a lot of iron falsing due to bent nails, I can have a Field 2 custom program with some Iron bias cut in stored in the User Profile slot for instant access to see if the suspected false signal breaks up, indicating probable iron. Other folks like to store their single frequency program there for the bottlecaps trick I described, or you can have a program stored there with special tone breakpoints and notched segments for cherry picking coins. Lots of possibilities.

Two things though, there is a known bug where if you turn off the machine when in User Profile mode, you may lose your iindividual mode customizations because they may reset to factory defaults. Also the placement of the button is a little inconvenient and may require you to set the coil on the ground to reach the button, but that still beats toggling through all the modes to get to a special setting.

Also, all modes need to be treated like a separate detector as far as noise cancel and ground balancing. Because MultIQ cause each mode to behave differently, it also means each mode will have its own unique noise cancel channel selection and a different ground phase number even at the same site.

HTH

 

[Normsel]

I lost my user profile but turning the machine off while using it. I just shook my head when I turned it back and wondered what I did wrong and forgot about it