settings on the Equinox 800

[pulltabfelix]

Ok, have had my 8800 for about 3-4 days now. Have taken it for a few hunts in trashy areas. Now ready to tackle the settings.
I have compiled my TID list from many people on this and another popular metal detecting forum. Have confirmed most of those settings with my extensive junk box and some coins and civil war bullets. Still need the TID on civil war buckles and breast plates. Not too worried about shells or shell frags, I figure these will be pretty much big iron.

Now to adjust all my settings. Ugh it seemed a daunting task at first. But found on the treasurenet forum a nice excel empty spreadsheet .jpg from slashracer. Thanks slashracer it gave a good place to record my favorite settings (subject to modifications as I learn this machine).

there are six groups eg, park1 park2 etc by 26 different settings I think. Wow what an array of combinations or permutations. <-- I cannot remember which is which but don't care. Just nice to have a place to record my settings in case of a accidental factory reset or worse have to send back (oh no!) Minelab for any reason. slashracer only included a .jpg but it was easy to reconstruct in a few minutes in a real excel worksheet.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[Normsel]

You won't need to record your settings the Equinox is so easy to set up that after 20 hours or so of use it will come naturally.. Don't be intimidated by trying to use every setting the 1st few times out. Learn park 1 or field 1 well before you jump to the other settings.. Park 1 is a bit hotter than Park 2 and the same goes for field 1 and field 2

It's all experience and hours of use... To many people try to create complicated search profiles and get discouraged. Learn it slowly and let it come to you.

 

[Truth]

Ok, have had my 8800 for about 3-4 days now. Have taken it for a few hunts in trashy areas. Now ready to tackle the settings.
I have compiled my TID list from many people on this and another popular metal detecting forum. Have confirmed most of those settings with my extensive junk box and some coins and civil war bullets. Still need the TID on civil war buckles and breast plates. Not too worried about shells or shell frags, I figure these will be pretty much big iron.

Now to adjust all my settings. Ugh it seemed a daunting task at first. But found on the treasurenet forum a nice excel empty spreadsheet .jpg from slashracer. Thanks slashracer it gave a good place to record my favorite settings (subject to modifications as I learn this machine).

there are six groups eg, park1 park2 etc by 26 different settings I think. Wow what an array of combinations or permutations. <-- I cannot remember which is which but don't care. Just nice to have a place to record my settings in case of a accidental factory reset or worse have to send back (oh no!) Minelab for any reason. slashracer only included a .jpg but it was easy to reconstruct in a few minutes in a real excel worksheet.

I have a good coin shooting setting video if your interested. It’s been treating me great.

 

[parkgt]

After using it for 25 hours or so you will probably not need spreadsheets much as you get used to what the settings do and to adjusting them on the fly. Once you find settings particularly tone related that you like you will not be making extensive changes very often. The menus are pretty straight forward and common things that you might change at sites are pretty easy to remember and change.

 

[sonofadigger]

I have a good coin shooting setting video if your interested. It’s been treating me great.

I am where can I find it

 

[gunsil]

I have never looked at a TID list for any machine, it seems inane to me. There are many junk items that will give the same TID as a good item, and most will agree that learning tones is more important than watching TIDs. Just go out and use your machine, dig as many holes as you feel willing to do. BUT, always remember that the only absolutely positive ID you will ever get is when you retrieve the target from the ground. I think there is way too much emphasis on TIDs and discrimination these days by many hunters especially those newer to the field. Remember, "he who digs the most holes finds the most good stuff!!" This is a true statement. A civil war belt plate at 5 inches will sound or TDI like a soda can, or a pistol like an old iron pipe, a piece of copper roof flashing like a large cent, a gold ring like a pull tab, there is just no way around this.

 

[Normsel]

Well said gunsil. It's all about how well you learn the tones and digging. I am not into relic hunting but get more intrigued by it almost daily. I have noticed relic hunters find the most old silver and find the most interesting targets.

Like you I rarely look at the TID's because my eyes focus on the ground mainly because I have made some pretty good surface finds such as rings and necklaces.. When I get a good signal I look at the TID because I am most often doing the wiggle method to locate where to dig. Heck I have found pennies that rang up at 28 and quarters in holes with nails or other stuff that rang up at 23.

Sometimes it's a pocket drop and you don't get a true TID because your detector is seeing pennies, dimes, quarters and nails or even wire. So the tone entices me to dig not the TID.

 

[Truth]

I am where can I find it

 

[SlashRacer]

slashracer only included a .jpg but it was easy to reconstruct in a few minutes in a real excel worksheet

Sorry.....I sent the excel sheet to my phone and was unable to upload it from my phone. Glad you made another one!

 

[vferrari]

You won't need to record your settings the Equinox is so easy to set up that after 20 hours or so of use it will come naturally.. Don't be intimidated by trying to use every setting the 1st few times out. Learn park 1 or field 1 well before you jump to the other settings.. Park 1 is a bit hotter than Park 2 and the same goes for field 1 and field 2

It's all experience and hours of use... To many people try to create complicated search profiles and get discouraged. Learn it slowly and let it come to you.

After using it for 25 hours or so you will probably not need spreadsheets much as you get used to what the settings do and to adjusting them on the fly. Once you find settings particularly tone related that you like you will not be making extensive changes very often. The menus are pretty straight forward and common things that you might change at sites are pretty easy to remember and change.

I have never looked at a TID list for any machine, it seems inane to me. There are many junk items that will give the same TID as a good item, and most will agree that learning tones is more important than watching TIDs. Just go out and use your machine, dig as many holes as you feel willing to do. BUT, always remember that the only absolutely positive ID you will ever get is when you retrieve the target from the ground. I think there is way too much emphasis on TIDs and discrimination these days by many hunters especially those newer to the field. Remember, "he who digs the most holes finds the most good stuff!!" This is a true statement. A civil war belt plate at 5 inches will sound or TDI like a soda can, or a pistol like an old iron pipe, a piece of copper roof flashing like a large cent, a gold ring like a pull tab, there is just no way around this.

What these folks said.

I don't pay attention compiling VDI number lists. I listen for tones. As far as the settings are concerned, the only one I really vary (from the default) is iron bias and sometimes recovery speed. Do not need to use spreadsheets for that. I might break out a spreadsheet (or just a pad of paper) if I was going to do something funky with tone breaks, volumes, and pitches. But I don't really bother because most of the time I am using 50 tones anyway.

Basically, look for repeatable tones in the ranges of interest. For relic hunting I am looking for anything repeatable around 12 to 18 (sometimes widen that up to 10 - 20) and anything repeatable in the low 20's to low to mid 30's. Upper 30's to 40 is usually big iron or a can backed up by pinpointer. If the item rings that high but appears to be a smallish object, I may just dig it. Look for minimal bounce, but some bouncing will occur on good targets. But I am not staring at numbers (I am glancing at the display for TID ranges) but really listening to the tones because they tell the story. Solid, full tone in the ranges of interest is a dig me. Bouncy flutey or distorted tone is iffy or move on depending on the situation (i.e., dig all if you have the time and the site supports it, cherry pick only if you have limited site time or need to be careful about not tearing up the landscape).

So it comes down to: 1) Tonality including using all metal mode to ferret out iron tones 2) VDI number and stability 3) Target size/depth using pinpointer and sometimes 4) Switching in/out iron bias to determine falsing.

 

[Possum]

I have a good coin shooting setting video if your interested. It’s been treating me great.

I'm interested in it truth. PM or email me if you don't mind...
Thanks "D"

 

[vferrari]

I'm interested in it truth. PM or email me if you don't mind...
Thanks "D"

See Post 8 above.

 

[pulltabfelix]

I think that was the trap I was falling into. Thinking I would find the perfect settings and start finding all the great targets. Now I have a more realistic view of what I need to do. Get out there and hunt.

 

[pulltabfelix]

It didn't take long, thanks for the idea.