What iron bias do you guys normally run?

[Truth]

I’ve been running 2 but I just saw a video that recommends 0. Just curious

 

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[Minelab Matt]

On the beach default is 6....but i am unsure...so i either choose in the middle (3) 99% of the time or 0.

I say to myself...if in doubt...dig it out...lol

Matt.

 

[sprailroad]

Good question. So, does the "iron bias" run in the same way as in say the AT Pro? Increase/decrease the amount canceled out? and if running in "All metal", I don't know, can Iron Bias still be used somehow, or is a default setting of 0 in play. Just wondering while in my third month of waiting for the 800. Just an added note, at the last metal detecting club meeting, we had a fella who deals detectors and had brought a EQ 800 along, and as members asked questions about it, seems I kept popping in with answers etc. about features and operation, and I then thought, how do "I" have so many answers, for something I haven't even used yet, A HA! I thought, TREASURE NET! Reading so many of the post you guys have posted out there, YOU fella's made me look pretty good.

 

[Minelab Matt]

Good question. So, does the "iron bias" run in the same way as in say the AT Pro? Increase/decrease the amount canceled out? and if running in "All metal", I don't know, can Iron Bias still be used somehow, or is a default setting of 0 in play. Just wondering while in my third month of waiting for the 800. Just an added note, at the last metal detecting club meeting, we had a fella who deals detectors and had brought a EQ 800 along, and as members asked questions about it, seems I kept popping in with answers etc. about features and operation, and I then thought, how do "I" have so many answers, for something I haven't even used yet, A HA! I thought, TREASURE NET! Reading so many of the post you guys have posted out there, YOU fella's made me look pretty good.

Yup...this forum and its members to play a huge part in 99% of any detecting knowledge I have.

Matt.

 

[hunter_46356]

IB settings offered on the 800 are 0 to 9. The factory modes all have IB pre set but can be changed to allow the user to customize each mode per site conditions. While your waiting for the Nox I'd find the manual online and study it. There's a lot going on with this machine that even previous ML owners have a bit of a learning curve to overcome.

 

[adamBomb]

In the beach modes, I am setting the iron bias to 0.

The iron bias on the CTX is set to 9 and cannot be changed, which causes little falsing. Iron bias can cause more falsing, thus a lower setting is something that should be used as you get more experienced and learn how to use it.

Do some home tests on various objects setting it on zero vs the highest settings. I noticed that on the highest settings I was passing over a gold ring next to a nail but on zero I could clearly detect it. Thus the zero setting is what I use and I don't notice a difference in falsing like I do with the RS setting. This is one of the reasons you can 'possibly' detect things not seen on other detectors.

One thing that is interesting is that the iron bias default on beach modes is 6 on the 800 and 4 on the 600 meaning that out of the box on default settings the 600 should do better on my beaches.

 

[Minelab Matt]

In the beach modes, I am setting the iron bias to 0.

The iron bias on the CTX is set to 9 and cannot be changed, which causes little falsing. Iron bias can cause more falsing, thus a lower setting is something that should be used as you get more experienced and learn how to use it.

Do some home tests on various objects setting it on zero vs the highest settings. I noticed that on the highest settings I was passing over a gold ring next to a nail but on zero I could clearly detect it. Thus the zero setting is what I use and I don't notice a difference in falsing like I do with the RS setting. This is one of the reasons you can 'possibly' detect things not seen on other detectors.

One thing that is interesting is that the iron bias default on beach modes is 6 on the 800 and 4 on the 600 meaning that out of the box on default settings the 600 should do better on my beaches.

4 on the 600 is equivalent to 6 on the 800.

Matt.

 

[vferrari]

Since I primarily relic hunt, I like to generally run wide open - All Metal/no disc (have disc setup normally but use All Metal [horseshoe] button to cancel it out, that way I can cut it back in instantly, if desired), no iron bias. Iron bias is just another filter that generally gets in the way as far as I am concerned because it can mask high conductors in thick iron. Yes, there will be more iron falsing, but I have not found iron bias to do that much to mitigate it and frankly if you are running All Metal, you can hear the iron grunts in concert with the high tones which are generally a dead giveaway to targets like crown caps and nail heads that will give mixed tones (i.e., a ferrous component and a non-ferrous component). If I am doing casual coin shooting in a park that is relatively devoid of ferrous junk, I will readily use Park 1 at the defaults (which includes iron bias of 6 (EQX 800) by default), because iron bias does not affect depth, only separation, so no harm - no foul and I am too lazy to change it just for a park run. Same for the beach, unless the beach has a lot of ferrous junk that COULD mask (I am not talking about bobby pins here), then I will leave iron bias at the default and decide based on bottle cap density whether I am going to run ALL METAL or DISC.

 

[vferrari]

On the beach default is 6....but i am unsure...so i either choose in the middle (3) 99% of the time or 0.

I say to myself...if in doubt...dig it out...lol

Matt.

In the beach modes, I am setting the iron bias to 0.

[snip]

One thing that is interesting is that the iron bias default on beach modes is 6 on the 800 and 4 on the 600 meaning that out of the box on default settings the 600 should do better on my beaches.

4 on the 600 is equivalent to 6 on the 800.

Matt.

Matt, you are correct that there are 4 levels of iron bias on the 600, but they are 0, 1, 2, 3 with 0 (off) corresponding to 0 (off) on the 800, 1 (600) to 2 (800), 2 (600) to 4 (800), and 3 (600) to 6 (800). So the "middle" setting on the 600 is Iron Bias 2. (Equinox Manual p. 52)

The default IB setting for beach mode on the 600 is 2 and on the 800 it is 6 (which corresponds to 3 on the 600 but the 600 default beach setting is 2). IB has levels 7 and 8 and 9 on the 800 which are higher than the max setting of 3 on the 600 (again, 3 is equivalent to 6 on the 800).

All of this is on p. 52 of the Equinox manual. HTH

 

[adamBomb]

Matt, you are correct that there are 4 levels of iron bias on the 600, but they are 0, 1, 2, 3 with 0 (off) corresponding to 0 (off) on the 800, 1 (600) to 2 (800), 2 (600) to 4 (800), and 3 (600) to 6 (800). So the "middle" setting on the 600 is Iron Bias 2. (Equinox Manual p. 52)

The default IB setting for beach mode on the 600 is 2 and on the 800 it is 6 (which corresponds to 3 on the 600 but the 600 default beach setting is 2). IB has levels 7 and 8 and 9 on the 800 which are higher than the max setting of 3 on the 600 (again, 3 is equivalent to 6 on the 800).

All of this is on p. 52 of the Equinox manual. HTH

Yes i was just using equivalent to 800 so it wasnt confusing lol

The default on the 800 is 6.

The default on the 600 is 2 (4 on the 800)

Thus the default on the 600 is set lower

 

[vferrari]

Yes i was just using equivalent to 800 so it wasnt confusing lol

Gotcha! You and Matt were both saying 4 so I got confused. Lol.

 

[sprailroad]

I feel an iron migraine coming on.

 

[hunter_46356]

Since I primarily relic hunt, I like to generally run wide open - All Metal/no disc (have disc setup normally but use All Metal [horseshoe] button to cancel it out, that way I can cut it back in instantly, if desired), no iron bias. Iron bias is just another filter that generally gets in the way as far as I am concerned because it can mask high conductors in thick iron. Yes, there will be more iron falsing, but I have not found iron bias to do that much to mitigate it and frankly if you are running All Metal, you can hear the iron grunts in concert with the high tones which are generally a dead giveaway to targets like crown caps and nail heads that will give mixed tones (i.e., a ferrous component and a non-ferrous component). If I am doing casual coin shooting in a park that is relatively devoid of ferrous junk, I will readily use Park 1 at the defaults (which includes iron bias of 6 (EQX 800) by default), because iron bias does not affect depth, only separation, so no harm - no foul and I am too lazy to change it just for a park run. Same for the beach, unless the beach has a lot of ferrous junk that COULD mask (I am not talking about bobby pins here), then I will leave iron bias at the default and decide based on bottle cap density whether I am going to run ALL METAL or DISC.

In your comments you mention iron bias not affecting depth. I was under the impression it was just another filter and did effect depth. Just did an air test (n I hate air test) but your absolutely right. Thats a good thing to know and I didn't catch that tid bit in the manual...so thanks. The other question I have is ...Are youy beach hunting salt or fresh? If fresh water are you using adjusted beach modes or Park/Field modes in the water and dry to wet sand?

 

[Truth]

I feel an iron migraine coming on.

You gotta get your iron )

 

[vferrari]

In your comments you mention iron bias not affecting depth. I was under the impression it was just another filter and did effect depth. Just did an air test (n I hate air test) but your absolutely right. Thats a good thing to know and I didn't catch that tid bit in the manual...so thanks. The other question I have is ...Are youy beach hunting salt or fresh? If fresh water are you using adjusted beach modes or Park/Field modes in the water and dry to wet sand?

I primarily hunt saltwater beaches so I use Beach 1 in wet sand (anything on dry, but usually just run Beach 1) and Beach 2 in the surf/water. I plan on doing some freshwater hunting this summer and will use non-beach modes because freshwater beaches (at least in the water or if rivers/streams) will likely have some level of mineralization. If the beach modes sense minerlization (e.g., black sand) then they will automatically cut back on transmit power to prevent the black sand from overloading the machine. I can see where that is needed to let the machine run stable in saltwater, but I think it is unnecessary in freshwater and may unnecessarily limit depth, so I will likely run anything but beach in freshwater. The other minor disadvantage of running beach in freshwater, is that beach is limited to MultiIQ only, and I like the flexibility to be able to run single frequency, if necessary, though I rarely ever do run single. HTH.

 

[sprailroad]

Again, I pick up a lot from this forum. Now, if I could only have a copy of "vferrari" somehow printed and packaged along with the 800, man O man, I would be good to go. More good infro. V.

 

[Truth]

Again, I pick up a lot from this forum. Now, if I could only have a copy of "vferrari" somehow printed and packaged along with the 800, man O man, I would be good to go. More good infro. V.

I agree 100% I’d buy his book if I read books, but reading all his comments of helpfulness IS a book just in single paragraphs which is perfect for me. I appreciate every opinion he has.

 

[vferrari]

I agree 100% I’d buy his book if I read books, but reading all his comments of helpfulness IS a book just in single paragraphs which is perfect for me. I appreciate every opinion he has.

Thanks, folks. Just enjoy this hobby and want folks to enjoy it as much as I do. Finding good sites and getting to the business of diggng treasures is hard enough without also having to wrestle with your gear, so I try to do my part to demystify it a little. Figure the karma of giving something back to the hobby that gives me such enjoyment and escape from the realities of daily life might spill over into some good fortune in finding a great permission and a bucket lister find or two. Lol.