9/16/19 Report - Big Surf Predicted For a Few Days as Humberto Moves Away. Usefulness of Target ID Numbers.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Look at that!  If the predictions are correct you can expect four days of increasing surf and some pretty high surf for a few days.  On top of that, the swells are going to be coming from the north for a good while.  There is a heck of a lot of sand that needs to be moved, but we might get some openings.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Humberto did not move north and away from us as expected.  Looks like it will move more east rather than going north.  And there is still that system out in the Atlantic that is getting more organized.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

 When it comes to shipwreck beach finds, the vast majority occur on a few days.  Yes there are those days when a few scattered finds might be made, but there are many more days and months when none are made.  And of course, there are those rare times when a lot of finds are made.  Everybody remembers those, and the stories are retold for decades.

When it is hot, it is hot, and when its not, its not.  That means you can't afford to miss those few special times when the window of opportunity opens.  You have to somehow endure and make the best of those long periods in between.

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As you might know, I have long been a big advocate of digging everything.  I've explained my reasons in the past.  Those reasons include (1) the inability of any metal detector that I know about to accurately enough identify a broad range of targets, including some very valuable targets, and (2) the time wasted trying to identify buried targets before digging when it takes only seconds to actually dig them, and (3) the fact that you can drastically reduce the number of junk targets if you know something about target distribution patterns on a beach.  I also know that some people do not have the desire to dig trash even if it means missing valuable targets and some people have physical limitations that they must accommodate, so I am by no means saying that discrimination should never be used, but it should be done only with a full awareness of the risks.

With that background, I have been exploring the Equinox metal detector and video target ID generally.  I believe my conclusions can be generalized to many detectors even though I am using the Equinox for the majority of my tests.

I haven't used target ID very much, but I have spent lot of time listening to the audio signals of a wide variety of metal detectors and believe you can often tell a great deal about a buried target from the audio signal alone.

In my 9/11 post, I reported on a brief ground test that I conducted with the Equinox on a few gold objects and questioned the usefulness of the displayed numbers.  A couple readers sent links to videos showing the target ID numbers produced by the Minelab Equinox for a variety of objects, including many pieces of gold jewelry.  While I prefer to conduct my own tests for a variety of reasons, one reason being that not all detectors of the same make and model will always perform exactly the same, I took a look at those videos, which basically confirmed the opinions I got from my own very limited tests. 

One of the videos showed that gold rings and other gold items can produce numbers anywhere from the low end of the range to the high end of the range and everywhere in between.  To give one example, a few small gold rings produced exactly the same number as an aluminum pull tab.  One YouTuber that conducted an extensive test explained that you have to dig it all with the Equinox and showed why.   See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsgspduZA_8 

The videos I viewed were slightly flawed, but I believe were basically correct in their conclusions.  They would run the coil past the object or the object past the coil directly under the center of the coil at what appeared to be an inch or so.  That is not what typically happens in the field.   In the field there is ground mineralization, objects are at different depths and laying at different angles, the coil is moving at different speeds and the object is seldom under the sweet spot of the coil.  I have not systematically tested the effect of all those things, but I have observed that some of those things definitely affect the readout.  I hope be able to be much more specific about that in the near future.  I know that the numbers are not very consistent in some environments.

While at this point (with me having very little personal experience with the Equinox) I have concluded that the visual target ID numbers have very limited utility for discriminating objects if you don't want to miss anything good, but I do think the numbers will be of some help, especially, when combined with other information, including the audio signal and some level of knowledge of the type of items that are most likely in the area.  I expect the numbers to be more useful when combined with other information but of very little help when used as the sole criterion for deciding whether to dig or not unless you don't mind missing valuable targets.

Being much more experienced with interpreting audio signals than display meters, I feel like I can get some good information about a target from the audio signal and it seems to me that the audio signal produced by the Equinox contains a lot of information.  I expect to learn to better interpret the audio signals as I gain more experience.

I know that it is often possible to get an idea of the shape of an object from the audio signal.  The easiest example, perhaps, is that of a long elongated object such as a nail.  I think I'll also be able to reliably distinguish other shapes by simply listening to the audio signal of the Equinox.  

Just the other day when doing a ground test with four gold objects, I noticed how a ring with a larger amount of mass on the one side made a different signal when swept over from different angles.  With some additional experimenting I think I might be able to tell an open object, such as a ring, from an a solid or closed object, such as a coin or round charm.  I need to study that more.

So far my conclusion is that you cannot use the target ID numbers alone on the Equinox, and probably no other metal detector, without a strong risk of missing valuable targets.  There is no doubt that you can use target ID numbers to avoid digging a lot of junk, but you will also miss a lot of good targets.  While the target ID numbers on the Equinox, are not as helpful as I hoped, the Equinox does provide a lot of benefits and will find a definite place in my arsenal or metal detectors.  So far I am impressed by its extremely light weight, stability in salt water environments, and good sensitivity to small and deeper targets.

Thanks to those who sent me the links to Equinox target ID tests.

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Keep watching the weather.  I'll try to keep you informed on beach developments.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net