Here's the details:
Date of hunt: Sunday the 23rd of August 2020
Location: Derbyshire
Ground: Pasture, low iron contamination
Detector: Minelab Equinox 800 v.3.0 with 15" coil
Hunt Time: 4 hours.
About me (feel free to skip, I did)
Hello and welcome to my first Nox session report some of you may remember me from DeusDiggerDiary back in the mists of time. I have been detecting since 1999 and my 1st detector was a Viking. About a year later, I paid for a Minelab Sovereign XS-2 in installments for a year as my wages were so poor. By 2014 I'd bought an XP Deus with WS5 headphones which I had lots of success with. I bought the Minelab Equinox pretty much after launch date and I absolutely love it.
Me and my detecting buddy (Ironman) have lots of farm land permissions. When I detect, I always stay on the same field and keep at it for the full session. I usually detect for about 5-6 hours depending on when the sun goes down! I have the greatest respect for this website and its members and I'm still learning how to use my Nox. I'm sure many of you don't get as much junk as me (maybe some of you do?). I love this hobby and I'm a genuine, family guy who only gets out once a week due to work and family commitments. Although my eldest son (9) has got his first detector and loves to collect eyes only pottery off the fields. Please comment and I hope you will keep an eye out for the next session report coming soon...
Session Report Intent
Is it me or do you get baffled that everyone seems to get loads of hammered coins and Roman coins except you? I'm here to paint a true picture of exactly what you can expect when you go out with your detector. I'm here to illuminate what we detectorists really get MOST of the time (at least in Derbyshire). I have quite a lot of permissions and I do research the land. I'm doing this for several reasons
1) I hope you'll be interested in what actually turns up (yes the good and the bad I'll post everything!)
2) As a kind of personal log. I'm hoping this thread, which I will keep updating, will help spur me on to improve my finds rate. Maybe self indulgent but my main reason for doing this is to provide an interesting section which I hope some of you would like to see the kind of things that turn up in Derbyshire.
3) My ongoing dream is to find a gold hammered coin and I hope, one day, you folks will see it in a future session report.
4) To share knowledge and ideas about the Nox with other users and to become part of the community
A New Era and a New Permission
I got this permission from someone who I know in my local pub whilst discussing the difficulty of getting new land over a pint of Abbeydale Moonshine. You'd be surprised how many permissions can be obtained from the local pub. The permission is really close to my home and there's two fields to go at. I updated the Nox with the newish 3.0 update which was a breeze to complete and I set off the day after with high hopes. As a tradition before I left, I got my two sons to tap my right hand for good luck (I don't know why I do this as it makes no difference and I'm starting to wonder if it's possibly detrimental to my finds rate).
Day 1: The Top Field and a Shaky Start 10:45am
Fortified with a bacon sandwich (breakfast of champions), I decided to set up and go for a random wander just to familiarise myself with the new version. On switching on my machine, headphones and MW08 I realised there was no sound. I thought because I hadn't used the Nox in a long while the Headphones or MW08 needed pairing again. So I tried to do that. I couldn't remember what to do so I ended up looking on YouTube. 15 minutes later after pairing everything and still no sound.
It was at this point, I wondered if I could find out anything from the settings. Within moments, realisation began to dawn on my disbelieving mind. "ARGGGHHHHH!" I'd turned the volume down last night whilst inputting my settings because it was making such a racket in the house! I admonished and insulted myself several times but was I back in the game. What a noobish start to my new sessions 
I realise this does not paint me in a professional manner whatsoever but I'm kind of admitting it to the world as a further effort to embarrass myself into never, ever doing it again. I had a bit of a walk around after Noise Cancelling with the detector pointing at the most noisy source (a mobile phone antenna) and I found a quiet spot in All Metal and Ground Balanced (came out as 15). I set the sensitivity as high as I could in this field which was at 23. In All Metal. My first find was a button with nothing on it. An uninspiring start but moments after...
So Early in the Day for a 1st Treasure!
My second signal was a clear high pitched repeater and I did the little 90 degree dance to pinpoint in. I never really pinpoint as this works really well anyway, especially now but more on that later. I dug out a 6" sod and overturned it and it was actually right there, visible on top of the overturned sod. A rectangular, unmistakably silver object. I even suspected what it was before I carefully turned it over. I thought it was the squashed band from a walking cane. I was right, it was silver and the hallmarks were as clear as a bell. An anchor which meant Birmingham silver. I put it in my special plastic pot in my coat and carried on with heightened interest. I used my builders lines and made some lanes across the top of the field and began a methodical search pattern.
A Steady Trickle of Finds
I investigated some 'iffy' signals and they were usually iron. One was a clump of rusted chain which I'm not surprised fooled me. I read quite often that objects 'fool the detector' (because of their shape etc.) I believe the truth is, they fool the operator more often than not. Don't get me wrong, I still get fooled by iron all the time as if I'm ever in doubt, I dig it. I may even go further by saying if you don't get any iron at all you're probably missing a lot of iffy signals that are just beyond the detector's depth capabilities and sounding and TID registering as iron. I have had plenty of iffy signals turn out to be non ferrus objects at depth. I'm not an expert, quite the opposite but I really recommend digging the buzz/beep signals. Just try a few on your next dig. I can't remember which philosopher said it but they said, "The best discriminator is your spade."
More finds kept coming: at 7" deep, a large plain copper alloy button reading at 20 followed by at 5" another copper alloy button at 14. Next, nearly as deep as the pin pointer, came a copper alloy pocket watch winder. A very short signal reading at 18 I was really impressed that something so small could be found at that depth. Another button at 8". After that, at 4", came a forged Spade Shield Guinea coin/medallion; some Georgian would have worn this as probably one of their prized possessions. I wish it had been the real thing! Next at 9"was a small Tombac button TDI 13 again, impressive depth and great signal. Next I found some lead objects and then a small musket pistol ball and even an airgun pellet. At this point it was 2pm and time for dinner.
Cheese and Onion Sandwich Causes Localised Monsoon
I sprayed myself with insect spray as I'd found several flies had found me irresistible and wouldn't stop stalking me across the field. One made so bold as to keep landing on me. I made several attempts to extinguish it's amorous advances but to no avail. I sat down pondering what I might find next and took a cursory glance at the foreboding clouds that approached with undisguised malicious intent. Just as I finished my dirty sandwiches, I noticed all my winged companions had deserted me. I congratulated myself for applying the wondrous repellent when the biblical downpour was upon me. The fiends had sensed it and left me to drown. I could tell it wouldn't stop anytime soon and I was glad I had my wellies and Gore-Tex gear on otherwise, I would have been instantly soaked to the skin. I realised a quick exit was not an option as I had my builders lines out so I had to slowly and wetly wind them back in. By the time I got back to the car I was very muddy and tired but I had enjoyed the time I got.
Nox 3.0 Review an Initial Assessment .
The very first thing I noticed was an increase in stability by that I mean a lot less superfluous noise. A marked improvement in pinpointing and better discrimination on iron. Bearing in mind this was a very quiet field and this was my first try with the new update I was really happy with it. I am definitely keeping this version as it performed really well. Did I find more than I would have before? Who knows? I think I dug less iron and found the objects easier that's for sure. I had a play with the 4khz frequency on a few targets but I didn't really notice anything special. When I get the chance I will do a row in multifrequency then repeat the same row at 4khz and see if it pulls up anything I'd missed.
I'm off out on a rally tomorrow with a friend I will let you know how I get on. Thanks for taking a look at this.
As always good luck, happy hunting it's all out there waiting to be found! ::g
Comments, suggestions, find identifications, questions are always welcome.
Take care all, and as always, happy digging!
Gratis Junk Removal Service
1897-8 Birmingham
Wonderful to have you here doing a proper report 
