Ground Balance on AT Pro

[BamaBill]

When ground balancing with the ATP, is it the higher the number, the worse the ground or vice versa? Has anyone figured out where the break point for concentric versus DD is at? By that I mean, at what ground phase number would you would be better off with a DD coil, versus concentric?

 

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[pkb]

let the machine decide. Just ground balance. works for me

 

[CladGrabber]

Does everyone prefer auto or manual ground balance?

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Ive never REALLY understood the GB. I do it when i remember too. But i still seem to find things either way. Maybe the number is off a digit or 2. But normally still something i would dig.

thou , i did notice a HUGE change when i went from Texas Soil to Florida, but other than that. Mine stays around 72-75ish everywhere i go

 

[fella]

Does everyone prefer auto or manual ground balance?

Auto GB. Only takes a couple seconds. Then I usually drop it a little bit manually.

Ive never REALLY understood the GB. I do it when i remember too. But i still seem to find things either way. Maybe the number is off a digit or 2. But normally still something i would dig.

thou , i did notice a HUGE change when i went from Texas Soil to Florida, but other than that. Mine stays around 72-75ish everywhere i go

Nice mild soils you have. Im in the 86-91 ranges!

 

[GranvilleATPro]

Ive never REALLY understood the GB. I do it when i remember too. But i still seem to find things either way. Maybe the number is off a digit or 2. But normally still something i would dig.

I think of GB like a shipping scale that is needs to be zeroed out. GB needs to be neutral to the soil conditions. The ground has a certain amount of mineralization(noise) and needs canceled out or (zeroed). That is the optimal baseline I suppose.

 

[MikeT.]

I just received my new AT Pro, has anyone had any difficulty in salt water?

 

[GranvilleATPro]

From what I gather in other posts... there seems to be more people with problems in salt water than those without. I am nowhere close to salt. Just relaying what I've learned from others. I'm sure those folks will chime in. Hopefully you didn't buy the ATPro to use strictly in salt water cause I think your gonna be disappointed in what others will have to say. For a $500-600 investment, I would have wanted to know the answer before purchasing.

 

[NeilinFR]

They work fine in salt water. You will have to readjust your GB going from dry to wet and vice versa.Thats been my experience here in NJ.

 

[gleaner1]

Up or down, the farther away you are from true gb, the worse you probably are. Some folks set to true gb then manually adjust down a few which makes the machine "hotter" on silver and such. Auto gb and manual gb are two different methods to get to the true gb and is not atpro specific. I always use auto gb with bobbing because its the quickest way.

 

[GranvilleATPro]

Although it is rumored to be hotter on high conductors if adjusted down. I would predict if the above is actually true, then your also gonna miss small gold if your looking for that also. Something has to give, I would think? What gives, I would predict, is that the lower conductors won't be as hot...I wouldn't want to give up the gold, especially if the ATPro is just as likely to find the silver even without a bit of a boost.

 

[gleaner1]

By tweaking the gb down a few numbers, small gold rings would pop better also, if it works on silver and copper coins. A gold ring is a round hoop with decent conductivity, which means its a "hot" item too. A lot of guys swear that dropping a few gb numbers makes tecters a bit hotter on round goodies. I reckon I should try it someday.

 

[GranvilleATPro]

Maybe a few digits down, but those who go on the higher end like 10-15 is questionable. I've read about this a lot over on the friendly metal detector forum from very experienced ATPro users who look for gold only and say it does the opposite. I guess until there is a definitive control test, im leaving it to conjecture at the moment. I'm not 100% sold on the idea that it actually works. In theory I guess it should but I don't really know,

 

[signal_line]

Although it is rumored to be hotter on high conductors if adjusted down. I would predict if the above is actually true, then your also gonna miss small gold if your looking for that also. Something has to give, I would think? What gives, I would predict, is that the lower conductors won't be as hot...I wouldn't want to give up the gold, especially if the ATPro is just as likely to find the silver even without a bit of a boost.

Exactly right. Tuning down reduces sensitivity to small items. You want small gold, tune up. But you have to be careful how much. Sometimes in mineralized ground even one or two points can affect things. There's a lot more to ground balancing. You tune down you can lose targets. I suggest you read one of those nugget hunting books. The one I have is an older one Zip Zip Advanced or something like that. He has great info on tuning to salt.

Auto balance does not always work and I suspect the salt conditions are it's least effective. I say to bury a target so it is just detectable then manual tune the balance for the best response.

 

[gleaner1]

One thing is for certain, you can take this to the bank, you cannot go wrong using "dead on" gb. You just cannot go wrong with that.

 

[MikeT.]

GB in the salt water works like a charm! i took my AT Pro to the beach for the first time i found some pennies and then BAM! Mens 14kt gold chain made in Italy! I'm have a blast with my AT Pro

 

[BamaBill]

I am trying to figure out where the line (or range) is to where a DD coil is the best coil for conditions and where a concentric will get the most depth it's capable of. I have another detector where it has been figured out that if your gb number is 28 or lower, its best if you do use a DD coil, but it its higher you can go for max depth and use a concentric. Seems everyone, for the most part, uses just the DD coils on the AT Pro, but I want the depth that the 9 X 12 can give me if the ground matrix will allow it. That's why I was asking about ground balance.

 

[fella]

I am trying to figure out where the line (or range) is to where a DD coil is the best coil for conditions and where a concentric will get the most depth it's capable of. I have another detector where it has been figured out that if your gb number is 28 or lower, its best if you do use a DD coil, but it its higher you can go for max depth and use a concentric. Seems everyone, for the most part, uses just the DD coils on the AT Pro, but I want the depth that the 9 X 12 can give me if the ground matrix will allow it. That's why I was asking about ground balance.

DO NOT get hung up on depth! It's a vicious thing that can drive one to the point of insanity and can REALLY lighten ones pocket book. (I'm only half j/k)

Personally I think it's silly to look for a GB cut off line! I would seriously doubt you would see "real world" differences in 9x12 vs 8.5x11 in good or moderate ground, but I promise the DD will benefit once you are in the 80's on up & 20's on down on your GB. I can't see wanting to add a concentric for any reason other than if one prefers how they pinpoint but that's just a personal preference thing.

 

[BamaBill]

Believe me, I know what you mean about chasing the depth demon. The number ranges you list is exactly what I was after. Thank you. I also have the 6.5 X 9 concentric and yes, for me it's about pinpointing when I'm hunting in ground that I don't want tear up, looking for the target. Also, when I get on a homesite that has all kinds of layers and trash, hunting it with a variety of coil sizes and types will find a variety of things, if the ground isn't real mineralized to start with.