Ground Balancing

[Trentonfrank]

I'm hoping someone can explain in simple terms what ground balancing actually does? I sorta get it, but then I watch some YouTube videos or read a few articles and I get a little confused. If it matters, I use an AT Gold machine and I ground balance every time I go out detecting, but I would like someone to clarify the whole ground balancing thing. Thanks for your time!

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Ground balancing basically makes the soil (and the minerals in it) disappear. It means that your machine will not "see" the ground as one huge target. Skip to the 3:00 minute mark and see if this helps you!

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Think of it like putting on Polaroid sunglasses when fishing. You can see into the water better.

A detector only compares changes in the relative conductivity of what enters the field around the coil (in spite of all the neat icons on the display). Ground balancing sets up the detector for an optimum "survey" of what the neutral conditions are so it better registers changes. All soil has metallic minerals present (remember - silicon and sodium are metals) and ground balancing neutralizes the background conditions.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Loved the video Terry. Thanx. Good answers as usual Charlie.

For any of you who, like me, grew up in the TR era (all metal TR, then TR disc.) the above explanations hit home even more. Because back then, the moment you lowered the coil to the ground, it would blare off or go silent. Evidencing that the machine was now picking up the soil (because VERY LITTLE SOIL on the earth doesn't have at least *some* trace elements of minerals). And then you'd have to "bring back" the threshold. Which, of course, drifted the moment you started to swing, or raised or lowered your coil over a divot in the ground, etc...

Boy have we come a long way

 

[Trentonfrank]

Thanks a lot for the great info. Much appreciated!

 

[Trentonfrank]

Great info. Thanks to everyone for your knowledge!

 

[4x4x4]

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[TerryC]

Loved the video Terry. Thanx. Good answers as usual Charlie.

For any of you who, like me, grew up in the TR era (all metal TR, then TR disc.) the above explanations hit home even more. Because back then, the moment you lowered the coil to the ground, it would blare off or go silent. Evidencing that the machine was now picking up the soil (because VERY LITTLE SOIL on the earth doesn't have at least *some* trace elements of minerals). And then you'd have to "bring back" the threshold. Which, of course, drifted the moment you started to swing, or raised or lowered your coil over a divot in the ground, etc...

Boy have we come a long way

I HATE to use auto-balance here in the Mother Lode. Gold targets can null out in a "hot rock field". I use, and trust, the GB2. I have tested this effect using my Whites GMT and my GB2 on gold targets in a hot rock field. Does the AT Gold have both auto and manual balance? Hmm. ╦╦Ç