Ground Balancing - How Important, and Where?

[Alchemist]

I recently purchased a Bounty Hunter Platinum detector. It's a blast to work with, but at times I find it difficult to ground balance the unit. As you may or may not know, this it requires manual balancing, i.e. I need to lower (not pump) the unit down to the ground until it "grabs" the soil. I sometimes have to do this several times before it it gives me a stable read. I'm making sure the area is free of debris and my unit is set at zero discrimination (per instructions). I live in Wisconsin -- no salty beaches here.
So, my question is, how important is it to ground balance this unit where I live? If I could just turn it on and hunt, I would...but at what cost to my hunting? Is balancing primarily important only in certain soils and ground aspects such as high salt content?

Thanks and happy hunting to all!

 

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[DDancer]

Ground balancing is important with any machine that has the capability. It affects how well the detector can discriminate targets, overall depth to which the detector can penetrate the soil conditions of the area of search and the stability of the detectors audio/identification responses.
You can just plug and play if you are not concerned with ground balance however you will lose targets and in some cases suffer from chatter from the detector. About the only time plug and play wont affect the detector is if you've already GB'd to an area and suspect you already have acceptable machine performance.
Its up to you and your judgment. After a time, I feel, one learns when their machine is experiencing problems~ ie chatter or target response's that jump around badly~ that are associated with improper ground balance. Its all about experience but its also a good habit to GB at the start and occasionally during the hunt so you can be assured your getting the most out of your machine.

GB is affected not only by salts but mineralization of soil, density of soils, water content and a whole slew of things. GB adjusts for the conductivity of the soil and allows the machine to negate responses and nulling caused by various soil conditions.

 

[Alchemist]

you know, dancer, the second I saw your name with a response I knew something informed would be coming. You didn't disappoint. Thanks.