To ground balance or not to ground balance?That is the question

[Truth]

How many of you ground balance or not?

 

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[laidback4sho]

Depends on the machine. With the Equinox, they say leave it as is. Truthfully, I put it on auto tracking.

With the Deus, same thing, auto tracking.

With the Gold Bug 2, there is no auto. And ground balancing is essential with that machine. So yes, frequently.

So yeah, I guess I do, no matter what machine I'm using. I just let the machine do it if it's capable.

 

[digger460]

I did on my AT, and do with the EQ and then auto track. Now it's just part of the start up procedure. Have wondered whether I can just use auto track, but I ground balance first anyway. It does take an extra 15 seconds out of my hunting time tho

 

[Minelab Matt]

I dont...but i think a good test to try when i get to my next site is leave it on zero, bury a target, keep burying it deeper and deeper until there's barely a whisper, then ground balance and then see what difference is, if any.

But if going on a beach where I'm going from dry sand to wet sand to black sand etc....then i think tracking would be a good idea.

When you say you ground balance then put it in auto tracking....do you mean you first ground balance by pumping method, then put it on auto tracking?

Matt.

 

[digger460]

I dont...but i think a good test to try when i get to my next site is leave it on zero, bury a target, keep burying it deeper and deeper until there's barely a whisper, then ground balance and then see what difference is, if any.

But if going on a beach where I'm going from dry sand to wet sand to black sand etc....then i think tracking would be a good idea.

When you say you ground balance then put it in auto tracking....do you mean you first ground balance by pumping method, then put it on auto tracking?

Matt.

"do you mean you first ground balance by pumping method, then put it on auto tracking?" If that question is to me, the answer is yes.

 

[vferrari]

With the Equinox, if I am somewhere other than dry sand, I auto ground balance (pump the coil in gb mode and let the machine choose). I do this for each mode I use at a site the first time I switch to that mode because each mode's MultiIQ frequency profile is different and will therefore give you a different gb number even on the same patch of ground (each mode acts like a separate detector in this regard, this is the same reason why you should noise cancel each mode separately). I periodically recheck it if the site is large, especially if it is hilly because that means rain can wash minerals around into low lying areas which can cause changes in ground phase. If the site is especially mineralized or if I find the ground phase reading changes a lot, then I will switch to tracking.

The gb algorithm (manually initiated auto gb or tracking) needs some mineralization to grab onto in order to give you a valid number. For that reason, I just use the default at the beach except in black sand or salt surf where the manual advices using tracking due to the rapidly changing salinity conditions brought on by wave action.

The Equinox when using Multi IQ is very forgiving of a less than ideal GB. If you are unsure if you should ground balance and are not on dry sand, then just do it. Takes all of 10 to 15 seconds at most.

One way to tell whether you should ground balance is if you switch into All Metal Mode using the horseshoe button and you start getting a bunch of random negative numbers and ferrous grunts. Unless you are actually standing on a bunch of nails or other ferrous targets (which you can verify by going into pinpoint mode), what you are hearing is ground feedback noise due to ferrous oxide mineralization particles (essentially rust) in the dirt. That is telling you to do a gb or switch it into tracking. No need to GB before switching into tracking, but it doesn't hurt either since you are already there. Have not seen a real drawback to using tracking, but I definitely would not use it where there is no mineralization (e.g., dry white sand) and just use the default GB of 0.

HTH

 

[ecmo]

On my Macro Racer 2 it's a must, on my Whites mx5 which has auto trac I still pump the coil. What can it hurt?

 

[Minelab Matt]

"do you mean you first ground balance by pumping method, then put it on auto tracking?" If that question is to me, the answer is yes.

Thanks[emoji106]

 

[Minelab Matt]

On my Macro Racer 2 it's a must, on my Whites mx5 which has auto trac I still pump the coil. What can it hurt?

I had a racer 2 and definitely, ground balance was essential.

One thing i miss about my old racer 2 was the trigger, overload sound and open VDI scale of 0-99.

Wish they had that on Equinox.

Matt.

 

[WaterWalker]

Read pages 40 and 41 of the on-line manual. It should answer the question if you should or when you should GB.

https://www.minelab.com/__files/f/326548/4901-0249-2 Inst. Manual, EQUINOX 600 800 EN.pdf

 

[vferrari]

Read pages 40 and 41 of the on-line manual. It should answer the question if you should or when you should GB.

https://www.minelab.com/__files/f/326548/4901-0249-2 Inst. Manual, EQUINOX 600 800 EN.pdf

Yep, there it is. Thanks for providing the link for everyone. But Truth by his own admission, is not exactly one to dive headlong into the manual, that's why I spelled it out for him longhand with some added "whys" that are missing from the manual explanation. Plus he was asking for first-hand personal experiences. Lol.

 

[dsrtdwg1]

With every mode change or restart I N/C then Auto GB (hold Ac/rj pump coil) and adjust gain to where it just barely runs quiet and stable. Seems to work for me, I do not fiddle with the settings near as much as I did in the beggining.

 

[vferrari]

With every mode change or restart I N/C then Auto GB (hold Ac/rj pump coil) and adjust gain to where it just barely runs quiet and stable. Seems to work for me, I do not fiddle with the settings near as much as I did in the beggining.

That is a GOOD approach. The key to this machine is getting it to run quiet and stable while running only enough sensitivity need to keep it quiet yet get the job done (maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio). I admit that I am often guilty of not dialing back sensitivity every time that I should. It is one of those things that is hard for a detectorist to do especially when everyone says depth is king (which is not necessarily true).

 

[dsrtdwg1]

That is a GOOD approach. The key to this machine is getting it to run quiet and stable while running only enough sensitivity need to keep it quiet yet get the job done (maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio). I admit that I am often guilty of not dialing back sensitivity every time that I should. It is one of those things that is hard for a detectorist to do especially when everyone says depth is king (which is not necessarily true).

I gleaned this info from the discussions you and Steve H. have had on Detec/Prospect. I have come to the conclusion that i am not going to out smart the guys who engineered this thing.

 

[smokeythecat]

No for both my Deus and my Tesoro beep and go. And they do very well.

 

[Truth]

Read pages 40 and 41 of the on-line manual. It should answer the question if you should or when you should GB.

https://www.minelab.com/__files/f/326548/4901-0249-2 Inst. Manual, EQUINOX 600 800 EN.pdf

Thanks Ww

 

[Truth]

Yep, there it is. Thanks for providing the link for everyone. But Truth by his own admission, is not exactly one to dive headlong into the manual, that's why I spelled it out for him longhand with some added "whys" that are missing from the manual explanation. Plus he was asking for first-hand personal experiences. Lol.

What’s so funny?

 

[Truth]

That is a GOOD approach. The key to this machine is getting it to run quiet and stable while running only enough sensitivity need to keep it quiet yet get the job done (maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio). I admit that I am often guilty of not dialing back sensitivity every time that I should. It is one of those things that is hard for a detectorist to do especially when everyone says depth is king (which is not necessarily true).

See even you might’ve learned something v that your precious manual didn’t have in it

 

[Truth]

With the Equinox, if I am somewhere other than dry sand, I auto ground balance (pump the coil in gb mode and let the machine choose). I do this for each mode I use at a site the first time I switch to that mode because each mode's MultiIQ frequency profile is different and will therefore give you a different gb number even on the same patch of ground (each mode acts like a separate detector in this regard, this is the same reason why you should noise cancel each mode separately). I periodically recheck it if the site is large, especially if it is hilly because that means rain can wash minerals around into low lying areas which can cause changes in ground phase. If the site is especially mineralized or if I find the ground phase reading changes a lot, then I will switch to tracking.

The gb algorithm (manually initiated auto gb or tracking) needs some mineralization to grab onto in order to give you a valid number. For that reason, I just use the default at the beach except in black sand or salt surf where the manual advices using tracking due to the rapidly changing salinity conditions brought on by wave action.

The Equinox when using Multi IQ is very forgiving of a less than ideal GB. If you are unsure if you should ground balance and are not on dry sand, then just do it. Takes all of 10 to 15 seconds at most.

One way to tell whether you should ground balance is if you switch into All Metal Mode using the horseshoe button and you start getting a bunch of random negative numbers and ferrous grunts. Unless you are actually standing on a bunch of nails or other ferrous targets (which you can verify by going into pinpoint mode), what you are hearing is ground feedback noise due to ferrous oxide mineralization particles (essentially rust) in the dirt. That is telling you to do a gb or switch it into tracking. No need to GB before switching into tracking, but it doesn't hurt either since you are already there. Have not seen a real drawback to using tracking, but I definitely would not use it where there is no mineralization (e.g., dry white sand) and just use the default GB of 0.

HTH

v you’re a swinging genius. Thank you for taking the time to invest in me.

 

[vferrari]

What’s so funny?

LOL Becuaese you were not asking for a reference to the manual but user experiences so I was just pointing that out to the other poster. Sometimes, just pointing to the manual doesn't help if it doesn't explain why. Besides, you know were the manual is and I presumed that you had already read the instructions but were asking for additional information based on user experiences or because the manual information was not explained very well. The link might be help to others, though, so it was a worthwhile post by WaterWalker. No offense intended, thought we had joked about this before. Remember, there no dumb questions when it comes to this stuff...

See even you might’ve learned something v that your precious manual didn’t have in it

Not my precious manual. It's good but not the end all an be all. That is why I don't typically just answer questions with manual links and no additional info. Of course I always learn something new through the forum interactions. That is the whole point. Also, the manual is great and all, but the only way to learn a machine is to get out and swing it.

v you’re a swinging genius. Thank you for taking the time to invest in me.

I'm not a genius but glad what I am posting is helping you and others get the most out of the Equinox, hopefully. HH