ATP When to Ground Balance?

[DiggerGal]

Hi everyone,
Need some info on ground balancing. I was hunting over the weekend in mountainous terrain and my ATP was constantly chattering to the point of irritation. I'm in Southern California and understand the need to ground balance on beaches due to salinity levels, but didn't think I would have an issue with dirt in the ridges and valleys etc.
After leaving, I did some research on the soil in the area by asking questions and was informed that the major composition is DG.
Would this cause the ATP to chatter constantly?
Thanks for your help!

 

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[Terry Soloman]

You need to ground balance EVERY time you use the machine, and keep in mind soil conditions can change every 30-feet in some areas - especially in iron rich soils..

 

[RobRieman]

It's the most important thing you can do with any metal detector every time you turn it on and every time you change soil types/conditions. I'm surprised it worked at all in high mineralized soil without. You will be blown away at the difference in your finds when you properly ground balance a machine. Do an auto GB and manually back it down 5-10 for added depth on the ATPro.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

You need to ground balance EVERY time you use the machine, and keep in mind soil conditions can change every 30-feet in some areas - especially in iron rich soils..

Yea, I noticed that at parks even..I GB about every 20 minutes..probally overkill

 

[DiggerGal]

It's the most important thing you can do with any metal detector every time you turn it on and every time you change soil types/conditions. I'm surprised it worked at all in high mineralized soil without. You will be blown away at the difference in your finds when you properly ground balance a machine. Do an auto GB and manually back it down 5-10 for added depth on the ATPro.

Thank you for the info. Wow! This is really good to know.

 

[WVCOINHUNTER]

Ground Balance often, and make sure you don't have anything discriminated out before you ground balance!

 

[DiggerGal]

Ground Balance often, and make sure you don't have anything discriminated out before you ground balance!

Great Tip! I've been ground balancing on pro Coin mode. Back to the drawing board lol!

 

[silversurfer1111]

Also, when you GB, make sure there are no targets under the coil, hit the GB button once and scan the area, find a clean spot, hold the GB button and do the funny shake.

do the funny shake lol

 

[Pointman]

On the AT Pro it will make a world of difference. I have NOT ground balanced and was fighting for good signals and a buddy of mine was finding things like crazy. Went back and ground balanced and it turned my day around.

 

[sleepyjim]

I would also say to start with coil on ground not in air......

 

[sandy shoes]

also you have 4 freq find the one that works the best for the type of ground you are on in my area i use freq 1 for fields and freq 4 for beaches

 

[RotZorn]

You need to ground balance EVERY time you use the machine, and keep in mind soil conditions can change every 30-feet in some areas - especially in iron rich soils..

100% agreed! Every time you swing it. Then do it again at minimum once an hour as you continue hunting, more often as you notice coil drift or start to notice changes in soil composition.

 

[cooper1841]

I ground balance before I start every time, then quite often during the hunt. Sometimes I am amazed how un-balanced it can be after 20-30 min. of swinging in the same park. Sod to sand to wood chips and vice versa, a must to re-do every time.

 

[luvsdux]

You'll occasionally read posts about preset, non-user adjustable ground balance detectors which are, unfortunately sometimes referred to as auto- ground balance when they really aren't. These preset machines work quite well in mild ground and are set to an "average" balance which is sometimes way off in some terrain. My point however, is that a poorly adjusted manual ground balance can give very poor results where a preset may still be usable. All the previous post are right on - learn to set a proper balance on you detector and check it every few minutes as you hunt.
luvsdux