Ground balance and ground mineralisation question

[lamarkeiko]

When you perform an auto ground balance and the detector settles on a number, does that number tell you how mineralised the ground is? If so, what numbers are considered high and low mineralisation. If I have a low mineralised ground, would a single higher frequency work better than multifrequency?
This feels like a dumb question since I've had my Nox 800 for 7 months and over 100 hours operation.

Lamar

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[Donut]

The higher the number when ground balance the more mineralized the ground is.
Ground balancing nulls it our so you don’t have interference from it (chatter). That way it will not interfere with the detector on a target.

Doug

 

[Jason in Enid]

When you perform an auto ground balance and the detector settles on a number, does that number tell you how mineralised the ground is? If so, what numbers are considered high and low mineralisation. If I have a low mineralised ground, would a single higher frequency work better than multifrequency?
This feels like a dumb question since I've had my Nox 800 for 7 months and over 100 hours operation.

Lamar

Multi-freq out-performs every single freq. If you dont have bad ground, you dont need to use any ground balance. The Minelab multi-freq DO NOT see the ground the way every other detector sees it. First, ML multi uses a time domain for target ID instead of the freq-shift that everyone else uses. That eliminates a lot of normal ground noise. Second, ML multi uses that multi freq to isolate and remove the ground noise from the signal. this is why the owners manual says to leave it at zero.

 

[lamarkeiko]

Where I have been doing most of my detecting along river beach areas, I have always done Auto Ground Balance and the number ends up around 5-6. and I'm in Park 1 or 2 usually at default sensitivity. Is this ground balance number considered low, and if so, should I just be leaving the setting at default setting 0. The manual does say Tracking Ground Balance is recommended, and it also says using Auto Ground Balance is the recommended ground balance method. When I read all this in the manual it causes me confusion on how I should be doing the ground balance.

Lamar

 

[Jason in Enid]

Where I have been doing most of my detecting along river beach areas, I have always done Auto Ground Balance and the number ends up around 5-6. and I'm in Park 1 or 2 usually at default sensitivity. Is this ground balance number considered low, and if so, should I just be leaving the setting at default setting 0. The manual does say Tracking Ground Balance is recommended, and it also says using Auto Ground Balance is the recommended ground balance method. When I read all this in the manual it causes me confusion on how I should be doing the ground balance.

Lamar

Yes, thats extremely low GB numbers. Leave it at zero. The manual says to use tracking for prospecting modes, because gold prospecting takes place in highly mineralized soils.

 

[Donut]

When you use tracking remember that it is continually tracking all the time so if you go back and forth over a target it can after a few times it could ground balance on the target and null it out and disappear. S be aware of that.

Doug

 

[vferrari]

High numbers can but DO NOT necessarily mean highly mineralized soil. Many factors besides mineralization can affect ground phase readings. The only way to know if mineralization (i.e., magnetite) is causing the high ground phase reading is using the reading of a dedicated Fe3O4 (magnetite) meter which the Equinox lacks but is present in other detectors such as the XP Deus and the Fisher F75. In fact, you may get a different GB reading on the same patch of ground depending on which search mode you are using. This is due to the different frequency profiles used by each mode.

Regarding ground balancing, Jason is correct that Multi IQ does a great job at compensating for a less than ideal ground balance, especially if the the ground phase is within a few points of the 0 default GB setting. As long as you are not getting significant ground feedback in All Metal mode, there is no pressing reason to GB. But since most folks don’t spend their time in all metal, it just makes sense to GB as part of your startup routine as there is no real downside. About the only place I wouldn’t bother is dry sand (but since the last ground phase reading is stored in non-volatile memory, you should at least check to make sure the last stored GB setting is not out of whack with your present site ground conditions).

Tracking should be used if salt variability (e.g., salt beach surf conditions) or mineralization variability causes frequent and/or significant changes in ground phase.

HTH

 

[lamarkeiko]

Thanks everyone for the replies back. I think I have a better understanding of doing Ground Balance now.

Lamar

 

[tennessee digger]

Just put it on zero lamarkiko and leave it, you will be just fine.

 

[MikeRo]

Good info....but confusing. I always GB...it only takes a few seconds & also run auto-track. My soils GB typically in the 35-60 range & can vary drastically in the same search area. So, why should I leave it zero? Why shouldn’t I auto-track? I also frequently re-GB in the same location just to be safe.

 

[vferrari]

Just put it on zero lamarkiko and leave it, you will be just fine.

Don’t necessarily agree that zero GB works optimally no matter what. If GB is much greater than zero then adjusting GB to match the actual ground phase number is optimal. Yes, the machine will still work, but why force it to try to compensate for a less than ideal GB when it takes about 5 seconds to balance it properly? ML set the default to zero but that doesn’t mean it is a universal setting that works ideally for all ground conditions.

Apologies if I misinterpreted your post.

 

[MikeRo]

No need to apologize! I’m fairly new to the hobby & was just a bit confusing. I wasn’t sure why anyone wouldn’t want to take advantage of all the technology that the machine offers. Thought maybe I had missed something. Thanks

 

[McKinney_5900]

When you use tracking remember that it is continually tracking all the time so if you go back and forth over a target it can after a few times it could ground balance on the target and null it out and disappear. S be aware of that.

Doug

That is the reason I elect to avoid auto trak in any detector.

 

[dsrtdwg1]

I always GB. I use all metal...horse shoe on and run my iron volume at 1 so I know it is there but does not annoy. GB will settle at different numbers depending on mode. For me there is no question about it as I have seen it do that many times. Give it a try, it does not take any time and has convinced me that if i switch modes the whole procedure should to be repeated.

 

[Donut]

That is the reason I elect to avoid auto trak in any detector.

I never use it and the only time I might consider using it is if was in the desert and in gold mode. But I’m 2000 miles from the desert so that’s not happening . Wish o could go there though. Lol
Doug

 

[vferrari]

No need to apologize! I’m fairly new to the hobby & was just a bit confusing. I wasn’t sure why anyone wouldn’t want to take advantage of all the technology that the machine offers. Thought maybe I had missed something. Thanks

Not apologizing to you, to tennessee digger, who I quoted in my post. I DO agree with you that there is no reason not to just do it because it is easy to do a ground balance and there really is no down side to doing so.

 

[vferrari]

The higher the number when ground balance the more mineralized the ground is.

Doug

Not necessarily true, as I described above.

When you use tracking remember that it is continually tracking all the time so if you go back and forth over a target it can after a few times it could ground balance on the target and null it out and disappear. S be aware of that.

Doug

That is the reason I elect to avoid auto trak in any detector.

This concern, while possible, is really overblown for Equinox as far as I am concerned. The AUTO TRACK on Equinox reacts very gradually to mineralization changes to keep you from having to constantly rebalance in conditions where ground phase has high variability such in salt surf and highly variable mineralization. As explained earlier, Equinox does a pretty good job of compensating for non-optimal ground balance settings because it can use multi frequency to infer how ground phase changing so auto track does not have to be over responsive. Auto track is almost an essential feature in the highly variable mineralized ground of central Virginia where I regularly relic hunt. I am more concerned about missing a target because my ground balance is OFF than worrying about losing the target because I am swinging over it for five minutes. If I do have a weak or phantom target that does disappear (whether or not I am using auto tracking ground balance) then I switch to an alternate Equinox mode or pinpoint mode to see if I can reacquire it. Even with auto tracking, you WILL hear that weak target the first few times you swing over it before it can even disappear. If you really don't need the feature because of your ground conditions, that's a good thing, but don't reject it out of hand because of stuff you've heard or seen from the way the feature has been implemented in older detectors unless you've actually experienced issues with the way Equinox has implemented the feature. Anyway, I've really not experienced target fade as a result of using tracking ground balance on the Equinox, for what it's worth.

 

[MikeRo]

I also run all metal all the time..... never thought of turning the iron volume down (it does get annoying). Great idea & will try it. As for auto-track, I’ve never had it GB out a target....not saying it couldn’t happen. Being a beginner..... I typically swing a lot over targets & havent had it happen. Again, great info everyone. Thanks