Ground Balance question

[Juiceman]

I have been using my 800 for a few weeks on and off maybe 20 to 40hrs on it. My question is when would one use Tracking GB and when would one not use it and why? It seems to me that if there is no trade off using Tracking GB than I should always use it? Any ideas on this?

 

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[vferrari]

It doesn't work so well when there is little to no mineraliztion or salinity variation to grab onto (e.g. dry beach sand) so I would avoid using it there. The only other drawback is that if you continuously swing the coil over a small ferrous or mixed ferrous/non-ferrous target the GB may automatically adjust to the point it cancels out the target signal. I have seen this on the Deus but not the Equinox, so I think it is unlikely. But it is a potential drawback to tracking. If there is some mineralization or salinity variation for the tracker to grab onto, I say go for tracking GB. That being said, Equinox with Multi IQ is actually pretty forgiving of a less than perfect GB setting, so unless your site has wild swings in Ground Phase due to mineralization or if you are hunting in salt surf, the precision of continuous tracking is not necessarily required. HTH

 

[Juiceman]

Thank you for the info!

It doesn't work so well when there is little to no mineraliztion or salinity variation to grab onto (e.g. dry beach sand) so I would avoid using it there. The only other drawback is that if you continuously swing the coil over a small ferrous or mixed ferrous/non-ferrous target the GB may automatically adjust to the point it cancels out the target signal. I have seen this on the Deus but not the Equinox, so I think it is unlikely. But it is a potential drawback to tracking. If there is some mineralization or salinity variation for the tracker to grab onto, I say go for tracking GB. That being said, Equinox with Multi IQ is actually pretty forgiving of a less than perfect GB setting, so unless your site has wild swings in Ground Phase due to mineralization or if you are hunting in salt surf, the precision of continuous tracking is not necessarily required. HTH

 

[Hawks88]

Thanks Vferrari. You have a wealth of information on the equinox.

 

[sprailroad]

Tracking is the default on the prospect mode I believe, and for good reasons. Otherwise, perhaps not. If I remember like with the X-Terra 70, if your using tracking, when you hit a target, turn tracking off, reason being, when you try pinpointing your target, the tracking will try to ground balance to that target, and will throw you off. My first time out with the EQ, (only two days ago) without being aware of it, I somehow had it in tracking mode, and hitting on a very shallow clad quarter, as moving coil back and forth in a couple different directions, was kind of getting a not clear response etc, well, I was working against myself, I believe the machine was trying to balance against the quarter. This went on for awhile until turning everything, only then did I notice the tracking icon. Oh well.....yesterday when I took it out, I put my glasses on while setting up, much better.

 

[Juiceman]

Thank you for the info! I had the same experience Sprailroad. Yesterday I did a manual GB and the machine worked much better in park 2. That brings a different question to mind, So if I am prospecting in Gold mode and get a hit on a small nug is the 800 going to adjust it out? If so that is not going to work out very well. If that is how it works than it should explain it in the manual. I will check the manual and see if I missed it.

 

[vferrari]

That is not how it works on Equinox. You will not cancel the target in gold mode with tracking.

 

[sprailroad]

100% with vferrari, the gold mode is a whole different animal, on a X-Terra I have, it to has a dedicated prospect mode, operates a whole different way.

 

[Juiceman]

OK, I went out and did some beach hunting and now I have more questions I started off in beach 1 (I was in dry sand) by noise canceling then ground balancing. I tried auto GB by selecting GB then holding down the accept reject button and pumping the coil. The GB number stayed a 0. I then tried a quick scan in All metal all I got was constant -9 -8, the only way I could use it was to turn off all metal and discriminate. I have since read somewhere that I could have manually changed the GB with the +/- buttons. I did not try Tracking GB due to the info I read here about it not working well in dry sand.... The manual is not clear on ( or I missed it) on GB in the different modes. I did find one ring so not a total loss but I did find myself fiddling with the machine more than I thought I should have had to. So the next time I go to the beach how do I get the 800 to run in all metal without falsing on -9 -8 all day? I will try Tracking BUT now it is in my head that I may be cancelling out good targets that way. So perhaps the constant -9 -8 I was getting was a clue to use Tracking GB....

 

[vferrari]

If you are getting consistent -9, -8 numbers then the machine is telling you to GB. What you are probably experiencing is black sand or dirt mixed in with the white beach sand. Even though Auto GB did not change when pumping, the mineralization due to black sand may be localized and not well mixed in with the white sand, so ML suggests that if you are not getting a sat GB by pumping then sweeping the coil can help get a lock on something the auto GB can grab onto, otherwise, tracking should help with black sand mineralization on the beach. You also need to make sure you are not sweeping over a ferrous target. HTH

 

[Juiceman]

Thanks V the next time I make it to that beach I will try that.

If you are getting consistent -9, -8 numbers then the machine is telling you to GB. What you are probably experiencing is black sand or dirt mixed in with the white beach sand. Even though Auto GB did not change when pumping, the mineralization due to black sand may be localized and not well mixed in with the white sand, so ML suggests that if you are not getting a sat GB by pumping then sweeping the coil can help get a lock on something the auto GB can grab onto, otherwise, tracking should help with black sand mineralization on the beach. You also need to make sure you are not sweeping over a ferrous target. HTH

 

[Rookster]

It doesn't work so well when there is little to no mineraliztion or salinity variation to grab onto (e.g. dry beach sand) so I would avoid using it there. The only other drawback is that if you continuously swing the coil over a small ferrous or mixed ferrous/non-ferrous target the GB may automatically adjust to the point it cancels out the target signal. I have seen this on the Deus but not the Equinox, so I think it is unlikely. But it is a potential drawback to tracking. If there is some mineralization or salinity variation for the tracker to grab onto, I say go for tracking GB. That being said, Equinox with Multi IQ is actually pretty forgiving of a less than perfect GB setting, so unless your site has wild swings in Ground Phase due to mineralization or if you are hunting in salt surf, the precision of continuous tracking is not necessarily required. HTH

Being fairly new to the Deus family, the factory sorta suggests the tracking mode on GB. I'm in mostly mild mineralization soil 95% of the time so this question is for anyone that hunts the same soil type. Is it better to manually ground balance ie. Pumping mode or just go with factory setting 90? Thanks in advance.

 

[vferrari]

Want to avoid getting too down in the weeds with the Deus in an Equinox forum, but I use tracking almost exclusively with the Deus. Deus V4.1 has a ground sensitivity advanced adjustment setting to enable tracking to work in just about any soil type. The Equinox does not have a user adjustable ground tracking sensitivity adjustment, but I have found it works pretty good in the variety of soil situations I have used it in.