We need Ground balancing video for the Discovery 3300

[Monty]

Well poopy! Still having problems getting it to ground balance. Gave up and just put it at its default setting! Monty

 

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[diggummup]

Well poopy! Still having problems getting it to ground balance. Gave up and just put it at its default setting! Monty

Mine wouldn't act right the other day.I couldn''t get it adjusted manually this time either.It was giving me problems in the wet sand only.Maybe the 30 mph wind had something to do with it.I left it at preset,turned down the sensitivity and discrim'd out iron,then it worked just okay.Still had trouble pinpointing a few targets because it wanted to give a constant hum over the entire area.

 

[Monty]

Hunted the chips yesterday with my small BH coil just to see how she works. Couldn't get it to ground balance as usual. Just set the knob at the factory default and it worked Ok. Sigh... I give up! Oh and this 3300 is a battery hog! I only get about 4 hrs. before it starts to show the battery losing power, six and she is down to one bar. These 9 volts are darn expensive too. I saw some at Big Lots for about half price so here I go. Monty

 

[jorge del norte]

yeah, i guess ground balancing is just a dream.........I just use default.....but it is picking up iron like crazy....as of late I think I have out grown it.....I can't find silver coins with it....It can have good depth in clean ground though, I think it's best in controlled ground like a yard, or the school chips......out just anywhere it gets to be a bummer.....always giving high silver tone 199 on all the trash iron.......

I now beat it to sh!t......and am harder on it....with no care....but it can take it.

mws

 

[Monty]

Using the 4" or 4 1/2" coil or whatever size the small one is will eliminate a lot of that iron bleed over as it helps isolate a specific target. Monty

 

[Youngladd]

I have the 3300 and I fully understand how the ground balance works. It is only meant for the pinpoint mode

When you first go to your site you need to ground balance your machine. because you do not know what the mineralization is like.

(Important) you must find a spot that has no metal at all. keep all metal away

Set your GB to preset and hold your coil up in the air 3-4 feet of the ground press pinpoint then lower your coil to the ground (no metal nearby at all) if your machine is quiet then it did not react to the soil and your good to go. if it beeps it is detecting some minerals in the soil and you have to tune it out. so you gradually turn up the GB until your machine is quiet. That way you don't get false signals from minerals. hope that helps

 

[jorge del norte]

I have the 3300 and I fully understand how the ground balance works. It is only meant for the pinpoint mode

When you first go to your site you need to ground balance your machine. because you do not know what the mineralization is like.

(Important) you must find a spot that has no metal at all. keep all metal away

Set your GB to preset and hold your coil up in the air 3-4 feet of the ground press pinpoint then lower your coil to the ground (no metal nearby at all) if your machine is quiet then it did not react to the soil and your good to go. if it beeps it is detecting some minerals in the soil and you have to tune it out. so you gradually turn up the GB until your machine is quiet. That way you don't get false signals from minerals. hope that helps

This is the first time any sense has been made, the instructions don't clearly tell you what your doing and why.
I agree this is for pin point only mode.........not sure about all-metal mode,
I GUESS MANUAL GB IS FOR PIN_POINT ONLY!?!? How are your finds with the detector??

 

[Youngladd]

Yes the GB is for pinpoint only

Although I am a newbie I am the kind of person who needs to understand how and why. I need to know the machine just like if i had invented it. I have done extensive testing on this machine. I mostly coin shoot and i don't like diggin trash. Good coins here are deep. My goal is to profile the target and dig deeper objects that have a greater probability of being a good target. Clad is nice but not worth the effort for me.

I have found some deep coins with three profiling techniques. (your results may vary)
1. Moderately Faster swing detects 1- 2 in deeper than slow swing.
2 Repeated fast swings over target builds a RF field around Target which increases depth and VDI accuracy
3. Scanning the ground in Pinpoint mode,(which is the deepest field in most soil conditions, GB is key here) and performing a target profile thereafter.

Several observations in my testing
Field is very sensitive to EMI and VDI falses on rusted iron (Target Profile is necessary to eliminate rusted iron.)
Pinpoint is very accurate if GB is good and technique is correct.
VDI is accurate at shallow depths but deeper depths 6"+ have a variance of - 20 to -40 of display(deeper objects read lower on the scale.)
Discrimination is good except for rusted iron or large iron causes false coin spikes.
Batteries need to be shimmed if loose (this is important or you will have a bad day)
When in preset GB Pinpoint will not work properly if you turn it on over the target. (raise it up in the air first) or put it over a spot with no metal.
Pinpoint field is too wide on shallow targets. the field is conical and the coil needs to be lifted a little to get a good pinpoint.
Hope this helps

 

[jorge del norte]

Good info!!!!!!!Thanks for the reply!!!
mws

Yes the GB is for pinpoint only

Although I am a newbie I am the kind of person who needs to understand how and why. I need to know the machine just like if i had invented it. I have done extensive testing on this machine. I mostly coin shoot and i don't like diggin trash. Good coins here are deep. My goal is to profile the target and dig deeper objects that have a greater probability of being a good target. Clad is nice but not worth the effort for me.

I have found some deep coins with three profiling techniques. (your results may vary)
1. Moderately Faster swing detects 1- 2 in deeper than slow swing.
2 Repeated fast swings over target builds a RF field around Target which increases depth and VDI accuracy
3. Scanning the ground in Pinpoint mode,(which is the deepest field in most soil conditions, GB is key here) and performing a target profile thereafter.

Several observations in my testing
Field is very sensitive to EMI and VDI falses on rusted iron (Target Profile is necessary to eliminate rusted iron.)
Pinpoint is very accurate if GB is good and technique is correct.
VDI is accurate at shallow depths but deeper depths 6"+ have a variance of - 20 to -40 of display(deeper objects read lower on the scale.)
Discrimination is good except for rusted iron or large iron causes false coin spikes.
Batteries need to be shimmed if loose (this is important or you will have a bad day)
When in preset GB Pinpoint will not work properly if you turn it on over the target. (raise it up in the air first) or put it over a spot with no metal.
Pinpoint field is too wide on shallow targets. the field is conical and the coil needs to be lifted a little to get a good pinpoint.
Hope this helps

 

[tinkb]

I used the 3000 and 3300 for two years. I never had much luck with the Gbing of the either machine. I hunted mainly two school right behind my place becuase I usually only had an hour or two to hunt. A year later a guy MDing told me that the area had a large variety of soil brought in as fill to make the running track and football fields. I could hunt one area with no problem what so ever, move 25 feet and each detector went nuts. Only one that really handled it was the M6 with auto track and I tried the X30 and 250 the also.

Some other information I would like to pass on is something I have read and been told a few times about the 3300 GB knob. Now I am not sure this is absolute but from what I understand it was relayed by a engineer. When the GB knob is in preset position, it is the same as being at 12 oclock postion. In other words, if the machine needs to be GBed you would start out at the 12 oclock postion and start turning clock wise from there. Traded my 3300 before I got a chance to try the out so maybe someone could try it and see what happens.

As for pinpointing, for those of you who do not know this, you can actually narrow the field down. When you go into pinpoint over a target and get the sound. Go out to where the sound starts to almost fade away and tap the PP button again. It will narrow down the field of sound over the target. I have do this as many as 3-4 time and gotten a feild of sound no larger then 1".

Some of the problems I also experienced with these two machines were electrical interference around underground and overhead power sourses. This is not uncommon and from what I heard the newer T2 had this same problem. I know I couldn't hunt within 15 feet of another detector. Although my friend with his Land Ranger didn't have the same effects even within 5 feet of my machine.

Batteries life was probably the main reason I decided to trade off the 3300. I did get two different sets of rechargable batteries and they lasted even fewer hours then regular alkaline batteries did. I was lucky to get 15 hours from a set of 9V and like someone else mentioned they aren't cheap.

Having to reset the settings after PPing was also a hassle but not one that would have made me give up the machine. It is something I think they could have improved on with the Titan 3000 but never did. I would have liked them to have gone to a snap on battery clip instead of the weak push tabs they did. I feel that this style of battery connection could have been alot of the reason the machine would go nuts start falsing. Never did try to put cardboard behind the batteries for a more positive connection.

As far as depth, I have read alot of bad reviews about the Titan and 3000 on depth. Personally I think alot of it was just a marketing stagegy to down grade the popularity of these machines. I found a Queen Victoria one cent (size of a half dollar) at 9" with the 3000. I have also dug a ton of clad at over 5-6" and silver at 6-7". I have also found stud ear rings at over 4" that were nothing more then a speck in the pile of dirt.

Its not a top of the line machine but I sure like it over the 250 I have sitting in the corner for the last 4 months. Hopefully the F4 is based alot on the 3300 platform with some much needed improvements on the GB, battery life/compartment and interference. If so I will probably grab one and love it.

 

[Youngladd]

Tinkb

Those are some great observations, I agree that when your detector go nuts it is caused from either loose batteries or power lines. I am fairly certain about the GB at 12 statement is not correct, but I will perform some tests and get to the bottom of it. The pinpoint narrowing observation is great, I have already begun testing that feature and that has signifigant value.

 

[tinkb]

Yeah not alot of people know this just after buying a 3300. It has been posted by myself and other quite awhile back. Another thing I found out about the 3300 is on nickels, it make a different sound then when its a pulltab. Seems to me that a nickel makes the lower iron tone and the pulltab makes the medium tone. I do remember thou that I could tell almost 99% of the time if it was a nickel or a pulltab.

I also know I now wish I had kept or had a 3300 to compare with the 250 I traded for. I think the machine has seen maybe 6 hours of use by me. I have a heck of a time pinpointing with it and it doesn't even come anywhere near the abilities of the 3300 in the pinpointing department. As for IDing, accuracy and finds, it sure would be nice to have them both with me to check out. Wish RatShack still had them on sale for $89.00.

 

[Youngladd]

Tinkb

I will let you in on a little secret, you still can get 3300 for 89 bucks or less. Don't listen to what the Ratshack guy says or the website. Here is what you do. Go on the internet and find a list of zip codes within a 100 mile radius of where you live and/or work. Then go on Radioshack's website and look up part number 63-3018 (Thats the 3300) The click on "Available at most stores, find it near you" Then start putting in your zips one by one.(the search is for 10-15 mile radius ,that is why you have to keep entering different zips) Eventually you will find a store that has them in stock still. Then call them and give them the sku 63-3018 and they will give it to for the sale price and if you go down there ask for the manager first because they will give it to you cheaper than the sale and they will give you an extended warranty up to 1 year or just have them ship it. Some radioshacks will tell you that their 3300 is broken, buy it anyway because most of the time it is probably just loose batteries and they don't know. that is how I got 2 of them for 75 bucks. I bought them for parts but they both worked perfect once I shimmed the batteries.I even got free batteries out of the deal. For example put in zip 33876 (Lake Placid FL) and you will see they have them in stock and you will get for the sale price because they discontinued carrying them in the stores because people would buy them use them once and return them(Rental Shack), so now they only offer them on-line for $299. As you can see,there are still a handfull of stores that still have not sold all of them all.

 

[tinkb]

Thanks for the tip Ladd. I went over and entered about 50 zipes so far without any turning up. Be a good plan for some night when I am looking for something to do next week at night. I even put in a few zips from over in another state and nothing turned up so far. With some luck I might find one but they have close about 40% of the RS in the Portland area.

 

[Brendan]

I have added a video on youtube for those interested:



cheers,
B