GROUND BALANCE

[RobboChasinYella]

Thought I'd start a topic on the importance of ground balancing. I ground balanced in specific last week and jagged 4 nuggets (shallow) in quick time. I'm confused by this. I've never found four nuggets in a day before. Anyone else had success with specific?

 

[Ded Driver]

Good idea Robbo. This could become a very interesting & useful thread, but each brand & model is different, so that needs to be stated as well.
This will be particularly useful for beginners & those who have bought a new or different make/model of detector ?

 

[Moneybox]

Good idea Robbo. This could become a very interesting & useful thread, but each brand & model is different, so that needs to be stated as well.
This will be particularly useful for beginners & those who have bought a new or different make/model of detector ?

Yes have to be very specific.

 

[EVIE/BEE]

Sounds like you're onto a nice little group there. Keep going there will be more., Listen for the slightest variation. Good fortune. ickshovel:

 

[RobboChasinYella]

Just to update. I'm swinging a GPX4500 and was using a 12 inch evo coil

 

[PhaseTech]

Specific GB in the 4500 and 5000 sets a very precise ground balance for the ground you are on. The drawback is that it goes out of balance a little more regularly (depending on how variable the ground is). If the ground is hot and you are methodically working a small area, then can be well worth it.

 

[Moneybox]

Sounds like something new to give a go. I guess I have a bad habit of not making changes to my usual settings. If it works I just keep swinging. I also use the GPX4500 most of the time on enhance. I usually have RX Gain on 12, Stabilizer on 16, Audio tone 40, Target volume 1, Volume limit 5. I'll change my target volume up if the wind is giving me trouble but otherwise little changes. If I'm on speaker then my volume goes way up.

 

[nucopia]

I noticed last week when we were in the Whipstick near Bendigo, the first area i swung the 4500 with an advantage 14 mono and after first switching the machine on and the first GB, the maching hummed along fine and signaled on some very small targets .
Boot tack,shotgun pellet and others small bits of metal..felt relaxed while swinging and ground balancing every so often.
Later when we moved to a different area with high mineralization ( red soil & red rocks )
No matter how much I ground balenced the machine, it just kept signalling on the mineralized ground and red rocks, so much so that
It became frustrating and futile.
Like Moneybox
I keep with the same settings on my machine..when I get a chance, I will check the settings and post..
Digger is driving..

 

[OrangeNugget]

OMFG.

GB is THE most important function on your machine. manual GB is the best.

unfortunately the gpcrap 4500 doesnt have manual ground balance it comes with a bunch of
pre loaded configs which can be good as you have found and bad as well.

the tracking type GB sux too as it WILL tune out small nuggets as it thinks they are positive hot rocks. i find this machine to be entirely clunky in operation, its slow and un refined. but yes yes it does go DEEP.

 

[nucopia]

My settings
Vol 12
GB type ,general
Sens extra
Genera
Motion , medium
Rx gain 8
Audio normal
Audio tone 50
Stabilizer 10
Signal 16
Target vol 8
Response normal
Tracking Med
Iron reject off

Front panel
Coil nono
Ground balanced. Fixed
Soil/timing N
Search mode G

 

[Moneybox]

OMFG.

GB is THE most important function on your machine. manual GB is the best.

unfortunately the gpcrap 4500 doesnt have manual ground balance it comes with a bunch of
pre loaded configs which can be good as you have found and bad as well.

the tracking type GB sux too as it WILL tune out small nuggets as it thinks they are positive hot rocks. i find this machine to be entirely clunky in operation, its slow and un refined. but yes yes it does go DEEP.

O,N you obviously use a much more refined machine. What is it? Does it give you the results expected of it? Phil

 

[Moneybox]

My settings
Vol 12
GB type ,general
Sens extra
Genera
Motion , medium
Rx gain 8
Audio normal
Audio tone 50
Stabilizer 10
Signal 16
Target vol 8
Response normal
Tracking Med
Iron reject off

Front panel
Coil nono
Ground balanced. Fixed
Soil/timing N
Search mode G

Interesting difference there nucopia. I can't get away with General in most cases. In fact I rarely try anything but Enhanced these days. Your volume settings would blow my head off unless on speaker but then I guess that's why they give us such a wide range of settings

 

[mbasko]

OMFG.

GB is THE most important function on your machine. manual GB is the best.

unfortunately the gpcrap 4500 doesnt have manual ground balance it comes with a bunch of
pre loaded configs which can be good as you have found and bad as well.

the tracking type GB sux too as it WILL tune out small nuggets as it thinks they are positive hot rocks. i find this machine to be entirely clunky in operation, its slow and un refined. but yes yes it does go DEEP.

The ground balance on the GPX isn't a pre loaded configuration. You have 2 options - auto tracking (the machine automatically adjust ground balance to ground conditions) or fixed where the ground balance is adjusted manually/periodically to suit changing conditions using the quick track button.
Both adjust to suit the prevailing conditions & are not preset configurations. Both ground balance options also have other user definable settings to assist in better operation like Specific ground balance & tracking speeds.
Proper use of the auto tracking WILL NOT track out real targets if you follow the correct process. Even when left in auto tracking & waved over a target numerous times most real metallic targets WILL NOT track out - those with a GPX can try this but continually waving over a target signal or using the quick track button directly over a target signal is not a recommended way of operating in real world situations. Only a fool would do this. You are just repeating misinformation you've been told or read without actually knowing how it works or even how you should operate the GPX if using auto tracking i.e. on getting a signal (moreso faint signals) you switch into fixed.

The only preloaded configurations (SEARCH MODES) on the GPX are there to help new users get started quickly in either General or Deep settings. These are only starting points of pre configured settings (not ground balance!) & can be user adjusted at any time to suit. The GPX has 100's of manually adjustable settings to suit conditions & the individual user once comfortable in it's use.

Anyone not using these settings or thinking one lot of settings will cover all various ground, environmental conditions (EMI etc.), coils etc. etc. isn't getting the full potential out of their machine.
One example I have seen is training sessions that give a manual setting for tuning the GPX. How on earth can one setting suit the multitude of various external EMI conditions encountered Nationally or Statewide let alone just in your own general area baffles me. Auto tune then manually adjust to suit if necessary. Same goes for gain & stabiliser - they will change in different ground, different EMI, different days, dry/wet ground & so on.

 

[Ded Driver]

OMFG.

GB is THE most important function on your machine. manual GB is the best.
unfortunately the gpcrap 4500 doesnt have manual ground balance it comes with a bunch of
pre loaded configs which can be good as you have found and bad as well.
the tracking type GB sux too as it WILL tune out small nuggets as it thinks they are positive hot rocks. i find this machine to be entirely clunky in operation, its slow and un refined. but yes yes it does go DEEP.

And therein lies the exact reason why this is a good thread .... to help the unknowing learn
I always run my 4000 in Auto Tracking, & as soon as i think I have a target I check GB off to the side & then set it to fixed.

 

[mbasko]

My settings
Vol 12
GB type ,general
Sens extra
Genera
Motion , medium
Rx gain 8
Audio normal
Audio tone 50
Stabilizer 10
Signal 16
Target vol 8
Response normal
Tracking Med
Iron reject off

Front panel
Coil nono
Ground balanced. Fixed
Soil/timing N
Search mode G

If you had switched into Enhance (or possibly Sensitive Smooth) & maybe adjusted your gain + stabiliser settings then IMO you would likely have corrected your issues/frustration.
Sensitive Extra will pick up more hot rocks etc. in some ground types. IMO use Enhance as your go to setting & try other timings from there.
Don't get set on one set of settings. Be prepared to try different settings when conditions dictate. :Y:

 

[Moneybox]

Don't get set on one set of settings. Be prepared to try different settings when conditions dictate. :Y:

Yes mbasco I understand I may be not running at the optimum settings much of the time but when I leave in the morning with a clear aim to come home with a few nuggets and rarely come home disappointed then I'm happy with that.

Obviously we'd all like to do better but too much time can be spent fiddling with a detector when perhaps we should pay more attention to what it's telling us. If my machine is whipping over the ground nice and quietly with minimal unwanted interference then I'm happy to just get on with the job. Perhaps we spend a lot of time in very similar conditions as well but I'll often jump off the quad and start swinging without even giving ground balance a second thought.

I'll almost always be in Fixed non-tracking.

I'm not saying that ground balance isn't important, it certainly is but if my detector doesn't need to be tinkered with it's left alone. If it isn't broke don't fix it.....

 

[madtuna]

OMFG.

GB is THE most important function on your machine. manual GB is the best.

unfortunately the gpcrap 4500 doesnt have manual ground balance it comes with a bunch of
pre loaded configs which can be good as you have found and bad as well.

the tracking type GB sux too as it WILL tune out small nuggets as it thinks they are positive hot rocks. i find this machine to be entirely clunky in operation, its slow and un refined. but yes yes it does go DEEP.

dude...I think you must have a Chinese knock off

 

[mbasko]

Don't get set on one set of settings. Be prepared to try different settings when conditions dictate. :Y:

Yes mbasco I understand I may be not running at the optimum settings much of the time but when I leave in the morning with a clear aim to come home with a few nuggets and rarely come home disappointed then I'm happy with that.

Obviously we'd all like to do better but too much time can be spent fiddling with a detector when perhaps we should pay more attention to what it's telling us. If my machine is whipping over the ground nice and quietly with minimal unwanted interference then I'm happy to just get on with the job. Perhaps we spend a lot of time in very similar conditions as well but I'll often jump off the quad and start swinging without even giving ground balance a second thought.

I'll almost always be in Fixed non-tracking.

I'm not saying that ground balance isn't important, it certainly is but if my detector doesn't need to be tinkered with it's left alone. If it isn't broke don't fix it.....

The key words above Phil - when conditions dictate.
I replied to Nucopia as he had been using his settings in a spot where it "hummed along fine".
When he moved locations "it just kept signalling on the mineralized ground and red rocks, so much so thatIt became frustrating and futile."
These are the circumstances where you really need to firstly consider setting changes or possibly a coil change. IMO the incorrect timing was used in a hotter area.
If it's humming along then no need to change but even so I would still be keeping ground balance in check & might consider some more gain or if I've found gold another timing to see how it runs or if it picks something else up. There isn't a lot of fiddling involved in doing that.
Most people would be using fixed.
You said in a post above you have trouble using General. That's a search mode - do you mean Normal timing. If so Normal without a DD coil would be rarely used anywhere.

 

[savage bitter]

OMFG.

GB is THE most important function on your machine. manual GB is the best.

unfortunately the gpcrap 4500 doesnt have manual ground balance it comes with a bunch of
pre loaded configs which can be good as you have found and bad as well.

the tracking type GB sux too as it WILL tune out small nuggets as it thinks they are positive hot rocks. i find this machine to be entirely clunky in operation, its slow and un refined. but yes yes it does go DEEP.

dude...I think you must have a Chinese knock off

there is another thread were orangenuggets only post is MINELAB SUCKS he is just fishing for something I an pretty sure ctxkid said he will go far on pa

 

[Rockhunter62]

OMFG.

GB is THE most important function on your machine. manual GB is the best.

unfortunately the gpcrap 4500 doesnt have manual ground balance it comes with a bunch of
pre loaded configs which can be good as you have found and bad as well.

the tracking type GB sux too as it WILL tune out small nuggets as it thinks they are positive hot rocks. i find this machine to be entirely clunky in operation, its slow and un refined. but yes yes it does go DEEP.

dude...I think you must have a Chinese knock off

there is another thread were orangenuggets only post is MINELAB SUCKS he is just fishing for something I an pretty sure ctxkid said he will go far on pa

He also made a comment in the QED thread about knobs. He must be using one of these.

https://www.google.com/search?q=lon...E&biw=768&bih=1024&dpr=2#imgrc=w8Be8m8YTYC-qM

Cheers

Doug