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Auto Tracking - Why Only In Gold Mode?


orgone500

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Hi All,

I Have a query as to why auto tracking is only on by default for the gold modes. Is there a reason not to use auto tracking when detecting parks and beaches? I would have thought on beaches where the ground balance can change between different levels of wet sand, wouldn't auto tracking be beneficial?

Cheers

Scott

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It is simply a default that was deemed a good idea for the Gold Mode and not the other modes, but easily engaged at the touch of a button. However, many detectors can have issues with employing ground tracking on saltwater beaches or alkali ground. The salt range and gold range overlap, and aggressive tracking in a salt environment might tune out small gold. I always use manual myself in a salt or alkali environment. Even in prospect mode I usually turn tracking off unless I need it to help me in really bad variable ground.

Defaults and presets are just best guesses. You can’t possibly come up with one group of settings that works for everyone. If you could, we would not need settings! :smile:

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12 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

It is simply a default that was deemed a good idea for the Gold Mode and not the other modes, but easily engaged at the touch of a button. However, many detectors can have issues with employing ground tracking on saltwater beaches or alkali ground. The salt range and gold range overlap, and aggressive tracking in a salt environment might tune out small gold. I always use manual myself in a salt or alkali environment. Even in prospect mode I usually turn tracking off unless I need it to help me in really bad variable ground.

Defaults and presets are just best guesses. You can’t possibly come up with one group of settings that works for everyone. If you could, we would not need settings! :smile:

Wow prospecting sounds way complicated compared to my parks and fields!  Do you do lessons for folks that are ever out your way?!

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I used to do nugget hunting classes in Alaska but it’s not something I am doing currently. There are a few western dealers that offer classes for those that are interested. In my opinion nugget detecting is one of the most challenging types of detecting, and that can make classes very worthwhile.

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14 hours ago, orgone500 said:

Hi All,

I Have a query as to why auto tracking is only on by default for the gold modes. Is there a reason not to use auto tracking when detecting parks and beaches? I would have thought on beaches where the ground balance can change between different levels of wet sand, wouldn't auto tracking be beneficial?

Cheers

Scott

The ground balance does indeed change on a beach, even when just on the wet sand.

The number one beach unit, the Excal has tracking and it has a reputation for finding the “worthwhile” gold on the beach. Most use it in pinpoint mode so you can hear the ground changing and adjust sweep speed. It does have a tendency to track out faint hits.

Along comes the CTX and use it in tracking and open screen it does just as well as an Excal. Deeper,... wouldn’t say so. So why on earth did you pay premium?? That is where the ground balance button comes in. Get a good ground balance update regularly and the CTX will detect deeper and smaller than an Excal. And will provide you with positive ID most of the time.

So why get an SDC? Well because it’s a PI it handles salt better, it has a slow tracking and will hit smaller deeper than the CTX and it digs stainless fishhooks with a vengeance. I really like stainless fishhooks, especially in summer when they turn into lost jewelry!!

 

Tracking on a possible fast machine like the Nox has its place. Flying over a park hitting surface coins with positive foolproof ID,... fun for the clad stabber,... a great recon for the coin hunter. And then you switch to a lower gear,... manual GB. It’s still wait and see for me,... but I’m very optimistic!!

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3 hours ago, scoopjohnb said:

And then you switch to a lower gear,... manual GB. It’s still wait and see for me,... but I’m very optimistic!!

 

I think I was following you pretty clearly until the "lower gear, ... manual ground balance" part.  Since I'm a newb here, I don't think I appreciate the full implication of what you're getting at here.

Would you be willing to elaborate about this a little for the newbs?

Thanks.

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MarX --

I think what he's basically saying is, if you are "hunting shallow," moving along quickly and just aiming to pick up shallow coins, auto-tracking works fine.  Precise ground balance is not as important for shallow, obvious targets. But, if you want to really "hunt deep," where you are listening for really soft, subtle signals that might not sound a whole lot different than other, subtle chirps such as those due to ground mineral, then a more "precise" ground balance can help -- tune to the ground properly (i.e. eliminate more of the chirps caused by ground mineral bleeding through an imprecise ground balance), move slowly (i.e. lower gear), and listen carefully, and you can pick deeper coins than you might while moving quickly, running auto-track, and just listening for shallower coins.

Steve

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Minelab does a few things for the users comfort. You can equal users comfort to a stable without chirps and false beeps operating detector.

When you’ve got tracking they eliminate the ground noise so the unit becomes stable, but how can the detector know if it’s a really deep target or ground noise that needs to be eliminated.

When they provide auto-sensitivity the unit again becomes stable, but the detector doesn’t know if it is noise coming in from ground, small targets, emi or again deep whispers of targets.

So basically they provide comfort and ease of use. Running in manual GB and manual sens requires a lot more work and you tend to slow down. But you are looking deeper, smaller, you are trying to squeeze every drop of detecting performance out of the unit.

A correct GB is important for shallow targets because you want 100% correct ID on standard targets like pulltabs or coins. When a target ID is off or bouncy that is where detectorist experience comes in. But believe me a detector is a lot less hard to learn when the designers have opted for an exacting ground balance and a tracking which keeps up with you.

Turning off the autopilot “auto sens and tracking GB” and going full manual you need some experience as a skipper :-)

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