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Another Question About The Ferrite Ring


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I have noticed since I have been detecting in semi auto tracking, at the start of the day when I drop the ferrite ring on the ground, I can never hear the ferrite, but I do the thing with the quick track button anyway.  

My question is:    Once I have set up the detector to the ferrite ring in semi auto tracking, if I NEVER touch the quick track button ever again, and never take the detector out of semi auto, do I ever have to use the ferrite ring again?

  It seems to me if you dont touch the quick track button in semi auto the detector always has the correct ferrite balance regardless of ground conditions.  Dave

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If a reference ferrite setting is superior to that actually found in the field by the machine acquiring naturally occurring ferrite readings, then the machine could be locked to this reference ferrite at the factory. The fact this has not been done leads me to conclude that there must be situations where tracking to naturally occurring ferrite would be the better way to go. All the talk about using the ring generally revolves around the soils where naturally occurring ferrite is absent or minimal. That is apparently more common in Oz than in the U.S.

All I know for sure is some people report improved performance using the ferrite, and some no difference at all. I use mine simply because it is a recommended procedure, but I can’t say that I have noticed any difference one way or the other when employing the ferrite and those times when I do not.

As always, mixing up what works well for operators in Oz and operators in the U.S. can lead to confusing and possibly misleading conclusions.

I will be curious if anyone can answer your question with authority phoenix. What you are surmising makes sense based on how things have been explained but I lean more to regular factory resets and retunes myself than letting things go untouched for long.

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I suspect as ZVT tech matures and Minelab implement this via software updates, accessories like the ferrite or an updated Z, we will as users adapt by adjusting the Z to suit the ground we prospect in the way we as individuals prospect. Like you Phoenix, sweeping over the ferrite ring does not register at all on the ground I prospect thus (lazily or KISS?) I don`t use the ferrite or even the quick track button (unless forced to by setting changes) instead I let the tracking handle ground changes, also I too prospect in semi-auto mainly.

As the GPZ7000 is the first MD with ZVT tech then we are in for some treats as Minelab iron out the bugs and answer our questions with future refinements as they did with the SD2000 refining it into the GPZ5000.  

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Ferrite balancing is a "Calibration", the detector could care less where it gets its "X" excitation from but IMO using the supplied Ferrite is more accurate than having a random potentially inaccurate reading from the ground. The Ferrite "Calibration" will remain constant if the localised detecting conditions remain the same relative to ambient temperature and the temperature of the electronics, it has nothing to do with the ground except for aquiring an X balance either through having no Ferrite or if the X signal in the ground is different to the Calibration setting potentially causing spurious signals.

If there is no X signal in the ground your working then the calibration of the detector is not so important, however there can be a lot of X signal in ground with minimal mineralsation so it is hard to tell by eye when it is present or not. Best bet in my opinion is to always "Calibrate" the detector with the Ferrite, use in Semi-Auto mode and check the Ferrite periodically, especially if Ambient temps fluctuate a lot. 

Hope this helps
JP

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