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Another Nox Ground Balance Question


57buick

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Ive read hundreds of posts about ground balance but what I want to get clarification on from Steve or somebody is this.

When you say you mostly manual ground balance do you mean you just start at zero setting and just raise the number up till its stable? Am I understanding that correctly?

Also, Am I right in thinking zero is the best depth in general an the more you have to raise it the less depth you theoretically get?

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I'm not Steve H. but we have similar soil conditions. 

The Equinox can have three ground balance strategies. One is to manually ground balance which is a bit like you described. Second is to do a automatic ground grab which has some very fine tuning built in. Sometimes doing a ground grab where I go into settings until I get to the ground balance symbol, and hold down the accept/reject button while pumping the coil above the ground until the Nox picks a number and stabilizes, doesn't work for me so I have to manually press the -/+ keys until I don't get a high or low response from the ground. Third is to let the Nox use its ground balance tracking function.

I guess a fourth is just to leave it on 0. That has not worked for me in high mineralization and makes the already wonky pinpoint function audio wail and whine even more even on a coin sized or smaller object that isn't that deep. If I get the ground balance just right the pinpoint function actually works pretty well which is another way I double check my ground balance.

Jeff

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2 hours ago, 57buick said:

When you say you mostly manual ground balance do you mean you just start at zero setting and just raise the number up till its stable? Am I understanding that correctly?

That is what most people mean when they are talking manual GB.  Put it in GB, pump and use +/- to null ground noise.  Note that you can also drive GB into negative numbers as well.

2 hours ago, 57buick said:

Also, Am I right in thinking zero is the best depth in general an the more you have to raise it the less depth you theoretically get?

No, that is not right.  For most mild neutral soil conditions, especially on sand beaches the Equinox can compensate well at the zero GB default setting even with ground phase deviations up to 10 or 20 points from 0 when in Multi (probably less forgiving when in single frequency).  If the soil ground phase deviates significantly from zero, then it is best to match the ground phase.  This has more to do with minimizing ground noise so you can hear faint target signals.  It really has no direct impact on depth performance.

 

2 hours ago, 57buick said:

So how do you tell it to run with the ground number you chose or go back to auto tracking?

Not sure what you are asking exactly.  You can set the initial balance point by doing either a manual or auto GB and then shift the detector into tracking GB mode.  This has to be done separately for each mode you use at a given site because the various modes may balance differently on the same patch of ground.

Your questions seem to imply you are unfamiliar with the comprehensive description in the user guide of how, why, and when you should use the various GB procedures (manual, auto, and tracking).  Might want to read through pp. 41 - 42 of the user manual as a refresher.  HTH

 

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2 hours ago, 57buick said:

So how do you tell it to run with the ground number you chose or go back to auto tracking?

I think you are asking, "when I manually ground balance using the +/- keys and I decide on a number what should I do next?"

If you have found the numerical setting that does not produce a response -High or Low tone- from the ground just press the Detect/Pinpoint button and start detecting. The Nox will stay on that ground balance number until you change it.

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6 minutes ago, 57buick said:

thanks guys, yea I think I get myself confused sometimes trying to overthink it. And yes its sometimes hard to describe in text what my mind starts wondering lol

Hey, that's understandable.  The terminology is not entirely clear and standard across the board.  For example, manual GB makes sense to me.  But I think of "auto" as auto/tracking (interchangeable terms) and what they call "auto" for the Equinox, I am used to calling ground grab.  I keep a PDF copy of the manual for each of the detectors I regularly use on my phone for reference in case I forget how an obscure setting should be adjusted in the field.  HH

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Hi folks! New member here. Quick question for the Nox 800 that i need reassurance of, if that is okay. After I attempt to do a auto balance and get the lowest number, should I click on the check/X or just go directly to searching? Please bear with me as I just advanced myself from a "carrot" (hint hint) to something more professional. Thanks!

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While you are holding down the check/X key and pumping the coil, once the number and the ground noise stabilizes (there may end up being a very slight high tone or low tone as you pump the coil if you are in high mineralization, in milder ground you should hear no high or low tone when it stabilizes), release the check/X button, press the detect/pinpoint button and go detect. Sometimes you will hear a slight beeping when the auto ground balance/ground grab is taking place. You may hear more beeps than you see numbers changing. Each phase number has several segments which do not show up as decimals on the readout which is why I prefer to use auto ground balance/ground grab since it really fine tunes well usually.

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