What Do You Do When ??

[Jeff McClendon]

5 hours ago, DSMITH said:

is it normal for the Legend to just automatically drop to zero Jeff and also have you ever activated the mineralization meter on the legend while out detecting with the Legend I use the mineral meter all the time or should I just ignore the mineral meter, some ground I have seen the bars really low but not in the area I am currently detecting the meter is almost always pegged at 10 bars max and on the salt side it runs 3-5 bars

First, are you using version 1.09 software? Also, when you say "is it normal for the Legend to just automatically drop to zero" are you referring to ground balance numbers and are you using Tracking Ground Balance when that happens? Zero is the default value just like on the Equinox but the Equinox will go all the way down to -9 for ground balance numbers while the Legend stops at 0.

So, I absolutely will not use Tracking Ground Balance in places with high iron mineralization from magnetite along with numerous hot and cold rocks. The Legend's ground balance tracking system cannot keep up with that kind of severe ground conditions and it is not recommended by Nokta for use in places like that (page 12 in the manual, last paragraph). Instead, I use the methods outlined on page 12 for Automatic and Manual ground balancing and I do it often when hunting for small nuggets/pickers in high magnetite areas. Like the manual says in the second blue box on page 12, "The sound may not be eliminated completely on certain terrains. In this case, if the ground noise is minimized, it means that the ground balance has been done." The Equinox ground balance tracking system can't keep up either in these type of places so I just use its Ground Grab or Manual ground balance procedures. Sometimes it will completely quiet down if I use good coil control and sometimes it won't quite get quiet. Same goes for the Legend. If I manually raise or lower the ground balance number by just one value, both detectors will let me know real quick that the Ground Grab number was correct.

So I often recheck the Legend Automatic ground balance value by doing a quick Manual ground balance check. Doing that Automatic or Ground Grab form of ground balancing in some of the worst magnetite areas I hunt at, usually results in a ground balance number from 1 to 5. I have not seen it be a 0 yet. I have seen my Equinox go into negative numbers occasionally. My own backyard ground balances at 2 most of the time and it is full of small magnetite particles and volcanic ash. My former Simplex ground balanced from 91 to 93 in my backyard.

I think GotAu mentioned the Equinox in his post. I have mentioned it too. The Equinox and Legend operate very similarly and the way they operate in their gold prospecting modes is no exception from my ongoing experience currently owning both.

I definitely use the mineralization meter and have seen it pegged in high magnetite areas that also have hot rocks under the coil during every swing. My backyard is 8 out of 10 bar mineralization also.

[DSMITH]

6 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

First, are you using version 1.09 software? Also, when you say "is it normal for the Legend to just automatically drop to zero" are you referring to ground balance numbers and are you using Tracking Ground Balance when that happens? Zero is the default value just like on the Equinox but the Equinox will go all the way down to -9 for ground balance numbers while the Legend stops at 0.

So, I absolutely will not use Tracking Ground Balance in places with high iron mineralization from magnetite along with numerous hot and cold rocks. The Legend's ground balance tracking system cannot keep up with that kind of severe ground conditions and it is not recommended by Nokta for use in places like that (page 12 in the manual, last paragraph). Instead, I use the methods outlined on page 12 for Automatic and Manual ground balancing and I do it often when hunting for small nuggets/pickers in high magnetite areas. Like the manual says in the second blue box on page 12, "The sound may not be eliminated completely on certain terrains. In this case, if the ground noise is minimized, it means that the ground balance has been done." The Equinox ground balance tracking system can't keep up either in these type of places so I just use its Ground Grab or Manual ground balance procedures. Sometimes it will completely quiet down if I use good coil control and sometimes it won't quite get quiet. Same goes for the Legend. If I manually raise or lower the ground balance number by just one value, both detectors will let me know real quick that the Ground Grab number was correct.

So I often recheck the Legend Automatic ground balance value by doing a quick Manual ground balance check. Doing that Automatic or Ground Grab form of ground balancing in some of the worst magnetite areas I hunt at, usually results in a ground balance number from 1 to 5. I have not seen it be a 0 yet. I have seen my Equinox go into negative numbers occasionally. My own backyard ground balances at 2 most of the time and it is full of small magnetite particles and volcanic ash. My former Simplex ground balanced from 91 to 93 in my backyard.

I think GotAu mentioned the Equinox in his post. I have mentioned it too. The Equinox and Legend operate very similarly and the way they operate in their gold prospecting modes is no exception from my ongoing experience currently owning both.

I definitely use the mineralization meter and have seen it pegged in high magnetite areas that also have hot rocks under the coil during every swing. My backyard is 8 out of 10 bar mineralization also.

I am on version 1.09, no I am not using tracking I am talking about the Ground balance when I start out the Legend ground balance's on auto ground balance the GB numbers will be reading low to high 90s most of the time high 90s then all of a sudden it starts dropping until the GB number is now reading zero I will stop and re ground balance when I notice it has dropped to zero the ground balance value again shows in the 90s it does this continually

I have also re installed the 1.09 version 4-6 times to see if it corrects this but it has not, have also installed and re installed the new threshold update several times, have done a factory reset each time after the software installs and re installs

the other thing is when it does drop to zero my legend becomes really unstable it is only on the ground that I am currently detecting that it does this I am referring to the UN stability milder ground does not appear to be an issue when it drops to zero which is my understanding the dropping to zero is correct for mild ground I have two legends and both do and act the same here where I am

 

I have sent messages to Nokta/Macro and the only response i get is my legend is doing what it is supposed to

[Jeff McClendon]

35 minutes ago, DSMITH said:

I am on version 1.09, no I am not using tracking I am talking about the Ground balance when I start out the Legend ground balance's on auto ground balance the GB numbers will be reading low to high 90s most of the time high 90s then all of a sudden it starts dropping until the GB number is now reading zero I will stop and re ground balance when I notice it has dropped to zero the ground balance value again shows in the 90s it does this continually

I have also re installed the 1.09 version 4-6 times to see if it corrects this but it has not, have also installed and re installed the new threshold update several times, have done a factory reset each time after the software installs and re installs

the other thing is when it does drop to zero my legend becomes really unstable it is only on the ground that I am currently detecting that it does this I am referring to the UN stability milder ground does not appear to be an issue when it drops to zero which is my understanding the dropping to zero is correct for mild ground I have two legends and both do and act the same here where I am

 

I have sent messages to Nokta/Macro and the only response i get is my legend is doing what it is supposed to

My last attempt here. I would take Nokta’s word as good especially if both of your Legends are doing the same thing. 
 

No high gain VLF detector that I have ever used is very stable in magnetite that pegs a mineralization meter. The Legend and Equinox are two of the better performers in that situation and from that chart I posted recently that is pretty amazing since they are also highly sensitive to tiny low conductors like small gold nuggets. Next time you go to this hot ground site try doing a ground grab and then do a manual ground balance just to check. Be very gentle when doing a 6” to 1” pumping ground balance in hot ground conditions and make sure the ground balance spot is as free of targets as possible. Do two or three ground balances in a row just to make sure. 

[klunker]

 GPX 4000 with DD coil. Guaranteed if there is detectable sized gold.

Do it at night so no one sees you took a giant step backwards with technology.

[Gold Catcher]

22 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

IDs.

The SDC 2300 did okay on larger chunks of magnetite. So did my GPX 5000 but neither could get the smaller bits of gold that the Legend and Equinox can hit with ease.

The GPX 6000 using its DD coil does okay on magnetite too but again some sensitivity is lost. Using the 11" Mono in golf ball sized magnetite is not a pleasant experience.

Hopefully the Axiom will do okay..........

The Z/NF in general/difficult (but not normal!), gain 12-15, smoothing off, are my to-go settings for the areas that you are  describing. Deals with magnetite, iron rich basalt and serpentine like a champ. Beats the sdc and 6/14 by a huge margin. Sorry if I am repeating myself here, but no other detector that I have ever used comes even close in these grounds. And sensitivity for fast gold remains good. Several times now I have picked up small gold that was stuck on hotrocks that way. In thse cases, once the gold was recovered the Z was silent over the remaining hot rocks, whereas the sdc and 6 kept screaming their lungs out...I did the test several times. You have got to see it to believe it. The Z is just hard to beat when it comes to ground processing, especially when the settings are adjusted to meet the ground challenges. 🤠👍

GC

[JCR]

@DSMITH,  Next time you are on your Magnetite ground try Beach mode. It may work better than one would suspect. I have the impression that it runs a reduced TX signal & the filtering is different. It will not hit the very tiny bits because of the lower weighted SMFs but it should give you some degree of stability with modest sensitivity levels. Don't worry about the GB for now, The Legend does well enough at 0. Try MD & MW. Let us know how it does. I have had some success this way on some of my relic sites that have ground that will cover a strong magnet in iron fuzz if dry. It gets Conductive when wet. If Beach mode seems to run okay, try Field M3.

[DSMITH]

3 hours ago, JCR said:

@DSMITH,  Next time you are on your Magnetite ground try Beach mode. It may work better than one would suspect. I have the impression that it runs a reduced TX signal & the filtering is different. It will not hit the very tiny bits because of the lower weighted SMFs but it should give you some degree of stability with modest sensitivity levels. Don't worry about the GB for now, The Legend does well enough at 0. Try MD & MW. Let us know how it does. I have had some success this way on some of my relic sites that have ground that will cover a strong magnet in iron fuzz if dry. It gets Conductive when wet. If Beach mode seems to run okay, try Field M3.

thanks for the tip