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https://www.minelab.com/community/treasure-talk/specific-ground-balance-on-the-gpx-detectors I was curious if anyone uses the specific ground balance method with their 5000’s in areas with high iron content and uniform ground conditions that are hard to get a ground balance in Gen. ground balance. Attached is Phil Beck’s from Minelab’s write-up on it.

Question for you experts in manual GB on the D2. Let's say your machine picks "80" after doing the GB procedure. Does anyone see an advantage being a couple of points higher or lower in ground balance from what the machine picks? Thanks.

I'm a newbie here thinking about buying a detector for some seriously high iron content ground. Little background. I run a commercial placer mine in the Yukon. Thinking about getting a good quality detector to check some old historic workings next to me. Also my own tailings piles. Figured it would be a good pass time for me and the family on days off. I've watched a thousand videos but the only hands on experience was with a $20 special trying to find a lost excavator tooth. Lol My ground has a extremely high iron content. It is glacial ground so it varies a lot but I get rocks that are solid iron and literally rusted together at times. The amounts of black sand is multiple times any other Creek I've seen. I know many years ago others have tried and gave up detecting do to the iron. I also know metal detectors have really come a long way since then. If you guys was coming out for a weekend of beer drinking and gold mining what machine would you bring? Thanks.

My ground is very mild and my Tesoro's gain quite a bit more depth with a negative ground balance. I just bought an F19. I can't test it right now because it's winter in northern MI. My question is, has anyone ground balanced the F19 with a negative ground balance and gained more depth . A lot detectors negative ground balance doesn't help. I'll find out in the spring but would like to know now.

An often performed modification on the Tdi sl or SPP machines is the inclusion of the Philmore S38 vernier dial. Since I often loan my Tdi Sl machines to family or friends I felt it was kinder to install the vernier dial as the original Whites setup was very frustrating in hot ground. Very fussy to say the least. My technique was to simply set up the dial so it starts a zero and does not confuse inexperienced users. Adjustments start at six all the way up, hot ground is usually around 8 or 8.5 for example. Instead of a permanent installation it is fully reversible and very temporary. So for the beach or less challenging ground I leave the factory set up as is. When prospecting simply pull the White's knob off and install the Philmore vernier dial. Brace it using a very firm foam so it doesn't move etc. The foam is a tight fit and holds the vernier dial in place stopping from rotating. The dial is smooth and covers the required ground balance window encountered in the goldfields. It does not turn the Tdi Sl into a Tdi Pro, but it makes ground balancing quick and easy. The photos tell the story, again it works well and is fully reversible. I only use it when out on the goldfields and then remove it for beach work etc. All the best.

Hi Steve, You mentioned that when you were in Meekatharra you only used the 11 x 7 DD. Any particular reason? Did you try the mono at all? I was in Cue (120 klms south of you) using a 6000 (mono coil) and getting good gold as in the pictures I DM’d you. Now I’m back in Kalgoorlie and today we drove about 90 klms north east to a tenement that has been good to us in the past using 6000’s and mono coils. Axiom and 11 x 7 mono drove me insane. Ground balance was difficult at best and on several occasions simply would not happen. Literally scream it’s head off on the up and down while trying to ground balance and only a factory reset would bring it back. Sensitivity on 2 (nothing higher was usable without ground balance every 3 steps), fine mode, tracking off. Also we tested using the usual 0.11 gram piece been using for years. Sensitivity at 3-4 had the Axiom running just bearable but could not hear the test nugget sitting on the surface. Crank sensitivity up to 5-6 and you could hear the target in amongst the noise but it was unusable due to instability and noise. Literally ground balance every step at this setting. We both had a crack and tried many different settings all the while remembering your comments on the higher gain in production units. This Axion defaults to sensitivity 4 so has the higher gain. Tried different speed, mode, threshold settings. 👎🏻 Tried the DD. Quieter and smoother (as expected) but couldn’t hear the test nugget under 6 sensitivity, like the mono but pretty much unusable at that sensitivity. 6000 hits the test nugget without issue. Don’t know what else to try. The 6000 operated normally (flat out, threshold turned back on) and we also had a 4500 that was a bit noisier than normal however could be tuned quiet enough to use and find gold. Starting to wonder if I have a dud coil or unit. Would have spent two full days now in 11 different locations with same results. Frustration. Videos and comments on good old Spewtube show Warren and the NQX crew and you (and others) getting nice small 0.10 gram and smaller nuggets at Tibooburra and Victoria however I have zero confidence my Axiom will ever do that in WA. Getting nowhere fast here. Been trying to sort it (in case PEBDAS) but run out of things to try.

What do the ground balance numbers indicate? IE, when I manually ground balance and it's around 25 what is it telling me?

I always thought that GB settings were independent of the Recovery Speed. Is that true for the MF detectors, like the Equinox: i.e. if the recovery speed is adjusted, does the GB stay the same, or also needs to be changed as a result, everything else being equal?

I haven't seen a video or article yet that advocates for using the auto ground tracking feature on the Manticore. Is manually setting the ground balance an ingrained habit for detectorists because that's always been the way to set up machines in years past, or does the feature not work very well?

Can anyone help with what it dose or how to use it. I like my old Eagle , it is heavy but like it to coin hunt. How do i use the Sig. Bal. ? after i am detecting or when i turn it on? Mine don't make much difference one way or the other. What dose it do. Thanks Dean

Seems very convenient to leave tracking on and not do multiple manual ground balances during a hunt. Which is better?

When I change modes on my Axiom and re ground balance in exactly the same spot I noticed that the ground balance numbers change quite a bit, and that the top number was in numerical order but the bottom wasn’t. Here are the numbers with the following settings-sensitivity 3, tracking off, speed slow standing in the same spot on my proprty- Fine-50/27, normal 59/31, large 62/25. I repeated it 5-6 times in 3 different areas & I expected it to change some because of different timings but was suprised at how much it jumped. Also changing sensitivity didnt affect it much, it was always +/- 1 on the top and bottom numbers if it changed at all, that part seems normal to me. I am now more curious about this than when I first noticed it because I shipped my Axiom to Garrett today for inspection because no matter where I was or what settings I tried the threshold always had the same “chatter”, not a smooth up/down oscillation but almost a slow morse code sounding random chatter that sounds like noticable but faint targets, the only way it would go away is if sensitivity was lowered to 1 or 2 in ALL settings except salt which I didnt try. This first happened Around my property and I chalked it up to EMI because its there while the coil is stationary or moving and I was like 75 yards from the house but after trying a bunch of spots it was exactly the same everywhere including a 40 mile trip up into the mountains like 25 miles from the nearest power lines or civilization to test it, same exact “chatter”. Now im starting to wonder if the gb number change is related somehow? I dont have access to another axiom to compare to so.... My question is if this gb number change is similar on other Axioms? Has anyone else noticed this?

Hi there, I'm doing my research and unfortunately, I found myself in a conundrum about whether to go with these new 3D Ground Scanners or are these just another way to scam people around. In my research, I came across a couple of companies offering these machines and mostly they're "Turkish Brands" with '"German Technology" as they advertise on their website. List of few of those companies: OKM - okmdetectors.com/products/fusion-professional Nokta - noktadetectors.com/metal-detectors/ Orient - orientdetectors.com/product/concord/ Tero Vido - tero-vido.com/3d-system/ I've got more but these were the most prominent ones during my research, My question; Does anybody have any experience with these devices and help us narrow down the best product for my purpose? I would appreciate your input and help me finally crack this mystery for the rest of us as well. Thank you & Good Day!

Hi there, I'm looking for something that would perhaps help me understand the target's exact position. So what else could you perhaps recommend me? It's in the mountainous region, So scanning the exact target has been relatively very hard for me, So I would really appreciate it if you guys could please suggest me the potential machines or 3d imaging scanners, it would be great if you were to suggest best-reviewed and easy-on-the-pocket products. Thank you!

So I have a question about Ground Balance numbers What do they mean? I remember seeing people say when beach detecting to have manual GB on zero. So does that mean that the hotter the ground the lower GB value you need? When performing an auto GB, you pump the coil til the number (and sound) stabilize, right? So if I'm getting an auto GB value of say 9 on dirt, does that mean it's hot soil?

and another spot that I have been getting small gold from that was very close to or had been gone over somewhat last year with the Zed and the 17"cc x-coil. So the last two days on this next patch had yielded 32 bits of gold so far and have another go at it today to see if there might be a few more.

Does anyone use 3d under ground scanner ?

See this video starting at the 1:40 mark. Hold the ground balance down for a full ten seconds. That is done to make sure nobody engages the window mode by accident. Keep in mind that normally when you push the ground balance button, the machine resets each time to whatever new conditions you are programming in. If you go ten seconds and open up the GB window, the machine is now in an accumulative mode. This can be useful for more than just hot rocks. Like those hot patches in burn areas, or clay patches, whatever. It broadens the ground balance system to work on multiple items. It is wise to use it with care and only when needed, but can also work miracles if properly used. The video shows a simple L type balance where you pump over the ground then wave over the hot rock. In reality I just play with the ground and the hot rock or hot patch until both mellow out. It may take waving or pumping or both. You can choose how aggressive you want to be by how you do it. Anytime you think you have dialed in too much, just reset the system by releasing the button, and then pressing again, to engage the regular simple ground balance. Very important to know! If you have a perfect window set into the machine, pressing the ground balance button again after that will clear the window, and start you over with regular ground balance. It's quick and easy, but every once in a while leads to an "oops" wish I had not pressed that, and you have to start over. Once people learn the ground balance system it will prove to be a real weapon for areas where other detectors drive you out due to too many hot rocks and hot spots in the ground. Now here is some really crazy stuff to experiment with. I only did this once, but now it is out there for people to explore and share. The ground balance window works on almost anything. I tried it by ground balancing on a nail, it knocked it out completely, and it still picked up coins!! Now, I have no idea where the limits are on this yet, and what gets eliminated when you do this, but the fact is you can use the ground balance window to tune out most anything, and still find other stuff. This may blow the relic market for the detector wide open. Or not. Just depends at what cost in lost targets comes with this method. But right off hand it looked to me like I could tune out some common ferrous targets and still have at least some response left on many coins, so you can bet I'll be playing more with this in the future. You can use the tones on the Axiom to separate small/low conductive (hi-lo tone) from large/high conductive (lo-hi tone). You have the iron check grunt for shallow ferrous. And now you have a fully capable ability to block out single target response areas with the ground balance, just like with the TDI, but in a dual ground balance machine. This should help alleviate the severe "hole" that developed when you used the ground balance as a disc control on the TDI. With the TDI out of production, we now have an even more powerful alternative available with a similar capability via the Axiom. Lots to look forward to and experiment with in this detector for sure.

Here is a short video showing the Axiom manual ground balance (ground grab) and a few methods for dealing with hot rocks.

There have been numerous threads posted on this subject by experienced detectorists. I always read such posts with great interest as many of my best sites are in some pretty hot red iron ore dirt. About 15 months ago, in an effort to learn and be more successful, I built a test bed using the same mineralized red dirt I hunt in. This test bed has been very educational and helpful. In addition to learning how each of my detectors perform, and how setting adjustments effect that performance, I have noted something unexpected that stood out that can prove to be useful. That is the Ground response signal. It is well known that at a certain depth, coin size targets start to blend into the ground. The coin goes from a good signal & TID, to an iffy signal & poor TID, to gone. The higher the mineralization the more rapid this happens. The ground has swallowed up the coin. What I noticed in my testing is that the coin is still detected, it just reports as a ground signal. Using the Legend, with Disc A you can hear this response. On the swallowed coin it is a good, repeatable report with a solid center & good strength. The TID is a solid 1 and the depth meter will fill. The response from actual ground noise is much weaker and has no center, may or may not give a TID and doesn't show on the depth meter. Having a good Ground Balance is best but this still shows itself running GB at 0. TID 1 must be accepted not notched out. I suppose this behavior is similar to the old way of hunting in All Metal and listening for the Threshold to null over a deep target, just a mirror image. Perhaps like using reverse discrimination on an early TR detector or running a reverse pattern on something like the Etrac. Irregardless, it seems to work consistently and well. The Tarsacci MDT 8000, Vista X and Anfibio Multi using the EUD function also will report these types of masked targets but they do it differently than the SMF Legend and not as distinctly. The next thing I did was to take advantage of the Legend's adjustability and make a special 6 Tone pattern in Field mode M1. I set the first Tone Break at 1 & gave it a nice noticeable high tone with decent volume. The second tone bin runs 2-7 with my normal low ferrous tone & volume. The other bins are set for higher targets. This set up may be possible using other detectors also. Using this pattern, the coin that is swallowed up by the ground gives a good alert & the TID is a solid 1. You can still monitor the actual ground noise, nails still report as iron and other targets give their respective tones. It works well even on trashy sites. In my test bed, the Legend will give a good response on targets at 6,8 & even 10 inches using the 6X9.5 LG24 coil which is surprising. I have only used this special pattern in the field for a few hours. It seems to hold good promise. I did learn that a deep nail will still give the tell tale double hit down the barrel. Also that less that coin size targets give a noticeable weaker response, so the proportional modulated audio works well. There is still more to learn here and time in the field will tell. I think this has good potential to find deeper coins that are masked by the ground and thought others might be interested and want to try it in their mineralized soils also.

I live in Northwest Arkansas and found an old park that is over 100 years old. I got permission to hunt it, and have been using an Equinox 900, and a Deus 1. I have found a lot of coins, the oldest from the 60's. Something that I have noticed, coins from the 60's to the 1980's are in pretty decent shape, but coins from the 1990's to the present are literally dissolving in the ground. Must be the soul mineralization, or maybe moisture in the ground, we get a lot of rain. We don't get inches per year, we get feet per year. When I lived in Arizona, most coins that I found were in really good condition, maybe because of low moisture in the ground.

When Ground balancing the Equinox 600 should I place the detector in (All-Metal) mode to make sure for a clean/clear patch of ground, the instruction only says to place the detector in FP mode and then ground balance so if I ground balance and the detector has -9 to 2 canceled and I'm pumping my coil over trash will that affect the ground balance.

Hey guys, I have been using my Gold Bug 2 out in Franconia, Arizona, mainly for hunting meteorites. I have found a few small pieces there and am really enjoying this machine, as it is extremely sensitive and screams when it goes over a chondrite. With that being said, I am still a beginner with this machine and would like to ask for advice when dealing with hot ground and hot rocks. There are tons of hot basalt rocks, ironstones, and other hot rocks at Franconia, which makes for very noisy hunts. It gets frustrating as I start out because my machine seems to pick up everything and it's tough to differentiate what the sounds are sometimes. Do you guys have any tips or suggestions for the best settings to use for this machine, and what coil size is best? I am currently using the 10" coil, I feel like this gives me some more coverage than the 6.5." The settings I use when at Franconia are as follows: -Sensitivity and volume: 10 -I ground balance the machine every hour or so as I am hunting, pretty easy to do on this machine. -I don't use the iron disc mode or the audio boost. The meteorites I am looking for contain a lot of nickel and iron so I'm not sure if these settings would help me or hurt me. -I keep the default setting for mineralization. I have gotten better with detecting and have heard great reviews of this machine. It is noisy on hot ground, but when I do swing over a meteorite, or even trash, foil, bullets, wire, it screams. Would like to hear what y'all would suggest and some settings that could be modified for using in hot ground. -A.J.

I was out with the D2 on a large field today and the ground ID kept changing to numbers between 81 to 88. It's usually fairly stable around 87 or 88 in most places I hunt. I used primarily Fast and Relic modes. I don't think it was causing any issues with finding targets, but it was distracting seeing my ground grabs being off from the ground ID, so I decided to switch to Tracking Ground Balance just to see how it would behave and it seemed to lock onto the changes in ground really well. This was the first time I've tried Tracking Ground Balance. I don't know if it really made any difference in target acquisitions but it seemed to run okay either way. Has anyone else used the Tracking Ground Balance on inland sites and how well did it work for you?

Hi how does the Gold monster 1000 perform in western australia? I heard its very hot ground.