Official Minelab Vanquish Ground Balance Info?

[mh9162013]

1 hour ago, palzynski said:

It would be interesting to know the percentage of users detecting on mild soils and those detecting on mineralized soils , this over the world. In Europe we have mostly mild soils . In the US and other continents I dont know ...  

 

 

I have fairly mineralized soil (usually in the mid 80s when ground balancing on an AT Max, but sometimes in the low 90s), but not the hottest stuff possible, so using a Vanquish works in my soil, although I can begin to see its limitations.

However when using the 540 (or 340) in tot lots with sand, ground up tires or wood chips, the Vanquish works so well, I'm like Babe Ruth calling my shots (coins). Heck, it's almost like having X-ray vision. But functionally, this doesn't matter, because I dig everything in tot lots. I can afford to do this due to how easy it is to dig and the low amount of trash compared to coins.

[Chase Goldman]

11 hours ago, mh9162013 said:

I have fairly mineralized soil (usually in the mid 80s when ground balancing on an AT Max, but sometimes in the low 90s), but not the hottest stuff possible, so using a Vanquish works in my soil, although I can begin to see its limitations.

Note that ground phase readings are usually just a specific reference number associated with however a detector manufacturer has set up their ground balancing scheme to ascertain the ground phase shift reference.  The number itself is frequently relatively meaningless other than as a dimensionless relative ground phase reference point for that particular detector model.  There is usually no direct correspondence with a ground phase reference number and the degree of soil mineralization (i.e., whether the number is high or low does not necessarily correspond to high or low mineralization).  
 

For example, on Equinox you can have a wide variance in the displayed ground reference number for a given patch of ground simply by switching modes or operating frequencies.   Furthermore, soil conductivity and phase shift can be influenced by several factors including soil moisture levels and salts.  

That being said, I think the Garrett AT series does factor in ferrous content in the soil based on the description of what the ground phase numbers represent in the user manual, but it is not as explicit as a separate dedicated mineralization meter (more on that below).

The only way to really ascertain true soil mineralization level (which corresponds to the level of ferromagnetic material in the soil, not just soil conductivity) is through direct measurement using a dedicated or built-in mineralization meter that infers the relative level of magnetite (Fe3O4) in the soil separate from the ground phase reference.  Relatively few detector models have this capability including some of the mid to high range First Texas machines (F70, F75, T2 and others) which due to the design of their bar graph mineralization displays result in detectorists talking about “3 bar dirt” and “4 bar dirt”, etc.  Deus/ORX and Simplex have mineralization bar graphs too.  

The general characterization that your dirt is somewhat mineralized based on detector performance and your AT Max ground reference readings is probably fairly reliable, based on the way the AT Max indicates the ground balance reference, especially if you had noticeable but manageable ground noise on your Vanquish.  
 

But I just caution folks in general against reading too much into ground phase reference number as a direct mineralization indicator since it is “combined” with the ground phase reference.  
 

It is a common misconception amongst detectorists that the ground phase reference number and mineralization are directly related on less sophisticated detector ground phase reference indicators or on detectors where the ground reference values can change depending on operating parameters such as frequency as on the Equinox.

I encourage anyone who has experience with comparing how well the AT Max ground phase reference reading corresponds to explicitly measured soil mineralization using a dedicated mineralization meter to chime in with their observations (same goes for other AT series machines as well as the Apex).  Just curious.

[jmaryt]

On 6/22/2021 at 6:43 AM, palzynski said:

It would be interesting to know the percentage of users detecting on mild soils and those detecting on mineralized soils , this over the world. In Europe we have mostly mild soils . In the US and other continents I dont know ...  

 

 

my soil is mild here in New England,and having advance knowledge of this allowed me to 
purchase the vanquish 540 with really good results.i love it's simplicity.no bull sh*t just noise cancel,
pick your mode, and have at it! really, a pleasure to use, and I am revisiting parks and other public areas
"spanked" many years ago with satisfactory results. I use my Tesoro Mojave for "curb strips'' with good luck too.

(h.h.!)

j.t.