Hi Joe...
Yea...100+ degree weather would be a little too hot for me too...I'll do my reading when it's that hot!
Let me know how the Minelab harness works out....might want to use mine if it's good...
Ground Balancing :
The main idea: Ground balancing allows you null out the noise from ground responses but robs some of your sensitivity in doing so.
Use as little as you can with acceptable noise levels for greater sensitivity.
When you turn the ATX on it loads factory default ground balance settings into the detector.
When you first ground balance after turning on, it starts the balancing process from the factory defaults.
If your ground is fairly quiet...try running with factory setting and don't ground balance the detector.
If it's too noisy...try doing a partial ground balance and check to see if it's quiet enough. If not, do a little more balancing and recheck...etc.
I have seen this work amazingly well on a saltwater beach.
In mild to lighter mineralized ground how well it can work depends on the degree of mineralization.
If the ground is really hot .. You just have to do a full ground balance.
Hope this was clear enough to understand
Cheers Joe,
Tye