Bandido II Umax and Eldorado questions?

[Arch Stanton]

I just acquired a Bandido II Umax and an Eldorado, and I would appreciate any tips owners or previous owners have. I have never ground balanced a detector before, so this will be a new experience for me. I'm going to be hunting in areas where there is mineralized soil with rusty nails, bottle caps, pop tops, bullet casings, rusty barbed-wire, etc. I'm looking for relics and coins. I'd also like to hunt for meteorites and gold. I've been using a Shadow X2 (made by Tesoro) with some success, but I'm hoping to increase my finds with a manually ground balanced detector. I have a new-in-the box Tejon, that I've been holding off using because of the learning curve, and that I've read that it's better suited for other parts of the country. I live in the desert southwest. If all goes, well with the Bandido and the Eldorado, I make just take the Tejon out of the closet. By the way, I'm going to be hunting with my girlfriend and cousin; she'll be using the Shadow X2, but I haven't decided which one I'll loan to my cousin. Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any help. HH.

 

[BarberBill]

I have an Eldorado and the ground balancing is easy enough. Make sure you're over a clean location with an audible threshold in all metal and when you lower the coil (straight up and down not swinging) towards the ground, if the sound gets louder turn the GB to the left, if it nulls out, turn to the right. Think of the knob as a radio volume control. If you're getting close to the balance point, it takes just a small incremental movement to finish. I usually leave mine where I get a slight (positive) reaction when the coil nears the ground as that seems to be the best setting..
The Eldorado is an excellent all around detector, I think you'll like it.
HH
BB

 

[Arch Stanton]

Thank you for the ground balancing tips. I'll give them a try. Have a good one. HH.

 

[Arch Stanton]

I took the Bandido II umax out to a dry pond. It made a lot of noise in and around the dry pound. I went there thinking people might have went swimming there. I only found pop cans and tops. The ground balance is harder than I thought. Maybe I set the threshold too loud. I had a hard time distinguishing how the detector should sound as I'm raising it off the ground and adjusting the ground balance. I'm going to be busy this weekend, so I'm going to loan it to my cousin, he has more patient than I. A couple of times the Bandido would not stop chattering and I have to turn it off. Maybe I need to send it to Tesoro to check it out.

 

[Hightone]

Hmm.......

GB is obtained by the sound you get going towards the ground, not away from. As the coil is raised it is picking up air. As you lower it, if it rises in tone, it is picking up the minerals in the ground. Keep adjusting to make the threshold sound the same as it comes down to the ground (in a slightly fast drop down).As the unit goes towards the ground, you want the sound of the threshold to not change. f the sound changes, it is picking up what little mineralization that is in the soil.

Threshold should be barely audible, almost like in the background. A very slight sound will slightly increase for deep targets and increase a lot for more shallow targets. If you are not ground balanced right, the threshold will be unsteady as you sweep, as it is picking up the minerals in the ground. If you are swinging and the threshold stays steady, you are ground balanced proper.

Hope this helps.

 

[geckokid]

How do I set up a manually adjusted ground balance detector?

Most manually adjusted machines are easy to set up, once you have practiced the skill necessary. Start with the machine in the All Metal mode with the Threshold hum set low and steady. Lift the coil straight off the ground and allow the threshold to retune. Do not swing the coil in an arc off the ground. Moving the coil in an arc causes the machine to read the ground in an uneven manner and will complicate the ground balance procedure. Once the threshold has retuned, push the coil down to about one inch above the ground. One of three things will happen. The threshold noise will get louder; it will get quieter; it will stay the same. When the threshold sound stays the same, the detector is telling you that it is no longer being affected by the mineralization in the ground and you are ready to hunt. If the sound gets louder, you will need to turn the ground balance knob counterclockwise. If the sound gets quieter, turn the ground balance knob clockwise. Repeat the above steps until you find the spot where the detector no longer reacts to the ground and the threshold hum stays the same on the way down.

If you have a manually adjusted machine, it is very important to make sure that you are very comfortable setting the ground balance. You can practice this in your backyard or anywhere you can find a small area with no metal targets in the ground. Spinning the knob one way and setting the balance, then spinning it the other and resetting the balance is a good way to practice this skill. If you practice this just five minutes a day, you will get very good at ground balancing.

What is Super Tune?

Super Tuning is a technique to get better depth and sensitivity out of any machine that has an adjustable Threshold control.

The Threshold control is normally used to set the level of hum in the All Metal mode. A light steady hum is usually desired so that any small or deep target will cause a change in the audio sound. To Super Tune a detector, put it in the Discriminate mode and turn the Threshold knob all the way to the clockwise position. At this point, the All Metal mode will no longer operate correctly, but you will see an increase in depth and sensitivity while hunting in the Discriminate mode.

 

[Arch Stanton]

Do I have to keep constantly moving the coil up and down as I'm turning the ground balance knob? What happens if I stop? Do I have to start the process all over again? I followed the directions in the manual, and I noticed that the noise got louder as I lowered the coil, but when the coil was almost touching the ground it got quite? I was moving the ground balance knob the equivalent of what would be one hour if the knob was the center of a watch. I have to say this is a little harder than I thought: moving the coil, turning the knob, and listening is kind of like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. Thanks guys for the tips. HH.

 

[flbowhunter]

No, you don't have to turn the knob as you raise and lower it. Your making it to hard onyourself. Start by making sure there is no metal in the area directly below where you are balancing. Turn sensitivity to around 7-8, turn disc knob to minimum, put togle switch to all metal, turn your threshold knob to about 1:00 or just past until you get a steady humm. Now, turn the groundbalance knob 3 complete turns counter clockwise, then 2 turns clockwise to get into the "center" of the adjustment range. As you turn the knob during this process you may get some noise which is normal. Wait until the threshold humm comes back then lower the coil from about 10-12 inches off the ground to about an inch off the ground straight up and down about 2 times a second, kinda like pumping the coil. As you are doing this listen to the sound as the coil gets near the 1 inch mark off the ground. If the sound gets louder as you lower it, turn the ground balance knob to the left or counter clockwise like your trying to "turn the noise down". Turn about half way every adjustment and keep pumping it after you turn the knob. If it is going silent when you lower it, turn the knob to the right or clockwise a half turn then pump the coil again to check it. Your shooting for no change in the threshold humm or slightley a little bit louder if you cannot get a 0 change in sound. Most people like to hunt this way, slightley positive ground balance. If your trying to "turn down the noise" and all of a sudden it goes silent, a slight turn in the other direction will correct this and vise versa if is silent and then goes louder or positive, just use little turns to dial it the rest of the way in. Once you get the hang of it, it's no big deal. It gave me fits also when I got my Eldorado. PM me if you need more help.

Mike

 

[Arch Stanton]

Thank you for the tips. I'll give them a try tomorrow. HH.

 

[tabdog]

Try turning down the sensativity some to ground balance.

This seems to make GBing a little smoother.

HH,

 

[Monte]

[size=large]have a Sensitivity control that is tied in with the All Metal mode.

Generally, such as with most Tesoro models, the Sensitivity control is simply a function in the motion Discriminate mode. It's basically a gain control for the pre-amp circuitry (White's call sit Pre Amp gain or Signal Balance on some models). There is either NO tie in with the conventional (Threshold-based) All Metal mode, or a very negligible amount only noticed at absolute minimum.

You'll usually only see a Sensitivity control for the All Metal mode on a model designed or intended for general hunting in All Metal, like a gold nugget-based detector, such as the Lobo, Lobo SuperTRAQ, Diablo

 

[tabdog]

n/t