Conquered manual GB and Bandido II !!!!

[Woodchuck]

Well finally got up the nerve up to mess with my new to me Bandido II juMAX. I have owned mostly detectors that had auto GB or preset factory GB. I never had the courage to want to mess with manual GB.I'm sure there are others out there that have been in my position. Don't ask me why but manual GBalancing to me was like trying to learn climb K2.I sought the advise of fellow findmall members far and wide on the subject through past posts and recent PM messages.
A special thanks to Hombre for his advise and encourgement.Well I took her out for a few ours this morning and then again this afternoon.This morning I let my friend use it who is still relatively new to detecting to see how he liked it,it wasn't really his cup of tea. He still likes his Fisher 1225X that I picked up for him to use.We dug some clad and pulltabs and canslaw learning the machine. The digging was hard going ,the ground was hard and dry like summer conditions, this is spring right? or almost.Then I got brave and took it to my local park,I have tried all countless detectors i have owned and used here. The pickens are slim here thanks to me,it would be my proving grounds for Bandido II. After GBalncing it twice where I felt it was set right off I went.My first solid hit was a quarter and dime in same hole stuck together! I'm off to a good start .Recheck hole another beep a nickel stuck in sod clod cool!!!.A coil length away another nickel. Ok it likes nickels that's a good sign....I dig up a bunch of square pulltabs they come in much louder than coins.And I can pretty much tell before I dig em. I pull one or two screw cap foils.They are same size as a quarter and fool a detector all time.its those thin aluminium foil seals that they stick onto plastic bottle caps.They are becoming a pain in the butt as bad as pulltabs..Dug a few pennies,...a couple round pulltabs with beavertail,they will fool you for sure.evertime..So my take for my outting 50 cents, and I quit ground was way to hard.But hey I conquered MT. Everest and tried my Bandido II that's a start

 

[coach mac]

I have a new Vaquero,and I feel I have the GB almost mastered, not as bad as I thought it would be

 

[tabman]

its those thin aluminium foil seals that they stick onto plastic bottle caps.They are becoming a pain in the butt as bad as pulltabs.

I've done some testing with a bunch of really thin small gold rings. Don't worry about discriminating out the foil caps, because the small gold rings will not be discriminated out and they will ring out loud and clear. I use a foil cap to set the discrimination when I'm searching for gold rings, especially on sports fields where foil caps are so abundant and I don't want to do anymore digging than I have to on those neatly manicured fields.

The Bandido II uMax is hard hitting on gold and nickels. http://www.findmall.com/read.php?17,1499090

tabman

 

[ukeman]

I'd like help in "conquering" the Ground Balance! I live in a 100+ year old house and the ground around my house and most of the surrounding lots are full of trash. It's really hard to find a 'clean' spot to try to ground balance as suggested.

Any tips in addition to what is in the manual is appreciated!

in North Carolina

 

[Hombre]

Woodchuck,

I always took the advise of my Grandady, great man BTW, when I asked him how to do something, he would say, "Just go ahead and do it, the first step is the hardest, then you will learn from your mistakes if you don't blow yer head off first."

I'm glad you took that first step Woodchuck, it will all go easier from now on, just don't get carried away with high sensitivity settings as the Bandido ll

 

[POLEWAGGER]

I'd like help in "conquering" the Ground Balance! I live in a 100+ year old house and the ground around my house and most of the surrounding lots are full of trash. It's really hard to find a 'clean' spot to try to ground balance as suggested.

Any tips in addition to what is in the manual is appreciated!

in North Carolina

Here's what I did.
My yard is about 100 also. There are so many rusty roofing nails and other assorted junk all the way around this house, I chose a spot in the back yard, among the mess, and spent about 30hrs cleaning up a 3X6' test garden. Just leave it in AM and keep pulling out the junk until you get smooth sounding sweeps and can pump it anywhere inside with a steady tone. Use a big shovel and a pinpointer. Once you perfect your settings in all metal, you can do tests to find out exactly how negative to go when setting in disc. to obtain max depth and silent operation. I plan on doing several videos addressing some of the more asked questions that I see here. I think a test garden is a must for any serious detectorist who wants to improve skill and confidence. As soon as the rain stops, I'll get out to the test garden and shoot some vids.
In the meantime, get your test garden ready

 

[ukeman]

THANKS! I've had several detectors over the years and i think the only one I really learned was my first, and old Garrett Groundhog as heavy as a small tank. I learned how to reverse discrimnate that thing and it was almost never wrong on a good "hit." Since then I've had a Compass (my favorite, but stolen from my car), Garret GTA, Tesoro Toltec II, and a Silver uMax. Still have a Fisher 1335x. (I think that's what it is, might be 1325?)

I like my new-to-me Bandido II, especially the weight. It's already hit on several brass items that everything else over the years has missed, and a silver quarter laying beside an aluminium cable line. I'm hoping there are more missed goodies out there to be found.

 

[Hombre]

QUOTE: Still have a Fisher 1335x. (I think that's what it is, might be 1325?)

I like my new-to-me Bandido II, especially the weight. It's already hit on several brass items that everything else over the years has missed, and a silver quarter laying beside an aluminium cable line. I'm hoping there are more missed goodies out there to be found.[/quote]

Howdy ukeman,

I had a Fisher 1236 X2 and it was a good detector, it just did'nt have the lower end discrimination that I liked about the Tesoro ED-120 disc. circuit, also I think that you meant that you have a 1235X instead of a 1325/1335X. Either way, once you get the ground balance figured out on the Bandido ll

 

[ukeman]

You're right, I got my numbers mixed up! I'll have to take a look to see exactly what I have! Found it in a pawn shop at a price too good to pass up.

My old compass had an adjustable ground balance on it and I learned how to adjust it. It went crazy deep at the beach (before it was stolen from my car).


Thanks for the note!

 

[hatpin]

"THANKS! I've had several detectors over the years and i think the only one I really learned was my first, and old Garrett Groundhog as heavy as a small tank. I learned how to reverse discrimnate that thing and it was almost never wrong on a good "hit.""


Same here. I still wish I could do that .