Fast Track
The Automatic Ground Balance system is in "Fast Track" mode for the first 20 seconds after turn on. Supposedly the detector should G/B in the first 20 seconds by itself. If you don't start hunting within 20 seconds after turn-on, or if you're over trash, the unit might not ground balance correctly. This could result in loss of depth, falsing and incorrect VDI readings. When the unit is "falsing", the ground VDI is being seen as a target. I always start with a manual GB, because I can't power the unit up, check for EMI, ensure the spot is clean, make any necessary adjustments necessary) and then start hunting in less than 20 seconds.
If you have AutoTrac ON, you will "eventually" track to the average VDI value of the ground you are hunting. However - there's a myth that your detector will track to the ground you're hunting in about 15 seconds of hunting. Field testing the V3i, it takes several minutes for the machine to "settle out" near the point where the manual GB sequence would have set the unit. The worse the soil, the longer it takes. Here's another thing to think about. If you ignore the GB process, the machine will "remember the program" you were using, including the GEB settings. If you are hunting an iron mine in the morning, turn your machine off, drive to the beach to hunt the low tide line, and start up without a GB sequence, your machine has to track from the really high negatives (high ferrous) to almost zero (conductive). How many targets will you miss while you're waiting those several minutes for your machine to "track to the ground"?
So - invest the 10 or 15 seconds before each hunt to make sure you have a good GB and not have to worry about dealing with less than optimum results.
For those who want to run with LockTrac, I would suggest you let the machine sample the ground for about 5 minutes of hunting before you turn AutoTrac OFF (Lock Trac). This will have the effect of letting the machine "AVERAGE" the soil you're hunting in and give you a better overall performance in Lock Trac.
The Automatic Ground Balance system is in "Fast Track" mode for the first 20 seconds after turn on. Supposedly the detector should G/B in the first 20 seconds by itself. If you don't start hunting within 20 seconds after turn-on, or if you're over trash, the unit might not ground balance correctly. This could result in loss of depth, falsing and incorrect VDI readings. When the unit is "falsing", the ground VDI is being seen as a target. I always start with a manual GB, because I can't power the unit up, check for EMI, ensure the spot is clean, make any necessary adjustments necessary) and then start hunting in less than 20 seconds.
If you have AutoTrac ON, you will "eventually" track to the average VDI value of the ground you are hunting. However - there's a myth that your detector will track to the ground you're hunting in about 15 seconds of hunting. Field testing the V3i, it takes several minutes for the machine to "settle out" near the point where the manual GB sequence would have set the unit. The worse the soil, the longer it takes. Here's another thing to think about. If you ignore the GB process, the machine will "remember the program" you were using, including the GEB settings. If you are hunting an iron mine in the morning, turn your machine off, drive to the beach to hunt the low tide line, and start up without a GB sequence, your machine has to track from the really high negatives (high ferrous) to almost zero (conductive). How many targets will you miss while you're waiting those several minutes for your machine to "track to the ground"?
So - invest the 10 or 15 seconds before each hunt to make sure you have a good GB and not have to worry about dealing with less than optimum results.
For those who want to run with LockTrac, I would suggest you let the machine sample the ground for about 5 minutes of hunting before you turn AutoTrac OFF (Lock Trac). This will have the effect of letting the machine "AVERAGE" the soil you're hunting in and give you a better overall performance in Lock Trac.
