FBS VS BBS Frequency Spectrum

[Critterhunter]

The Sovereign uses 17 frequencies ranging from 1.5 kHz to 25.5 kHz. FBS machines use 28 frequencies ranging from 1.5 kHz to 100 kHz. I have yet to hear why such high frequencies are needed on FBS machines because 25.5khz is more than high enough to hit hard on gold rings and nickles. Just curious if anybody has ever heard reasoning as to why FBS machines would want to use such high frequencies?

Many of my sites are mineralized and my Explorers never seemed to run as good at these locations as my GT. My theory is that the higher frequencies on FBS machines are doing more harm than good in my soil by reflecting off the ground matrix. As a general rule of thumb many say that the lower the frequency the better it penetrates mineralized ground. What is your opinion on this?

 

[imalookin2]

I am no expert on this but the higher frequency the machine the more sensitive it is on tiny gold. I am talking about gold flakes though, not rings. If you hunt jewelry then the BBS is great. Higher frequency machines hit tiny bits and may cause frustration digging tiny pieces of metal. Stick with what works, BBS.

 

[scoper]

I agree with critter....such high frequences seem to be a total waste of time to me.I've compared my sov to both the explorer and e-trac and the sov can pick up small objects just as well as the FBS machines.Even most dedicated gold machines don't run frequencies this high so i'm as confused as Critter on this one.

 

[Neil]

maybe you should read this, I posted it a few days ago, it should help you understand. Its actually done for a reason

http://www.treasurelore.com/florida/detector_info.htm


these guys know what they are talking about, remember Ralph is the Sunray guy, as in Sunray coils.

 

[Ralph Sun Ray]

I believe someone has added my name to that portion of the article as I don't recall writing that piece. Just thought I would set the record straight.

Ralph (Sun Ray)

 

[Critterhunter]

Thanks for posting that, Neil. I printed it out to read over a smoke or two so no comments at this time.

 

[Critterhunter]

OK, just finished reading that article and it doesn't answer my question. Why the need for such high frequencies going all the way up to 100khz on FBS machines? I've always read that for good sensitivity to gold you needed a frequency of somewhere between 14 and 24khz. At 25khz on BBS machines the Sovereign has that covered. Small target sensitivity isn't an issue as I've dug some tiny little stuff with the GT. Tiny gold nugget hunting isn't exactly a strong point for FBS machines either, so I don't see the reasoning there.

On the other hand, lower frequencies penetrate deeper into mineralized soil and hit on silver and copper harder. We all know the Sovereign (like FBS machines) has that covered with it's start at 1.5khz. One of the reasons why I left Whites is they abandoned the low frequency models and moved on to higher frequency units, none of which do well in my sites that are mineralized. High frequencies tend to reflect off it the ground matrix.

I'm really still scratching my head over this...Why was there a need to run FBS at such high frequencies? It's only a theory but I believe that's why I never got the performance out of FBS machines in my soils that others reported in other states. They also were hard to max out sensitivity settings on to ride the edge while still running smooth. Much more finicky in that respect than I've experienced with other machines. Perhaps that is related to the higher frequency spectrum not getting along well with my soil?

If I had to choose I'd much rather have the frequency spectrum biased into the lower end just for penetrating abilities and hitting harder on copper and silver. BBS does that, while still providing high enough frequencies to also hit hard on low conductivity targets such as gold and nickle.

 

[dewcon4414]

Boy im glad i didnt say Ralph didnt know what he was talking about lol... just pulling your chain Ralph good to see your reading the threads. Thats a good post ive read and reposted it myself a couple of times.

Dew

 

[Neil]

Critter I posted the link here because it mentioned about all those freqs offering up various info and then the detector chooses from that. So more freqs I would think more information up to a point anyways.
As far as mineralized ground, I dont gold hunt but most gold fields, from what I have read, are very mineralized and yet most gold machines are higher freq.. A minelab Advantage will hit smaller gold than the Sov will, and it operates at 5khz. A HH Wader will hit smaller gold than the Sov will, but it hunts down around 2khz. So the freq does play a partial role but certainly not all.
I thiink minelab is more using the freqs to read the ground and seperate it from the target....but that is just my guess. Why else would both the Sov and Explorer struggle on small thin chains(both run high freqs) but a 10khz Tesoro will bang on them repeatedly? I dont have the answer, but do have the time Ive observed and used detectors and from what Ive seen its not just the freq that determines the ability to hit smaller lower conductive targets.
Minelab has stuck with FBS for a reason, and they are clearly not that open about it. If other detectors outperformed what they consider their "flagship" models you would think they would change their approach, but still to this day many machines are compared to both the Explorers and Etracs, and minelab stick with them.
Ive still got two Sov GTs and think they are great on the beach in uncluttered/non trashy areas, but it ends there. I hunted them soley for years and
moved away from them once I got some time in on the Explorers and their adjustability.
I asked you before in another post of your location and your mineralized ground and I thought you had mentioned Ohio and you had and the reason was there are quite a few Explorer and Etrac users who have very good success with those detectors in your area. If you ever try one again, you might look into contacting one of those guys.

 

[Critterhunter]

Boy im glad i didnt say Ralph didnt know what he was talking about lol... just pulling your chain Ralph good to see your reading the threads. Thats a good post ive read and reposted it myself a couple of times.

Dew

Wooa...Didn't say that. I just said that article didn't really answer my question.

 

[Critterhunter]

Neil, not all my sites are mineralized. Here in Northeast Ohio we have soil that ranges from rich deep dark top soil all the way to hard packed limestone based clay. We have a lot of limestone bed rock in my area. Many of my sites are mineralized, though. Not all, but many. The Sovereign runs smoother over these sites than any machine I've ever owned.

I've seen references to that same fact from other people here and there. For instance, I think his name is JBow. I remember a message from him where I think (from memory!) he said he used an Etrac and one or two other flagship detectors at one particular site. None of them would give steady target IDs and were having trouble with the soil. He said he fired up his GT and it was giving him much more stable target IDs and he made some good finds there with it.

Why is that? Why would those flagship models have such a hard time with a particular site while the GT did better? You tell me because I'd like to know. Is it the frequencies being put out on one machine versus the other? I don't know. All I can say is that I had a much harder time keeping my Explorers stable at some of my sites than I do with the GT. I think my soil "likes" BBS better, but that's just a total guess. Take it or leave it.

I'm sure Minelab has a very good reason for using such high frequencies on FBS machines. Obviously there's some kind of reason or they wouldn't need to do it. I just would like to know what that reason is, and whether (it appears, anyway) those high frequencies can cause problems in certain mineralized forms of ground matrix. Maybe it's not a common thing and some of the sites I hunt are just the "perfect storm" in terms of minerals that can give it problems.