Yea, I'm not sure if it holds the ground balance in fixed all metal after you switch back and fourth to disc. Need to re-check the balance in fixed by switching over to track for a second and pumping the coil and seeing if the threshold still is even. If it is then looks like it's holding it even after going to disc and back.
One thing about setting the ground balance...Every machine I ever owned would even out the threshold as you approach or leave the ground after a sec or two, but that doesn't mean it's set as the threshold self adjusts. You need to notice if it stays even AS you approach the ground and AS you leave too. Just because it evens out a second or two later that doesn't mean it's set right, because the SAT (self adjusting threshold) on machines is tricking you into thinking so.
Also, important to only lower the coil to the normal hunting height and then go a foot up from there and back down to the same hunting level, because if you set it with the coil touching the ground but that's not your normal hunting height you are biasing the setting to something different then what you are hunting at.
Also, some guys will set it slightly hot to where the threshold just raises a hair as you approach the ground, because that can tend to give slightly more depth on a machine.
One thing I've seen guys do when balancing a machine is not sweep over the spot first to make sure no metal is present. Balancing over iron or something is going to destroy the setting. Even some guys will do that but then I'll ask them if they are checking that spot with any discrimination going (meaning, on other machines where in discrimination you can lower it to not reject even iron). If they are checking the spot in discrimination and have even just iron rejected then how do you know the spot is clean? That's why if I set the ground balance on the GT I'll first flip to all metal and sweep the spot for any signals, and then pump the coil in a clean spot I find.
Some guys on the GT will just sweep around for a few minutes in track to set the balance and then flip to fixed. I don't like doing that, because if you are running over iron or other junk I don't feel you are getting as percise of a setting than if you pumped the coil in a clean spot. The pumping also has to be nice and slow and not too fast on every machine I've ever used or it can alter the results.
I see some of the machines now want the threshold to go away to indicate the balance is set right when pumping. I don't care for that myself. How do you know the threshold isn't dipping too far negative lower than you can hear it? I'd rather hear the threshold and pay close attention to if it's staying even as I approach or leave the ground, just like using a threshold in disc can help indicate the deepest of targets with any little waiver in the threshold.
Don't mean to sound like I'm bashing hunting in PP or all metal. I bet in certain soils with heavy microscopic iron or other minerals in the soil PP or all metal might see targets discriminate is nulling or not seeing due to the iron or such choking the signal out. Just saying that every time I've played with PP on deep targets I found with disc often PP mode won't hear the target for me. I hardly ever use PP mode to PP a target anyway so it's not a big deal to me. Haven't played with all metal enough to have an opinion yet on if it's deeper than disc in my soil, but I don't think PP is from what I've seen.
PP mode might in fact see targets in certain soils and sands that disc won't sound off to due the minerals or iron in the soil/sand. So does that mean PP is deeper, or just that it has an easier time sounding off to the target, but in reality has no greater reach in depth? That's what I'm wondering about where people say PP is deeper for them.
I have found though that I am enjoying PP mode on the beach when targets are scarce here and there. I hunted for a while in PP mode a few weeks back on one beach and I can see the perks to it when you don't have many targets around. I found a few deep hits in PP that disc hit too but I had to be right over them with the center of the coil in disc, where as PP mode was more forgiving and would change the threshold to annouce the target easier while I was gridding, so I can see how PP mode for me might be useful to more quickly grid out a area of beach even if I suspect it is no deeper or maybe not as deep as disc. Seems less chance to just miss something, and I'm wondering if on the one beach where disc is nulling or sounding real bad (like a bobby pin trying to break through) on even say 6" or deeper coins...If PP mode will sound off to stuff deeper than disc can, or at least gets my attention quickly where as with disc unless i wiggle right over the target a few times I can't get the target to break through the null. In that case PP tells me to center right over it, switch to disc, and wiggle until I get a tone to break through the null, because I found many targets where needing that on this one bad beach in disc. Might even be that deeper stuff on this beach disc won't even break through all the microscopic iron and sound off while PP mode will. Need to play with that more for sure.
thanks for the tip on how to check to see if the GT is still ground balanced i always thought it stayed balanced even if going back n forth in modes .Jim
