Ground balance question

[fwcrawford]

I have a question on ground balancing the X-terra 50 with the stock coil and the Double D coil in 7.5khz.
Example: If I ground balance the stock coil on a piece of ground and it requires a setting of 12 for example and then switch to the double D coil and check the balance, will the ground balance be the same.
The reason I'm asking this is that from what I've read on this forum and seen in advertisements, the double D coil "sees" less ground mineralization and is less affected by hot ground as compared to the concentric coil.
Also, do lower ground balance numbers mean higher mineralization and higher ground balance numbers mean lower mineralzation?
I greatly appreciate any responses as I am just starting out in this hobby and really enjoy it.
I have read many post in this forum and have learned a great deal about my detector that may have otherwise taken much time to learn on my own.
Thanks for the great posts!!

 

[James/Washington]

Ground balancing on the x50 and x70 is very easy. I would suggest to gb the detector at each site and every so often while detecting and any time you decide to change coils. As far as I can tell, lower numbers mean less ground mineralization. I live 65 miles from the coast and the ground gets worse as you get closer to the coast. My x-70 will gb at a higher number as I get closer to the coast. For instance, here at home, I gb at about 17 to 19 and closer to the coast, it will be 24 to 26. This is what I get. Anyone differ?

 

[Jackpine Savage]

and reading the post of others from different parts of the US, I see no correlation between the GB number and the amount of mineralization.

Thats my opinion only of course.

Tom

 

[John LA]

Maybe I haven't got a handle on things yet.

 

[fwcrawford]

Thanks James and others for replying to this message.

I called minelab and talked to Sandy and she said that higher numbers do mean higher mineralization and lower numbers mean lower mineralization.
If you look at Monte's field test report, He states that if someone is ground balancing at 8 and you are ground balancing at 3 then they are in more favorable ground than you are.
You can look this up on the minelab website in the test reports.
That had me confused with what I have been reading here on the post concerning this issue.
Apparently he is very knowledgeable in this and has much experience behind him so I am not going second guess him on the subject.
I can see that I am not the only one with questions on this subject.

Thanks again!

 

[Jackpine Savage]

John,

I'm no expert on detectors but after reading post after post from people stating the numbers they get in different parts of the country and then reading what was just posted that Sandy at ML said, there is obviously no general concensus on what the numbers mean. Do they mean what Sandy said, what Monte says, what I say? Do a quick search and you will find others. I'm not trying to pin anybody down, just pointing out that those claiming tough ground are seeing the same numbers as those claiming mild ground and everything in between. Nobody is in agreement on the issue, not even me but then I don't always agree with me either.

Tom

 

[Monte]

Regarding Ground Balancing with the X-Terra 50 and X-Terra 70:

 

[fwcrawford]

Thanks Monte,
I was hoping you would read this post and respond to help clear things up.
I talked to Sandy at minelab and either she didn't understand my question or I misunderstood her.
What you said makes since to me as the X-50 comes with a ground balance set at 6 although it is adjustable.
If lower numbers correlates to less mineralized ground, then this setting to me should be much higher for preset, don't you agree?
To me the preset number should be at somewhere near the top of the range not the bottom.
With that cleared up, I am hunting a site that I have to ground balance at 5 or 6. If I switch to a Double D coil instead of the stock concentric, will I get better depth and performance?
Thanks again for your response and also everyone else's response.
I hope I didn't confuse everyone who read my post.

 

[Monte]

suggest the 7.5 kHz 10

 

[fwcrawford]

Thanks Monte,
I have heard that the 10.5 gets better depth than the 5x10.
I wonder if the shape or the operating frequency makes the difference.

 

[rentasquid]

When I hunt in parks with nice fluffy dirt, my GB gets set near 4(On my X-50). When I go out to schools that have much more mineralized ground, many times, the GB sets at 1. That tells me that the lower the number, the higher the mineralization.

J.

 

[Monte]

n/t

 

[willy]

I run an X70 up here in B.C. and can basically run it at full gain (in the backwoods.. very little EMI) whereas the stock coil will, sometimes, overload in some areas. One of the reasons I run it that hot is to pick up the subgrain bits of gold. Surprisingly, the disc. mode is more sensitive than the AM mode of many other detectors I've had.. regardless of coil choice. ..Willy.

 

[BarnacleBill]

"I run an X70 up here in B.C. and can basically run it at full gain (in the backwoods.. very little EMI) whereas the stock coil will, sometimes, overload in some areas."

I assume you are speaking of the HF elliptical, correct?

"One of the reasons I run it that hot is to pick up the subgrain bits of gold. Surprisingly, the disc. mode is more sensitive than the AM mode of many other detectors I've had.. regardless of coil choice. ..Willy."

Are you saying that you are hunting for subgrain gold in Coins Disc Mode or Prospecting Mode?

Lastly, have you had other machines you have prospected with, and what kind of comparisons can you draw on the X70 and those other machines?

Thanks,
BarnacleBill

 

[willy]

Sorry, forgot to put in the "HF DD coil" bit. The prospecting mode is my preferred mode, but sometimes I'll switch over to the disc. mode when there are a lot of the high-iron hotrocks. I'll have the gain maxed out in disc. to do it though. Surprisingly, it seems to my somewhat edumacated mind that the prospecting mode is more linear in its' sensitivity increase whereas the disc. mode suddenly "jumps" up in sensitivity in the 20's. I've prospected with the MXT, XT18000, LST, Gold Stinger, GB1, Infinium, and CZ6a. So far, the AM mode seems to be at least on par with the XT18000 (at 20 KHz) and a bit better than the GB1. It also seems to be a bit more sensitive than the MXT and blows the CZ6a & G. Stinger outta the water. The Infinium is apples & oranges, though the Similkameen/Tulameen area isn't kind to PI's. Wish it had the VSat of the MXT due to the overshoot signals when lifting the coil and the AM ID function. Both the MXT's iron "grunt"/iron ID and the X70's iron mask are a bit hit 'n miss in my ground, but still useful. I tested an MXT (with the mini shooter DD) vs my X70 a while ago on the Similkameen and found them very similar in what they would and wouldn't detect. Both would struggle with a particular type of hotrock that gives off a signal indistinguishable from a tiny nugget, both on audio and TID. I did notice, however, that the X70 would tend to wrap the (gold) target around into the high coin range intermittently with the odd spike into mid conductors. ..Willy.

 

[Monte]

Willy,

Minelab's X-Terra series was fairly well thought out in that they produced a lightweight unit, with a good rod/handle/housing configuration, a very good choice in 4-AA battery power, and functional notch discrimination and most adjustment features.

While the X-Terra 70 is actually very easy to learn to use and quickly make your way through a simple menu for control adjustments, they did make (in my opinion) two pronounced errors that cause a good deal of confusion.

 

[willy]

Hi Monte. I nuggetshoot in the prospecting mode and will oft-times switch to the AM disc. mode if in a dense patsch of those cursed hotrocks (which can range in size from tiny to the size of a car here). I've done some testing with the iron mask and find that it pretty good at not knocking out small gold; unfortunately, as I wrote before, it seems that the high mineralisation here tends to make it somewhat unreliable at blanking out over iron.. but that's still better than nothing. the iron mask also seems to provide a "sharper" signal on small gold and, unfortunately, those aformentioned hotrocks. If I'm coin hunting, the sensitivity is generally turned down and the stock coil is used. One unfortunate byproduct of using the DD HF coil for hunting Canadian coins is that often they're almost impossible to distinguish from iron when buried in bad ground. Using the stock coil gives it a touch better iron ID.. just enough to distinguish between the two. When prospecting it's DD HF all the way and gain maxed. I'll put up with a bit of noise in order to find those sub-grainers. ...Willy.