ground balance

[mightymorf]

i have just bought a new soveriegn gt.when i went to the local beach with it i set the threshold to a slight hum.but when i started my search of the beach the threshold would fluctuate .do you have to ground balance it ?.any help/advice or tips would be much appreciated.

 

[Tony]

In All Metal, a slight fluctuation in threshold is normal. In DISC, the threshold is steady if your SENS is set right.

You only ground balance in All Metal (flip into Track and pump the coil until the threshold is steady) and then flip into fix.

In DISC, the balance is adjusted automatically although you can balance in All metal and then go into DISC.

Is your SENS too high ?

Have you tried flipping the noise cancel switch to the other setting?

Hope this helps,
Tony.

 

[Rick(ND)]

If you are running in disc like like many of us do than this is normal as it is responding to what it sees. Even with the disc turned as low as it will go it still will reject iron which causes the threshold to null or change. If new to the Sovereigns run the sensitivity in auto as it will make the detector run smoother untill you get used to the GT.

 

[Neil]

sounds like your sens is to high. as rick says either put the sens in auto or another way is actually to put it all the way clockwise which is the lowest setting and work your way up.

Neil

 

[Willee - Texas]

Sensivity to high and/or threshold to loud.

The threshold tone should just be audible and its frequency will jump around as it reacts to the ground as you sweep the coil.
When it detects a target in the sand it will be much louder than the threshold.

There is no ground balancing a Sovereign.
That is what makes it the best detector to use at the beach as you can take the coil from dry sand to wet sand to underwater without making any adjustments.

Willee

 

[Art (NWOH)]

Willee...
To be specific.....
No ground balance in disc mode. The ground is ignored , not compensated for. Any response that has the characteristics of dirt is flat rejected, while any response that looks like a metal object is procesed as a target.
A GT allows ground balance in all metal search. Unless the ground is very extreme, it will balance so fast that you will not notice that anything has happened. If you leave it in all metal track, it will track very fast in all but the worst conditions. Any kind of balance or tracking is disabled in pinpoint.

HH

 

[Neil]

Willee...
To be specific.....
No ground balance in disc mode. The ground is ignored , not compensated for. Any response that has the characteristics of dirt is flat rejected, while any response that looks like a metal object is procesed as a target.
A GT allows ground balance in all metal search. Unless the ground is very extreme, it will balance so fast that you will not notice that anything has happened. If you leave it in all metal track, it will track very fast in all but the worst conditions. Any kind of balance or tracking is disabled in pinpoint.

HH

Art in pinpoint some type of adjustment in the sov is going on because you can(just like in disc)go from dry sand to wet sand to in the water and the sov will perform seamlessly. I dont know what it is, but with all other detectors Ive had on the beach, youve got to do some type of adjustment to go from one type of soil to another. I think the only time the Sov(GT)isnt adjusting itself in some way to the ground changes is when its in the all metal mode with the track/fix/pinpont toggle in fix.

Neil

 

[Art (NWOH)]

Niel
You could be right, but this is how it was previously explained to me a long while back.
Problem with internet information.....getting perfectly accurate information from any source...even the manufacturers...is not always something you would want to bet on.

HH

 

[Art (NWOH)]

Niel...
Minelab's own instruction manual says in par. 7.8.3 that the ground balance is disabled in pinpoint. (GT)

HH

 

[kered]

From the GT manual as art refers to

7.8. Ground Balance switch ( Track/Fix/Pinpoint )
When operating in Disc mode, the Sovereign GT uses digital filtering to
compensate for ground effects and the Track / Fix / Pinpoint function is disabled.
When operating in All Metals, Minelab

 

[Neil]

Art and kered I think you need to read my post again, this has trailed off to ground balancing and I didnt say thats whats happening in pinpoint mode. I said in pinpoint the sov will adjust through different soils just like in disc and I dont know how it does it but it surely does. I dont know if it uses the same processes as the disc mode, have no idea at all what means it uses, it however will adjust through different soils as does the disc mode.
Anyone with an earlier sov from the Elite backwards should be able to verify this if theyve ever hunted in all metal.
I spoke to Dick about whether the Sov GT has two all metal modes because it has the tracking all metal (which responds to targets more like the disc mode with the broader signals) and the pinpoint (which acts like all the earlier sovs all metal) and he said there are the two all metal modes. This was when he was still with minelab in vegas. I should have asked him if the pinpoint uses digital filtering like the disc mode or really just how does the sov adjust while in pinpoint. maybe its the multi freq itself? would be nice if a minelab tech could jump in here and explain it.

Think about it, dont you agree the all metal mode on the earlier sovs adjusts itself over different soils to operate smoothly(as well as the pinpoint mode on the GT).

set any other vlf you can think of up in all metal on the dry sand and go down to the wet sand(without readjusting it somehow) and see how what happens.

hope thats clearer, Im no electronics guy, sorry for the poor explanation on what Ive seen with the Sov.

Neil

 

[kered]

I wasn't contradicting, disagreeing or otherwise, i just posted the manual bit so that all could understand the topic better.
I know it is constantly retuning,GBing or digital filtering whatever, hence when you go too fast at high sensitivity the threshold becomes unstable as i think it can't keep up with the required adjustment,(similar to SAT on a pulse machine) slow down and it will quit often stabilise within a few seconds.
And that you can switch it off on the GT but the others no(in all metal only)

 

[Neil]

Sorry about that kered, I sometimes get frustrated at not being able to get my point across. I apologize to both you and Art if my reply was offensive.

Neil

 

[kered]

No apology necessary

 

[Art (NWOH)]

No problems guys.
I must be the king of failing to get points across.

It happens.

HH

 

[mightymorf]

thanks for the advice guys ,any other tips and/or advice will be more than welcome.