Ground Balancing

[coppersnipe]

Haven't had much time to swing the detector or visit the forum over the past few months...my how things have changed here! Good looking format - but it'll take some getting used to, to navigate it.

Anyhow, I posted this question as a followup to an earlier thread without response, so I'm thinkin' maybe I should try submitting it as a new post:

I understand that the ideal location for ground balancing is a metal-free area (e.g., a 0 reading and no sound as you sweep the area in the all-metal mode).

But what if you can't find a patch like that, and the C$ just keeps making noise with numbers jumpin' all over the place....how can one ground balance accurately under these conditions?

Thanks,

coppersnipe

 

[Jackpine Savage]

hunt for a few feet and then turn it off. It will not track to most iron in the ground and may stabilize the machine. Also try what Bill L posted a while back, go to another spot a small ways off and balance there. Usually when you come back it will be stable unless there is some bad interference at the site.

The C$ has a bad rep for not handling interference well but its no worse than a lot of other machines IMO. Also don't be afraid to turn the sensitivity way down and play with the threshold settings to try and staiblize it. If you can get er running half way smooth its probably doing as good as other machine that appear to be running better (more stable). On a lot of silent search detectors you never know how bad the ground or interference conditions are because the design is intended to keep em quiet even when they are being affected to a great degree.

Tom

 

[coppersnipe]

Appreciate the suggestion - I'll try it next time I run into the problem.

c.

 

[Mr.Bill]

Please excuse, not trying to be rude. Where are you hunting that with the standard coil, (8

 

[coppersnipe]

Mr. Bill -

No problem. I was hunting with the 10-inch coil - my favorite ever since I got it - on an old residential lawn quite near our "downtown" area. I was using 5/25. Since I didn't have another solution at hand, I just GB'd over an area that was less noisy (as opposed to noise-free) and turned on the auto-track. When I went back into the ID mode, the detector seemed to work OK. (What was going on in the back of my mind, of course, was that if the GB wasn't correct, the tones and numerical display wouldn't necessarily be accurate.)

Unfortunately, this being someone's front lawn - and someone I don't know very well - I wasn't inclined to be doing a lot of digging...certainly not the kind I'd need to do to remove all the apparent targets.

Interestingly, I did find a clad quarter that ID'd properly (33), about 2 inches down in pine needles and fine dirt, but I also dug separately two pieces of rusty sheet metal that ID'd in the low-30's. Hmmm.

Since I wasn't hearing a lot of beeps in the ID mode, I tried increasing Threshold and Sensitivity, but the display and tones immediately became erratic - even when I was holding the unit dead still. I backed off on both, one setting at a time, one increment at a time, but it wasn't until I got back down to 525 that the C$ settled down. My guess is that there was RFI in the area, though I don't know from where it was coming.

Anyhow, I didn't spend a lot of time hunting there. Think I'll go back to more familiar haunts.

Thanks for your advice though - much appreciated!

-c.

 

[Mr.Bill]

Ah ha, the ole 10