Ground Tracking Speed

[Neil in West Jersey]

I noticed that the V3 continually adjusts the ground tracking on nearly every sweep. I read in the manual, that this is over tracking. I tried slowing down the speed, but it does not help, even when set to "1 The only thing that worked was when I locked the tracking.

I thought I read a post about this not too long ago. Any help out here?

 

[Rob (IL)]

Mine does the same thing. Here's what Whites said. I had it copied but I would like to have it explained again since it takes me more than one explanation for me to get it straight. My question is when do I know I've set it to the best speed? Rob

The answer is that there is a big difference between the reporting of tracking on the V3 compared to the DFX and, we don't really need to worry. Seeing the tracking message on the V3 is not the concern that it would be on a DFX - it is a totally different scenario. If, however, we think it is tracking too much we should manually balance, Locktrack and rebalance as necessary. It is not viable to extend the tracking range lower (to give a finer degree of adjustment between zero and 1) as this would cause the V3 to try to track to iron targets thus throwing-off the tracking, causing it to have to track again once past the iron and over "normal" ground, thereby making it worse.

 

[The Beep Goes On]

...and balancing the v is just a few seconds...I do it often.

 

[Tinfoil]

n/t

 

[TheMarshall]

Hello Neil.

You need to tell me your sensitivity settings first before I can comment......TheMarshall.

 

[Rob (IL)]

Here's the post you were looking for Neil. Rob

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?66,1085643

 

[Tinfoil]

Matter of fact I usually G/B and keep it in Lock Track and RE G/B often and usually keep a tracking offset of +2 and I keep the Freq. set to a offset of 2 also. Keeps the machine a little quiter running when you are in a noisy area. HH : : Jerry aka Tinfoil

 

[Larry (IL)]

I find the LockTrac a little quieter as well, my ground doesn't change that much and I have always used LockTrac with the DFX too. With the V3, It's a 5 second task every 1/2 hour or so to re- G/B.

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

Hello Neil.

You need to tell me your sensitivity settings first before I can comment......TheMarshall.

Thanks everyone for the info. I spoke to Jay (the new guy?) at White's yesterday, and he basically said the same things. I was looking for the old "every 3-5 sweeps" like I was used to on my DFX. This is very helpful.

Marshall, if I remember correctly, I was using an RX of about 10-12 depending on EMI, My Disc Sens was set around 80.

 

[Tinfoil]

The places I hunt there is a lot of trash and iron. The worst kind of hunting but that is where the good stuff is as no one has the patience to hunt it. I do have to run 7KHZ band. 5kHz and high 5kHz bands don't hit my 9.5" dime on edge as good as the 7KHZ does. I also hunt in noisy areas and along with the 7KHZ band, freq. offset of +2, and the track offset of +2, when I do run track on and not locked makes my V3 run quieter.

When I run this way even in a noisy area, I can crank it up. So I will have to say sweep (How fast you swing), The freq. bands, the off sets do really make a difference in depth and how quite the machines runs. You really have to play around to get all these right if you really want the depth. Depth is one of the most important things down here where I live. If you are not digging 8+"s you might as well go home.

When hear the old Depth isn't everything and I just . Tell that to the guy walking behind you with a deep hunting machine and laughing and saying, "Oh Sir, I think you missed this one". You walk over there and can't even hear the target when you swing over it. For me that just don't cut it.

I have to say you have to spend the time with your machine and really learn what you have to do to make it really hunt deep and have a accurate ID. I am not much of a Tech. nut. All I want to know is how and what do I have to do to set each and everyone of my machines up to make them preform to its best ability in depth and ID. If after I do that, and it still don't get the depth and ID that I want it goes bye bye.

There are other basic things that effect depth and ID that everyone should know. This machine you really have to read and reread the manual and watch the Vids. Then there is still a lot of things that are not explained that I still have not got down yet. Even as long as it has been since I ran the XLT and DFX all those years i can still adapt some of it to the V3. So that is a plus I think. They really need to go into some depth on the different setting and what they really do on the V3. I myself have a lot of questions I would like to get answered and they are not just simple questions either. If you don't read and reread the manual you will be just plain lost and you will never get this machine to really get the depth and the ID that it is capable of.

The 9.5" dime and 7" nickle I have on edge are the most important targets I have in my coin garden. With a big transformer 60ft away, 2 air conditioners running, and the power lines I have overhead really throws some very hard parameters that a machine must get around to really hit those targets with a good dig able ID. It really take time working with a new machine to get them to hit those targets. If I can ID them, then I don't have to ever worry about it not preforming in the field. I might have to work for a week on those targets before the machine ever really goes on its first real hunt else where. If if don't ID them then I don't have any use for the machine and it goes Bye Bye. Well sorry this got so long. I don't Post much as I am usually hunting and reading. When I do post I sort of get carried away and I am sorry it was such a long Post. I just hope someone got something out of it Now if I can just get this Analyse thing worked out without having to take so much time with it. I need it for jewelry hunting as that is the real reason I bought this machine and for the beach. Yeah I know you have to dig the pull tabs to get the rings as I am a jewelry hunter. I just want a better ID on those targets. : : HH Jerry aka Tinfoil

 

[Rob (IL)]

Just remember that all we can do is optimize our V's. As Monte just stated it would be a great idea on this forum to state where we are located when giving our depth readings. There are locations where depths posted by people will never be achieved in certain locations. I know when I go to Texas the soil has few minerals and I get deeper then I can achieve here in Illinois. Much of the advise is great and the adjustments will work but not to the same degree for all. So if you can't get a 9" dime it's not a problem unless someone in your area can. Rob

 

[Aaron]

Great post lots of helpful info. and advice. Thanks alot!
Aaron

 

[Tinfoil]

Lake Charles, Louisiana. : : HH Jerry aka Tinfoil

 

[LS hunter]

Hi i dont mean to jump in but I'm getting a little worried ,I have been reading a lot about the v3 not all bad but not all good,I had a problem with the depth reading,Long story short Larry and Carl help me a lot with it,Traded the detector out and that is that,But now on this post im reading about the tracking problem,Did i read this wright lock the tracking?????If the detector is working wright this should not have to be.......The reason we dont lock the tracking is so we would not have to GB it would just do it on its own.....I was told on my post pinpointing problem depth is not an on time thing an some told me i dont even use it now lock the tracking.Its like having a caddy and lets dont use the power windows....Im beginning to think that this detector has a lot to be worked out on it....Like i said sorry to jump in...Just mu opinion .......If im wrong tell me.....

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

Hi i dont mean to jump in but I'm getting a little worried ,I have been reading a lot about the v3 not all bad but not all good,I had a problem with the depth reading,Long story short Larry and Carl help me a lot with it,Traded the detector out and that is that,But now on this post im reading about the tracking problem,Did i read this wright lock the tracking?????If the detector is working wright this should not have to be.......The reason we dont lock the tracking is so we would not have to GB it would just do it on its own.....I was told on my post pinpointing problem depth is not an on time thing an some told me i dont even use it now lock the tracking.Its like having a caddy and lets dont use the power windows....Im beginning to think that this detector has a lot to be worked out on it....Like i said sorry to jump in...Just mu opinion .......If im wrong tell me.....

The V3 is a work in progress. There is not a lot of detailed tricks and tips. We are writing it from our experience, so that future generations of V3 users can learn from us. That being said, many of the issues are user issues, and not design flaws. The aurotrac is a good example of this. I was using my DFX knowledge, assuming that the V3 should track every 3-5 sweeps. After speaking with White's engineers earlier this week I learned that this is not the case with the V3. The V3 will detect small changes in soil conditions and will track in smaller increments than the DFX, so it will do it more often without "over tracking". I was told not to worry that it appears to be constantly tracking. This is normal in certain ground conditions. I noticed it did track more often in former fertilized farm fields (say that ten times fast) than it did in wooded areas.

I do know that I have found great stuff in nearly every outing so far.

I hope this helps.

 

[Rob (IL)]

There is no problem, just use your detector. I own an MXT with probably the best tracking system Whites ever made. That didn't mean that I didn't run it locked in certain difficult ground conditions. The reporting limit isn't the same on the V3 as it is on the DFX. The reporting on the DFX is set to require a much higher change in values than before it reports the tracking.

Here's the explanation Anne sent me. If I got anything wrong she can correct me. Rob

If you are seeing it track up as much as track down), then it's probably staying pretty consistent. Tracking never stops. It's always tracking. The speed changes how long it will take to get to the new ground level. So, if you have very slowly changing ground, setting your track speed slower would probably keep it more stable - less chance for overshoot or errors. But, if you have ground that's changing all over the place, setting it up for a faster speed will give it more chance to actually achieve the new ground conditions.
Also, if you go into pinpoint and don't hear much audio change (probably you'll hear a little as tracking is probably not going to be totally right on when just in auto track), then it's probably just fine. If you are hearing too much audio change (what's too much? I'm not sure how to quantify that, but I wouldn't expect it to be too noisy), then you probably need to adjust your speed. If it seems to be right mostly, you can turn off the reporting and then it won't be distracting. I wasn't aware that this would be a problem when I set the reporting limit. I just figured that people would want to know it was doing its job. We intentionally sped it up as people complained that the DFX was too slow. But it also goes really slow when set to 1 too. So, one should be able to see anything from slow DFX speed to MXT speed (sort of - totally different algorithm). The reporting is different though. I think probably he had set the reporting on the DFX to require a much higher change in values than I did.
Rob

 

[Larry (IL)]

No problem, just old habits and personal preferences.

 

[DELTA196]

Tracking never stops.[/u][/i] It's always tracking. The speed changes how long it will take to get to the new ground level.

So are we saying the actual tracking rate is fixed, the tracking speed adjusts whether the ground balance is adjusted to the last ground sample almost instantly or it is drip fed in and changed over a period of time.

 

[ak_1234]

Say you have ground at 10, but your machine is at 2. If you set your speed slower, the steps to get to 10 will be smaller. Say it will be limited to adjust by only 0.2. But if you have the speed set to 100, maybe its limit will be 20. In the slow case, it would take 40 steps, in the 100 case, it would only take 1. But, the faster it goes, the more likely a change in the ground will cause tracking to oscillate around a lot more due to ground (or noise) changes, while the slower speeds allow it to average the ground more.

(those numbers were just examples - that is nowhere close to the scale that is used).

 

[Downdeep]

I have no idea what you just said