just got my tejon -whats the best way to gound balance:unsure:

[SEMPERFI61]

n/t

 

[John (Ma)]

Read the manual and get the basic idea. I then went to the field and played around by turning the nob a couple turns and then balancing again to see how far away I could get my shovel before detection. I then played with the various settings while actual hunting. I have found a setting that gives good depth and have pretty much been within a 1/2 turn since. The basics are in the manual though. It sounds more complicated then it is. Once you have figured it out, you can concentrate on learning the variations of that single tone. It is an awsome detector that I found fun to learn and continue to learn it's language. I enjoy mine and wish you the same.

 

[tab-nabit]

Manual and use the search feature.
Think of the GB knob as a volume knob when trying to achieve a threshold.
Find a clear spot on the ground (free of targets) when performing a GB near/at where you will be hunting.
Holding the coil up (foot or so from ground) and achieve a threshold (slight buzzing audio).
Lower the coil to about an inch from the ground, and as you lower it, listen to what the audio does.
You want just a slight threshold buzz (kind of a barely raspy buzz).
If the threshold goes silent, turn the GB (volume) CW slightly with the coil up, lower it and again see what the threshold does.

As you lower the coil, if the sound (threshold) goes silent, turn the volume up - if the sound (threshold) increases, turn the volume down.
Just that slight little bit of a audio hum is what your looking for.

During the hunt, once in awhile raise and lower the coil to see what the threshold does. As soil conditions change, you may need to make a slight adjustment once in awhile to maintain that threshold.
As I hunt, I'll raise the coil up & down about every 10 feet to check GB. From there, I'll determine if I need to do it more or less often - all depends on soil/mineralization conditions.

Quality headphones help to achieve that slight threshold that the built-in cannot. I like to get the threshold ever so slightly - raspy buzz almost like it's about to cut out. Then a deep/small target that barley produces a response can cause the audio to rise above the threshold hum. If you get to much threshold (solid constant hum), a slight response may not be able to rise above it's setting, therefore target missed.

I never hunt without quality headphones - and the headphones along with a slight buzz threshold helped me discern some deeper/smaller nuggets when I used to go gold detecting.

I'm sure there are loads of information on Findmall and the Internet on GBing.

 

[Scully]

There are two ways to GB the Tejon. One is using the full time all metal mode (main Disc knob all the way counter-clockwise, "click" into all metal mode position). This puts you a slow retune mode. The prefered method is to use the trigger switch (pull) to put your machine in the all metal pin point mode. This method is a fast returne mode and its much easier to GB in this mode. You will want a slight increase in the audio threshold as you lower the coil to ground, this will give you a slight positive GB, allowing you to hear those faint, deep targets. Once you have completed your GB, make a mental note of where the knob pointer is on the GB control, and occassionally glance at it to be sure it has not been bumped and moved. The Tejon cant get great depth, but your GB has to be done carefully or you will lose depth. Periodically check it from time to time. With practice, you should be able GB your machine in less than 5 seconds so its a very easy thing to check.

 

[Canewrap]

"The Tejon cant get great depth, but your GB has to be done carefully or you will lose depth. "

Gene, I think you mean the Tejon can get great depth when properly ground balanced." Not, that it cant get great depth.

Sorry, had to point that out, in case anybody new was reading this string.

 

[Scully]

The Tejon CAN get awesome depth!

 

[jhettel]

To ground balance my Tejon takes a few minutes.

First you need a good place to ground balance without any metal in the ground. Once that is achieved I turn the three knobs on the right side of the machine fully counter-clockwise as far as they can go, this also clicks the machine into all metal. I also turn the middle knob fully counter-clockwise and click it into VCO. Leave the threshhold knob and ground balance knob alone for now. Turn the machine on and set the machine at about halfway, or maybe 5 on the scale. Raise the machine and listen for the threshhold sound, turn the upper left knob clockwise until you get a good threshhold. Lower the machine to the ground and listen to see if the threshhold gets louder or softer as the coil nears the ground. If the tone gets louder, then back off (counter-clockwise) the ground balance knob, if the machine gets quieter, then turn the ground balance knob clockwise. I usually turn the ground balance knob about a quarter turn until the tone gets near a constant tone, then I gradually increase or decrease the ground balance knob until there is a slight increase in tone just as the coil reaches the ground. Do this up and down motion a few times to make sure you have a slightly positive ground balance. Once ground balanced then you can set both of your discriminators and turn your sensitivity up to just below where the machine starts to chirp. You can also use the trigger as others have said to put the machine in all metal, but I always like to turn off my discriminators. That is the way I was told to ground balance the machine by Rusty at Tesoro.

Remember, the ground balance knob is a forever turning knob, which I do not like, but there is a point where you can feel some resistance while turning it slowly in either direction. Once I feel the resistance I continue to turn the knob and count the turns until the resistance is gone then count back half the amount of turns and try and set the knob at that point, I don't think this is really necessary, but there is a point and you can feel it if you turn it slowly. You have to be very aware of your senses when you turn the knob and look for the slight resistance in the knob, it can be hard to feel. I don't think it makes any difference though, the machine seems to ground balance fine no matter where the knob is located, it would just be much easier if there were some stops on the knob because I have heard others ask how do you know where that knob is really set at. Just ground balance the machine and check all knobs periodically to make sure they don't get bump turned.