Learned a few things today about the 3D

[Bill_S]

I was experimenting in the test garden I have. I set the detector sensitivity on 7.5, volume on 10, ground on 10, discrimination on auto tune and then ground balanced it with the bobbing method. I was able to get a good repeatable signal on a quarter at 8 inches. In fact I was able to hold the coil above the ground a couple inches and still get a repeatable signal. Seems like if I GB the detector at the sens. level I plan to use while detecting it worked better. I cannot go much above 7.5 on the sens or it will not id targets correctly.

I was out hunting a spot and I had the discrimination turned up to four because of the many pull tab signals. I got a high tone but it would no repeat very good. I switched the detector to accept all signals. I pressed the pinpoint button and then dug the target. It turned out to be a civil war bullet. I got a few more signals like that and figured out that if you cannot pinpoint over the high tone but can a couple inches away it is because you are probably catching the edge of an iron target and that is what is giving the high tone.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Read the manual and properly ground balance using the bobbing method, also keep that sens. somewhere between 4 and 5 and you find you will get great depth along with a stable unit and right on ID's on the meter...I believe Nasa Tom feels sens. 4.8 is optimim for max. performance..and heck he designed the unit..

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

I agree with Dan 100%.

A sensitivity setting of 7.5, in disc mode, is quite simply insanely high. No ground conditions will support that. At the most you should be running "5" for sensitivity, probably "4" in most areas. Now if you choose to run in "All Metal" or "Autotune" mode, then you can run it as high as you can and keep it stable...typically, settings of 8 or even 10 in CLEAN ground (like the WOODS, maybe) can be achieved.

Furthermore, your CZ should be capable of getting a nice SOLID hit on a Civil War bullet or a quarter (a REAL target, not a freshly buried one) at 10 to 12 inches, OR MORE, with the sens set to "4" and properly ground balanced...with rock-solid stability.

If you run your machine too "hot", you can still be successeful but what you will see is that the machine's stability and it's proper target ID will suffer. With little-to-no depth benefit...and often a LOSS in same.

 

[Bill_S]

A sensitivity setting of 7.5, in disc mode, is quite simply insanely high. No ground conditions will support that.

I had no problems running it at 7.5. I normally do not run it that high, I do normally run it around 5. I tried it that high because in the test garden I have it correctly ID all targets I had buried and seemed to give me just a little more depth. I am sure there are some sites that I could not get it that high.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Heres what I learned over the years all ground is not the same mineralization wise or perhaps your CZ3D is not properly calibrated which would you allow you to run the high sens. Keep in mind I believe the CZ3D has different sens. parameters and those owning older CZ's perhaps you can run the sens. 5-6-7-8 but never found an area where I could run it max.Don'r want to confuse any of the guys or gals that own a older CZ as some of the original CZ6 units(circa 1992) are still going strong along with various models leading up to the CZ3D..Cetainly built to last...And for gosh sakes don't put that ground balance knob where it suits you with some practice you can learn the bobbing method and it will be correctly ground balanced no matter what number the ends up adjacent to the ground balance knob.

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Well maybe I should qualify that statement. You can't run it that high without it acting "squirrelly". It certainly may ID targets properly at that setting, but are you saying that it is also fully stable? That would be an amazement to me. As a long-time CZ-70 owner, I had the choice between sens settings of either 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10. If ever I run my CZ at 6 it will false, unless in Autotune mode...in which case I can run it at 8 or 10 even. But one thing I always heard about the CZ-5's (and the 3-D) is that because you can run it at 5, 6, etc. that running it at 5 was generally no problem. Like, if my CZ-70 had the ability to do "5", it probably would be also. So when I had the opportunity to take a brand new CZ-3D and hunt an old home site that I had hit MANY times with my CZ-70, Quattro, Explorer II, and Explorer SE, I was tickled to find that "5" worked great. But if I tried to go higher, falsing. So as they say, a CZ is a CZ is a CZ. Or at least I would have thought from my experience.

So is my assumption incorrect? Can the 3D be run is Disc mode at 7.5 and be fully stable as well? Or are you willing to put up with a little instability in the interest of getting a little more depth?

It should also be noted that Tom Dankowski (a major player in the development of the CZ-3D) has said that the CZ's achieve 95% of their depth at sens 4 and running it higher will result in little gain in depth in return for a probable loss of stability. I've seen my CZ-70 hit an Indian Head penny at a real 11" in hard-packed ground and get a nice repeatable signal at sens 4. My recommendation would be that if you are hitting a target at sens 7.5, try it at sens 5 and see what the difference in the quality of the signal is. My bet would be little to none.

Final note: There may be a huge difference in the ground from where I am to where you are. Ultimately, what works for YOU is the bottom line. Assuming you were a new user, at least to the 3D, I was just trying to help, not criticize. Many folks buy a detector and the first thing they do is go out and crank it up to the max to get "the deepies", not realizing that oftentimes, running a machine too "hot" wil not only decrease detecting enjoyment, but actually LOSE targets.

Happy hunting!

 

[Bill_S]

It seems like I can run most detectors I have tried at max sensitivity in my area (central Missouri) with not much problems. I do not normally run the 3D at 7.5. Like I said I was doing some testing in my test garden and at that setting is seemed to work fine so I took it out and tried it like that. I did not have any falsing problems at the site I went to. I have had to turn the sensitivity down to 4 at times at other sites though. because it would false. I did also try to run it on sensitivity of 10 over the test garden I created and it did not correctly ID some targets. I had a cz70 that I could turn up to 10 if I wanted but I found that a little lower sensitivity worked best on that also.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

You have super light mineralization so do what works in your area. Again do not set the ground balance knob at perhaps preset or the like as learning the bobbing method will give you an exact ground balance wherever the knob lands which equates to more depth and stability. Buy a longer digger my friend as you are going to need as under your conditions would expect superior depth.

 

[Bill_S]

I really do need to get one, sometimes I have it almost buried to the end of the handle......

 

[oneton]

Sen all depends on your ground minerals,If no ground minerals you can run the sen at 10 and id correctly,Rember ground minerals will effect the sen.Most people can only run at 4 or 5 because of there minerals are to high.