Mineralization test whith -Cibola

[Gunnar of bradford MN]

i have heard Monty talking about mineralized sands and gravles so i decided to do a test so i found the nastyest mineralized stuff i could find . It is off the gravle road in front of my house this gravle comes from a gravle pit the gravle is glacial matterial swept down from north north eastern minnesota from the great iron range and contains mostly dark gray to black rocks dark granite some quarts and lots of magnatite so i scooped up a small pale and started the test whith that i placed a quarter at 4" and fired up the Cibola no sound even maxed out whith no discrimination but when i used the all metal pinpont mode i got a strong clear signal but of course i cant hunt in all metal so i reburied the coin at 3" and at normal sweep speed nothing again even maxed out but in pinpont mode good clear signal so i reburied it at 2.5" and finaly was getting a signal but the signal was weak and i had to slow down my seep speed so i buried it at 6"and not a wisper but the pinpont mode got it good my conclusions are this is indeed some very nasty mineralized ground and to hunt it i would need a detector whith a doble edged sword that is silent discriminate -- and an all metal mode all metal mode cut right thru the mineralization like a hot knife thru butter but of cours i cant hunt in all meta just pinpont whith it that bums me out wish i got the silver umax now , to make my point as to how bad the gravle is i took my magnetand past it over the gravle and it filled up whith stones and fine what looked like metal fileings so im seperating out all the magnetic stuff and going to make a batch of super mineralized ground and then use the stuff i cleaned and do another test but i can say if you have minearalized ground do not geta cibola it will not do good in black sand or iron rich gravle inviorments you need a detector that can also hunt in all metal now the soil in the three tonws i hunt in is sand and lightly minearalize to moderate i can hit a dime at 6" no problem so im ok but it seems that the detector has a sertan amout of discrimanation built in i know that when i turned the disrimanation up a bit the qurter disapeared at 2.5 " all together well mor tests later

 

[tabdog]

n/t

 

[Mr.Bill]

install a toggle switch across the pin point button, so you could lock it in the All Metal mode.

This may be an option for you. Certainly a lot less expensive than purchasing a replacement detector.

 

[tabdog]

n/t

 

[srd1941]

n/t

 

[Monte]

[quote Gunnar of bradford MN]i have heard Monty talking about mineralized sands and gravles so i decided to do a test so i found the nastyest mineralized stuff i could find . It is off the gravle road in front of my house this gravle comes from a gravle pit the gravle is glacial matterial swept down from north north eastern minnesota from the great iron range and contains mostly dark gray to black rocks dark granite some quarts and lots of magnatite so i scooped up a small pale and started the test whith that[/quote]It's good that you're wanting to learn more about your detector's capabilities, as well as inabilities. Naturally, my first question as I read your post is how you determined what was the "nastiest mineralized stuff" for your area? But let's just figure that it's certainly more of a challenge than would be a mowed lawn, a woodchip playground or a typical till-up garden area.


The next thing I was concerned about at this point was the size of the pail you filled and how you were going to use the material. The best "test" would have been to simply use your Cibola right there at that site, and especially best if you used it to locate targets naturally lost at the site, and even better if you had 2 or more models to compare, side-by-side.

Still with wintery weather arriving soon that can limit our detecting activities until spring (in some areas), it is a good idea to gather an ample supply of test medium that is representative of the material in your hunting areas.


[quote Gunnar of bradford MN]i placed a quarter at 4" and fired up the Cibola no sound even maxed out whith no discrimination[/quote]That should read ... with minimum discrimination ... because the Cibola & Vaquero do not have a full range accept Disc. mode, like the ED-180 of the Compadre or Tej

 

[Gunnar of bradford MN]

not at all i tried it nada was very quiet -- got my bases covered

 

[findit]

How do you install it and would it basically work like a vaquero without the manual gb?

 

[Pap]

I most certainly agree with Monte when he says it can be just as important to understand your detector's limitations as well as its attributes. I am not as certain on your testing procedures however. Still I think you deserve credit for your efforts. If everyone who purchased a detector, any detector, would make the effort you are making their positive results could very well be increased
Pap

 

[khouse]

Gunner,
Why don't you add a toggle switch in parallel to the PP button. Then you could just flip the toggle for all metal hunting. When you flip it back your button would still work. I've modified several detectors and this would be very doable. Or you could install a latching PP button. Push it in it will lock. Then push it again and it unlocks. One more way to do it is to replace the push button with a toggle that locks one way/off in the middle/momentary on the other way. I have both those switches in stock. I'm just not sure what the PP button bore diameter is on the Cibola?

 

[Monte]

[quote findit]How do you install it and would it basically work like a vaquero without the manual gb?[/quote]Answering your post in reverse,

 

[tabdog]

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[srd1941]

The question I have concerns the factory preset ground balance. I assume the ground balance on detectors such as the Cibola, Conquistador etc. is adjusted at the factory for what is considered an average condition and that all detectors with preset ground balance are set the same. If one purchases this type of detector and finds that the ground balance setting is much too neg. or pos. for his/her local soils can the ground balance be adjusted on site to better fit the local conditions without having to send the detector to Tesoro? I

 

[Monte]

[quote srd1941]The question I have concerns the factory preset ground balance. I assume the ground balance on detectors such as the Cibola, Conquistador etc. is adjusted at the factory for what is considered an average condition and that all detectors with preset ground balance are set the same.[/quote]No, manufacturers do not all use the same method to establish the "factory preset" ground balance. Since there isn't anything that can accurately describe "average" ground, we have to hope they set the GB so that the detector is functional for most applications. This might mean with a slightly positive GB with some makes and models, while others can get by with a slightly negative GB, but it all depends on the mode of operation and how the unit was designed.


With most Tesoro models you can have a slightly negative GB in the All Metal mode and still have good performance in the motion Disc. mode. As a matter of fact, with some models they've ut out, you could enhance the Disc. mode performance by "Power Balancing" even though that resulted in the threshold-based All Metal mode having a somewhat negative GB.

Note: "Power Balancing" is the term I originated to describe adjusting the Ground Balance in the motion Discriminate mode, and it's quite useful with the silent-search models.


[quote srd1941]If one purchases this type of detector and finds that the ground balance setting is much too neg. or pos. for his/her local soils can the ground balance be adjusted on site to better fit the local conditions without having to send the detector to Tesoro?[/quote]Yes, as long as there is an internal trimmer to make that adjustment. But I caution those who open a unit up that tinkering can create some serious problems if you fiddle with the wrong trimmer. Fortunately, most models have one internal trimmer, but some, like the Compadre, have multiple trimmers.


Also, if an operator feels their hunting travels will take them to a variety of sites with wide-ranging ground mineral conditions, I'd seriously encourage them to just but a decent manually ground balanced model to begin with.


[quote srd1941]I

 

[srd1941]

Thqnkw Monte
It isn't anything I would have to do anyway as I have two manually ground balance machines, a Vaquero and an Eldorado. I am getting a Conquistador though for others to use and was wondering about the preset ground balance. I really don't think it will be an issue here as I have a friend that uses a Silver Micro Max and it works fine in this locality. Thank you for your quick and complete answer.
Stan

 

[Monte]

that was recently listed in the Classifieds? If so, it might be the one I sold him and I can guarantee you that it is an excellent detector and you'll probably not need to tinker with the GB trimmer at all.

Monte

 

[srd1941]

Monte
I'm getting it off the add on Treasure Depot. Was that the one you are referring to? You go through a lot of detecters. I'm pretty sure my Eldorado may have been one you previously owned. I got it from Rick Maxfield in California. I recall a post some time ago where he spoke about trading a Bandido to you for an Eldorado. It came with an 8 inch brown coil . I'm still looking for a stock 8x9. You don' t have an extra one laying around do you?
Stan

 

[Monte]

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